My programmer friend swears by Dvorak. I trained on typewriters in high school, so I have been on QWERTY for too long. However, I always thought having more memorable passwords and then learning to type them in Dvorak on your QWERTY keyboard would be clever. So 'password' would be 'ra;;,soh' on my QWERTY keyboard.
One thing I also heard, but do not have a source for, was that the choice of letters on the top row was influenced by the desire to be able to type "typewriter" all on that row. As your fingers covered the middle and bottom rows, those were the easiest to see, so this worked in the favor of salesmen.
Just got around to reading this. This is fascinating - one of those topics I always wanted to explore but never got around to it. And thanks for the shoutout!
This was so interesting. And you managed to punch out enough letters to form a whole newsletter, just like always! 😅
But PLEASE don’t put any ideas into the heads of Apple people or whoever would be responsible for changing the QWERTY keyboard. I couldn’t handle the re-training at this point in my life!
I agree! There's lots of evidence that Dvorak or Colemak are more efficient. However, relearning will make you less efficient in the new layout, and you might actually never type as fast as you do in QWERTY, since that's what your brain learned first.
I love reading about the history behind things we never really think of. The genius of Christopher Latham's layout is one I never really thought about, but came to appreciate ever more once I learned about it.
When I was a kid, my mom had an ancient typwriter with the arms that would swing up and impact the ribbon to leave the ink mark. You had to use significant finger power to press the key, move the mechanism and imact the paper. Today's keyboards are so easy it isn't even funny.
Looking back, it's amazing to think how accurate the typists were. Think how many mistakes we make in just typing one sentence. Just one of those mistakes would result in a screwed up piece of paper in the bin.
Like others, my first thought was that I'd love to try switching, but, too much of the world is QUERTY for it to be anything other than ridiculously confusing.
It occurs to me, though -- dialects, accents, languages, social body language cues ... we humans seem quite capable of mastering multiple sets and switching between them, far beyond what I'd ever imagine if I were predicting it without prior knowledge. Maybe keyboarding would be the same, and both wouldn't be that big a deal.
It's a bit like the driving on the right side vs. the left side of the road. In 1967 Sweden changed from driving from the left to the right side of the road. The last country that did so was Ghana in 1974. But there were not that many drivers or infrastructure in their countries at the time. Although it is discussed in the UK from time to time, it would be impossible for us to switch nowadays. I think people could learn to use the Dvorak keyboard, but then using a phone, or another computer, would mess with your head! There are just too many keyboards using QUERTY.
The explanation I like best, is that if you rode your horse on the left, it meant you could more easily get to your sword, (which of course was attached to your right side), to defend yourself. Sadly, swords don't work well when you are in a car.
That is what I was always told. That is why spiral staircases go up the 'wrong' way in castles, so the invading swordsmen could not use their right hand but the defenders above them could. It meant that left handed swordsmen were very useful!
I’ve always considered trying a different keyboard and figured it would be an upgrade in efficiency and comfort. But alas, I know the retraining of my brain would be miserable and slow, so here I am still stuck on the same QWERTY keyboard!
Oh wow. I don't think my brain could cope with a different keyboard any more than it can cope with driving on the other side of the road!!
Well yeah. Me too. I might give it a quick go just to see how it works.
My programmer friend swears by Dvorak. I trained on typewriters in high school, so I have been on QWERTY for too long. However, I always thought having more memorable passwords and then learning to type them in Dvorak on your QWERTY keyboard would be clever. So 'password' would be 'ra;;,soh' on my QWERTY keyboard.
One thing I also heard, but do not have a source for, was that the choice of letters on the top row was influenced by the desire to be able to type "typewriter" all on that row. As your fingers covered the middle and bottom rows, those were the easiest to see, so this worked in the favor of salesmen.
Amazing, that’s a great snippet.
The password idea is interesting. Like the enigma code but maybe slightly easier to crack? 😂
Wow! Many new information here! Thank you Martin for the thorough research and writing.
No worries Basma. Thanks for stopping by.
Just got around to reading this. This is fascinating - one of those topics I always wanted to explore but never got around to it. And thanks for the shoutout!
Cheers Chris. Tempted to do a few more of these types of post. I enjoyed the research.
Great content all round. Thanks
No worries Val.
This was so interesting. And you managed to punch out enough letters to form a whole newsletter, just like always! 😅
But PLEASE don’t put any ideas into the heads of Apple people or whoever would be responsible for changing the QWERTY keyboard. I couldn’t handle the re-training at this point in my life!
Ha. It would be amazing it they read this newsletter but alas. 😂
I wonder if it’s possible to change the keyboard on your phone or iPad. Mmm, I might take a look. Could be a good way to try it.
I agree! There's lots of evidence that Dvorak or Colemak are more efficient. However, relearning will make you less efficient in the new layout, and you might actually never type as fast as you do in QWERTY, since that's what your brain learned first.
Yeah, I think it’s too late for me. 😃
I’ve managed to get quite fast with QWERTY and can touch type.
It would be interesting to try it maybe.
I love reading about the history behind things we never really think of. The genius of Christopher Latham's layout is one I never really thought about, but came to appreciate ever more once I learned about it.
It’s pretty genius isnt it. And has stood the test of time as much as anything else.
When I was a kid, my mom had an ancient typwriter with the arms that would swing up and impact the ribbon to leave the ink mark. You had to use significant finger power to press the key, move the mechanism and imact the paper. Today's keyboards are so easy it isn't even funny.
Looking back, it's amazing to think how accurate the typists were. Think how many mistakes we make in just typing one sentence. Just one of those mistakes would result in a screwed up piece of paper in the bin.
Hats off to those folk.
Just another skill that AI killed 30 years ago.
And thank the lord it did
Yes Yes! I would love to weigh and try out as I love CHANGE. Will be fun to try! Thanks for this post.
Yeah, I think it’s work a go. Let me know how you get on.
Like others, my first thought was that I'd love to try switching, but, too much of the world is QUERTY for it to be anything other than ridiculously confusing.
It occurs to me, though -- dialects, accents, languages, social body language cues ... we humans seem quite capable of mastering multiple sets and switching between them, far beyond what I'd ever imagine if I were predicting it without prior knowledge. Maybe keyboarding would be the same, and both wouldn't be that big a deal.
Yeah, I think it could be possible.
I enjoy the predictive text on iPhones and my iPad to the point where I expect it on my laptop too. But of course it doesn’t work on there.
It's a bit like the driving on the right side vs. the left side of the road. In 1967 Sweden changed from driving from the left to the right side of the road. The last country that did so was Ghana in 1974. But there were not that many drivers or infrastructure in their countries at the time. Although it is discussed in the UK from time to time, it would be impossible for us to switch nowadays. I think people could learn to use the Dvorak keyboard, but then using a phone, or another computer, would mess with your head! There are just too many keyboards using QUERTY.
Ha yeah. Exactly. Although I do think the rest of the world should just drive on the left. 🔥😍
The explanation I like best, is that if you rode your horse on the left, it meant you could more easily get to your sword, (which of course was attached to your right side), to defend yourself. Sadly, swords don't work well when you are in a car.
Is it really because of swords?! That would make sense. Jousting is done this way round too I think.
That is what I was always told. That is why spiral staircases go up the 'wrong' way in castles, so the invading swordsmen could not use their right hand but the defenders above them could. It meant that left handed swordsmen were very useful!
This is a really interesting post. Didn’t think, or know about this. Thank you.
Thanks Jon. There’s so many fascinating stories out there when you scratch the surface.
Fascinating story, thanks!
No worries Shmuel. Thanks for commenting.
I’ve always considered trying a different keyboard and figured it would be an upgrade in efficiency and comfort. But alas, I know the retraining of my brain would be miserable and slow, so here I am still stuck on the same QWERTY keyboard!
Ah, is it easy to switch over?