What started as a joke has become a real product, with the launch of a copy and paste keyboard.
Although there have been versions of this joke practically since the first years of the Internet, it was the Stack Overflow website for programmers that created the most striking version last April Fools ‘Day, the equivalent of April Fools’ Day in Spain.
The concept is simple: copy and paste are the tools most used by any administrator, programmer and enthusiast looking to solve problems; and in the case of Stack Overflow, where it is possible to find source code to use in our projects, it is more useful than ever. In fact, perhaps too much.
To ‘fight’ against this practice, the page showed a message throughout April 1 stating that it had limited the number of copy-paste to all users. The solution was to buy an exclusive keyboard, called “The Key”, which could bypass that limitation; Thus, Stack Overflow made a veiled criticism of pages that block content and functions in exchange for a subscription or a payment.
What those responsible for this joke were not expected is that users were disappointed that they could not buy the keyboard, and that they demanded that the company start production.
Finally, the keyboard has become a reality, thanks to a partnership with accessories online store Drop. As we can see in the images, it only has three keys : Ctrl (with the Stack Overflow logo), “C” and “V”. We don’t need anything else, after all. The keyboard has a USB-C connection, and a USB-A cable is included to connect it to our computer.
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It doesn’t have any special features, like wireless connection, but that’s the idea: a simple keyboard that only does two things, copy and paste. Well, it can actually do a lot more; thanks to the included software, we can program the keys , so we can make them fulfill the function we want.
“The Key” is now available to reserve for $ 29 (plus shipping), and thousands of units have already been sold. Not bad for a joke.
