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Is the lack of a backlit keyboard some of that special love?

S

snouter

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 26, 2009
767
0
I love my 11.6" Air but the lack of a backlit keyboard is killing me. And WHY ON EARTH are the freaking letters on the keys dark grey?

If Apple released a new Air next month with an i3 or i5 ULV or Sandy Bridge ULV and a backlit keyboard I would feel compelled upgrade even at ridiculous cost to myself.

Is there a real reason why there are no backlit keys on the Air? Is Apple just FORCING ;) me to upgrade to the next model when released? Fockers. I'll buy an Adamo, I swear I will. Damn it.

Just not sure how it went down. They are in a clean room. Looking at the Air. Seems like someone would have said, "hmm, thing would really benefit with a backlit kayboard" and that somebody else would have said "yeah, we are Apple, leaders in design" and then Jobs would chime in, "Damn straight. Make it so." Where did it breakdown?
 
My guess is that Steve Jobs thinks all mac users are touch typists...If you use proper typing technique you are not looking at the keys to see the backlight.

That being said I am not a touch typist. I can type decently fast and I use the proper technique with my hands, but I can't escape looking down.
 
My typing is not bad. But I have a kinda hybrid touch look style and the backlit keyboard is easily the best thing mankind has done so far in the 21st century. Not quite man on the moon, but damn close.

I'm kinda old though. I grew up in an era where doing a lot of typing would get your butt kicked. I had to learn to type in closets and small underground typing clubs.
 
I'm a wonderful touch typist, but I find real value in the backlit keyboard. Sorry but the excuse that you should be a touch typist and therefore not need a backlight is just absurd to me. They had the backlit keyboard on previous generations, I hope they figure out that it's a feature many miss.
 
snouter said:
My typing is not bad. But I have a kinda hybrid touch look style and the backlit keyboard is easily the best thing mankind has done so far in the 21st century. Not quite man on the moon, but damn close.

I'm kinda old though. I grew up in an era where doing a lot of typing would get your butt kicked. I had to learn to type in closets and small underground typing clubs.
Click to expand...

I have reached the point where my version of typing is by keeping my fingers in my peripheral vision, just below line of sight, and yes, the moment I started up my MBP, which is my first Mac btw, I fell in love with the backlit keyboard.
 
Okay, so if there wasn't enough space for the backlighting materials...couldn't Apple have put some sort of "glow in the dark" coating over the lettering on the keys. Sounds corny, but at least it's an idea.

After a quick Google search, I guess it's been done for years and you can add it yourself:

keyboardstickersnetbook.jpg


http://www.dintz.com/questionable-keyboard-hack-glow-in-the-dark-key-toppers/

Maybe there's an Apple-worthy update to this idea somewhere, but I probably won't be wasting my time looking. Good luck.
 
It is disappointing but there are options. I for one am going to buy a glow in the dark keyboard cover such as http://www.iskin.com/protouch_macbook/common_features.html

It is not a perfect solution but you kill two birds with one stone. You not only prolong the life of your keyboard but also give it a glowing aura that will help you type in the dark and will preserve battery life.

There are better ones but this is what I found right away.
 
snouter said:
already thought of that and prolly what I'll do to put some function back into my form... but it's SO ghetto...
Click to expand...

Agreed!

Why should I have to slap on some gunky after-market crap that's still not as effective as a backlit keyboard to get the functionality that's in EVERY single other Apple aluminum laptop.

And again, the whole 'why can't you touch type' argument' is lame, since a lot of my web surfing and work involves occasionally hitting a key here and there, including function keys. I'm not going to leave my hands in the 'proper' typing position for an hour when it's only once in a while that I stop to use my keyboard. On those occasions, having clearly visible keys in a dark room is a fantastic feature ... a feature that Apple has had in their laptops for over 7 years now.
 
robeddie said:
Agreed!

Why should I have to slap on some gunky after-market crap that's still not as effective as a backlit keyboard to get the functionality that's in EVERY single other Apple aluminum laptop.
Click to expand...

Actually that's not true, the 13" Air has no BL keyboard either, nor did the 13" Aluminum Macbook entry level. ;)
 
meh. It annoying to not have backlit keyboard. But not that annoying. You have to remember these macbook air are "cheaper" so something has to give. Im sorry to say, its the backlit keyboard.
 
Your touch typing is bad. A hybrid of looking at the keys and typing is not touch typing; it's what people do when they first learn to type. If it REALLY annoys you to not have a backlit you are probably a much worse typer than you think. Never look down when its light outside and when the lights are out there is no difference. Even in the pitch black the screen gives off enough light so that you can see where the actual keys are, just not the lettering; this leads me to believe that some people are just not that good at typing. Try and improve before you consider spending more money. It sucks that something like this would cause you this much trouble.


If you know where they keys are and don't type while looking at the keyboard then a back-lit keyboard is just a fancy feature put in for the people that cannot type that way. Should the minority have to pay for a feature the majority would like? Yes. Maybe the people that don't care about backlit keys are less of a minority than it seems though. They can't please every one. It works it my favor. I pay less, because they didn't include something I don't care about and that I think looks tacky. I am sure they know there are tons of users that use their products because they are 'kid friendly' and they will not take backlits off their MBP lines.
 
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+1 - Perfectly stated Size100.
 
size100 said:
Your touch typing is bad. A hybrid of looking at the keys and typing is not touch typing; it's what people do when they first learn to type. If it REALLY annoys you to not have a backlit you are probably a much worse typer than you think.
Click to expand...

Oh, the irony in your post, there's no such word as "Typer" in the sense you're using it. The word is Typist. :p
 
I think it’s simply a matter of space. apple has done everything they can to make the air as thin as possible. Backlit keyboards just take up more space. Of course it would have been a nice feature but to me it’s really not that important.
 
size100 said:
Your touch typing is bad. A hybrid of looking at the keys and typing is not touch typing
Click to expand...

What if you know where the keys are and can type without seeing the lettering, but still keep your fingers in your sight? That's what I do. I keep my fingers visible in my lower peripheral vision when I type, but I don't worry about the letters because I know where they are. If I don't keep my fingers in my sight though I can't type fast at all.
 
HLdan said:
Oh, the irony in your post, there's no such word as "Typer" in the sense you're using it. The word is Typist. :p
Click to expand...

engineers don't know no grammar. I was talking about typing. So, I'm not sure it was ironic. I added that sentence and a few others in an edit, but 'typer' still sounds fine to me. There are at least a few more grammar errors in that post if you want to find them.


Dalton63841 said:
What if you know where the keys are and can type without seeing the lettering, but still keep your fingers in your sight? That's what I do. I keep my fingers visible in my lower peripheral vision when I type, but I don't worry about the letters because I know where they are. If I don't keep my fingers in my sight though I can't type fast at all.
Click to expand...

you should be able to look at the screen the whole time. When teaching typing to students the keyboards are covered by a cardboard box. I'm not sure if they still bother to teach kids to type(AIM and facebook should cover it), but thats how it was done back in the day.
 
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size100 said:
you should be able to look at the screen the whole time. When teaching typing to students the keyboards are covered by a cardboard box.
Click to expand...

Yea I remember that class. LOL a whole year and I couldn't get that part down. I still try though. I log about 8 hours a day on the computer and try to keep my eyes off my hands...Old dogs, new tricks and all though...
 
snouter said:
\Is there a real reason why there are no backlit keys on the Air? Is Apple just FORCING ;) me to upgrade to the next model when released? Fockers. I'll buy an Adamo, I swear I will. Damn it.
Click to expand...

The reason is very simple. A backlit keyboard takes more space. Apple decided to lose the backlit keyboard to use the recovered space to use bigger batteries giving the MBA longer battery life.
I my case this is the preferred option as i touch type anyway :)
 
Come to think of this, apple should have intergrated the blacklight into the new wireless keyboard.
 
Never had it on my 12" Powerbook and thought I needed it. Have it on my 15" MBP and hardly ever use it.

I prefer the device to be small rather than well lit.
 
HLdan said:
Oh, the irony in your post, there's no such word as "Typer" in the sense you're using it. The word is Typist. :p
Click to expand...

The irony is that you are criticizing someone's English, yet you seem to not know what the word irony means.
 
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