Home-Grown in Madison

YOUR TECH DEPARTMENT

Open-book, open-source, and open-mind.

CTRL + Shift + What?

CTRL+shift is your friendly neighborhood computer specialist ready to fix your laptop, clean out a virus, set up your network, or just discuss your options. Our goal is to make your life easier by providing extremely personalized solutions to all your computer issues. You can count on us!

We also help you answer the tough questions like:

  • Should I repair my computer or replace it?
  • How do I make my tablet do everything my laptop can?
  • How much internet bandwidth do I need?
  • Which antivirus software is the best?
  • Should I move all my data to the Cloud?

No, seriously, what does CTRL + Shift mean?

Ok, ok, it's more than just a key combination. CTRL+shift is an idea we came up with after many years in the computer business, observing the growing “you don't need to know” attitude of manufacturers, vendors, service providers, and other technicians. They spread the myth that technology is too complicated for consumers to understand, that we shouldn't worry about how it works, and we should simply trust that they have our best interests at heart. This puts us completely at their mercy when something goes wrong, and the solution is often very expensive.

So you're saying we've... lost control?

It's an unfortunate reality, and the industry only encourages it; computers and other digital devices are always marketed for their amazing feats, dazzling productivity, and no expertise required. CTRL+shift works to counter this trend, keeping you knowledgeable and in control of your gadgets and your digital lives. CTRL+Shift means empowerment.

CTRL+Shift also means transparency: Our methods are not secret; if you ask, we'll explain exactly what we're doing and how. We ensure that you understand all the issues and can make informed decisions. We don't ever pretend to know everything; if we don't have an answer to something, we'll find one.

So what's with all the gears?

They look cool, but the gears also allude to the mechanical nature of a computer. While they don't have actual gears inside, computers are very much systems of interlocking parts, each with a specific function, interdependent on one another, and above all else: fathomable. There is no mystery to them, just 1's and 0's.