Luxury type.

I’ve wanted to rave about the Apple keyboard before, but I was afraid of being branded an Apple fanboy. Not that I’m not already branded that way, of course, but I like to keep some kind of semblance of impartiality.

But now that people like Jason Kottke, Tim Bray, and Rafe Colburn are all chiming in on how much they love this device, I think it’s only fair that I add my voice to the choir.

The Apple keyboard is actually the best product — apart from my Macbook Pro, of course — I’ve bought from Apple. Ever. Even better than the Macbook I bought my brother, better than my iPod Touch, better than my (gasp!) cinema display.

This is especially significant when considering that the other major Apple peripheral, the Mighty Mouse, is an excellent example of how good ideas go bad. The Mighty Mouse packs a lot of features and interesting design decisions into its small package, but what it fails to do is fit seamlessly into the way people use their computer mouse.

With the Apple Keyboard, however, the experience is remarkable. Not only is the keyboard perfectly sensitive, but the tactile response is exactly what you’d expect from a high-quality peripheral. Best of all, the buttons are all in the right place. As Tim Bray explains:

The larger [keyboard] includes the useful cluster with arrow keys, page up/down, home/end, “fn”, and the real “delete” key. The “control” key is large, at the lower left, and by some physical-mechanical equivalent of Fitt’s Law, is real easy to get to.

In addition to the detail around key placement and tactile response, Apple has also made the keyboard really easy to clean. (In fact, its construction makes it even harder to get crumbs and debris stuck between and underneath keys.) While this might seem insignificant to many keyboard manufacturers, it is certainly significant to consumers.

Now let’s see if Steve Jobs can get the keyboard guys to help out the Mighty Mouse designers. I’m in the market for a new mouse, after all.

Questions for a Friday evening

Because I’m too tired to throw together a long essay on either of these issues, and because sunny Friday afternoons were meant to be spent eating ice cream outside instead of writing, here are a few question running through my head as I sit and watch the sun set this evening.

Who stays for the credits?

Every time I go to the movie theater (which is quite often, I’ll admit), I see the same phenomenon: a mass exodus as soon as the film is done and the credits start rolling. Nobody, it seems, stays for the credits. (I do, but that’s because I’m a nerd and love learning about random cinema trivia like who was the gaffer for a particular film.)

Which makes me wonder why the studio doesn’t just use the web for posting credits. After showing the main cast and crew, get the rest up on a website.

That way, the gaffer can not only get his name up on the site, but a photo, list of previous films, and more information. Better than just one line on a screen that no one reads, right?

If we can start by first getting studios to list film credits on a website, then maybe we can eventually get them to embrace digital media and start creating a financial model based on the web as well. Someday.

How does Apple hire booth staff?

In the past two months, I’ve been to three enterprise-related conferences where Apple has been a sponsor. Every time I have stopped by the Apple booth at these conferences, however, I have noticed that the Apple representative not only knew nothing about the Mac platform, but was often a PC user hired by Apple to staff the booth.

Example: at this past week’s event, not only had the booth staff never heard of Quicksilver or knew how to create a smart folder in iTunes, but every time they wanted to demonstrate any function, they’d launch Parallels to open an application (including web browsers) in Windows because they were more comfortable in that environment.

Why? Apple does such a fantastic job hiring evangelists on college campuses and geek events. How does it mess up so badly when it comes to enterprise? I’m sure there are a lot of Mac enthusiasts that would jump at the chance to represent Apple. Why not hire them?

When did hockey become so exciting?

I’ve always resented the coverage that hockey gets here in Canada (pre-season hockey often trumps playoff baseball in this country) and I’ve resented the fact that the hockey post-season runs into the summer even more.

This year, however, things are different. The hockey playoffs this year have been more than just interesting, they’ve been thrilling. Case in point: Don Cherry on ESPN, Sean Avery dancing in front of the net, a four-overtime game, throwback uniforms, Sidney Crosby shining like the star he is, and a Wings-Penguins final.

When did hockey decide to actually become exciting? Or more importantly, relevant? Sure the NBA playoffs have been pretty enthralling as well, but if you’re stuck watching sports coverage in Canada, hockey is a nice substitute to settle for these days.

As long as it doesn’t interfere with the World Series or my NFL season, I think I may just become a closet hockey fan after all. Just don’t tell my football buddies.

Why don’t I get a day off on Monday?

Yes, I know our long weekend happened a week early, but it just doesn’t seem fair that our neighbors down south get to celebrate Memorial Day while I’m at work. Couldn’t they have shifted Victoria Day a week later?

Enjoy your weekend, Memorial Day or not.

What’s on your mind this Friday evening? (Drawing by Rob Ullman.)

How a ‘genius’ made my day

It’s story-telling time.

This tale took place some months ago, but I was inspired to share it with you all by a post Michael Sippey on his recent experience at an Apple Store Genius Bar.

Once upon a time…

…I was sitting on a table in front of the Apple Store Yorkdale, using the free wireless to catch up on a few emails and some work before I got on the subway to head downtown. Even though I know the staff don’t mind if people just stop by to use the free wi-fi, I’m always hesitant to log on without having bought anything.

Because of my hesitancy, you can imagine my apprehension when I was startled by an Apple “Genius” (I really think that Apple needs to rethink the ‘genius’ label. It just seems silly to me.) tapping me on my shoulder and staring at my Macbook. Instead of chiding me for using the wireless, he instead pointed to my computer and said,

“You’ve got some serious discoloration on your Macbook. Want me to change that for you?”

Three minutes later, he emerged with a new casing panel for my computer and replaced the old, discolored part for a shiny new white replacement. Once he had finished that, he asked me if I had any other problems with the Macbook. I told him about my declining battery life, and after running a quick diagnostic check, he pulled out a new battery and replaced my old one on the spot.

And we all lived happily ever after.

I quote this example when people ask me why I’m such a die-hard fan of Apple products. Sure, they may make products that look pretty and have remarkable user interfaces, but that “genius” that day showed me the core of the Apple philosophy: be proactive in engaging with your users and fix problems before they become problems.

You can definitely argue that Apple has failed to do that in certain cases, but on the whole, the focus on the customer — over and above what is expected from regular customer service — is what makes me such a fan of Jobs’ company.

So here’s a thank you to that “genius” that made my day.

The end.

For now.