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Wednesday, August 11, 2010

The keypad layout conspiracy

Earlier today I was installing a Dell Inspiron Zino HD, and I was marvelled at the sleekness of the portable CPU. As I plugged in the keyboard to the USB slot, I noticed my cellphone lying to the right of the keyboard. And then, all of a sudden, I was shocked. Shell-shocked.

The keypad layouts were not the same. Top to bottom, the rows of the cellphone read 1 2 3, 4 5 6, 7 8 9, 0 on the keypad; the keyboard read 7 8 9, 4 5 6, 1 2 3, a big 0 (ignoring the * and the # on the cellphone, and the . on the keyboard).

WHY? Why would they not be the same? What kind of a joke is this supposed to be?

What made them think that it would be easier for people who use both to use different layouts? Is this some kind of worldwide conspiracy to create a hindrance for users? I mean, controlled sadism is fine, but shouldn't there be a minimum sense of purpose to it? I wonder whose idea was it to hire a bunch of vandals whose designs have led to people having to adjust their fingers whenever they shifted from one keypad to another for years, and for millennia to come. This seems a conspiracy as brutal as the one that was planned at the International Electricians' Conference centuries back, where it was decided that every geographic zone shall have plug points with different-looking sockets, and they shall never be the same, however more people tend to travel across the world.

6 comments:

  1. hmmn ki comment kori bolto? hoito ora chae amra ektu matha khatai,chokh buje kaaj na kori,ke jane ki bhebe kora?

    ReplyDelete
  2. anticlockwise 90 degree rotate korano hoyeache sob no gulo ke, 5 k center e rekhe. Computer er screen ta perpendicular hoyea jai to key board er sathe. :P
    original reason ta sotti bhabar bisoy!

    ReplyDelete
  3. aaj khewal korlum....sotti tow???? Kintu keno?????

    ReplyDelete
  4. well observed...cant explain why but I liked the International Electricians' Conference part more than the "key factors"

    ReplyDelete
  5. May be for User convenience (or what geek says “User Experience”).
    We use keyboard from bottom to top (our hands are always at the bottom of the keyboard). With mobile when we type the numbers most of the time our intention is to call someone which is close to receiver (which is top)

    ReplyDelete
  6. those who've owned a mobile phone and a blackberry at the same time know how bad it can get ...

    ReplyDelete

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