The document explores the history of keyboards, beginning with the evolution of typewriters and moving towards modern computer keyboards. It discusses various significant inventions and milestones from the 19th century through the 1990s, highlighting the transition from mechanical typewriters to electric and membrane keyboards. The narrative emphasizes key innovations and the influence of specific models like the IBM Model M, which shaped user experience in typing.

1. Typing Through Time: Keyboard History
*This article is a work in progress. Chapters
will be published as a series of installments
over the course of the weeks to come.

2. Chapter One: Design – The Evolution of the
Typewriter
To begin exploration of the first
keyboards, we must first examine
the origins of typing and the first
typing devices. What did the first
typing machines look like? The
first manufactured typewriters
resembled sewing machines more
than what most people imagine
when they think “typewriter.”

3. 1852 John Jones’ Mechanical
Typographer
 From 1829 up until 1870 there were many
other typing devices that were patented
along with the ones mentioned above, and
like the previous devices none of them went
into commercial production, or mainstream
use. The only ones worth mentioning, for the
sake of being extraordinary were Father
Francisco Jaâo de Azevado’s “homemade”
typewriter made from wood and knives in
Brasil (1861), and Denmark’s Hansen Writing
Ball (1865), both pictured below.
 1852 John Jones’ Mechanical Typographer

4. Reproduction of 1861 Father Francisco Jaâo de Azevado Typewriter
From 1829 up until 1870 there were many other typing
devices that were patented along with the ones mentioned
above, and like the previous devices none of them went
into commercial production, or mainstream use. The only
ones worth mentioning, for the sake of being
extraordinary were Father Francisco Jaâo de Azevado’s
“homemade” typewriter made from wood and knives in
Brasil (1861), and Denmark’s Hansen Writing Ball (1865),
both pictured below. Father Azevado’s typewriter is
arguably the first “typewriter” as the mechanism is the
most similar to the commercial models that followed its
inception.

5. 1870 Hansen Writing Ball. Created by
Reverend Rasmus Malling-Hansen in Denmark
 Soon after the the Hansen Writing Ball’s creation,
Sholes (an Inventor), Glidden (a Mechanic), and with
the help of Soule (a Printer) came along with their
1867 type-writer that changed the world of typing as
we know it. It is this “Type-Writer” that gave us the
word typewriter, and is the model that is referred to
as “The First Typewriter.” Interestingly enough,
though this was the most successful typing device of
that time, Sholes and Glidden were too frustrated by
slow sales so they sold their patent to Densmore and
Yost for $12,000

6. 1961 Selectric I Typewriter by IBM
 The Selectric typewriter, no longer used type-bars that
struck the page. The Selectrics used typeballs (resembling
golf balls) that rolled, tilted, and printed the letters on the
page without the typebars. This was huge, because
typewriter jams (when two typebars interlocked if you
typed too fast) were no longer an issue. This increased
typing speed, and efficiency The other new element
brought to the typewriter scene with the Selectrics was
that the typeballs could easily be taken out, and replaced
with others to change fonts quickly on the same document.
This was also a major advancement in the industry. Though
the Selectrics were still quite heavy, large, hunks of metal
that were difficult to move around, the typeballs were
small, easy to move, accessories that gave typists more
freedom and accessibility.

7. Chapter Two: Design – The Development of
the Computer Keyboard

8. 1940s ENIAC Keypunch Printer and Card
Sorter in operation.
In 1948 the BINAC computer used a different
input/output method, with an
electromagnetically controlled teletype to
input data and print results. The BINAC is
what paved the way for the shape of
computers and computer keyboards to come,
though it would still take a few more decades
to move away from the teletype/punchcard
computers. Another punchcard computer
popular at the time, was the UNIVAC I,
produced in 1951 is also pictured below

9. 1960s UNIVAC Computer in Operation.
 In 1964, Bell Labs and M.I.T. created the MULTICS
computer, a time-sharing, multi-user system with
VDT, a video display terminal. Text was instantly
visible on the screen as it was typed, which made
communicating commands, programs, and controls
to computers more efficient than previous teletype
methods of input. By the late 1970s all computers
used VDT and electric keyboards. It was simply the
most straight-forward and user-friendly method of
interacting with computers (no stack of cards to
punch holes in and keep organized).

10. 1970s Altiar Computer with Exposed
Keyboard
The first keyboards that were sold in the
1970s were all built from scratch, piece by
piece, and were heavy as they were fully
mechanical. Since so much time and effort
was needed to create these keyboards,
and since the target market was primarily
computer programmers and engineers,
they were built for function and not for
visual aesthetics. This meant there wasn’t
a keyboard cover or cabinet, making the
keyboard more or less exposed.

11. 1970s IMSAI Computer with front panel key
switches

12. 1970s Altair Home Office Desk Set-Up.
In the late 1970s Apple, Radio Shack and
Commodore all had the foresight to see the
large market in computer keyboards, and
started manufacturing keyboards for their
computers, paving the way for the modern
assumption that all computers come with a
keyboard, and that keyboards are the primary,
standard input device

13. 1986 IBM Model M Keyboard
 In 1981, IBM released their first PC. In 1986, it came equipped with the
Model M keyboard. This computer keyboard was wildly successful because it
was so easy to use, users didn’t have to convert their typewriters or provide
their own build of keyboard to use as an input device for their computers.
The Model M was a mechanical keyboard, and used the highest quality
construction, giving typists the satisfaction of tactile feedback, acute
accuracy and comfort. The only draw backs on this keyboard was that the
“Shift” and “Enter” keys were reportedly too small for the majority of user’s
preferences. Because of this, IBM made and sold “Keytop Expanders” which
fit over the shift and enter key-switches to expand the keys. All of the
keyboards at this time were limited in that they were only offered in two
colors: beige and grey, until the late 1980s when black was introduced as an
option.

14. 1986 IBM Model M Keyboard

15. Apple-Keyboard-1983-vs-2010
 In the 1990s membrane switches began to replace the
mechanical key switch, as it was quieter, weighed less,
and suited the needs of the new laptop generation.
This was also an advantage for the manufactures
because membrane keyboards were much cheaper to
produce. Unfortunately the quality of the keyboard
significantly dropped as these superficial keyboard
aesthetics dominated (slimmer, quieter, lighter weight,
easier to be mobile with). The technology and
mechanics of these keyboards will be detailed in future
chapters, and mechanical keyboard information can be
found here: on our Mechanical Keyboard Guide. Here’s
a photo showing the dramatic difference between early
Apple mechanical keyboards (1983), and decades later
the modern non-mechanical Apple keyboards (2010).

16. True Touch Roll-up Keyboard

17. Laser Keyboard andiPad and iPhone
Virtual Touch-Screen Keyboards

18. Altuq Toprak’s Flying Saucer keyboard
andJellyfish Keyboard. Industrial Designer:
Erik Campbell. Inventor: Doug Engelbart.

19. Optimus Maximus Keyboard

20.  Keyboards come in all shapes, sizes, and colors these days, though it’s
important to remember that without the original, simple, powerhouse
mechanical keyboards of IBM we wouldn’t be where we are today. With all of
the design innovations being manufactured, there is no surprise that many
creative keyboard aficionados have started to emerge with their own
inventive modifications to improve the typing experience and aesthetic.
Richard “Doc” Nagy has taken his creativity, and craftsmanship to the next
level in keyboard design and has built some very interesting and inventive
keyboard mods that seem to have traveled back in time, with a paradoxically
futuristic edge. From steam punk and art deco themed keyboards, to
keyboards with scrabble tiles for keys, Doc’s modified mechanical keyboards
are true works of art (and fully functional