February 24, 2004

Keyboards

Few people give much thought to the keyboards on their computers but this is one area where ergonomics plays a big role. Back in the stone ages of personal computing, IBM developed a 'buckling spring' technology that gave by far the best touch of any keyboard out there. It fell out of favor when the Graphical User Interface and the Mouse arrived on people's desktops - people typed a lot less, keyboard touch was less critical and the expense of the buckling spring mechanism made cheaper 'rubber dome' keyboards more attractive. Two keyboard companies remain in people's hearts - IBM and Northgate. Fortunately, although both companies have gone through buy-outs and business changes, they are still making keyboards. IBM spun off their keyboards and printers to Lexmark. Lexmark sold the keyboard business to Unicomp. Unicomp operates the PCKeyboard website and sells their products (as well as replacement parts for older keyboards) online. Northgate went out of business and its assets were eventually acquired by Creative Vision Technologies A good look at keyboard technology can be found on Dan's Data website. Posted by DaveH at February 24, 2004 11:16 AM