logo
episode-header-image
Mar 2023
37m 48s

Keyboards

History Hit
About this episode

The keyboard on the first ever commercially successful typewriter and the keyboard on your smartphone are separated by a gulf of time and technology. Yet their layout is essentially the same (plus or minus a few new buttons along the way).


Who invented the QWERTY keyboard layout and why hasn’t it been updated?


What is the Shift button all about?


Who else remembers the weird way it felt to type on the ZX Spectrum?


To tell the stories that lurk underneath the keyboards you use every day, Dallas is joined by Marcin Wichary. His book ‘Shift Happens’ is available via Kickstarter now: bit.ly/3ETOn8c


Produced by Sophie Gee, Edited by Freddy Chick, Senior Editor is Charlotte Long.


For more History Hit content, subscribe to our newsletters here. 


If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download, go to Android or Apple store 



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Sep 2023
Things vs. Humans: the spiteful behaviour of inanimate objects
If you can never connect to a printer, if furniture jumps out to stub your toe, if when you do the dishes the water jumps out the sink to soak you - then you are victim of the inanimate malice of things.The belief that all things are essentially out to get us us has a name - Resi ... Show More
30m 26s
Sep 2023
First Ever Submarine
400 years ago on the River Thames a mad genius showed off the world's first submarine. A crowd of thousands including King James watched as Cornelis Drebbel disappeared beneath the murky water, only reemerging after three whole hours had passed.The same genius also came up with p ... Show More
39m 38s
Sep 2023
Inventing Fire: the First Spark of Humanity
Fire is the unsung hero of human evolution. We could not have turned into the big-brained, deep-thinking animals we are on raw food alone. The moment two million years ago that our forebears first started using fire to cook, was the spark that started everything off.That's accord ... Show More
36m 38s
Recommended Episodes
Apr 2021
Can't Quit the QWERTY Keyboard
The modern QWERTY keyboard has had pretty much the same layout for more than a century. Why do we still rely on keyboards (and the computer mouse as well)? We explore input devices and the longevity of the keyboard. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnet ... Show More
48m 6s
May 2024
The QWERTY Keyboard is Purposely Bad
If you're like most folks in the West, your laptop and phone use something called the QWERTY keyboard, named for the six letters at the upper left of the board. At first glance, this layout makes no sense. It's not in alphabetical order, and most of the typing is done by the left ... Show More
42m 16s
Apr 2019
QWERTY
The QWERTY keyboard layout has stood the test of time, from the clattering of early typewriters to the virtual keyboard on the screen of any smart-phone. Myths abound as to why keys are laid out this way – and whether there are much better alternatives languishing in obscurity. T ... Show More
8m 59s
Apr 2024
A better keyboard than QWERTY
Today on the flagship podcast of alternate keyboard layouts: 03:36 - The Verge’s David Pierce talks to Jonas Hietala about his ultra-custom keyboard he built from the ground up to fit his specific needs. Jonas Hietala: The T-34 keyboard layout 30:40 - The Verge’s Tom Warren expla ... Show More
1h 7m
Nov 2023
#276 My first computer and modern tech
>> Get my new course: The PRONUNCIATION Course 2024! Visit PronunciationCourse.com and get the course! 
12m 4s
Jul 2023
Black Boxes: Recording Airplanes' Final Moments
They can survive in lava for half an hour and accelerations of 3,400 Gs. Their beacons can be detected 20,000 feet beneath the waves. Most shocking of all - they aren't actually black! (They're bright orange = the least common colour in nature.) Today it's the invention of the ic ... Show More
32m 11s
Sep 2021
The Space Race
Humanity has always looked to the heavens, pondering what is really out there. But how did space travel turn from fantasy into reality? In the aftermath of World War Two, a group of scientists from Nazi Germany arrives in the United States. Their task? To kickstart America's spac ... Show More
52m 57s
Sep 2022
Con Artists
Whether they are online scams or in person card tricks, confidence games - better known now as cons - have been around for as long as we have. But while humans remain fundamentally gullible, the tricks of the trade have changed. Today, Kate is Betwixt the Sheets with writer and s ... Show More
43m 33s
Apr 2022
Shoes
I’m something that you wear, I always come in twos, I get put on your feet. I’m not socks, I am … SHOES. Humans have been protecting their feet for a very long time. But over the years the types of footwear we choose have developed and multiplied. Each new shoe has a new use, and ... Show More
44m 35s
Jul 2018
Welcome to Away from Keyboard (Away from Keyboard #0)
Away from Keyboard is a new show from Changelog that talks to creative professionals about how they do what they do, where they started, and how they deal with the things that make us all humans. As exciting as our work can sometimes be, we all face burnout, a lack of motivation, ... Show More
2m 32s