These past few days , I’ve had a bit of a fascination with….wait for it … ‘keyboards’.
Not the musical variety …but the highly functional communication tool that’s allowing me to write this. I have no idea what prompted it (well actually I might know) … but since tuning in to this fascination … it seems I am being haunted by them…. (keyboards that is).
Since caving to the world of gadgetry and purchasing my phabulous phablet last week, I’m reminded that if I’m writing anything longer than 2 lines……..I would rather use a ‘thumbnail dipped in tar’ than type on a touch screen keyboard. It’s silly I know, but there is something comforting knowing that I can feel and hear the clicking of the keys. …and the tactile aspect is so much more ‘real’than tapping on a sheet of glass !!
Which brings me to the functional part …how DOES that sheet of glass translate that little ‘tap’ into letters on the screen. I mean …just stop and really think about it ? It is quite amazing technology …but it almost makes me forgive my ‘not so smart’ phone for it’s poor spelling and grammar.
The more you contemplate the humble keyboard the more there is to wonder, ponder and appreciate really….. like ‘why ARE the keys on a qwerty keyboard arranged the way they are’ ? and what key is used the most (tip have a look at the most shiny and faded one) ….. and how often should you actually clean your key board ??? (and how ???) …..the list goes on.
I began to wonder why I was so fascinated…. and it suddenly occurred to me that it must be genetic. My Mum was a Comptomotrist way back in the 1940’s ….busily tapping holes in cardboard 8 hours each day …. bet she didn’t use a ‘smart anything’ to help her ….just good old fashioned and clunky keys.
Wonder Years 
