We Make eCommerce Simple for Small Businesses
  SEOsamraat
  • SEO Home
    • SEO for Corporates >
      • Beat Your Competition With SEO
    • Power Searching
    • Keyword Research
    • SEO Best Practices
    • Types of SEO
    • SEO for Images
    • Optimized Content
    • SEO Tools
    • Webmaster Tools
    • SEO History
    • Future of SEO
    • SEO Basic Consulting
  • Workspace Home
    • Store It All on Drive
    • Move Write with Docs
    • Work with Sheets
    • Collaborate with Slides
    • Win Big Thru Sites
    • Sync Calendars to Meet
    • Get Secure with Vault
    • Get a Quote
  • Online Reputation Home
    • ORM Security
    • ORM Keywords
    • ORM Hiring and Training
    • ORM Legal Landscape
    • ORM Social Media Policy
    • ORM Tools
    • ORM Branding
    • ORM Goals
    • ORM Strategy
  • Blog
  • Digital Products
    • Password Creation Checklist
    • Glossary of ORM Terms

typewriters return, as  search tools for the spies

23/7/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
Remember the clickety-clack of the lowly typewriter? A generation has grown up probably without seeing one in action, but they are back in demand as tools for the ultimate search pros —the spies. Last week, the chairman of the German parliament’s intelligence committee set tongues wagging by recommending the use of manual typewriters for German spies to avoid digital information leaks. The immediate provocation was the arrest of a German spy who was doing dirty work for the Americans. In return for dollars, of course.

The Germans aren’t the first spy agency to consider switching to typewriters. Last year the people in charge of Kremlin’s communications department decided to buy 20 electric typewriters to minimize the chances of information leaks.

So the typewriter has its uses after all. At a time when they are all but extinct, it’s ironical they are in demand from the very spy masters who take much credit for their reliance on the latest gadgetry. Truly an old economy solution to a new economy problem.

QWERTY VS. DVORAK LAYOUT
It should be interesting to know that the current design of typewriter and computer keyboard layouts, popularly known as QWERTY because of the arrangement of letters in that order, has nothing to do with efficiency or logic. It deliberately increased the distance between the most frequently used letters to prevent the keys from clashing with each other and getting jammed.

The man behind the QWERTY patent, Christopher Scholes, arranged the keys by putting the letters for often-typed English words in difficult-to-reach places, favouring the non-dominant left hand. The arrangement prevented the typewriter keys from getting entangled. Unfortunately, by way of habit, electronic typewriters and computers adopted the same keyboard even though jamming of keys is no longer a concern.

A competing layout, called the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard (DSK) been in existence since 1936. It was designed by Dr. August Dvorak, a former education professor.

It follows a few basic principles:

  •  Vowels are all on the left home row, the most used symbols are on the left, while the most used consonants are on the right.
  • The most common letters should be the easiest to type.
  • The least common letters should be on the bottom row which is the hardest row to reach.
  • The right hand should do more of the typing because most people are right-handed.

Numerous studies have proved that the Dvorak layout is more efficient. Many operating systems, including Windows, also provide the option to individual users to change their layout to Dvorak. But the dominance of QWERTY continues, even though the original reason for its lettering arrangement has long since ceased to matter.

THE BANDWAGON EFFECT 
QWERTY still prevails because what Game Theorists call as the Bandwagon Effect. Whether good or bad, QWERTY usage has become a social convention.  As Avinash Dixit and Barry Nalebuff explain in their The Art of Strategy, “The uncoordinated decisions of individuals keep us tied to QWERTY. It is the established system. Almost all keyboards use it. So we all learn it and are reluctant to learn a second layout. Keyboard manufacturers continue, therefore, with QWERTY. The vicious circle is complete.”

After doing some number crunching, the authors conclude that if the fraction of typists using QWERTY falls below 72%, then there is the expectation that DSK will take over. “Fewer than 72% of new typists learn QWERTY, and the subsequent fall in its usage gives new typists an even greater incentive to learn the superior layout of DSK. Once all typists are using DSK, there is no reason for a new typist to learn QWERTY, and it will die out.”

But they add a caveat. “The mathematics says only that we will end up at one of these two possible outcomes: everyone using DSK or 98% using QWERTY. It does not say which will occur. If we are starting from scratch, the odds are in favour of DSK being dominant. But we are not. History matters. The historical accident that led to QWERTY capturing nearly 100% of typists ends up being self-perpetuating…”

Looks like QWERTY is here to stay. But whether the typewriter will make a second coming or not, only the spooks can tell.

e.o.m.


0 Comments

    Archives

    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    September 2013
    August 2013
    April 2013

    Author

    I'm Georgy S. Thomas, the chief SEO architect of SEOsamraat. The Searchable site will track interesting developments in the world of Search Engine Optimization, both in India as well as abroad.

    Categories

    All
    30th Annual TED Conference
    A/B Testing
    Adsense
    Adwords
    Aggregation
    Airgapped Computers
    Alex Gawley
    Algorithms
    Amazon
    Andreessen Horowitz
    Andy Conrad
    Astro Teller
    Ben Horowitz
    Bill Gross
    Bing
    Bitcoin
    Boston Dynamics
    Brand Management
    Brin
    Buchheit
    Business Insider
    Cailliau
    Charlie Rose
    Code Messages
    Coders
    Competitive Analysis
    Credit Card
    Crown Jewels
    CSAT
    Cutomers
    Cyberattackers
    Cyber Criminals
    Cybersecurity
    Cyber Security
    Cyber Siberia
    DATA PROTECTION
    David Krane
    DeepMind
    Digital Assassination
    Digital Innovation
    Diversity
    Donkey Kong
    Douglas
    Douglas Edwards
    Doxing
    Driverless Car
    Dunbar Number
    EBook
    Ebooksearch
    Ebookseller
    Ebooksellers
    Ecommerce
    English Auction
    Facebook
    Facebook Page
    Fetch As Google Tool
    Financial Times
    Flat Organization
    Flicker
    Fortune
    Fraudulent Activity
    Generic Names
    Giant Target Corp
    Gmail
    Google
    Google Analytics Tool
    Google Apps
    Google Chauffeur
    Google Maps
    Google Search
    Google Story
    Google X
    GoTo.com
    Greg Boser
    Gregg Steinhafel.
    Guruji.com
    Hackers
    How To Queries
    Huffington Post
    Human Flesh Search Engines
    IBM
    I'm Feeling Lucky
    Incentives
    Internet
    IP Addresses
    Japanese Auction
    Jeff Bezos
    Jeffrey Brewer
    Jill Abramson
    Kellogg’s
    Keyword Research
    Kindle
    Larry
    Larry Page
    Lidar
    LinkedIn
    Links
    Lori Randall Stradtman
    Luck
    Mail
    Malware
    Mark Davis
    Mauboussin
    Michael Mauboussin
    Microsoft
    Microsoft Stable
    Moonshot
    More Than You Know
    Neocortex
    NeXT Computer
    Nicole Perlroth
    NYT
    Nytimes.com
    Online Reputation Management
    Passwords
    Paul Buchheit
    Phishers
    Phrasal Searches
    Planet Google
    Project Loon
    PROPUBLICA
    Puzzles
    QWERTY
    QWERTY VS. DVORAK
    Recommend
    Reconsideration Tool
    Reid Hoffman
    Richard Torrenzano
    Robert Cailliau
    Robin Dunbar
    Satya Nadella
    Scams
    Schaft
    Scoop
    SEARCH ADVERTISING
    Search Engines
    Search Patterns
    Search Queries
    SEO
    Seo Agency
    SEO Analysts
    SERENDIPITY
    Sergey Brin
    Shari Fujii
    Silk Road
    Skill
    Social Networking Sites
    Spam
    Spammy
    Steve Jobs
    STORY MARKETING
    Streetview
    Stross
    Success Equation
    Suspicious Activity
    Systran
    Tell-Tale
    The 20% Doctrine
    The Age Of The Unthinkable
    The Art Of Strategy
    The Atlantic
    THE BANDWAGON EFFECT
    THE DUTCH AUCTION
    The Guardian
    The Legend Of Zelda
    The New York Times
    Think Twice
    Tim Berners-Lee
    Trivia
    Union Public Service Commission
    Uper Mario Bros
    URL
    Venture Capitalist
    Vigilantes
    Webmaster
    Webmaster Tools
    Website Traffic
    Wii
    William Vickery
    Wired Article
    World Wide Web
    WYSIWYG
    Yahoo

    RSS Feed

    View my profile on LinkedIn

About Us
Contact Us
Consult Us Now
Write to Us 
Terms of Use
Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2022 Proseperity
Photos used under Creative Commons from futureshape, a4gpa, taymtaym, Esparta