Damn, those folks at Apple have no idea what they are doing in terms of graphic design software.
Recently a posting on the InDesign User to User forum mentioned that some of the funtions of the “fn” key were missing on the MacBook Air.
Specifically, the “num lock” and alternate numbers and characters on the j, k, l, u, i, o, m, p, ., /, 7, 8, 9, 0, and – keys were gone.
What did this mean?
Well, consider what I can do on my MacBook Pro which does have those alternate numbers and characters.
InDesign paragraph and character styles can have dedicated keystrokes assigned using the number pad keys (1, 2, 3, 4, etc). They can not have dedicated keystrokes assigned using the numbers above the qwerty keys–only the number pad keys.
But as anyone who owns a laptop computer (not just Apple, Dell, Sony, HP, etc) knows, those machines don’t have number pad keys.
That’s where the fn key comes in. If you look at the laptop keys j, k, l, u, i, o, etc., you will see tiny numbers and symbols to the right of the letters. Those are the fn numbers. (Function numbers?)
These function numbers allow you to enter the numbers as if there were a number pad on the laptop.
Well, imagine my shock to discover that the MacBook Air doesn’t have those function numbers. Wow, I know Apple wanted to make the Air sexy and light, but throwing out those function numbers seemed awfully silly.
But now I found out that ALL the new Macintosh laptops no longer have the function numbers as well as no num lock key. Now I agree that the num lock key actually causes more problems than it solves when graphic designers inadvertently press it. (Boy have I looked stupid in a class when I had mine pressed by mistake.)
But to rip out the function numbers on the keyboard seems very ill advised.
I agree that very few people understand what the function numbers do. And most people think it is something that only number crunching Excel geeks need.
But it’s not true. And what it does is take away an important feature for those running InDesign on a laptop.
Yes, I know there is always QuickApply to apply styles. But for those of us who understood what the function numbers did, taking the feature away cripples us.
I can just see the round table at Cupertino headquarters:
“Hey guys what are these little numbers on the j, k, l, keys?” asks Steve J.
“I dunno” says one flunky.
“Beats me” says another.
“No idea” and another.
“Haven’t a clue” and another.
“OK, then let’s get rid of them. They make the keyboard look cluttered. I like it better when there’s just one thing on each key.” says Steve J.
“Will do, boss.”
“Yes, sir, Steve.”
“You’re the boss, Steve.”
“You’re the Steve, boss.”
And off they all went to clean up the keyboard.
Note to Adobe: You may have to readjust the keystrokes for styles given this stupidity on Apple’s part.
This article was last modified on December 19, 2021
This article was first published on August 13, 2008
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