PERSPECTIVE
Has Porcelain Been ‘ Hard- Wired ’ Into the Minds of Power Engineers ?
Researchers at the University of St . Andrews in Scotland have recently developed a revolutionary keyboard that significantly increases the speed and efficiency of typing . Tests show that users were soon able to reach 37 words / min on the new device compared with only about 20 words / min on a standard QWERTY keyboard . ‘ QWERTY ’, as everybody knows , is the acronym given to the layout of letters of the alphabet on virtually every keyboard in existence ( with obvious exceptions for certain languages ).
Now , it can only be termed ‘ miraculous ’ that QWERTY has survived to this day , seeing that it was invented by American Christopher Sholes in the 1870s and intended for a purely mechanical typesetting device . Apparently , the main aim was to slow typing so as to prevent the mechanical metal arms from being jammed together by clashing at too high a speed . Sholes accomplished this by placing the most frequently used letters as far apart as possible . It was then left to the typist ’ s fingers to do the extra work .
However , in spite of the impressive results of their new keyboard , the Scottish researchers are not overly optimistic of changing anything soon . Many have tried – and failed – to challenge QWERTY ’ s supremacy over the decades . It has even been postulated that the QWERTY layout becomes ‘ hardwired ’ into our brains from the moment we first use a keyboard .
Let ’ s look at another invention from about that same era 140 years ago . Electrical glazed porcelain was developed initially for telegraph insulators but has gone on to become the dominant insulating material found at virtually every outdoor substation up to and even over a million volts . Over the past 25 years , more advanced alternatives have been developed and perfected . Yet , in spite of their many claimed advantages , these have yet to make a dent in porcelain ’ s near total dominance .
Can it be that , as with QWERTY , people in the power engineering field cannot seem to break the traditional link between insulation and porcelain ?
Of course , porcelain has earned its place at the top by being a relatively cheap , yet mostly reliable and long lasting insulator ( see our Tribute to Porcelain article on p . 124 ) Still , if anything should be ‘ hardwired ’ into the minds of the electrical engineering community these days it is not hesitating to utilize any proven new technologies that help transfer power more cost-effectively , more reliably and more safely . Little else should matter .