Their modern use may have been popularized by IBM keyboards: first the IBM 3270 terminals, then the IBM PC. NEC's PC-8001, introduced in 1979, featured five function keys at the top of the keyboard, along with a numeric keypad on the right-hand side of the keyboard. HP continued its use of function keys in the HP 2640 (1975), which used screen-labeled function keys, placing the keys close to the screen, where labels could be displayed for their function. The HP 9830A (1972) was an early desktop computer, and one of the earliest specifically computing uses. In computing use, they were found on the HP 9810A calculator (1971) and later models of the HP 9800 series, which featured 10 programmable keys in 5×2 block (2 rows of 5 keys) at the top left of the keyboard, with paper labels.
Soft keys date to avionics multi-function displays of military planes of the late 1960s/early 1970s, such as the Mark II avionics of the F-111D (first ordered 1967, delivered 1970–73). The interpretation of the function keys was determined by the programming of a plugboard inside the back of the machine. Although the Flexowriter could be used as a computer terminal, this electromechanical typewriter was primarily intended as a stand-alone word processing system.
The Singer/Friden 2201 Flexowriter Programatic, introduced in 1965, had a cluster of 13 function keys, labeled F1 to F13 to the right of the main keyboard. HP 9830A (1972) with 5×2 grid of 10 function keys at top left
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