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Copilot key will eventually be required in new PC keyboards

arstechnica.com

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Re: Copilot key will eventually be required in new PC keyboards

#101

Post by asdff »

jjordan wrote: post #6

The way Microsoft is pushing AI literally everywhere now feels reminiscent of circa 2001 when literally everything was branded '.NET'. Eventually they scaled it back, but it was complete overkill and diluted what the brand was supposed to represent.

Its not even microsoft its everyone and their grandmother pushing AI this AI that crap. Really language model this language model that, but we've perverted what AI actually means to the public already so that's great too for technological literacy purposes.

Re: Copilot key will eventually be required in new PC keyboards

#102

Post by baq »

Zandikar wrote: post #80
myself248 wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use the menu key where it's available, and ctrl-shift-F10 where it isn't. (Most new laptops seem to omit it.) When I'm in Windows, that is, which is an ever-dwindling share of my time.

Interesting, may I ask why/how/in what scenarios? Is it a trackpad thing? I was assuming it was an accessibility thing. That key's always been strange to me, never could figure out who used it and for what.

It’s quite useful to correct highlighted spelling errors.

Re: Copilot key will eventually be required in new PC keyboards

#103

Post by HWR_14 »

righthand wrote: post #84
ziddoap wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As mentioned elsewhere, this key will be required as a part of the standard Windows keyboard layout. This is not true of other recent keys (emoji, office, etc.).

Apparently they didn’t push the Cortana key either. And they say it will “eventually” be required. As a keyboard manufacturer why would I listen to Microsoft? Why would I add a key that supports a product I see no benefit from? Just so I can trend even though my customers don’t want it? I ask because this makes the “Microsoft is going to require it so the other keys don’t count” argument useless. Who cares what Micro…

> As a keyboard manufacturer why would I listen to Microsoft? Why would I add a key that supports a product I see no benefit from?

As a keyboard manufacturer, you don't have to see any benefit from the product you support. The question is only will the incremental costs be more than offset by the incremental gains in sales. If MS requires the key, that's 90% of the market (really rough number), so it makes sense to add it. If MS and your competitors add it, it may make a significant percent of your customers go elsewhere. Even if they don't want the key, just because they think your keyboards are old.

Re: Copilot key will eventually be required in new PC keyboards

#105

Post by Arainach »

asdff wrote: post #101
jjordan wrote: post #6

The way Microsoft is pushing AI literally everywhere now feels reminiscent of circa 2001 when literally everything was branded '.NET'. Eventually they scaled it back, but it was complete overkill and diluted what the brand was supposed to represent.

Its not even microsoft its everyone and their grandmother pushing AI this AI that crap. Really language model this language model that, but we've perverted what AI actually means to the public already so that's great too for technological literacy purposes.

To be fair, customers are part of the hype feedback loop. I have seen actual conversations with non-tech workers that boil down to "when we ask these people what they want AI to do, they say they don't know, but boy do they get excited every time we mention adding AI"

Re: Copilot key will eventually be required in new PC keyboards

#106

Post by chollida1 »

CamperBob2 wrote: post #71
jjordan wrote: post #6

The way Microsoft is pushing AI literally everywhere now feels reminiscent of circa 2001 when literally everything was branded '.NET'. Eventually they scaled it back, but it was complete overkill and diluted what the brand was supposed to represent.

It's the only thing MS^H^H Bing has that offers a prayer of beating Google at something. Expect saturation.

> It's the only thing they have that offers a prayer of beating Google at something.

Azure's market share would indicate you are wrong about this.

Re: Copilot key will eventually be required in new PC keyboards

#107

Post by WarOnPrivacy »

bunderbunder wrote: post #39

Translation: Someone at Microsoft is already getting very, very worried about the return on all this investment they've put into generative AI.

Microsoft's goal is to have copilot present and monitoring everywhere you input data & interact with Windows (CP is always ready to help!)

This will provide an unprecedented layer telemetry gathering for Microsoft, including personal and sensitive data that wasn't as reliably available before.

Achieving one of the Gold Rings of surveillance is a powerful motivator.

Re: Copilot key will eventually be required in new PC keyboards

#108

Post by asdff »

Arainach wrote: post #105
asdff wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its not even microsoft its everyone and their grandmother pushing AI this AI that crap. Really language model this language model that, but we've perverted what AI actually means to the public already so that's great too for technological literacy purposes.

To be fair, customers are part of the hype feedback loop. I have seen actual conversations with non-tech workers that boil down to "when we ask these people what they want AI to do, they say they don't know, but boy do they get excited every time we mention adding AI"

Using AI customer service chatbots really is a hoot. The most egregious examples they add an ai autocomplete service to your replies. So the thing asks you for your email and in the textbox its so very helpfully prefilled bob@example.com that you now need to overwrite with your actual email. Pretty fun to think of the resources consumed delivering this experience too

Re: Copilot key will eventually be required in new PC keyboards

#109

Post by doodpants »

"On an up-to-date Windows PC with Copilot enabled, you can currently do the same thing by pressing Windows + C. For PCs without Copilot enabled, including those that aren't signed into Microsoft accounts, the Copilot key will open Windows Search instead"

Just tried Windows + C on my Win 10 machine; it brings up a dialog that helpfully informs me "Cortana in Windows as a standalone app is deprecated."

Re: Copilot key will eventually be required in new PC keyboards

#110

Post by righthand »

HWR_14 wrote: post #103
righthand wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apparently they didn’t push the Cortana key either. And they say it will “eventually” be required. As a keyboard manufacturer why would I listen to Microsoft? Why would I add a key that supports a product I see no benefit from? Just so I can trend even though my customers don’t want it? I ask because this makes the “Microsoft is going to require it so the other keys don’t count” argument useless. Who cares what Micro…

> As a keyboard manufacturer why would I listen to Microsoft? Why would I add a key that supports a product I see no benefit from? As a keyboard manufacturer, you don't have to see any benefit from the product you support. The question is only will the incremental costs be more than offset by the incremental gains in sales. If MS requires the key, that's 90% of the market (really rough number), so it makes sense to a…

Ah so aggressive keyboard trendsetters control the market then. It’s more likely that these keyboards will be a rarity. And when people see a keyboard with this key in a few years they’ll think, “what a weird old keyboard you have”.
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