The teleprinter, in its more contemporary form, was developed from 1907 to 1910 by American mechanical engineer Charles Krum and his son Howard, with early contributions by electrical engineer Frank Pearne. It was through such devices that modern computer keyboards inherited their layouts.Īs early as the 1870s, teleprinter-like devices were used to simultaneously type and transmit stock market text data from the keyboard across telegraph lines to stock ticker machines to be immediately copied and displayed onto ticker tape. While typewriters are the definitive ancestor of all key-based text entry devices, the computer keyboard as a device for electromechanical data entry and communication derives largely from the utility of two devices: teleprinters (or teletypes) and keypunches. A command-line interface is a type of user interface operated entirely through a keyboard, or another device doing the job of one.

A keyboard is also used to give commands to the operating system of a computer, such as Windows' Control-Alt-Delete combination, which brings up a task window or shuts down the machine.

Keyboards are also used for computer gaming, either with regular keyboards or by using keyboards with special gaming features, which can expedite frequently used keystroke combinations. A computer keyboard distinguishes each physical key from every other and reports all key presses to the controlling software. In a modern computer, the interpretation of key presses is generally left to the software. In normal usage, the keyboard is used as a text entry interface to type text and numbers into a word processor, text editor or other programs. While most keyboard keys produce letters, numbers or signs (characters), other keys or simultaneous key presses can produce actions or execute computer commands.ĭespite the development of alternative input devices, such as the mouse, touchscreen, pen devices, character recognition and voice recognition, the keyboard remains the most commonly used device for direct (human) input of alphanumeric data into computers. However, to produce some symbols requires pressing and holding several keys simultaneously or in sequence. A keyboard typically has characters engraved or printed on the keys (buttons) and each press of a key typically corresponds to a single written symbol.

Image of keyboard keys