Futility...

  • Thread starter Thread starter i
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Damn! Wrong post. :oops:

I meant this one.

BTW, does anyone know why in my current skin/theme at least, links are no longer highlighted or underlined?
 
For a moment there I thought you were referring to the futility of finding a decent keyboard.

I've got an AOpen keyboard in front of me. It weighs about as much as a couple of donuts. Unfortunately it's not as tasty.

It cost about $9.00. I decided it was the best choice when all the other options proved to be overpriced clumps of moose dung. I wouldn't mind paying $60.00 for a decent keyboard. The problem is, $60.00 is the going rate for most keyboards today, and they're all crap. They're all "futuristically styled" (read: created by designers who go in for routine colonoscopies because they enjoy them), loaded with putrifying "Internet" buttons, and spittoon cups (because the target audience is composed of nothing but slack-jawed, drooling morons).

I wish I could get a plain black, Keytronics keyboard with an L-shaped enter key, small backspace key, no lame styling, no stupid extra non-standard keys, and a USB connection. Then maybe I'd be assurred of a decent keyboard at a reasonable price.
 
L-shaped enter key, small backspace key... shudder. I haven't been able to type on one of those since the eighties. I count the last couple times I had to use such a beast amongst the more frustrating moments of my life.
 
Gilbo said:
L-shaped enter key, small backspace key... shudder. I haven't been able to type on one of those since the eighties. I count the last couple times I had to use such a beast amongst the more frustrating moments of my life.
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You're insane!

What does it say about someone if they need a Backspace key so often they need it to be double the normal size?

And I'm not getting into the fact that chopping the Enter key down in size - and increasing the size of the Backspace key - means that the key between the Enter and Backspace keys becomes oversize. In most of the keyboards I see in that situation, the "\" and the "|" characters are on that key. WHO NEEDS A BACKSLASH AND PIPE KEY TO BE OVERSIZED?!

No, sorry. Obviously only a special type of person will prefer keyboards with Fisher-Price-sized backspace keys, and are willing to tolerate the obscene, bloated backslash and pipe key that usually comes as part of the package.

I for one prefer something more functional. Generally that's what I expect keyboards to be: functional. These days it seems harder and harder to find people who agree with me. Maybe I'm just getting old and crabby.
 
LunarMist said:
I agree with Jonathan on this one. :)
Click to expand...

Type the backslash character more often than the letter "e", do you? :P

Ok th\n. From now oft\n I will \xp\ct to s\\ your posts looking som\thing lik\ this.

:wink:
 
Of course not, but I use the Backspace key very frequently. Keyboards with a huge, two-row Enter key usually have only a single-width Backspace key. :(
 
LunarMist said:
Of course not, but I use the Backspace key very frequently. Keyboards with a huge, two-row Enter key usually have only a single-width Backspace key. :(
Click to expand...

After the spacebar and the shift keys, I find that the Enter key is the "non-character" key I use the most. There is some room for play over in the top right corner of the main portion of the keyboard. For me personally, I'd rather see that space go to a key I use a lot ... namely the Enter key.

But really I can understand (the above commentary was a mixture of venting and my attempts at humor) your desire for that extra space to go towards a larger backspace key. The unfortunate problem there is that when you decide on a larger backspace key, you wind up with some character key (usually the backslash-and-pipe key) getting larger also.

If there were some way of configuring the keys so that there's both an oversize backspace key and an L-shaped enter key, I'd have no problem with that at all. But I think we'd find that such a keyboard was short one key.
 
I'd have to say that the backspace key is useful enough to me that I'm glad it's a little bigger. Often when you type fast you make a lot of mistakes and then need to backspace one or two characters to correct them. In fact, I hit the backspace key about 20 times just for this post alone. One common mistake I make is sometimes letters get reversed when you type them fast. In a long post this can happen dozens of times.

I find the insert key to be almost useless. The only time I notice it is when I accidentally hit it and only notice after I've overwritten half of a sentence.
 
Man guys, this is deep. I can see the need for a larger backspace key, but I agree with you, i (and it appears I am the only one), I liked the L-shaped enter keys. I know of two keys that could be eliminated from my keyboard right now . . . wait, make that three: the special "windows" buttons which I have never used in my life except to escape from a DOS-based full-screen program (how often does anyone do that?), and I'm sure I could find another way! Just think, the keyboard could be back to it's original size as well! That would be totally cool.
 
Advice du jour:

If you're at the dentist for a checkup, and you're going to say something that might offend your dental hygienist - even slightly - make sure you say it after the cleaning, not halfway through.

Unless you're a masochist, of course.

*sigh*
 
Wow. Some of those coins were pretty old. Having such old currency must be kinda neat from a collector's standpoint. Methuen isn't too far from me.
 
What a beautiful find. It would be nice to come across a collection like that, for free. Amazingly, the whole lot was paper, and everything was intact. I've seen similar situations where insects get to the bank notes and they just turn to dust. Normally, insects and moisture would destroy the wooden box and the metal cans.
 
i said:
In most of the keyboards I see in that situation, the "\" and the "|" characters are on that key. WHO NEEDS A BACKSLASH AND PIPE KEY TO BE OVERSIZED?!
Click to expand...

Ever heard of DOS? :)

P.S. My $12 two ounce circa 2001 beige Acer keyboard has these infernal Internet buttons on top, but also has all the features you desire (small BS key, L-shaped Enter, compact pure-rectangular form-factor). I've been trying to find a better keyboard for a while, but I guess I'm stuck with this one until I can afford me a top of the line Logitech with 27 Internet and multimedia buttons, blue LED's, neon underlighting, and is shaped like a barracuda :)
 
This a very long article, but I found it a good story. The first few pages really just set the groundwork. I found the 5th page to be the most thought-provoking. If you suffered through boredom a lot when you were younger - or perhaps if you are these days - you might find it interesting.
 
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