<<re:So, tell me about this ASCII SHIFT key. What's it good for?>>
I do not usually engage in self promotion, but since you asked, here it is... While it is a long story I'll try to keep it short. I, Bob B., Franklin C., and Kevin S. were all big time trouble makers at IBM. We were each slated for a layoff so they moved us to an office next to the first IBM computer. People thought we were goof-offs, but in retrospect I think we were all just showing our talent for maximizing the ratio of income vs. work. I think you will agree that this talent, nutured in the early years is in full flower today. Whoever said, hard work is its own reward was an idiot. So here we are, next to the first IBM computer and the engineers just back from the first human factors seminiar, decided that the way to interact with this computer was using the human voice. I feel sorry for those progammers. Polite talk soon turned to YELLING. All day and all night they would YELL at the machine. Believe me, Bob, Franklin, Kevin and I were not motivated to help the company but the YELLING was definiately interfering with our ability to tolerate doing nothing for this company! There was loose talk about quitting among the group. Finally, someone, I am not sure who, (I am sure that they all take credit for it), decided we needed to build the first computer keyboard. Anything to stop all that YELLING next to our office. So Bob is right when he claims he is that father of the ESCAPE key, but that is the only key he worked on. What a slacker? Flanklin, he did provide that little of section called the numeric keypad, Kevin he did most the the rest of the letters. He is a werd, guy, even back then. Each time he put a key on the board he said this will allow those stupid programmers to do stupid things faster then YELLING. In retrospect, I now understand why he kept trying to put a 2 digit date key on the board. If I had only known! Well you may have guessed it, I added the SHIFT key and the CAP LOCKS key for upward capatibility with the original YELLING method.
Regards
Tom
ps: It is not true as some computer historians have suggusted that the reason for the SHIFt key was for capital formation. |
