You’ve probably never noticed this, but if you look at this from your computer and look down, you’ll realize that all keyboards have it. Both letter F as the letter J have a particular hairline and with relieve on its keys, and in fact it is something that usually also has the key 5 of the numeric keypad. Have you ever wondered why? In this article, we explain it to you.
It’s more common than you might think, and not just on keyboards, but also on more devices. Vamos a ver por que sucede y cuál es la verdadera razón, ya que si preguntas a la mayoría de usuarios te responderá que o bien nunca se habían fijado, o bien siempre había pensado que es para tener una referencia táctil de dónde colocar los dedos sobre the keyboard.
The striped pattern on the F and J keys
And no, it’s not for the blind. Like other devices like a TV remote or an elevator, this relief does not indicate a point of reference for blind people as it would be a bit illogical as they would not see the computer screen in the same way . It’s true that it can be useful if they need to write a text or use an adapted computer, so it can also be a help for them, but it’s not its main idea.
And it is that the reason has its logic and is as simple as you surely imagine. Its use is simply to guide us in the position of our fingers when writing and thus not having to take our eyes off the computer screen.
The F and J keys are chosen because they are the two extremes of the position of the fingers of the two hands if placed correctly on a QWERTY keyboard.
With this reference, it is very easy to position yourself on the keyboard without having to look where the keys are. We will only have to press our fingers and check by touch if the place is correct.
Similarly, the number 5 would also be marked with this same band on devices with a side number pad. The reason would be the same. Indicate the center to guide you to the rest without having to visualize them.
This idea and custom comes from the time of typists. Before, writing on a machine was more complicated because if you made a mistake you had to throw the paper away and start over. This is why for them, having a reference that avoids errors was essential. They implemented this system to avoid making as many mistakes as possible, and when they saw that it worked, they kept using it and dropping it over time.
With the advent of technology, this curiosity has been abandoned because, although today making a mistake is much easier to correct, it also helps us to avoid them and write more correctly and faster.
And you, did you know it, do you use it or put it into practice when you write, or do you simply think that it is useless today?
