We all use the Shift key on our keyboards on a daily basis – but have you ever stopped to consider it’s origins and why it is so called?
Retro tech expert has Ryan Senensky has taken to TikTok to delve into the history behind the button we most commonly use to capitalise letters. Showcasing his array of machines from years goneby in a video, he pointed out that his PCs from the 1990s indeed have the key – in the same position we find it today.
Heading back further in time, Ryan also revealed his 1983 Commodore 64 keyboard has the Shift key too, noting that an additional Shift Lock key serves the same purpose as the modern Caps Lock function we see today. Moving on to his non-electrical equipment, he then uncovered his Adler typewriter from 1951.
“Look,” Ryan said as he tapped it’s Shift key. “Let me take the cover off and I’ll show you something really cool.” Revealing the typewriter’s mechanics, he pointed out what visibly happens when you press Shift. “Shift means literally shift the letter set carriage downwards.
Zooming in on said carriage, Ryan added: “You have one set of lowercase and one set of uppercase on each hammer and that is what shift means.” The Shift key was first used in the Remington No. 2 Type-Writer of 1878, meanwhile.
Whilst the clip might be somewhat ‘nerdy’ to some, it quickly went viral with Ryan amassing more than one million views in less than 24 hours. “Why do I feel like I just got flexed on with a computer museum?” asked one TikTok user in response. “Appreciate the education though.”
A second person quipped: “This is aimed at a very particular subset of people… of which I am one. Thank you for the practically useless but fun knowledge!” A third admitted they found the video informative, penning: “I thought shift means shifting between two sets of keys, but i didn’t know it’s LITTERALY shifting between the sets.”
Whilst a fourth praised: “Great video. I enjoyed the show and tell history lesson, especially when we saw the typewriter. Very cool.”
Others, meanwhile, shared further history lessons on the keyboard, including one TikTok user who penned: “Fun fact: QWERTY style layout exists because people typed too fast and the typewriter would get jammed up – so they spread out the most common used letters.”
Another pointed out another typewriter origin: “The Return/Enter key returns the carriage back to starting point on the next line.” Whilst a third shared: “This is also why they’re called upper and lowercase. In the days of printing press type settings (another phrase once more literal) they were stored in actual cases.”