My dumb self went off to the comments section looking for a user called Big QWERTY
They’re referring to the fact that pretty much everyone in the comments defended why we still use QWERTY over any different keyboard.
Usually when people say “Big ____” they’re referring to giant corportations pushing their agendas for profit against the wellbeing or benefit of society. In this instance, it’s certainly being used in a tongue-in-cheek manner.
They’re joking essentially that people who vehemently defend qwerty are perhaps a little brainwashed.
It is known that there are keyboard layouts which are more efficient and faster (qwerty came about as a means of preventing typewriter arms from hitting each other), but none have become mainstream because everyone’s used to qwerty.
Contrary to popular belief, the QWERTY layout was not designed to slow the typist down,[2]: 162 but rather to speed up typing. Indeed, there is evidence that, aside from the issue of jamming, placing often-used keys farther apart increases typing speed, because it encourages alternation between the hands.[11]
A feature much less commented on than the order of the keys is that the keys do not form a rectangular grid, but rather each column slants diagonally. This is because of the mechanical linkages – each key is attached to a lever, and hence the offset prevents the levers from running into each other – and has been retained in most electronic keyboards.
Aahh! This is the reference: https://lazysoci.al/post/13564719
Even the Linux nerds who customize everything about their computer are probably still using the QWERTY keyboard layout. I’ve seen a lot of “arch btw” but never seen “dvorak btw”.
Typing is one of those things that is just experience. Grab a typing test program and put in the time. It took me a few weeks, starting with doing simple things like the equivalent of jkjlj; sets until my pea brain got the minimal amount of muscle memory to be able to use it in the wild. YMMV but I can still use QWERT as well, but it feels weird and not as natural anymore.
I’m an Arch user and I did try Dvorak for a few weeks. I eventually gave up because it was a huge hassle switching back and forth, remapping game controls, remapping code editor key combos, and so many other remaps. It just wasn’t worth the effort.
I don’t think we’ll ever truly away from hardware QWERTY. There’s too much money in maintaining that status quo.
I’d say it’s got less to do with making money off the status quo, and more to do with lack of money in any of the alternatives. Most people can’t type fast enough for extra layout efficiency to matter, and even fewer people care.
I did try switching, but gradually I also unlearned how to use QWERTY. If only we lived in a world with no hardcoded keyboard layouts… For 5% improvement it’s just not worth it for most people.
Yeah it’s the same reason most pc games just support the Xbox layout by default making it the only reasonable choice for controller.
I’m pretty sure that also has something to do with windows being the most popular gaming platform and Xbox coming from Microsoft as well.
Yeah the original reason was that supporting the controller by default was a requirement for “games for Windows live” and the momentum from that saw a near universal adoption.
There are so many things pointing towards ditching QWERTY - WFH jobs, mobile devices, portable keyboards, even virtual projected keyboards rather than physical ones.
On the other hand, laptops are a bottleneck - even if nobody else uses your personal one but you, they still have to make one with a nonstandard layout (will e.g. Apple ever do that?) - and just bc newer, younger people learning how to use computers for the first time could choose a different layout, doesn’t mean that many will (I mean at the mainstream level).
you can install the Colemak layout in software with one click. Works on Linux, Mac, and Windows. https://colemak.com/ I think if another, better layout catches on it could eventually be printed on devices
QWERTY
I guess my username is relevant here…
