When I was a child, I asked my mother how they got the different types of letters (bold, italitc, etc.) in books. I knew that on our home typewriters we couldn't get any variations like that. Well, her answer must not have been too clear, because I came away thinking that professional authors must
have special typewriters with several keyboards next to each other, one for italics, one for bold, one for bigger letters, one for special drop-capital letters at the start of novels, etc. (No normal person could afford one of these.)
The three or four keyboards were arranged in a half hexagon:
\ __ /
Each keyboard had a different font, and you would roll or slide your chair around so you could face whichever keyboard you were using.
Act II. 23 Years Later.
In today's multitasking society, such a keyboard could easily come into use! Everybody wants a different keyboard (BASIC programming keyboard, Roman Numeral keyboard, Chinese Language keyboard, Keyboard With The Windows Keys Removed, Blank Keyboard, etc.) Just look at all the ideas up there on this site.
I picture 6 keyboards, arranged in a full hexagon, and all attached to your computer at once. A spinnable tray (keyboardboard?) sits under your desk so that just one keyboard sticks out from under the desk. When you need a different keyboard, simply spin the tray to get to the one you want.
No longer must you struggle with your significant other's three-piece "ergonomic" keyboard when you're on the computer. Nephew coming over to practice his touch typing? Simply switch to keyboard #6, the blank one. Time for some BASIC programming? Keyboard #2.
Some keyboards might be little, e.g. the roman numeral one, so you can actually fit more than six. Arrange them in any order you like.
Thank you.
P.S. I also thought, as a child, that when a book had a line with
l e t t e r s _ s p a c e d _ o u t _ a _ l o t _ l i k e _ t h i s
that it meant that the author let his child type that line, and he told his child to put a space between every letter (much the way childs' writing paper has much wider ruled lines than grown-ups'.) I didn't know it was 'cause of an attempt to fully justify the margins!