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New Standard Keyboard
An anonymous reader writes "There are two keyboard standards today - QWERTY and DVORAK. QWERTY, the one we usually have, was used on the first commercially produced typewriter in 1873. Ironically, QWERTY was actually designed to slow down the typist to prevent jamming the keys, and we've been stuck with that layout since. New Standard Keyboards offers new "alphabetical" keyboard. This keyboard has just 53-keys (instead of 101) and offers user-friendly benefits and quick data entry."
I sometimes get the opportunity to talk to younger people, 23 and younger. I'll often ask if they have used certain technologies that older people take for granted but are hardly around anymore.
About half of the people in my little poll have used a typewriter, if just briefly. Many say that they tried it for a while when their parents pulled down their old college typewriter from the closet. Many people are impressed by the typewriter's feel and musically polyrythmic possiblities. No one would attempt to do any serious writing on it.
The whole question of keyboard layout is somewhat quaint anyway. We should be talking to our PCs. Voice recognition software is stuck in a legal limbo, due to Dragon's bankruptcy problems and IBM's complete and total ineptitude at refining and marketing this innovative technology.
Voice recognition technology is at the same place that mouse and GUI technology was back in 1981. Almost ready to be widely adopted and integrated into PC, but locked down by totally clueless management. Remember the Xerox executive who, after having a tour of Palo Alto Research Center and being shown the Xerox Star (the first GUI PC), remarked, "Boy, you sure get great reception on this thing!".
My complaint about the keyboard is that there are far too many keys. Half the keys on the board I never use. The Keypad, the function keys, and all those weird buttons above the function keys that are different on every keyboard but do nothing on any keyboard; who needs this stuff?