http://www.smartclient.com/index.jsp#multipleSelect

It mystifies me when these things receive coverage as though they were new.

BTW the hard part of normalizing keyboard events isn’t the f-keys, it’s the modifier keys. Also solved long ago.

That’s a good argument for using keyboard shortcuts well, in appropriate places, more than anything.
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For the most part, “well” can be defined as being predictable, documented, and unobtrusive (I detailed some good practices for key commands here: http://ajaxian.com/archives/custom-events-as-api-end-points-for-key-bindings-and-more#comment-266726).
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“Appropriate places” can generally be defined as “applications, not documents”. If your documents have key commands, you’re probably overdoing it; I guess it depends on the nature, size and scope of your document though. I can’t say I haven’t wanted key commands in W3 spec documents, for instance! If your applications don’t have key commands (done well), you’re probably neglecting a UI feature that not only helps users substantially, but that many users expect from applications.
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It’s this kind of neglect that contributes to the perception that web apps aren’t “real” apps. And serious web app developers would do well to address that.

I think you are missing the point. Keyboard shortcuts may not be a big deal when browsing web pages, which does not require a lot of input, but when it comes to an enterprise level web application it can be used as a very fast input method. If you must force a user to go back and forth with the mouse and the keyboard the user experience is interrupted and and is also highly inefficient.

I agree with you that if the application maps shortcuts to already used shortcuts in the browser it hurts the overall usability of the system, but that is the responsibility of the developer to make sure and map the correct keys.

In my opinion, if you can make a enterprise level application run completely on keyboard you have done a great favor to your customers. (but this is not always possible.)