Buying a Laptop? Beware of the Canadian Multilingual Keyboard

Last week, I bought a new laptop computer.  I did my research thoroughly, read all the reviews, set a budget, and eventually choose an Acer V5-571G-6401.  Through my research, I was surprised and confused that for all manufacturers, model numbers are different in Canada and the US.  This made it especially hard to comparison shop.  I have since learned that there is a real difference between Canadian and American models, and that difference lies in the keyboard.

I had glanced at the computer in the store and everything seemed fine, but when I started using it, I was encountering constant typos.  The cause was  the "Canadian bilingual keyboard."

Through extensive Google searches, I have learned that most computers in Canada now come with this keyboard.

Take a look and note that the left shift key is very small and is one space further to the left than on traditional "American" keyboards, and the return/enter key is one space further to the right.  Extra[neous] keys have been inserted.  

extra keys adjacent to left shift and return/enter

(click to enlarge)

For people who look at the keys when they type, this is unlikely to be an issue, but I learned to touch type when I was in high school and I generally don't look at the keys.

Fortunately, I found a website called notavailablein.ca with this very helpful blog post entitled "Death to the Canadian Multilingual Keyboard."  It directed me to pressshift.ca, where I download a small free program called "Key Tweak" that let me remap the offending keys.

Press Shift also offers two stickers to put on the remapped keys.  With my experience developing and marketing stickers for kids, I couldn't bring myself to pay $4.00 for two tiny stickers.

Now, I can touch type without errors, as I am doing now.  While I no longer have a backslash key, I'm glad to have found a solution.

If you're thinking of buying a computer in Canada and actually know how to type, consider getting it in the US to avoid frustration and confusion.

Target welcomes itself to Canada

With already high awareness and approval, Target's March 2013 entry to Canada is being welcomed by many Canadians.  After this debut commercial, which aired during last night's Oscars, Target will no doubt be welcomed with open arms by even more Canadians.  Well done!

Quebec is different, even for dogs

As a Canadian marketer, I’m aware of the importance of understanding the environment in Quebec.  For many years, I’ve been reminded that “Quebec is different.”  It took me a minute to recognize that this CBC Radio interview, “Montreal bylaw requires dogs understand commands in both official languages,” is a parody, and a really funny one at that.  If you understand the humor in it, you’re probably Canadian.  If not, then you need someone who understands Canada to manage your Canadian marketing programs.

It's definitely worth listening to the clip!

Backwards licensing?

Camaro die-cast cars were always top sellers when I managed the Hot Wheels brand at Mattel and the Matchbox brand at Tyco.  As toy companies, we paid royalties to General Motors for the use of the Camaro trademark and were always excited when new models were released.  In an unusual twist, it’s now working the other way as License Magazine reports that “Chevrolet and Mattel have teamed up to bring the Hot Wheels brand to life with the new Camaro Hot Wheels Edition car, the first full-size Hot Wheels car ever to be offered for sale.”

Coincidentally, I appeared with the Matchbox design team on an episode of the PBS series "Reading Rainbow," where I used a Chevrolet Camaro to demonstrate how we used the concept of scale to make mini vehicle replicas of real cars.  Here's an image from the episode.  If you really want to see the episode, you can search YouTube.

The Hot Wheels license on a Camaro is a great idea!  Kudos to GM and Mattel.

Dogs like toys too!

This summer, I wrote about a university study that "revealed" that kids like toys, as demonstrated by the fact that toys impact their choices in promotional fast food meals.  In equally shocking news, another university study published a scientific look at “Why Dogs Find SomeToys Boring,” with Discovery News reporting that “at least one of the many reasons why dogs make such good pets is that they are renowned for routinely engaging in play, even as adults.” 

I have been fortunate to work with institutes of higher learning to conduct research, assess play patterns, and learn about kids.  Scientific study in these areas can be genuinely worthwhile.  This dog toy study...not so much.

Read the story here.

Do 1.2 million YouTube views matter?

Just over a year ago, I posted my best commercials on YouTube and wrote about it here.  My main goal was to have an online point of reference for my clients and prospective clients in toys and kids’ entertainment.  Since then, Purple Husky’s YouTube channel has had an astonishing 1.2 million views, vastly exceeding my expectations. 

As I work on social media programs for my clients’ brands, I’m always careful to emphasize that it’s crucial that they reach their true target consumers to create awareness or tune in or product sales.  While I’m grateful that Purple Husky’s YouTube presence has generated big traffic, it reinforces how important it is to pay attention to the quality of interactions, not just the quantity.

News Flash -- Kids Like Toys!

The National Post reports that

Children are far more likely to pick a healthier fast-food meal when promotional toys are offered only with those menu options and not with less nutritional fare like burgers, fries and a pop, a study has found.

Read the full article here, including the suggestions that legislation be enacted that would give kids toys only with healthy kids' meals and McDonald's Canada's thoughtful response.

In a statement, McDonald’s Canada said it is “proud of our Happy Meal program. The toy is a fun and engaging part of the Happy Meal experience for kids and parents alike, and we have no plans to change it.”

Disturbingly, it seems like it took a full year for this study, conducted by the University of Waterloo, to be published.  I would be embarassed telling my clients that it would take a year to publish survey results.  Maybe there's more to this than what has been reported.