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Tell HN: How an elderly couple I know had their computer 'stop working'

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Tell HN: How an elderly couple I know had their computer 'stop working'

#31

Post by HWR_14 »

Dalewyn wrote: post #21
gitgud wrote: post #2

I chuckled reading this… would restarting the Mac re-enable the Bluetooth?

Yes. One of the things I absolutely fucking loathe on my MacBook is it will always turn on the Bluetooth upon hard (re)boot. I never use Bluetooth; I turn it off for a reason. It literally does not matter what I tell the operating system to do: The tooth must blue, for that is the One Apple Way(tm).

Although that sounds annoying, clearly the reason for that behavior is this entire thread. If the old couple had not been zooming at the time, they would have rebooted and that would have fixed things.

Re: Tell HN: How an elderly couple I know had their computer 'stop working'

#32

Post by londons_explore »

addandsubtract wrote: post #9

Would connecting a phone via USB work? Is there an app that lets you use your phone as a mouse / keyboard via USB?

The USB port on phones is kinda locked down, and without rooting your phone I don't think there is any API to emulate an arbitrary device like a keyboard/mouse.

Re: Tell HN: How an elderly couple I know had their computer 'stop working'

#34

Post by latexr »

sdflhasjd wrote: post #13
cassianoleal wrote: post #11

Surely they charge the keyboard and mouse. Wouldn't at least one of them be charged via a USB cable? Plugging that to the computer would turn the peripheral into a wired USB one.

I was under the impression that the Apple keyboards could work via the lightning cable. Could be an old battery one though

They do.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39027263

Re: Tell HN: How an elderly couple I know had their computer 'stop working'

#35

Post by mrits »

philo23 wrote: post #27

I’m pretty sure macOS does warn you that turning Bluetooth off will disconnect your keyboard/mouse/trackpad, if thats the only input device you’ve got connected. Not sure when it was introduced but it’s definitely there on the latest version because I bumped into it the other day.

Never thought of this but this sounds like the kind of thing that would happen to me right before an important meeting.

Re: Tell HN: How an elderly couple I know had their computer 'stop working'

#36

Post by Xaiph_Rahci »

bigallen wrote: post #23
fma wrote: post #20

I've never liked using bluetooth peripherals and this gives me another reason. USB dongle for life, I guess.

Wait, are you saying you just trade the wireless functionality from the built in Bluetooth to an external Bluetooth dongle?

A physical OEM USB dongle on PC side, whether Bluetooth or not, and an On/Off switch on the peripheral side would have certainly prevented the issue in discussion.

Re: Tell HN: How an elderly couple I know had their computer 'stop working'

#37

Post by [deleted] »

ceejayoz wrote: post #18
ericswpark wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they had Apple input devices (Magic Keyboard, touchpad, etc) they don't work over the wire.

It absolutely does work over the wire. I've done it, and a quick Googling shows plenty of others getting it to work. (Example: https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/246337/apple-magic... )

[deleted]

Re: Tell HN: How an elderly couple I know had their computer 'stop working'

#38

Post by cabalamat »

nightowl_games wrote: post #28
SpaceL10n wrote: post #10

Great question. Something like, "This computer has no input devices. Check your keyboard and mouse." Seems like pretty important use case for a personal computer targeting people who may not have grown up around computers or even finished high school. As a user of personal computers, I should be able to easily determine if my computer is configured for basic use.

That error message is very poor. Check your keyboard and mouse? I don't even know what you mean by that. This computer has no input devices? Well that is simply false. The user is currently using an input device when they see this message. Here's a better message: "Warning! Disabling Bluetooth will disconnect your wireless keyboard and wireless mouse. You will need to use a wired keyboard and wired mouse to re-enable…

> The user is currently using an input device when they see this message.

Surely they are using an output device, the screen?

Re: Tell HN: How an elderly couple I know had their computer 'stop working'

#40

Post by teeray »

nightowl_games wrote: post #28
SpaceL10n wrote: post #10

Great question. Something like, "This computer has no input devices. Check your keyboard and mouse." Seems like pretty important use case for a personal computer targeting people who may not have grown up around computers or even finished high school. As a user of personal computers, I should be able to easily determine if my computer is configured for basic use.

That error message is very poor. Check your keyboard and mouse? I don't even know what you mean by that. This computer has no input devices? Well that is simply false. The user is currently using an input device when they see this message. Here's a better message: "Warning! Disabling Bluetooth will disconnect your wireless keyboard and wireless mouse. You will need to use a wired keyboard and wired mouse to re-enable…

> Check your keyboard and mouse

Check engine light? I checked! The engine is still there!

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