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The Evolution of the Computer Keyboard

Lucas123 writes "As anyone who's typed on a virtual keyboard — or yelled at a voice-control app like Siri — can attest, no current text input holds a candle to a traditional computer keyboard. From the reed switch keyboards of the early '70s to the buckling spring key mechanism that drove IBM's popular PC keyboards for years to ThinTouch technology that will have about half the travel of a MacBook Air's keys, the technology that drove data entry for decades isn't likely to go anywhere anytime soon. This article takes a look back on five decades of keyboard development and where it's likely to go in the future."

5 of 201 comments (clear)

  1. Keyboards are rubbish... by telchine · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...eye prefer two ewes speech recognition in sted

  2. You insensitive clod! by PPH · · Score: 3, Funny

    In the universe??? Some of us have tentacles instead of fingers! Your puny keyboard is useless for us!

    Besides, the damned thing doesn't even have a Linux key.

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
  3. Re:Missing links by gman003 · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's ComputerWorld, did you really expect a *good* article?

  4. Re:Down with QWERTY! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    I understand where QWERTY came from. So how can you call that a DVORAK keyboard? It looks like a "PYFG keyboard to me.

  5. Re:qwerty designed for... by tbird81 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Not to mention that QWERTY enables video games to use WASD to move around. Imagine how hard it would be to play a FPS using Dvorak! W is below and left of S, and A and S are on opposite ends of the computer!

    Also, I've noticed the game Starcraft 2 has most of its hotkeys on the left side of the keyboard. Imagine trying this on a Dvorak keyboard!

    So I guess my conclusion is that QWERTY was designed with gamers in mind.