The development of keyboard

If the CPU is the heart of the computer and the monitor is the face of the computer, then the keyboard is the mouth of the computer, which realizes the smooth communication between people and the computer. However, as a peripheral product that has the most contact with us, the function of keyboard is neglected in most cases, which is closely related to its slow development.

A brief history of "big mouth"

In the era of PCXT/AT, the keyboard was dominated by 83 keys, which lasted for a long time. But with the popularity of Windows system in recent years, it has been eliminated. Brand machines such as Hewlett-Packard and Lenovo took the lead in adopting this keyboard, which was widely praised and was once regarded as the characteristic of brand machines. With the passage of time, independent products with various quick functions have gradually appeared in the market, with special driver and setting software, and personalized operation can also be realized on compatible computers.

Preliminary study on "mouth shape"

In terms of shell,

Traditional keyboards include CapsLock (letter case lock), NumLock (numeric keypad lock) and ScrollLock3, which indicate the current state of the keyboard. These indicators are generally located in the upper right corner of the keyboard, but some keyboards, such as Acer's ErgonomicKB and HP's original keyboards, use the indicators built into the keycap, which makes it easier to judge the current state of the keyboard. However, due to the complicated technology, most keyboards do not adopt this design.

No matter how the keyboard shape changes, the basic key arrangement is basically unchanged, which can be divided into main keyboard area, digital auxiliary keyboard area, F-key function keyboard area and control key area, and the multi-function keyboard adds shortcut key area.

The dispute of "three mouths"

Keyboards can be divided into three categories according to their uses: desktop keyboards, laptop keyboards and industrial computer keyboards.

The traditional desktop keyboard is still the mainstream of the market, but there is no essential difference between the appearance and technology with the products of a few years ago. With the improvement of life quality, the bulky desktop keyboard is increasingly incompatible with fashionable and healthy LCD and intelligent and comfortable photoelectric mouse. The traditional desktop keyboard adopts the track sliding structure. Although the key stroke of the key is long and the key feeling is good, due to the defects of the structure itself, the sound when inputting words is loud. Therefore, many well-known manufacturers continue to reform the traditional keyboard. For example, Patriot, as a well-known brand in the industry, is good at scientific and technological innovation, is good at grasping fashion, and has a keen insight into demand.

In the second half of 2006, the ultra-thin feel king KB-F920 was launched, which was even better. Its design concept continues the "ultra-thin" concept, and the thinnest part of the keyboard is less than 1cm, which breaks through the massiness and rigidity of the old keyboard. The radian of lines is more natural and smooth, the buttons are slightly protruding, rich in texture, and the overall appearance is exquisite and elegant, which makes people remember deeply; At the same time, in order to help users easily face the embarrassment of keyboard flooding, Patriot has carefully improved the product structure, made materials in YEATION, and the waterproof design is more perfect, so that the traditional keyboard can be developed to a higher level.

Although the laptop keyboard did not appear in 2003, it was a great success in 2003. This kind of keyboard has always been characterized by its thinness, compactness and fashionable appearance. Many users choose notebook keyboard with LCD, so that the whole desktop will look simple and fashionable. In terms of keys, they use the frame of notebook keyboard. The key cap will not tilt because of uneven tapping force or incorrect tapping position, and the key will not be stuck; At the same time, the strength of the keys is relatively small, and users are not easy to feel tired after long-term input. In terms of mute, the notebook keyboard is designed quite well, and the voice when users input words is much smaller than that of the traditional desktop keyboard. In addition, the keyboard stroke of notebook architecture is very short, and the touch is far less than that of traditional desktop keyboard.

"Word of mouth"

The development trend of keyboard is more and more professional, and the performance of keyboard is different according to different uses. For example, gamers basically have a display screen or many shortcut keys; Users who want to use it frequently should be equipped with an easy-to-wash keyboard; There are luminous keyboards, separate keyboards and so on. These are all designed for the needs of users. For example, a keyboard specially designed for game applications, ZBOARD game keyboard. The most prominent feature of this keyboard is its built-in technical advantages. Compared with most other keyboards, you can press 2~4 keys at the same time, and the game keyboard can press up to 7 keys at the same time. W/E/D three commonly used keys can act at the same time, which perfectly solves the problem of key position conflict and makes it faster and more convenient for players to give action instructions during the game.

In the past, the keyboard was just a simple operation of the computer, but now the keyboard has given more functions. Keyboard with multimedia function allows computer users to control directly on the keyboard. You don't need to click on the small Internet icon on the screen with the mouse. Similarly, there are specific keys to control the CD-ROM drive, such as Internet access key, e-mail sending and receiving key and voice adjustment key. Some have a circular adjusting disk under the keyboard, which can be used instead of the mouse.

At present, the hottest wireless technology on the market is also applied to keyboards. The application of wireless technology frees you from the limitation and bondage of keyboard lines. At one end you are a computer, and at the other end you can operate freely, mainly including Bluetooth and infrared rays. However, they are different in transmission distance and anti-interference. Generally speaking, Bluetooth is superior to infrared in transmission distance and security. The effective distance of infrared transmission is about1~ 2m, and that of Bluetooth is about10m. Therefore, wireless keyboards have a bright future. It not only solves the problem of computer peripheral equipment, but also paves the way for the future development of computer multifunctional entertainment. Use the TV screen to browse the Internet and watch network TV programs. It can be controlled by wireless keyboard, and the wireless function is fully displayed. Keyboards have a very long history. As early as 17 14, people in Britain, America, France, Italy, Switzerland and other countries began to invent various types of typewriters. At that time, the earliest keyboards were all used on typewriters with immature technology. Until 1868, Christopher Latham Sholes, the American "father of typewriter", obtained the patent of typewriter model and the right to operate it. A few years later, he designed a practical form of modern typewriter and standardized the keyboard for the first time, namely "QWERTY" keyboard.

Why should the keyboard be standardized to the current "QWERTY" keyboard key layout? This is because at first, the keyboards of typewriters were arranged in alphabetical order, and typewriters were all-mechanical typing tools. Therefore, if the typing speed is too fast, some key combinations are easy to get stuck, so Christopher Latham Sholes invented the QWERTY keyboard layout, and he put the most commonly used letters in the opposite direction to maximize the interval between repeated keystrokes and avoid getting stuck. Shoals applied for a patent in 1868, and the first commercial typewriter with this layout was successfully put on the market in 1873. This is why there is today's keyboard arrangement.

QWERTY's keyboard key layout is very inefficient. For example, most typists are right-handed, but with the QWERTY keyboard, the left hand takes up 57% of the work. The two little fingers and the ring finger of the left hand are the weakest fingers, but they are used frequently. The utilization rate of letters in the middle column only accounts for about 30% of the whole typing workload, so in order to type a word, you often have to move your fingers up and down.

1888 An open typing competition was held in the United States. Ma Jialin, a court stenographer, showed his blind typing skills according to the clear division of fingering, and the mistakes were only three ten thousandths, which surprised the people present. According to records, Ma Jialin's bonus is 500 dollars. Since then, many people have followed this blind typing, and the United States has also begun to set up schools to train typists.

Because of the appearance of blind typing technology, the keystroke speed is enough to meet the needs of daily work. However, 60 years later (1934), a man named dvorak invented a new arrangement method, which enabled his left and right hands to alternately type more words. This keyboard can shorten the training period by 1/2 times and increase the average speed by 35%. Dvorak's keyboard layout principle is: 1, try to strike alternately with your left and right hands to avoid one-handed combo; 2. The average moving distance of verbal attack keys is the smallest; 3. The most commonly used letters should be ranked in the key position.

By the middle of the 20th century, the keyboard had another use-as a basic input device for computers. On the other hand, up to now, "QWERTY" keyboard is still the most widely used keyboard layout, and it is a very typical example of "inferior products win superior products".

Analysis of the deep reasons for the failure of two kinds of keyboard innovation in history;

From our common sense, inferior products will eventually be replaced by high-quality products. Many people have analyzed the various reasons for this negative phenomenon, and customary forces and pipeline dependence are the most popular sayings. However, we can analyze the situation at that time and find out the deeper reasons.

1. The limited demand for computers in the market is one of the important reasons.

At that time, the demand for computers was very limited, and few people were willing to change what was formed at that time, especially big companies. We know that in the case of limited demand, any enterprise has little incentive to innovate, and the key point is whether it is available, not whether its performance is the best.

2. The cost of keyboard innovation is very high.

At that time, the coded keyboard was used, and the amount of software and hardware changes was very large. At that time, both software and hardware were jobs that only a few professionals could control, and the cost of change could be imagined. Although the keyboard is small, it affects the whole body. At that time, enterprises did not pay as much attention to performance improvement as they do now. Because the cost of innovation is very high, it is very normal to be lazy to innovate because of cost factors at that time.

The above two reasons are the main reasons why enterprises lack the motivation to accept and promote. Let's analyze the reasons for the demand side.

3. Limited meaning

The essence of superior products is superiority in sense. However, just improving the input speed is of little practical significance to the car owners who use the products.

Because computer users at that time were not typists, but companies, and the amount of computer applications and documents at that time was extremely limited, it was of little significance to improve typing efficiency, and there was no necessary connection between improving typing efficiency and improving company efficiency. Enterprises that need computers will not buy computers or software again just because keyboard input efficiency is improved. So the company leadership has no incentive to replace the keyboard or computer.

From the analysis of consumer psychology, we can draw the conclusion that operators will not strongly demand the replacement of computers or keyboards, and typists will not ask themselves to have nothing to do because of the improvement of typing efficiency. After all, quick typing doesn't make much sense to the whole work, and at that time, as long as you master the blind typing technology skillfully, the significance of improving efficiency is enough.

At that time, most of the personnel standards that enterprises paid attention to were computer use ability, not typing efficiency. The keyboard is just a tool at work, not a chat partner on the internet. Even if the operator likes a keyboard with high typing efficiency, he rarely decides to use or switch to a more efficient keyboard, even if the operator's psychology is put aside. If it is for home use, I believe everyone will have a stronger intention to choose a more efficient keyboard.

There is a limit to the improvement of speed.

The two rearranged keyboards are designed and adjusted according to the usage frequency of English letters. Different languages, different frequency of letter use, can not improve international performance at the same time, lack of motivation for international innovation.

Suppose there are two kinds of keyboard innovations at this time, and there is great hope of success!

The reason for this is the following：

1. There is enough market.

Computers have entered thousands of households, with huge market space and fierce competition. Performance has become the main selling point, and users have different ideas, which provides sufficient market space for the launch and success of new keyboards, and enterprises will carry out overwhelming publicity for performance advantages.

2. In the Internet era, the speed has increased significantly.

Whether it is enterprise significance or personal pursuit, there is a high demand for input speed. Enterprises will be happy to accept more efficient keyboards and individuals will be happy to use more efficient tools.

3. Low innovation cost

The keyboard is non-coded, so it only needs to be slightly modified in the software, and the software production is a hundred times easier than at that time. In fact, you can use DVORAK keyboard, just re-label the letter position, so it can be said that there is no cost at all. But even if Dvorak keyboard is used, the significance of improving Chinese input speed is unknown. However, if all the keyboards in the world are replaced by efficient keyboards, there is a great possibility that China will follow suit.

Of course, there are no promoters for the two efficient keyboards, and the requirements of the times are different, so we can only assume.

Will keyboards be eliminated one day?

Before answering this question, let's make an analysis from the keyboard function and the replacement progress of the keyboard function.

First of all, the basic function of the keyboard is to input information and instructions by keystroke with one hand or both hands. A keyboard is just an input device. We can definitely say that the keyboard is a convenient, fast and practical manual input device. In this sense, keyboards are hard to be eliminated in the field of computer input devices. Keyboard is the most important computer input device at present. With the development of technology, it may happen that the keyboard may lose its position as the main input device of the computer in the future.

In terms of progress, there are several non-keyboard input methods, such as voice control input, handwriting input and touch or click input, and more advanced brain wave recognition and input technologies are being developed abroad. Therefore, it gives people a thinking judgment that conforms to the law of development. One day, keyboards will be eliminated by more advanced input devices. In fact, this prospect is debatable.

As a convenient manual input device, it is inconceivable unless human beings decide to abolish the flexibility of the hands on which human beings depend for development and survival and give way to a smarter brain. The existence of keyboard can only make hands more flexible and brains more developed. Most likely, on the basis of keeping the keyboard, we can integrate other input methods to better serve the computer.

Will there be a smaller keyboard to replace the existing one?

This problem involves the development direction of keyboard, which is inevitable from the development logic. The current situation of the existing keyboard is because the existing keyboard is suitable for desktop use. The popularity and development of desktop has consolidated the unique position of the existing keyboard, but the existing keyboard is not suitable for the developing notebook computer. In the future, students and white-collar workers will be the biggest users of notebook computers, and portability and versatility will be the final decisive factors. To realize the portability of keyboard, the existing QWERTY keyboard layout has become a great obstacle. To solve this contradiction, it is necessary to change the keyboard layout, which is also the reason why many new layouts appear.

The objective reason why the widely used notebook computer keyboard succumbs to the QWERTY layout is to realize the basic universality with the desktop keyboard. However, following the QWERTY layout also brings great passivity to the notebook keyboard, and it is difficult to reduce its size. The portability of the keyboard is based on the inconvenience of use. On the other hand, if the new layout is adopted, it will completely lose its universality and be even more inconvenient to use. If the new layout must be changed, universality will be an insurmountable obstacle. It is gratifying that this dilemma has been basically solved.

Replacing an existing keyboard with a new layout should follow the replacement law. In the initial stage, there must be two layouts. The advantages of the new keyboard attract users at the beginning, gradually expand the influence, and drive people who intend to change their habits to use the new layout, which requires the new layout to be easy to learn and use. In the * * * stage, it is very important not to affect the use of the original users, which is an equal choice. The problem mainly appears on the keyboard of the desktop computer.