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Comment by card_zero | Hacker News Reader

"Insert, now gone"? I press the INS key, I overwrite text, it's very useful. Though thinking about it I suppose that really turns insert mode off.

"Key beep" sounds horrific. :D

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The article is talking about symbols that were lost. The sentence should be interpreted as "these [symbols], for Insert (now gone) and Delete (still with us)". The photo is of a symbol for 'insert', an 'a' with a caret above it.

It probably makes sense with a silent linear keyswitch for users who are used to the obvious acoustic feedback of a typewriter.

Since cheap modern MCUs have programmable ADCs, you can wiggle an output pin and experiment with different sounds. I've tried something a bit more "tinkle" like than a flat "beep" and it has its charms, but it could go a whole new place like different tones for special keys (simulating the clunk of a shift or space bar) or even keys that you could subtly differentiate by sound to tell if you're off alignment.

If it's anything like the key sounds on old DEC systems, it's more akin to the key click sound on an iPhone than a beep.

The Insert key toggles insert mode.

Mind blown: we have always by default been in insert mode.

Commodore 64 was by default in overwrite mode.

When I switched to PC being in insert mode took some getting used to.

Not in vi. :)

Originally, in the days of text-mode forms, overwrite was the default, because that made more sense for fixed-length input fields.

> "Key beep" sounds horrific. :D

And yet, every computer in a TV show seems to have it enabled!

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