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Comment by brianshaler | Hacker News Reader

This is an argument that the TouchBar should not be considered a deterrent for vim users since they shouldn't reach up to that row in the first place.

Also, this seems to be a generic complaint about the TouchBar as a feature of MacBooks Pro, which has been discussed at great length in threads about the feature, and not relevant to this post, which is about adding TouchBar support to React Native apps.

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I learned in a previous HN thread that the use of Esc originated with the ADM-3A [1] keyboard layout. It was next to Q where modern keyboards have the Tab key. In that context it makes sense to use, but yeah, Esc is not in a good place today.

Just me, or is it pretty silly to have the "STAY ON THE HOME ROW!" HJKL cursor keys, and then be reaching way out with your pinky all the time? Had people been frequently remapping it to caps before these MBPs came along, or did everyone just suck it up and assume it belongs there because reasons?

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADM-3A

I don't think of it as "reaching way out" so much as "whacking the corner."

I have a similar experience with AutoCAD where "mash esc repeatedly" means "get out of whatever I was doing," and I do it all the time. But AutoCAD's UI isn't designed to keep your fingers on the home row; it's a weird half-and-half mix of CLI and GUI where your hands will have to move no matter what you do. The inconsistency of whacking the corner with what I know of the rest of vi(m)'s design is what I find weird.

But like I said, not a vim user, so I'm grasping at straws here.

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