0_O (The perils of being a historian of a young industry. Asked a German institution about the DIN keyboard standards of the early 1980s.)pic.twitter.com/7VTK6I4gHe
Writing a book about the history of keyboards: http://aresluna.org/shift-happens · Design manager @figmadesign · Typographer · Occasional speaker · He/him
You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more
Add this Tweet to your website by copying the code below. Learn more
Add this video to your website by copying the code below. Learn more
By embedding Twitter content in your website or app, you are agreeing to the Twitter Developer Agreement and Developer Policy.
| Country | Code | For customers of |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 40404 | (any) |
| Canada | 21212 | (any) |
| United Kingdom | 86444 | Vodafone, Orange, 3, O2 |
| Brazil | 40404 | Nextel, TIM |
| Haiti | 40404 | Digicel, Voila |
| Ireland | 51210 | Vodafone, O2 |
| India | 53000 | Bharti Airtel, Videocon, Reliance |
| Indonesia | 89887 | AXIS, 3, Telkomsel, Indosat, XL Axiata |
| Italy | 4880804 | Wind |
| 3424486444 | Vodafone | |
| » See SMS short codes for other countries | ||
This timeline is where you’ll spend most of your time, getting instant updates about what matters to you.
Hover over the profile pic and click the Following button to unfollow any account.
When you see a Tweet you love, tap the heart — it lets the person who wrote it know you shared the love.
The fastest way to share someone else’s Tweet with your followers is with a Retweet. Tap the icon to send it instantly.
Add your thoughts about any Tweet with a Reply. Find a topic you’re passionate about, and jump right in.
Get instant insight into what people are talking about now.
Follow more accounts to get instant updates about topics you care about.
See the latest conversations about any topic instantly.
Catch up instantly on the best stories happening as they unfold.
0_O (The perils of being a historian of a young industry. Asked a German institution about the DIN keyboard standards of the early 1980s.)pic.twitter.com/7VTK6I4gHe
chapters to go!!!
(The selfie is me by the inimitable IBM Correcting Selectric II from 1973 that deserves its own chapter… and it’ll get one.)pic.twitter.com/XJmhOUmWhR
I have been dreading writing the chapter about QWERTY and Dvorak for months. But now that it’s next on the docket, I find myself really excited to tackle it. Perhaps going through other tough chapters emboldened me, or perhaps there’s a huge element of randomness to all this.
it me (An illustration for an article about the future of books. Popular Computing, November 1985. Illustrator: Kent Smith.)pic.twitter.com/tKgbNEln7h
Partly eager to finish the first draft just so I could run some statistical analysis on what I wrote.
Having conversations with myself a year ago (or, celebrating how much I learned in the interim).pic.twitter.com/izfltEYrFR
Okay, tomorrow’s The Big One. The trickiest of all chapters: All the myths and truths of QWERTY and Dvorak. I spent so much time researching this. The notes alone are 14,000 words. Here’s the lists of all my to-dos, and an already serious batch of title contenders. Let’s go.pic.twitter.com/DwP8fIOoZT
(Not just 14,000 words of notes. I also wrote a 7,000-word scaffolding document that’s basically an FAQ from myself to myself about what I learned about all this – and a test whether I can answer simple questions like “Did QWERTY slow people down”?)
(But it’s just facts, and no narrative. Over the next two days, I’m turning all this into a fact-based, but also hopefully *enthralling* story of three separate inventors dying unhappy, having lost to QWERTY – including the very person who invented QWERTY.)
Oh, oh! Another thing. This is August Dvorak; it’s surprisingly hard to find photos of him. (I’m also trying to get in touch with his family, but it’s hard – mostly since I don’t know how to.)pic.twitter.com/fZow2AMiF4
I want to say more about this moment – not just to savior it (which I promised myself to do as often as possible on this project), but also to share with anyone’s reading, in case you wonder about embarking on a parallel journey.
It feels… actually profound to realize that at this moment in time, I might be the best equipped person to untangle the mysteries of QWERTY and Dvorak. And I mean, really. Worldwide.
It doesn’t mean someone else cannot make smarter connections, work harder, employ more statistical analyses, or discover unknown documents. (God, I hope someone does, since I will learn from them then.) It also doesn’t mean I can’t for sure fuck this up.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.