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View Full Version : Steve Jobs can kiss my ass

Godless Dave
01-29-2005, 08:30 PM
Forget everything good I ever said about the Apple computer corporation.

One of my computers is a 400Mhz G4 PowerMac. It's old but it does what I need it to do: run iTunes and GarageBand. It came with one of those compact Mac keyboards with undersized function and cursor keys. So one thing I've been meaning to do is buy a full size keyboard.

Normally I'd prefer to shop at a locally owned business but I had to be in the south metro today anyway so I stopped by the Apple Store. Being Apple, they only have one design of keyboard, and it's ugly, but it has all the keys and they're the right size.

But wait a minute: I don't see a power button.

"They don't make those anymore."

What?! Being able to power on the Mac from the keyboard is one of the reasons I prefer it to my PC; it saves me reaching under my desk. Why the HELL would they take away a feature - a popular, useful feature?

Fuck you, Steve Jobs. I'm going on eBay to look for a used, real Mac keyboard, and Apple won't get a dime of my money.
Farren
01-29-2005, 10:07 PM
Thats funny. I always prise the power button off the new PC keyboards that have it with a screwdriver or a knife. I absolutely hate it. There are few things more infuriating than accidentally hitting the power button in the middle of stuff.
Ari
01-30-2005, 04:22 AM
Yeah that annoys me too, I liked having the keyboard power on button. I don't know the real reason but it may have to do with USB. IIRC it has something to do with how the USB drivers work, and although the first USB keyboards had them on it, they dropped it soon after.
Of course, you could always put the computer to sleep, in which case the keyboard will wake it up.
Farren
01-30-2005, 10:01 AM
The sleep button annoys the hell out of me too. One of my clients got very pissed at it recently because on her laptop there is no discernable difference between sleep and off and it takes for frikkin' ever to wake up again. She's a very busy woman and she wore a hole in my eardrum complaining about it. After she refused to let me savage her keyboard with a screwdriver, I discovered there's actually a Windows XP setting that allows you to disable it.
seebs
01-30-2005, 10:36 AM
If memory serves, one of the other buttons will now power on a Mac if you push it. I am not sure which one, but it could be the eject key. There's magic to it.
Godless Dave
02-01-2005, 07:52 AM
There are few things more infuriating than accidentally hitting the power button in the middle of stuff.

The button is placed in a location that is very hard to hit accidentally, and even if you do all it does is bring up the shutdown/sleep/restart menu.
Farren
02-01-2005, 08:07 PM
There are few things more infuriating than accidentally hitting the power button in the middle of stuff.

The button is placed in a location that is very hard to hit accidentally, and even if you do all it does is bring up the shutdown/sleep/restart menu.

In XP it just shuts down. Bastard OS. If it brought up a menu I'd actually quite like the feature.
Ray
02-02-2005, 05:00 PM
If memory serves, one of the other buttons will now power on a Mac if you push it. I am not sure which one, but it could be the eject key. There's magic to it.
The correct sequence is control, meta, and then the date of the next full lunar eclipse, in ISO-8601 format.
Godless Dave
02-02-2005, 07:04 PM
Seriously, if someone can verify that the newer keyboards do have a key that powers on, I'll get one. But my buddy who works for a Mac service/sales place says they don't.

In the meantime, I'm not sure why I have so much trouble typing on this thing since all the alphanumeric keys are regular size. Mostly I miss the Windows functionality of Del, Home, and End.
seebs
02-02-2005, 08:54 PM
Hmm. I can confirm something nearly-as-good, which is a key that wakes from sleep. It's the "any" key.