Early Keyboard Evolution

Movable type was invented in China in 1040 BCE. Since then, countless ways of communicating ideas flexibly have been invented, popularized, and eventually left by the wayside. The predecessors of our modern keyboard go back only a few centuries, designed in the 1700s and produced in the 1870s.

These early typing devices featured blind typing technology, in which characters were printed upside down, unseen until the work was complete. Since then, developers have been updating this design, technology, layout and function to make keyboards more user-friendly and efficient. The typewriter changed dramatically over the decades until it became electronic and then obsolete as people shifted to computers and modern keyboards.

A lot has happened for the modern keyboard to be designed and manufactured. Read below to learn more about the history and evolution of typing on keyboards.

The Typewriter

To explore the history of the keyboard, we must study the origins of typing and the devices that were used long ago.

The first typing machines looked like sewing machines rather than typewriters. The manufacturer of these first typewriters was Remington Rand, a company created by James Rand, Jr., who is also well known for designing handguns and sewing machines. The Remington typewriter came with a foot pedal similar to that of a sewing machine, used to control carriage returns. The Remington Sholes and Glidden typewriter is the first documented typing device manufactured for personal use.

In 1714, a patent for a typing device was issued to Henry Mill in London, although there is no solid evidence to prove that the machine was indeed constructed or sold. The typing device was used to prepare legal documents in an organized and legible way.

Later in 1808, another patent for a typing machine was issued to Pellegrino Turri, who was based in Italy. His machine enabled the blind to write. Pellegrino also invented the carbon copy which is an essential part of daily function for many office buildings in the world.

The Typowriter

In 1829, William Austin Burt created the Typowriter, which used dials instead of keys to print characters, making the process much slower than writing by hand. However, it was a great way to print organized, legible text. The Typowriter could also be used by the blind. Unfortunately for Burt, the Typowriter did not ignite the interest of the public.

From 1829 to 1870, there were a lot of patents issued for typing devices, none of which were used for commercial purposes. In 1861, Father Fransisco Avezado created the first homemade typewriter which was made of wood and knives.

In 1865, the Hansen Writing Ball from Denmark arrived. The mechanism used by the Hansen Writing Ball is similar to most of the commercial models that followed later. The Hansen Writing Ball got some attention in England and some parts of Europe because it was a fully functioning typing device, and it was made with household materials. This typewriter continued to serve people in offices and businesses in England and Europe until 1909.

At the same time, the Remington Sholes and Glidden team were quite frustrated with their slow progress, so they sold their patent for $12,000 to Densmore and Yost, who redesigned the sewing machine-like typing device by removing the foot pedal and having the carriage returns controlled on the typewriter.

This change made the typewriter smaller, leading to the emergence of the desktop version. By 1910, most typewriters had a standard appearance and weight, even between brands, until 1961.

The Selectric Typewriter

In 1961, IBM designed and created the Selectric typewriter which did not use type bars to strike the page. The Selectric used a type ball that rolled and printed letters on a page without the type bars. This was a great technology because there were no typewriter jams.

Typewriter jams are when two or more type bars interlock when you type too fast. The Selectric had type balls that could be easily removed and replaced if the user wanted to change fonts on the same page, which was a massive improvement for the technology. The Selectric Typewriter was produced and used until the 1980s.

In the early 1980s, Apple, Commodore and Radio Shark started projecting into the future and came up with the concept of the modern keyboard. They started manufacturing keyboards for their computers.

The computer keyboard became a massive success because it was easy to use, accurate and comfortable. Designers and manufacturers immersed themselves into their work in the years that followed. They kept making minor improvements and ultimately produced the modern keyboards which are used by the majority of people across the world. Today, we have incredible achievements like the folding, waterproof and virtual touch keyboard designs and there are programs developed to help master keyboarding.

Keyboards have come a long way since the emergence of those first typewriters. It’s important to remember that without the invention of the mechanical typewriter and keyboard, we would not have the modern keyboard, and we would not have the privilege of learning how to use it well.