[mxwsn]

This ought to be called the qwerty effect, for how the qwerty keyboard layout can't be usurped at this point. It was at the right place at the right time, even though arguably its main design choices are no longer relevant, and there are arguably better layouts like dvorak.

Python and React may similarly be enshrined for the future, for being at the right place at the right time.

English as a language might be another example.

[jimmaswell]

QWERTY is a poor example. The keyboard layout is not the bottleneck for anyone who does not participate in olympic typing competitions. DVORAK is just as arbitrary as QWERTY to everyone else including professionals, and there's value in backwards compatibility e.g. old keyboards don't become e-waste.

[rhet0rica]

It sounds like you're thinking purely about the speed of a skilled typist. Alternative keyboard layouts offer a tangible ergonomic benefit even at lower WPM counts, and can have a lower hunt-and-peck time for novices by clustering frequently-used letters together. (This last effect is particularly pronounced on small touch screens, where the seek time is non-trivial and the buttons are much too close together for any sort of real touch-typing.)

[meatmanek]

I expect dvorak would actually be pretty bad for a phone screen keyboard. All your most common letters are right next to each other, making autocorrect/swipe type's job harder because adjacent letter pairs are much more likely to be interchangeable. (Especially since vowels are on the left side and consonants on the right.)

[jimmaswell]

I remember reaching a really high speed on the keyboard of the original iPod Touch. It actually did feel like touch typing - I didn't really have to look at the on-screen keyboard. I can't pin down exactly what's been missing from newer keyboard apps. Something about the ergonomics and UI came together just right.

[jazzyjackson]

original iPod touch having a 3.5" screen probably had a lot to do with it, with thumb typing a smaller keyboard could be better - finer movements per keystroke. Modern iPhone 14 is 6.1"

[iammrpayments]

The keyboard layout becomes a bottleneck after you develop carpal tunnel syndrome and bad posture due to internal shoulder rotation

[basch]

It would be interesting if Apple and Google and Samsung agreed to make dvorak (or a mutually created better mobile/swipe variant) the default mobile keyboard for all NEW accounts going forward. Unlike hardware, software keyboards could be swapped in a generation or two.

[pinoy420]

> arguably better layouts like dvorak

I don’t think this has any truth outside of causing such argument. I am sure there is a paper on it that showed negligible difference for different layouts.

I used to use Dvorak but then I stopped when I was around 17? Qwerty for life.