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Typewriter Keyboard
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Aug 7, 2022 14:00:33   #
charles tabb Loc: Richmond VA.
 
jerryc41 wrote:
There are several stories floating around explaining why the keys on a keyboard are in the order they are. This is a different topic. Why are the keys offset from the row above and below? They are arranged like the seats in an auditorium.

When you hit a key on a typewriter, a metal arm swings up and hits the platen. If the keyboard wasn't arranged with offset letters, every one of those metal arms would have to have a specific bend to avoid hitting the others. Shifting the keys to one side lets the typewriter use the same shape for each arm - much simpler for the manufacturer. With the move to computers, the manufacturers weren't about to make typists relearn typing.

Speaking of typing, there's a nice French movie - "Populaire" - about typing. It's a very pleasant movie set in the days of typing competitions.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2070776/
There are several stories floating around explaini... (show quote)


Hi Jerry
I have worked on Typewriters for many years. I worked for two Typewriter dealers here in Richmond VA. for bunch of years.
I worked on both the Typebar and the IBM Selectrics.
There is now a store up in Philly PA. that completely rebuilds both manual and Selectric Typewriters that wind up looking like they were new. The typewriters are selling good up there. The store is called Phillytypewriter
I found it fun to repair them back when.
Thanks for bringing up the subject.

Charles

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Aug 7, 2022 14:21:48   #
NickGee Loc: Pacific Northwest
 
bobbyjohn wrote:
Jerry, as I recall from many decades ago, when we only had typewriters and no computers, even with a QWERTY keyboard, there was still the (slight) possibility of the arms hitting each other, depending on which keys were hit quickly. The QWERTY was designed to have common keys separated to minimize the arms hitting. There have been several attempts over the years to create a keyboard different from QWERTY but for some reason QWERTY has survived. See: https://kinesis-ergo.com/switching-from-qwerty/

The arms hitting problem was fixed by the second generation typewriters, with the IBM Selectric having a ball instead of arms.
Jerry, as I recall from many decades ago, when we ... (show quote)


Because we resist change, even when doing so is against our best interest. Same story with our moving to the metric system. Makes complete sense, and we almost did so back in the day, but ... well, old dogs/new tricks, as they say.

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Aug 7, 2022 14:25:15   #
10MPlayer Loc: California
 
bobbyjohn wrote:
Me too ... I took typing in high school, and IMO it IS the most beneficial course I've ever taken...beats any academic course in HS or college. The QWERTY typing skills learned in that one class have lasted a lifetime!


Me too. My handwriting was so bad my mom insisted I take typing in the summer between Jr. HS and HS. It was one of the most useful classes I ever took. My handwriting is even worse now that I'm getting old and I rarely use it.

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Aug 7, 2022 14:30:10   #
Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States
 
There's no way I'm going back to a typewriter.
Document processors are SOOOO nice.
Font styles; pictures, graphics, ...,
not to mention easily correctable/editable.

Reply
Aug 7, 2022 15:10:59   #
charles tabb Loc: Richmond VA.
 
Longshadow wrote:
There's no way I'm going back to a typewriter.
Document processors are SOOOO nice.
Font styles; pictures, graphics, ...,
not to mention easily correctable/editable.


The IBM correcting Selectric II & III would lift off letters from the paper.

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Aug 7, 2022 15:15:07   #
Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States
 
charles tabb wrote:
The IBM correcting Selectric II & III would lift off letters from the paper.

Moreover, a back-space with a type-over with white correction tape, placing white over the wrong letter, which I would use a lot....
(A bit noticeable on paper other than white.)

Reply
Aug 7, 2022 16:05:40   #
jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY
 
Najataagihe wrote:
You missed a trick.

Our band folks were always the fastest, because we would type in tempo.

When we started typing drum cadences, our teacher went nuts!


Thanks for the memory!


From Iceland -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVFR7wDZT9A

Reply
 
 
Aug 7, 2022 16:14:19   #
Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States
 
jerryc41 wrote:
From Iceland -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVFR7wDZT9A


Reply
Aug 7, 2022 16:31:05   #
Just Shoot Me Loc: Ithaca, NY
 
My wife is a science geek, She types about a million words a minute without any grammatical errors. She turns spell check off because a lot of the words she types aren't recognized by the computer and are auto corrected to something else. She does this while listening to whatever music on her head phones and occasionally glancing up at the TV. Me, if my phone rings I loose my train of thought. (My mind got off at the last station)

Ron

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Aug 7, 2022 16:37:18   #
rit z Loc: Upstate New York
 
Blickensderfer made typewriters in the 1890’s with a type ball long before IBM

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Aug 8, 2022 00:00:19   #
lmTrying Loc: WV Northern Panhandle
 
jerryc41 wrote:
There are several stories floating around explaining why the keys on a keyboard are in the order they are. This is a different topic. Why are the keys offset from the row above and below? They are arranged like the seats in an auditorium.

When you hit a key on a typewriter, a metal arm swings up and hits the platen. If the keyboard wasn't arranged with offset letters, every one of those metal arms would have to have a specific bend to avoid hitting the others. Shifting the keys to one side lets the typewriter use the same shape for each arm - much simpler for the manufacturer. With the move to computers, the manufacturers weren't about to make typists relearn typing.

Speaking of typing, there's a nice French movie - "Populaire" - about typing. It's a very pleasant movie set in the days of typing competitions.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2070776/
There are several stories floating around explaini... (show quote)


Yes, I too took typing in highschool (pre 1970) at Dad's insistence. It was a good thing. I also was told that the reason for the QEERTY keyboard layout was to slow down typists in the days of manual machines who could type faster that those oid machines could respond with out jamming.

When computers were gaining ground in the 80s, Cassio had a program that changed the placement of the keys and taught the "touch" system. I played with it a few evenings. Not only did my speed increase, but I had nearly NO mistakes. It was easy! But I never found anything after that. And I tried. Seems no hardware or software developer was interested. Unfortunate. Believe me, if I had, I wouldn't be using QWERTY today.

Reply
 
 
Aug 8, 2022 06:47:34   #
jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY
 
rit z wrote:
Blickensderfer made typewriters in the 1890’s with a type ball long before IBM


"Blickensderfer" or "IBM." Which name rolls "trippingly off the tongue"?

George Eastman chose "Kodak" for a company name because of how it sounded.

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Aug 8, 2022 07:03:22   #
Frank Basile Loc: Hudson Valley NY
 
I too took typing in High School, became very useful when in the Police Academy as our notebooks were required to be typed. That and a general business class that included balancing a checkbook have been very useful in life.

Reply
Aug 8, 2022 07:23:35   #
Stephan G
 
bobbyjohn wrote:
Jerry, as I recall from many decades ago, when we only had typewriters and no computers, even with a QWERTY keyboard, there was still the (slight) possibility of the arms hitting each other, depending on which keys were hit quickly. The QWERTY was designed to have common keys separated to minimize the arms hitting. There have been several attempts over the years to create a keyboard different from QWERTY but for some reason QWERTY has survived. See: https://kinesis-ergo.com/switching-from-qwerty/

The arms hitting problem was fixed by the second generation typewriters, with the IBM Selectric having a ball instead of arms.
Jerry, as I recall from many decades ago, when we ... (show quote)


This is about when the idea for six foot separation was put together to keep the typists from hitting each other.

Reply
Aug 8, 2022 07:32:45   #
Stephan G
 
lmTrying wrote:
Yes, I too took typing in highschool (pre 1970) at Dad's insistence. It was a good thing. I also was told that the reason for the QEERTY keyboard layout was to slow down typists in the days of manual machines who could type faster that those oid machines could respond with out jamming.

When computers were gaining ground in the 80s, Cassio had a program that changed the placement of the keys and taught the "touch" system. I played with it a few evenings. Not only did my speed increase, but I had nearly NO mistakes. It was easy! But I never found anything after that. And I tried. Seems no hardware or software developer was interested. Unfortunate. Believe me, if I had, I wouldn't be using QWERTY today.
Yes, I too took typing in highschool (pre 1970) at... (show quote)


Ah, the infamous 'Hunt-N-Peck' system.

QWERTY was put together based on the English usage of letters in the words, for the most part, keeping in mind the relative strength of the fingers used. (Having played the accordion allowed me to do a bit better at typing as compared to my cohorts.)

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