WEBVTT - Who screwed up the keyboard? 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:02.880 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 0:00:03.240 --> 0:00:08.920 It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology with 0:00:09.080 --> 0:00:17.880 tech Stuff from how stuff works dot com. Hello everybody, 0:00:17.880 --> 0:00:20.720 and welcome to tech stuff. My name is Chris Poulettin, 0:00:20.800 --> 0:00:23.040 and I am the tech editor here at how stuff 0:00:23.040 --> 0:00:25.959 works dot Com. Sitting across from me, as usual, is 0:00:26.200 --> 0:00:30.639 senior writer Jonathan Strickland. I still have swine flu. I 0:00:30.640 --> 0:00:34.559 should add that I've recorded this episode directly after another episode, 0:00:34.600 --> 0:00:36.600 so please don't think that I've had swine flu for 0:00:36.720 --> 0:00:40.200 like a month, just in case they don't play them sequentially. Yeah, 0:00:40.240 --> 0:00:42.680 you better hope they don't play this one first. Yeah, 0:00:42.680 --> 0:00:45.519 that would also be very confusing for you guys. But 0:00:45.920 --> 0:00:47.840 if they do play this one first, trust me, it'll 0:00:47.840 --> 0:00:50.680 all be worthwhile in the end. All right. So let's 0:00:50.680 --> 0:00:56.680 start off with a little listener mail. Now, by a 0:00:56.720 --> 0:00:58.600 little listener mail, I mean a lot of listener mail, 0:00:58.600 --> 0:01:00.840 because I've got two different ones to read, alright. The 0:01:01.040 --> 0:01:03.520 first one comes from Terrell and he says, hey, Jonathan 0:01:03.520 --> 0:01:05.920 and Chris, I love listening to your podcast on my 0:01:06.000 --> 0:01:08.240 drive to and from work. It makes being up at 0:01:08.280 --> 0:01:11.480 five thirty bearable. Gosh, if only I had something like that, 0:01:11.760 --> 0:01:13.640 I had a quick question for you. I have no 0:01:13.720 --> 0:01:16.039 idea if this is a quick little subject or something longer, 0:01:16.080 --> 0:01:18.360 but something I've always wondered. Why are the keys on 0:01:18.400 --> 0:01:20.959 a computer keyboard laid out the way they are? I 0:01:21.040 --> 0:01:23.440 understand that it came from typewriters, but when you look 0:01:23.480 --> 0:01:25.160 at it and think about it, they just seemed to 0:01:25.200 --> 0:01:28.400 be random letters and arbitrary places. I've been using a 0:01:28.480 --> 0:01:30.920 keyboard my whole life, so I can type fast without 0:01:30.920 --> 0:01:33.720 having to look at them without really a problem, but 0:01:33.800 --> 0:01:35.680 the fact of the matter remains the same. I also 0:01:35.680 --> 0:01:37.360 remember a couple of years ago hearing about a new 0:01:37.440 --> 0:01:40.520 keyboard layout that was possibly going to happen, which supposedly 0:01:40.520 --> 0:01:43.960 would make typing much faster. It's really glad it didn't 0:01:44.000 --> 0:01:46.440 after using a keyboard for about two decades, but it's 0:01:46.480 --> 0:01:49.440 interesting nonetheless. Anyways, thanks for a great podcast and hope 0:01:49.480 --> 0:01:52.640 to hear from you. And then here's the second listener mail. 0:01:53.000 --> 0:01:58.080 This one comes from Chad A k A. Chainsaw. Chainsaw 0:01:58.120 --> 0:02:00.600 has this to say. Hey, there, as I was typing 0:02:00.640 --> 0:02:03.480 up an email to your rival podcast, stuff, you should know, 0:02:03.840 --> 0:02:06.440 I came up with an idea for your podcast. You see, 0:02:06.440 --> 0:02:08.840 I don't use a normal quirty keyboard. I use a 0:02:08.880 --> 0:02:12.119 divorate keyboard instead, So I thought a podcast on alternative 0:02:12.200 --> 0:02:15.680 keyboard layouts could be fun. I also seem to remember 0:02:15.680 --> 0:02:17.960 a keyboard made for gaming that you could buy custom 0:02:18.040 --> 0:02:20.400 key layouts for that you would swap in and out 0:02:20.400 --> 0:02:23.160 for each game. From what I remember, the main advantage 0:02:23.200 --> 0:02:25.400 of it is that you would only have the keys 0:02:25.440 --> 0:02:27.519 needed to play the game, So the buttons were bigger 0:02:27.560 --> 0:02:31.840 and had the action printed right on it run, jump, reload, etcetera. 0:02:32.080 --> 0:02:33.720 But I can't remember what it was called. The only 0:02:33.760 --> 0:02:36.320 problem I see with this idea is explaining how the 0:02:36.360 --> 0:02:39.280 keyboard looks with audio only. Anyways, let me know what 0:02:39.360 --> 0:02:42.360 you think of the idea. So we're gonna do an 0:02:42.360 --> 0:02:49.720 episode all about We're gonna talk about keyboards. That was 0:02:49.760 --> 0:02:51.360 a long set up for a terrible job. You know 0:02:51.360 --> 0:02:54.200 what Emily is gonna write to me about that? Probably Emily, 0:02:54.240 --> 0:02:56.919 I've got swine flu. Go easy on me. So let's 0:02:56.960 --> 0:03:00.519 start with the good old fashioned quirty keyboard. All no 0:03:00.720 --> 0:03:04.720 and loath love. I don't load the quarty keyboard. Actually, 0:03:04.760 --> 0:03:07.560 I'm quite proficient at the quarty keyboard, so I don't 0:03:07.600 --> 0:03:11.520 loathe it either. Now, this comes from a design that 0:03:11.680 --> 0:03:16.760 was patented way back in eighteen seven, in the eighteen seventies. 0:03:18.240 --> 0:03:19.680 I thought I had the date, but I just have 0:03:19.720 --> 0:03:24.160 the I have eighteen seventy three. Okay, so hum by 0:03:24.280 --> 0:03:29.160 Christopher Shoals. Yes, and this was for something called a typewriter. Yes. Now, 0:03:29.560 --> 0:03:34.440 the typewriter back in the day was a completely mechanical machine, 0:03:34.840 --> 0:03:37.960 no electricity. Alright. I start to believe that some people 0:03:38.000 --> 0:03:40.640 listening may not know that, but it is possible. So 0:03:40.800 --> 0:03:43.360 if you may not have actually ever seen a real, 0:03:43.680 --> 0:03:47.200 for honest goodness typewriter, I've used them before and they 0:03:47.280 --> 0:03:50.320 are a challenge. An old one is really kind of 0:03:50.400 --> 0:03:52.560 rough to use because if the action isn't great on 0:03:52.600 --> 0:03:54.640 the keys, you have to push really hard to get 0:03:54.840 --> 0:03:58.120 a good impression. I've got an Underwood at home. Actually, 0:03:58.320 --> 0:04:01.800 the ways about seven hundred thousand pounds. It is very 0:04:01.880 --> 0:04:04.880 very heavy. Yeah, I've I've I can't remember what the 0:04:04.920 --> 0:04:07.440 brand was it was, what was the other big ones 0:04:07.520 --> 0:04:10.560 sides Underwood, Remington, Yes, it was Remington's Remington. That was 0:04:10.600 --> 0:04:12.880 the one that I used. Well, that's because you know, 0:04:12.960 --> 0:04:18.080 Christopher Latham Shoals pitched it to Remington Arms Company. So 0:04:19.920 --> 0:04:22.880 let's talk a little bit about why the keyboard, why 0:04:22.920 --> 0:04:24.920 he decided to lay the keyboard out in this way. 0:04:24.960 --> 0:04:28.080 First of all, well we'll talk about the whole way 0:04:28.120 --> 0:04:30.960 a typewriter works is that the key is connected to 0:04:31.240 --> 0:04:35.280 a mechanical arm that um, when you pressed out on 0:04:35.320 --> 0:04:38.479 the key, little levers pushed the arm up and press 0:04:38.560 --> 0:04:41.200 it against a ribbon and against a piece of paper, 0:04:41.279 --> 0:04:44.400 and then you get the letter printed on the page. 0:04:44.560 --> 0:04:46.800 Have you ever seen a piece of carbon paper? Again, 0:04:47.320 --> 0:04:49.680 many of you may not have, But basically what it 0:04:49.760 --> 0:04:52.280 does is as you press, if you put a piece 0:04:52.279 --> 0:04:53.680 of paper down on the table and put a piece 0:04:53.680 --> 0:04:56.320 of carbon paper down on top of it and then 0:04:56.400 --> 0:04:58.760 rub something on it, you'll get a mark. When you 0:04:58.800 --> 0:05:00.880 lift the carbon paper off the paper, it leaves a 0:05:00.920 --> 0:05:03.120 mark on the paper. Well, that's essentially what the typewriter 0:05:03.240 --> 0:05:07.039 ribbon is doing. The ribbon moves so that you're not 0:05:07.120 --> 0:05:09.960 wearing a hole through the ribbon. Yeah, you would quickly 0:05:10.000 --> 0:05:11.720 either wear a hole to the ribbon or you would 0:05:11.760 --> 0:05:15.000 wear off the the inc essentially. Yeah, and it's pretty 0:05:15.000 --> 0:05:18.280 fragile stuff too, so you don't want to, uh, you know, 0:05:18.760 --> 0:05:20.839 type too many letters in one place on the ribbon. 0:05:20.920 --> 0:05:25.000 But um, the typewriter keys on the older style typewriters, 0:05:25.000 --> 0:05:27.520 and they were in use for I'm guessing probably around 0:05:27.560 --> 0:05:29.760 a hundred years, you know, based on eighteen seventy three 0:05:29.760 --> 0:05:33.240 to the IBM S Electric, one of which I also 0:05:33.320 --> 0:05:36.320 have at home. Um, these little arms would come up 0:05:36.320 --> 0:05:38.920 and they each have uh an individual letter on him. 0:05:38.920 --> 0:05:41.960 They smack the ribbon and make the mark on the paper. 0:05:42.000 --> 0:05:45.160 It's actually pretty simple stuff until you get to the 0:05:45.200 --> 0:05:48.320 you know, mechanics of what happens when you start touch 0:05:48.360 --> 0:05:51.320 typing and not hunting and pecking. Yeah. So one of 0:05:51.320 --> 0:05:54.159 the issues here is that if you were a proficient 0:05:54.240 --> 0:05:57.000 typist and you had the keys laid out in such 0:05:57.040 --> 0:06:00.800 a way that the most the most common letters are 0:06:00.839 --> 0:06:04.000 all under the strongest fingers, and you were to type 0:06:04.080 --> 0:06:08.279 very quickly, you would suddenly start to experience problems with 0:06:08.320 --> 0:06:10.760 this key, this this typewriter, and the problem was that 0:06:10.880 --> 0:06:14.480 the arms would kind of get entangled. Um. I've actually 0:06:14.520 --> 0:06:16.800 had this happen with old typewriters, where you know, you're 0:06:16.800 --> 0:06:19.560 trying to type and then they a couple of them 0:06:19.920 --> 0:06:23.640 stick together and you you have to you know, loosen 0:06:23.680 --> 0:06:27.760 the two up and then you have to start over again. Um. 0:06:27.920 --> 0:06:31.400 With the typewriter design that Schulz was working with, it 0:06:31.440 --> 0:06:37.159 was particularly difficult because where the the the the little 0:06:37.279 --> 0:06:40.159 arm was hitting the ribbon against the paper, it wasn't 0:06:40.200 --> 0:06:42.200 in view of the type is. It was actually under 0:06:42.240 --> 0:06:44.719 a carriage. You had to open the typewriter up to 0:06:44.800 --> 0:06:48.080 get to that point. So if things jammed up, you 0:06:48.080 --> 0:06:50.159 would not only have to stop, but you would actually 0:06:50.160 --> 0:06:53.080 have to essentially remove part of the typewriter in order 0:06:53.080 --> 0:06:55.000 to fix it. It was actually in your benefit to 0:06:55.600 --> 0:06:58.400 two hunt and pack at that time, because the key 0:06:58.440 --> 0:07:00.480 needed a chance to return to its play ace after 0:07:00.680 --> 0:07:03.919 after you know, type a letter onto the paper. So 0:07:04.040 --> 0:07:07.960 shoals is uh. His solution to this problem was a 0:07:08.000 --> 0:07:11.720 pretty you know, ingenious one. What's the best way to 0:07:11.840 --> 0:07:16.880 prevent keys from jamming up? Well, we could redesign the 0:07:16.880 --> 0:07:20.880 typewriter so that it wasn't using that exact same method, 0:07:21.640 --> 0:07:26.040 or you know, we could uh try and find some 0:07:26.200 --> 0:07:30.560 way of of clearing each of the arms. But that's 0:07:30.600 --> 0:07:32.280 a lot of work. Why don't we just put all 0:07:32.320 --> 0:07:36.080 the keys in different places so that it naturally slows 0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:38.800 down the type ist and and puts the most common 0:07:38.880 --> 0:07:42.360 keys away from our common letters away from each other, 0:07:42.400 --> 0:07:45.600 so that you're not likely to have two arms close 0:07:45.720 --> 0:07:48.240 together strike at about the same time and then get 0:07:48.240 --> 0:07:51.920 tangled up. Yep. So, in other words, bungling it up 0:07:52.000 --> 0:07:54.120 for the rest of us on purpose, so that his 0:07:54.200 --> 0:07:57.640 machine would work better. The thing is, though, it doesn't 0:07:57.640 --> 0:08:00.880 always because as far as touched pin goes, once you 0:08:01.000 --> 0:08:03.800 learned the layout of the keyboard, you know, it's a 0:08:03.840 --> 0:08:07.800 matter of speed and proficiency. When you become proficient at 0:08:07.920 --> 0:08:10.480 your speed increases anyway. Well, but the idea here was 0:08:10.560 --> 0:08:13.360 that if you did keep the most common letters away 0:08:13.360 --> 0:08:16.200 from each other, then even if you were a faster typist, 0:08:16.320 --> 0:08:18.800 that you weren't likely to have them jam each other 0:08:18.800 --> 0:08:21.800 because they wouldn't be right next to one another. Um, 0:08:21.960 --> 0:08:26.320 sidebar number one, I have to sidebar number one. Uh. 0:08:26.360 --> 0:08:29.560 My mother used to be a secretary back before they 0:08:29.560 --> 0:08:33.920 were called admins. And um, she could type a hundred 0:08:33.920 --> 0:08:37.400 thirty five words per minute. That's fast, that is very fast. 0:08:37.679 --> 0:08:42.080 And um she you know, before this electric came out, 0:08:42.400 --> 0:08:46.160 that'll be sidebart number two. Um, the before this electric 0:08:46.200 --> 0:08:48.200 came out, the you know, and she would type on 0:08:48.200 --> 0:08:50.720 one of these you know, quarty keyboards on a typewriter 0:08:50.760 --> 0:08:53.320 with the all little arms, and eventually they had to 0:08:53.320 --> 0:08:56.040 replace her typewriter because the little arms would wear on 0:08:56.040 --> 0:08:59.680 one another so much that basically they were unusable, and 0:08:59.720 --> 0:09:02.120 that the you know, they started wearing into the letters, 0:09:02.200 --> 0:09:06.240 and that's sort of problematic. Um Sideboart number two, I 0:09:06.240 --> 0:09:07.520 guess I'll go ahead and get it out of the way. 0:09:07.640 --> 0:09:10.240 Is just you know, the other solution to the problem 0:09:10.480 --> 0:09:15.319 is not the keyboard. Um. The later typewriters used a ball. 0:09:16.240 --> 0:09:19.120 UM and it's it's pretty ingenious actually because all the 0:09:19.200 --> 0:09:22.840 letters are you know, made into the single ball and 0:09:22.840 --> 0:09:25.040 you can actually change fonts. It's actually pretty cool because 0:09:25.080 --> 0:09:27.800 you can change fonts by changing the ball on the typewriter. 0:09:28.160 --> 0:09:30.520 But what the the typewriter does when you press a key, 0:09:30.679 --> 0:09:34.000 it rotates the ball and smacks the ribbon against the 0:09:34.040 --> 0:09:36.600 paper for the position of that letter. So if the 0:09:36.640 --> 0:09:39.679 t is on the side facing you, the typewriter actually 0:09:39.679 --> 0:09:41.319 has to turn the ball all the way you know, 0:09:41.800 --> 0:09:44.240 eight degrees, hit the paper, and then it returns to 0:09:44.320 --> 0:09:48.040 its uh, you know place. But it also is very 0:09:48.200 --> 0:09:51.920 uh it speeds up um for people who are typing 0:09:51.960 --> 0:09:54.840 because uh, it is much much faster and the key 0:09:54.880 --> 0:09:57.800 there's no there are no keys to jam on, you know, 0:09:57.840 --> 0:09:59.920 on the other side, and it's you know, a lie 0:10:00.800 --> 0:10:05.360 yea more efficient. However, you know, the keyboard is uh 0:10:05.520 --> 0:10:07.679 now attached to a computer, and the whole point is 0:10:07.720 --> 0:10:10.920 sort of mood yea. So here's the problem. Was that 0:10:10.960 --> 0:10:16.080 the Rimington typewriter got really popular. It became the the 0:10:16.320 --> 0:10:19.800 model that all other typewriters were essentially based off of 0:10:19.840 --> 0:10:22.840 for in the at least in the English speaking world 0:10:23.120 --> 0:10:26.920 for quite some time. And because of that, it meant 0:10:26.920 --> 0:10:28.880 that we were kind of stuck with the quirty keyboard. 0:10:29.920 --> 0:10:33.400 So even as technology advanced, because people have become so 0:10:33.520 --> 0:10:36.600 used to the quirty keyboard, that became the standard, even 0:10:36.640 --> 0:10:41.320 even when it became completely a non factor where your 0:10:41.360 --> 0:10:43.599 technology advanced to the point where you didn't have to 0:10:43.600 --> 0:10:46.120 worry about keys smashing into each other or or you know, 0:10:46.240 --> 0:10:48.760 arms smashing into each other, or even then the electronic 0:10:48.800 --> 0:10:52.000 age where you're not even having any moving parts didn't 0:10:52.040 --> 0:10:54.480 matter because the quirty keyboard had been around so long. 0:10:55.160 --> 0:10:57.880 For one thing, people had learned to type on the 0:10:57.920 --> 0:11:02.360 quarty keyboard, and to change that would require retraining people 0:11:02.440 --> 0:11:04.880 to type. They have to learn a new way to 0:11:04.920 --> 0:11:08.800 type on a new keyboard, and that that's a you know, 0:11:08.840 --> 0:11:11.240 a big turn off for a lot of organizations. They 0:11:11.280 --> 0:11:12.960 don't want to spend the time and money that it 0:11:12.960 --> 0:11:16.200 would take to retrain people to learn how to type 0:11:16.240 --> 0:11:19.480 on a different kind of keyboard. Um, even if you 0:11:19.520 --> 0:11:22.599 could technically type faster on the new keyboard once you 0:11:22.679 --> 0:11:26.240 got proficient, because it just it means taking a step back. 0:11:26.280 --> 0:11:29.280 You're like, well, yeah, I mean there are more efficient 0:11:29.280 --> 0:11:31.560 ways to lay out the keyboard, but why would we 0:11:31.600 --> 0:11:34.880 go through that trouble if this is good enough? Right, 0:11:34.920 --> 0:11:37.240 and it's we've been using it for more than a 0:11:37.280 --> 0:11:41.080 hundred years now, I mean, there's that's a lot of momentum. 0:11:41.280 --> 0:11:44.959 Hasn't stopped people from trying. Nope, And I'm sure you're 0:11:45.000 --> 0:11:48.760 probably going to start with Dr Augusta. Oh, I thought 0:11:48.800 --> 0:11:52.199 it was John C. Dvorak. I was wondering why you 0:11:52.280 --> 0:11:57.920 didn't have a key that just said. Anyone who knows 0:11:57.960 --> 0:12:00.480 who John cvok is will find that funny, and everyone 0:12:00.520 --> 0:12:02.440 else will have to go and google John C. Divora 0:12:02.440 --> 0:12:04.600 I can find out why I made a grumpy noise 0:12:05.400 --> 0:12:10.120 um nor nor is it the composer vor Jacques No 0:12:10.120 --> 0:12:15.320 no so Nights Symphony is awesome. This this Divorac came 0:12:15.400 --> 0:12:19.880 up with an alternative keyboard in the thirties, I believe, right. Yeah, 0:12:19.920 --> 0:12:24.760 well apparently, um he sort of gained prominence thanks to 0:12:24.920 --> 0:12:29.160 World War Two because they needed more efficient typists. And um, 0:12:29.679 --> 0:12:34.280 from the information I've read, um, his his research indicated 0:12:34.280 --> 0:12:37.280 that it took three years to reach forty seven words 0:12:37.280 --> 0:12:41.240 per minute. Three years of touch typing on corty keyboards. Now, granted, 0:12:41.280 --> 0:12:43.760 these are these are the old typewriters. Yeah, yeah, these 0:12:43.760 --> 0:12:46.000 are this is pres electric days. You's got to remember 0:12:46.040 --> 0:12:49.199 that that pressure that you use to press these keys 0:12:49.240 --> 0:12:52.120 are in part what determines whether or not your letter 0:12:52.640 --> 0:12:55.800 makes it onto the page. Because typing on these old 0:12:55.800 --> 0:12:58.160 typewriters was a workout. Let me tell you, it's not 0:12:58.240 --> 0:12:59.680 quite the same as like if you were to if 0:12:59.679 --> 0:13:02.720 you were to take someone transport someone from the say 0:13:02.720 --> 0:13:04.520 the eighteen eighties, who had been used to an old 0:13:04.600 --> 0:13:07.920 eighteen eighties Remington typewriter and put them on, say a 0:13:08.559 --> 0:13:12.320 MacBook Pro, you'd probably WinCE as they tried to type, 0:13:12.400 --> 0:13:14.280 because you'd be worried that they were going to punch 0:13:14.360 --> 0:13:19.400 holes through the machine. Um yeah, I'm sorry, I totally 0:13:19.400 --> 0:13:23.679 derailed you. No no, no um. But according according to Dvorak. 0:13:23.840 --> 0:13:26.720 Dr Dvorak, he uh, he said his on his keyboard, 0:13:26.840 --> 0:13:29.400 you could reach that same level of proficiency after just 0:13:29.480 --> 0:13:32.920 fifty two hours, and a Navy study seemed to back 0:13:33.000 --> 0:13:36.880 him up because it said people using the Dvorak keyboards 0:13:36.920 --> 0:13:40.679 were sent faster and they were sixty percent more accurate. Well, 0:13:40.720 --> 0:13:42.600 I have to say, whenever I have a Navy official 0:13:42.760 --> 0:13:48.800 viewing me, I do tend to type faster. Okay, I'm 0:13:48.840 --> 0:13:52.040 just saying those guys are seals are scary guys. I'm 0:13:52.080 --> 0:13:54.480 just saying I want to ask you when the last 0:13:54.480 --> 0:13:56.840 time you had a seal watching you type was. But 0:13:56.920 --> 0:13:58.880 I don't think I want to know. Well, the last 0:13:58.880 --> 0:14:00.680 time was at Sea World, but was a totally different 0:14:00.720 --> 0:14:07.520 kind of seal. I've been shammoon. Yeah, alright, So let's 0:14:07.559 --> 0:14:09.920 talk a little bit about what DeVore I did to 0:14:10.080 --> 0:14:12.959 design his keyboard, Like what what was he thinking about? 0:14:13.000 --> 0:14:15.800 And he was thinking about a couple of thinking. Well, 0:14:15.880 --> 0:14:18.040 he was thinking more than more than let's try and 0:14:18.120 --> 0:14:20.880 space these letters apart so we slow people down. He 0:14:21.000 --> 0:14:23.800 was he was concerned with making things easier for type 0:14:23.920 --> 0:14:27.360 is not more difficult that that. Actually, uh yeah, a 0:14:27.360 --> 0:14:29.800 lot of people think that it was directly for that, 0:14:29.920 --> 0:14:33.200 but yeah, well, he was looking mainly at things like 0:14:33.680 --> 0:14:37.320 how frequently certain letters are used in the English language, 0:14:37.760 --> 0:14:39.920 so you know, the length. The letters that are used 0:14:39.920 --> 0:14:43.000 more frequently should be located in ways that are easiest 0:14:43.040 --> 0:14:46.240 to reach. The letters that are least frequently used should 0:14:46.280 --> 0:14:48.680 be put someplace kind of out of the way because 0:14:48.760 --> 0:14:50.120 you know, you're not gonna have to reach for him 0:14:50.120 --> 0:14:53.040 that often. And then he also was looking at the 0:14:53.080 --> 0:14:56.760 physiology of people's fingers. He wanted to see like, okay, well, 0:14:56.800 --> 0:14:59.480 the strongest fingers should be the ones that are connected 0:14:59.520 --> 0:15:01.880 to the that are you know, would be typing the 0:15:01.920 --> 0:15:04.320 most common letters because you don't tire out as quickly, 0:15:04.640 --> 0:15:07.920 you can go much faster. Um, So that also played 0:15:07.920 --> 0:15:10.080 a part in it. So if you look at the 0:15:10.120 --> 0:15:13.200 Divorak keyboard, I mean, it looks pretty much the same 0:15:13.240 --> 0:15:15.320 as a Quarty keyboard is just the letters are all 0:15:15.320 --> 0:15:17.640 in different places than what you're used to, except for 0:15:17.680 --> 0:15:20.240 like the A the A button is pretty much in 0:15:20.280 --> 0:15:22.320 the same place, and there are more than one Divorac 0:15:22.400 --> 0:15:26.800 layout scheme. So when you say Divora keyboard, they're not 0:15:26.920 --> 0:15:32.000 all the same, but the the Divora typists all have 0:15:32.320 --> 0:15:35.360 atrophied pinkies because there are no they don't have to 0:15:35.480 --> 0:15:40.320 use them for anything really well, the left pinky. That's 0:15:40.360 --> 0:15:42.640 another thing I should point out is that the Corty keyboard, 0:15:42.760 --> 0:15:46.240 um it favors left handers, which probably another reason why 0:15:46.320 --> 0:15:49.240 I like, Yeah, there are more words that you can 0:15:49.280 --> 0:15:52.440 type with just your left hand then you can type 0:15:52.440 --> 0:15:54.800 with um your right hand. For instance, I think the 0:15:54.880 --> 0:15:58.680 longest word that you can type with your left hand 0:15:58.960 --> 0:16:04.440 is stewardess is really yeah, it's a flight attendants. You 0:16:04.480 --> 0:16:06.280 can't type with one. I know. I I type that 0:16:06.320 --> 0:16:10.640 word now and I get slapped. It happens. But anyway, 0:16:10.720 --> 0:16:13.360 the the Divora keyboard kind of shifts that a little 0:16:13.360 --> 0:16:15.520 bit over to the right hand. Uh so the right 0:16:15.560 --> 0:16:17.160 hand gets a little more weight because I mean, more 0:16:17.160 --> 0:16:19.520 people are right handed than left handed. So we sinister 0:16:19.680 --> 0:16:23.120 people are kind of shoved aside yet again, made the 0:16:23.160 --> 0:16:26.840 social pariah's forced to learn how to write with our 0:16:26.920 --> 0:16:29.880 other hand when we're naturally gifted with the left hand. 0:16:31.120 --> 0:16:32.320 I'm going to smack you in the hand with the 0:16:32.400 --> 0:16:34.800 ruler if you type only only with the right hand. 0:16:34.800 --> 0:16:36.400 If you smack me in the right hand, I'm okay 0:16:36.440 --> 0:16:41.320 because I'm left handed. So but the other, you know, 0:16:41.400 --> 0:16:43.400 the couple of other issues, like like all the all 0:16:43.400 --> 0:16:47.120 the vowels in dr X keyboard are on a little 0:16:47.200 --> 0:16:51.200 row on the home row on the left hand, so 0:16:51.280 --> 0:16:53.640 instead of them being spread across the keyboard, they're all 0:16:53.680 --> 0:16:58.280 located in one little so it's like a great vowel shift. Yes, 0:16:58.320 --> 0:17:01.360 it is a great vowel shift. The three linguists and 0:17:01.600 --> 0:17:05.640 listening are laughing. Everyone else is confused. Everyone else is like, huh, 0:17:06.400 --> 0:17:07.719 I think I might have heard of that this in 0:17:07.720 --> 0:17:12.760 my Shakespeare class. Um. I was just going to, well, 0:17:12.800 --> 0:17:15.879 I want to make sure before we get to you know, 0:17:15.920 --> 0:17:18.600 closing out the divorat keyboard, and I get to make 0:17:18.640 --> 0:17:20.600 a point. All right, go ahead and make your point. 0:17:20.680 --> 0:17:23.080 I was just gonna say that, apparently, based on an 0:17:23.160 --> 0:17:26.920 article I saw in Reason magazine, the Navy study was biased. 0:17:27.920 --> 0:17:32.480 In general, the divorat keyboard is not necessarily more efficient, 0:17:33.040 --> 0:17:35.439 but it may be more ergonomic because a lot of 0:17:35.440 --> 0:17:38.320 people have said that, or you know, people I've read 0:17:38.800 --> 0:17:42.920 said that it can it can be a more casual 0:17:43.440 --> 0:17:46.280 uh typing style. It can you know, it's not. You 0:17:46.280 --> 0:17:49.520 don't have to twist and turn your your fingers quite 0:17:49.560 --> 0:17:51.960 as much. I don't have quite as many finger gymnastics 0:17:51.960 --> 0:17:54.199 going on as with the quarty keyboard, but I but 0:17:54.200 --> 0:17:56.159 I kind of enjoy it. You know. My my pinky 0:17:56.160 --> 0:17:59.400 finger is getting pretty good at the rings. Yeah. My 0:17:59.400 --> 0:18:02.000 my typing speed on a quirty keyboard is about ninety 0:18:02.000 --> 0:18:04.840 words per minuted. Um. It would take me a long time, 0:18:04.840 --> 0:18:06.440 I think to get up to that speed with the 0:18:06.480 --> 0:18:09.040 door at keyboard, just from just having to learn the 0:18:09.080 --> 0:18:13.479 new layout. And like Chainsaw I uh and and some 0:18:13.560 --> 0:18:18.640 of our other listeners, I'm perfectly comfortable typing without looking 0:18:18.720 --> 0:18:23.080 at the keys. Uh. So you know, it's the idea 0:18:23.119 --> 0:18:24.679 of having to learn a new keyboard is kind of 0:18:24.680 --> 0:18:26.720 intimidating to me. But we wanted to talk about a 0:18:26.720 --> 0:18:30.920 couple of other keyboards as well. Now you were looking 0:18:30.960 --> 0:18:36.040 at some keyboards for different languages and regions, right, yeah, 0:18:36.080 --> 0:18:38.200 about that a little bit. A lot of a lot 0:18:38.240 --> 0:18:40.720 of the keyboards that you find around the world are 0:18:41.280 --> 0:18:44.159 you know, if you went to another country, obviously, if 0:18:44.160 --> 0:18:47.400 you went to someplace like China or um, you know, 0:18:47.640 --> 0:18:51.359 Thailand or someplace, you're going to see quite different characters, 0:18:51.640 --> 0:18:54.200 like a Kanji keyboard would be much different from an 0:18:54.200 --> 0:18:56.480 English keyboard. And as you were you were saying before 0:18:56.520 --> 0:18:59.800 we started recordings, a lot of these require multi key presses, 0:18:59.840 --> 0:19:03.800 but because they're basically using very very similar layouts, I 0:19:03.800 --> 0:19:07.000 would assume probably because the manufacturer of keyboards. You know, 0:19:07.040 --> 0:19:09.280 if you're going to make keyboards for people all around 0:19:09.320 --> 0:19:12.199 the world, you know you're gonna try to fit the 0:19:12.240 --> 0:19:16.959 same rough number of keys. It's about keys, and if 0:19:17.040 --> 0:19:21.399 you've got a language that has hundreds and hundreds of characters, 0:19:21.600 --> 0:19:25.879 by whole characters, then you're going to need some sort 0:19:26.000 --> 0:19:30.640 of of probably a software solution rather than a hardware 0:19:30.640 --> 0:19:35.560 solution to try and and and equivalent make the equivalent 0:19:35.600 --> 0:19:37.760 of that in your keyboard. So yeah, you would have 0:19:37.840 --> 0:19:41.800 to maybe push five or six different keys in succession 0:19:41.880 --> 0:19:45.200 to create one single character. But um, actually it's probably 0:19:45.240 --> 0:19:46.960 less than that because that would be when I sit 0:19:47.000 --> 0:19:48.720 there and think about that exponentially, that would be a 0:19:48.760 --> 0:19:50.920 huge number of characters. It's probably more like two or three. 0:19:51.520 --> 0:19:53.960 But it's funny because I was talking to our producer 0:19:53.960 --> 0:19:57.720 Tyler right for we started recording about you know, the 0:19:57.760 --> 0:20:00.879 operating system supports other layouts. You know we were talking about. 0:20:01.080 --> 0:20:03.919 I've never seen a Warak keyboard in the in the 0:20:03.960 --> 0:20:09.520 flesh or the plastic and um but you can easily 0:20:09.600 --> 0:20:13.080 go and get into your computers OS settings and change 0:20:13.080 --> 0:20:17.120 it over, but the letters will still be right. Most 0:20:17.160 --> 0:20:21.840 of the most current operating systems do support alternate keyboard layouts, 0:20:21.880 --> 0:20:24.400 and some of them you can even customize it exactly 0:20:24.400 --> 0:20:26.320 the way you want. You don't even have to necessarily 0:20:26.400 --> 0:20:30.280 use a a um uh you know, a standardized layout 0:20:30.320 --> 0:20:32.840 at all if you really wanted to and the keys. 0:20:32.920 --> 0:20:36.240 What will happen is operating system will map the the 0:20:36.320 --> 0:20:40.119 keys to their new designations. So you might say, you 0:20:40.119 --> 0:20:42.480 know what, UM, I don't want the Q key to 0:20:42.480 --> 0:20:45.800 be the Q key anymore. I want that to be uh, 0:20:45.840 --> 0:20:47.960 you know Z, because I hardly ever use Z and 0:20:48.000 --> 0:20:49.960 I'll be from my little pinky and I'm gonna put 0:20:49.960 --> 0:20:51.800 that right there. Not that I think you use Q 0:20:51.960 --> 0:20:55.240 that off in either, but the point being that you 0:20:55.280 --> 0:20:57.439 could relocate it and then when you press it, like 0:20:57.560 --> 0:21:02.639 the operating system maps that pressed mean Z. Granted, the 0:21:02.760 --> 0:21:06.160 physical key itself is still going to say Q. Well, 0:21:06.200 --> 0:21:08.439 you could depending on the kind of keyboard you have 0:21:08.520 --> 0:21:10.240 you may be able to pry the keys off and 0:21:10.320 --> 0:21:13.440 replace them right or or you could always just put 0:21:13.480 --> 0:21:17.200 stickers on top with new letters on them. But uh yeah, 0:21:17.240 --> 0:21:19.280 I mean you could you could go you know, sort 0:21:19.320 --> 0:21:21.359