Well, a couple o things- first, I believe the idea that qwerty keyboards
were designed to slow down typists is a common misconception (one I held
myself at one point); in actuality it was designed to separate frequently
used keys so they don't jam together (on a mechanical typewriter). Once you
know how to touch type (I'm guessing the percentage of the population that
can is increasing steadily), you can use the kind of keyboard they have on
these things with two fingers very quickly- you already know where all the
letters are. Why pick some other arbitrary configuration when a significant
fraction are already proficient with this (arbitrary) one? Same is true for
the little on-screen keyboard the Newton shows (see- not 100% off topic!).
/Sam
> From: COCCORP_at_aol.com [mailto:COCCORP_at_aol.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, October 23, 2002 12:51 PM
> To: newtontalk_at_newtontalk.net
> Subject: Re: [NTLK] clie (OT)
>
>
>
> In a message dated 02-10-23 12:34:56 EDT, you write:
>
> > Can someone explain to me why all these PDA companies are
> including
> > keyboards and then using the QWERTY design? It seems essentially
> > impossible to use touch-typing, particularly given that they're
> > designed for the thumb, so why are they using a design originally
> > intended to slow the user down and lives on solely for
> touch typists?
>
> That's good point.. kinda like asking why braile signs use colors....
>
> Craig W.
>
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>
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