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The Evolution of the Computer Keyboard
Lucas123 writes "As anyone who's typed on a virtual keyboard — or yelled at a voice-control app like Siri — can attest, no current text input holds a candle to a traditional computer keyboard. From the reed switch keyboards of the early '70s to the buckling spring key mechanism that drove IBM's popular PC keyboards for years to ThinTouch technology that will have about half the travel of a MacBook Air's keys, the technology that drove data entry for decades isn't likely to go anywhere anytime soon. This article takes a look back on five decades of keyboard development and where it's likely to go in the future."
Free your hands from the illogical tyranny of Remington's terrible legacy!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dvorak_Simplified_Keyboard
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law
To this day I still want a space cadet keyboard.. so hard to find, and so many meta keys.
This was has been my favorite keyboard of all time. It's simply brilliant. Its only that recently it has been acting up. It's so sad because its the best keyboard in the universe.
...eye prefer two ewes speech recognition in sted
No mention of any home computer keyboard. No mention of the PCjr and its infamous chicklet keyboard. No mention of the classic Apple Extended Keyboard. It's as if keyboard history went directly from the Model M to Dell Quietkeys with nothing in between.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
And the funniest thing is that the current QWERTY key arrangement is here due to jamming issues with typewriters. It was designed to slow down the typing speed of old stenographers to resolve the jamming issue of old typewriters when they were typed on too fast.
Actually, that's just an urban legend... http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/221/was-the-qwerty-keyboard-purposely-designed-to-slow-typists
Free your hands from the logical tyranny of Dvorak's horrible legacy!
What we really need is randomly newmerically labeled virtual keyboards that are used in the future!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LCARS [wikipedia.org]
In the universe??? Some of us have tentacles instead of fingers! Your puny keyboard is useless for us!
Besides, the damned thing doesn't even have a Linux key.
Have gnu, will travel.
The QWERTY keyboard, so called for the top row of letters on its left-hand side, was devised to make things easy for the typewriter, not the typist.
and
To solve the jamming problem, Sholes and company, who had originally arranged their keyboard in alphabetical order, decided to put the most commonly used letters (or what they thought were the most commonly used letters) as far apart as possible in the machine's innards.
and
Of course, a superior system exists. It's called the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard, or DSK, after inventor August Dvorak, who developed it while a professor at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Note: The legend part applies to the slowing down of typing speed.
this is correct >> And the funniest thing is that the current QWERTY key arrangement is here due to jamming issues with typewriters.
this is not >> It was designed to slow down the typing speed of old stenographers to resolve the jamming issue of old typewriters when they were typed on too fast.
The previous-to-qwerty arrangement did jam when typing fast. The qwerty-arrangement alleviated this problem and enabled typing faster speed than was previously possible.
You realize that the article you linked to agrees with the general story if not the specifics around stenographers:
To solve the jamming problem, Sholes and company, who had originally arranged their keyboard in alphabetical order, decided to put the most commonly used letters (or what they thought were the most commonly used letters) as far apart as possible in the machine's innards.
The design was then never changed, even though subsequent typewriter designs made it unnecessary.
Have you read it?
It was designed to keep the arms the made the most commonly used letters apart, not to slow anyone down.
Actually, your reference says exactly what the OP said: The design put the most common keys away from the middle to reduce jamming. It also goes to say that Dvorak's layout really isn't much more efficient.
If I used a sig over again, would anyone notice?
The weird split ergo keyboard that many folks either loved or hated comes to mind. I'm happy with my hybrid, a cheap Microsoft "comfort curve" that gives some of the alignment effect of the ergo-board without actually separating the keys.
I also had a really nifty folding accordion keyboard for my Palm Pilot a decade ago. After folding, it was locked up tight in its permanent hard case, and it was safer than the actual Palm (and about the same size.)
And now Microsoft's new integrated smart cover keyboards are a thing.
Whatever happened to the laser keyboard? I'm surprised it didn't take off.
Occasionally living proof of the Ballmer peak.
As I sit here typing this on a circa 1984 IBM Model M Clicky Keyboard!
The finest keyboard ever made.
I have had this one for >10 years.
None of the keyboard markings have worn off. Heh. Yes, you can still find them around.
.
I still have fond memories of this here gadget: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teletype_Model_33
It made a hell of a racket, but the keyboard had this light, crisp touch . . .
And hell, it gave you a hard copy history of what you had done, and paper tape, on the side. Good for making confetti for High School Pep Rallies.
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
And the funniest thing is that the current QWERTY key arrangement is here due to jamming issues with typewriters. It was designed to slow down the typing speed of old stenographers to resolve the jamming issue of old typewriters when they were typed on too fast.
Actually, that's just an urban legend... http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/221/was-the-qwerty-keyboard-purposely-designed-to-slow-typists
Your article actually supports the "legend". Perhaps you are just looking for clicks or back links. Or you do not read.
Silence is a state of mime.
Baloney, say the authors of the article you enclose, S.J. Liebowitz and Stephen Margolis. They point out that (1) the research demonstrating the superiority of the Dvorak keyboard is sparse and methodologically suspect; (2) a sizable body of work suggests that in fact the Dvorak offers little practical advantage over the QWERTY; (3) at least one study indicates that placing commonly used keys far apart, as with the QWERTY, actually speeds typing, since you frequently alternate hands; and (4) the QWERTY keyboard did not become a standard overnight but beat out several competing keyboards over a period of years. Thus it may be fairly said to represent the considered choice of the marketplace. It saddens me to know I helped to perpetuate the myth of Dvorak superiority, but I will sleep better at night knowing I have rectified matters at last.
The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
Baloney, say the authors of the article you enclose, S.J. Liebowitz and Stephen Margolis. They point out that (1) the research demonstrating the superiority of the Dvorak keyboard is sparse and methodologically suspect; (2) a sizable body of work suggests that in fact the Dvorak offers little practical advantage over the QWERTY; (3) at least one study indicates that placing commonly used keys far apart, as with the QWERTY, actually speeds typing, since you frequently alternate hands; and (4) the QWERTY keyboard did not become a standard overnight but beat out several competing keyboards over a period of years. Thus it may be fairly said to represent the considered choice of the marketplace. It saddens me to know I helped to perpetuate the myth of Dvorak superiority, but I will sleep better at night knowing I have rectified matters at last.
The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
The biggest reason I have not returned to the iPhone is the lack of a swipe style keyboard. After adapting to it, I refuse to go back to pecking words out with my thumbs, so no iPhones until I can get swype. It has several advantages:
- Word entry without looking
- one-handed text entry (single thumb swipes out a word in the same time two could tap it, while being held in the same hand.)
Swype's implementation isn't flawless though. They haven't figured out it is about word shape. The biggest problem is the limited character set. On a phone in landscape, or anything bigger than a phone you should have a keyboard on one side and an alternate (numberic pad) on the other. Since we don't need to hit specific keys anymore, we can reduce the overall area dedicated to displaying the keyboard and just show one for reference (aiming) and determine the word by the shape traced out. Have a button for enlarging it for the odd word that isn't in the dictionary and you're done.
Once swype (or any other keyboard (swift key?) realizes that, we'll have the best touch keyboard we can have without a fill-size button board.
Slashdot's rate-of-post filter: Preventing you from posting too many great ideas at once.
The true evolution of the computer keyboard stopped with the mighty, never-equaled, IBM Model M. Every "innovation" since then has been a poor compromise in comparison.
Indeed. We need to also remember how bad things can be when you try to cut corners - Atari 400, Tandy CoCo, the original Commodore Pet, Timex / Sinclair.
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
where you can simply think what you want to "type" and the computer does it.
Heck, at least it'd spell the end of RSI. Some keyboard designs are better than others in this regard, but none actually prevent it entirely
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
only thing that will completely replace the keyboard and make it obsolete is direct brain-wave scanning.
A company called Unicomp still makes the Model M. They purchased the original tooling from IBM/Lexmark and make the keyboards in Lexington, Kentucky.
Here all the time I thought Qwerty keyboard layout was designed for computer use of for quick Close, Save Select All, Cut, Copy & Paste commands.
It says the first sentence of what the OP says, but not the second, which is false: the jamming issue was solved by re-arranging the keys, not by slowing down typists, in fact the arrangement allowed faster typing. So it doesn't say exactly what the OP said.
"None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license." --John Milton
I can enter text in Swype faster with one thumb than I can type (of course, I never learned to type and have to look at the keys while I peck away with 3 or four fingers).
Well, of course the Cut/Copy/Paste were all chosen as they were BECAUSE it was on a QWERTY....
Hey, waitaminnit! Say, you almost got me there!
Everything I have seen indicates that the newer Model M knockoffs-- aside from Unicomp, the ones using Cherry, Alps , or TopRe keyswitches.are gaining popularity more then jst a cult following. They did mention them but only briefly.
Having the CTRL on the bottom row is next to useless. And how many people use the capslocks key?
Putting CTRL back to where it was would make keyboard shortcuts easier to use.
I still want to see sources for the second one.
It's a useful article on keyboard mechanisms, and it's a good discussion of the tradeoffs between thin keyboards and ergonomics. The history is weak.
There's no mention of key rollover, or "can you push a key before releasing the previous key"? Modern keyboards report a key down and key up event for each key, so rollover can be unlimited. Early keyboards struggled with this. The Selectric, and Teletype machines, were mechanically interlocked against multiple key-presses. Some early keyboards wouldn't handle two keys down at the same time at all.
The feedback issue was a big one. Some keyboards clicked, some had a "clicker" inside to create the illusion that they clicked, and some beeped, an annoyance which has returned with some touch screens.
It's amusing that iPad-like devices have reverted to a 3-row keyboard with multiple shifts. That's where Teletype machines were a century ago. The keyboard layout of an iPad is very similar to that of a 1930s Teletype.
When ever a keyboard article come along you get a bunch of old farts pining away about their venerable old Model M keyboards.
I know. I am an old fart and I have one. I love it but unfortunately it ruined me. I am totally unable to use a laptop keyboard.
They all suck. suck suck suck. The keys are in the wrong place, they don't feel right, and I keep hitting the effing touchpad with my thumbs and suddenly I am typing a porn url in the browser bar.
Now get off my lawn!
Average Intelligence is a Scary Thing
Except that that's not what the OP said, what OP said was that the design put the common keys away from the middle to reduce jamming by slowing down typists. What the reference says is that QWERTY was designed to move keys commonly used keys farther away from each other to reduce jamming by reducing the probability that a typist at any given speed would hit nearby keys in close enough suggestion for their arms to jam.
ObCarAnalogy: The OP's claim is wrong in the same way that it would be wrong to claim that some race cars include negative lift wings to slow down drivers because driving too fast causes cars to lose traction; it correctly identifies the problem that modification addresses, but incorrectly casts the modification as interfering with the operator's goal to solve the problem rather than addressing the effect which causes pursuit of the operator's goal to trigger the problem.
That isn't to say that Dvorak doesn't force you to alternate hands--it just does in the opposite direction. QWERTY is ~53% left-oriented, while Dvorak is ~54% right-oriented.
For myself, I type faster and more accurately on Dvorak (111 wpm vs 90 wpm), but that's probably due to spending most of my time in that layout. The main benefit I notice is less tangible, and that is that I suffer less fatigue if I decide to write for hours on end without a break.
If you can't convince them, convict them.
I always assumed something like this was the case, but, never really looked into it.
The whole "dvorak superiority" thing always seemed to be based on little to nothing. I mean... I learned the same ABC song as most everyone else.... but the order of letters hardly matters really, its just a memorization tool, and, of course, it helps make sure the list is correct when every student writes the letters in the same order.
Sure letters are used with different frequencies, so in a given language different letters have different frequencies of use... so it makes sense that some orderings for typing may be better than others for that reason.... but... letter frequencies and position within the alphabet are totally unrelated (or else we would start with E)
I mean yes, it may help in slightly decreasing the amount of time it takes to learn to touch type, but, thats a pretty minor benefit. How much of a difference would learning to tie your shoes with a few minutes less effort be, over the course of your life? You do a lot more typing than learning to type and in the end...any layout is just something you will memorize.
I would be shocked if any benefit from the letter order thats not based on (or happens to satisfy) placing frequently used letters in places advantageous to their quick use (as was mentioned... putting frequently used keys farther apapart may increase speed due to encouraging hand alternation)
"I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
Here is linked source. Search for citation 16 and read onwards. The autor didn't read it properly. The article states: several things:
-QWERTY is a fast keyboard layout, and it has killed quite a few layouts because it is fast
-Dvorak is most likely a tad faster,
-The article that is the "counterpoint" of the article uses "If a typist has learned QWERTY, the cost of changing is likely too high compared to a "10% gain"*1
-The studies counterpoint is at citation 31, and seems a bit flawed, just as the NAVYs test
*1: Not actual numbers, a quote or anything, its a general expression
Perhaps if you went to the original post and followed the link and then followed the link that the author of that article provided maybe you could discover these things.
The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
That was why I accepted what was said about qwerty vs Dvorak keyboards. Well, that and the fact that QWERTY is universal for every language that uses the Roman alphabet, while the Dvorak keyboard must be altered for each language (as frequency of use of each letter varies from language to language).
The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
Enough of the QWERTY Dvorak partisan bickering! We can all use a twiddler: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chorded_keyboard
Silence is a state of mime.
lol... QWERTY is not universal for the roman alphabet. Most countries have their own variations. The French, for example, use AZERTY.
And there are still new keyboards that use them.
Check out geekhack.org for all things keyboard.
I prefer "yelling at SIRI" to typing when using my ipad when typing prose like this. If I had similar functionality on my PC I would use it. It saves a ton of wear and tear on the hands. The biggest "drawback" is I find I need to speak with practiced diction rather than my usual drawl. Even with the mistakes I still find it faster and less tiresome.
Hrrumph. When I make a mistake, I want it to be my mistake. Not some random dribble trumped up by the misbegotten spawn of an Apple Newton.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
Having used a PC at a cybercaffee in France, I can attest to the truth of this statement.
They do not use the qwerty keyboard that I know and love.
"I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
The two best keyboards i've had. I've put my M into storage because the LIK gives me just as much feedback minus the noise, and isn't some membrane abomination -- it's a scissors action. Key dip is halfway between an M and a laptop keyboard. The feedback is amazing. No ambiguity at all -- you either hit it, or you didn't.
That it's sleek and backlit and looks like it belongs in this century are bonus points. I don't think, however, that it'll live nearly as long in daily use as a model M, however, my LIKs are used heavily daily and here they are, three years later, no issues. Who knows, maybe they will last 15+ years.
I like the LIK so much I bought two, one for for work one for home.
The "Civilized World" jumped the shark ca. 1973.
Eat you heart out -- I'm the 'friend' in this story, owner of this
magnificent Memorex Telex 122 keyboard:
http://loosen.home.xs4all.nl/memorex_telex/index.html
All this here typed on a Sun Type 5 keyboard (attached to a Linux
box) for which I made the interface myself. Latter keyboard has
keybeep (5kHz for 2ms with each keystroke), Yea!
Have you ever heard of an extension cord? And it was only necessary if you couldn't procure a straight-through cord to attach to the models with detachable cords (which was most of them.)
And, of course, you can get a brand-new Model M today with USB if you like.
Is my old Apple IIGS keyboard. I still have the original one I got in third grade, it still works great with the USB ADB connector widget I bought years ago, and it's loud as hell.
What a fine piece of technology.
IMO, they were the best laptop keyboards around - unfortunately, someone thought that "chiclet keyboards with flat tops are kewl!" and now all of the recent laptops I've seen for sale have keyboards that SUCK. Don't even get me started on the incredible disappearing TrackPoint.
The flat keytop nonsense has spread to desktop keyboards as well. HELLO?! Does anyone actually TEST these things to see if they're actually useful for typing?
Oh, no! You have walked into the slavering fangs of a lurking grue!
And those were always the hammers that got jammed when I used a typewriter.
Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
Actually, as with most things, FRANCE has their own version. Almost every other country uses QWERTY, except German speaking nations because Z is much more popular in German than Y.
Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
Mechanical keyboards are going through a revival after dying out over the course of 20 years. Lots of new options popping up and targeting different niches: Razer and CoolerMaster for gaming, Matias (who just designed their own premium Alps switches) and Das Keyboard for typists, and for typists who want ergonomics there is TrulyErgonomic (with a split, unstaggered mechanical board) and good ol' Kinesis (with their iconic split fingerbowl design, also with unstaggered key layout).
It's still "not there yet", however. These brands are still developing a picture of what people want and there is still too much emphasis on old form factors. Logitech recently unveiled a new mechanical model that is highly conventional which seems intended for gamers.
The compact/tenkey-less form factor is another, separate trend in keyboards that I wish more mechanical vendors would notice. IMO, number pads should be detached/optional and not interfere with a person's reach to a pointing device (nor reduce one's options for positioning on a keyboard tray or desktop); Most keyboards are too wide.
I don't care about the size of the keyboard. I'm visually impaired, and wish they people who move the non-standard keys around would leave them in one place so I don't have to relearn my keyboard when I change laptops or get a new PC at work!
My Lisp keyboard has only two keys: "(" and ")". And I still get them mixed up!
My Perl keyboard has no letters, and my COBOL keyboard has only upper-case.
Table-ized A.I.
The M2 shipped with the PS/1 (according to your own link), a VERY different beast from the PS/2. Other than the fact that both computers were made by IBM, DOS-compatible, and butt-ugly, the machines have nothing to do with each other.
The PS/1 was a home machine, the PS/2 a business line.
When people say "Model M" they aren't referring to the M1/2.
Not to mention that QWERTY enables video games to use WASD to move around. Imagine how hard it would be to play a FPS using Dvorak! W is below and left of S, and A and S are on opposite ends of the computer!
Also, I've noticed the game Starcraft 2 has most of its hotkeys on the left side of the keyboard. Imagine trying this on a Dvorak keyboard!
So I guess my conclusion is that QWERTY was designed with gamers in mind.
... and get a Kinesis Advantage.. One of it was in my drawer for two years, when I finally brought it out, and to my biggest surprise I was able to touch type English letters within two minutes. It is ergonomic; narrow enough to reach the mouse easily; still your arms can keep a longer, natural distance; there are many thumb keys so there is no need for keys which are very far from your fingers; etc.
But its most important property, which is not even listed in its description, is that the keys are in a diagonal layout. The fingers move straight up and down, this means that finding the keys without looking at the keyboard is almost natural. After trying for ten years without any success, it took me only two days to get back my original (non touch typing) performance, and two months to get proficient in touch typing. And I can tell you that it is a huge difference.
Given all the emphasis to lower quality keyboards (chiclet, rubber dome, and the like), evolution would be the wrong word. Regression would be more appropriate given the move towards lower quality keyboard input (or in the case of phones, to eliminate it from high end devices)
Then again, I've typed on Thinkpads, IBM Model M(buckling spring on plastic matrix), and IBM Model F(capacitive buckling spring) keyboards - as well as various QWERTY-devices (N900, N810w, E63, 9500 Communicator).
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
Here's a pretty good rebuttal to that farce of an article.
In short, the two authors are uber-libertarian economists who wanted to prove that lock-in is not real. And they used all of the dubious arguments one would need to support such a notion. Seriously.
Although that is not on a driver level, but macro programmable keyboards do exist. The advantage is that you do not have install anything on any OS. The disadvantage is that keyboards are not really mobile.
I always assumed something like this was the case, but, never really looked into it.
The whole "dvorak superiority" thing always seemed to be based on little to nothing. I mean... I learned the same ABC song as most everyone else.... but the order of letters hardly matters really, its just a memorization tool, and, of course, it helps make sure the list is correct when every student writes the letters in the same order.
Sure letters are used with different frequencies, so in a given language different letters have different frequencies of use... so it makes sense that some orderings for typing may be better than others for that reason.... but... letter frequencies and position within the alphabet are totally unrelated (or else we would start with E)
I mean yes, it may help in slightly decreasing the amount of time it takes to learn to touch type, but, thats a pretty minor benefit. How much of a difference would learning to tie your shoes with a few minutes less effort be, over the course of your life? You do a lot more typing than learning to type and in the end...any layout is just something you will memorize.
I would be shocked if any benefit from the letter order thats not based on (or happens to satisfy) placing frequently used letters in places advantageous to their quick use (as was mentioned... putting frequently used keys farther apapart may increase speed due to encouraging hand alternation)
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the pages of Michael Capewell, Peter Klausler, etc.. These guys (and others) have for years been trying to find ultimate keyboard layouts, and all of them say that Dvorak really isn't all it's claimed to be.
The page is here: http://www.michaelcapewell.com/projects/keyboard/layout_capewell.htm
Agreed. I love my Topre Realforce.
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/print/9233085/Past_is_prototype_The_evolution_of_the_computer_keyboard?taxonomyName=Computer+Peripherals&taxonomyId=235 for one/single print page.
http://aqfl.net/node/5825/ for a clicky keyboard poll and my comments. It seems like women hate them. :(
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).