Adopting non-qwerty keyboards

Why have efforts to replace the qwerty keyboard met with so little success? The world managed to (largely) adopt the metric system as a standard, why can’t/won’t countries using a roman alphabet adopt a more efficient keyboard design?

Seems like a solution in search of a problem. I meab, how is “abcdef” any less arbitrary than “qwerty”?

The Master Speaks

To be absolutely optimal, keyboard design would vary by language. Right now, most latin-alphabet languages use qwerty variations: the majority of the letters are in the same spots, with variations on how to handle additional letters and other signs (ø, ç, ñ, é, !..). Even the much-hated+ azerty is very, very similar to qwerty.

My phone’s putocorrector* already hates me because I write in multiple languages. Why would I want to have to look for letters in different spots for each of those languages?

  • by anybody who can touch-type on qwerty.
  • is absolutely the right name for that thing.