Keyboard

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What Does Keyboard Mean?

A keyboard is a peripheral device that enables a user to input text into a computer or any other electronic machinery. A keyboard is an input device and is the most basic way for the user to communicate with a computer. This device is patterned after its predecessor, the typewriter, from which the keyboard inherited its layout, although the keys or letters are arranged to function as electronic switches. The keys include punctuation, alphanumeric and special keys like the Windows key and various multimedia keys, which have specific functions assigned to them.

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Techopedia Explains Keyboard

There are different types of keyboard layouts manufactured based on the region and language used.

QWERTY: This layout is the most widely used and is named after the first six letters that appear on the top row. This layout is commonly manufactured today because of its popularity. It is so common across the world – even in countries that do not use the Latin-based alphabet for their language – that some people think that it is the only kind of keyboard there is.

AZERTY: This was developed in France as another variation to the QWERTY layout and is considered the standard French keyboard.

DVORAK: This layout was created to reduce finger movement when typing and produce faster typing speeds than QWERTY or AZERTY.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Specialist
Margaret Rouse
Technology Specialist

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of ​​a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.