Keyboard

A keyboard is a tool for typing letters, numbers, and commands into a computer. It has rows of small buttons called keys. When you press a key, the computer turns that press into a signal it can understand. Keyboards are one of the most common ways people give instructions to computers.

Most English keyboards use a layout called QWERTY. The name comes from the first six letters in the top row of letters. The QWERTY layout was designed in the 1870s for early typewriters. The story goes that the inventor, Christopher Sholes, spread out the most common letters so the metal arms on the typewriter would not get jammed together. Computers do not have metal arms, but we still use the same layout today, more than 150 years later.

A standard keyboard has about 104 keys. Some keys type letters or numbers. Others, like Shift, Control, and Enter, change what the other keys do or tell the computer to act. The space bar at the bottom is the longest key because it gets pressed the most. A fast typist can press more than 100 keys every minute without looking down.

Phones and tablets often use keyboards that appear on the screen instead. Some scientists are working on keyboards you control with your eyes, your voice, or even your thoughts.