For Faster Typing, Put a Hit on the Keyboard
I have a problem with my MacBook’s poorly designed keyboard that I know Apple won’t solve for me. On older MacBook keyboards, the arrow keys were identical in size, with two blank spaces to the left and right of the top arrow key that provided a tactile reference point and a clear delineation between the full-size keys and the half-size arrow keys. On the latest MacBooks, the left and right arrow keys are full-sized keys, saving you a comfortable, empty space.
This change made it harder than ever to hit the arrow keys on my laptop without accidentally hitting the wrong button first. So I took it upon myself to solve the problem and retrain my brain for the future, the future with a keyboard that trumps functionality. I was jumping on a laptop keyboard.
At work, I use a MacBook Pro with a touch bar, but I struggle to stay away from its keyboard due to Apple’s poor rework of the arrow keys. So I bought a pine cone. Specifically, I bought a weirdly named tactile marker pen , a one ounce bottle filled with a thick plastic liquid that hardens in a few hours and leaves a bump on what you marked.
The beauty of adding a landmark to your keyboard is that it reduces typing errors. If you’re typing blind, take a look at your keyboard now. Chances are, you have at least two bumps in your home row, bumps that will help you easily reorient yourself if you overexert yourself or lose your place.
Apple keyboards have tactile bumps on the F and J keys. While the rest of the keyboard was smooth, the common reference for working with the arrow keys on the previous MacBook was the shape of the left and right arrow keys and the gap between them, exposing the aluminum chassis. …
On the new MacBook Pro keys, four arrow keys take up the space of three full-size keys, merging with the right Command and Option keys. This means that the space used to orient my right hand when moving text or a web page is gone, so now I just press Option a lot and get frustrated.
While I’ve already experienced the bump (with great success) on my PC’s gaming keyboard, I can already imagine the possibilities of adding control tabs to my various gadgets, from my touchscreen TV that doesn’t have physical buttons to my USB-A. cables that seem to change orientation when I look at them funny.
You can buy tactile bumps that stick to any surface, but many are too large to fit in the incredibly thin space between the keyboard and laptop screen. A tool like a tactile pen allows you to spread bumpy love around by making it flat enough to slide under the radar.