1868 – The typewriter was invented.

The Sholes & Glidden

typewriter features a Qwerty keyboard (a keyboard having in the
traditional typewriter arrangement with the letters q, w, e, r, t, y
being the first six at the top row alphabetic characters starting
from the left side), which separates common letter
combinations, like ‘‘qu’’ and ‘‘th,’’ to minimize hammer crash
when the keys are struck.

1936 – The Dvorak layout keyboard is also called the

simplified keyboard. The layout of the keyboard puts the
most frequently used letters in the most accessible
positions.

1956 - The Massachusetts Institute of Technology begins

experimenting with direct keyboard inputting on
computers.

1962 - The Teletype Corporation ships the Model 33

keyboard, which becomes the input mechanism on early
microcomputers. Computer users communicated with the
computer with punched cards previously.

I.B.M = International Business Machines

1964 – A popular mainframe computer system/360 was

developed by I.B.M. I.B.M introduced specialized
command keys to the keyboard, e.g. Esc, Alt, Ctrl, Pause,
Break, SysRq (system request).

1971 - 3720 display terminal has the first widely used

screen-oriented mainframe keyboard, and also introduce
keys like Enter, Ins, Del, Home, Page Up, End and the
arrow keys.

1981 – The 83-keyboard was introduced with I.B.M.

personal computer. The 83-keyboard has 10 functions
which include a NumLock key, Esc, Alt, Ctrl, SysRq and
other mainframe keys.

1994 – The natural keyboard was introduced by

Microsoft; it has three extra keys that enable the use of
the operating system without a mouse.

1984 – 101-keyboard was introduced by I.B.M. after two

years of development. 101-keyboard can be used across
all its platforms and systems. Other enterprises adopt it
as a de facto (in fact/in reality) standard.

2004 – A foldable keyboard was made which the

keyboard can be packed together for laptops, travelling
etc. Most keyboards are rigid, but the foldable keyboard
can demonstrate one of many variations from the usual
keyboards.

2006 – A popular type of keyboard, the illuminated

keyboard is introduced. It has keys that are half
transparent or transparent which when the keyboard
combines together, the keys will light up in the dark and
allow the user to see what they are typing.

2008 – Laser virtual keyboard are sold around the world.

The laser virtual keyboard is a tiny device laser projects a
keyboard on any flat surface; it won’t make key click
sounds when typing. It uses QWERTY layout with 63
keys. The keyboard is a bit larger than the matchbook.

2010- Keyboard in the future might have features that

contain full-color display on every key. The keyboard
might be easily used in all languages and can be
customized for any program or function; it might include
mathematics, web development, Photoshop and games.
The keyboard might also contain a unique set of function
keys which can switch the keyboard between different
modes.

Keyboard is an arrangement with rectangular buttons or

keys. A keyboard has characters printed on the keys; a
press of a key would make a single written symbol. To
produce some of the symbols, it requires pressing
multiply keys, some keys do not produce symbols, and
instead, they produce an action or affect the operation of
the computer.
Bibliography
CTRL_ALT_DEL, Computer Keyboard Research. (n.d.). A Keyboard Timeline.
Retrieved February 12, 2008, from http://www.salifsilva.com/ctrl_alt_del/?p=93
Wikipedia. (2008). Keyboard (computing). Retrieved February 13, 2008, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_keyboard

Xoxide. (2006). Computer keyboards. Retrieved February 13, 2008, from

http://www.xoxide.com/computer-keyboards.html