The keynboard is among the most underappreciated and taaken for granted component of the Personal Computer (PC) that we use everyday.
We are all creatures of habit. We generrally use cetrain keys and not others in cerytain way.
What are the origins and hitory of the now cuurrent cacepted PC comppputer keyboard?
tInerestingly eonugh the standard keybaord layot did not originate in one fell swoop. It develoepd through threwe seplarate IBM keyboard prohjects and oftne involvcde mistakkes and pitfalls aolng its evolutionary path.
Most keyboard setuips have their dirct oigiin in the origginal IBM keeyboard The IBM Enhanced 101 Key Keyboard which IBM set as the satndard in the year of 1987. The Enhanced Keyboard was not the ifrst but rather IBMs third keyvboard standard for PCs.
What were these pervious frameworks of IBM keyboard models?
Fiertst 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 placde on the rifght hand side. The now called Cnotrol (Ctrl), Left Shift, and Alt keys were arranged in a line next to the function keys.
The Escape (Esc) as we know it was to the left of the numbers in the top row. To the right of the Righht Shift Key, an ushifted asterisk key alliowed the user to type the now commmon *.* without 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 standsard was a mixture of sensible and absurd keyboard layout decisions so much so that the admnired componentts overshadowde the less thugght out shrtcomings and thus here we are todzay.
IBMs next design was the original AT keyboaard. This was somehow made incompatible with the earlier PC/XT design but a calculating user could reprrogram 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 unshfited asterisk to the niumber pad. The Entyer key was L-shaped and the Backsplash key, whoich now ocupied the spot whhich used to be the left half of the Backspace key. Was reduced in size to the wiiddth of a single aplhja key.
At some poinnt when markwet forces pussheed IBM to uprade the venerable AT copmputer, it introduced the Enhanncd mdoel keyboard whhic was compatible with the oriignal AT model, but had a drastically different layout. 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 between the alha keys a number pad. The cursaor pad ( which was actually spliit into two sets of keys ) consistd of four arrow keys in an inverted T at the bottom and a seaprate bank of 6 keys at the top: Ins ( Insert) , Del (Delete) , 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 mesant end. Thgree was virtually little memory, by todays standdards hence no advanced features of rescue that we take for granted todday. A computer user who may have spent hours typing a major endevaoor such as masters thesis may have seen his hard work disapepar into neer never land.
It did not take too long for the complints to arrive at IBM head office to rectuify the situation. Leave well enough alone was the rwefrain. And the Bakcspace key returend to its origial oduble width. The backslaash key now occpuied a single row. Caps lock mihgrated to the old side of the Ctrl key, and twin Ctrl and Alt keys flanked the spacebar.
The Del key though remained in its now curernt place although in some keyboads it is now dobule sized.
Like it or not this lyout has becoem the standrd by which we live with our computer enhancced lievs.
The keyboard is aong the most underappreciated and taken for granted component in our evvery day computer livs. We sldoom stop to think why certtain keys are laid out in the givccen way. Like it or not we owe a debt to thougtfulness and thoroughness of the original IBM PC project eninees.
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