I’ve been doing an odd thing lately… Gathering computer keyboard pictures. If that’s confusing t all, I literally mean computer keyboard layout pictures that show the layout of the different alphabetical and command keys on a variety of keyboards from different computer models including contemporary Macs and PCs and older machines, too.
But why would I want to do this, you might wonder? Well as it turns out, I’m going to do a number of things with these computer keyboard pictures. Some I intend to use to show my computer science students to give them a better idea of how these different machines are laid out for ideal (or less than ideal functionality). I also like showing pictures of computer keyboards that show how these setups differ across various languages. Asian (especially Japanese) computer keyboards are set up to allow for lightning fast typing, but tend to use a totally different setup overall. Some keyboards that use borrowed Chinese characters have to accommodate a MUCH larger group of symbols and are gigantic and circular as a result.
It also helps to study computer keyboard pictures when learning to type. Of course there’s no substitute for actually building the motor memory necessary for typing, but internalizing a mental computer keyboard picture is a great way to solidify your awareness of where all the keys are.
If you’re looking for a quick picture of a computer keyboard to use as a reference, there are plenty of different images you can explore online that are great for this purpose. You can pretty easily just do a search for a term along the lines of “computer keyboard pictures” or the like and get some usable results right away.