Editing DEC LK201 (section)

==Layout==
The layout of the LK201 has been very influential on subsequent systems. The main typing area has what later became the [[ISO]] layout, a QWERTY keyboard with a vertical Enter key, Tab to the left of 'Q' and a '<' key to the left of 'Z'. Like its predecessor, the keyboard for the VT102, both the [[control key|control]] and [[caps lock]] keys are to the left of 'A'. The break and [[delete key|delete]] keys were moved slightly to the right into a new group of keys, so that there was space to the right of the [[enter key]].

Function keys are on a top row, separated into several groups. There is also a [[numeric keypad]] on the right side with four additional function keys.

The LK201 was also (one of) the first keyboards to have a [[compose key]], which was situated to the left of the space bar.

===Inverse T===
[[File:Cursor keys--LK201.svg|right|thumb|Inverse-T layout introduced by the LK201]]

The LK201 is most famous for being the keyboard that popularised the inverse-T [[cursor keys|cursor key]] arrangement. While the LK201 was not the first keyboard to use this arrangement, it was chosen after serious studies into usability.<ref name="NerdCorner">Tim Burrows. [http://www.eldacur.com/~brons/NerdCorner/InverseT-History.html "Inverse-T History"], The Nerd Corner. Sep 21, 2009. (Acquired May 22, 2012)</ref> Whether the design was independently re-invented, or copied from an earlier keyboard, is not known.

===Followers===
DEC, being a major player in the computing industry in the early 1980s inspired many successors with its keyboard layouts.
The location of the cursor keys, the delete key and function keys were especially copied.

In 1983-1984 the IBM engineering task force developing the [[IBM Enhanced Keyboard|IBM Enhanced Keyboard (Model M)]] co-opted the layout of the LK201, including its signature inverted-T arrow cluster, but moved one row down.

Others layouts clearly influenced were [[Atari ST]] (1985), [[NEC PC-8801]] (from 1986) and [[Amiga]] (from 1987).
Apple copied IBM's layout with the [[Apple Extended Keyboard]] (1987).