So here is some stuff you didn’t know about keyboards. I don’t mean musical keyboards; I mean the type you type with. Like the one I’m using now to type this.
On a normal QWERTY keyboard, the word ‘Typewriter’ is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard, which of coarse is the top row.
The QWERTY Keyboard was created by Christopher Sholes in 1868 and is now the most common type of keyboard used. It is also known as the Universal keyboard. Back in 1868 they had typewriters and laying the keyboard out in this way was to prevent the slow machine from going wrong. The first typewriter only typed in capital letters. The QWERTY keyboard for average computers is still the most popular mainly because of its cheapness and it’s easy to come across.
In 1932 Professor August Dvorak attempted to make the ultimate keyboard that would be easier to use than QWERTY. What an odd name as well, August? He wasn’t even born in August! I’m jealous. Anyway Dvorak’s idea to make it better than the original was by arranging the letters according to frequency. The keyboard had all five vowels and the five most common consonants on the middle row which are: AOEUIDHTNS. The letters on the middle row, also known as the home row, do a total of 70% of the work. On QWERTY they do only 32%. The least common letters were on the bottom row, because it is the hardest row to reach.
Then there’s the specialized gaming keyboards, which are arranged in a way where the most common letters for playing games are grouped together so that it’s easier to use. Gaming keyboards often light up too, so that the keys can be seen easily. Original keyboards weren’t exactly made for gaming purposes, so in my opinion, this is a rather good idea.
Well hopefully you’re not a keyboard expert and you have learnt something new in this post. Does anyone out there actually use Dvorak’s keyboard? If you do, leave a comment please.
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