full fathom five: Note to Apple #1 : Most PC owners have never purchased a USB keyboard

Note to Apple #1 : Most PC owners have never purchased a USB keyboard

Michael Studman — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 16:59:00 -0400

Apple on the Mac Mini: “Bring your own monitor, keyboard and mouse (or buy new ones)”. What’s not so easy to find on http://www.apple.com/uk/macmini/ is that PS2 mice and keyboards are as useful to the Mac Mini as an Atari 2600 joystick.

I hazard a guess that most PC owners have never purchased a USB keyboard. A casual glance at our office computer graveyard seems to confirm this : all but one of the 45 keyboards were PS2-based (and the exception was from an old iMac anyway).

Apple: if you don’t want to dissapoint your customers as soon as they switch their Mini on then please include a PS2 to USB converter. Surely they can’t be as expensive as the DVI to VGA converter you supply?

"Note to Apple #1 : Most PC owners have never purchased a USB keyboard" by Michael Studman

Mon, 01 May 2006 22:08:19 -0400

Sadly no, Pete. And I think you're mistakenly assuming your pattern of keyboard purchases are typical.

You may buy a new USB keyboard every few years but I'd bet good money that most PC users (think of your parents and friends minus your influence) just make do with the keyboard that shipped with their system until it stops working. As far as I can tell, until recently, mid-range systems have mostly shipped with PS2 keyboards.

Individual's keyboard purchase habits aside, a large section of potential Apple switchers don't have USB keyboards - is it not a serious marketing error to omit a cheap converter the absence of which generates a frustrating first impression?

"Note to Apple #1 : Most PC owners have never purchased a USB keyboard" by Pete

Sat, 29 Apr 2006 05:39:11 -0400

You're kidding, aren't you. All the keyboards I've bought in the past 6 years (bar the one that came with a PC) either were USB or came with a PS2 to USB converter plug.

Actually the latest keyboard I bought went the other way - it is USB but came with a USB to PS2 converter.

Either the keyboards at work were all bundled with systems or all the converter plugs were chucked by people thinking "who is ever going to need this bit?".