Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Hardware, Apple
Open Apple no more
When we first wrote about the then rumored new Apple keyboard old time Mac users discounted it as a fake because of one little detail: no Open Apple on the Command key. That's the Apple logo that which, until today, appeared on the Command key.
Sadly, it is true that the Apple logo has been banished from the keyboard, replaced with the much more useful label 'command.' At least this will help Mac support folks educate their users ('You want me to look for an Apple key?! That doesn't even make sense. Remind me again why I called the Help Desk!'), but I'll miss that little Apple logo. Call me old fashioned if you like, but Open Apple will always have a fond place in my heart and I'm not afraid to admit it.
[This post was inspired, in part, by John Siracusa's tweet.]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Dave said 11:10PM on 8-07-2007
Seriously, they couldn't have put the Apple logo in the upper-left of the key, while still having the "command" label on there? That little apple has been on there forever.
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Mike said 11:12PM on 8-07-2007
Now I have to learn to say command option p r etc. this sucks. I have been saying apple..... for years because people dont know what the hell the command symbol is supposed to be.
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Macmonster said 11:19PM on 8-07-2007
As I sit here typing on my son's new iMac keyboard I can look over at a 1985 vintage 512K "Fat Mac" that keeps watch over all things Mac and it's gargantuan keyboard does not sport a open Apple key nor does it have the word "command" but just a funny little cloverleaf symbol. I am sure that "hold down the APPLE key was a lot easier than "hold down that funny lookin' cloverleaf key" from way back but in the PC world of today maybe switchers need that old style PC terminology of "command"...kind of sounds PC-like. Not sure I like this trend but this is one fine new keyboard.
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Bob S. said 11:21PM on 8-07-2007
Bloggers, for the most part, are bloggers because they can't be real writers. You're too lazy. It's untrue that old-time Mac users had that issue; old-time Mac users know (as I pointed out before) that it took years for the Apple symbol to appear on the key. A writer would do a quick Web search to see when the symbol appeared; a blogger would make something up, like it's been there forever until today.
FWIW.
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joshjagdfeld said 11:42PM on 8-07-2007
The brilliant Apple employees at the Minneapolis Mall of America store told me that they didn't think you could buy the new keyboard separately from the iMacs. Even after having been told that it was clearly separately available online, all I got was attitude.
Kind of disappointing. Anyone else try to buy one in-store today and have no luck?
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smqt said 11:49PM on 8-07-2007
Maybe this has to do with Apple running Windows now?
And for use of these keyboards with Windows comps?
If command key can be used for windows commands too this might be a reason to drop it.
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Dripps said 11:53PM on 8-07-2007
Yes, I tried to buy it in the store but employees told me they didn't have them yet. Checking online it does say 3-5 weeks for bluetooth keyboard. The wired one will ship in a few days. I ordered both online when I got back home.
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euskir said 12:01AM on 8-08-2007
Sad. Here, in a familiar way, the usual order was: press "manzanita" (little apple in spanish) + well, the other command order.
La "manzanita" will be missed...
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carter Boyce said 12:04AM on 8-08-2007
i know, i will miss it too. that was probably my favorite key on the keyboard :(
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Whubbsie said 12:30AM on 8-08-2007
Looks like I'll be stealling all the old white keyboards when they upgrade... which working where I work..is probably never.....
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Brian said 12:33AM on 8-08-2007
I don't know what the big deal is.. the Apple key has not been on Macintosh keyboards forever as some may think. Those of us who have been around since the first mac 128 can tell you that originally the keyboard just had the command-key symbol on it. The Apple II keyboards on the other hand had the "open-apple" key. It wasn't until apple started using the same keyboard for all of the computers that the apple logo appeared on the macintosh keyboard. Just a bit of history. I, for one, am glad it's gone, since it's really an apple ii thing and not a macintosh thing. Just my opinion, for what it's worth.
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Dan said 12:38AM on 8-08-2007
That actually kind of sucks... I mean I just figured out how to type that apple:
(Wondering if that actually rendered)
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Dan said 12:39AM on 8-08-2007
Nope. Well, it did in Safari...
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Darren said 12:43AM on 8-08-2007
I, for one, will miss that little bit of Apple II history on the Mac keyboard.
But fear not! The Open Apple isn't the only piece of Apple II nostalgia on the modern Mac keyboard. Ever wonder why the backspace key is labelled 'Delete'? The original Mac and Lisa keyboard actually used the 'Backspace' label. It wasn't until the Apple II/Mac merge that the key was renamed 'Delete' to match Apple II software conventions (along with the introduction of the Open Apple)
So there you have it. The 'Delete' key is also from the Apple II. Apple II fans can breathe a sign of relief.
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Rhywun said 12:43AM on 8-08-2007
Being a Mac user for about 1.5 years... I won't miss the apple. It makes absolutely no sense to me. I don't even know what it means. Furthermore, I wouldn't mind seeing the other symbols displayed on their respective keys, since they are so prevalent in the menus but nowhere to be found on the keyboard. It took me a LONG time to figure out what the heck ⌥ was supposed to be. At least ⌃ is familiar from Windows.
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Wisconsin_Cheesehead said 12:46AM on 8-08-2007
Dear Apple:
If you can spell out "Command", "Option", "Shift", etc...
Why do you violate your own pattern by abbreviating "function"?
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J.I. Vicuña said 12:46AM on 8-08-2007
Is strange to see it gone, but now people will learn what the "funny cloverleaf" symbol on their keyboard and every single menu means.
Besides, the "Open/Closed Apple" is just a memory from the Apple II days. (Still have my //c in the office)
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Dave Jones said 12:46AM on 8-08-2007
Hey Bob S.
Open Apple was on my old Apple IIe keyboard way back in what, 1983? And if you had read the wikipedia article that Scott linked to in his article, you'd understand that Macs incorporated the open apple to be consistent with the Apple II's. I'm pretty sure it was even on the II+'s but I'm a lazy blog commenter and have not been able to verify that.
So, technically, open apple has been around forever, and before "splat" button. I don't think the lazy bloggers comment was justified. For what it's worth, there used to be a closed apple, too.
I miss the open apple. Makes way more sense when trying to help a user other than saying "Hit that command splat thingy buttton.:
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Rhywun said 12:47AM on 8-08-2007
Oh, and don't get me started with the Delete key. Why are there two of them?! I was trying to help my landlord with some keyboard usage tips (and of course he has Windows) and I had to explain to a man barely speaks any English to "press this button. It says 'Delete' on my keyboard but 'Backspace' on yours." Oy.
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Travis Powell said 12:48AM on 8-08-2007
Susan Kare, one of the originals from the Mac team, found this icon in an old book. It comes from the Sweden Park Service and means 'campground.' In the Book "Revolution in the Valley" by another Mac creator Andy Hertzfield, there is a chapter about this icon called "Swedish Campground."
Just a bit of history!
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