Re: Caps misunderstanding

[Kelly Hoffman <kelly -at- NASHUA -dot- HP -dot- COM>]

Margaret Gerard <margaret%mailhost -at- TOSHIBA -dot- TIC -dot- OZ -dot- AU> writes:

> My reaction was - well of course the user will look for a key labelled "Any"
> because it is represented (in the message) with its initial letter uppercase,
> this means that it is a specific key.

My problem (based on experience teaching novice users :-) with the "press
any key" message has nothing to do with whether the key name or "any" in
the prompt is initial-capped, and everything to do with users deciding
that the Shift key or Ctrl key is "any" key.

It may *say* "press any key," but it doesn't *mean* it.  (Some keys are
more equal than others?)  Try explaining *that* to a novice. ("Well,
yeah, you pressed a key, but you just happened to choose one that doesn't
send anything to the computer unless you press another key too, so the
'puter doesn't *know* you pressed a key."   "Say, what?")

After this experience, why should the novice believe anything the computer
says?

> I constantly get documents to edit in which the writer plays fast and loose
> with initial caps.  Any ideas as to why this is so?

Perhaps because it's the editor's job to be concerned with nit-picky
details like consistency, and the writer doesn't want to be bothered?
(In other words, that's what editors are for. ;-)

kkh
Kelly K. Hoffman                             kelly -at- nashua -dot- hp -dot- com
Learning Products Engineer
Hewlett-Packard, Network Test Division       "Reading the manual is
One Tara Blvd., Nashua, NH 03062                admitting defeat."