Re: info center search. III.

[PaulMmn <PaulMmn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>From: Dr Syd Nicholson <sydnic@ccs400.com>
>>  The fact that MS with IE won the browser war does not help those who do
>>  not, for whatever reason, use Windows.
>
"Leif Svalgaard" <leif@leif.org> replied:

>Studies show again and again that the QWERTY-keyboard is about
>the worst there is. The Dvorak keyboard is far better: fewer errors,
>higher typing rate, less training, etc. Yet the better product has no
>chance against the QWERTY.

Now -I- chime in:  Have there been any studies of Dvorak vs QWERTY
since manual typewriters gave way to electronic keyboards?  I realize
that QWERTY was developed to slow down a typist, but that was based
on mechanical linkages, not electrical switches.  Does Dvorak still
have an advantage?  Does the positioning of the common letters on the
home row speed things up that much?

>
>>
>>  The only way MS can be made to produce a real, stable, reliable OS is
>>   if it gets some serious competition.
>>
>
>It HAD some (think of OS/2) but even IBM had to throw in the towel.
>M$ has enough money to BUY any serious competitor. How about $10B
>cash? That would stop anybody. The only way is to make any vendor
>of software liable for damages as all other products (e.g. cars, tires,
>tobacco, asbestos, ...). The notion that Linux will take over the desktop
>is wishful thinking (I wish it too). It is like with OS/2: every year we hear
>that it is just about ready to take off, and it never did.

M$ -NEVER- had any competition from OS/2.  IBM had a narrow window of
opportunity when Win/95 was just an advertising campaign.  And they
blew it.  Remember the "Warp" campaign?  [The ad guys heard the tech
guys talking about 'warp,' and adopted it as the ad campaign--
twisted; warped.  The tech guys -meant- 'warp factor 9, Mister
Scott.']  IBM never bothered to -tell- anyone that OS/2 was
everything that Win/95 claimed to be, that it worked -now-, and it
cost less.  OS/2 died before it even left the factory.  IMHO.

--Paul E Musselman
PaulMmn@ix.netcom.nospam.com