[HN Gopher] "QWERTY wasn't designed to solve type bar jamming" [...
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       "QWERTY wasn't designed to solve type bar jamming" [pdf]
        
       Author : vishnuharidas
       Score  : 32 points
       Date   : 2025-03-16 18:34 UTC (4 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp)
 (TXT) w3m dump (repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp)
        
       | The_suffocated wrote:
       | Very interesting article. I don't understand, however, how
       | shorthanders used typewriters for short-writing. The figure on
       | p.168 (above fig. 9) is not explanative.
        
         | yorwba wrote:
         | The numbers above the words indicate which finger (index,
         | middle, ring) is used to press a key, the letters below
         | indicate the hand (left or right). Basically a precursor of
         | touch typing that doesn't use the little fingers and doesn't
         | always use the same finger for the same key.
         | 
         | The actual shorthand would be written on paper, with the
         | typewriter being used to expand it to a more readable form.
        
           | The_suffocated wrote:
           | Thank you. I mistakenly thought the typewriter was used to
           | type shorthands.
        
       | somat wrote:
       | Ha. so the reason that I is next to 8 is that early typewriters
       | used the I as a 1(no independent 1 key) and the morse
       | transcription company wanted to type years(1871) quickly. I love
       | it.
        
       | readthenotes1 wrote:
       | "The legend was referred by Prof. James V. Wertsch,[22, 23] a
       | professor of the Department of Psychology, Clark University, then
       | it was regarded as an established theory in the field of
       | psychology. "
       | 
       | The reproducibility crisis struck early, it seems.
        
       | analog31 wrote:
       | In the next century, researchers will discover that the GUI
       | wasn't designed to make computing harder by forcing people to
       | find cryptic little symbols, randomly arranged on the screen, and
       | break routine operations into tiny sequences of manual steps. And
       | it wasn't called a "personal computer" because it turned each
       | person into a computer.
        
       | userbinator wrote:
       | Whatever its intent, QWERTY definitely hasn't impeded the fastest
       | typists, who can regularly exceed 200wpm these days.
       | 
       | Odd to see no mention of the Linotype layout, also known as the
       | "Etaoin Shrdlu", given that was also a common competing keyboard
       | layout in that era.
        
         | 0cf8612b2e1e wrote:
         | Humans do not have fins, but Micheal Phelps can still cut
         | through water. That elites can thrive is not a compelling
         | argument when most people just want technology to get out of
         | the way.
         | 
         | An alternative layout with commonly used symbols on the home
         | row makes the QWERTY deficiencies immediately apparent.
         | Significantly less effort required for writing prose when using
         | something like DVORAK.
        
           | karmakaze wrote:
           | I got into alternate keyboard layouts and developed my own
           | (roughly an optimized NIRO). When I tried using it on my
           | small Surface Go I found that my fingers would 'jam' typing
           | letters close together, so I leave that in QWERTY so it
           | happens much less.
        
       | weinzierl wrote:
       | I don't follow the connection to Morse. Can someone summarize
       | their argument in a comprehensive way?
        
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       (page generated 2025-03-16 23:00 UTC)