In 1878, Christopher Sholes was granted the patent on the QWERTY keyboard layout. He’d been granted the patent on the typewriter in 1868, 10 years earlier. His original typewriter had problems with tangling mechanical keys and the QWERTY keyboard was his solution to broken keyboards and frustrated typists. The QWERTY keyboard favored left-handed typists (at a time when most technology favored right-handed users) and placed less commonly used letters under a typists resting fingers. Sholes, thinking very much like a founder who wanted to sell a lot of product, ensured
No day goes by without the announcement of some new and amazing technological advancement. Flexible robots, bionic humans, crime detecting streetlights, to name a few. But we’re still stuck in the paradigms of a culture created by, and based on, the old rules of industrialization that led to the occupational restructuring in the 1950s-60s. Four books I’ve read in the last few weeks — including ‘Throwing Rocks At The Google Bus’ and ‘The End of Average‘ — have made me question a few things about the current nature of ‘work’. Thankfully, our technology is
While I’m a big fan of cool new technology like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain and VR/AR, I have to confess that I’m starting to get tired of these technologies sucking all the air and taking the shine from a lot of other cool technology being developed across the world. We have AI in art, in finance, healthcare. While these technologies are providing value, the hype is getting a tad bit too much. Here are 6 other trends that I’m hoping to learn more about. System-Scale Tech Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin
I am a web developer. I am not disabled. I live in the United States. I use modern technology and devices on a daily basis. Yet, often I can’t use modern sites and web apps the way they were intended to be used. At least a few times per week — as a regular consumer of modern digital technology — I’m roadblocked. Web applications show blank white screens and won’t render anything at all due do a bug. Slow 4G internet immobilizing the normal web browsing experience. JavaScript errors cause buttons not to function
by Steve D. Amara (@amarast) Diversity is less discussed on the East side of the Atlantic, mainly because European countries approach the topic very differently from each other. Nonetheless, major tech hubs have seen some brilliant startups founded people of color, tackling a variety of issues from urban logistics in European capitals to financial inclusion in Emerging Markets. Below are some that really caught our attention. African Markets African Markets is a provider of information and data dedicated to African stock markets. A very comprehensive platform, launched by 30-year-old Cameroonian
