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Turning a MacBook into a touchscreen with $1 of hardware (2018)

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Re: Turning a MacBook into a touchscreen with $1 of hardware (2018)

#81

Post by bruckie »

bitmasher9 wrote: post #28
dotBen wrote: post #16

I wouldn't want a touchscreen MBP even if it was free, anyone else feel similar? I don't get the draw - we already optimize for keyboard commands to avoid living our fingers over to a touchpad. Why would I want to start clicking on my screen? If you're using your computer for tasks (rather than entertainment) and you're not a visual designer, I don't get why Apple are apparently going to be putting them into the new…

Sometimes, if I’ve been using my iPad for awhile and switch over to my MBP, I might reach out and touch the screen out of habit. I can’t be the only one.

My kids do this all the time. They also use the touchscreen in conventional laptop configuration (not folded-flat tablet mode) on their Chromebooks all the time. It's bizarre to me. I'm always trying to get them to use the keyboard, but they don't care. Example: enter password on the keyboard, then tap the log in button on the screen with their finger, rather than just pressing enter. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Re: Turning a MacBook into a touchscreen with $1 of hardware (2018)

#83

Post by hoherd »

platevoltage wrote: post #70
bigyabai wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> why would I ever choose to put fingers on that beautful screen ... I don't get it! I'm not sure, but bare in mind that the iPad is almost as large of a market as the Mac at this point, and the iPhone has long surpassed Mac revenue. Touching your computer is a very popular sentiment among the grimy-handed public.

There is a reason why the MacBook hasn't been replaced by an iPad with a keyboard and trackpad attached to it. Very different use case.

You're right. Those are completely separate millions of dollars to be made. Best not let them overlap at all, even if some of us intuitively touch our laptop screens to scroll a window now and then, especially when carrying it around.

Re: Turning a MacBook into a touchscreen with $1 of hardware (2018)

#84

Post by Jeremy1026 »

paxys wrote: post #66
9dev wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh? Of all the wonky shit about my Mac, the flawless keyboard navigation is really none of that

Specific applications sure, but the base OS interface is unusable without a trackpad.

Cmd+Space to open spotlight, type in the first 3 or 4 letters of whatever you're trying to do (an application to open, or a system setting to change) and then Return gets me about where I need to go most of the time. Cmd+Tab and Cmd+` for window selection. I don't do much else on the OS itself so my bases are covered.

Re: Turning a MacBook into a touchscreen with $1 of hardware (2018)

#85

Post by commandersaki »

dotBen wrote: post #16

I wouldn't want a touchscreen MBP even if it was free, anyone else feel similar? I don't get the draw - we already optimize for keyboard commands to avoid living our fingers over to a touchpad. Why would I want to start clicking on my screen? If you're using your computer for tasks (rather than entertainment) and you're not a visual designer, I don't get why Apple are apparently going to be putting them into the new…

Yes, I feel like it'll be a degrade in quality if they do this with any of their current line up. If they want to make a Macbook Ultra or whatever with it, that's fine -- I would have no interest in it.

Re: Turning a MacBook into a touchscreen with $1 of hardware (2018)

#86

Post by MarsIronPI »

genthree wrote: post #51
LtWorf wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yesterday someone online told me I'm a boomer because (among the many other issues I mentioned) I said that apple computers lack page up/down keys which is annoying.

Option-up/option-down? Two keys rather than one, but makes up for it by not being way off in some oddball part of the keyboard. You can one-hand it pretty easily, since there's an "option" right next to the arrow keys.

As a stolid classic-era Thinkpad user I don't have a dog in this fight, but it seems to me that the strain of having to hold down another key as I scroll rapidly would get tiring rather quickly. Perhaps if there was a Cmd lock it would be fine.

Re: Turning a MacBook into a touchscreen with $1 of hardware (2018)

#87

Post by 2muchcoffeeman »

dotBen wrote: post #16

I wouldn't want a touchscreen MBP even if it was free, anyone else feel similar? I don't get the draw - we already optimize for keyboard commands to avoid living our fingers over to a touchpad. Why would I want to start clicking on my screen? If you're using your computer for tasks (rather than entertainment) and you're not a visual designer, I don't get why Apple are apparently going to be putting them into the new…

Why? Better than a track pad.

Use a Surface Pro some time. If you are just casually browsing or reading a website. I find it much nicer to just tap on a link or swipe to scroll.

Re: Turning a MacBook into a touchscreen with $1 of hardware (2018)

#89

Post by allthetime »

thesuitonym wrote: post #25
dotBen wrote: post #16

I wouldn't want a touchscreen MBP even if it was free, anyone else feel similar? I don't get the draw - we already optimize for keyboard commands to avoid living our fingers over to a touchpad. Why would I want to start clicking on my screen? If you're using your computer for tasks (rather than entertainment) and you're not a visual designer, I don't get why Apple are apparently going to be putting them into the new…

Macs are definitely not optimized for keyboard commands. If you feel the software you use is keyboard optimized, odds are it's not really Mac software.

Absolute base line example.

Copy text in terminal

Mac: command+c

Linux/windows: ctrl+shift+c (unless you want to cripple proper ctrl+c functionality in which case you can (maybe) activate it from a UI menu)

The command key on Mac is somewhat magical and engages in all sorts of productivity and finger efficiency related context switching so that you can do more with less physical movement.

I’m genuinely curious who you think does it better

Re: Turning a MacBook into a touchscreen with $1 of hardware (2018)

#90

Post by allthetime »

devmor wrote: post #75
sitharus wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you find missing from macOS keyboard navigation? I've been using macs since the 90s so I'm quite used to it, so I'd love to know what I've been missing out on.

I have a lot of complaints but I would say my three big gripes are: - Window navigation within (rather than between) open programs. Mainly if one is on an external monitor, this is just a nightmare and I end up using expose and clicking the window instead. - Window positioning (I installed 3rd party software called Rectangle for this last year so it’s kind of solved but if we’re talking about the vanilla experience t…

Window navigation is just ctrl+direction
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