New Apple Keyboard Pictures

iJon · May 10, 2003

I posted some pictures of the new keyboard shipping with the emac. i will give you my impressions, i dont like it. first of all its white, i hate the white keyboards, but thats just me. the unadjustable tilt isnt a problem for me, because i always tilt mine, but others will have a problem with it. i dont know what to think abotu the ports on the back, doesnt seem to be a problem to me. the escape key is wider now, you will tell the other differences from my pictures. one thing that struck my interest though. the new keyboard and mouse only says keyboard and mouse, the pro is gone. maybe this hints new keyboards and mice. i didnt take pictures of the mouse because it looks the same besides the bottom, its not clear but white, nothing sppecial.

http://homepage.mac.com/jtaylor.mac/PhotoAlbum13.html

iJon

maradong · May 10, 2003

thx for the contirb.

browsed thourh your galleries, nice collection of pics, esp. those of the 17'' :=)

bennetsaysargh · May 10, 2003

i saw the new mouse and keyboards today at the new apple store in L.I. today, and i don't like the new keyboards a lot. it looks cheap and it feels like i am going to hurt my hand on the rough side. the only difference with the mouse is the ring on the bottom which i think is used to control the clicky-ness of it.

rainman::|:| · May 10, 2003

the general consensus here was that it's a cheaper model of the pro keyboard and mouse that's more inexpensive to ship with consumer computers. Basically apple has 1) cut their production costs and 2) giving people the option to spend more money afterwords on a good keboard/mouse

basically, i don't think it's something you're supposed to like...

pnw

DakotaGuy · May 10, 2003

It looks just like the pro keyboard to me with a little extra plastic chopped off and the adjustable foot removed. Probably saves them a few dollars on every eMac sold, not a bad deal if the cost savings is coming back to the consumer. I always leave my adjustable foot up on my old "small" blueberry back keyboard, so I would be happy with this one.

bennetsaysargh · May 10, 2003

now that i think about it, apple may be trying to npass on savings to the consumer, and taking away the wheel thing to adjust the clicky-ness on the bottom of the mouse to make it easier.

iJon · May 10, 2003

i honestly feel with them taking off the pro means they are up to something. possibly a option to order with the regular keyboard and mouse of the bluetooth pro set. i think wwdc will have some things in store that may make sense of this.

iJon

bennetsaysargh · May 10, 2003

Originally posted by iJon
i honestly feel with them taking off the pro means they are up to something. possibly a option to order with the regular keyboard and mouse of the bluetooth pro set. i think wwdc will have some things in store that may make sense of this.

iJon

that might be what they're up to. that is the miost logical thing ive heard so far.

iDork · May 11, 2003

Originally posted by iJon
i honestly feel with them taking off the pro means they are up to something. possibly a option to order with the regular keyboard and mouse of the bluetooth pro set. i think wwdc will have some things in store that may make sense of this.

iJon

I sure hope so! I just bought the bluetooth Microsoft Explorer and I love it. A bluetooth keyboard from Apple will make it perfect!

szark · May 11, 2003

Another interesting observation -- no "Num Lock" key!

Of course, we haven't needed it for years, but it's great to finally see it removed.

bennetsaysargh · May 11, 2003

Originally posted by szark
Another interesting observation -- no "Num Lock" key!

Of course, we haven't needed it for years, but it's great to finally see it removed.

i never knew what it was for! was it to "lock" the number pad or what?

trebblekicked · May 11, 2003

Originally posted by iJon
i honestly feel with them taking off the pro means they are up to something. possibly a option to order with the regular keyboard and mouse of the bluetooth pro set. i think wwdc will have some things in store that may make sense of this.

iJon

i can see this, but remeber this patent?
Apple Rotary Mouse? It'd be nice to see real revisions to the mouse/keyboard line.

BTW- i don't like the new designs.

wdlove · May 11, 2003

Originally posted by szark
Another interesting observation -- no "Num Lock" key!

Of course, we haven't needed it for years, but it's great to finally see it removed.

I still use the numeric key pad! It especially comes in hand with Quicken! But I use it on other occasions also!

evoluzione · May 11, 2003

i just got a strange feeling that there'll be a new "pro" range. The keyboard having the same font on the keys, and also the letters would be positioned in the centre of the keys, and not italicised. Basically the same as the new powerbooks. This might also give us the backlit keyboard too, which I think would be awesome, and a big hit. BT would be a good step too. As for the actual keys, maybe the silver look like the PBs but they'd be deeper, like a regular keyboard.

as for the mouse, again BT would be nice, but I hope it won't be too big and heavy.

Sun Baked · May 11, 2003

Originally posted by evoluzione
i just got a strange feeling that there'll be a new "pro" range.

I've got a strange feeling there won't be a new keyboard for the "pro" range...

But nobody liked my idea that this keyboard would be a simplified/less expensive redesign of the old high part count keyboard.

cubist · May 11, 2003

Originally posted by Sun Baked
... But nobody liked my idea that this keyboard would be a simplified/less expensive redesign of the old high part count keyboard...

I don't see much part count reduction. It's nice that it's a good 3/4" shorter, we're moving farther away from the enormous surfboards of the past, but what's that chicklet thing above the arrow keys? Ick.

I'd like to see a keyboard without the numeric pad. I never use it at all.

LethalWolfe · May 11, 2003

I'd never buy a KB w/a a number bad. Trying to enter numeric data w/the row of number keys blows. And I also like using "regular" sized KBs. The "mini" KBs that shipped w/the orginal iMacs were so freakin' small it sucked. Even though I had small hands I still hated using them. Anyway... the new, non-pro KB looks kinda cheap, IMO.

Lethal

szark · May 12, 2003

Originally posted by bennetsaysargh
i never knew what it was for! was it to "lock" the number pad or what?

The fact that people don't know what it's for supports my position very well...

The Num Lock key switches between numbers and functions (Home, End, Page Up, Page Down, arrow keys) on the keypad and was necessary long ago when there weren't separate keys for those functions. Since they added separate keys (many, many years ago) it is unnecessary to keep the additional function/arrow keys on the numeric keypad.

So the new keypad appears to only support numbers, and that's the way it should be!

bennetsaysargh · May 12, 2003

Originally posted by szark
The fact that people don't know what it's for supports my position very well...

The Num Lock key switches between numbers and functions (Home, End, Page Up, Page Down, arrow keys) on the keypad and was necessary long ago when there weren't separate keys for those functions. Since they added separate keys (many, many years ago) it is unnecessary to keep the additional function/arrow keys on the numeric keypad.

So the new keypad appears to only support numbers, and that's the way it should be!

thanks szark! very helpful.

Originally posted by LethalWolfe
I'd never buy a KB w/a a number bad. Trying to enter numeric data w/the row of number keys blows. And I also like using "regular" sized KBs. The "mini" KBs that shipped w/the orginal iMacs were so freakin' small it sucked. Even though I had small hands I still hated using them. Anyway... the new, non-pro KB looks kinda cheap, IMO.

Lethal

i like the keyboards that shipped with the origional iMacs. i am typing on one right now and i love it. also, i do need a keypad.

Doctor Q · May 12, 2003

Did anyone notice that the new little keyboard has 16 function keys while the old bigger keyboard has 15? I played with the new one in the San Diego Apple Store, which I visited for the first time last Friday night. It (the keyboard, not the store) felt crowded, but perfectly usable.

The sales staff at the store was friendly, but they could only answer one of the four questions I asked:

Me: Why might I prefer one Apple keyboard over another?
Salesperson: I don't know.

Me: You only have Acrobat 5.0 on the shelf. Is Acrobat 6.0 out for Mac yet?
Salesperson: I don't know.
Then the salesperson asked another salesperson.
Other salesperson: I don't know.

Me: What software do you use to restore the Macs in the store every night?
Salesperson: I don't know. Ask at the Genius Bar.
Guy at Genius Bar: I don't know.

Me: What time do you close?
Salesperson: 9 o'clock.

And no, I didn't drive from Los Angeles to San Diego in Friday rush hour traffic (4.5 hours to go about 120 miles) just to visit yet another Apple Store. I was in San Diego for other reasons and snuck over to see the store while I was there.

iJon · May 12, 2003

Originally posted by Doctor Q
Did anyone notice that the new little keyboard has 16 function keys while the old bigger keyboard has 15? I played with the new one in the San Diego Apple Store, which I visited for the first time last Friday night. It (the keyboard, not the store) felt crowded, but perfectly usable.

The sales staff at the store was friendly, but they could only answer one of the four questions I asked:

Me: Why might I prefer one Apple keyboard over another?
Salesperson: I don't know.

Me: You only have Acrobat 5.0 on the shelf. Is Acrobat 6.0 out for Mac yet?
Salesperson: I don't know.
Then the salesperson asked another salesperson.
Other salesperson: I don't know.

Me: What software do you use to restore the Macs in the store every night?
Salesperson: I don't know. Ask at the Genius Bar.
Guy at Genius Bar: I don't know.

Me: What time do you close?
Salesperson: 9 o'clock.

And no, I didn't drive from Los Angeles to San Diego in Friday rush hour traffic (4.5 hours to go about 120 miles) just to visit yet another Apple Store. I was in San Diego for other reasons and snuck over to see the store while I was there.

thats reall pathetic, i could have answered those 4 questions gladly for you and im 17. just goes to show you apple should focus more on getting these guys into learn and ean and just being plain smarter.

iJon

Sun Baked · May 12, 2003

Originally posted by iJon
thats reall pathetic, i could have answered those 4 questions gladly for you and im 17. just goes to show you apple should focus more on getting these guys into learn and ean and just being plain smarter.

iJon

In retail, it's not how smart you are -- it's how much crap you can unload on the poor sap with the money.

Unless it's car sales, then it's how much money you can steal from the customer.

[edit - warning this response is not PC, just feels like it from this end.]

iJon · May 12, 2003

Originally posted by Sun Baked
In retail, it's not how smart you are -- it's how much crap you can unload on the poor sap with the money.

Unless it's car sales, then it's how much money you can steal from the customer.

[edit - warning this response is not PC, just feels like it from this end.]

very true, although i dont do that in sales but i know what you mean. these people he worked with were to ignorant to even lie to him to get him to buy something.

iJon

wdlove · May 12, 2003

Originally posted by Sun Baked
In retail, it's not how smart you are -- it's how much crap you can unload on the poor sap with the money.

Unless it's car sales, then it's how much money you can steal from the customer.

[edit - warning this response is not PC, just feels like it from this end.]

I thought that you had to be very knowledgeable about computers in general and Apple in particular. I applied at our local Apple Store, I figured that wasn't hired because of my lack of training. Personally I depend on the sales people for information that is accurate!

bennetsaysargh · May 12, 2003

at the opening in long island this past saturday, one old worker said tht the iTunes music store would be available for PCs later tihs month. I don't think they would tell regular emplyees that kind of stuff. either that or he was just trying to make a sale.

New Apple Keyboard Pictures

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