Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

QWERTY exists because alternatives were not objectively better. Everytime anyone proposed an alternative, they had to not just be a little better, they had to be so much better that a lifetime of QWERTY muscle-memory being undone was justified.

It's the same reason so many new display technologies have failed: its not good enough to be better then an LCD eventually. You need to be better now, and better then the LCD which will come about as evolutionary improvements in manufacturing too. Being a little cheaper in the initial plant cost is meaningless if the plant has been built and we understand its processes.

Which of course is why the commentary on Git is absurd: people struggle with Git? People struggled with CVS. People struggle with the notion of "files" and programming in general. The alternative has to both exist, and be easier to use from the get-go. Not just a different set of traps.



Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: