History of computer keyboard Layout

And I didn't even know of the existance of the DVORAK layout till someone asked me "what type of keyboard layout do you use?" And I answered dumbly, "A cordless one." So that's where the interest arose for me to write this artcle - from looking like an idiot.

Do you know which one will help you type faster?

Answer: The DVORAK layout.

Barbara Blackburn, held the title of the world's fastest typer according to the 23rd edition (1985) Guinness Book of World Records. Her top speed was recorded at 212 wpm. And she said herself that it was all in the design of the keyboard (with lots of practice of course). This layout made sense to her as the the Dvorak keyboard has vowels on one side and consonants on the other, with the most frequently used letters on the center row.

So why aren't the Dvorak keyboards more popular than the QWERTY? Go figure. The history of computer layouts has a huge debate over this and no one has solved the mystery yet.

The QWERTY started off being used for typewriters

The history of computer layout QWERTY, began with Christopher Sholes inventing it in 1874. This gentleman's objective was not comfortable typing but rather, to keep the keys from jamming or sticking. That's why he placed them where they are placed. They did make typing slower, but they solved his problem. Because, don't forget what type of typewriters they used to have, those really akward, noisy things.

August Dvorak came up with a better design in 1936, and his objective was to increase speed and accuracy. And according to users of this type of layout, you can increase your speed by 200 percent. The objectives of Dvorak were:

• Letters should be typed by alternating between hands.
  
  
• For maximum speed and efficiency, the most common letters should be the easiest to type. This means that they should be on the home row, which is where the fingers rest, and under the strongest fingers.
  
  
• The least common letters should be on the bottom row, which is the hardest row to reach.
  
  
• The right hand should do more of the typing, because most people are right-handed.
  
  
• Digraphs should not be typed with adjacent fingers.
  
  
• Stroking should generally move from the edges of the board to the middle.

People using this keyboard marvel that computers now have super speeds but are still using a typing system that was designed to make typing slower. Go figure. Oh well, pretty soon we will be talking to computers so this old debate will die.

The history of computer keyboards continued with placing extra keys that we now need, like the 'esc' and other keys.

Now how did the history of computer keyboards begin on computers?

In the early pcs, although some word processors could simulate alternative keyboard layouts through software, this was application-specific; if more than one program was commonly used, the user could be forced to switch layouts depending on the application. Occasionally, stickers were provided to place over the keys for these layouts.

However, IBM-compatible PCs used an active, "smart" keyboard, where the keyboard was actually a peripheral device (powered by the keyboard port). Striking a key generated a key "code", which was sent to the computer. Thus, changing to an alternative keyboard layout was most easily accomplished by simply buying a keyboard with the new layout. Because the key codes were generated by the keyboard itself, all software would respond accordingly.

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