If you are ever tempted to make the silly argument that something obviously works or a company wouldn't have done it . . . well, just focus on this.
Copyright © 2010 by The Atlantic Monthly Group. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2010 by The Atlantic Monthly Group. All rights reserved.
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You mean, make a mistake?
The general point, which some people probably do jump on too early as validation, is that something a company does over the long term was most likely done for valid business reasons. However, just because it was done once or over a short period of time does not suggest it was done for a good reason or is sustainable(think dot-com bubble)
I thibk you are veibg ocerly dranatix avout this.
Of course that was exactly Megan's argument with Glenn Greenwald, that the vapid media delivers vapid stories because that is what the public demands, by definition. Because if the public didn't demand it the media wouldn't produce it.
The media has complex tools that show them the public wants stories about bowling, and obviously Dell has all sorts of charts and graphs that show high demand for this sort of keyboard layout.
yeah? how does anyone defend the qwerty keayboard to start with? too much inertia? the key structure was made that way because the original winner of the typewriter wars over 100 years ago picked that layout to keep the strike levers from clashing.
We keep with it for the same reason the peron in question originally complained. "but that's the way I learned it" You could learn something else... Like a keyboard layout that is based on which keys are used most often? But that's crazy talk, right? [It's actually called Dvorak and it's a handy layout, esp, if you have carpal tunnel. It also make most people who get used to it MUCH faster.]
So the whole question about if businesses will keep with designs that don't work well? They will if people keep buying it. Does it matter where |\ key is, when the whole layout is stupid to begin with?
The issue here is that humans are very resistant to change. Sure dell f'd up with this, because people aren't used to it, but it's meaning beyond a marketing issue? ... so do you make what humans want, or try to steer them to better alternative?
The MOST COMMON letters used in the English language are E, T, N, O, R, I, A, and S. Funnily enough 2 of them ARE actually on the home row of the keyboard. Under the weakest fingers you have, your pinkys. E and O are also struck with weak fingers, and E is the most used letter in our language.
Ever wonder why most cars in the world are left-hand drive, when 90% of all humans are RIGHT-handed?
so...Megan, am I making a silly argument about what humans and their decisions do? Is there a GOOD reasons women's clothing buttons the opposite way than men's? Which way do you tilt your head when you kiss? Which foot do you start off on? When your windows menus are all on top, why is your start button and tray on the bottom? Why is the apple dock on the bottom?
Wanna throw off a co-worker? Put their systray on top, and set it to autohide, AND move their mouse to the left of the computer. They may be discombobulated all day long from that...
"Ever wonder why most cars in the world are left-hand drive, when 90% of all humans are RIGHT-handed?"
Blame Napoleon and Hitler. When driving a cart with multiple animals you need to sit on the left side in order to use the whip with your right hand. You also need to pass oncoming traffic on the side on which you sit so that you can better gauge the distance between vehicles. Thus, you want them on your left.
The first law requiring drivers to keep right was passed in Pennsylvania in 1792. Paris followed suit two years later. As Napoleon conquered Europe he further spread the American keep-to-the-right rule.
During WWII Germany imposed the keep-to-the-right rule on many of the places that Napoleon had missed, such as part of Austria. Today, the only places that drive on the left are Japan and the former British Empire (which resisted both Napoleon and Hitler).
Keeping the driver on the left side of the vehicle still makes sense today because that allows them to operate the vast majority of controls (radio, gearshift, climate controls, etc.) with their right hand. Switching would only make sense if drivers regularly needed to use their dominant hand to battle people outside the vehicle.
"so...Megan, am I making a silly argument about what humans and their decisions do? Is there a GOOD reasons women's clothing buttons the opposite way than men's?"
Spoken like a true liberal. Change has transition costs associated with it and thus one should only change when the difference in benefits of that change relative to the benefits of the status quo outweigh the costs of the transition. What benefits would accrue due to having women's and men's clothing button the same?
er, yeah, driven a wagon, have you? All the ones I've driven here in the US have been "right hand drive" [you mostly sit on the right], and the ones I saw in europe [primarily East Germany] were that way as well, unless they were single hitches, where sometimes you sit in the middle if the wagon is small enough. Depends a lot on if the brake is on the right, and if there is a brake at all... It has been my experience with passing the oncoming traffic that you have to worry as much about ditches as anything. If you keep right, you have to slide to the right to make sure you don't ditch... when driving alone I tended to slide from side to side to check. FWIW. The whip isn't nearly as important as the reigns, I never used a whip, because it wasn't needed.
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see here
"Keeping the driver on the left side of the vehicle still makes sense today because that allows them to operate the vast majority of controls (radio, gearshift, climate controls, etc.) with their right hand."
So it dosn't make sense to you, to have your dominant hand on the part of the car that controls the direction of it? Or were you being facetious?
"What benefits would accrue due to having women's and men's clothing button the same?"
well, imagine how much more value would be derived by standardization... Dunno, if the transition costs associated would be worth it, though. I was pointing out that it was goofy to do it that way, not that there was some important reason for everyone to run out and change it now that it's been that way for all this time...
We keep with it for the same reason the peron in question originally complained. "but that's the way I learned it" You could learn something else... Like a keyboard layout that is based on which keys are used most often? But that's crazy talk, right? [It's actually called Dvorak and it's a handy layout, esp, if you have carpal tunnel. It also make most people who get used to it MUCH faster.]
This sounds great when expressed in the form of a consequence-less rant, but if it had any merit in reality, the rate at which the United States adopted the metric system would be the envy of the world. For related material, see also: Reverse Polish Notation.
"in the form of a consequence-less rant" aMouseforallSeasons
aye, now THAT is the question... when is the consequence worth the change? I learned reverse polish notation because the only decent calculators at the time required it. Once Texas Intstruments started making relatively good calculators, cheaper... less people bothered with HP's and reverse polish notation. Importantly, the average person never used such complicated calculators anyway. OTOH, I wonder about metric, since you would be going to an easier system, and most everything is packeaged and measured both ways. I have even noticed lumber contains both markings recently.
All these sorts of rants may have a great deal of merit, but that doesn't make for an easy change because of the sheer number of individuals that must accept them. If you can't show them an immediate, and LARGE value add... you are sol. Just like if you are in the UK and sombody accidentally changes one key in your keyboard layout. How many people in the whole country are actually affected by a defect like that, and when does a defect become a feature?
Jan Myers: "Keeping the driver on the left side of the vehicle still makes sense today because that allows them to operate the vast majority of controls (radio, gearshift, climate controls, etc.) with their right hand."
SwissArmyD: "So it dosn't make sense to you, to have your dominant hand on the part of the car that controls the direction of it? "
I grew up in the US but lived and drove in Hong Kong for several years, and I found it difficult to work a stick shift with my left rather than right hand, since I'm right-handed. As for steering, if there's tricky steering to be done, I use both hands, not just one. The rest of the time I do many different tasks with my 'inside' hand (the left hand, in Hong Kong), while the other hand just holds the steering wheel straight. So over all, I agree with Jan Myers on this.
The other problem with driving on the left side of the road was that I hit the windshield wipers every time I wanted to turn. We used to joke that you could tell the American drivers because they had such clean windshields.
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On my keyboard the shift key is the same size as the one in your photo. The problem appears to be where they have positioned the |\ key. On my keyboard, and others I have used over the years, the |\ key is located under the backspace key. On my keyboard the shift key on the left is slightly smaller than the one on the right, but not by much.