Computer programmers historically used "Press any key to continue" as a prompt to the user when it was necessary to pause processing. The system would resume after the user pressed any keyboard button.
History
Early computers were typically operated using mechanical teleprinters, which provided a continuous printed record of their output. However, during the 1970s, these became obsolete and were replaced with visual display units, and text was lost once it scrolled off the top of the screen. To compensate, programs typically paused operation after displaying one screen of data, so that the user could observe the results and then press a key to move to the next screen. A similar pause was also required when some physical action was required from the user, such as inserting a floppy disk or loading a printer with paper. These prompts were commonplace on text-basedoperating systems prior to the development of graphical user interfaces, which typically included scrollbars to enable the user to view more than one screen/window of data. They are therefore no longer required as a means of paginating output, but the graphical equivalent is still used for hardware interactions. The prompt is not strictly accurate in that, for the vast majority of computer systems, modifier keys or lock keys would not cause processing to resume, as they do not produce an actual character that the program could detect. Some Samsung remote controls for DVD players, as is the case of DVD-R130, have included an "anykey" to their interface. It is used to view the status of the DVD being watched.
Cultural significance
A 1982 Apple Computer manual for developers warned: There are reports from as early as 1988 that some users have searched for such a key labelled "any", and called technical support when they have been unable to find it. The computer company Compaq even edited their FAQ to explain that the "any" key does not exist, and at one point considered replacing the command "Press any key" with "Press return key". The concept of the "any key" has become a popular piece of computer-related humor, and was used as a gag on The Simpsons, in the seventh-season episode "King-Size Homer". Plastic "ANY keys" with adhesive backings are available as novelty gifts.
The phrase "press any key to continue" caused a slangy word :wiktionary:ru:эникейщик to appear in Russian language, which has meaning of an administrator or a support worker, whose role is to help users struggling with PC-related difficulties. Often it's a derogatory term, contrasting an enikeyshchik to a "real" system administrator or higher-level support officer who solve more complex tasks – but not always. Even a slang verb "эникеить" exists with meaning to perform a computer administration and support. Additionally, in Russian and ex-USSR computer jargon, the term "any key" is sometimes associated with the reset button of a PC. Explanations of such association vary: from considering it as being based on real pranks when some more advanced office workers had put stickers "Any key" to the reset buttons of their office computers, causing their less experienced colleagues to misinterpret the message – to considering it just as being a sarcasm about software-related difficulties solving skills of novice users , or a Murphy's law-similar pessimism about actual resolvability of some types of work-flow problems caused by bugs in software.
