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It's really odd to me that the traditional keyboard 10-key entry pad hasn't switched to the phone number layout. If the phone layout is more efficient and less

by xbryanx 13y ago

It's really odd to me that the traditional keyboard 10-key entry pad hasn't switched to the phone number layout. If the phone layout is more efficient and less error prone, why didn't keyboards start with the phone layout and not the calculator layout?

soperj 13y ago
Might only be less error prone for entering phone numbers.
- consultant23522 13y ago
  I was thinking more along the lines of early computer only really being used by people who had a stronger muscle memory for calculator usage than telephone usage.
ChuckMcM 13y ago
http://www.vcalc.net/Keyboard.htm http://www.vcalc.net/Keyboard.htm has lots of theories. I had a vague memory that it was due to some sort of patent issue but given a complete lack of verification on that I distrust that memory.
raldi 13y ago
The digits 1, 2, and 3 appear more often in data than the digits 7, 8, and 9, so you can do data entry faster with the existing layout.
droithomme 13y ago
For 10 key entry in accounting you want the most often used numbers closest to you. Benford's Law explains why 1 is the most common digit, followed by 2, 3, etc. Thus for hand entry, small digits should be closest to the hand, at the bottom, and larger digits at top. For dialing a phone you are not constantly dialing numbers as a accountant or data entry person will be doing. For phoning, the number 1 is not the most common one, it's was actually more rare in old numbers which reserved 1 and 0 in some positions for area codes, needed only for long distance. The user testing showed that top to bottom order worked better for users than bottom to top. Undoubtedly since it matched reading order of the english language, going top to bottom as well. The most efficient and least error prone layout depends on the task. The task of accounting, and the digit frequency, is very different from the task of telephoning.

by xbryanx 13y ago

soperj 13y ago

Might only be less error prone for entering phone numbers.

consultant23522 13y ago
I was thinking more along the lines of early computer only really being used by people who had a stronger muscle memory for calculator usage than telephone usage.

ChuckMcM 13y ago

http://www.vcalc.net/Keyboard.htm http://www.vcalc.net/Keyboard.htm has lots of theories. I had a vague memory that it was due to some sort of patent issue but given a complete lack of verification on that I distrust that memory.

raldi 13y ago

The digits 1, 2, and 3 appear more often in data than the digits 7, 8, and 9, so you can do data entry faster with the existing layout.

droithomme 13y ago

For 10 key entry in accounting you want the most often used numbers closest to you. Benford's Law explains why 1 is the most common digit, followed by 2, 3, etc. Thus for hand entry, small digits should be closest to the hand, at the bottom, and larger digits at top. For dialing a phone you are not constantly dialing numbers as a accountant or data entry person will be doing. For phoning, the number 1 is not the most common one, it's was actually more rare in old numbers which reserved 1 and 0 in some positions for area codes, needed only for long distance. The user testing showed that top to bottom order worked better for users than bottom to top. Undoubtedly since it matched reading order of the english language, going top to bottom as well. The most efficient and least error prone layout depends on the task. The task of accounting, and the digit frequency, is very different from the task of telephoning.