Beneath the fingertips of virtually every writer, student, and professional lies the “keyboard”, a tool that has revolutionized the way we write/read.
Personal Commentary
As I draft this exhibit, it’s through the very clicks of a keyboard, that this technology, which has silently changed the practice of writing, is now an essential component of our everyday lives.
The keyboard has undeniably become very significant in this era of writing, it has become the bridge that connects our conduit thoughts and pastes them on a digital page.
An Ai-Generated Image, The Evolution of Expression – This visual journey takes us from the delicate dance of quill and parchment, where each word was a crafted testament of patience, to the rhythmic clicks of a mechanical keyboard, where thoughts are instantly digitalized, representing the remarkable evolution of human communication.
Keyboards are everywhere in our daily lives, and not just on computers and smartphones. They can be found on retail self-checkout machines, coffee makers and microwave touchscreens. Keyboards have become an essential component in many facets of our technologically developed world, from entering information at an ATM to typing on the screen of a ticket machine. I grew up in the era of digital technology, and with that, the keyboard’s subtle clicks were a norm for me growing up. It is through this tool that I have written for most of my life. The ease with which text may be typed, edited, and organized has altered the writing process.
Evolution of the Keyboard
1865 Hansen Writing Ball. Created by Reverend Rasmus Malling-Hansen.1873 Sholes and Glidden Typewriter. Created by Christopher Sholes.1981 IBM Keyboard. Created by Adam Osborne.
The Pioneer of Writing: The first typewriter, a marvel of mechanical engineering that revolutionized the written word in the late 19th century.
the Hansen Writing Ball featured an unusual half-sphere design, distinct from any typing instruments before or since. Despite its unconventional appearance, it captured considerable interest as a functional typewriter in Europe and England, remaining in use in offices until 1909.
The first ever patented typewriter, Hansen Writing Ball. Sourced byHistory Things
The Transition Key: The first-ever keyboard with the QWERTY Layout. (GEORGEF, 2023)
This 19th-century typewriter introduced the QWERTY layout to tackle the issue of jamming, revolutionizing writing by allowing faster typing without mechanical hitches. It marked a pivotal shift from pen to print.
This keyboard laid the groundwork for the modern keyboard we know today.
A Photo of the first-ever typewriter with the QWERTY layout. Sourced by Das Keyboard.
The Portable Revolution: Introduced in 1981, the IBM was the earliest keyboard to be integrated with a computer, complete with a numeric keypad and new function keys.
It laid the foundation for modern keyboard design, a legacy that endures in our daily computing.
An AI-generated photo of the IBM Keyboard. Sourced by Das Keyboard.
This tool that has been taken for granted since the beginning of the writing era.
Christopher Sholes invented the QWERTY keyboard, also known as the typewriter, in the 19th century to prevent jamming caused by frequently used letters being too close together, a design still in use today (GEORGEF, 2023). Patented in 1868, the first typerwriter’s layout was non-sequential to space out common letters (Bureau, 2019).
An AI Generated Photo that demonstrates the evolution of the keyboard. From its large and bulky design to its modern and sleek design.
As time went by, and technology has advanced, so has the keyboard. From being a large, bulky, and slow typewriter to a touch screen keyboard, the typewriter has evolved into many variations from mechanical versions for computers to compact ones for phones, and even to virtual, voice-activated keyboards. This shift has streamlined writing, offering a swifter, more precise method than pen and paper, reducing the risk of errors and simplifying revisions for a more efficient overall process. The keyboard’s development has been nothing short of revolutionary, reshaping our engagement with the written word.The evolution of such a tool has been revolutionary and as it stands today, the keyboard reshaped our interaction with the written word.
Fun Fact: You can spell out the word “TYPEWRITER” by looking at the first row of the keyboard
The Impact on Reading and Writing.
In our digital era, keyboards have become central to writing, enabling anyone to produce content quickly. Writing has now become a highly democratized activity; anyone with a keyboard can produce written content. A British survey of 2,000 people reported the one in three respondents had not written anything on by hand in the past six months. On average they have not used a pen and paper in the past 41 days (Chemin, 2018). To add to that, for both memorized and repeated sections, typing speed was more than five words per minute (wpm) faster than handwriting (Brown, 1988).
The keyboard’s influence extends beyond writing speed; it has revolutionized the drafting process itself. Where once the printing of texts demanded considerable time and manpower in the Gutenberg era, the keyboard allows for rapid editing, manipulation of text with unprecedented speed and precision and keyword searches and providing quick access to hyperlinked content. It has changed the way we consume written content.
One in three respondents had not written anything by hand in the past six months
As we conclude our journey through keyboard history, we recognize these devices as pivotal in shaping communication and creativity. This exhibit highlights the evolution from typewriters to modern keyboards, a testament to innovation and adaptability.
Brown, C. M. “Lin”. (1988). Comparison of Typing and Handwriting in “Two-Finger Typists.” Proceedings of the Human Factors Society Annual Meeting, 32(5), 381–385. https://doi.org/10.1177/154193128803200533
