I have to do a lot of calculation on the fly. When I'm on a business call and someone gives me up-to-date metrics I frequently have to translate that into numbers that make sense for my business. (e.g. If I'm on the phone with a vendor and someone tells me their unit price is $1.44, I need to add that to my COGS, subtract the current unit price, and multiply by monthly or annual capacity to figure out how that's going to affect costs.) I can do this by touch while I'm talking in 2 - 3 seconds if I have a numpad. If I don't, I need both hands and roughly twice the time per calculation and I need to double-check I typed things right because the numbers aren't aligned quite the same way on each keyboard I use. It becomes a noticeable drag on productivity when I'm performing more complex ad hoc calculations for reports or presentations. I used a macbook for years and won't do it anymore. Linux on a computer with a numpad is the only way for me to go now.

I'm not who you replied to, but:

- typing numbers.

- sometimes also: typing really long numbers

- rarely, I'll use the numpad to hold my pinky finger. My control key, arrow key, and backspace key don't like this though.

- I also use the +, -, and Enter keys too.

- Asterisk is handy for multiplication. But slash is definitely not used ever.

- Once in a while I might press the NumLock key. Usually it's pressed in pairs.

But how do you get over the embarrassment of how ugly your keyboard is? or how you have to type on the left side of it instead of the center?

> how do you get over the embarrassment of how ugly your keyboard is

Step 1: I don't get embarrassed by something that is functional.

Step 2. I don't get embarrassed by something that isn't ugly.

How do you get over the embarrassment of not being able to work and play as fast as the people who have a functional numpad?

It's a difficult task, but I shift my computer about 1.5 inches to the right.

IP addresses and IDs. Very satisfying to quickly bang out multiple numeric strings without error. I don't do this at work as much as I used to, so sometimes I switch to a TLK keyboard for more desk space.