
Taika Waititi Calls Out Apple's MacBook Keyboard Backstage at the Oscars - williamstein
https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/f1k4nd/taika_waititi_calls_out_apples_macbook_keyboard/
======
gnicholas
I was expecting a quick call-out, but man he went on for quite a while. Very
specific about what he doesn't like about them, and I can't believe how much
time he spent railing on these keyboards (well deserved, IMO).

One thing that didn't make sense though was he mentioned the iMac keyboards. I
assume he meant to say MacBook/Air/Pro, since those are the ones getting all
the hate.

~~~
smacktoward
I _hate_ the desktop Apple "Magic" keyboard. The keys are too close together,
so prolonged typing on it cramps up my fingers something awful. The key travel
is absurdly low, so it's easy to miss characters. The up and down arrow keys
are only half the size of the left and right, because reasons.

I wouldn't classify the Magic Keyboard as _disastrous_ the way the MacBook
keyboards have been, since it doesn't suffer the same types of catastrophic
reliability problems. But ergonomically it's a horror show.

~~~
oefrha
And _I_ hate mechanical keyboards that can be heard five rooms away. It’s a
frigging desktop, you can use any keyboard, and using the magic keyboard
doesn’t bother anyone else unlike clunky mechanical keyboards that are
supposed to be ergonomic.

~~~
iLemming
Maybe you just haven't tried mechanical keyboards? Or perhaps you haven't
tried a good one? I think once you start using split keyboard - it's hard to
go back to using regular boards, same thing for when you start using
mechanical keyboard. But once you start using mechanical, split keyboard
(Kinesis Advantage, Ergodox, etc.) - you never willingly go back to using
regular keyboards.

~~~
killjoywashere
This seems like vi vs all other editors then. I should stick with vim because
I will always find myself on some other system where vi is the lowest common
denominator. I should stick with a straight, flat keyboard because I will
always end up with a straight, flat keyboard. Having temporary joy created
only by making all other moments comparatively unpleasant seems like a bad
trade.

~~~
iLemming
"Lowest common denominator" argument in our industry is a false dichotomy. One
should try different things and choose whatever makes them happy. Fortunately,
our field is so deep, there's always stuff to choose from. If you don't like
Vim/Emacs/VSCode/Atom/etc. - fine, use something else; If you don't like
Javascript - there are multiple ways to transpire/compile into it, choose the
one you like; don't like OOP - try FP; etc. Doing something because most
people doing it, using tech-stacks simply because they are popular, choosing
QWERTY layout and not trying other options, etc. - hinders self-growth of an
individual and stymies innovation in general.

------
melling
Small keyboards in general make you contort your hands, wrists, and shoulders.

I imagine writers have it even worse than programmers.

~~~
iLemming
> I imagine writers have it even worse than programmers.

Well, I dunno about that. One of the major projects I'm currently working
with, has over 130K lines of Clojure (tests excluded), and that is not too big
of a project. I'm too lazy to figure out the proper way to count "words" in
that project `wc` shows over 5M. In comparison - "War and Peace" [technically]
is ten times smaller.

Programmers do type a lot. Possibly, way more than writers have to. And that's
just code. Have you ever thought about how much typing happens outside of
coding? When reviewing PRs, replying to emails, etc.

That is why every single programmer _must_ invest into choosing the right
keyboard; learning how to maintain a proper posture; maybe learn non-
traditional ways to input text - Vim and Emacs keybindings; try Stenographic
input¹; Speech recognition², etc.

Because when they don't - sooner or later they end up having problems: back
and neck pain, headaches, RSI, hemorrhoids.

\---

¹ [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wpv-Qb-
dB6g](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wpv-Qb-dB6g)

² [https://www.thestrangeloop.com/2019/voice-driven-
development...](https://www.thestrangeloop.com/2019/voice-driven-development-
who-needs-a-keyboard-anyway.html)

~~~
spats1990
I'm an editor and writer and at my last job I got interested in how many words
I typed a day. I put some applet on my work computer that tracked them across
all applications. It was usually less than I thought; something like 10-15k
words per day, sometimes more like 5-8k.

Think you're probably right about how much programmers type. I was going to
write that if a programmer sets something up to track how much they type,
they'd have to measure it by keystroke because I don't know whether all
aspects of most programming languages would count as "words". Plus navigation,
shortcuts etc. Tracking by keystroke or character would be better. But then...
if you asked me what I consider a high or low number of keystrokes for a
working day I'd have no idea what to tell you, whereas if you told me you
typed 20-30k words or more in a day I'd be hoping you are using a good
keyboard and sitting properly.

------
musicale
The worst flaw(s) of the MacBook Pro was (and still is on the 13") that the
keyboard and trackpad didn't work properly. The second worst flaw was the lack
of a physical esc key.

~~~
internet_user
16" Pro has a physical ESC key. keyboard still sucks just as bad.

------
snowwrestler
Taika Waititi, a guy well-known for being very serious in front of a
microphone and never elevating the trivial for comedic effect.

~~~
melling
He sounds like he’s got some sort of physical problem with his shoulder and
tendon in his forearm.

In the video he complains about the smallness of the keyboard causing his
shoulders to be in a bad position. He also talks about the “bounce back“ of
the keys.

[https://www.cnet.com/news/taika-waititi-demands-apple-fix-
th...](https://www.cnet.com/news/taika-waititi-demands-apple-fix-those-
keyboards-at-oscars/)

Would be great if Apple just ran with this and reinvented the keyboard. That
might mean nothing more than an external split keyboard that tents, for
example.

~~~
milemi
Is he not aware that there’s hundreds if not thousands of keyboard models on
the market? Now, if he was talking about the Apple TV remote, that I’d be
totally on board with.

~~~
milemi
Only -1? Stop slacking off shittwaddles.

------
general_orr
hn > reddit > twitter

can we keep going

~~~
iLemming
I'm not an expert but I think that's how Internet works. Those who don't like
that, probably can send their complains to Tim Berners-Lee.

~~~
majewsky
When Tim considered a chain of 2 hyperlinks, he probably didn't expect it to
take 20 seconds because of all the JS crap that gets loaded besides the actual
content.

~~~
iLemming
Yeah, Tim definitely have not envisioned the rise of JS crap, nobody has, even
not Brendan Eich.

~~~
BrendanEich
Parkinson's Law applies to JS (Sturgeon's Law does too). What else is new? Use
effecting script-blocking tech.

~~~
iLemming
Can't agree more. Brave Browser incredibly cuts so much crap out of every
payload. Sometimes, I feel (with the way how things usually done in the US)
someone may try to lobby for "this kind of technology needs to be
regulated..." kind of BS.

~~~
BrendanEich
It could happen, given our "one dollar one vote" system. But precedent and
trends favor user rights to block and screen- or just plain reader mode, if
not use GreaseMonkey (Brave's site-specific script system is called
GreaseLion). DRM got a carve out for HD video, ebook vendors want it, so
support the EFF.

------
taikawatiti
Who is taika watiti and why has he not appended a "old" to the beginning of
Reddit.com?

~~~
legostormtroopr
Taika Waititi is an amazing director/writer/actor. If this is really you, What
We Do In The Shadows and Jojo Rabbit we’re fantastic.

~~~
iLemming
> Taika Waititi is an amazing director/writer/actor

First of all - he is a vampire. And then all the other things you've
mentioned.

