Primitive tortureboard: Untangling the myths and mysteries of Dvorak and QWERTY
12 days ago
- #keyboard-history
- #QWERTY-vs-Dvorak
- #ergonomics
- The essay explores the history and myths surrounding the QWERTY and Dvorak keyboard layouts.
- George C. Blickensderfer designed the 'Scientific' keyboard as an alternative to QWERTY, aiming for efficiency and comfort.
- Blickensderfer's typewriters, like the Model 5, were innovative but faced commercial challenges and bad luck.
- August Dvorak and William Dealey created the 'Simplified Keyboard' (Dvorak layout) in the 1930s, promoting it as more ergonomic and efficient than QWERTY.
- The 1944 Navy study showed significant improvements with Dvorak, but the 1956 GSA study contradicted these findings, leading to controversy.
- QWERTY's design was not random; it evolved to solve mechanical issues with early typewriters, as shown by Neil M. Kay's 2011 research.
- The debate over QWERTY vs. Dvorak reflects broader discussions about market lock-in and the survival of inferior standards.
- Despite its perceived advantages, Dvorak never gained widespread adoption, while QWERTY remained dominant due to its 'good enough' performance.
- Modern alternatives to QWERTY, like Colemak and Workman, exist but face similar challenges in displacing the established standard.
- The essay concludes that QWERTY's persistence is due to its adequacy, not superiority, and that Dvorak's failure was not due to its design but to lack of necessity for most users.