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Fascinating read as always Ken. It seems that the concept of a “Chorded Keyboard” from Douglas then spawned several relatively successful successors later on:

Fascinating read as always Ken. It seems that the concept of a “Chorded Keyboard” from Douglas then spawned several relatively successful successors later on: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chorded_keyboard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chorded_keyboard Growing up in the Netherlands in the 80s it was hard to not be aware of the “Velotype”: it had more keys and supposedly made it easier to learn the “chords”. Your reference to the book Nerds 2.0.1 is great, the book is a companion to the excelent PBS 3-part series from 1998 https://archive.org/details/movies?tab=collection&query=Nerds+2.0.1 https://archive.org/details/movies?tab=collection&query=Nerd...

rwmj 2y ago
Back in the mid '80s our school was given a small number of Microwriter chorded keyboards (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwriter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwriter) for our BBC Micro lab. Even as 12 year olds we were already crazy good touch-typists, so the Microwriter felt very clunky and unintuitive to us. I don't know what the lesson is from that. Just because it seems a good idea doesn't mean that it is. Or typewriter-style keyboards have survived over a century and a half for a reason.
- Cpoll 2y ago
  I'm not convinced either of those are the lessons. I think the reason for the keyboard's success is that it has a smooth learning curve. A neophyte can hunt-and-peck with a keyboard. Not so with a chorded keyboard.
  - amoshebb 2y ago
    but then it kinda stops, couldn’t we layer on chords as well, you can peck “t h e” or just mash “eth” and both would result in “the”, or maybe some sort of english pinyin where only the first few chars are needed?
    - rwmj 2y ago
      Predictive text? But it's also an example of an incremental improvement that someone could experiment with to see if it works. Much easier than having to prototype entirely new hardware (especially in the 80s, in an era before cheap additive prototyping).
    - girvo 2y ago
      I mean in some ways that is what modern predictive text is, right? I watch others rely on it incredibly heavily, no correcting mistakes at all just rely on the autocorrect to solve it, and it works well Or swipe-typing, as another version of that idea. Move in the rough area of the key, and rely on prediction
    - aphit 2y ago
      This is precisely what CharaChorder is. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CharaChorder https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CharaChorder
  - rwmj 2y ago
    Yes, that's a really good point.
jhbadger 2y ago
In the 1990s chorded keyboards were "popular" in regard to wearable computing. People like Steve Mann would give talks where he demonstrated how he could use his wearable computer (basically a laptop he strapped to himself with a clunky goggle-mounted display) that he controlled with a small chorded keyboard he operated with one hand. Obviously, a decade later with smartphones this looked pretty silly (if it didn't already in the 1990s) but some people really did think this was the future at the time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Mann_(inventor) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Mann_(inventor)
- nine_k 2y ago
  The killer feature of a chorded mechanical (not on-screen) keyboard for me is that one can use it without having to look at it. To literally touch-type (not necessarily text). This is why such keyboards are used where this advantage is material, e.g. in jet fighters.
  - makeset 2y ago
    You can learn to touch-type on any keyboard and never ever look at it (actually gets confusing to look), and many where you never have to move your hands around either, before you need to get anywhere near chordal.
    - diggan 2y ago
      > (actually gets confusing to look) As someone who grew up with a Swedish keyboard layout, switched to US when I got a job as a programmer but live in Spain so most keyboards have Spanish physical layouts while I use US software layouts: yes, this is very true for a lot of us :)
    - nine_k 2y ago
      True, especially for ergonomic keyboards. The upside of a chorded keyboard is that it can input a lot while using just one hand, and can be fixed relative just to that hand (imagine e.g. typing while holding a bike handlebar, or, again, an aircraft control stick). Normal touch-typing requires active use of two hands, and a steady surface.
totetsu 2y ago
I guess this was an inspiration for this character https://lain.wiki/wiki/Nezumi https://lain.wiki/wiki/Nezumi
kragen 2y ago
As Animats mentioned in https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43455514 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43455514, Doug's team didn't invent chorded keyboards; Émile Baudot did: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baudot_code#/media/File:Clavier_Baudot.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baudot_code#/media/File:Clavie... You can see that he designed his character code, like Morse, to make the most common letters easier to send: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baudot_code#/media/File:Baudot_Code_-_from_1888_patent.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baudot_code#/media/File:Baudot...

rwmj 2y ago

Back in the mid '80s our school was given a small number of Microwriter chorded keyboards (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwriter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwriter) for our BBC Micro lab. Even as 12 year olds we were already crazy good touch-typists, so the Microwriter felt very clunky and unintuitive to us. I don't know what the lesson is from that. Just because it seems a good idea doesn't mean that it is. Or typewriter-style keyboards have survived over a century and a half for a reason.

Cpoll 2y ago
I'm not convinced either of those are the lessons. I think the reason for the keyboard's success is that it has a smooth learning curve. A neophyte can hunt-and-peck with a keyboard. Not so with a chorded keyboard.
- amoshebb 2y ago
  but then it kinda stops, couldn’t we layer on chords as well, you can peck “t h e” or just mash “eth” and both would result in “the”, or maybe some sort of english pinyin where only the first few chars are needed?
  - rwmj 2y ago
    Predictive text? But it's also an example of an incremental improvement that someone could experiment with to see if it works. Much easier than having to prototype entirely new hardware (especially in the 80s, in an era before cheap additive prototyping).
  - girvo 2y ago
    I mean in some ways that is what modern predictive text is, right? I watch others rely on it incredibly heavily, no correcting mistakes at all just rely on the autocorrect to solve it, and it works well Or swipe-typing, as another version of that idea. Move in the rough area of the key, and rely on prediction
  - aphit 2y ago
    This is precisely what CharaChorder is. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CharaChorder https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CharaChorder
- rwmj 2y ago
  Yes, that's a really good point.

jhbadger 2y ago

In the 1990s chorded keyboards were "popular" in regard to wearable computing. People like Steve Mann would give talks where he demonstrated how he could use his wearable computer (basically a laptop he strapped to himself with a clunky goggle-mounted display) that he controlled with a small chorded keyboard he operated with one hand. Obviously, a decade later with smartphones this looked pretty silly (if it didn't already in the 1990s) but some people really did think this was the future at the time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Mann_(inventor) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Mann_(inventor)

nine_k 2y ago
The killer feature of a chorded mechanical (not on-screen) keyboard for me is that one can use it without having to look at it. To literally touch-type (not necessarily text). This is why such keyboards are used where this advantage is material, e.g. in jet fighters.
- makeset 2y ago
  You can learn to touch-type on any keyboard and never ever look at it (actually gets confusing to look), and many where you never have to move your hands around either, before you need to get anywhere near chordal.
  - diggan 2y ago
    > (actually gets confusing to look) As someone who grew up with a Swedish keyboard layout, switched to US when I got a job as a programmer but live in Spain so most keyboards have Spanish physical layouts while I use US software layouts: yes, this is very true for a lot of us :)
  - nine_k 2y ago
    True, especially for ergonomic keyboards. The upside of a chorded keyboard is that it can input a lot while using just one hand, and can be fixed relative just to that hand (imagine e.g. typing while holding a bike handlebar, or, again, an aircraft control stick). Normal touch-typing requires active use of two hands, and a steady surface.

totetsu 2y ago

I guess this was an inspiration for this character https://lain.wiki/wiki/Nezumi https://lain.wiki/wiki/Nezumi

kragen 2y ago

As Animats mentioned in https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43455514 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43455514, Doug's team didn't invent chorded keyboards; Émile Baudot did: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baudot_code#/media/File:Clavier_Baudot.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baudot_code#/media/File:Clavie... You can see that he designed his character code, like Morse, to make the most common letters easier to send: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baudot_code#/media/File:Baudot_Code_-_from_1888_patent.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baudot_code#/media/File:Baudot...