Where is the Any Key?

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Posted by ryuzaki0 on Sunday September 21, 2003 @02:54AM from the i-always-wondered dept.

ricembr noted that compaq has finally provided a FAQ to the world to ask that long standing question where is the any key? Pray that this was added to the FAQ as a joke, and not in response to legitimate need ;)

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Re:Rather old by Daniel · 2003-09-21 03:13 · Score: 2, Insightful

Of course its NOT a joke.. many people really don't understand what we take for granted, and take things they are told literally..

Just to be pendantic, this would not be a problem if people would take things literally. "Press any key to continue" means exactly that -- press ANY key. The problem is that some people read too much into it, and think it is telegraphic notation for "press *the* any key".

Daniel

--
Hurry up and jump on the individualist bandwagon!
Re:It's Likely True by Scrameustache · 2003-09-21 03:16 · Score: 4, Insightful

Of course, the any key one is a bit of a mystery. Not so much because I don't think people would ask that question, but rather becuase it's been years since I've seen that asked (usually it's the "click OK to continue").

I still see it, and I find it very annoying, because its such a lie! The SHIFT key doesn't count, neither does ESCAPE...

"Press ANY key...no, not that one...no, not that one either...any key except the ones that don't count...keep trying..."

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You can't take the sky from me...
Don't confuse stupid with unfamiliar by dsfox · 2003-09-21 03:18 · Score: 4, Insightful

Why shouldn't the bigger one be able to hold either? You just happen to know it doesn't.
It is a coding bug by tgibney · 2003-09-21 03:28 · Score: 5, Insightful

I have always considered "Press any key to continue" a bug for two reasons.
1) not any key will work (i.e Shift, Control etc.)
2) there is much easier answer.

The proper message is "Press a key to continue" because the worst they will do is press "a"
A joke? by Anonymous Coward · 2003-09-21 03:43 · Score: 1, Insightful

Pray that this was added to the FAQ as a joke, and not in response to legitimate need

Wanna bet?
Put yourself in their shoes by vocaro · 2003-09-21 04:33 · Score: 3, Insightful
Yes, we've all had a few chuckles about the mistakes of new computer users. But remember that every one of us was a newbie at some point. Never forget:
- Nobody is born knowing this stuff.
- You've forgotten what it's like to be a beginner.
- If it's not obvious to them, it's not obvious.
- A computer is a means to an end. The person you're helping probably cares mostly about the end. This is reasonable.
- Their knowledge of the computer is grounded in what they can do and see -- when I do this, it does that. They need to develop a deeper understanding, of course, but this can only happen slowly, and not through abstract theory but through the real, concrete situations they encounter in their work.
- By the time they ask you for help, they've probably tried several different things. As a result, their computer might be in a strange state. That's not their fault.
- Most user interfaces are terrible. When people make mistakes it's usually the fault of the interface. You've forgotten how many ways you've learned to adapt to bad interfaces. You've forgotten how many things you once assumed that the interface would be able to do for you.
- Knowledge lives in communities, not individuals. A computer user who's not part of a community of computer users is going to have a harder time of it than one who is.
Adapted from How to Help Someone Use a Computer
Re:It's Likely True by RPoet · 2003-09-21 05:22 · Score: 2, Insightful

ppl should just use 'Press a key to continue' which avoids the confusion

They'd probably press the 'a' key, but hey, it'd work :)

--
"Oppression and harassment is a small price to pay to live in the land of the free." -- Montgomery Burns.
Hate to say it, but there's a need by dacarr · 2003-09-21 05:57 · Score: 4, Insightful

There are people who use the internet who:
* QED, need to know where the any key is
* think the internet is operated by Microsoft or AOL
* believe the internet is solely comprised of HTTP (my brother could be once quoted as saying "that's not the internet I use", when he spotted me using a prompt based FTP client; he's since become more clueful)
* don't understand that not everybody runs Microsoft products
* don't realize that an "illegal operation" is not going to get you into legal trouble
* buy from spammers
* think the "hard drive" is the case in which the components of their computer resides in, rather than a small box the size of two decks of cards
* must call the local BOFH to turn on their computer daily
In other words, users are idiots.

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This sig no verb.
Don't need a FAQ, just fix the prompts and docs by satch89450 · 2003-09-21 06:07 · Score: 4, Insightful

When I had a product out in the field, I had seen the "any" key problem enough that I decided not to do that. In every prompt, I specify exactly which key to depress. The documentation made it clear that a specific key was to be depressed (pressed firmly and then released quickly).

We never got a service call on that point. EVER.

We DID get one call from a technician who said that he pressed the wrong key and it seemed to work anyway. I assured him that he was just fine and to continue working with the product.

As you can guess, the CODE didn't require a specific key, but the documentation and prompt specified one. I also didn't allow type-ahead on those prompts so that there wasn't a problem with astonishing results to clueless users who didn't release the key fast enough. I also had code to wait until the keyboard stopped sending characters before putting up the prompt "Depress the C key to continue."