The "A" Key Breaky Part
Sunday, April 23, 2006
So, by some strange turn of events the other day I moved my hand in such a manner as to pretty much break the plastic molded tether that connects the A key of my Powerbook keybord to the computer itself (pictured). It’s now only kind of just sitting there, which requires me to push extra hard with my weakest finger (my left pinky, not pictured) every time I need to type an A, which is pretty often. Which has all amounted to some weird carpal tunnel-type thing in my left hand. And I have no idea how to get a Powerbook keyboard fixed. I’m assuming I’ll have to send the whole thing away, which I’d rather not do. On the bright side, the occasion offers me the opportunity to have some pun with my favorite ever post title, which is essentially the only reason I’m typing this.
There’s a company called Aleaseya Keys. They may be able to help?
it was worth it for the pun. and i feel your pain. the keyboard on our G4 tower at home has now been dropped at least 6 times by our girls while playing on the computer (the 5-year-old is particularly adept and slamming the thing to the floor), and the right shift key, left Apple key and a space bar are now permanently a pain in the ass. fortunately, it’s pretty easy to replace our keyboard. can you get to the apple store in indy?
there’s one in Bloomington–I’m gonna try and hit it this afternoon if my pinky will allow it.
Here’s instructions of how to replace keys on the powerbook: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=88106. I think you can buy individual keys on aple store…
This happened to me once before. You can totally fix it. The keys are held in place by these two hinged pieces of plastic, one of which latches in above the soft jelly actuator that’s underneath, one of which latches in below.
It takes some hard hand-eye coordination work and dealing with some tiny parts, but if you work on it for a while you can get the key to snap back into place. First, pull it comletely loose. Then play with the two plastic piece until you understand how they fit together and how they fit to the key. Then latch the bottom one in and try to squeeze the top one into place. The first hundred times you try it, the whole thing will disassemble in you hands, but entually you’ll become an expert and you’ll get the thing back together. I did.
man, bloomington is really on the map now. i haven’t been there since my dad moved away in the fall of ‘03 when he re-married. my mom and dad retired to a place at the pointe in the late ’80s (about 10 years after IU booted me after my junior year for failure to attend classes). after they’d lived there about a year, my mom said she finally understood why i flunked out. there was just too much to do. she loved it there, and i don’t think my dad wanted to stay after she died. i miss the place (even more now that they’ve got their own apple store). my wife still wants to go back to Lenny’s sometime, so we’ll get there one day.
Thanks Greg (and anonymous, masked man). I’ll say a little prayer and give it a go.
And I thought “soft jelly actuator” was a Cabaret Voltaire record.
Bloomington’s great for a lot of things, but it’s definitely fallen victim to the same Best Buy-ing of good, dingy record stores. All we have left is Tracks, which is pretty good for used stuff, and TD’s, where you have to sign a snark agreement before entering. You must accept the snark of the employees, or you must leave now.
I must be stupid but what is the pun punning?
which requires me to push extra hard with my weakest finger (my left pinky, not pictured)…
Don’t be coy with us, Eric, show the pinky!
Eric, you have mislead your loyal reading public. There is not in fact an apple store in bloomington, but only a reseller–which means, among other things, no plexi-glass stair-case, genius bar to make you feel inadequate, and, perhaps most importantly, no t-shirts with unfortunately cutesy yet witty promotional slogans. For shame.
Damnation.