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  #1  
Old 12-29-2010, 08:00 PM
Jason Dunn
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Default Which Shift Key Do You Primarily Use?

After reading Chris' post about what makes a perfect keyboard, it got me thinking about Shift keys. In Canada, many laptop brands ship their laptops with a French/English keyboard, and when they do, the left shift key is cut in half to make room for an extra French-language key. The net result is that any touch typist trying to use that keyboard, if they're not accustomed to it, will constantly be missing the left shift key. I'm one of those people, and I flat-out refuse to purchase any laptop that doesn't have a full-sized shift key. That means no HP laptops for me - every single one of their consumer laptops sold in Canada have the shrunken left keyboard; it's one of the main reasons I tend to go for Dell laptops. I'm pleased that Apple allows you to choose what kind of keyboard you want on your laptop and wished more companies offered users that choice. If I primarily used the right shift key, however, I wouldn't have my choices curtailed.

What about you? Which shift key do you primarily use? I use the left shift key 100% of the time - never even touching the right-hand shift key.   

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Old 12-29-2010, 08:30 PM
rockinthesixstring
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I exclusively use the left shift key. In fact, I use every other key on my keyboard except the right shift key, as well as right alt and right ctrl.

nope, that's not quite true.
I'll use right alt and right ctrl if I have to ctrl+alt+delete with one hand. Darn Windows lock-ups.

My Macbook pro on the other hand has never had the right command or the right option keys pressed (along with the right shift).
 
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Old 12-29-2010, 08:39 PM
Phronetix
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Ha! Awesome!!

I never realized that my keyboards HAD right shift keys until now. LOL So, there you go.
 
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Old 12-29-2010, 09:21 PM
lynnroth
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I learned to type using both shift keys in junior high school...I think the teacher would have flipped out if we only used a single shift key. This was on an IBM Selectric type writer... if we were lucky we got to use the newer typewriter with a working backspace key...
 
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Old 12-29-2010, 09:28 PM
encece
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On both my work PC and home Mac I use the left shift key with my mouse on the right side.

I wonder which shift key most left handed people use?...lefties that use the mouse on the left side.
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Old 12-29-2010, 10:04 PM
Jason Dunn
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Quote:
Originally Posted by encece View Post
I wonder which shift key most left handed people use?...lefties that use the mouse on the left side.
I'm left-handed, but right dominant, so I'm a bit unusual - I suspect if they mouse with their left hand, they might use the right shift key more as their right hand remains on the keyboard.

The poll would get kind of complex if I tried to integrate left/right handedness.
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Old 12-29-2010, 10:07 PM
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Left key exclusively on all my keyboards (currently: a MB Pro 17").
 
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Old 12-29-2010, 11:26 PM
Sven Johannsen
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OK this is bizarre. Like lynnroth, they tried to teach me to type using both shift keys. You use the left shift to capitalize the stuff on the right of the keyboard and vice versa. So what do you mono shift guys do? Do you hit the right shift and reach across to hit a P with your left hand, or do you chord, hitting the shift and p with two fingers of the same hand? You are supposed to be typing, not playing a freakin piano
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Old 12-29-2010, 11:28 PM
Kacey Green
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jason Dunn View Post
I'm left-handed, but right dominant, so I'm a bit unusual - I suspect if they mouse with their left hand, they might use the right shift key more as their right hand remains on the keyboard.

The poll would get kind of complex if I tried to integrate left/right handedness.
I'm a Lefty for writing, stylus and that's about it, thanks to sparsity of Lefty items growing up, mouse with the right.

I use the opposite shift key from the key I'm trying to press, unless I'm going for one-handed then I use the closest shift/ctrl/alt etc key space is always with my right thumb, unless one handed or stylus. (convertible tablet so it counts here)

My typing teachers from elementary & middle school would flip out if the saw it any other way
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Old 12-29-2010, 11:29 PM
Jason Dunn
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sven View Post
OK this is bizarre. Like lynnroth, they tried to teach me to type using both shift keys. You use the left shift to capitalize the stuff on the right of the keyboard and vice versa. So what do you mono shift guys do?
Looking at my fingers in my more-or-less "home row" position, my pinky finger on my left hand basically hovers on/near the left shift key, so I never have to move it far to trigger the left shift key. The right shift key is slightly out of reach for my right-hand pinky finger. It's all about economy of motion - it seems us left-handed Shift key-ers are in the majority.

FWIW, I was taught to type on an electric typewriter, but I could care less what my teacher would say. I can probably type 2x to 3x faster than I could back then.
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