Earlier quoted context omitted.
Broad standards are so valuable. When a hotkey becomes common across apps and operating systems, we should work hard to preserve that rare and beautiful covenant that humanity has achieved together. F1 means help. F2 means edit. It edits filenames on most operating systems if you have a file selected, and cells in most spreadsheet programs. Alt+F4 means close. Alt+tab means switch program. Ctrl+C is copy, Ctrl+V is p…
> The agreements we've achieved on standards, even when they're not perfect, should be considered global treasures and treated as such. Hell no! As soon as you see a better way to do the same thing, you should allow the user to embrace the new way, while still keeping compatibility with the old one during a grace period. I know that there are companies that behave differently. Their products are often cruft-ridden. A…
But in the case of the shift lever -- I think it's great that I can hop in any car, and count on having obvious lever with the basic drive modes. In lots of cars, it's not big or between the seats; doesn't the Prius have it on the dash?