4.2.4 Keyboards
Every computer comes with a keyboard. They are still the main way of taking text across the boundary into the computer. The one I'm using to type this course has 109 keys. Under each key is a pressure sensor that detects when the key has been pressed and sends an electronic signal into the computer. There, a small program called the BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) translates the signal into the appropriate numeric code. Other software stores that code in a suitable place in the memory.
Exercise 9
List some of the drawbacks of keyboards.
Discussion
Few people actually like using keyboards.
There has been concern recently about the damage they can cause to long-term users in the form of repetitive strain injury (RSI).
It takes special training to get the best out of them.
A keyboard is a pretty inefficient way of getting text into a computer. It is limited by the speed of its operator, and humans are slow and clunky compared with electronic machines. Computers have a phenomenal capacity to store information. A typical hard disk could store hundreds of full-length novels and encyclopaedias. But who is going to type all these in? And how long would it take?