1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:02,880 Speaker 1: Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 2 00:00:03,240 --> 00:00:08,920 Speaker 1: It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology with 3 00:00:09,080 --> 00:00:17,880 Speaker 1: tech Stuff from how stuff works dot com. Hello everybody, 4 00:00:17,880 --> 00:00:20,720 Speaker 1: and welcome to tech stuff. My name is Chris Poulettin, 5 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:23,040 Speaker 1: and I am the tech editor here at how stuff 6 00:00:23,040 --> 00:00:25,959 Speaker 1: works dot Com. Sitting across from me, as usual, is 7 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:30,639 Speaker 1: senior writer Jonathan Strickland. I still have swine flu. I 8 00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:34,559 Speaker 1: should add that I've recorded this episode directly after another episode, 9 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:36,600 Speaker 1: so please don't think that I've had swine flu for 10 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:40,200 Speaker 1: like a month, just in case they don't play them sequentially. Yeah, 11 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:42,680 Speaker 1: you better hope they don't play this one first. Yeah, 12 00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:45,519 Speaker 1: that would also be very confusing for you guys. But 13 00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:47,840 Speaker 1: if they do play this one first, trust me, it'll 14 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:50,680 Speaker 1: all be worthwhile in the end. All right. So let's 15 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:56,680 Speaker 1: start off with a little listener mail. Now, by a 16 00:00:56,720 --> 00:00:58,600 Speaker 1: little listener mail, I mean a lot of listener mail, 17 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:00,840 Speaker 1: because I've got two different ones to read, alright. The 18 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:03,520 Speaker 1: first one comes from Terrell and he says, hey, Jonathan 19 00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:05,920 Speaker 1: and Chris, I love listening to your podcast on my 20 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:08,240 Speaker 1: drive to and from work. It makes being up at 21 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:11,480 Speaker 1: five thirty bearable. Gosh, if only I had something like that, 22 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:13,640 Speaker 1: I had a quick question for you. I have no 23 00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:16,039 Speaker 1: idea if this is a quick little subject or something longer, 24 00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:18,360 Speaker 1: but something I've always wondered. Why are the keys on 25 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:20,959 Speaker 1: a computer keyboard laid out the way they are? I 26 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:23,440 Speaker 1: understand that it came from typewriters, but when you look 27 00:01:23,480 --> 00:01:25,160 Speaker 1: at it and think about it, they just seemed to 28 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:28,400 Speaker 1: be random letters and arbitrary places. I've been using a 29 00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:30,920 Speaker 1: keyboard my whole life, so I can type fast without 30 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:33,720 Speaker 1: having to look at them without really a problem, but 31 00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:35,680 Speaker 1: the fact of the matter remains the same. I also 32 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:37,360 Speaker 1: remember a couple of years ago hearing about a new 33 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:40,520 Speaker 1: keyboard layout that was possibly going to happen, which supposedly 34 00:01:40,520 --> 00:01:43,960 Speaker 1: would make typing much faster. It's really glad it didn't 35 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:46,440 Speaker 1: after using a keyboard for about two decades, but it's 36 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:49,440 Speaker 1: interesting nonetheless. Anyways, thanks for a great podcast and hope 37 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:52,640 Speaker 1: to hear from you. And then here's the second listener mail. 38 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:58,080 Speaker 1: This one comes from Chad A k A. Chainsaw. Chainsaw 39 00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:00,600 Speaker 1: has this to say. Hey, there, as I was typing 40 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:03,480 Speaker 1: up an email to your rival podcast, stuff, you should know, 41 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:06,440 Speaker 1: I came up with an idea for your podcast. You see, 42 00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:08,840 Speaker 1: I don't use a normal quirty keyboard. I use a 43 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:12,119 Speaker 1: divorate keyboard instead, So I thought a podcast on alternative 44 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:15,680 Speaker 1: keyboard layouts could be fun. I also seem to remember 45 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:17,960 Speaker 1: a keyboard made for gaming that you could buy custom 46 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:20,400 Speaker 1: key layouts for that you would swap in and out 47 00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:23,160 Speaker 1: for each game. From what I remember, the main advantage 48 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:25,400 Speaker 1: of it is that you would only have the keys 49 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:27,519 Speaker 1: needed to play the game, So the buttons were bigger 50 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:31,840 Speaker 1: and had the action printed right on it run, jump, reload, etcetera. 51 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:33,720 Speaker 1: But I can't remember what it was called. The only 52 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:36,320 Speaker 1: problem I see with this idea is explaining how the 53 00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:39,280 Speaker 1: keyboard looks with audio only. Anyways, let me know what 54 00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:42,360 Speaker 1: you think of the idea. So we're gonna do an 55 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:49,720 Speaker 1: episode all about We're gonna talk about keyboards. That was 56 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:51,360 Speaker 1: a long set up for a terrible job. You know 57 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:54,200 Speaker 1: what Emily is gonna write to me about that? Probably Emily, 58 00:02:54,240 --> 00:02:56,919 Speaker 1: I've got swine flu. Go easy on me. So let's 59 00:02:56,960 --> 00:03:00,519 Speaker 1: start with the good old fashioned quirty keyboard. All no 60 00:03:00,720 --> 00:03:04,720 Speaker 1: and loath love. I don't load the quarty keyboard. Actually, 61 00:03:04,760 --> 00:03:07,560 Speaker 1: I'm quite proficient at the quarty keyboard, so I don't 62 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:11,520 Speaker 1: loathe it either. Now, this comes from a design that 63 00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:16,760 Speaker 1: was patented way back in eighteen seven, in the eighteen seventies. 64 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:19,680 Speaker 1: I thought I had the date, but I just have 65 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:24,160 Speaker 1: the I have eighteen seventy three. Okay, so hum by 66 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:29,160 Speaker 1: Christopher Shoals. Yes, and this was for something called a typewriter. Yes. Now, 67 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:34,440 Speaker 1: the typewriter back in the day was a completely mechanical machine, 68 00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:37,960 Speaker 1: no electricity. Alright. I start to believe that some people 69 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:40,640 Speaker 1: listening may not know that, but it is possible. So 70 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:43,360 Speaker 1: if you may not have actually ever seen a real, 71 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:47,200 Speaker 1: for honest goodness typewriter, I've used them before and they 72 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:50,320 Speaker 1: are a challenge. An old one is really kind of 73 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:52,560 Speaker 1: rough to use because if the action isn't great on 74 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:54,640 Speaker 1: the keys, you have to push really hard to get 75 00:03:54,840 --> 00:03:58,120 Speaker 1: a good impression. I've got an Underwood at home. Actually, 76 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:01,800 Speaker 1: the ways about seven hundred thousand pounds. It is very 77 00:04:01,880 --> 00:04:04,880 Speaker 1: very heavy. Yeah, I've I've I can't remember what the 78 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:07,440 Speaker 1: brand was it was, what was the other big ones 79 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:10,560 Speaker 1: sides Underwood, Remington, Yes, it was Remington's Remington. That was 80 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:12,880 Speaker 1: the one that I used. Well, that's because you know, 81 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:18,080 Speaker 1: Christopher Latham Shoals pitched it to Remington Arms Company. So 82 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:22,880 Speaker 1: let's talk a little bit about why the keyboard, why 83 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:24,920 Speaker 1: he decided to lay the keyboard out in this way. 84 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:28,080 Speaker 1: First of all, well we'll talk about the whole way 85 00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:30,960 Speaker 1: a typewriter works is that the key is connected to 86 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:35,280 Speaker 1: a mechanical arm that um, when you pressed out on 87 00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:38,479 Speaker 1: the key, little levers pushed the arm up and press 88 00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:41,200 Speaker 1: it against a ribbon and against a piece of paper, 89 00:04:41,279 --> 00:04:44,400 Speaker 1: and then you get the letter printed on the page. 90 00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:46,800 Speaker 1: Have you ever seen a piece of carbon paper? Again, 91 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:49,680 Speaker 1: many of you may not have, But basically what it 92 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:52,280 Speaker 1: does is as you press, if you put a piece 93 00:04:52,279 --> 00:04:53,680 Speaker 1: of paper down on the table and put a piece 94 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:56,320 Speaker 1: of carbon paper down on top of it and then 95 00:04:56,400 --> 00:04:58,760 Speaker 1: rub something on it, you'll get a mark. When you 96 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:00,880 Speaker 1: lift the carbon paper off the paper, it leaves a 97 00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:03,120 Speaker 1: mark on the paper. Well, that's essentially what the typewriter 98 00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:07,039 Speaker 1: ribbon is doing. The ribbon moves so that you're not 99 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:09,960 Speaker 1: wearing a hole through the ribbon. Yeah, you would quickly 100 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:11,720 Speaker 1: either wear a hole to the ribbon or you would 101 00:05:11,760 --> 00:05:15,000 Speaker 1: wear off the the inc essentially. Yeah, and it's pretty 102 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:18,280 Speaker 1: fragile stuff too, so you don't want to, uh, you know, 103 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:20,839 Speaker 1: type too many letters in one place on the ribbon. 104 00:05:20,920 --> 00:05:25,000 Speaker 1: But um, the typewriter keys on the older style typewriters, 105 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:27,520 Speaker 1: and they were in use for I'm guessing probably around 106 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:29,760 Speaker 1: a hundred years, you know, based on eighteen seventy three 107 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:33,240 Speaker 1: to the IBM S Electric, one of which I also 108 00:05:33,320 --> 00:05:36,320 Speaker 1: have at home. Um, these little arms would come up 109 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:38,920 Speaker 1: and they each have uh an individual letter on him. 110 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:41,960 Speaker 1: They smack the ribbon and make the mark on the paper. 111 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:45,160 Speaker 1: It's actually pretty simple stuff until you get to the 112 00:05:45,200 --> 00:05:48,320 Speaker 1: you know, mechanics of what happens when you start touch 113 00:05:48,360 --> 00:05:51,320 Speaker 1: typing and not hunting and pecking. Yeah. So one of 114 00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:54,159 Speaker 1: the issues here is that if you were a proficient 115 00:05:54,240 --> 00:05:57,000 Speaker 1: typist and you had the keys laid out in such 116 00:05:57,040 --> 00:06:00,800 Speaker 1: a way that the most the most common letters are 117 00:06:00,839 --> 00:06:04,000 Speaker 1: all under the strongest fingers, and you were to type 118 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:08,279 Speaker 1: very quickly, you would suddenly start to experience problems with 119 00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:10,760 Speaker 1: this key, this this typewriter, and the problem was that 120 00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:14,480 Speaker 1: the arms would kind of get entangled. Um. I've actually 121 00:06:14,520 --> 00:06:16,800 Speaker 1: had this happen with old typewriters, where you know, you're 122 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:19,560 Speaker 1: trying to type and then they a couple of them 123 00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:23,640 Speaker 1: stick together and you you have to you know, loosen 124 00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:27,760 Speaker 1: the two up and then you have to start over again. Um. 125 00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:31,400 Speaker 1: With the typewriter design that Schulz was working with, it 126 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:37,159 Speaker 1: was particularly difficult because where the the the the little 127 00:06:37,279 --> 00:06:40,159 Speaker 1: arm was hitting the ribbon against the paper, it wasn't 128 00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:42,200 Speaker 1: in view of the type is. It was actually under 129 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:44,719 Speaker 1: a carriage. You had to open the typewriter up to 130 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:48,080 Speaker 1: get to that point. So if things jammed up, you 131 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:50,159 Speaker 1: would not only have to stop, but you would actually 132 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:53,080 Speaker 1: have to essentially remove part of the typewriter in order 133 00:06:53,080 --> 00:06:55,000 Speaker 1: to fix it. It was actually in your benefit to 134 00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:58,400 Speaker 1: two hunt and pack at that time, because the key 135 00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:00,480 Speaker 1: needed a chance to return to its play ace after 136 00:07:00,680 --> 00:07:03,919 Speaker 1: after you know, type a letter onto the paper. So 137 00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:07,960 Speaker 1: shoals is uh. His solution to this problem was a 138 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:11,720 Speaker 1: pretty you know, ingenious one. What's the best way to 139 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:16,880 Speaker 1: prevent keys from jamming up? Well, we could redesign the 140 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:20,880 Speaker 1: typewriter so that it wasn't using that exact same method, 141 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:26,040 Speaker 1: or you know, we could uh try and find some 142 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:30,560 Speaker 1: way of of clearing each of the arms. But that's 143 00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:32,280 Speaker 1: a lot of work. Why don't we just put all 144 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:36,080 Speaker 1: the keys in different places so that it naturally slows 145 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:38,800 Speaker 1: down the type ist and and puts the most common 146 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:42,360 Speaker 1: keys away from our common letters away from each other, 147 00:07:42,400 --> 00:07:45,600 Speaker 1: so that you're not likely to have two arms close 148 00:07:45,720 --> 00:07:48,240 Speaker 1: together strike at about the same time and then get 149 00:07:48,240 --> 00:07:51,920 Speaker 1: tangled up. Yep. So, in other words, bungling it up 150 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:54,120 Speaker 1: for the rest of us on purpose, so that his 151 00:07:54,200 --> 00:07:57,640 Speaker 1: machine would work better. The thing is, though, it doesn't 152 00:07:57,640 --> 00:08:00,880 Speaker 1: always because as far as touched pin goes, once you 153 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:03,800 Speaker 1: learned the layout of the keyboard, you know, it's a 154 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:07,800 Speaker 1: matter of speed and proficiency. When you become proficient at 155 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:10,480 Speaker 1: your speed increases anyway. Well, but the idea here was 156 00:08:10,560 --> 00:08:13,360 Speaker 1: that if you did keep the most common letters away 157 00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:16,200 Speaker 1: from each other, then even if you were a faster typist, 158 00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:18,800 Speaker 1: that you weren't likely to have them jam each other 159 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:21,800 Speaker 1: because they wouldn't be right next to one another. Um, 160 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:26,320 Speaker 1: sidebar number one, I have to sidebar number one. Uh. 161 00:08:26,360 --> 00:08:29,560 Speaker 1: My mother used to be a secretary back before they 162 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:33,920 Speaker 1: were called admins. And um, she could type a hundred 163 00:08:33,920 --> 00:08:37,400 Speaker 1: thirty five words per minute. That's fast, that is very fast. 164 00:08:37,679 --> 00:08:42,080 Speaker 1: And um she you know, before this electric came out, 165 00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:46,160 Speaker 1: that'll be sidebart number two. Um, the before this electric 166 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:48,200 Speaker 1: came out, the you know, and she would type on 167 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:50,720 Speaker 1: one of these you know, quarty keyboards on a typewriter 168 00:08:50,760 --> 00:08:53,320 Speaker 1: with the all little arms, and eventually they had to 169 00:08:53,320 --> 00:08:56,040 Speaker 1: replace her typewriter because the little arms would wear on 170 00:08:56,040 --> 00:08:59,680 Speaker 1: one another so much that basically they were unusable, and 171 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:02,120 Speaker 1: that the you know, they started wearing into the letters, 172 00:09:02,200 --> 00:09:06,240 Speaker 1: and that's sort of problematic. Um Sideboart number two, I 173 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:07,520 Speaker 1: guess I'll go ahead and get it out of the way. 174 00:09:07,640 --> 00:09:10,240 Speaker 1: Is just you know, the other solution to the problem 175 00:09:10,480 --> 00:09:15,319 Speaker 1: is not the keyboard. Um. The later typewriters used a ball. 176 00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:19,120 Speaker 1: UM and it's it's pretty ingenious actually because all the 177 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:22,840 Speaker 1: letters are you know, made into the single ball and 178 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:25,040 Speaker 1: you can actually change fonts. It's actually pretty cool because 179 00:09:25,080 --> 00:09:27,800 Speaker 1: you can change fonts by changing the ball on the typewriter. 180 00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:30,520 Speaker 1: But what the the typewriter does when you press a key, 181 00:09:30,679 --> 00:09:34,000 Speaker 1: it rotates the ball and smacks the ribbon against the 182 00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:36,600 Speaker 1: paper for the position of that letter. So if the 183 00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:39,679 Speaker 1: t is on the side facing you, the typewriter actually 184 00:09:39,679 --> 00:09:41,319 Speaker 1: has to turn the ball all the way you know, 185 00:09:41,800 --> 00:09:44,240 Speaker 1: eight degrees, hit the paper, and then it returns to 186 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:48,040 Speaker 1: its uh, you know place. But it also is very 187 00:09:48,200 --> 00:09:51,920 Speaker 1: uh it speeds up um for people who are typing 188 00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:54,840 Speaker 1: because uh, it is much much faster and the key 189 00:09:54,880 --> 00:09:57,800 Speaker 1: there's no there are no keys to jam on, you know, 190 00:09:57,840 --> 00:09:59,920 Speaker 1: on the other side, and it's you know, a lie 191 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:05,360 Speaker 1: yea more efficient. However, you know, the keyboard is uh 192 00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:07,679 Speaker 1: now attached to a computer, and the whole point is 193 00:10:07,720 --> 00:10:10,920 Speaker 1: sort of mood yea. So here's the problem. Was that 194 00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:16,080 Speaker 1: the Rimington typewriter got really popular. It became the the 195 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:19,800 Speaker 1: model that all other typewriters were essentially based off of 196 00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:22,840 Speaker 1: for in the at least in the English speaking world 197 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:26,920 Speaker 1: for quite some time. And because of that, it meant 198 00:10:26,920 --> 00:10:28,880 Speaker 1: that we were kind of stuck with the quirty keyboard. 199 00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:33,400 Speaker 1: So even as technology advanced, because people have become so 200 00:10:33,520 --> 00:10:36,600 Speaker 1: used to the quirty keyboard, that became the standard, even 201 00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:41,320 Speaker 1: even when it became completely a non factor where your 202 00:10:41,360 --> 00:10:43,599 Speaker 1: technology advanced to the point where you didn't have to 203 00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:46,120 Speaker 1: worry about keys smashing into each other or or you know, 204 00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:48,760 Speaker 1: arms smashing into each other, or even then the electronic 205 00:10:48,800 --> 00:10:52,000 Speaker 1: age where you're not even having any moving parts didn't 206 00:10:52,040 --> 00:10:54,480 Speaker 1: matter because the quirty keyboard had been around so long. 207 00:10:55,160 --> 00:10:57,880 Speaker 1: For one thing, people had learned to type on the 208 00:10:57,920 --> 00:11:02,360 Speaker 1: quarty keyboard, and to change that would require retraining people 209 00:11:02,440 --> 00:11:04,880 Speaker 1: to type. They have to learn a new way to 210 00:11:04,920 --> 00:11:08,800 Speaker 1: type on a new keyboard, and that that's a you know, 211 00:11:08,840 --> 00:11:11,240 Speaker 1: a big turn off for a lot of organizations. They 212 00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:12,960 Speaker 1: don't want to spend the time and money that it 213 00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:16,200 Speaker 1: would take to retrain people to learn how to type 214 00:11:16,240 --> 00:11:19,480 Speaker 1: on a different kind of keyboard. Um, even if you 215 00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:22,599 Speaker 1: could technically type faster on the new keyboard once you 216 00:11:22,679 --> 00:11:26,240 Speaker 1: got proficient, because it just it means taking a step back. 217 00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:29,280 Speaker 1: You're like, well, yeah, I mean there are more efficient 218 00:11:29,280 --> 00:11:31,560 Speaker 1: ways to lay out the keyboard, but why would we 219 00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:34,880 Speaker 1: go through that trouble if this is good enough? Right, 220 00:11:34,920 --> 00:11:37,240 Speaker 1: and it's we've been using it for more than a 221 00:11:37,280 --> 00:11:41,080 Speaker 1: hundred years now, I mean, there's that's a lot of momentum. 222 00:11:41,280 --> 00:11:44,959 Speaker 1: Hasn't stopped people from trying. Nope, And I'm sure you're 223 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:48,760 Speaker 1: probably going to start with Dr Augusta. Oh, I thought 224 00:11:48,800 --> 00:11:52,199 Speaker 1: it was John C. Dvorak. I was wondering why you 225 00:11:52,280 --> 00:11:57,920 Speaker 1: didn't have a key that just said. Anyone who knows 226 00:11:57,960 --> 00:12:00,480 Speaker 1: who John cvok is will find that funny, and everyone 227 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:02,440 Speaker 1: else will have to go and google John C. Divora 228 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:04,600 Speaker 1: I can find out why I made a grumpy noise 229 00:12:05,400 --> 00:12:10,120 Speaker 1: um nor nor is it the composer vor Jacques No 230 00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:15,320 Speaker 1: no so Nights Symphony is awesome. This this Divorac came 231 00:12:15,400 --> 00:12:19,880 Speaker 1: up with an alternative keyboard in the thirties, I believe, right. Yeah, 232 00:12:19,920 --> 00:12:24,760 Speaker 1: well apparently, um he sort of gained prominence thanks to 233 00:12:24,920 --> 00:12:29,160 Speaker 1: World War Two because they needed more efficient typists. And um, 234 00:12:29,679 --> 00:12:34,280 Speaker 1: from the information I've read, um, his his research indicated 235 00:12:34,280 --> 00:12:37,280 Speaker 1: that it took three years to reach forty seven words 236 00:12:37,280 --> 00:12:41,240 Speaker 1: per minute. Three years of touch typing on corty keyboards. Now, granted, 237 00:12:41,280 --> 00:12:43,760 Speaker 1: these are these are the old typewriters. Yeah, yeah, these 238 00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:46,000 Speaker 1: are this is pres electric days. You's got to remember 239 00:12:46,040 --> 00:12:49,199 Speaker 1: that that pressure that you use to press these keys 240 00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:52,120 Speaker 1: are in part what determines whether or not your letter 241 00:12:52,640 --> 00:12:55,800 Speaker 1: makes it onto the page. Because typing on these old 242 00:12:55,800 --> 00:12:58,160 Speaker 1: typewriters was a workout. Let me tell you, it's not 243 00:12:58,240 --> 00:12:59,680 Speaker 1: quite the same as like if you were to if 244 00:12:59,679 --> 00:13:02,720 Speaker 1: you were to take someone transport someone from the say 245 00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:04,520 Speaker 1: the eighteen eighties, who had been used to an old 246 00:13:04,600 --> 00:13:07,920 Speaker 1: eighteen eighties Remington typewriter and put them on, say a 247 00:13:08,559 --> 00:13:12,320 Speaker 1: MacBook Pro, you'd probably WinCE as they tried to type, 248 00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:14,280 Speaker 1: because you'd be worried that they were going to punch 249 00:13:14,360 --> 00:13:19,400 Speaker 1: holes through the machine. Um yeah, I'm sorry, I totally 250 00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:23,679 Speaker 1: derailed you. No no, no um. But according according to Dvorak. 251 00:13:23,840 --> 00:13:26,720 Speaker 1: Dr Dvorak, he uh, he said his on his keyboard, 252 00:13:26,840 --> 00:13:29,400 Speaker 1: you could reach that same level of proficiency after just 253 00:13:29,480 --> 00:13:32,920 Speaker 1: fifty two hours, and a Navy study seemed to back 254 00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:36,880 Speaker 1: him up because it said people using the Dvorak keyboards 255 00:13:36,920 --> 00:13:40,679 Speaker 1: were sent faster and they were sixty percent more accurate. Well, 256 00:13:40,720 --> 00:13:42,600 Speaker 1: I have to say, whenever I have a Navy official 257 00:13:42,760 --> 00:13:48,800 Speaker 1: viewing me, I do tend to type faster. Okay, I'm 258 00:13:48,840 --> 00:13:52,040 Speaker 1: just saying those guys are seals are scary guys. I'm 259 00:13:52,080 --> 00:13:54,480 Speaker 1: just saying I want to ask you when the last 260 00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:56,840 Speaker 1: time you had a seal watching you type was. But 261 00:13:56,920 --> 00:13:58,880 Speaker 1: I don't think I want to know. Well, the last 262 00:13:58,880 --> 00:14:00,680 Speaker 1: time was at Sea World, but was a totally different 263 00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:07,520 Speaker 1: kind of seal. I've been shammoon. Yeah, alright, So let's 264 00:14:07,559 --> 00:14:09,920 Speaker 1: talk a little bit about what DeVore I did to 265 00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:12,959 Speaker 1: design his keyboard, Like what what was he thinking about? 266 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:15,800 Speaker 1: And he was thinking about a couple of thinking. Well, 267 00:14:15,880 --> 00:14:18,040 Speaker 1: he was thinking more than more than let's try and 268 00:14:18,120 --> 00:14:20,880 Speaker 1: space these letters apart so we slow people down. He 269 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:23,800 Speaker 1: was he was concerned with making things easier for type 270 00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:27,360 Speaker 1: is not more difficult that that. Actually, uh yeah, a 271 00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:29,800 Speaker 1: lot of people think that it was directly for that, 272 00:14:29,920 --> 00:14:33,200 Speaker 1: but yeah, well, he was looking mainly at things like 273 00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:37,320 Speaker 1: how frequently certain letters are used in the English language, 274 00:14:37,760 --> 00:14:39,920 Speaker 1: so you know, the length. The letters that are used 275 00:14:39,920 --> 00:14:43,000 Speaker 1: more frequently should be located in ways that are easiest 276 00:14:43,040 --> 00:14:46,240 Speaker 1: to reach. The letters that are least frequently used should 277 00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:48,680 Speaker 1: be put someplace kind of out of the way because 278 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:50,120 Speaker 1: you know, you're not gonna have to reach for him 279 00:14:50,120 --> 00:14:53,040 Speaker 1: that often. And then he also was looking at the 280 00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:56,760 Speaker 1: physiology of people's fingers. He wanted to see like, okay, well, 281 00:14:56,800 --> 00:14:59,480 Speaker 1: the strongest fingers should be the ones that are connected 282 00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:01,880 Speaker 1: to the that are you know, would be typing the 283 00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:04,320 Speaker 1: most common letters because you don't tire out as quickly, 284 00:15:04,640 --> 00:15:07,920 Speaker 1: you can go much faster. Um, So that also played 285 00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:10,080 Speaker 1: a part in it. So if you look at the 286 00:15:10,120 --> 00:15:13,200 Speaker 1: Divorak keyboard, I mean, it looks pretty much the same 287 00:15:13,240 --> 00:15:15,320 Speaker 1: as a Quarty keyboard is just the letters are all 288 00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:17,640 Speaker 1: in different places than what you're used to, except for 289 00:15:17,680 --> 00:15:20,240 Speaker 1: like the A the A button is pretty much in 290 00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:22,320 Speaker 1: the same place, and there are more than one Divorac 291 00:15:22,400 --> 00:15:26,800 Speaker 1: layout scheme. So when you say Divora keyboard, they're not 292 00:15:26,920 --> 00:15:32,000 Speaker 1: all the same, but the the Divora typists all have 293 00:15:32,320 --> 00:15:35,360 Speaker 1: atrophied pinkies because there are no they don't have to 294 00:15:35,480 --> 00:15:40,320 Speaker 1: use them for anything really well, the left pinky. That's 295 00:15:40,360 --> 00:15:42,640 Speaker 1: another thing I should point out is that the Corty keyboard, 296 00:15:42,760 --> 00:15:46,240 Speaker 1: um it favors left handers, which probably another reason why 297 00:15:46,320 --> 00:15:49,240 Speaker 1: I like, Yeah, there are more words that you can 298 00:15:49,280 --> 00:15:52,440 Speaker 1: type with just your left hand then you can type 299 00:15:52,440 --> 00:15:54,800 Speaker 1: with um your right hand. For instance, I think the 300 00:15:54,880 --> 00:15:58,680 Speaker 1: longest word that you can type with your left hand 301 00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:04,440 Speaker 1: is stewardess is really yeah, it's a flight attendants. You 302 00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:06,280 Speaker 1: can't type with one. I know. I I type that 303 00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:10,640 Speaker 1: word now and I get slapped. It happens. But anyway, 304 00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:13,360 Speaker 1: the the Divora keyboard kind of shifts that a little 305 00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:15,520 Speaker 1: bit over to the right hand. Uh so the right 306 00:16:15,560 --> 00:16:17,160 Speaker 1: hand gets a little more weight because I mean, more 307 00:16:17,160 --> 00:16:19,520 Speaker 1: people are right handed than left handed. So we sinister 308 00:16:19,680 --> 00:16:23,120 Speaker 1: people are kind of shoved aside yet again, made the 309 00:16:23,160 --> 00:16:26,840 Speaker 1: social pariah's forced to learn how to write with our 310 00:16:26,920 --> 00:16:29,880 Speaker 1: other hand when we're naturally gifted with the left hand. 311 00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:32,320 Speaker 1: I'm going to smack you in the hand with the 312 00:16:32,400 --> 00:16:34,800 Speaker 1: ruler if you type only only with the right hand. 313 00:16:34,800 --> 00:16:36,400 Speaker 1: If you smack me in the right hand, I'm okay 314 00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:41,320 Speaker 1: because I'm left handed. So but the other, you know, 315 00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:43,400 Speaker 1: the couple of other issues, like like all the all 316 00:16:43,400 --> 00:16:47,120 Speaker 1: the vowels in dr X keyboard are on a little 317 00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:51,200 Speaker 1: row on the home row on the left hand, so 318 00:16:51,280 --> 00:16:53,640 Speaker 1: instead of them being spread across the keyboard, they're all 319 00:16:53,680 --> 00:16:58,280 Speaker 1: located in one little so it's like a great vowel shift. Yes, 320 00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:01,360 Speaker 1: it is a great vowel shift. The three linguists and 321 00:17:01,600 --> 00:17:05,640 Speaker 1: listening are laughing. Everyone else is confused. Everyone else is like, huh, 322 00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:07,719 Speaker 1: I think I might have heard of that this in 323 00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:12,760 Speaker 1: my Shakespeare class. Um. I was just going to, well, 324 00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:15,879 Speaker 1: I want to make sure before we get to you know, 325 00:17:15,920 --> 00:17:18,600 Speaker 1: closing out the divorat keyboard, and I get to make 326 00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:20,600 Speaker 1: a point. All right, go ahead and make your point. 327 00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:23,080 Speaker 1: I was just gonna say that, apparently, based on an 328 00:17:23,160 --> 00:17:26,920 Speaker 1: article I saw in Reason magazine, the Navy study was biased. 329 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:32,480 Speaker 1: In general, the divorat keyboard is not necessarily more efficient, 330 00:17:33,040 --> 00:17:35,439 Speaker 1: but it may be more ergonomic because a lot of 331 00:17:35,440 --> 00:17:38,320 Speaker 1: people have said that, or you know, people I've read 332 00:17:38,800 --> 00:17:42,920 Speaker 1: said that it can it can be a more casual 333 00:17:43,440 --> 00:17:46,280 Speaker 1: uh typing style. It can you know, it's not. You 334 00:17:46,280 --> 00:17:49,520 Speaker 1: don't have to twist and turn your your fingers quite 335 00:17:49,560 --> 00:17:51,960 Speaker 1: as much. I don't have quite as many finger gymnastics 336 00:17:51,960 --> 00:17:54,199 Speaker 1: going on as with the quarty keyboard, but I but 337 00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:56,159 Speaker 1: I kind of enjoy it. You know. My my pinky 338 00:17:56,160 --> 00:17:59,400 Speaker 1: finger is getting pretty good at the rings. Yeah. My 339 00:17:59,400 --> 00:18:02,000 Speaker 1: my typing speed on a quirty keyboard is about ninety 340 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:04,840 Speaker 1: words per minuted. Um. It would take me a long time, 341 00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:06,440 Speaker 1: I think to get up to that speed with the 342 00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:09,040 Speaker 1: door at keyboard, just from just having to learn the 343 00:18:09,080 --> 00:18:13,479 Speaker 1: new layout. And like Chainsaw I uh and and some 344 00:18:13,560 --> 00:18:18,640 Speaker 1: of our other listeners, I'm perfectly comfortable typing without looking 345 00:18:18,720 --> 00:18:23,080 Speaker 1: at the keys. Uh. So you know, it's the idea 346 00:18:23,119 --> 00:18:24,679 Speaker 1: of having to learn a new keyboard is kind of 347 00:18:24,680 --> 00:18:26,720 Speaker 1: intimidating to me. But we wanted to talk about a 348 00:18:26,720 --> 00:18:30,920 Speaker 1: couple of other keyboards as well. Now you were looking 349 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:36,040 Speaker 1: at some keyboards for different languages and regions, right, yeah, 350 00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:38,200 Speaker 1: about that a little bit. A lot of a lot 351 00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:40,720 Speaker 1: of the keyboards that you find around the world are 352 00:18:41,280 --> 00:18:44,159 Speaker 1: you know, if you went to another country, obviously, if 353 00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:47,400 Speaker 1: you went to someplace like China or um, you know, 354 00:18:47,640 --> 00:18:51,359 Speaker 1: Thailand or someplace, you're going to see quite different characters, 355 00:18:51,640 --> 00:18:54,200 Speaker 1: like a Kanji keyboard would be much different from an 356 00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:56,480 Speaker 1: English keyboard. And as you were you were saying before 357 00:18:56,520 --> 00:18:59,800 Speaker 1: we started recordings, a lot of these require multi key presses, 358 00:18:59,840 --> 00:19:03,800 Speaker 1: but because they're basically using very very similar layouts, I 359 00:19:03,800 --> 00:19:07,000 Speaker 1: would assume probably because the manufacturer of keyboards. You know, 360 00:19:07,040 --> 00:19:09,280 Speaker 1: if you're going to make keyboards for people all around 361 00:19:09,320 --> 00:19:12,199 Speaker 1: the world, you know you're gonna try to fit the 362 00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:16,959 Speaker 1: same rough number of keys. It's about keys, and if 363 00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:21,399 Speaker 1: you've got a language that has hundreds and hundreds of characters, 364 00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:25,879 Speaker 1: by whole characters, then you're going to need some sort 365 00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:30,640 Speaker 1: of of probably a software solution rather than a hardware 366 00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:35,560 Speaker 1: solution to try and and and equivalent make the equivalent 367 00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:37,760 Speaker 1: of that in your keyboard. So yeah, you would have 368 00:19:37,840 --> 00:19:41,800 Speaker 1: to maybe push five or six different keys in succession 369 00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:45,200 Speaker 1: to create one single character. But um, actually it's probably 370 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:46,960 Speaker 1: less than that because that would be when I sit 371 00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:48,720 Speaker 1: there and think about that exponentially, that would be a 372 00:19:48,760 --> 00:19:50,920 Speaker 1: huge number of characters. It's probably more like two or three. 373 00:19:51,520 --> 00:19:53,960 Speaker 1: But it's funny because I was talking to our producer 374 00:19:53,960 --> 00:19:57,720 Speaker 1: Tyler right for we started recording about you know, the 375 00:19:57,760 --> 00:20:00,879 Speaker 1: operating system supports other layouts. You know we were talking about. 376 00:20:01,080 --> 00:20:03,919 Speaker 1: I've never seen a Warak keyboard in the in the 377 00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:09,520 Speaker 1: flesh or the plastic and um but you can easily 378 00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:13,080 Speaker 1: go and get into your computers OS settings and change 379 00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:17,120 Speaker 1: it over, but the letters will still be right. Most 380 00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:21,840 Speaker 1: of the most current operating systems do support alternate keyboard layouts, 381 00:20:21,880 --> 00:20:24,400 Speaker 1: and some of them you can even customize it exactly 382 00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:26,320 Speaker 1: the way you want. You don't even have to necessarily 383 00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:30,280 Speaker 1: use a a um uh you know, a standardized layout 384 00:20:30,320 --> 00:20:32,840 Speaker 1: at all if you really wanted to and the keys. 385 00:20:32,920 --> 00:20:36,240 Speaker 1: What will happen is operating system will map the the 386 00:20:36,320 --> 00:20:40,119 Speaker 1: keys to their new designations. So you might say, you 387 00:20:40,119 --> 00:20:42,480 Speaker 1: know what, UM, I don't want the Q key to 388 00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:45,800 Speaker 1: be the Q key anymore. I want that to be uh, 389 00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:47,960 Speaker 1: you know Z, because I hardly ever use Z and 390 00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:49,960 Speaker 1: I'll be from my little pinky and I'm gonna put 391 00:20:49,960 --> 00:20:51,800 Speaker 1: that right there. Not that I think you use Q 392 00:20:51,960 --> 00:20:55,240 Speaker 1: that off in either, but the point being that you 393 00:20:55,280 --> 00:20:57,439 Speaker 1: could relocate it and then when you press it, like 394 00:20:57,560 --> 00:21:02,639 Speaker 1: the operating system maps that pressed mean Z. Granted, the 395 00:21:02,760 --> 00:21:06,160 Speaker 1: physical key itself is still going to say Q. Well, 396 00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:08,439 Speaker 1: you could depending on the kind of keyboard you have 397 00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:10,240 Speaker 1: you may be able to pry the keys off and 398 00:21:10,320 --> 00:21:13,440 Speaker 1: replace them right or or you could always just put 399 00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:17,200 Speaker 1: stickers on top with new letters on them. But uh yeah, 400 00:21:17,240 --> 00:21:19,280 Speaker 1: I mean you could you could go you know, sort 401 00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:21,359 Speaker 1: of depends on the language. Like you might see the 402 00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:26,240 Speaker 1: ASSERTI keyboard in France or the Courts keyboard in in Germany, 403 00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:29,800 Speaker 1: and they've got specific keys for AO and you with 404 00:21:29,840 --> 00:21:32,679 Speaker 1: the umlaut because they're so frequently used, right, whereas we 405 00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:34,919 Speaker 1: have to like insert a symbol or something like that 406 00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:38,600 Speaker 1: or do uh some sort of macro or and you know, 407 00:21:38,680 --> 00:21:43,000 Speaker 1: you can find keyboards with a strict alphabetical uh layout, 408 00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:45,080 Speaker 1: you know, a B C D keyboards, that's what they 409 00:21:45,080 --> 00:21:48,600 Speaker 1: call us. And then there's the Expert keyboard, which is 410 00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:50,720 Speaker 1: a different layout that was designed in two thousand three. 411 00:21:50,760 --> 00:21:55,159 Speaker 1: We actually it's in our our article on keyboards on 412 00:21:55,520 --> 00:21:58,080 Speaker 1: the on the website you know, stuffworks dot com. Yeah, 413 00:21:58,119 --> 00:22:00,320 Speaker 1: what's what's the expert keyboard? I haven't read this article? 414 00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:02,720 Speaker 1: Um actually when I went to the website to learn 415 00:22:02,760 --> 00:22:05,920 Speaker 1: more about it. Uh, it's it's designed as an alternative 416 00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:08,639 Speaker 1: to the dvorate keyboard. It actually has it again as 417 00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:12,280 Speaker 1: you know, based on the keys that you want to strike, 418 00:22:12,359 --> 00:22:16,040 Speaker 1: and the frequency with which the letters occur. It has 419 00:22:16,080 --> 00:22:21,159 Speaker 1: to ease one for each hand because he appears so frequently. Interesting, 420 00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:24,040 Speaker 1: but it's supposed to, you know, make the key combinations 421 00:22:24,119 --> 00:22:27,000 Speaker 1: from hand to hand more efficient. I would definitely make 422 00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:31,159 Speaker 1: typing I E E E easier. True, not that we 423 00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:33,280 Speaker 1: write about them all that frequently, No, we just go I. 424 00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:36,959 Speaker 1: But those are just different keyboard layouts. And when we 425 00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:38,840 Speaker 1: were going to talk about different kinds of keyboards, like 426 00:22:38,840 --> 00:22:41,800 Speaker 1: the gaming keyboards, right, so there are gaming keyboards out there. 427 00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:43,680 Speaker 1: I really don't have a whole lot to say about them. 428 00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:46,240 Speaker 1: I mean, they're mainly they're just really a special kind 429 00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:48,240 Speaker 1: of control. Really, when you get down to it, well, 430 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:50,480 Speaker 1: it's another way for it's another way for the keyboard 431 00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:53,160 Speaker 1: manufacturers to make money. Yeah, I mean here by another 432 00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:55,719 Speaker 1: eight dollar keyboard. Some of them are. Some of them 433 00:22:55,720 --> 00:22:57,679 Speaker 1: are designed in such a way so that it's easier 434 00:22:57,720 --> 00:22:59,399 Speaker 1: for you to reach certain keys, like the W A 435 00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:03,000 Speaker 1: S keys, which are often used in first person shooters 436 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:06,600 Speaker 1: and other other games for moving your character around. Now, 437 00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:09,320 Speaker 1: on a standard keyboard, it might be a little cramp 438 00:23:09,359 --> 00:23:12,200 Speaker 1: to put your fingers there. You know, it's slowwle weird 439 00:23:12,240 --> 00:23:14,400 Speaker 1: because you're if you especially if you want to be 440 00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:17,160 Speaker 1: holding down all or have contact with all four keys 441 00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:19,040 Speaker 1: at the same time, you're gonna end up with a 442 00:23:19,080 --> 00:23:21,800 Speaker 1: cramped hand after about half an hour. UM. So a 443 00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:24,800 Speaker 1: lot of these keyboards just have a different spacing, um, 444 00:23:24,880 --> 00:23:26,720 Speaker 1: and they may be a little more reinforced. Some of 445 00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:30,159 Speaker 1: them have backlighting, um, you know, stuff that makes it 446 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:34,840 Speaker 1: look a little fancier. In general, they're still very functional keyboards. Uh. 447 00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:38,440 Speaker 1: Some of them may have uh pre set macros where 448 00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:41,399 Speaker 1: you can, um, have things set up so that pushing 449 00:23:41,440 --> 00:23:45,520 Speaker 1: one button actually executes a series of commands, which you know, 450 00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:47,359 Speaker 1: a lot of games support that, and you can do 451 00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:49,679 Speaker 1: it on your own with a normal keyboard, but you 452 00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:51,199 Speaker 1: kind of have to know what you're doing. Some of 453 00:23:51,240 --> 00:23:53,320 Speaker 1: these kind of take that out of your you know, 454 00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:55,439 Speaker 1: out of your hands and do it automatically so you 455 00:23:55,440 --> 00:23:58,680 Speaker 1: don't have to actually, you know, sit there and follow 456 00:23:58,720 --> 00:24:01,120 Speaker 1: a set of instructions to pro graham your your macro's 457 00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:06,040 Speaker 1: so that you can be leaked. Um. I've never had 458 00:24:06,119 --> 00:24:09,280 Speaker 1: much use for or the gaming keyboards that much, but 459 00:24:09,280 --> 00:24:12,280 Speaker 1: then that's because I'm not a I'm not a big gamer. Um. 460 00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:14,680 Speaker 1: If I were, I probably would love one of those 461 00:24:15,040 --> 00:24:18,680 Speaker 1: there in general, I've heard good things about them from gamers, 462 00:24:19,400 --> 00:24:21,840 Speaker 1: but since I don't game often enough to be in there, 463 00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:27,720 Speaker 1: uh esteemed company, it's not something that I've ever invested in. Now, 464 00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:30,640 Speaker 1: if we want to talk about a real investment, well, 465 00:24:30,640 --> 00:24:32,680 Speaker 1: first let's talk about the first let's talk about the 466 00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:35,640 Speaker 1: major investment. Let's talk about the major league crazy investment. 467 00:24:36,400 --> 00:24:39,480 Speaker 1: Major investment would be Optimist Maximus. Yes, the O L 468 00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:43,160 Speaker 1: E ED or O lead keyboard from art limav. Yes, 469 00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:48,000 Speaker 1: it has keys that are each an individual display. And 470 00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:50,960 Speaker 1: you want to talk about for a keyboards or mapping 471 00:24:51,080 --> 00:24:52,960 Speaker 1: keys and pulling them off, you don't have to do 472 00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:55,520 Speaker 1: it because your keys can be anything you want them 473 00:24:55,560 --> 00:24:58,000 Speaker 1: to be, right, because each key is essentially a little Yeah, 474 00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:00,239 Speaker 1: it's a little display. So if you want to too, 475 00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:03,080 Speaker 1: if you somethingly wanted to type in the cyrillic alphabet, 476 00:25:03,119 --> 00:25:05,000 Speaker 1: you can tell your keyboard that that's what you want 477 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:07,359 Speaker 1: and suddenly all of your English letters will change to 478 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:11,080 Speaker 1: cyrillic letters. And hey, you know, at the bargain price 479 00:25:11,200 --> 00:25:15,000 Speaker 1: of fifteen on think geek dot com at the moment 480 00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:17,840 Speaker 1: they're out of stock. Yeah, I've seen they can. I 481 00:25:17,840 --> 00:25:21,439 Speaker 1: think the lowest I've seen is like fourteen fifty seven. 482 00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:23,960 Speaker 1: So we're talking around a thousand, five hundred bucks for 483 00:25:24,119 --> 00:25:28,480 Speaker 1: most places. For this keyboard. That's really really expensive. Now 484 00:25:28,520 --> 00:25:30,600 Speaker 1: that you might sit there and think like, wow, that's 485 00:25:30,640 --> 00:25:32,600 Speaker 1: got to be one of the most expensive keyboards out there, 486 00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:35,560 Speaker 1: why don't you take a little one of the most expensive. 487 00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:38,000 Speaker 1: But if you want to talk about a really expensive keyboard, 488 00:25:38,280 --> 00:25:43,080 Speaker 1: let's talk about fairlights z Energy keyboard. This thing costs 489 00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:47,120 Speaker 1: twenty eight grand. Now, when it came out, I saw 490 00:25:47,119 --> 00:25:50,840 Speaker 1: a lot of reports about twenty thousand dollar keyboard, and 491 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:54,520 Speaker 1: you know, I actually wrote an article about how this 492 00:25:54,680 --> 00:25:59,320 Speaker 1: energy keyboard works, and uh, the headlines are a little 493 00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:02,159 Speaker 1: miss eating because you would think, like, who the heck 494 00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:05,280 Speaker 1: would pay twenty dollars for a keyboard? Well, it's not. 495 00:26:05,600 --> 00:26:09,080 Speaker 1: It's not just a keyboard. It's actually part of a 496 00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:14,360 Speaker 1: comprehensive audio and video engineering center. Okay, so it's it's 497 00:26:14,359 --> 00:26:16,920 Speaker 1: more like a it's more like a really complex audio 498 00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:19,600 Speaker 1: and video editing device as opposed to just a keyboard. 499 00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:22,840 Speaker 1: It actually has its own memory, it's got its own screen, 500 00:26:23,119 --> 00:26:25,800 Speaker 1: Like there's a screen built into the keyboard each key 501 00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:28,919 Speaker 1: just like optimist Maximus is its own screen. Um, you 502 00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:32,280 Speaker 1: can even if you wanted to display video through your keys. 503 00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:34,120 Speaker 1: I don't know why you would want to do that, 504 00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:39,480 Speaker 1: but you could. But you can create animated uh images 505 00:26:39,520 --> 00:26:42,120 Speaker 1: on your keys, so like, uh, maybe a flashing red 506 00:26:42,200 --> 00:26:44,720 Speaker 1: light when you're recording something, So one of your keys 507 00:26:44,720 --> 00:26:47,240 Speaker 1: is flashing red you know, Oh, that means that the 508 00:26:47,320 --> 00:26:50,359 Speaker 1: record button has been hit. We're actually recording this, Like 509 00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:52,680 Speaker 1: I have to ask Tyler all the time or Matt 510 00:26:52,840 --> 00:26:55,440 Speaker 1: or whoever is in here are we currently recording because 511 00:26:55,440 --> 00:26:57,040 Speaker 1: I kind of need to know if I have to 512 00:26:57,080 --> 00:27:01,000 Speaker 1: behave myself or not. Like that stops you. Yeah, well, 513 00:27:01,119 --> 00:27:03,080 Speaker 1: let's just say that we've had people ask us about 514 00:27:03,160 --> 00:27:05,360 Speaker 1: out takes. I'm just gonna tell you guys right now, 515 00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:08,000 Speaker 1: we don't really have any outtakes because when we make mistakes, 516 00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:10,520 Speaker 1: we kind of keep them in the show pretty much. 517 00:27:10,560 --> 00:27:12,560 Speaker 1: I mean some of you have pointed those out, but 518 00:27:12,840 --> 00:27:16,679 Speaker 1: um uh we do talk before and after the shows 519 00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:19,080 Speaker 1: and it's juicy and I'm sure you guys would all 520 00:27:19,080 --> 00:27:21,639 Speaker 1: love to hear that, but we don't record those. I 521 00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:24,360 Speaker 1: specifically request that we turned the recorder off for that, 522 00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:28,760 Speaker 1: um at any rate. So this twenty keyboard is really 523 00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:31,560 Speaker 1: for audio engineers and video engineers. It's not meant for 524 00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:34,040 Speaker 1: the average consumer. It's not meant for someone playing Doom 525 00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:36,880 Speaker 1: or Quake or Half Life two or anything like that. 526 00:27:37,160 --> 00:27:40,959 Speaker 1: It's meant for someone who's producing music videos or albums 527 00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:44,399 Speaker 1: or whatever and they need to have. Essentially a portable 528 00:27:44,440 --> 00:27:48,320 Speaker 1: studio is what it turns out to be. Yeah, Um, 529 00:27:48,359 --> 00:27:51,119 Speaker 1: are you done with this energy? Yeah? Well, I was 530 00:27:51,119 --> 00:27:54,520 Speaker 1: gonna say one other thing. It it can record up 531 00:27:54,520 --> 00:27:56,680 Speaker 1: to ninety It can do handle it to ninety six 532 00:27:56,760 --> 00:27:59,760 Speaker 1: channels for the base model. The top of the line 533 00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:04,520 Speaker 1: level two thirty channels. Okay, so when you think about 534 00:28:04,520 --> 00:28:09,400 Speaker 1: the Beatles recording their albums on four channels, yep, imagine 535 00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:12,280 Speaker 1: what they'd sound like with two and thirty channels. That's 536 00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:15,560 Speaker 1: a lot of ringo. So what were you going to say? 537 00:28:15,640 --> 00:28:18,720 Speaker 1: I was going to mention, um, another kind of keyboard 538 00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:22,400 Speaker 1: that's considerably less expensive than that. It's uh that John 539 00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:27,040 Speaker 1: Fuller wrote about the the laser virtual keyboard, right. Um, 540 00:28:27,080 --> 00:28:29,800 Speaker 1: Basically this isn't a keyboard at all, except it kind 541 00:28:29,800 --> 00:28:32,920 Speaker 1: of is. Um. It's a device that you can hook 542 00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:36,720 Speaker 1: up to uh while a computer or uh, you know, 543 00:28:36,840 --> 00:28:41,840 Speaker 1: certain types of other electronic devices that require keyboards and 544 00:28:42,080 --> 00:28:45,760 Speaker 1: UM basically uses a laser and it shines through what's 545 00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:49,800 Speaker 1: called a diffractive optical element UH. And with with that 546 00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:52,920 Speaker 1: and lenses, certain kinds of lenses, it projects an image 547 00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:56,600 Speaker 1: of a keyboard on say the desktop in front of you. 548 00:28:57,320 --> 00:28:59,920 Speaker 1: So in front of you where there was a blank table, 549 00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:03,240 Speaker 1: now you see the keys from a keyboard. UM, and 550 00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:07,880 Speaker 1: an infrared laser diode at the base UH shines a 551 00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:11,280 Speaker 1: beam of light parallel to the table surface, so that 552 00:29:11,320 --> 00:29:14,080 Speaker 1: when you when you type on you know, basically you're 553 00:29:14,120 --> 00:29:16,800 Speaker 1: drumming your fingers on the table in front of you 554 00:29:17,640 --> 00:29:21,160 Speaker 1: on the pictures of the select keys. UH. The complementary 555 00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:25,800 Speaker 1: metal oxide semiconductor that's CMOS looks at where your finger 556 00:29:25,920 --> 00:29:28,880 Speaker 1: is and determines the position relative to where it's supposed 557 00:29:28,880 --> 00:29:31,160 Speaker 1: to be and says, okay, well he's typing an S, 558 00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:38,800 Speaker 1: he's typing a G, he's typing an L. And then exactly, hey, 559 00:29:38,880 --> 00:29:41,440 Speaker 1: you know, maybe they're just transferring from a Dvorat keyboard 560 00:29:41,520 --> 00:29:46,240 Speaker 1: lamp anyway, UM, and it sends that information back to 561 00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:48,400 Speaker 1: the computer, and you know, the computer is using this 562 00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:52,120 Speaker 1: virtual keyboard to to do that. So but it's considerably 563 00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:55,320 Speaker 1: less expensive than this energy, Like you know, it's a 564 00:29:55,400 --> 00:30:00,640 Speaker 1: hundred and fifty dollars um. I don't no, I would 565 00:30:00,680 --> 00:30:03,720 Speaker 1: love to try. I've I've heard people say that it's 566 00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:06,240 Speaker 1: a neat idea, but that um that you know, it's 567 00:30:06,280 --> 00:30:08,040 Speaker 1: kind of weird to use it. I don't know if 568 00:30:08,040 --> 00:30:10,600 Speaker 1: that means that it's weird in the sense that since 569 00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:13,040 Speaker 1: you don't have the touch feedback, it just throws you off, 570 00:30:13,160 --> 00:30:15,120 Speaker 1: or you know, like because when you press the button, 571 00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:18,320 Speaker 1: there's something about that sense like it tells you that 572 00:30:18,440 --> 00:30:20,880 Speaker 1: you successfully press the button before you see that show 573 00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:23,960 Speaker 1: up on the screen. Thank you for the segue. What's 574 00:30:23,960 --> 00:30:27,440 Speaker 1: that one of the oddest things. I don't think it's 575 00:30:27,480 --> 00:30:29,400 Speaker 1: really that odd, but I think it's sort of odd 576 00:30:29,440 --> 00:30:33,240 Speaker 1: that one of the keyboards that's really really popular. Remember 577 00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:35,960 Speaker 1: those IBM keyboards that they used to make, the old 578 00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:39,280 Speaker 1: beige things and when you would hear somebody and they 579 00:30:39,280 --> 00:30:42,800 Speaker 1: would be really really loud, they had these really heavy 580 00:30:42,880 --> 00:30:45,880 Speaker 1: duty switches in them which made that loud noise. There 581 00:30:45,880 --> 00:30:49,120 Speaker 1: are people who absolutely love those things, are buying them refurbished, 582 00:30:50,120 --> 00:30:52,080 Speaker 1: And there's another company that's coming out with the same 583 00:30:52,160 --> 00:30:56,800 Speaker 1: thing called the DOSK keyboard, so it's it's specifically loud 584 00:30:56,840 --> 00:30:59,400 Speaker 1: and clackee on purpose. It is specifically loud and claque 585 00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:01,640 Speaker 1: on purpose. So you know you press that key well, 586 00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:04,480 Speaker 1: I mean, I cannot you know, a thin, rubbery membrane keyboard. 587 00:31:04,520 --> 00:31:07,520 Speaker 1: It is a big, thick, plastic, chunky thing with a 588 00:31:07,600 --> 00:31:10,240 Speaker 1: huge switch inside that clacks when you hit it. Well, again, 589 00:31:10,320 --> 00:31:12,760 Speaker 1: for for those of us who can type while looking 590 00:31:12,800 --> 00:31:14,920 Speaker 1: away from the screen, like often, I'll have someone come 591 00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:16,000 Speaker 1: up and talk to me, and I'll be in the 592 00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:17,680 Speaker 1: middle of typing a sense and I'll turn around. I'll 593 00:31:17,680 --> 00:31:19,680 Speaker 1: look at them while I'm still typing, which tends to 594 00:31:19,680 --> 00:31:22,160 Speaker 1: throw them off for some reason. Apparently that's creepy in 595 00:31:22,200 --> 00:31:24,600 Speaker 1: some way. I never really thought of it that way, 596 00:31:24,640 --> 00:31:26,400 Speaker 1: but yeah, you that could come in hand because you 597 00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:28,240 Speaker 1: could realize that, hey, I didn't actually hit that E 598 00:31:28,400 --> 00:31:30,719 Speaker 1: when I thought I hit the e. UM. Now, granted, 599 00:31:30,760 --> 00:31:33,960 Speaker 1: with a lot of autocorrect software, sometimes that's not really 600 00:31:33,960 --> 00:31:37,680 Speaker 1: necessary unless you're auto correct software is awful and keeps 601 00:31:37,720 --> 00:31:40,560 Speaker 1: on putting in words that you totally didn't mean to 602 00:31:40,600 --> 00:31:44,320 Speaker 1: have in there. Um, which does happen, and it's hilarious. 603 00:31:45,520 --> 00:31:48,840 Speaker 1: I am finished with keyboards. I think we are okay. Well, 604 00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:55,880 Speaker 1: then let's do a little quick listener mail. This listener 605 00:31:55,880 --> 00:32:00,440 Speaker 1: mail comes from Adrian and Adrian has hey, guys, love 606 00:32:00,480 --> 00:32:02,600 Speaker 1: your podcast. I'm planning to buy a computer, but I 607 00:32:02,640 --> 00:32:05,200 Speaker 1: want to know when Windows might be releasing their latest 608 00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:07,680 Speaker 1: operating system. Would you guys know when it might be out? 609 00:32:07,800 --> 00:32:11,440 Speaker 1: Thank you so much? Next week? Actually it's October twenty two, 610 00:32:12,040 --> 00:32:14,240 Speaker 1: um is the official release date, which, by the time 611 00:32:14,280 --> 00:32:17,160 Speaker 1: you hear this, may have been last week. We don't 612 00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:20,080 Speaker 1: know when when our podcast will be released, but people 613 00:32:20,080 --> 00:32:21,760 Speaker 1: are a lot of people have asked us this, so 614 00:32:21,800 --> 00:32:24,560 Speaker 1: there's chance that's already in stores now by the time 615 00:32:24,600 --> 00:32:26,880 Speaker 1: you hear this. But October twenty swod was the official 616 00:32:26,920 --> 00:32:30,160 Speaker 1: release date. UM. Thanks Adrian and if any of you 617 00:32:30,160 --> 00:32:35,320 Speaker 1: have any questions, concerns, criticisms, podcast suggestions, you can write us. 618 00:32:35,320 --> 00:32:38,360 Speaker 1: Our email address is tech stuff at how stuffworks dot com. 619 00:32:38,400 --> 00:32:40,640 Speaker 1: I do want to say that we talked about We 620 00:32:40,720 --> 00:32:43,640 Speaker 1: talked about the inventor of the Corty keyboard. We have 621 00:32:43,960 --> 00:32:47,320 Speaker 1: a special podcast, the Stuff of Genius, that has an 622 00:32:47,320 --> 00:32:49,960 Speaker 1: episode all about him. Indeed, so you should watch that. 623 00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:53,560 Speaker 1: Stuff of Genius is absolutely brilliant, very funny animation, to 624 00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:56,160 Speaker 1: great text. Yeah, you guys got to check that out. 625 00:32:56,960 --> 00:33:01,120 Speaker 1: And remember also at one pm Eastern one neusdays, Chris 626 00:33:01,160 --> 00:33:04,480 Speaker 1: and I host a live hooting Nanny. I mean a 627 00:33:04,560 --> 00:33:09,240 Speaker 1: live technology news podcast show. It's text stuff Live, vaguely 628 00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:11,400 Speaker 1: like a hooting nanny. Yeah. You can find all about 629 00:33:11,440 --> 00:33:13,720 Speaker 1: this hooting Nanny at our blogs. So go to house 630 00:33:13,720 --> 00:33:16,040 Speaker 1: stuff Works dot com and check it out. Crispy and 631 00:33:16,120 --> 00:33:21,680 Speaker 1: I will talk to you again really soon for more 632 00:33:21,720 --> 00:33:24,000 Speaker 1: on this and thousands of other topics. Does it how 633 00:33:24,080 --> 00:33:26,480 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com and be sure to check out 634 00:33:26,480 --> 00:33:28,680 Speaker 1: the new tech stuff blog now on the house stuff 635 00:33:28,680 --> 00:33:36,120 Speaker 1: Works homepage, brought to you by the reinvented two thousand 636 00:33:36,200 --> 00:33:38,360 Speaker 1: twelve camera. It's ready, are you