Post by: hingyfan on March 01, 2003, 08:18:00 PM
So with some free time while she was working, i wandered into an internet cafe. The price seemed right at 3 euros an hour but i quickly got bogged down when i realized the keyboard was completely different. Ive been to similar places in Ireland but i guess since they speak English (sort of), they use our setup.
This keyboard was basically different with the letter keys scattered around and all the numbers on the shift. The @ sign was almost impossible to find.
I checked a computer store and they were all like that, even Macs. But a look at a keyboard in a museum showed a regular setup.
So is this new and what countries use it?
Post by: krissel on March 02, 2003, 01:16:00 AM
But there are different layouts for different countries, at least for special keys. keyboard discussion
Bit of history
The definitive answer will come from mriousbe, taliesen, Spartacus, etc.
[ 03-02-2003, 02:22 AM: Message edited by: krissel ]
Post by: krissel on March 02, 2003, 01:31:00 AM
Now here's a keyboard we all need.
Post by: Spartacus on March 02, 2003, 05:41:00 AM
The standard European keyboards have the Q W E R T layout which I believe is the same in the US. The @ is on Apple's Pro Keyboard on option-L. On PC keys it's somewhere else - I'm not quite sure where, but I believe it is a combination of crtl and a key.
On German keyboard's you'll find special characters such as ü, ä or ö. And on a British you'll probably find a key for pounds (right?).
[ 03-02-2003, 06:43 AM: Message edited by: Spartacus ]
Post by: CyberPet on March 02, 2003, 10:19:00 AM
A picture of my keyboard: http://homepage.mac.com/petrah/.Pictures/K...KeyboardSWE.jpg
Petra
Post by: hingyfan on March 02, 2003, 04:40:00 PM
The basic letter keys were way different. The Q and A were reversed and the W was on the right. Even for a hunt-and-peck typist like me it was maddening.
Also the numbers were on shift. Im guessing now the accents they use were on the normal part.
This layout was used in both inetnet cafes i tried and was the norm on all computers sold in stores including Macs. i did see a normal keyboard in the Louvre.
Post by: taliesin on March 02, 2003, 04:53:00 PM
The best pic I can find right now is this (I'm not taking a photo of my own and this is but half of it):
MS as well, I'm afraid. An Apple Pro keyboard is slightly different, with the @ in the top left and one or two other changes.
But this is more or less what you encountered.
AZERTY.
It works both ways.
I'm used to it, but it's a right sod when it comes to playing games.
However, now you know why it used to drive me crazy back in the days when I used an AZERTY at home and they insisted on a QWERTY at work!
Roll on the RSI.
Some people can switch without a hassle, but I'm no longer one of them.
[ 03-02-2003, 06:00 PM: Message edited by: taliesin ]
Post by: CyberPet on March 03, 2003, 06:03:00 AM
Has A and Q switched place because the use of Q is more common than the A in french? Because as far as I know the least used letters are the ones far from your strongest fingers (index and long fingers).
Oh well... very funky!
Post by: hingyfan on March 03, 2003, 07:49:00 AM
Post by: Gregg on March 04, 2003, 12:46:00 PM
[ 03-05-2003, 08:41 AM: Message edited by: Gregg ]
Post by: taliesin on March 04, 2003, 01:27:00 PM
I wish I'd warned you. When I've gone on about AZERTY before, I'd sort of taken it for granted that people realized how different these things were; I hadn't realized myself that in fact in Roman characters there are essentially two types of keyboard.
Because you're right in part, Petra, some of the differences are based on letter frequency in the language. And others, presumably like your own keyboard, arise from the need for é, ç, ö and the like.
Even from one make to another, there are changes. On the French keyboard at work, hingyfan, that blasted @ is not only near the top right, but requires an "alt" to get it!!
I much prefer having the accents to hand, though. Before that, I had to remember a host of abstruse combinations with the number pad.
The morning I told them, after a bout of RSI, that I was walking out that instant if they failed to give me the French keyboard, wicked tongues said that the only reason I wanted one was to write trade union tracts...
Post by: Highmac on March 04, 2003, 04:37:00 PM
[ 03-04-2003, 05:40 PM: Message edited by: Highmac ]