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Some Excel users pop F1 off their keyboards (2012)

businessinsider.com

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Re: Some Excel users pop F1 off their keyboards (2012)

#31

Post by slezyr »

jabot wrote: post #15
slezyr wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or even better solution: programmable keyboards. It's sad that just few keyboards have opensource firmware and allow to remap keys. One of them Ergodox EZ ~$350 https://ergodox-ez.com/

I have an atreus keyboard, and I have changed the layout :-) However, 350$ seems like a lot of money for a problem that should really be solvable at no cost in software...

The biggest problem with software (on OS side) is than you can't use your custom layout in BIOS, LiveCDs or when you need to type password if your hardware is encrypted.

Another problem is games. I use dvorak and all games use qwerty bindings so you need either to remap keys for each game or start game with QWERTY layout. If you forgot to start it with qwerty you need to restart the game, which is was really frustrating for me. It's even more problematical with online games like League of legends and etc.

I see no problem for this feature to be present on even cheapest keyboards. I picked ergodox just for an examle.

Re: Some Excel users pop F1 off their keyboards (2012)

#32

Post by SwellJoe »

jabot wrote: post #2

This should really be solved in software... However, I remember trying to map capslock to control on windows a few years back. It involved becoming an administrator and entering an opaque hexadecimal key into the registry. Simply popping off the key is probably easier. Oh, on linux it boils down to "setxkbmap -option ctrl:nocaps", which doesn't require root...

On Linux with Gnome you can use Tweak Tool. It's under Typing->Caps Lock Behavior.

Re: Some Excel users pop F1 off their keyboards (2012)

#33

Post by pjmlp »

superasn wrote: post #18

Windows help and Windows troubeshooter are among the two most useless things in the OS (and lately it's Cortana). It far easier and more relevant to just do a Google search than waste time with these things. Same goes for answers.microsoft.com, whenever i see that link on top og Google results I'm pretty sure I'll just waste 10 minutes of my life and then search for the same thing on Stackexchange and pray to god som…

Those features are not made for us, rather for the majority of clueless users that save files in whatever directory happens to be the default one.

Re: Some Excel users pop F1 off their keyboards (2012)

#35

Post by jtraffic »

In my view, there are many insights like this to be had by physically studying product users a bit more. The startup community has built a strong habit of studying users before a new solution is adopted, but not as much after.

The insights designers get from just watching someone use a product are always delightful. The idea is basically ethnography for design. (https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/book/the-encyc...)

'Desire lines' in parks are one example. Desire lines are the paths in the grass that get worn down because people use them even though the designer didn't plan for it.

Re: Some Excel users pop F1 off their keyboards (2012)

#37

Post by jabot »

slezyr wrote: post #31
jabot wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have an atreus keyboard, and I have changed the layout :-) However, 350$ seems like a lot of money for a problem that should really be solvable at no cost in software...

The biggest problem with software (on OS side) is than you can't use your custom layout in BIOS, LiveCDs or when you need to type password if your hardware is encrypted. Another problem is games. I use dvorak and all games use qwerty bindings so you need either to remap keys for each game or start game with QWERTY layout. If you forgot to start it with qwerty you need to restart the game, which is was really frustrat…

Fair point.

In the context of the article we're talking about a highly specialized office environment, where bios/live boot environments etc. do not happen often. There, a software solution is useful and cheap.

In the more general case, and for those people that do not mind carrying their own keyboard everywhere, you are right. Especially since a keyboard that expensive probably lasts for a long enough time...

Re: Some Excel users pop F1 off their keyboards (2012)

#39

Post by dmitriid »

jabot wrote: post #2

This should really be solved in software... However, I remember trying to map capslock to control on windows a few years back. It involved becoming an administrator and entering an opaque hexadecimal key into the registry. Simply popping off the key is probably easier. Oh, on linux it boils down to "setxkbmap -option ctrl:nocaps", which doesn't require root...

> This should really be solved in software

And this software is called "Excel". This should really be solved in software called "Excel". As in: remove functionality from F1

Re: Some Excel users pop F1 off their keyboards (2012)

#40

Post by [deleted] »

grecy wrote: post #20
stephengillie wrote: post #5

There are dozens of us. It's massively disrupting to the state of flow to miss a key by one, and suddenly another window pops up, but there's no text inside. It takes several seconds for the window to compose itself, and several more to close. I do keep the F1 key somewhere safe, to put back onto the keyboard, for the next keyboard user.

ahhh, can't you just map it to something else? (nothing?)

[deleted]
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