Quote:
Originally Posted by Aaron
When the first Mac came out that used a mouse, Apple removed the directional keyboard keys so the user would use the mouse more.
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Actually when the design decisions were first formalized about the thin man (what the original 128k Mac was called after the 512 and Plus were announced) it was by direction from Steve that it
not have function keys, direction keys, numerical keypad or anything of the like. Steve has even been quoted (misquoted?) as stating in the early days that there will never be a numerical keypad on a Macintosh keyboard. Obviously that did not hold up.
All key stroke functions were done with the command key and other such modifiers rather than with function keys and such. In fact the original human interface guidelines were designed stating that software developers were to minimize the number of functions that
required the use of a mouse. (Clearly some operations required the use of a mouse, e.g., drawing in MacPaint.) The goal was to be
able to do as much with the keyboard as possible. This is why Apple strongly pushed that developers put "command keys", as they were commonly referred to back then, for all menu items as well as many functions that were not in menus.
The basic concept was to simplify the human interface: as much as is realistic with the basic keyboard and the rest with the mouse. The user was supposed to use which ever (keyboard or mouse) was best for them. This turned out to be a restrictive system, and Apple started shipping keyboards with numerical keypads, direction keys, function keys and such.
However, unfortunately, there is still the occasional throwback to those old concepts -- case in point: the new wireless keyboard for the newest iMac. IMO, just plain dumb