Some of you have probably heard of the Dvorak keyboard -- an alternate key layout that was designed to be more efficient than QWERTY. The story goes that QWERTY was invented to slow down operators who were jamming the earliest typewriters by typing too quickly on an alphabetically-ordered layout. With that mechanical limitation gone, Dvorak put the most frequently used keys on the home row and focused on keeping common consonants and common vowels assigned to different hands, to encourage letter-to-letter alternation (which speeds everything up). The result was supposed to be faster and easier on your hands and wrists.

But of course Dvorak never caught on -- railroaded by the market having already decided (poorly), Mr. Dvorak died a bitter old man. Or so the story goes.

I know that Jon learned Dvorak. What with the cathodic adding machines that seem to be so popular these days, it's as simple as downloading some software or flipping a system setting to get started learning the new layout. Here's a web-zine that'll guide you through the process, if you'd like to give it a try.

But today I learned that it's lies, all lies! Have a look here for the rough summary, or here for the academic paper it references. It turns out that the studies confirming Dvorak's superiority were poorly designed or biased; that QWERTY actually did win out over several competing keyboard designs; that ergonomics research indicates QWERTY isn't as bad as folks assume; and we've forgotten that, thanks to a patent, Mr. Dvorak had a financial interest in promoting his keyboard layout. And there's not much evidence that Dvorak is better for your wrists or fingers (which I guarantee will spontaneously start to hurt as you read this ergonomic research). If you're really starting to suffer from carpal tunnel, apparently you should be using one of these wacky-looking things.