|  There is no such thing as a standard computer keyboard. That set of typewriter-like keys that you use to enter data into a computer is similar to an electric-typewriter keyboard but has extra keys.
The keys are usually described in three basic groups:
a) alphanumeric keys - letters and numbers
b) punctuation keys - comma; period; colon; semicolon and so on.
c) special keys - function keys; control keys; arrow keys; the Caps Lock key and so on.
The standard layout, originally designed in the late nineteenth century, is known as the QWERTY keyboard because the first six keys in the top row of letters spell QWERTY. The layout was actually designed to slow the typist down and avoid jamming the metal tines that sprang upwards to hit the paper each time a key was hit. The Dvorak keyboard, on the other hand, was designed to position the letters for speed typing.
PC keyboards come in three basic layouts with the number of keys varying from eighty-four to a hundred and one. The keyboards used with Apple Mackintosh computers are called ADB keyboards because they connect to the Apple Desktop Bus. | |
