I Hate (Most) Keyboard ‘Fn’ Keys
10 points by gerikson
10 points by gerikson
For some reason I thought this was going to be about the inability to use Fn as a general-purpose modifier—barring custom-firmware sorts of keyboards, it’s always handled entirely in the firmware, which is quite debilitating. Guess I’ll have to write my own similarly-titled piece.
I also wish keyboards would split both Shift keys in two, and Space in at least three, maybe split Caps Lock and ANSI Enter and Backspace and such too… I don’t have enough keys, for no adequate reason. Those wide keys are a pain for reliability too, too many keyboards have wide keys that you can’t press consistently, getting rid of wide keys would solve a problem there too.
For some reason I thought this was going to be about the inability to use Fn as a general-purpose modifier—barring custom-firmware sorts of keyboards, it’s always handled entirely in the firmware, which is quite debilitating. Guess I’ll have to write my own similarly-titled piece.
Apple keyboards actually do have it as an OS-available layer, and is fully rebindable. OS shortcuts also use it, i.e. Fn+e for emoji picker.
would split both Shift keys in two
you can get some of it by using ISO standard! (by definition it's 1 key larger, 109 vs 108 for ANSI)
I don't think I got your point, please help me. I use a 40% keyboard and use layers, so many keys have 2 or 3 functions. All easily programmable using a tool called ZMK.
The model name is Agar Mini, if you're curious.
I usually adjust my volume/brightness/music more than I press F keys, and I'm a statistical anomaly as a 5250 user.
What usually annoys me about the FN key is the location. Only MacBooks and ThinkPads get the location right; it should be in the far corner away from all the other keys since you rarely need to use it.
it should be in the far corner away from all the other keys since you rarely need to use it.
I've got different opinion - i can hit bottom left corner way more consistent than bottom left + 1u to the right (and I've swapped Fn with CTRL on my thinkpad for exactly that reason)
I confess that I don't quite buy into the rant. Most full-size keyboards on the market have a normal function key row, so you don't need to put up with this design. And I can see why it exists: most computer users today probably have no idea what function keys do, but they want to have a key to adjust volume without needing to know any combos.
Compact keyboards are a different story, but you gotta give up something, and there are "75%" keyboards with a standard function row. In any case, to me, the loss of "home", end", "page up", "page down", and "print screen" hurts more. As for the Fn key, it just sucks when it gets moved around and you have to switch between a work computer and a personal computer that has it in a different place (looking at you, Lenovo).