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IN THE WRONG KEY

Computers keep getting faster. But the keyboard is still based on an idea designed to make you work slower.

Text: DON TAPSCOTT

JUN '04

Here I am, sitting in front of my shiny PowerBook G4, with its 512-megabyte this and 80-gigabyte that, transferring my leading-edge thoughts to a state-of-the-art TFT display through a totally discredited horse-and-buggy keyboard design that not only frustrates my thinking but actually causes me physical harm. To paraphrase King Henry II, will no one rid me of this troublesome techno-torture?

When the American Christopher Sholes designed the first practical typewriter in 1867, it was a primitive mess of levers and gears. Prototypes continually jammed. So Sholes jumbled the arrangement of letters on the keyboard to thwart the user. Slow typing increased the typewriter’s reliability.

Flash forward to 2004. Almost everything in the world has evolved during the ensuing years – except Sholes’ wretched keyboard. If you had told Sholes his crazed keyboard design would have a hammerlock on society for more than 13 decades, he doubtless would have laughed.

Sholes’ keyboard is known as the QWERTY design, so-called because those are the top six letter keys on the left-hand side. That alone shows how foolish the QWERTY system is; "E" is the most frequently used letter in the alphabet, yet it’s not on the row of keys reached most easily by the typist.

But there is a better keyboard. August Dvorak, a University of Washington professor, created one in the 1930s. He analyzed the frequency of letter usage and devised an arrangement of keys that minimized hand movement and maximized efficiency. Unfortunately, his efforts never caught on. Few companies wanted a typewriter that no one knew how to use, and few typists wanted to train for a keyboard that no employer owned. Chicken and egg.

You can still find the odd Dvorak enthusiast today. Typically, they are medical or legal transcribers who do nothing but type eight hours a day. They love the layout since they can type much faster with less effort; if you’re being paid by the word, it’s not a tough decision. The computer age also makes it easier to be a member of the Dvorak cult. In fact, Windows and Mac operating systems can switch to the Dvorak layout with just a few quick clicks.

But the key layout is just part of the reason computers cause so much grief. The physical design of the keyboard puts a lot of stress on the neck, shoulders, arms and wrists. If the keyboard were designed solely for comfort, it would look more like an accordion because that’s the position our hands naturally rest in. The problem with this design is that we wouldn’t be able to see the keys, which is bad news since most of us can’t touch type. As a result, we use keyboards that force us to twist our arms so that our hands are unnaturally flat to the ground, which invites all kinds of aches and pains.

If you think a growing number of people are complaining about keyboard-induced injuries, you’re right. You’re probably one of them. Not only do more jobs involve more keyboards than ever before, but jobs that always came with a keyboard now require the employee to work more intensely than ever. Thirty years ago, a typist would pause frequently to put new paper into the typewriter, address an envelope, file carbon copies, change the tape, make corrections – tasks that would interrupt the typing. No more. Today it’s type, type, type.

The computer mouse only contributes to the problem. Most mice have the user’s palm parallel to the desktop as if you are patting a dog. The more natural position is to rotate your wrist as if you’re holding an ice cream cone.

Voice recognition doesn’t solve the mouse problem. Nor does it lend itself to every situation. In many cases, such as on an airplane, you don’t want everyone talking to their computers. But alternatives do exist. Go to a site such as www.ergocanada.com, and you’ll see some pretty wacko-looking keyboard and mouse designs. But they work. One keyboard is shaped like two small salad bowls placed 15 centimetres apart. A writing colleague of mine who was in great pain a few years ago says this exotic keyboard saved his career. Innovative mouse designs, such as the Evoluent VerticalMouse and the Contour Perfit Mouse, offer immediate relief to those who must constantly point and click.

Despite the innovative alternatives, no one wants to show leadership on this issue. School boards don’t have the money to buy the better keyboards and mice. Laptops don’t lend themselves to more user-friendly design. Computer manufacturers don’t want to acknowledge their products harm the users. Home-office workers have no one to turn to.

And so the pain grows. [ ]

ADD YOUR COMMENTS > dtapscott@enroutemag.net

JUN '04