Now that many of you had the chance to try out the Dvorak keyboard, or at least a soft, on-screen version of it, I would like to point you to this article on The Straight Dope – a website that debunks common myths and legends – that provides further information about the origins of its development, as well as discussion of research that implies the Dvorak keyboard may not be all its cracked up to be.

An actual Remington mechanical typewriter!

You’ll remember we discussed that it was originally developed in the 1800s to lessen the chance of the mechanical arms of a typewriter getting jammed up. We don’t need that anymore, but familiarity breeds loyalty and we still use it today. The image above, a Remington which was the first company to massproduce typewriters, comes from this very interesting article over at AnandTech that is actually reviewing an ergonomic keyboard, but starts with a history of QWERTY.