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<blockquote data-quote="remain" data-source="post: 466121" data-attributes="member: 23182"><p>Here's something interesting to note.</p><p></p><p>This is the French Canadian keyboard:</p><p></p><p><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v32/dhtns/misc/mac_keyboard_french_canadian.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>Notice how most keys are marked with symbols instead of names? </p><p>The following keys are only identified by their symbol: </p><p>Escape, Tab, Caps Lock, Shift, Option (although "alt" is still written above), Delete, Return, Enter</p><p></p><p>I'm assuming that the French Canadian Apple Keyboard isn't the exception but rather, it's the U.S. one that is,</p><p>which would mean all Apple Keyboards other than the U.S. one mostly use symbols instead of words.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>No no, the menus are fine IMO. It's actually better than "Ctrl, Shift, etc." because the symbols take much less space.</p><p>I'm saying that instead, the symbols should be on the keys.</p><p></p><p>Actually, if you look at the new <a href="http://images.apple.com/keyboard/images/gallery/wired_1_20070813.jpg" target="_blank">Apple Keyboard</a>, there's tons of empty space on most of the keys, especially Caps Lock, Shift, Control, Option, Delete, Return, and Enter. Might be harder for Escape, Home, End, Page Up/Down. But if they can fit both the name and the symbol on that tiny Forward Delete key, then they can certainly do it for the others.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>That... is not that bad of an idea, actually.</p><p></p><p>I mean, in terms of comprehension and usability, you can't get any clearer than that, in that what you see in menus is <strong>exactly</strong> what you see on the keys. I don't think any PC user, even the novices, would ever be puzzled when they see "Ctrl" or "Shift" in the menus. Compare that to a Mac user seeing the Control symbol for the first time.</p><p></p><p>But of course, Apple would never do that because it's not aesthetically pleasing. (And yes, I do find "Ctrl, Alt, Esc, ..." rather inelegant.)</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I actually read that anecdote before. Interesting.</p><p></p><p>But an interesting history doesn't make the symbol any more obvious to the average user.</p><p></p><p>I mean, for me, the symbols for Escape and Option make sense for me, but they'll most likely mean nothing to most people out there.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Kinda ironic, considering in Windows, the arrow is never used to represent Shift (for instance, in menus), while Mac OS X pretty much always uses the arrow for Shift.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Actually, the old Apple Keyboards (the U.S. one anyway) also mostly uses words.</p><p></p><p><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v32/dhtns/misc/apple_keyboard_old.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>Only the Command key completely lacks words.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="remain, post: 466121, member: 23182"] Here's something interesting to note. This is the French Canadian keyboard: [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v32/dhtns/misc/mac_keyboard_french_canadian.jpg[/IMG] Notice how most keys are marked with symbols instead of names? The following keys are only identified by their symbol: Escape, Tab, Caps Lock, Shift, Option (although "alt" is still written above), Delete, Return, Enter I'm assuming that the French Canadian Apple Keyboard isn't the exception but rather, it's the U.S. one that is, which would mean all Apple Keyboards other than the U.S. one mostly use symbols instead of words. No no, the menus are fine IMO. It's actually better than "Ctrl, Shift, etc." because the symbols take much less space. I'm saying that instead, the symbols should be on the keys. Actually, if you look at the new [url=http://images.apple.com/keyboard/images/gallery/wired_1_20070813.jpg]Apple Keyboard[/url], there's tons of empty space on most of the keys, especially Caps Lock, Shift, Control, Option, Delete, Return, and Enter. Might be harder for Escape, Home, End, Page Up/Down. But if they can fit both the name and the symbol on that tiny Forward Delete key, then they can certainly do it for the others. That... is not that bad of an idea, actually. I mean, in terms of comprehension and usability, you can't get any clearer than that, in that what you see in menus is [B]exactly[/B] what you see on the keys. I don't think any PC user, even the novices, would ever be puzzled when they see "Ctrl" or "Shift" in the menus. Compare that to a Mac user seeing the Control symbol for the first time. But of course, Apple would never do that because it's not aesthetically pleasing. (And yes, I do find "Ctrl, Alt, Esc, ..." rather inelegant.) I actually read that anecdote before. Interesting. But an interesting history doesn't make the symbol any more obvious to the average user. I mean, for me, the symbols for Escape and Option make sense for me, but they'll most likely mean nothing to most people out there. Kinda ironic, considering in Windows, the arrow is never used to represent Shift (for instance, in menus), while Mac OS X pretty much always uses the arrow for Shift. Actually, the old Apple Keyboards (the U.S. one anyway) also mostly uses words. [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v32/dhtns/misc/apple_keyboard_old.jpg[/IMG] Only the Command key completely lacks words. [/QUOTE]
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