Num Lock

Sat, Nov 6, 2004 2-minute read

Oh boy do I have a bit of flaming to do today! I have a story to tell… I have had my Apple Macintosh keyboard plugged up to my Windows PC for quite some time now and I haven’t been able to use the number pad. Windows will only let you use numbers on the keypad if your Num Lock key is pressed down. Seeing as my Apple keyboard has no Num Lock key, I couldn’t press it down, therefore my number pad was rendered useless. I eventually got it fixed by having my Windows machine acknowledge that I am using an Apple keyboard but this hooplah got me to thinking….WHY IS THERE A FREAKIN’ NUM LOCK KEY??!?! Okay, first of all, if I am anywhere near the blasted number pad it is most likely because I want to use the NUMBERS! Not the other keys that are found elsewhere on the keyboard!!! If you’ll notice, there is an entirely different section of keys for those functions. I don’t know one person who actually uses the Page Down button, much less on the NUMBER PAD!! What is the purpose of having two keys that perform the same function on two different parts of the keyboard! I sure as hades don’t know! Who in the blue blazes decided to put together this ridiculous configuration!! So I shall now conduct a survey. I would like to know which of you use the number pad for something other than the numbers. So Please LEAVE A COMMENT. I would love to know, maybe we could get this ridiculous NUM LOCK button removed from the keyboard. And if you DO in fact use the number pad for the Home, End, PG UP, PG DN or Arrow Keys, then I would like to know why. If you believe that the NUM LOCK key does in fact have a use other than taking up space on a keyboard, please tell me why. And now, THANK YOU APPLE for making a keyboard that makes good sense when it comes to the number pad, and for realizing that REAL people use the number pad for NUMBERS!