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| ... the Definitive Answer |
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What is Qwerty?
The old traditional keyboard, so named for the first six letters. Why introduce a new keyboard layout?
Because, in the words of one reviewer
-- "It's a logical, simplified, more efficient version of the illogical, complicated qwerty keyboard, a layout that takes less time to learn and less desk space. It's better in every way, in fact." -- Rupert Goodwins ZDNet UK
There are three major reasons why we need it. The first is to bring touch-typing within reach of the majority of ordinary computer users. When typing was a specialist job skill, only those who were adept at it did it, long training was acceptable for the specialist job, and extensive daily practice maintained the skill. In today's world, everyone, adept or otherwise, should have touch-typing as a basic skill, but touch-typing on Qwerty is so difficult that few people really master the skill or use it enough to maintain it. So should people work harder in class and practice more forever after? Of course not - the solution is to make touch-typing easier!
The second reason is to provide a way for non-typists to access information technology at a reasonable pace. Here the difference between the familiar ABC and the strange Qwerty jumble of letters becomes the difference between success and failure.
"A hunt-and-pecker's dream;"-- ExtremeTech - Editor
The third reason is the next generation of typists, who have not yet had the Qwerty keyboard inflicted upon them and need never know its woes. Will everyone have to learn to type all over again?
No, but when they see how much easier it is now, they may choose to, and that is what it's all about -- freedom of choice. In the past, people have had no choice,even if they did not like Qwerty they were forced to use it because there was no reasonable alternative available. People need to have a choice. We are offering them the best possible choice. I'm already familiar with qwerty, why would I want to change?
"If you keep an open mind and read the little instruction manual that comes with the keyboard, you just might find the 535 ultimately makes you a better, fastertypist. Barry Gerber, Mobility Guru/ Tom's Hardware.
Most people can think faster than they can type, and the keyboard is a bottle-neckrestricting their work-flow and productivity.
Even if you are already a competent touch-typist, there is room to significantly increase your speed, comfort, and accuracy by making the switch to the New Standard keyboard. After all, the Qwerty key layout was designed around amachine! It demands poor posture and difficult movements known to cause stress injuries in normal humans, and it has a letter arrangement that creates many awkward finger sequences that slow down the typist and cause errors. In contrast, the New Standard key layout was designed around the human hands. It is ergonomically correct to allow proper posture and easy movements, and it has a letter arrangement that maximizes fast finger sequences and minimizes awkward ones. The benefits are clear.
"The New Standard Keyboard is by far one of the most unique ergonomic keyboards we've dealt with here at ExtremeTech. -- Editor
Two-finger typists stand to gain even more because the New Standard keyboard allows them to finally break through the touch-typing barrier, with more benefits than mere speed and accuracy. The main benefit of touch-typing is that the eyes and attention can be directed to the work being done instead of to the keyboard. On the New Standard keyboard, the reasons to keep looking at the keyboard have been eliminated by tactile landmarks, a letter arrangement familiar since kindergarten, and infinitely better ergonomics than Qwerty offers. The bad habit of looking at the keyboard can be altogether avoided, and touch-typing skill can even develop spontaneously without any drilling, in the course of normal typing. Lack of touch-typing skill stifles creativity, but that doesn't have to be the typical situation any more.Why are the keys different colors on some keyboards?
The rainbow color scheme was originally designed for classroom use, to help teachers give children a better understanding of the different functions of the keys, which also helps them understand the computer itself. For example, a space is not the absence of any character as in handwriting; electronically it is the presence of an invisible formatting character. Whereas GReen and blue keys type GRaphic characters, INdigo keys type INvisible characters. Teachers will create many ways to use the colors to suit the occasion, such as red means "Stop and be sure, these keys issue commands and may delete all your work". Green says "Go Ahead and type letters on these graphic character keys". Etc., etc. As it turns out, plenty of adults benefit from this approach too, and the majority like the bright color scheme, so it was used on the first model. Functionally, the colored keys work just the same as the black keys on the black and silver model.Will I have to unlearn QWERTY to learn the New Standard Keyboard?
In the words of a reviewer,
• "Learning the ABCD layout in no way interfered with either my Qwerty typing conditioning or my overall typing performance. The two are separate modes; learning one did not mean unlearning the other." -- Lamont Wood CMP's TechBuilder.com
We believe this is because the two skills are so different. If you changed from, say, a US Qwerty keyboard to a European Qwerty keyboard with just a few characters that were different, you might have persistent problems with those characters. Your brain and fingers would still be in Qwerty mode and the old habits could keep surfacing. If you change from qwerty to the New Standard keyboard, all the characters are different, the posture is different, the finger movements are different, and even the shifting is different so there is no familiar context to trigger the old habits.Where is the space bar?
There are two space keys instead of one space bar, positioned as home keys for the thumbs, and labeled with a solid arrow head pointing right. This represents the only visible evidence of typing a "Space", i.e., the cursor moving one place to the right. (Similar labeling of the keys for the other invisible characters shows "Tab" as an "Extended Space", and "Enter" as a "Space Down".) For each Space key there is also a tactile marker on the front edge of the keyboard cover. This leads the thumbs to their home keys, and similar markers on the key tops confirm correct positioning in home place. Where are the shift keys?
The shift or "Cap" keys are located centrally for easy operation by the index fingers or thumbs, instead of the traditional, awkward operation using the little fingers. Using the dominant digits is not only easier, it also provides three different methods for the typist to choose from, according to personal preference. For a two-handed shift operation, either the thumb or the index finger can be used on the Cap key, while a finger on the opposite hand types the Capital letter. The third choice is a one-handed operation, typing the letter with a finger while the thumb on the same hand presses the Cap key. The same three options are available for the "Num" and "Sym" shift keys, which select the other obvious natural character sets, Numerals and Symbols.How are numbers typed?
Numerals are typed on the Home Row, 1-0, left-to-right, avoiding the long reaches up to another row of keys by shift-selecting numerals with the new "Numerals" shift keys. These shift keys are at the bottom of the index-finger home columns, so are very easy to use with the index fingers. They are also right next to the thumb home keys, so just as easy to use with the thumbs if the typist prefers that. Using the thumb also allows the choice of doing the operation using two hands or only one hand, the same choice as provided for typing capital letters on the New Standard keyboard.
(When using MS Word and a Unicode font, the Num shift also selects superscript numerals on the row above home row, and subscript numerals on the row below.)What about numeric data entry?
With the keyboard switched from two-handed typing mode to one-handed numeric data entry mode, the right hand can enter numbers on an embedded numeric keypad that is similar to a standard keypad, or the left hand can enter numbers on a mirror-image keypad. Both keypads include a Tab key for the thumb and an Enter key for the little finger. Will it work with Mac?
Not yet, the first models only work with Windows. Future models will include Mac compatible keyboards.
