Why do you think Apple chose green for the caps and number lock keys? [Archive]

lu0s3r322

Dec 24, 2006, 11:45 PM

I was just wondering since I've been using the caps lock key a lot lately, is there any reason why Apple chose to make them light up green when they are activated? Are they green on the Macbooks (I only have MBP)?

Even though this won't change the color in the future, I was just wondering because in my opinion, the green just looks out of place on the keyboard. I would have much rather liked a white like the backlit keyboard and have it turn black when the backlight was on. Or if that isn't possible, blue would be my second choice. But green?

Stampyhead

Dec 24, 2006, 11:57 PM

in my opinion, the green just looks out of place on the keyboard.

This may be exactly why they used it. If it looks out of place you'll notice that it's on.
I could be wrong, but it makes sense to me...

TequilaBoobs

Dec 25, 2006, 12:02 AM

green is the color most picked by geniuses as their favorite color.

~Shard~

Dec 25, 2006, 12:06 AM

They made it green due to it being the color of money and Christmas trees. :p :D

Kane.Elson

Dec 25, 2006, 12:11 AM

Because pretty much every keyboard I have seen uses green and sometimes red... I can't really remember though I don't pay that much attention to asthetics.

Irish Dave

Dec 25, 2006, 12:15 AM

MoparShaha

Dec 25, 2006, 01:10 AM

Well, I can tell you why it's not white: it wouldn't be noticeable when the keyboard was illuminated.

The hue of the green has changed on the MPB's from the days of the PB. My 12" PB's green lights were lighter and less saturated than my MBP's.

While I agree blue is "cooler" than green, I appreciate that my MBP doesn't light up like a blue christmas tree like most other PC laptops. HP's are the worst, they have a dozen blue LED's blinding the user. Ridiculous...

EvryDayImShufln

Dec 25, 2006, 02:11 AM

aaronw1986

Dec 25, 2006, 02:31 AM

cause green looks cool, :D

katie ta achoo

Dec 25, 2006, 02:37 AM

Green is right smack dab in the middle of the visual light spectrum.
IIRC, it's the easiest to see-- that's why night vision goggles are green.

Then again it's 2:30 am and I just finished decorating a cake and snacking on the nice, rummy frosting...

amd4me

Dec 25, 2006, 03:47 AM

green is the color most picked by geniuses as their favorite color.

Really?
Green has always been my favourite color.

mad jew

Dec 25, 2006, 05:05 AM

Green is cheaper to produce.

This post, and similar future posts, may have been created under the influence of eggnog and brandy sauce.

Infinity

Dec 25, 2006, 07:13 AM

I'm suprised no graphic designers have commented that green is the colour that has the most visible wavelength for humans.

iBookG4user

Dec 25, 2006, 07:19 AM

I'm suprised no graphic designers have commented that green is the colour that has the most visible wavelength for humans.

see quote below.

Green is right smack dab in the middle of the visual light spectrum.
IIRC, it's the easiest to see-- that's why night vision goggles are green.

Then again it's 2:30 am and I just finished decorating a cake and snacking on the nice, rummy frosting...

And I would say it's because you'd be most likely to see the green if it comes on by accident than say a white. It has to stand out, or so I would think.

Cybergypsy

Dec 25, 2006, 07:33 AM

green is the color most picked by geniuses as their favorite color.

Since i have hated green always......... Hummmmmmmmmmm

someguy

Dec 25, 2006, 08:09 AM

I wish it were orange. :cool:

mkrishnan

Dec 25, 2006, 08:34 AM

Actually the blue wavelength makes it hard to see properly. I dont know why this is exactly, but if you've ever noticed, blue light up writing is harder to read than most colors. I'm assuming green is one of the easiest to, but I may be wrong.

Green is right smack dab in the middle of the visual light spectrum.
IIRC, it's the easiest to see-- that's why night vision goggles are green.

You're both very correct... the eye has three types of cells (cones) that see color -- one of them peaks in the red, one peaks in sensitivity in the yellow-green, and the last in the blue. But each has a broad band of sensitivity. Iif you take into account the density of each cell type (there are far fewer blue cells than the other two) and the sensitivity profiles, the eye is most sensitive to sort of lighter greens around where the lights are.

Also, interestingly, as there are far fewer blue cone cells (around 2% of all cone cells, I think) than red or green, and they're actually not located dead center on the focus spot of the retina, if you actually ever do see patterns (letters, etc), that are illuminated in just high-frequency blue light, it's *very* hard to make out what you're looking at, and it appears kind of ghosty, because you just don't have very many cone cells that can see this light in order to produce a strong perception of the pattern. :o

Also, though, the lights on the keys match the light on the power cable. ;)

EvryDayImShufln

Dec 25, 2006, 10:20 AM

You're both very correct... the eye has three types of cells (cones) that see color -- one of them peaks in the red, one peaks in sensitivity in the yellow-green, and the last in the blue. But each has a broad band of sensitivity. Iif you take into account the density of each cell type (there are far fewer blue cells than the other two) and the sensitivity profiles, the eye is most sensitive to sort of lighter greens around where the lights are.

Also, interestingly, as there are far fewer blue cone cells (around 2% of all cone cells, I think) than red or green, and they're actually not located dead center on the focus spot of the retina, if you actually ever do see patterns (letters, etc), that are illuminated in just high-frequency blue light, it's *very* hard to make out what you're looking at, and it appears kind of ghosty, because you just don't have very many cone cells that can see this light in order to produce a strong perception of the pattern. :o

Also, though, the lights on the keys match the light on the power cable. ;)

Very interesting, thanks for sharing that information. Are you studying biology of some sort?

mkrishnan

Dec 25, 2006, 10:22 AM

Very interesting, thanks for sharing that information. Are you studying biology of some sort?

Neuropsychology. :) So I'm more interested in the brain than the periphery, but I do have to know all that stuff too. :)

But interestingly I also did optics once upon a time and all that was a topic of discussion when we were playing with the lasers. :o

Copland

Dec 25, 2006, 10:30 AM

Just to chime in, I have a MacBook and its number lock and caps lock buttons also light up green.

The explanation about green sticking out and being easiest to process make sense.

adrianblaine

Dec 25, 2006, 10:44 AM

Actually the blue wavelength makes it hard to see properly. I dont know why this is exactly, but if you've ever noticed, blue light up writing is harder to read than most colors. I'm assuming green is one of the easiest to, but I may be wrong.

I've been noticing that more fire trucks are going to the yellowish green color instead of red. I heard that they are easier to see at night.

Victory

Dec 25, 2006, 11:49 AM

I think it's because it stands out.

TequilaBoobs

Dec 25, 2006, 12:48 PM

I've been noticing that more fire trucks are going to the yellowish green color instead of red. I heard that they are easier to see at night.

thats a hoax. at first the number of accidents went down when the red changed to green, but that was shown to be the result of a novelty effect. anything that surprises you will draw more attention.

TequilaBoobs

Dec 25, 2006, 12:49 PM

Really?
Green has always been my favourite color.

thats promising for you, but remember that doesn't mean youre a genius.:p
but u could be!

TequilaBoobs

Dec 25, 2006, 12:51 PM

You're both very correct... the eye has three types of cells (cones) that see color -- one of them peaks in the red, one peaks in sensitivity in the yellow-green, and the last in the blue. But each has a broad band of sensitivity. Iif you take into account the density of each cell type (there are far fewer blue cells than the other two) and the sensitivity profiles, the eye is most sensitive to sort of lighter greens around where the lights are.

Also, interestingly, as there are far fewer blue cone cells (around 2% of all cone cells, I think) than red or green, and they're actually not located dead center on the focus spot of the retina, if you actually ever do see patterns (letters, etc), that are illuminated in just high-frequency blue light, it's *very* hard to make out what you're looking at, and it appears kind of ghosty, because you just don't have very many cone cells that can see this light in order to produce a strong perception of the pattern. :o

Also, though, the lights on the keys match the light on the power cable. ;)

neuropsych rears its ugly head. bad memories, though i did get an A- in that course. :p

MOFS

Dec 25, 2006, 12:55 PM

You're both very correct... the eye has three types of cells (cones) that see color -- one of them peaks in the red, one peaks in sensitivity in the yellow-green, and the last in the blue. But each has a broad band of sensitivity. Iif you take into account the density of each cell type (there are far fewer blue cells than the other two) and the sensitivity profiles, the eye is most sensitive to sort of lighter greens around where the lights are.

Also, interestingly, as there are far fewer blue cone cells (around 2% of all cone cells, I think) than red or green, and they're actually not located dead center on the focus spot of the retina, if you actually ever do see patterns (letters, etc), that are illuminated in just high-frequency blue light, it's *very* hard to make out what you're looking at, and it appears kind of ghosty, because you just don't have very many cone cells that can see this light in order to produce a strong perception of the pattern. :o

Also, though, the lights on the keys match the light on the power cable. ;)

Tho' isn't red the most penetrating? I thought that was the reason red lights are used for stop signs, braking signs on a car etc.

TequilaBoobs

Dec 25, 2006, 01:01 PM

Tho' isn't red the most penetrating? I thought that was the reason red lights are used for stop signs, braking signs on a car etc.

red color can easily burn out your eyes after prolonged exposure, that's why most car interiors lack the color red. red is one of those colors that use a specific group of eye cells that cannot be read by other cells, thus reducing its efficacy after prolonged exposure. but it is arresting, and probably the most standout of colors (maybe yellow?)

penter

Dec 25, 2006, 04:04 PM

because green stands for prosperity and success.

ok, i have no idea. lol

Aniej

Dec 25, 2006, 04:15 PM

thats a hoax. at first the number of accidents went down when the red changed to green, but that was shown to be the result of a novelty effect. anything that surprises you will draw more attention. Number of accidents going down is not necessarily correlated with being seen more readily in the night. My point is while inferentially being seen more easily would likely be a cause of accidents going down, but it is not dispositive of other factors such as the addition of new emergency light technologies (LED lights) or increased law enforcement measures that lowered accidents across the field.

Oh yea I also just kinda like green.:D

Media. who the heck lives in media..... just kidding, great name.

mkrishnan

Dec 25, 2006, 04:22 PM

Jiddick ExRex

Dec 25, 2006, 04:36 PM

To the OP, what are you using the caps lock for a lot? It seems to me to be the most useless of alle the keys and I have it disabled since I hate having to retype a whole sentence if I accidentally turns it on...

Ryan1524

Dec 25, 2006, 08:43 PM

I would say red also stands out and cheap to produce as a LED. Notice how lots of car dashboard instruments are either green or red. they both have good visibility and not too irritating.

Mmm...red caps lock. I'm sensing a mod. or Red keyboard backlighting. :D
Yea, red keyboard backlight would be awesome.

flir67

Dec 25, 2006, 10:08 PM

I think it has more to do with the history of computers than anyone every imagined.

the apple IIe had a green light? why then at that time did they choose it??

green led has been chosen for computers for decedes and I bet its the cheapest to make at that time for the apple IIe, but as for now, maybe it just still works...

hummm

lu0s3r322

Dec 25, 2006, 10:42 PM

To the OP, what are you using the caps lock for a lot? It seems to me to be the most useless of all the keys and I have it disabled since I hate having to retype a whole sentence if I accidentally turns it on...

I was typing up this paper and I had this font I was using and the bigger letters looked better than the smaller ones. Go figure :rolleyes:

TequilaBoobs

Dec 25, 2006, 11:08 PM

That's interesting! Do you have a source?

My professor of Learning and Motivation class told me of this phenomenom. If you check the stats, you'll notice initially accidents involving yellow-green trucks decreased as well as the severity of the accidents, when compared to their red counterparts. However, over time the rate climbed back to within an insignificant difference between the two. Psychologists would say this is the "novelty effect" to explain the initial decrease.

Jay42

Dec 25, 2006, 11:16 PM

All good reasons but i bet it was the cheapest :rolleyes: May not seem like much, but when you sell millions....

TequilaBoobs

Dec 25, 2006, 11:20 PM

Number of accidents going down is not necessarily correlated with being seen more readily in the night. My point is while inferentially being seen more easily would likely be a cause of accidents going down, but it is not dispositive of other factors such as the addition of new emergency light technologies (LED lights) or increased law enforcement measures that lowered accidents across the field.

Oh yea I also just kinda like green.:D

Media. who the heck lives in media..... just kidding, great name.

Colorologists say there are certain colors easier for the human eye to detect, but when you have LED lights dancing all over the vehicle, I think that negates the importance of color-difference. In the studies involving fire-truck accidents, they measured the effect of color change on car accident frequency and severity, thus controlling for threats to internal validity such as increased law enforcement measures and LED lights.

And I thought the same before I moved to Media last year, "WTH"? But it's close to Philly so it's all good...

mkrishnan

Dec 26, 2006, 07:44 AM

Psychologists would say this is the "novelty effect" to explain the initial decrease.

Thanks! I'm familiar with novelty, but I didn't know it applied to this specific issue.

Articles like this (http://www.usroads.com/journals/aruj/9702/ru970203.htm) that claim an actual effect are the only ones I'm familiar with.

But it's interesting, since certainly novelty type effects do seem to possibly be valid explanators.

There was an insurance study a few years ago also that suggested that certain car colors such as white had statistically lower accident rates. In a case like that, it's harder to use novelty as white is hardly a new car color.

But it's all very interesting. There're a lot of confounding factors.