Dear Keyboard Manufacturers Of The Future

[WilliamPitt]

Greetings.

I am no Luddite, nor am I one to blithely throw over tradition, continuity or well-settled patterns. Some things are just because they are, and I am perfectly fine with that. I improvise, I endure, I tolerate...which is why I know the "qwerty" keyboard configuration is likely here to stay.

That having been said, I come to you on bended knee to request a small, unobtrusive change: can you please, for the love of all that is holy and good, do something about the "Caps Lock" key? Could you, perchance, move it to the upper far right corner of the keyboard, above the number-pad configuration? Barring that, could you adjust its sensitivity so that one must hold it down for a full two seconds before it activates?

You see, I am one of the eleventy-billion people on Earth who are not 70-wpm typists who can bang out a missive while looking out the window. I look up, I look down, I look up, I look down when I am typing, and far too often, my rogue left pinky finger will delicately brush the "Caps Lock" key, and before I know it, I have writTEN HALF A PARAGRAPH IN THE UNFORTUNATE STENTORIAN SHOUT THAT CAPITAL LETTERS DENOTE IN THIS DIGital day and age.

I am but one man, your humble servant. Any such adjustment along these lines will be greeted with ravishing gratitude.

Yours Most SinCERELY,

A FAn

[In_The_Wind]

1. SerIOUSLY

[IcyPeas]

2. do you know your Shift F3 key...

toggles between "ALL CAPS," "Initial Caps" and "lower case." It is a good little keyboard shortcut. (this is in Word, by the way).

Highlight the text and press Shift F3, it toggles through each case.

[LiberalEsto]

5. Thank you for that information

I have the same problem Will has, and I would LOVE to see the Caps Lock key moved elsewhere.

[PoliticAverse]

3. You can disable it or remap it if you don't need to use it. n/t

[Avalux]

4. I have accidentally hit the CAPS LOCK key when entering a password...

and not understood why it won't work, because I know I typed the correct password. Yes, agree wholeheartedly - move the damn key.

[Xyzse]

6. Doubled...

I don't generally have that problem.

Oh, Icy Peas mentioned it before me...

I will edit this now...

[klook]

7. Good rant - but you can disable the caps-lock key

Stentorian - one of my favorite words.

Windows version (requires editing the Registry, which is a bit harrowing but doable):
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-desktop/disable-caps-lock-key/8083d4ee-721d-463f-aeda-630cd7f047c3
or
http://www.wikihow.com/Disable-the-Capslock-Key-in-Windows

Personally, I like this from the wikihow page above:

Method 3 of 3: Hardware version
1. Physically remove the key. Pry the Caps Lock key from the keyboard. This will leave a hole where the key used to be, but you don't need administrator privileges to do this.

Mac version:
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/38828/how-to-disable-caps-lock-on-mac-os-x/

I also had a Mac app at one time that didn't disable the caps-lock key, but displayed a big white warning in the middle of the screen when it was engaged.

In Linux, of course, it's a command-line thing -- the true geeks wouldn't have it any other way:
http://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/linux-deactivate-caps-lock/

I actually used the physical key removal technique on a Windows keyboard when I had a Tab key that didn't work. I'm so accustomed to using Alt-Tab to switch between windows that it was driving me nuts when that one didn't work, so I just pried the damn thing off. My little finger still kept going there for days until I got used to the New Order.

[Duer 157099]

8. Thanks for that link; I like method #2 but beware

there's a typo. The instructions give the binary as:

00000000
00000000
03000000
000052E0
00003A00
00000000

but the image shows it with just "A" rather than "3A"

That is to inactivate both the Caps Lock and the Insert key.

http://www.wikihow.com/Disable-the-Capslock-Key-in-Windows

Also:

http://www.wikihow.com/Disable-the-Insert-Key-in-Windows

How this works

The first 4 bytes are header version information that should be 00000000
The next 4 bytes are header flags, and should be 00000000
The next 4 bytes are the number of key maps you are changing + 1 for the null terminator. In this case, you are just changing the Insert key, so this should be 2. Binary values are entered in little-endian format, so 0x02 becomes 02000000.
The next 4 bytes show the old key map and the new key map. You are mapping the Insert key press (code E052) to null (0000). After converting to little-endian form, they become 52E0 and 0000. Combining them gives 000052E0.
The last 4 bytes is the null terminator 00000000.
You can disable (or remap) other keys by adapting this procedure and using the appropriate key codes.

[klook]

9. OMG, I salute thee.

Way beyond my skill level... thanks for the correction.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

10. Oh do I ever hear you on this!

I am always doing that.

Desktop or laptop.......doesn't matter.

ARGH! (this was on purpose.

[jmowreader]

11. I want a comma key on the numeric pad

Try setting numbers without one.

[Shampoobra]

12. Every time I get a new keyboard, I take a screwdriver...

...and pop out the 'caps lock' and 'insert' keys. I put them in my top desk drawer until I get rid of the keyboard, and then a new pair from the new keyboard goes into the drawer.