A L O H A !
Click on the photos, Yo
Sand replenishment in Waikiki doesn't stop the surfers (or stand-up paddlers)
" Long lives aren't natural.
We forget that senior citizens
are as much an invention
as toasters
or penicillin. "
Doug Coupland
" No amount of skillful invention
can replace the essential element
of imagination. "
Edward Hopper
" An invention has to make sense
in the world it finishes in,
not in the world
it started. "
Tim O'Reilly
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"QWERTY?"
Doesn't ring the bell?
Look down-
It's the first six letters
in the top alphabet row
of your keyboard!
[ just below the numbers ]
This so-called
"Universal" Keyboard
was invented by C. L. Sholes,
who developed prototypes
of the first commercial typewriter
in a Milwaukee machine shop
all the way back
in the 1860's.
A study of letter-pair frequency
was conducted by educator
Amos Densmore,
[who just happened to be brother
of James Densmore,
Sholes' chief financial backer.]
So QWERTY it was!
The intention of the layout
was speed-
based on the frequency
with which each letter is used-
and preventing problems
in the mechanical action
of those early machines.
The QWERTY keyboard arrangement
was considered important enough
to be included on Sholes' patent
granted in 1878.
Sholes and Densmore
took their machine to
arms manufacturer
REMINGTON,
and the first
Type-Writer
was sold to the public
in 1874.
The Remington No. 2
of 1878
included a major modification
producing the keyboard
we know today:
The familiar upper
and lower case
letters!
Enter the shift key.
Originally, it was called a "shift"
because the machine physically
"shifted"
Yes,
other keyboard layouts
have come
and gone,
but a U.S. government study
published in 1953
found that keyboard layout
really didn't matter;
If you are a quick typist,
you will type fast.
Thus QWERTY lives on!
We know
that challenging your brain
by learning new competencies
builds new mental capabilities.
Suddenly,
just over 100 years ago,
many, many of us
learned to "type"
or as we call it today:
"keyboarding."
All that time spent
in that dextrous activity
may have prepared us
for the detail-work,
partnership
with personal machines,
and mechanical-interface
that led to the developments
of the 20th Century.
Today we use QWERTY
to create
Bits & Bites
of information.
Lead Type
is consigned to the past,
[and special
limited editions.]
What are we using today
that will be common
-but used a whole new way-
a hundred years from now?
Join us in Comments!
Thanks for hanging out here with us!
Warmly, cloudia
