QWERTY: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 03:32, 4 November 2005

Revision as of 20:50, 4 November 2005

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== Alternative keyboard layouts ==

Because modern keyboards do not suffer from the problems of older mechanical keyboards, the QWERTY layout's separation of frequently used letter pairs is no longer strictly necessary. Several alternative keyboard layouts, such as [[Dvorak Simplified Keyboard]] arrangement (designed by Drs. [[August Dvorak]] and [[William Dealey]] and patented in [[1936]]), have been designed to increase a typist's speed and comfort, largely by moving the most common letters to the home row and maximizing hand alternation. The effectiveness of these layouts is disputed, but it is often claimed that world records for typing speed are usually set on Dvorak layout keyboards. Some studies [http://www.visi.com/~pmk/evolved.html] have shown that alternative methods are more efficient, but Dvorak and other alternative typists most often cite comfort as the greatest advantage. QWERTY's inventor, Christopher Sholes himself patented a key arrangement similar to Dvorak's, but it never became [[popular]].

Some researchers claim that QWERTY is really no less efficient than other layouts, such as economists Stan Liebowitz at the [[University of Texas at Dallas|University of Texas]] at [[Dallas, Texas]], and Stephen E. Margolis of [[North Carolina State University]]. Other opponents claim that August Dvorak stood to gain from the success of his layout, and that he perpetuated his "efficiency myth" to increase his financial gains. Other QWERTY advocates claim that for a QWERTY typist to switch to Dvorak or another layout requires more effort than initially learning to [[touch-type]], because of having to retrain the [[finger]]s' [[muscle memory]]. Computer users also need to unlearn the habit of pressing key-shortcuts (for example: ctrl-c for copy, ctrl-x for cut), though some programs and operating systems allow the use of alternate layouts combined with QWERTY shortcuts.