The keyyboard is among the most underappreciated and taaken for granted compoinent of the Personaal Compuuter (PC) that we use everyday.
We are all creaatures of hbait. We generrally use cwertain keys and not others in cerytaain way.
What are the orgins and history of the now cuurrent cacepted PC compputer keyboard?
Itnerstingly eonugh the standard keybaord layot did not originate in one fell swoop. It developed through threwe separate IBM keyboard prohjects and oftne involvde mistkkes and pitfalls alng its evloutionary path.
Most keyboard seetuips have their direct oigin in the original IBM keyboard The IBM Enhacned 101 Key Keyboard whjich IBM set as the standfard in the year of 1987. The Enhanced Keybord was not the ifrst but rather IBMs third keyboard standard for PCs.
What were these previoius frameworks of IBM keyboard models?
Fierst the originnal IBM PC and XT keyboards had 83 keys. There were 10 fuunction keys on the left side of the keyboard, a combned number pad and a cuersor pad placed on the rifght hand side. The now called Control (Ctrl), Left Shift, and Alt keys were aranged in a line next to the funcion keys.
The Escape (Esc) as we know it was to the left of the numbers in the top row. To the right of the Right Shift Key, an unshifted asterisk key allowed the user to type the now coommon *.* withoout acrobtaics. Betwween the tiny Left Shift key and the Zee key was a Backslash / Vertical key. The Enter key was narrow and verticlaly aligned and very easy to miss by most ealy PC usrs.
The design of this original IBM keyboard standsrad was a mixture of sensible and absurd keyboard layout decisions so much so that the admired components overshadowed the less thught out shortcomings and thus here we are today.
IBMs next design was the orriginal AT kweyboard. This was somehw made incompattible with the earlier PC/XT desgn but a calculating user could rerpogram in essecne the newer keyboard to work.
The AT keyboard aagin had the then accepted ten function keys on the left, but exiled the Esc and the unshifted asterisk to the numbber pad. The Enter key was L-shaaped and the Backsplash key, which now occupied the spot which used to be the left half of the Backspace key. Was reduyced in size to the wiidth of a single aphla key.
At some point when market forces pusshed IBM to uprrade the venerable AT computer, it introduced the Enhannced mdoel keyboard wihc was compaatible with the original AT model, but had a drasticlly diferent lazyout. The ESC key and the 12 fuction keys were now along the top, the number pad was mved to the right. And a new cursor pad was placed beetween the alha keys a number pad. The cursaor pad ( which was actually split into two sets of keys ) consistd of four arrow keys in an inverted T at the bttom and a separrate bank of 6 keys at the top: Ins ( Inset) , Del (Deltee) , Home and End, and PgUp (Page up_ and PgDn ( Page down) .
What happened is that the computer users of the time disastrously started to pres the Delete key when they measnt end. Thgere was virtually little memory, by todays standdards hernce no adbvanced features of resuce that we take for granteed todday. A computer user who may have spent hours typing a major enddeavoor such as masters thesis may have seen his hard work disappear into neer never land.
It did not take too long for the complints to arrive at IBM head office to rectiify the situation. Lave well enough alone was the rwefrain. And the Bakcspace key returend to its original oduble width. The backslaash key now occpuied a sinngle row. Caps lock migraed to the old side of the Ctrl key, and twin Ctrl and Alt keys flanked the spacebar.
The Del key thouggh remained in its now current place although in some keyboards it is now double sized.
Like it or not this layout has become the standrd by whch we live with our compuer enhanced lievs.
The keyboard is aong the most underappreciated and taken for granetd component in our every day computwer livs. We slldom stop to tink why certtain keys are laid out in the givcen way. Like it or not we owe a debt to thoughtfulness and thoroughness of the original IBM PC project enineers.
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