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Although many computer components are under rapid development cycles and have come light-years in terms of technical advances since the PC was first introduced to the consumer, some peripherals have remained largely unchanged, or have gone through unremarkable enhancements that are mostly overlooked. To me, the keyboard is one of the most mundane of all devices, and as such has seen the least development. Other than the much lauded “natural” and ergo keyboards from Microsoft and other peripherals companies, nothing much has happened in the keyboard market. Until recently.

With the huge boom in internet and digital music markets, it was no wonder that the use of computers has expanded to include many users who would not otherwise bother with the things. Because of these new age users, the whole convergence scheme came into play, and people are no longer happy with having to click or type the appropriate commands to do what they want. People want ease of use, and what they want is forcing companies to rethink the traditional keyboard. Enter the Internet Keyboards from Microsoft and Logitech – these keyboards boast extra feature buttons ranged along the top edge, which serve as hot keys for commonly used functions. An interesting idea on paper, but an even more interesting one in practice, because it actually does make life easier.