(Originally published on ioc.exchange: 2024-03-05) - Click the Fedi-Link to visit.

    • Billiam@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      You jest, but honestly I think this does make sense. It seems rather obvious to me in hindsight that the character on screen should match the key pressed, and to get a different character should require an activator such as shift or caps lock.

      One of those, “If I wasn’t already used to it being the way it is, would I find doing it this way to be better?”

        • Billiam@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          You could always get a keyboard like this. It’s a large LCD screen with transparent keys on top, so you can program each key to display whatever you want- keys change between lower and upper case when you press shift, for example, or have the font displayed on each key be whatever you want.

          • Z4rK@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            I was sooo close to purchasing one of those (Optimus Maximus), but realized that it would be too dependent on software from a minor actor, so I decided to wait a few years until the functionality got standard on all keyboards.

            • Billiam@lemmy.world
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              9 months ago

              From what I remember (the Maximus has since been discontinued) it wasn’t a very practical keyboard, mostly because all the key caps were completely flat so it was uncomfortable to type in.

      • morrowind@lemmy.ml
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        9 months ago

        I’m pretty sure letters are capital by default because capitals are easier to read

      • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
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        9 months ago

        Now that I think about it, given that lower case is the default option for typing, it would make more sense for the letters to be lower case.

      • Annoyed_🦀 @monyet.cc
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        9 months ago

        I feels like, while it makes sense, but the “sense” here is sorta nonsense, the way they write the header sorta assume people is incapable of learning and adjust. Even my nephew/niece learn it without issue.

  • M500@lemmy.ml
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    9 months ago

    If you asked me, before this, if my keys were capital or lowercase, I don’t think I could have told you.

    • kernelle@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      It’s such a non-issue, also having larger and more defined characters on the keycaps also helps people with poor eyesight and the older population.

    • neidu2@feddit.nl
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      9 months ago

      I had to actually check my keyboard to find out myself.
      However, when I press the uppercase keys for ASDF a lowercase aoeu shows up on my computers - looking at the key symbols have been useless for me for years.

  • alansuspect@aussie.zone
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    9 months ago

    It took me way too long to realise the keys on my keyboard are uppercase. Is this really something people worry about? What happens when I want a capital letter, do I need a different Google keyboard?!

    I’m sure someone somewhere is happy with themselves.

    • prime_number_314159@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      I have used a keyboard that had uppercase and lowercase on the keys, similar to how the number row looks with its shift-for-punctuation. It was harder to read, so I didn’t like it very much.

      On most on screen keyboards, the casing changes as you type for things like the first letter. It’s a good way to indicate that in a UI, but it’s only necessary because the screen keyboard is trying to change the casing for you. All physical keyboards I’ve used type the same thing when you push a button, regardless of the context.

  • mommykink@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    I feel drunk reading this. I genuinely can’t even make sense of what they’re trying to say here.

    • KrokanteBamischijf@feddit.nl
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      9 months ago

      I imagine this makes perfect sense to people who are not tech savy, which is the primary demographic for selling a laptop that’s basically an iPad.

      Then again, I know 94-year olds capable of grasping the concept of SHIFT and CAPS LOCK. So yeah, drunk marketing statements dreamed up by the utterly deranged.

      • veroxii@aussie.zone
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        9 months ago

        Shift came from typewriters. It literally shifted the mechanism over so the keys would trigger a different set of hammers.

        And the first typewriter came out in 1868. So this was already old tech by the time that 94 year old was born.

  • Gork@lemm.ee
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    9 months ago

    If they really wanted to innovate like this, why not have LED key caps that change from lowercase to uppercase when the shift key is pressed? Much cooler than just lowercase caps printed on the keys by default.

  • morrowind@lemmy.ml
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    9 months ago

    Some UX is sitting really proudly somewhere, glad his work was featured in the google blog

    • casmael@lemm.ee
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      9 months ago

      Also the phrasing is so clunky and awkward I had to read it a good three or four times before I worked out what the fuck they were talking about. Initially I thought they were claiming the letters on the keyboard changed between lower and upper case depending on whether shift or caps was depressed. Obviously not, I don’t even know how you’d do that. Written by ‘ai’ perhaps ?

    • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      They really are just a large company these days. This probably flew completely under the radar until it was published and someone saw it displayed to them.

  • BilboBargains@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    If you hammer nails into your head it will hurt like a bitch. But Chromebooks are different - we will also murder a puppy.