Don't Be Such a QWERTY!

Q: Dear 100HRB,

Is it true that you can mathematically type faster and more acurate using the Dvorak key configuration on the keyboard?

Sincerely,

Christopher Sholes

A: Dear Stuck in the QWERTY:

Your typical computer these days comes with a keyboard with a preconfigured key settings with the exception of a few keys that have been added for modern day use. Namely, your settings are the QWERT settings established in 1874.

Where does this name come from? Look down at your keyboard and you will see at the top left hand corner where the letters begin the sequence, QWERTY. This layout was designed to make it easier to find letters. If you look down at your keyboard right now you will see that FGHJKL are all together. This is the same sequence as the alphabet. This was supposedly "easier" for configuration of the type writer mechanics not the typist. If you have ever used an old type writer you know about those swinging arms that pull up and hit the paper to mark the letter. The problem was, how do you configure a keyboard to type without crossing those letter hamers on the typewriter? QWERTY solved that issue. But typewriters are no longer used and the mechanics issue was resolved through ribbon cartridge technology.

Thus there was a need for Dr. August Dvorak to make a name for himself by developing and testing a new keyboard configuration. According to Dvorak research he found that after 3 years of typing instruction prior to WWII using the QWERTY method typists could type 47 net words per minute (NWPM). In 1944 the US Navy let Dvorak do some research on 14 typists to see what results he could get. Three years wasn't a good turn around for the Navy. Dvorak could train in 52 hours with speeds that were 74 percent faster and 68 percent more accurate. However to this day there is speculation as to whether these findings were fabricated.

If you are so inclined to try the Dvorak keyboard layout you can go to Microsoft's Keyboard website and download different keyboard layouts for two handed or single handed typists. This is pretty cool stuff. I mean what if you lost a hand? Thankfully you can download a configuration that enables you to type one handed. You will see Dvorak layouts with tutorials as to how to select the layout. You can switch it off and on using XP. So it might be worth the try for you.

Once downloaded you can also run through some practice modules.

But I guess the question is why do we still use the QWERTY method? There is a theory that argues that market winners will only by the sheerest of coincidences be the best of the available alternatives. By this theory, the first technology that attracts development, the first standard that attracts adopters, or the first product that attracts consumers will tend to have an insurmountable advantage, even over superior rivals that happen to come along later. Hmmm, 100HRB has to give this theory more thought. It is very bright news for the groundbreakers. So if your self toothpaste dispensing toothbrush invention is sitting in the garage you might want to be first to market.

Of interest is that the term QWERTY is sometimes used to refer to designs, ideas, or practices that had a historic origin in a technological limitation, became established practice, and have persisted as an anachronism long past the time of their utility.