The Key™, back to the basics

The Key. © Drop/Stack Overflow.

On the Stack Overflow site, developers can read through questions and answers about languages, frameworks, operating systems and other computer technologies. Research showed that within five minutes, one in four users who visit a page copies something – usually a block of code – to stick it into their own work. As an April Fool this year, Stack Overflow announced a keyboard with only three, essential keys: one key to access the site, one to copy and one to paste. “They say good artists copy, but great artists steal. They were wrong. Great artists, developers, and engineers copy. Then they paste. Every day, millions of innovators and creators across the globe move society and industry forward by copy-pasting code from Stack Overflow. But for too long, this process has been stuck in the past. Say goodbye to cramped fingers, sore wrists, and wasted movement. Say hello to The Key™, a device built from the ground up to make copy-pasting code from Stack Overflow fast, painless, and fun.” This joke made for a good laugh, but the accessory was completely fictitious of course.

…Up to now. Stack Overflow teamed up with retailer Drop to launch this little keyboard called The Key. A first batch sold out within hours, but you can pre-order a keyboard for US$ 29 that will ship in mid-December. As the three keys are in fact programmable, you can assign them any task you choose.

⇨ The Verge, Monica Chin, “You can now buy a keyboard that only copies and pastes.”

2021-09-29