Technical Description (1) (1)Technical Description: Dell Laptop Keyboard
(Figure 1, pros of keyboard in laptops Jeffries,2016)
By…
Mubdi Shah
Writing for Engineering
The City College of New York
October 21, 2018
Table of Contents
I. Introduction……………………………………………….3
II. Technical Poem……………………………………….4
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III. Description of parts………………………………………5,6
IV. History of the keyboard…………….6,7
V. How keyboard is connected to Laptop….8
VI. How the screen on the laptop displays the letter typed as soon as you type it………..9,10
VII. How the keyboards today are designed in laptops……10,11
VIII. Conclusion……12
IX. References…….13
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Introduction
A keyboard with a laptop is different than a usual keyboard that is connected to a
desktop. The keyboard is separate from the desktop and has a wire that is connected to
the desktop monitor. Those type of keyboards are called traditional keyboards while the
one on laptops are usually the more modern ones, usually called the mechanical
keyboards or chiclet keyboards (Jeffries, 2016). The first keyboard was made in 1868
directly stemming from the typewriter invented by Christopher Latham sholes( Bellis,
2018). Now, there are many different keyboards ranging from mechanical gaming pc’s,
to membrane ones, and the chiclet keyboards that are usually found on Macbooks. Each
one of them have different histories and makeups, and people can get different benefits
from each. The keys are also made intricately so it can connect with the screen and when
pressed, it appears on screen. These different keyboards are made the same, but designed
differently due to people having different feels for some keyboards, like some people like
spacing between keys more than others. The makeup of keys, keyboard as a whole, the
history, and the designing that goes with it to a computer that makes whatever key we
press up to be typed up or pop up on screen, will all be going over.
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Technical Poem
I am a keyboard
Stemming from a typewriter like pencils stemmed from bark
We both have functions
I have keys when pressed, is written on a computer screen
So you can write your hearts desire, without using a pencil
I have many keys, not all letters to write
I have the function keys, that help the user navigate around a computer
In reality, a person doesn’t have to use a mouse, the keys have all you need
I came a long way from typewriters, I now come in all types
From chiclet to Mechanical keyboards to many more
I come in all shapes, sizes, and colors
From baby sized green to adult sized blue
We all work the same but have many for your preferences
Just don’t press too hard or the keys will break
And don’t rage at the game and break your computer
Because I still want to be functioning for something
But if you avoid those things you will be fine
For I will always be the best for your computer, durability and ease of use is my middle name
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Description of Parts
The keys in the keyboard have many different functions. For example, the fn keys or the function
keys help the user do many things like change the audio, search for something in the internet,
change the brightness of the screen in the computer, and so many other shortcuts for the
computer.
(figure 2, display of the function keys in a keyboard Mary Bellis,2018)
They are designed using injection moulding thermoplastic material (Jeffries,2016). The process
is to heat up the plastic to melt it and injecting it under pressure into a steel mould where it
settles into its shape. The keys shrink when it cools down. The inventor of the typewriter who
invented the keyboard Christopher Latham Sholes, made the keys in the keyboard connect to the
computer screen with the key sending an electrical signal or a scan code. The keyboard as a
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whole was designed by Sholes in an odd fashion so that you can’t jam the keyboard when you
type, and there is enough spacing between letters so you can type quickly. The standard or full
sized keyboard has a size of 15.5mm x 15mm width and the spacing between keys are 3.3m x
3.3mm width (Clay,2016,p.1). A keyboard is usually 2.75mm thick and the height of a keyboard
is usually 3.81mm. (figure 3, the size and thickness
of an average keyboard, Mary Bellis, 2018)
History of Keyboard
The QWERTY Keyboard
(Figure 4, the typical keyboard in QWERTY formation, Mary Bellis, 2018)
There are several legends around the development of the QWERTY keyboard layout, which was
patented by Sholes and his partner James Densmore in 1878 and is still the most popular
keyboard layout on devices of all types in the English speaking world.
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(Figure 5, a picture of sholes the inventor of the modern
day keyboard, Mary Bellis, 2018)
The most compelling is that Sholes developed the layout to overcome the physical limitations of
machine technology at the time. Early typists pressed a key which would, in turn, push a metal
hammer that would rise up in an arc, strike an inked ribbon making a mark on a paper and then
return to its original position. Separating common pairs of letters minimized the jamming of the
mechanism (Bellis,2018,p.1).
As the machine technology improved, other keyboard alignments were invented that claimed to
be more efficient, such as the Dvorak keyboard patented in 1936. Although there are dedicated
Dvorak users today, they remain a tiny minority compared to those who continue to use the
original QWERTY layout. That’s been attributed to the QWERTY keyboard being “efficient
enough” and “familiar enough” to hinder the commercial viability of competitors
(Bellis,2018,p.2).
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How keyboard is connected to PC
All wireless keyboards have a receiver that is plugged into the computer (typically using
USB), and the keyboard connects to that receiver wirelessly. Connect this receiver either
into the back or front of your computer. Once connected, make sure your wireless
keyboard has batteries or is charged and turned on (Bellis,2018,p.1).
(Figure 5, a wireless keyboard and mouse with a USB
to connect the two, Mary Bellis, 2018)
Tip: To communicate wirelessly with the computer your keyboard must have a good
signal between the computer and the keyboard. Make sure your keyboard has a good
line of sight to the receiver. If you do not have a receiver with an extension cable
that can be moved try moving the USB receiver from the back to the front of the
computer (Bellis,2018,p.2).
After the keyboard has been connected, it should be automatically detected and should be
in proper use, every key pressed should be detected by the PC and showing up on the PC
for the thing that it is functioning for (Bellis,2018,p.3).
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How the screen on the laptop displays the letter typed as soon as you type it
1. The keyboard sends an electrical signal, called a scan code , to the computer
saying that a button was pressed.
2. The keyboard controller interprets the scan code and determines that the letter
pressed was an “M”. It stores this “M” in a special memory location until the
processor is ready to deal with it.
3. The controller sends a signal to the processor, called an interrupt . An interrupt
tells the processor that some part of the computer has information for it to process
and wants its attention. In this case, the keyboard controller wants the processor to
look at the key you just pressed.
4. The processor is almost always doing many things, sharing its time among many
tasks. As a result, most every event must wait its turn. The processor services
interrupts based on their priority. When it is time to deal with the keypress, the
processor routes it to the program for the operating system that you are using.
5. Assuming you are using a multitasking operating system like Windows, the
operating system software decides which window you pressed the key in and
sends a message to that window telling it a key was pressed.
6. The window decides what to do with the keypress. Since in this case it’s your
word processor window, and the key you pressed was an ordinary letter, the word
processor will add that letter to its working area for the file you have open. The
letter will take one byte of your computer’s memory (RAM). Other keys could be
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handled differently (for example, if you pressed the key to tell the word processor
to exit).
7. The window will then call the operating system to display the letter on the screen.
8. The operating system will display the letter on the screen by adding it to your
video card’s video memory.
The next time the video card refreshes your monitor (re-displays what is in its video
memory) the letter will appear on the screen. Most video cards refresh the monitor between 60
and 100 times per second (PC guide,p.1)
How the keyboards today are designed in laptops
There are different types of keyboards today. They are originally made from scratch the same
way they were made when they were first invented. But there are now different type of
keyboards like mechanical keyboards for gamers, and membrane computers for people who use
it for important work, and the chiclet keyboard who have wide spacing on the mac usually that
does well for students so they can type faster without messing up because there is a lot of space
between letters (Jeffries,2016). There are also different layout designs of the keyboard: The
Azerty, the QWERTZ, DVORAK, COLEMAk, and the Maltron (Bellis,2018,p.4). They replace
the original QWERTY layout that most computers in the US use and are used in many countries
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around the world because of their familiarity to those in different parts of the world and thus
makes it easier to use for them.
(Figure 6, A typical maltron keyboard, Mary Bellis, 2018)
(Figure 7, a keyboard in
Azerty format, Mary Bellis, 2018)
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Conclusion
Overall, the keyboard has a big history and many different designs and layouts. The keys
themselves are very complicated and pressing one key has a lot of steps before it appears on
screen even though it happens right away. The keyboard will probably be more improved in the
future, the gaming ones already show some of that with its mechanical design and the fact that it
lights up. This stemmed from the typewriter and has a similar design like it due to the inventor
being the same person who invented both, and since 1868, it has helped people write up many
things faster than how they would if they wrote by hand and much neater, and less jam while
typing on a typewriter.
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References
Bellis, Mary. “Why Your Computer Keyboard Has a QWERTY Layout.” ThoughtCo , 2018,
www.thoughtco.com/history-of-the-computer-keyboard-1991402 .
“Special Characters.” Special Characters – Alt Keyboard Sequences ,
tools.oratory.com/altcodes.html.
“What Happens When You Press a Key.” Example: What Happens When You Press A Key ,
www.pcguide.com/intro/works/exampl-c.html .
Sun, Jeffries. “So What Is a ‘Chiclet’ Keyboard Anyway?” All Things Netbook , 2016,
www.netbookchoice.com/2009/04/19/so-what-is-a-%E2%80%98chiclet%E2%80%99-ke
yboard-anyway/ .
Piltch, Avram. “5 Things to Look For in Your Next Notebook Keyboard.” LAPTOP , Laptop
Mag, 3 May 2016, www.laptopmag.com/articles/how-to-pick-a-good-keyboard.

All figures found in media attachment and attachment on BB.

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