On the indispensability of TextExpander
(from Tales of Being TJ)
Scene: The Apple Store.
After waiting for a while to get help at the Genius Bar, our protagonist has finally been told that he needs to sign up for the queue via a form on one of the computers in the store.
Anyway, I went over to a 17″ Mac Book Pro and clicked on the aforementioned app. Up came a few prompts and then it asked me for my first and last name, and my cell phone number (optional).
I typed /first (tab) /last (tab) /cell (tab) and was amazed when I saw this appear on the screen:
/first /last /cell
Now that may look fine to you but I was expecting my first and last name and cell phone number to be inserted.
OOOooohhhhh….. wait, they don’t have TextExpander installed… and even if they did, they probably would not have my shortcuts installed. However, it was a good reminder of how accustomed I have become to having TextExpander around.
OK, I get textexpander. I don’t have it, but I understand it. But how is /first faster to type than “TJ” the first name of the guy who posted this tale? How is this better? I don’t get it. It makes sense for last name and cell phone number (especially for me who doesn’t really know how to touch-type the number keys), but for a first name that’s 6 characters or less, it’s a waste of time… isn’t it?
Good question. Clearly you were paying attention
However whenever I am filling out any sort of official form (i.e. not a blog comment) I use my full first name. This is helpful because it is the name on my credit card, which is 99% of what I find myself filling in online.
I do not have a shortcut for “TjL” although /tjl expands to “Timothy J. Luoma”
/name expands to Timothy Luoma
(because some forms just have one name field)
/first expands to Timothy
(because some forms have 2 name fields)
Like Merlin of 43Folders, I find that I often misspell my own name (he misspells his “Melrin” and I misspell mine TImothy which may not be as bad, but is still annoying.)
Anyway, a long and not particularly interesting answer. If nothing else it serves as a reminder that who we are online and who we are offline are not always the same people
Hi,
I have no idea how to download this softwaard. Is there a phone number that I can call for someone to walk me through this???
Please help.
Thanks,
Abby
Abby: Please send us an email at textexpander@smileonmymac.com. Our support team is fast and friendly, and will help you figure this out.