Concept in Definition ABC
Miscellanea / / July 04, 2021
By Guillem Alsina González, in Jan. 2009
All of us who have a computer We use it as the main peripheral for text input, in addition to the fact that some of us “bludgeon” it when something doesn't work out for us, although we later regret it. Yes, it is the keyboard.
A keyboard is a peripheral input device directly inspired by the keyboard of computer machines. type, composed of mechanical keys and transmitting each keystroke to the computer or machine to which it is connected.
Early keyboards were virtually identical to electric typewriters in form, mechanics, and functionality.
With the explosion of microcomputers, equipment such as the MSX, Commodore VIC-20, Sinclair ZX81 and Spectrum, and some Commodore Friend, they integrate the keyboard into what is the basic structure of the computer, so that under the keys we can find the CPU, RAM, storage internal, and other basic parts and sections of the computer.
It is with the first PC computers that the keyboard format is standardized between different computers.
To the traditional keys inherited from typewriters, with letters, numbers, punctuation symbols, the carriage return and capital letters, there are also others of their own. computer environments, such as function keys, escape key (ESC), and numeric keypad for comfortable typing of large numbers of figures, as in programs from accounting.
The function keys correspond to shortcuts to functionalities provided by the software programs. software, while the escape key constitutes, as its name suggests, a quick way to get out of a dead end of the program that has been reached by mistake or accident.
Today's keyboards use 101 or 102 keys.
In PC computers we also find special keys to use with the operating system Windows, which allow us to display menus and open the start menu.
These keys are inspired by the special keys (command and option) of Apple computers Macintosh, which the apple company had already been including in its keyboards for several years.
The distribution of punctuation marks and other symbols as well as various language-dependent letters depends on each language or region, while the distribution of the most common letters is almost always the herself.
This corresponds to the distribution known as QWERTY, a nomenclature that corresponds to the first letters that we find in the upper left part of the letters on the keyboard. This distribution was made based on the frequency of use of the letters and how they are typed, thus facilitating the use of the keyboard with both hands.
There are, however, other key layouts, such as the AZERTY used by Francophones, or the QWERTZ for the central European area.
We can also find a distribution y Format quite different on the DVORAK keyboard, whose mission is to reduce the number of mistakes made while typing.
With technological evolution, the keyboard has also undergone changes.
The first has been to unlink from a cable to be connected to the computer, connecting to it in a wireless, either using Bluetooth (the most common), or through the use of a technology owner.
The second has come from the hand of the screens and touch interfaces, which have led it to be presented on the screen using software. The keyboard, then, has been metaphorized as in its time happened with the physical folders of our desktops, which were transmuted into the filesystem folders of our desktops computer scientists.
One last classification to mention. The most common device is the 83-key XT or AT, but there are also expanded ones of up to 104. Keyboards ergonomic They are designed to provide greater comfort to the user, relaxing the position of their hands and arms. A keyboard multimediaFor example, it includes special keys that directly launch computer programs. A keyboard USB It is the one that uses this port for its connection with the computer and it is the standard used in most modern keyboards. Finally, a keyboard wireless is the one by which the communication with the computer it is done by means of infrared rays or bluetooth technology, avoiding the use of cable.
Keyboard Themes