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The ‘Caps-Lock’ key is an “abomination” and should be wiped from standard keyboards for the good of modern computer users. Such is the mission statement of IT futurist Peter Hintjens, whose online campaign to erase the “fat,” “outdated” and “underused” computer key is turning heads worldwide. The self-declared “hardcore programmer”’ from Brussels says ‘Caps’ is used only by Fortan programmers and 419 scammers, while in the workplace; its unintended use just creates tension. “STOP SHOUTING,” Hintjens proclaims online, alluding to how emails accidentally typed with Caps-Lock on come across as aggressively terse, as in, “SEND ME THE REPORT.” As a result Caps-Lock is the “confuser of innocents,” and keyboard manufacturers should redesign their products “to take into account that the world has changed since 1984,” he says. Designing keyboards that are based on layouts nearly 130-years-old which have been inherited from typewriters negates today’s importance of case-sensitive passwords and logins, his website adds. However Hintjens has given a seal of approval – or the so-called ‘CAPSfree Quality Standard’ to three models; the Nokia E70 smartphone, the Happy Hacker Keyboard and Colemak Keyboard. He’s also keen not to be seen complaining about the “disused” and “deprecated” Caps key without offering some potential solutions. To this end, a supporting petition, set up by a colleague, is calling for ideas and suggestions from keyboard warriors on new designs and layouts for both English and non-English users. Although Hintjens states “Caps Lock has to go” the programmer is pragmatic, as evidenced by his trumpeting of the Web-based petition, which calls for Caps to moved - rather than erased. “The simple answer is, the Ctrl key,” Hintjens recommends. “But a more imaginative answer is: don't replace the key, but redesign the left part of the keyboard to be more ergonomic. There are several interesting suggestions. A left Enter key. A programmable key. Two smaller function keys. Move other keys up, and enlarge the space bar.” Since its launch over a week ago, Hintjens's campaign has received a mixed response, with critics hailing from backgrounds in programming, online gaming, music software and art & design. However, around 900 signatures endorse the online petition that states the offending key should be moved or replaced, so “valuable keyboard real-estate” can be freed up. Supporting the call to permanently erase Caps, one campaigner, seemingly ahead of the times, wrote: “I always rip it out of my keyboard.” Another added: “I've been key swapping Caps lock with Control ever since IBM screwed up the placement and I'd REALLY miss having a Control key there.. Actually, I move Caps lock to F12 and keep two Control keys. But the one that gets all the use is where Caps lock used to be.” One advocate has been so convinced by the campaign that he’s ripped his Caps key off his keyboard and is auctioning it on eBay. Hintjens, dubbed a “freak” and accused of being “ill” by critics, says he won’t accept software workarounds to settle his obsession, and says the “most appealing idea is a new keyboard design.” One campaigner echoed his frustration with Caps: “I am sick to death of accidentally smacking the Caps Lock key, and then finding out after the fact that I've been typing in inverted case. yOU KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT, RIGHT?.” If the petition sways “major keyboard manufacturers”, to whom it will be presented, they may resist change because ‘Print Screen,’ ‘Pause’ and ‘Scroll Lock’ keys are next in Hintjens's sights. “I have launched CAPSoff, a campaign to change the world, one key at a time,” his site states. “We're going to start with the CAPS LOCK key, which is fat and useless and has no friends, so should be an easy target. Maybe after that we can gang up on the SysRq key. “To succeed, CAPSoff will need to convince a bunch of very large, very stupid organisations, that the computer users of the world really don't want this key.” Aug 24, 2006 Email this article Printer friendly page Previous Page
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