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Apple Dealers Slighted By Company Stores

rtphokie writes "Apple is doing something it swore it wouldn't do when it began opening its 28 retail stores according to a C|Net article: stocking its own shelves first. The author made random calls to Apple stores and Apple retailers to support the claim."

2 of 39 comments (clear)

  1. Apple Laptop Keyboards Unacceptable to Unix Users by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Apple Laptop Keyboards are Unacceptable to Unix Users

    Apple designs horrible keyboards. ADB keyboards (which are still used on all of Apple's laptops) are unusable to unix users who need a Ctrl key to the left of the 'A'.

    Proper Keyboard Design

    • When a key is pressed, the keyboard sends a keyPress event.
    • When a key is released, the keyboard sends a keyRelease event.
    • Each key is assigned a different keycode.
    Nothing more, nothing less.

    ADB Keyboard Mis-design

    • When the key to the left of the 'A' (CapsLock) is pressed, the ADB keyboard sends both a keyPress event and a keyRelease event.
    • When the CapsLock key is then released, the ADB keyboard sends NO events.
    • When the CapsLock key is next pressed, the ADB keyboard sends NO events.
    • When the CapsLock key is then released, the ADB keyboard sends both a keyPress event and a keyRelease event.
    • The above cycle repeats over and over.
    This is WRONG ! Apple's ADB keyboards are broken by design.

    Unix Users Cannot Use Apple's ADB Keyboards

    What this means is that unix users who need the key to the left of the 'A' to be a Ctrl key cannot use Apple ADB keyboards. You can easily reprogram the CapsLock key to be a Ctrl key and get rid of the badness of the CapsLock key, but you can't get the required goodness of the Ctrl key to the left of the 'A'.

    Apple Loses Sales to Unix Users

    All Apple laptops have the horrible broken-by-design ADB keyboards which are unusable to unix users. I want to buy an Apple laptop, but I cannot and will not until Apple builds input devices usable by unix users.

  2. Re:Apple Laptop Keyboards Unacceptable to Unix Use by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    If it's that big of a deal, why not learn the machine code so that you can just catch the interupts yourself? Jackass. What an ignorant and lazy complaint.