From Tracie: Good-Bye Apostrophe, I Will Miss You

Friday, November 22, 2013

Good-Bye Apostrophe, I Will Miss You

One thing I loved about the Nexus 7 tablet was the onscreen keyboard. I had several punctuation choices available without changing to the symbols keyboard. It was nice. I had my apostrophe and my hyphen right there with my letters. I also had easy access to quotation marks and the @.

It wasn't just nice, it was perfect.


Today I got the KitKat update. Android added the much anticipated emojis, but that was not the only change they made. They took away the extra punctuation on the main keyboard, making it more like a phone keyboard.

Nexus 7 Keyboard KitKat Update

I can still access my punctuation marks by going to the symbols keyboard, but that is two extra clicks every time I want to punctuate. And you know what? I do not use apostrophes when I write, but I definitely use them when I am on Twitter, trying to make each word as small as possible. I use them in casual correspondence, too. And I use at least one hyphen in every email I send. That is, I did, until Android put them two clicks away from my letters.

I know there are people who are very excited about the emojis (even though they only work if the person receiving them is also running KitKat on their device, making them seem pretty useless to me). But the addition of brightly colored pictures does not sway me, and it does not make up for the loss of a wide array of punctuation on the main keyboard.

We already have a whole generation of people who write in text speak. They have lost the ability to spell even the simplest of words. Apostrophes are often misused, and my eyes are constantly assaulted by people who do not know when to use "your" or "you're," but I do not think making punctuation less accessible is the answer. It seems like a step backward to me.

We might as well just give everyone paintbrushes and a cave wall, because apparently real words and proper punctuation are no longer needed to communicate.

Android, you can keep your emojis, just give me back my apostrophe.

*NaBloPoMo is better with apostrophes.

12 comments:

  1. I don't have an Android device, so I don't have ANY punctuation on my regular screen. Not even the period. I would LOVE to have some punctuation right there. To have that taken away fro emojis would BREAK MY HEART. Oh, man! I wish you had the choice to have emojis or no emojis but have the punctuation back. I'm so sorry!! --Lisa

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    1. No punctuation at all? Not even a period? That is crazy-town!

      Punctuation is important. Don't they understand? (Clearly they don't.)

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  2. Replies
    1. I'm glad to know I'm not alone in my punctuation pain.

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  3. THAT would drive me crazy!!! Those extra two clicks.... what a completely and total time suck! Ugh.

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  4. No way--I HAVE to have the punctuation!! Not having that option would make me bonkers.

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  5. This is why I love my external keyboard! It is really close to a regular keyboard, jsut slightly smaller. I think replacing punction with emojis is a dumb idea, though. You'd think they would make it something the end user could toggle between.

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  6. I totally agree. My new phone has all punctuation at least one click away too. I hate it. The thing that really irks me is the complete loss of adverbs. If I see "she did so good!" One more time I'm going to lose it. Lol

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  7. Ooo, I am buying a new phone this weekend and this was on my list of phones to look at. I have an old blackberry now which is a pain to use so I definitely want one that is easier not harder! No Nexus for me.

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  8. No apostrophes? That's sacrilegious.

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  9. I only have a dumb phone (not a smart phone), so this isn't an issue for me yet. But I agree. Making it harder to write properly is not good for our society. Written communication is already so painful for me much of the time. Good luck adjusting. (I hate adjusting.)

    Happy Sharefest!

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  10. Hi Tracie! Thanks so much for stopping by my blog earlier... I can really feel your pain on this subject! I've started using an external keyboard and it's helped a lot with the little irritations.
    As for correct punctuation and the like, don't even get me started! I just found out that my daughter's school (and apparently MANY others) are no longer teaching cursive writing because they feel it's not "necessary" in our tech advanced society. What?!?

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