(no subject)

[unbibium]

This article on history of character codes describes the system invented by Baudot to replace Morse code. His system was a manually-entered five-bit encoding system; operators would sit at a five-key keyboard and type in chords to send letters. Since five bits gives room for 32 symbols, and that's not enough for both letters and numbers, there was a "figures" and "letters" key which allowed one to shift between two sets of codes. Sounds confusing? The article explains:

It's not much worse than having to remember to press the SHIFT key on your computer keyboard to get the % character above the 5 key. The alternative was using a sixth finger, which was probably deemed to be even more cumbersome.

Of course, it's not so hard to learn to type in Braille, which uses six "bits" which are typed in chords. But, I suppose Braille might have only been recently invented in Baudot's time.

Comments

[pootrootbeer.livejournal.com]

I would have used a footswitch to shift between the two character pages. No use in having to take one finger off the 5-key "home row" to swich from letter mode to figure mode.

Also, I presume this guy's name is where the term "baud" came from in describing the modulation/demodulation algorithms used to transfer digital information over analog phone lines?

I believe...

[patrickwonders.livejournal.com]

I believe that TDDs (Teletype devices for
the deaf(??)) send modulated Baudot over the
lines. Baudot's funky.

I've been considering making a Twiddler-like
Baudot device. Well, I should say, I've often
considered it. The last time I seriously
considered it was in a sushi bar the night
(right before Hannah picked me up). 8^).
I'd never be able to deal with only the Baudot
supported characters though (cuz if I can't
code with it, why would I want it?). So, I was
considering a trinary or quaternary thumb.

I wanted to be able to have one in each hand
and learn how to type two things at once. 8^)
Hey.. now that they USB keyboards, this may be
slightly more plausible.... Hmmm....

Re: I believe...

[pentomino.livejournal.com]

They do make half-qwerty heyboards, where you hold down the space bar to get at the other half of the keyboard. They say you can type on it almost as fast as on a real QWERTY keyboard, and that it's also good for PDAs because of the small footprint.

Re: I believe...

[patrickwonders.livejournal.com]

Dvorak designed one-handed keyboards that
were optimally laid out for people with only
one arm (different keyboard for left-handers
vs. right-handers). I'd go with one of his
keyboards (which I should be able to find
somewhere) before I went for a 1/2 QWERTY.

QWERTY was designed to slow typists down.
Dvorak designed his keyboards for optimum
efficiency and comfort for the English typist.
I'm a purist. 8^)

Re: I believe...

[pentomino.livejournal.com]

QWERTY was designed to slow typists down?

Didn't quite work for me.... :)

Re: I believe...

[patrickwonders.livejournal.com]

Back in the days of sluggish manual typewriters,
efficient typists would end up jamming the
typewriter by getting multiple hammers caught
together. (If you had a manual typewriter
around (when you were) a small child, then
you know the effect....) The disturbance
caused by having to unjam the thing caused
the overall typing speed to fall off dramatically
after a certain point.

The QWERTY keyboard was designed to put things
in unuseful places. For example, why isn't ``e''
(the most common letter in the English language)
in the home row or at least on your index finger?

Unfortunately for the devious typewriter makers,
QWERTY keyboards. But, the typewriter makers
had some time to smooth out some of the mechanics
to cause fewer jams.

Anyhow... it's bedtime for me....

Re: I believe...

[pentomino.livejournal.com]

Actually, other theories are that it was designed to maximize alternating left and right hand keys. This makes typing slightly faster, since while one hand is pressing the other can be reaching. It also addresses the jamming problem.

But at this point, people can type 90+ words per minute with the QWERTY keyboard. Dvorak typists can get a little edge, but not enough to make every touch typist in America learn a new standard layout.