Editing 2137: Text Entry

{{comic
| number    = 2137
| date      = April 15, 2019
| title     = Text Entry
| image     = text_entry.png
| titletext = I like to think that somewhere out there, there's someone whose personal quest is lobbying TV providers to add an option to switch their on-screen keyboards to Dvorak.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a DVORAK LOBBYIST. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Randall]] is remarking on the "weirdest" things about the year 2019, the year that this comic was posted. The weirdest thing is obviously that {{w|Donald Trump}} is president. Although [[Sad comics|several comics]] may have relation to Donald Trump becoming president, this is the [[Sad_comics#Text_Entry|first time ever]], he has been mentioned by his full name (Trump is in [[1939: 2016 Election Map]]) in a standard xkcd comic. So Randall is taking a new approach in his stand against Trump, which began before the election with [[1756: I'm With Her]]. But also back then only his opponent was referenced.

However this comic is really about the second "weirdest" thing in 2019, which is the continued use of a user interface where a person has to "pick letters" to type. This can be seen when doing searches in a TV guide menu or in menus for streaming options like {{w|Netflix}} or {{w|Hulu}}. Some of these menus may allow for voice searches or support {{w|bluetooth keyboard}}s, but the traditional method is still to select letters via a cursor.  Many controllers for devices only have a few buttons, which makes it necessary to use schemes such as scrolling around a picture of a keyboard to laboriously select letters.  [[Cueball]] is probably looking up "{{w|Our Planet}}" which was a popular Netflix series when this comic was released. Cueball has spelled out "O U R [space] P L" so far.

Randall references the "{{w|Score (game)|high score}}" in an {{w|arcade game}}. When achieving a high score in an arcade game, the user typically is able to enter his name or initials into the machine. These are entered by picking letters one by one (and usually under a time limit, for extra stress and/or fun), as the comic mentions.

The title text mentions the keyboard system {{w|Dvorak Simplified Keyboard|Dvorak}}, a [[:Category:Dvorak|recurrent theme]] on xkcd, which is a keyboard layout patented by {{w|August Dvorak}} and {{w|William Dealey}}. As the Dvorak layout is optimized for more efficient typing with two hands, it is unlikely that using it would be more efficient than a standard {{w|Qwerty}} when limited to cursor entry methods. Another drawback would be that the Dvorak layout is unfamiliar to most people, and it could be confusing for users to use for TV selection menus compared to either the more familiar {{w|Qwerty}} layout or showing letters in alphabetical order.

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail and Cueball are sitting on a couch, with Megan standing behind them.  Cueball is pointing a remote at a television. The word space is written inside a frame.]
:Television: O...U...R...SPACE...P...L...
:Remote: Click Click Click

:[Caption below the panel:]
:The weirdest thing about 2019 is obviously that Donald Trump is president, but I think the second weirdest is that you sometimes ''still'' have to type stuff in by picking letters on a screen one at a time with a cursor like you're entering a high score in a 1980s arcade game.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring politicians]]
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Video games]]
[[Category:Dvorak]]