But computers look different now - they're like smartphones. It will be interesting to see whether in 10 or 15 years the whole idea of a keyboard will seem strange. We might be saying, "Remember when we used to type things?"

Oh, FFS, THIS crap again? Look, we're going to use keyboards. How else are we going to get data into the computer? Mind melds? Voice recognition is still flaky, nobody wants an office full of people screaming(more) at their computers, and I can type data into my laptop right now, sitting in bed watching TV without waking up my wife. I can also type in a public place, or while watching TV without disturbing everyone around me.

What about touchscreens, you say? Well, nobody wants to type on a flat piece of glass for any length of time. People who enter data with any regularity want a keyboard with tactile keys, they want their fingertips to fit into the scallops on top, they want to be able to touch type. With no physical keys for response, people won't be able to touch type for shiat.

Face it, the keyboard isn't going anywhere. The alternatives are nice for emails, texts and web searches, but for serious data entry of any kind, a physical keyboard is still the way to go. They may change in design, but they'll still be keyboards. Same goes for the mouse. As old as it is, it's still a pretty intuitive and accurate form of input. If you want to go the pure touchscreen route, you're going to need a stylus to get the precision even a cheap mouse can offer. Our fingers are just too fat. You'd think someone who typed blogs, supposedly for a living, would understand all of this.

As for the 'Escape' key, I use it all of the time. I use it when I expand a video to full screen, and I use it in gaming, just to name a few. I'm with the person upthread; If you're going to get rid of any key, get rid of the farking 'Insert' key, I don't know the last time I used it, except for when the default 'Insert' feature accidentally gets turned off. If the stupid key wasn't there, people would quit accidentally turning it off. I've never heard of anyone needing to turn it off.

poot_rootbeer: Why are they describing the purpose of the BRK key in a story about ESC?

They've never heard of current-loop circuit Teletypes.

flaminio: Mitt Romneys Tax Return: flaminio: In 30 years of using PCs, I've never used the SysRq key.

You've never taken a screenshot using that key?

Sure, but that's a PrtScn, not a SysRq.

SysRq is 'system request,' and delivers an accompanying control code (defined by one or more other keys, according to preset bindings) to a low level of the system, which will have priority over running OS-level processes. It performs a function similar to ESC, except that instead of a single fixed code, it allows the user to deliver any of a larger number of discrete codes or series of codes. (Also, ESC often won't do anything useful in the worst cases, where SysRq still can.) In Linux, we use it most often to perform a soft forced reboot if the system goes into kernal panic or similarly enters an inescapable hang, loop, or halt. (Similar to BSD or equivalent major, OS-wide failure situations.)

Now for some keyboard pr0n: