Why Are Bumps On The ‘F’ And ‘J’ Keys Of Computer Keyboard?

Why Are Bumps On The ‘F’ And ‘J’ Keys Of Computer Keyboard? What’s Their Use?

Short Bytes: We see bumps or dashes on a couple of keys on the QWERTY keyboards present on our desktops, laptops, etc. The purpose of these bumps is to guide people while placing their fingers on the keyboard and also help them type speedily without looking at the keyboard.

If you’d look at your computer’s QWERTY keyboard, a couple of keys, namely, F, J, and 5 (Numpad) have little dashes or bumps. It doesn’t matter, the computer is a normal PC or a MAC, the bumps are there. But the question asked by many people is, why?

All of the three keys are a part of the QWERTY keyboard’s middle line of keys, known as the Home row. The purpose of the bumps on the keys F and J is to guide the typist correctly while placing his fingers on the keyboard and typing without looking at the keyboard – a thing known as Touch Typing.

We have to place the left index finger of the F key and right index finger on the J key. And the rest of the finger on the adjacent keys on the home row.

I think most people, including me, wouldn’t find any utility of these keys. That’s because many individuals don’t take typing classes and rely on their natural typing skills. So, over the years of their self-evolved typing habits, people have their version of the keyboard. Surely, they can type without looking at the keyboard. But a professional typist would have a higher level of accuracy.

These keyboard bumps find no use in the case of the touchscreen-based devices. On our smartphones and tablets, we mainly use our thumbs to input keywords. Although we can type quickly, researchers have started to feel the requirement for a faster keyboard than QWERTY. That’s why they have been working on a new keyboard type known as KALQ. You can find it as a beta app on Google Play.

Did you pay attention during your keyboard practice lessons? Drop our thoughts and feedback.