What makes a keyboard work

Of course, you need to be careful not to go too thin. Apple's newest Macbook, for instance, is notorious for its lack of key travel. While most people agree the keyboard is useable once you get used to it, people tend to find it unpleasant.

Wired calls it a cross between a keyboard and tapping on glass , saying "suddenly I understand what typewriter aficionados are always droning on about: There's something wonderful about hitting a key and having something happen.

I feel the impact in my bones. We've arrived at the design problem that vexes keyboard-makers: How do you delivery a satisfying THUNK without making the keyboard thicker? One solution is to excavate new space inside the shell you already have. And every last bit counts. Compared to traditional mechanical keyboards, which can have a travel distance of some 4 millimeters from top to bottom, laptop keyboards often move two millimeters or less, a far shorter distance than their forebears.

But by making use of every hair-breadth of otherwise-wasted space, modern membrane keyboards can actually increase their precious travel distance while still getting thinner on the whole. But travel isn't everything. In fact, keyboard designers have learned that they can almost fake the feeling of throw by tweaking the second crucial quality of the keyboard: the split-second when it clicks, and how much force it takes to do it.

It's what Bingham calls the snap ratio. Also referred to as "force-to-fire," the snap ratio is the amount of force you must apply to the key before it will move all the way down and type a letter. Try it right now. Press a key slowly and feel out its inertia before it suddenly gives way. A good snap ratio means you'll have to amp up the pressure a bit before the key gives up and goes down. A keyboard can accomplish this sensation through the use of a few different mechanisms, most of which take the form of a collapsing plastic framework that sits around the membrane's rubber dome.

The most common is a "scissor switch," which takes the form of two x-shaped braces that hoist the top of the key over the top of the rubber dome that it compresses. Throw a couple of springs in there, and you can generate resistance so that pressing down on the keys feels springier and snappier than just mushing your finger down on some rubber dome. This sensation isn't exactly a click like the kind you'll find in mechanical keyboards.

Those taller keys will sometimes have two rigid pieces that will actually smack into each other on the way down to make a click, or other circuit-completing components that click by necessity. Shorter travel keys don't have that luxury so instead, that build-up and sudden drop-off of a tight snap ratio is a membrane's best chance to offer a sensation that's roughly analogous. Without it, each stroke is just a soft, frustrating motion with the character appearing onscreen at some arbitrary point in the process.

That snap is what gives a modern keyboard its click, and that's absolutely crucial. The third important feature of your keyboard—and one that's rarely discussed in detail, and is nearly impossible to notice unless it's absolutely abysmal—isn't about how the keys click.

It's about how easy it is for your fingers to find their way to the right keys without getting lost on the way. That's discoverability. Laying down a baseline is easy enough; just put the keys in the right places. But even when all the keys mapped to the places you're used to finding them, subtler details of their layout and design can be crucial. Pitch is just the distance between the centers of each key, a measure of whether a keyboard feels roomy or cramped that's relatively independent from a keyboard's actual, physical size.

On most full-sized keyboards, there's a pitch of about 18 or 19mm from the middle of one key to the middle of the next. After years of typing on keyboards that adhere roughly to that standard, that distance winds up ingrained in your muscle memory.

So even when trusty QWERTY ensures the keys are in their regular spots relative to each other, wonky pitch can throw them off relative to where your unconscious mind expects your fingers to be able to find them. Make it much smaller than that like on the tiniest Bluetooth and tablet keyboards and suddenly you're you're typing p's instead of o's and end up ;p;p;p;p;-ing when you meant to lololol.

Dish, meanwhile, is that subtle bit of concavity you'll sometimes spot on a key's top. A keyboard key is not a perfectly level box; It's really more like "bowl," with the inward-curving sides guiding your fingers towards the center. This key is usually F2, F12, or Del. Your computer's boot messages specifies the correct key. If the keyboard is working as the computer is booting up, something in Windows is preventing the keyboard from working. Try booting the computer into Safe Mode.

In Safe Mode, your operating system loads the bare minimum software and device drivers to reduce potential conflicts. If your keyboard works in Safe Mode, try uninstalling or reinstalling any recently added software.

If another keyboard doesn't work, chances are the motherboard needs to be replaced, and it may be time to consider replacing your computer. Windows has a built-in Device Manager to help you to identify and resolve issues with hardware devices, including keyboards. You need a working keyboard to follow these steps. If you cannot get any keyboard to work on your computer, skip this section. Sometimes devices stop functioning because their software is out of date. If your operating system is Microsoft Windows, Windows Update should automatically keep your drivers up-to-date.

To run Windows Update manually, follow these steps. If you suspect that Windows update was not able to find your keyboard drivers , visit the manufacturer's website to download them. Getting keyboard drivers are necessary if you are using a special or programmable keyboard.

If the troubleshooting options above do not yield any results, or you do not have a spare keyboard, we recommend replacing the keyboard. Having the keyboard fixed is usually not cost-effective, as it is most likely cheaper to buy a new keyboard. Mobile Newsletter chat dots. Mobile Newsletter chat avatar. Mobile Newsletter chat subscribe. Prev NEXT. Computer Peripherals. Cite This! Print Citation. Try Our Sudoku Puzzles! More Awesome Stuff.