Saturday, June 02, 2007

Keyboards Should Have a ¢ Sign

For reasons that escape me, there is no cent sign on the keyboard.

If you also share the love for the ¢, you will dig this tip. If you hold down Alt and then type 0162 (using the keypad, using the numbers at the top of the keyboard doesn't work for some reason), a ¢ will show up.

I think the ¢ sign should be added to the keyboard, but which symbol should it replace?

I am no fan of the @, but fortunately for @ lovers it astutely tied itself to email addresses and is now indispensable. It is not clear to me when you are supposed to use a | sign, but having a vertical line around is handy, so it can stick around.

I don't get why we need [] and {} and (). I mean, are there people who really need 3 different types of brackets? Are there cases where a straight line bracket or a curved bracket just won't work and you need a squiggly bracket? Any one of those would be a good candidate, but that would take out 2 symbols and I only need to get rid of one.

I would like to get rid of the Caps Lock key because a certain segment of the population believes that if you type things in all caps IT MAKES YOUR POINT STRONGER, when really it just makes you look desperate. But, such a large key comes with a lot of responsibility and I am not sure the ¢ symbol could handle it.

Then there is the "Pause/Break" key. I don't know if I have ever used it. Not clear to me exactly what breaks when I click it, and I am not sure I want to find out. This would be a good candidate, but it is over in no mans land, chilling with Scroll Lock and Print Screen. As much as I love the ¢, I am not sure I am willing to stretch my pinky finger that far.

Instead, I think we should get rid of the ` symbol. What? Don't you need that for words like don't? No, that is the ' key not the ` key. Confused? Exactly. That is why we need to get rid of it. There is no reason for two ' symbols. And that corner key is some prime real estate.

But this is all just my 2¢.

8 comments:

Audacious Epigone said...

How about dropping the 'shift' key on the right side of the keyboard. Does anyone use that? I honestly don't know, as I'm left handed and have never used it. Not once, I don't think.

Fat Knowledge said...

I use it every time I capitalize a letter on the left side of the keyboard. So, for me it has to stay.

MensaRefugee said...

Ahem.
*cough* Click Here. *cough*

Fat Knowledge said...

Mensa,

That Optimus is nice, but I still didn't see any ¢ signs in any of the pictures.

MensaRefugee said...

FatKL,
The point is you can configure ANY key to have ANY FUNCTION.

Ergo You can have your Alt 0162 or ¢ key self assigned if you want. And as each key has its own display... have that '¢' sign imprinted on the key as well.

Too expensive at present, but that will change in a few years

MensaRefugee said...

...not to mention the probable return of Dvorak.. see my blog if you wish.

Fat Knowledge said...

Mensa,

It would definitely be nice to have the flexibility of remapping keys.

Anonymous said...

I have a Mac so I'm not sure about PCs but if you simply hold down the alt key and then "4" it will make ¢. Every key used in conjunction with "alt" makes a new symbol. It's esp. helpful w/o the "insert-symbol" option in mac. software programs (i.e. pages, keynote).

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.