What's the difference between a computer keyboard and a typewriter ?

Mechanically, a manual typewriter (and some electric ones) has a full linkage assembly to attach each key to the hardware that strikes the page. That needs to be maintained - including cleaning and oiling as part of regular maintenance. The keys are stacked in a stadium configuration.. the 'QWERTY" row is physically higher than the "ASDF" row, and so on.

The doo-dad is the "carriage" - a typewriter will have a carriage, an ink ribbon, a carriage return (maybe more than one)

The shift-lock physically locks the entire strike area in a different position.

Keyboards are usually flat, and have no moving parts other than the keys.

Logically, a computer keyboard can send keys for any of the thousands of ASCII characters, in any font in any size. A typewriter usually has only one "font"- even the fancy IBM Selectrics required that a user physically changed a handball-sized metal ball with the physical typeset layout on it.

Backspace was pretty useless; only some electric keyboards used anything like "erase" - they just re-typed the letter using white ink.

There is no numlock or even a number pad on a typewriter.

There is no F-key row, esc,ctrl, alt, windows key, arrow keys, print screen, page up/dn etc.

A typewriter is usually a mechanical device that uses springs and levers to cause a typebar or ball with a fixed font to strike a ribbon - pushing ink against the paper to receive the type. Pressure can be adjusted - as can the paper thickness - to accommodate envelopes or multipart forms.

A computer keyboard is a digital device, designed only to take 'input' when a key makes electrical contact, or just when the key is pressed and causes a change in capacitance behind it. The keyboard converts that electrical input to a digital output. That output needs to be interpreted by a computer & software before your keystrike means anything at all.

Physically & mechanically, the typewriter can only produce about 100 (max) different "glyphs" or characters typed - physically changing the typeset still limited you to a different 100 or so characters.

A computer keyboard will let you compose thousands of possible characters, first by using key combinations (control combinations, or alt combos) OR by programming macros into the keyboard, or by the way software interprets the keyboard input.

If you try to hit multiple keys at the same time on a typewriter - you just jam up the keys.

Typewriters also limit the speed of typing, because there are moving parts. There is a limit to how fast the key can strike the ribbon & page, the carriage advances, the key returns to a neutral position, and a new key can strike the page. I've heard of super-typists that could approach 180-200 wpm, but that was probably the upper limit on an electric typewriter. (opinion)

Keyboards still have limits - but the limit is in how fast a user can make useful movements with their fingers.

So.. other than the fact that the QWERTY (or DVORAK) layout of the alpha characters looks similar, there are very few similarities between a typewriter and a computer keyboard. The keyboard was -probably- designed to look similar to a typewriter to be more user-friendly when the technology was new, and it has just been slow to develop.

Typewriter Keyboard For Computer

The standard computer keyboard is based on those used on typewriters. Both have what is called a QWERTY keyboard arrangement of the keys. A standard typewriter doesn't have as many keys as a standard computer keyboard. Missing are the 10 keys (number pad to the right on most standard PC keyboards). The F1 - F12 or Function keys, ESC, Print Screen, Scroll Lock, Pause, Insert, Home, Page Up & Down, Delete, End, cursor or arrow keys, the CTRL, ALT and Windows key (on Windows based PCs) and most notability the Enter key. Several keys on a computer keyboard also have a Shift, CTRL and Alt function not found on the standard typewriter. Along with those there are also some combinations of keys to provide other functions depending on the program its being used with a PC.

Many typewriters also have slightly different arrangements of some of their keys. I've see some with no number one, instead requiring the use of a lower case L. I've also seen several which do not strictly follow the QWERTY layout of keys. Take a look at images of a Typewriter keyboard in Google and compare to your PCs keyboard. There can be some signification differences.

Typewriter keys, mechanical ones anyway, have a greater travel than keyboard keys. This also means that users have to be careful to let one key fully return before depressing another to make sure they don�t jam. Keyboards have a small cache memory to hold user key strokes while the computer is processing other tasks and making it wait. Keyboards have several dedicated special function keys not required by typewriters e.g. The Windows key, context key, print screen etc. Curser keys are present on keyboards but not typewrites though may be on dedicated word processing machines. As keyboards are intended to be used as an input device for more than one specific application they have several software programmable keys e.g. F1-F12. A computer keyboard can easily be replaced with another displaying different character sets if, for example, you wish to write a letter in Japanese.

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keys that on the computer keyboard and not on a regular typewriters function keys (F1-12), numeric keypad, esc, sleep,wakeup,scroll lock. others depends on keyboard. if it's a manual typewriter it doesnt have the power. the enter, backspace, pagup&dwn etc.

Typewriter Computer Keyboard

Some letters/numbers arent on d type writter and when yhu type something and mess up yhu dnt have a bck space nd you'd have to start over

Lots of technology son, technology.

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