Quick Facts
- Author
- PCD Maltron
- Year
- 1977
Maltron
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The Maltron keyboard layout is an option on Maltron-branded keyboards alongside QWERTY and Dvorak.
Maltron was the first to market a split ortholinear keyboard with a curved keywell and extra thumb keys, challenging the long-held assumption that keyboards should be flat. The first Maltron keyboard models were released in the mid-1970s, predating Kinesis, the next company to make such a keyboard, by over a decade.
The Maltron keyboard layout is renowned for its low SFB ratio, which was decades ahead of its time. This is made possible by its placement of E on a thumb key—also a first of its kind. Not much is known about the design philosophy of the Maltron layout, aside from the company’s claim that it is based on “extensive frequency-of-use (FOU) analysis,” which is both vague and table stakes for all newer layouts.
Though both the Maltron layout and Maltron keyboards remain niche products, Maltron’s influence on modern ergonomic keyboard design is unmistakable, as many modern ergonomic keyboards have adopted the features that made it unique.