# I am the Watcher. I am your guide through this vast new twtiverse.
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So I was cleaning my keyboard, when I noticed that the space bar is … grounded? 
According to someone on the internet, this is the reason:
> This is an idea from the late 1980s, when keyboards were collocated with large cathode-ray-tube monitors, which charged the users with static electricity. TTL circuitry had just been replaced by CMOS technology, which was much more sensitive against static discharges, so means were sought to discharge the users and protect the devices. First idea were grounded pads, where the user should discharge before touching the keyboard. Then IBM constructed a space bar made of conductive plastic that was wired to ground, which had the advantage that the user touches the space bar anyway and often. The idea spread throughout the 1990s, when also KeyTronic and Cherry started making keyboards with grounded space bars. These disappeared again when chip circuitry had evolved and was less susceptible to discharge damage.
Who would’ve thunk.
So I was cleaning my keyboard, when I noticed that the space bar is … grounded?
According to someone on the internet, this is the reason:
> This is an idea from the late 1980s, when keyboards were collocated with large cathode-ray-tube monitors, which charged the users with static electricity. TTL circuitry had just been replaced by CMOS technology, which was much more sensitive against static discharges, so means were sought to discharge the users and protect the devices. First idea were grounded pads, where the user should discharge before touching the keyboard. Then IBM constructed a space bar made of conductive plastic that was wired to ground, which had the advantage that the user touches the space bar anyway and often. The idea spread throughout the 1990s, when also KeyTronic and Cherry started making keyboards with grounded space bars. These disappeared again when chip circuitry had evolved and was less susceptible to discharge damage.
Who would’ve thunk.
So I was cleaning my keyboard, when I noticed that the space bar is … grounded?
According to someone on the internet, this is the reason:
> This is an idea from the late 1980s, when keyboards were collocated with large cathode-ray-tube monitors, which charged the users with static electricity. TTL circuitry had just been replaced by CMOS technology, which was much more sensitive against static discharges, so means were sought to discharge the users and protect the devices. First idea were grounded pads, where the user should discharge before touching the keyboard. Then IBM constructed a space bar made of conductive plastic that was wired to ground, which had the advantage that the user touches the space bar anyway and often. The idea spread throughout the 1990s, when also KeyTronic and Cherry started making keyboards with grounded space bars. These disappeared again when chip circuitry had evolved and was less susceptible to discharge damage.
Who would’ve thunk.
@movq pretty cool! TIL. That's one tidbit I didn't know. So, your space bar is made out of conductive plastic, I mean, isn't that supposed to be an oxymoron?
@movq Nah, that's an anti-theft protection. The space bar thief would need a bolt cutter to cut through the steel cable in order to make a successful coup.
Crazy, never seen or heard that. Very interesting.
@david I thought so, too. The wonders of science, I guess. 😅
@david I thought so, too. The wonders of science, I guess. 😅
@david I thought so, too. The wonders of science, I guess. 😅