Who’s the IDIOT screwing up Canadian laptops?!
The first few times I saw it, I thought nothing of it. Nothing to worry about I thought. Someone at the assembly line for a few of these laptops must have been getting into the LSD or something. Much to my complete disgust, I discovered today that these keyboards are not few and far in between. They are becoming the norm.
Walking around Best Buy today, almost every single laptop computer on sale, if not all of them are using these so called ‘bi-lingual’ keyboards. Now I have nothing against an optional SKU for those that have a use for it, but you can have my US layout keyboard when you pry it from my cold dead fingers.
As a system administrator and software developer, who types at speeds in excess of 100 WPM, I get very offended when characters are in the wrong place. My slash, tilde and pipe keys belong where they are, damnit!
Sorry, I didn’t spend my whole life learning how to type to have some idiot move my keys around. Now I don’t know if I’m in the minority here, but I would assume anyone that knows how to type and actually has a use for non-alphanumeric keys is with me on this one. I say, let’s find the lunatic that came up with this brain-damaged idea and run him out of our country!
In the mean time, I think my current Sony laptop, manufactured before this insanity started, will be the last laptop computer I buy from any Canadian retailer.
November 18th, 2010 at 2:40 pm
I agree with your article 100%….no……1,000%!
Who the hell are the people who came up with this idea. Right now I’m looking for a netbook, but each time I need to let go of a good deal, because of the damn bilingual keyboard! It’s not just the location of the keys what bothers me, what bothers me too like hell is the damn text on those keys! I’ m looking here at one on web page….there are keys with like 5 to 6 labels, in 3 colors and even the god damn ESC and pageup/down keys needs a fucking translation, it looks like a Christmas tree! I’m an IT guy, I like things to be functional; this is the total opposite of “functional”! I feel like throwing things through my room at times because of this damn bullshit!
November 18th, 2010 at 2:52 pm
I thought I was the only one paying attention! Glad to see someone else has a problem with this!
The biggest set back for me is the half-sized shift key. It’s impossible to hit reliably. There is seriously no fate harsh enough for whoever came up with such a brain-damaged layout.
Unfortunately, it seems the only option now is to either stick to Dell and Apple (far as I can tell those are the only two manufacturers that had enough braincells to not screw with their keyboards) or order from the US.
February 9th, 2011 at 9:14 pm
I bought a ThinkPad from Lenovo on line. this problem doesn’t exist. Lenovo lets you choose the Keyboard layout from US English and French.
Or, you can buy a MacBook from Apple, Or something from Dell. All Lenovo, Apple and Dell don’t give a Sh!t about the so-called bilingual keyboard.
March 3rd, 2011 at 8:20 am
This is my first and most emphasized piece of advice when people ask me about buying a new laptop. I think this shows how terrible our usability situation is here in Canada.
May 4th, 2011 at 4:15 pm
I know many people who live in Quebec and Montreal who also complained about this change. Whoever thought it was a brilliant idea to make the Shift and Enter keys more difficult to press clearly has no typing experience.
July 31st, 2013 at 3:54 pm
stupid canadian bilingual bullshit!#@$#@!!!