From: utzoo!henry
Newsgroups: net.micro
Title: Re: Jerry Pournelle's Disappointment 
Article-I.D.: utzoo.2375
Posted: Fri Aug 13 17:21:25 1982
Received: Fri Aug 13 17:21:25 1982

	"In the time it takes to learn that you have to stretch your
	pinky a little bit, you might have lost a grand total of 5
	whole minutes out of your life."

In my experience it takes more than 5 minutes for an experienced
touch-typist.  And that is not the point:  I shouldn't *have* to spend
extra time and effort adapting to the stupidities of a non-standard
keyboard.  The machines are supposed to be my servants, not vice-versa!
I will *not* stop complaining about it until manufacturers stop bringing
out new products that perpetuate this stupid botch!  If a manufacturer
really feels compelled to "improve" on the standard keyboard that every
touch-typist's fingers are trained for, he should *at least* offer a
standard one as a no-cost option.  And he should ***not*** lie in his
teeth by claiming in his advertising that his default keyboard has a
"standard typewriter layout"!  What gall.

How would you feel about a manufacturer who offered an "ASCII" terminal
which actually used a non-standard variant of the character set, with
the explanation "oh, you'll get used to it!"?  The whole purpose of
standards is to try to ensure that everybody does things the same way
so that users do NOT have to spend time adapting to gratuitous new
stupidities every time they buy new equipment.  (The standard old
stupidities are quite bad enough!)

Mutter, mutter, snarl, rave, rant, flame...

					Henry Spencer
					U of Toronto