Why do we have an "insert" button on our keyboard?

Question

Since I can remember our keyboards have had the "Insert" button allowing us to "overtype" instead of moving text forward as we type.
Why?
Is there any use for this anymore?

Okay so I understand that most people are simply annoyed with it like I am, but I am getting an indication that some programs that run on DOS operating systems can still bennefit from the button as they can not highlight the text to type in place of it.
Is that what you are saying?
Is it for situations where the program is not capable of highlighting text and then overwriting it?

Answer 1

LOL I know it's the most annoying thing ever.

Last night I deleted an entire paragraph of my english work, nearly jumped out my window haha.

Answer 2

Good question, and no, I can't think of any reason to have "destructive input" any more. In the old days, the keyboard was a console to the CPU, not to the hard drive OS. Programs were entered in 80 or 40 columns on a terminal then often the command "run" on a line by itself.
edit:::::::::::::::::::::::::::
The Insert, Home, Page UP, Page DOWN, End, Del keys were originally Command keys for the Mainframe computers. The Mainframes operated on a different vantage point -- they ran from a Terminal, NOT the DOS. Controlling a computer with commands to the hard drive came about with the mini computers like the TRS-80, Apple-II, Commodore64, etc. None of those machines had a mouse. There was a use for the Insert key with CP/M and Base64 computer operating systems that required commands entered with what essentially was monospace characters on black-and-white text terminals. Some terminals didn't have a picture, you entered everything much like a typewriter on green-bar paper.

DBase-II was another way to run a computer without any DOS.

There are other legacy things on a computer such as the ASCII bell character (hex number 7, or octal 7 or decimal 7). Windows rings a bell (makes a sound) with that code, OSX and Linux do not. But Bell or Vertical Tab and the others were useful when programming on a Terminal. Today I would use Bell or VT as useful non-printing characters to separate lines of data into groups of words (fields) if I'm programming say, Python or java.

It's a legacy thing and it has its genesis from when computers did not have a Disk Operating System. The Command key was originally to get those special ASCII characters. Command subtracts 64 from the numeric code to get the command code. Thus, the key combination of Cmmd-G would get you ASCII 7. ASCII G being code 71( in decimal), the Cmmd subtracts 64 to get you into the range of the Command codes, in this case BELL.

I find the NumLock key much more annoying.

Answer 3

Insert Button

Answer 4

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Why do we have an "insert" button on our keyboard?
Since I can remember our keyboards have had the "Insert" button allowing us to "overtype" instead of moving text forward as we type.
Why?
Is there any use for this anymore?

Answer 5

No, but the new Keyboard Feature - a Panic Button. I think we have all needed a key like this before! I wonder what that key does though. :)) Thats a key we all need for this site! LOL

Answer 6

Insert buttons may not be useful when we r using it in documents
But its really useful with some programs like SAP where we can simply overwrite instead of having to delete every time

Answer 7

Insert kinda like lets you "insert" letters that form words etc. in front of what you have already typed...isn't that right? I'm having a nicotine withdrawal day...I could be wrong.

Answer 8

If you commonly perform word processing or editing, the insert key allows you to add text at a specific point in a sentence without having to overtype. Having to overtype all the time during word processing is as waste of your wpm speed.

Answer 9

Yes, there are certain times and places that this comes in handy. I use it when I'm filling out forms on the computer and need to 'overwrite' the information that is already there, instead of moving the text forward.

Answer 10

I have an INSERT button on my UK keyboard. It is next to HOME and DELETE