It's weird that keyboards before this just didn't have a key there. No one looked at the almost entirely contiguous main block of keys and thought "huh we could put another key in that gap"?
Keyboards used to be a lot more varied. While some had blockers where the Windows key is now commonly placed,[1] some had blockers in different locations,[2] while others had the lower row tapered on the far sides,[3] or the lower row with no blockers but with different keys.[4]
It is easier to locate keys when given hints like an empty space on the board, it’s much easier to find “f4” next to a gap rather than counting four keys from the left
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_M_keyboard#/media/File:I... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space-cadet_keyboard#/media/Fi... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ascom_BEG_100.jpg [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amstrad_CPC#/media/File:Schnei...