![]() ![]() In a 1990 paper titled “the fable of the keys”, Stan Liebowitz of the University of Texas at Dallas and Stephen Margolis of the University of California say the tests that found the Dvorak keyboard to be unquestionably better were conducted by Mr Dvorak himself, and he had a significant financial stake in its success. By the time Dvorak came along, it was too late.īut critics reject this interpretation. Qwerty was suddenly everywhere, supported by a series of self-reinforcing relationships. Typists would learn it knowing it would probably get them a job. ![]() Companies bought Qwerty typewriters because there was a pool of typists who knew how to use them. Stanford University economist Paul David argued that it became dominant because early “touch typing” techniques were most closely associated with Qwerty. Either way, it wasn’t aimed at creating the fastest or easiest standard. The best-known explanation for why Qwerty doesn’t seem to resemble the alphabet is that he separated the most commonly used key combinations in an effort to stop the machine from jamming.Īlternatively, Japanese historians Koichi Yasuoka and Motoko Yasuoka have suggested the needs of telegraph operators influenced the design, as did compromises between inventors and producers, and intellectual property issues. It was a Milwaukee printer Christopher Latham Sholes who invented the typewriter, and over a number of years developed Qwerty, which he sold to the manufacturer Remington. “They don’t want to hear about anything different because it took them so long to learn to type.”įor some time, the Qwerty versus Dvorak duel was the stuff of first year university lectures the perfect way to explain “path dependence”, an economic theory that attempted to challenge the notion that free markets always pushed society towards the most efficient technology. “People are resistant to change, whether something is better or not,” says Linda Lewis. It accounts for about 0.1% of their total sales. Canadian firm Matias is possibly the only manufacturer to make physical Dvorak keyboards, and it sells fewer than a thousand a year. Nobody knows how many people use it, but it’s probably not many. Nowadays, every major operating system supports it, although you have to re-label the keys. Co-founder Steve Wozniak is a well-known Dvorak user. Apple was enthusiastic early in its history. In 1985, the Washington Post reported that directory assistance operators across the country were using Dvorak, and state governments in Oregon and New Jersey were starting to switch. And yet, at various times, the Dvorak keyboard seemed as if it was on the cusp making it big. Augustus Dvorak, who designed the layout in the 1930s, died a frustrated man. It’s a common pattern for Dvorak enthusiasts. You’d think ‘what are all these morons doing driving a car?’” He eventually gave up trying to spread the word because he found it tiring being a technological Cassandra, forever shouting at deaf ears in online forums. “Can you imagine there was some other means of transport that was 70% more efficient than driving a car. Thousands were printed, and the three friends lost money on every copy – such is the passion Dvorak inspires among its users. Along with two friends, he created a fanzine to spread the word. He was overzealous, and “a jerk about it”, because he couldn’t fathom why anyone would use Qwerty. After learning how to use one in college in the 1990s, he told everyone about it. He’s a Dvorak true believer and evangelist. It’s bad for your hands,” says Alec Longstreth, a cartoonist who now lives in New Mexico. “Qwerty is a pile of garbage from the 1800s and you shouldn’t use it. Not, it’s critics say, because it’s the best, but because changing is just too difficult and costly. They point to Barbara Blackburn.īut it’s all in vain. They cite studies showing its superiority. They say you can type thousands of words on a Dvorak’s home row, but only a few hundred on a Qwerty’s. They say 70% of keystrokes are on the home row – the keys where typists rest their fingers – on the Dvorak, versus 31% on a Qwerty. Its supporters say it’s faster, easier to learn and better for your poor, overworked fingers. Lewis saw Blackburn in action after hiring her to showcase the keyboard at a technology conference in Seattle. But rather than using the traditional Qwerty keyboard most computer and typewriter users over the past century will be familiar with, Blackburn used an alternative layout known as Dvorak. ![]()
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