I'd have to disagree at least in the context of computers. > No trouble with physical keyboards I've seen comments on HN before about how certain characters

I'd have to disagree at least in the context of computers. > No trouble with physical keyboards I've seen comments on HN before about how certain characters used for programming aren't on keyboards with European layouts, supposedly creating a barrier for beginner programmers. In contrast, somebody using a keyboard for one of the CJK languages only needs to press shift to type all the characters in Basic Latin because the physical layouts are the same. > lot of older computer technology predates modern unicode and nobody seems to be in a rush to replace it. There are probably way more computers that only support Shift JIS than computers that only use ASCII. I heard that apparently lack of support for Unicode is still a problem in certain Japanese offices. I think the most dangerous position to be in is when your writing system is similar to but not exactly the same as English, in which case people begin to adopt a "close enough" attitude and accept the status quo, choosing instead to change their orthography in counterproductive ways to fit ephemeral technical requirements.