Is QWERTY bad for typing?

Did you know that the QWERTY keyboard is designed to slow typing down?



In the earlier days when there were no keyboards and only typewriters, QWERTY was the common layout. It was designed for the typewriters. Prior to QWERTY there were a couple of experiments done but it was soon found that people became very efficient at typing and the wpm(words per minute) rose to an incredible number. Because of this the typewriter keys would jammed. Getting them straight again would waste time.

When keyboards came into being, it were the typists who first became its users. So the layout was kept the same. Nobody bothered to change it afterwords fearing its lack of acceptance. Hence we have inherited the QWERTY keyboard.

Problems with QWERTY?

• Most frequently used characters are placed on the left of the keyboard whereas most people are right handed.
• Frequently used keys are placed so close to each other that it increases the chances of error.
  
• Increased learnability due to more left hand usage.
  

All this automatically slows down the speed.

Dvorak keyboard - An Alternative
Then came the Dvorak Keyboard patented in 1936 by Dr. August Dvorak, an educational psychologist and professor of the University of Washington in Seattle,William Dealey as an alternative to the more common QWERTY layout. It has also been called the Simplified Keyboard or American Simplified Keyboard but is commonly known as the Dvorak keyboard or Dvorak layout.




Although its not proved that this is a better alternative but 2 world records of maximum wpm has been broken using Dvorak. Some of its advantages are -

• Study based on letter frequency and physiology.
• Letters should be typed by alternating between hands.
• Frequent letters should on the home row and under the strongest fingers.
• Least common letters should be on the bottom row.
• Right hand should do more typing.
• Diagraphs should not be typed with adjacent fingers.

Dvorak Implementation
It was actually implemented by Apple Computers once in its iBook computers.