ABSTRACT
Keyboards allow informational interaction with machines (computers, calculators, telephones) instruments, process control, vehicles, etc. In this manner human users can communicate their instructions, requests, preferences, and knowledge manually to machines, which in turn display the results of their activities back to the human operators, closing the feedback loop. Keyboards remain the most versatile of the ways people communicate with machines, although other alternatives are becoming more available in specialized applications (e.g. mice, voice, tablets, scanners). This article will discuss the most frequently occurring keyboards in some detail, and by inference refer to other, less frequently encountered keyboards and their function.
