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Why does every keyboard look like this?
为什么键盘都长这样？
The QWERTY keyboard is overrated.
我们用的QWERTY键盘被高估了
OK, so this top strip here,
好吧，你键盘上面的这一行
there is a 99% chance that on your keyboard it's: Q-W-E-R-T-Y. QWERTY
有99%的可能性是Q-W-E-R-T-Y。也就是QWERTY
We all have these QWERTY keyboards.
我们用的都是这种QWERTY键盘
There’s probably even one in your pocket, on a screen.
很可能你口袋里也有这种键盘，在你的手机上
But why?
但为什么呢？
Why is this pattern of letters so familiar?
为什么我们对这种排列这么熟悉？
“This of course, is the keyboard.”
“这个，当然了，就是键盘”
But why, "of course?";
但是“当然”一词何以见得呢？
QWERTY was just one person’s invention from the 1870s.
QWERTY键盘是十九世纪70年代的一个人发明的
It’s almost 140 years old, yet, it's still the standard.
虽然这种键盘已经有将近140年的历史了，但它现在仍然是标准键盘
“All of these machines are alike in many respects.”
“这些机器很多地方都差不多”
We all use it, but don’t know why. That’s the definition of overrated!
我们都用，但都不知道其原因。这就是高估的定义所在
And it turns out that this little keyboard is the subject of intense debate,
而且，事实表明，这个小小的键盘其实引发了激烈的讨论
some lies you’ve probably been told before,
有些说法你可能已经听过了
and a few real explanations that might surprise you.
还有几种真实但可能会让你大吃一惊的原因
Including an old fashioned cartel.
包括旧式的合作寡头
Lots of people have tried to arrange these jumbled letters.
很多人都尝试排列这些混乱的字母
There was a half century period of indecision. Debate.
人们犹豫、争论了半个世纪
In the 1840's, Hughes Printing Telegraph arranged the keys like a piano keyboard.
十九世纪40年代，休斯印字电报机公司将键盘做成了钢琴键盘的模样，
Or, look at the Hansen’s Writing Ball from 1865.
或者，我们来看看1865年汉森的打字机
People’s fingers pecked at this thing.
人们用手指敲击这个东西
The letters varied per version, but they showed up in this pattern.
每个版本的字母都不一样，但它们显示出了这样的规律
This 1868 typewriter looks weird too,
这个1868年版本的打字机看上去也很奇怪
but it was the start of something.
但它的确是一个重要发明的开端
The inventor, was Christopher Latham Sholes.
它的发明者是克里斯托弗·拉森·肖尔斯
He looked like typewriter Santa Claus,
他看着就像是打字员中的圣诞老人
and he kept going.
而且他并未就此止步
In 1870, he developed a pattern like this.
到了1870年，他发现了这样一种规律
As of 1873, he’d come up with a keyboard that looked a lot like QWERTY.
到了1873年，他发明的键盘跟QWERTY键盘已经很接近了
But there were quirks.
但还是有看上去很怪异的地方
Notice that period where the R should be.
请注意，句号的位置应该是R
And the A and Z are flipped. The M also sits next to the L.
而且A和Z的位置颠倒了。M也还在L的旁边
Remington, a company that made machines for shooting and sewing, bought the design.
生产设计和缝纫机的雷明顿公司买下了这一发明
Suddenly, they were in the typewriter business.
这种键盘突然就进入了打字机的行业
The design Sholes patented in 1878 was basically QWERTY.
1878年拿到专利的肖尔斯设计基本上跟QWERTY键盘差不多
Along with the numbers, the only weirdness is that M next to the L,
除了数字之外，这种键盘唯一古怪的地方就是M在L旁边
and the C and X are flipped compared to a contemporary keyboard.
并且C和X的位置也颠倒了，跟现在的键盘相比
The company that made Remington Typewriters
生产雷明顿键盘的公司
was soon sending out sales packets with the QWERTY we know and love.
很快就开始发送我们了解并且深爱的QWERTY的订单了
But that doesn’t quite explain how QWERTY got big.
但这一点还是不能很好地解释QWERTY何以变得如此普遍
There are urban legends.
有一些传闻
One’s that QWERTY was designed that way to keep typewriter keys from jamming.
有一种传闻是QWERTY之所以设计成这样是为了防止键盘上的键相互干扰
But lots of designs could do that,
但很多设计都可以实现这一点
and there’s not a lot of good evidence that that's why QWERTY was designed.
而且没有很好的证据证明这就是QWERTY键盘设计的初衷
Other options were even still around in 1890, like the Merritt Typewriter.
甚至到1890年，人们也会用其他的打字机，比如梅里特打字机
You moved this handle to the right spot for your letter and pressed down.
你把这个手柄扳到你要的字母那里，然后往下压
The letters weren’t in QWERTY, they were in a big long strip that looked like this.
这种打字机的字母不是按照QWERTY的顺序排列的，而是按照这样一种长长的顺序排列的
So it was a KWBHGP keyboard.
所以它是一个KWBHGP键盘
Many typists believed it worked as well as QWERTY.
很多打字员都认为它和QWERTY键盘一样好用
But the best evidence of all that QWERTY wasn’t “the perfect design,”
但是证明QWERTY键盘不是“完美的发明”最好的证据
might be this invention from 1889
可能是1889年的这一发明
The keyboard? Not QWERTY, but XPMCHR.
这种键盘，不是QWERTY键盘，而是XPMCHR键盘
The inventor? Christopher Latham Sholes, the guy who invented QWERTY.
谁发明的？克里斯托弗·拉森·肖尔斯，也就是发明QWERTY键盘的那个家伙
He created it just before he died.
他在临去世前才发明了这种键盘
Even the creator of QWERTY wasn’t settled on QWERTY!
即便是 QWERTY键盘的发明者也没有止步于 QWERTY键盘
And that’s where the cartel comes in.
这正是卡特尔出现的地方
Look at this king.
看这个国王
He has something to do with QWERTY.
他跟QWERTY是有关的
See the label on his crown? “Trusts”
看见他皇冠上的标志了吗 “托斯拉”
In the 1890s, many companies merged into trusts
十九世纪九十年代，很多公司都合并成了托拉斯
that allowed them to fix prices and control markets.
以便调整物价，操控市场
In 1893, that happened with typewriters,
1893年，打字机行业也发生了这一变化
when some of the biggest manufacturers came together to form Union Typewriter Company.
很多龙头生产商联合起来组成了联合打字机公司
Manufacturers cared most about price and technical improvements,
生产商们最关心的是价格和技术进步
like how the typewriter worked.
比如打字机的工作原理
But there was another effect of the trust.
但是，特斯拉还有另外一个作用
The biggest company made Remington Typewriters,
最大的打字机公司制造了雷明顿打字机
and they used Sholes’ QWERTY keyboard design.
他们用的是肖尔斯设计的QWERTY键盘
The trust did the same.
托斯拉用的也是这一键盘
Most experts think the trust didn’t work to fix prices.
多数专家都认为托斯拉并未能调整价格
It had trouble beating innovative competitors.
托斯拉为了打败创新的竞争者吃了很大的苦
But their market power did fix a pattern on the keyboard.
但它们对市场的支配力还是对键盘上字母的排列产生了影响
And there’s one more reason why that pattern stuck.
还有一个原因能解释为什么这种排列延续了下来
Look at these old typewriter ads. Or these early typists.
看看这些从前的打字机广告，或者这些以前的打字员
Now you might notice that most of these students are women.
你可能已经注意到了这些学生大都是女性
That is worth noting!
这一点值得注意
But for the story of QWERTY, it’s more important to notice that they’re in a class, together.
但讲到QWERTY键盘的故事，更值得注意的是她们是在一个班里，一起学习
Typing wasn’t like it is today,
以前的打字不像今天这样
where you get one of these at the office, or one of these when you’re born.
办公室里会有这种东西，甚至你一生下来就有这些东西
Typists trained. They took classes.
以前的打字员是需要培训的，需要上课的
If you took a class, you took it for the most common keyboard. That was QWERTY.
你要上课的话，你就得用最常见的键盘，也就是QWERTY键盘
People still debate whether QWERTY’s the best.
现在，对于QWERTY键盘是不是最好的键盘人们还是争论不休
Some say the 1930s DVORAK keyboard is better,
有人说二十世纪三十年代的DVORAK键盘更好
others say it too is overrated.
也有人说那种键盘被大家高估了
Whether it’s the best system or not, QWERTY isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
不管它是不是最好的系统，QWERTY键盘都不会再发生变化了
“How you type is more important than what you type.”
“怎么打字比打什么字更重要”
“This is the mark of a good typist.”
“好的打字员应该是这样的”
There are so many other unprovable theories when it comes to QWERTY.
说到QWERTY键盘，还有很多假设是没有被证实的
One of my favorites is that the keyboard was arranged that way
我最喜欢的假设之一是QWERTY键盘之所以这样设计
so that sales people could peck out TYPEWRITER all on the top of the keyboard.
是因为推销员能够在最上面一行打出TYPEWRITER这一单词
