evolution of keyboards

no Home/End keys

no Page Up / Page Down keys

The Control key drifted around in keyboard designs

this article is a comparison of WordStar vs. WordPerfect in 1990s

Control used to be where Shift-Lock is today

once you made a choice, you stuck with it

no real chance to try out a piece of software

it would be interesting to ask this same author for a review of more recent word-processing software

underlying beliefs drive decisions in subtle ways, subtle yet powerful

Who uses Shift-Lock today?

most common keys are accessible in one stroke by fingers

mouse needs 5 fingers

hold-over from mechanical caps lock key on mechanical typewriters

“computers” were big boxes that sat under your desk

^X is a simultaneous chord preformed by one hand

less common commands require 2 chords (e.g. ^QK)

I use a screwdriver to remove Shift-Lock on all of my keyboards

attempt to emulate existing tech with new tech

doesn’t work on my MacBook and Apple’s software is insufficient to properly remap Shift-Lock out of existence

emacs’ UNDO (^Xu) is a disaster, esp. as you get older and become fat-fingered

e.g. x/y/z/t 4D can be expressed using a computer

when developing code, I am much less productive when forced to use a mouse

UNDO is very common in usage, but assigned to a secondary chord

I have grown used to Control being at bottom left, but Apple put the FN key there

i.e. ^X fat-finger-flub u is not the same as ^Xu (and results in strange results)

new breed of writing - could not be anticipated

1 tool / language / app cannot possibly address all intended uses

emacs has waaay too many option - appears “complex” not “simple”