Outdated QWERTY vs Apple and other inventors
One of the most favorite examples in my practice, illustrating that the standards set a hundred years ago, remain unshakable. Habit wins the best decisions and removes them from the game. This example may allow you to save your time and energy, not to improve those things that do not need to be changed. For example, do not create a keyboard for mobile phones other than the existing QWERTY or the usual alphanumeric, do not come up with a replacement for all the usual program that copes with its task on millions of computers and does not require special attention from users. A kind of hymn against invention, but the invention of useless, dictated by the desire to improve existing technologies have become the standard. Be reasonable and be smart with what you’re going to improve. After this introduction, let me ask you a question.
When was the QWERTY layout invented and for what?
Feel free to guess in what year it happened. With the advent of computers? Not. With the advent of typewriters? Yes, it is already much warmer. And why the layout has become so? The answer lies in the fact that the inventor of the first commercially successful typewriter, tried to make text entry into it as slow as possible. So, stop. This is not a typo, the machine was designed to be very slow when typing. This is a conscious decision. It sounds strange and stupid, but to understand the reason, you need to remember the whole story.
')
Typewriters have been known for a long time, the first mention of such a unit refers to 1714, then with each decade the “inventors” of typewriters become more and more, but their devices are not in demand, they look like a technical wonder. An obstacle to the distribution of machines becomes their price, as well as the lack of demand for them. The contents of a clerk for a couple of years will cost as much as asking for a typewriter in the 1800s. This is an expensive device, there is no use for it, since the literacy of the population of most European countries remains low, and people involved in business do not see the need for paper work at a new technical level. As a historical anecdote, the creation in 1808 of a typewriter for an Italian countess, who was blind, can be interpreted. With her help, she was able to write letters on her own.
The boom of typewriter development is associated with the development of business in the United States in the 1860s, and there is a need for such devices from companies. And many inventors began to create their own versions of typewriters. Suffice it to say that among them was Thomas Edison, who always had a commercial sense for promising technologies. The typewriter for the 1860s was a true high tech and required a combination of existing technologies (metal, mechanics, coloring matter).
The inventor of the first successful typewriter, Christopher Scholes was a printer, and also was fond of mechanics. With his friends, he built a prototype of the first typewriter and in October 1867 received a patent for it. The machine turned out not too good, the ink cartridge covered the print area, when typing, no text was visible, as a result, any printing error made it necessary to get down to business again. The next 6 years, Sholz is working on correcting the shortcomings of his brainchild and by 1873 has a corrected version. All these years he has been supported by James Dysmore, who is engaged in business and sees the potential for such a device. In 1873, he negotiates with companies Remington & Sons (the very guns Remington) that they will be engaged in the production of machines, as well as, if possible, bring the design to the ideal. For the company Remington in those years there is a decline in sales, weapons do not need in such quantities, they need to find new areas of application. And the company succeeded, because even in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, Remington was associated not with a rifle, but with a typewriter.
The typewriter's commercial name for the typewriter, the QWERTY layout is almost created, Sholz tries to ensure that typing is the slowest. Otherwise, the keys stick, on impact, two adjacent hammers may be triggered, and errors occur. The task of Scholes to achieve stable operation of the machine. Given that there are almost no similar products on the market, and there is no standard, he expects to improve the speed of recruitment in subsequent products. And so it creates one of the most popular layouts. Remington mechanics add their touch, they remove the point sign from the top row of keys, replace it with the letter R. This is an advertising move, using only the top row of keys you can type TYPE WRITER. The first machine does not support registers for letters, the font has the same height.
The cost of the first machine is 125 dollars, for 1873 it is a significant amount. In 1908, the Ford T will cost $ 850, feel the proportionality of prices. Sales are rather sluggish, but in 1878 the second generation of cars appeared. By 1880, about 5,000 machines with a QWERTY layout were sold. At this point, “Type Writer” has a lot of competitors, the layout of different machines is different. Until 1905, there was no single standard for layouts, the Scholz enterprise was on the verge of profitability. But the emerging class of typists, chooses QWERTY (not because of the convenience of typing and layout, these machines are popular, they are given primacy in the market). But the choice of typists does not affect the fact that businesses are buying, the decision is made by the owners or managers. For them, the choice of QWERTY is the choice of cheap employees, the ability to change them if necessary. There are typists on the market who are familiar with this system and this plays a decisive role. QWERTY standard is installed.
In the 20th century, many tried to change the QWERTY layout. Some attempts lasted for years, for example, the Dvorak layout allows you to type text 20-40 percent faster, since the most frequently used characters are within the reach of fingers on the keyboard. At one time Apple computers even had a switch to this layout, but it never caught on. The market chose a standard and resisted changing it. There are more than a dozen alternative keyboards, but none have become popular. What is the reason? Perhaps the fact that the army of users of standard QWERTY is not ready to relearn, as well as companies are not willing to sacrifice current productivity to switch to a new type of keyboard, which, moreover, is not a generally accepted standard. This example shows that standards, no matter how outdated they are, often outperform the best technical solutions. And therefore, creating something you need to remember about it. Improvement is not always progress, it is often not needed. I hope these arguments will help you not to waste your time on fruitless attempts to correct something that does not need it. Or think about how important such improvements are.
When was the QWERTY layout invented and for what?
Feel free to guess in what year it happened. With the advent of computers? Not. With the advent of typewriters? Yes, it is already much warmer. And why the layout has become so? The answer lies in the fact that the inventor of the first commercially successful typewriter, tried to make text entry into it as slow as possible. So, stop. This is not a typo, the machine was designed to be very slow when typing. This is a conscious decision. It sounds strange and stupid, but to understand the reason, you need to remember the whole story.
')
Typewriters have been known for a long time, the first mention of such a unit refers to 1714, then with each decade the “inventors” of typewriters become more and more, but their devices are not in demand, they look like a technical wonder. An obstacle to the distribution of machines becomes their price, as well as the lack of demand for them. The contents of a clerk for a couple of years will cost as much as asking for a typewriter in the 1800s. This is an expensive device, there is no use for it, since the literacy of the population of most European countries remains low, and people involved in business do not see the need for paper work at a new technical level. As a historical anecdote, the creation in 1808 of a typewriter for an Italian countess, who was blind, can be interpreted. With her help, she was able to write letters on her own.
The boom of typewriter development is associated with the development of business in the United States in the 1860s, and there is a need for such devices from companies. And many inventors began to create their own versions of typewriters. Suffice it to say that among them was Thomas Edison, who always had a commercial sense for promising technologies. The typewriter for the 1860s was a true high tech and required a combination of existing technologies (metal, mechanics, coloring matter).
The inventor of the first successful typewriter, Christopher Scholes was a printer, and also was fond of mechanics. With his friends, he built a prototype of the first typewriter and in October 1867 received a patent for it. The machine turned out not too good, the ink cartridge covered the print area, when typing, no text was visible, as a result, any printing error made it necessary to get down to business again. The next 6 years, Sholz is working on correcting the shortcomings of his brainchild and by 1873 has a corrected version. All these years he has been supported by James Dysmore, who is engaged in business and sees the potential for such a device. In 1873, he negotiates with companies Remington & Sons (the very guns Remington) that they will be engaged in the production of machines, as well as, if possible, bring the design to the ideal. For the company Remington in those years there is a decline in sales, weapons do not need in such quantities, they need to find new areas of application. And the company succeeded, because even in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, Remington was associated not with a rifle, but with a typewriter.
The typewriter's commercial name for the typewriter, the QWERTY layout is almost created, Sholz tries to ensure that typing is the slowest. Otherwise, the keys stick, on impact, two adjacent hammers may be triggered, and errors occur. The task of Scholes to achieve stable operation of the machine. Given that there are almost no similar products on the market, and there is no standard, he expects to improve the speed of recruitment in subsequent products. And so it creates one of the most popular layouts. Remington mechanics add their touch, they remove the point sign from the top row of keys, replace it with the letter R. This is an advertising move, using only the top row of keys you can type TYPE WRITER. The first machine does not support registers for letters, the font has the same height.
The cost of the first machine is 125 dollars, for 1873 it is a significant amount. In 1908, the Ford T will cost $ 850, feel the proportionality of prices. Sales are rather sluggish, but in 1878 the second generation of cars appeared. By 1880, about 5,000 machines with a QWERTY layout were sold. At this point, “Type Writer” has a lot of competitors, the layout of different machines is different. Until 1905, there was no single standard for layouts, the Scholz enterprise was on the verge of profitability. But the emerging class of typists, chooses QWERTY (not because of the convenience of typing and layout, these machines are popular, they are given primacy in the market). But the choice of typists does not affect the fact that businesses are buying, the decision is made by the owners or managers. For them, the choice of QWERTY is the choice of cheap employees, the ability to change them if necessary. There are typists on the market who are familiar with this system and this plays a decisive role. QWERTY standard is installed.
In the 20th century, many tried to change the QWERTY layout. Some attempts lasted for years, for example, the Dvorak layout allows you to type text 20-40 percent faster, since the most frequently used characters are within the reach of fingers on the keyboard. At one time Apple computers even had a switch to this layout, but it never caught on. The market chose a standard and resisted changing it. There are more than a dozen alternative keyboards, but none have become popular. What is the reason? Perhaps the fact that the army of users of standard QWERTY is not ready to relearn, as well as companies are not willing to sacrifice current productivity to switch to a new type of keyboard, which, moreover, is not a generally accepted standard. This example shows that standards, no matter how outdated they are, often outperform the best technical solutions. And therefore, creating something you need to remember about it. Improvement is not always progress, it is often not needed. I hope these arguments will help you not to waste your time on fruitless attempts to correct something that does not need it. Or think about how important such improvements are.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/97366/
All Articles