The Ghost of the Typewriter: Part 2 of 6

The Ghost of the Typewriter (Part 2): The Public Health Crisis in the Computer Age

In Part 1, we learned how the "Ghost of the Typewriter" (Path Dependence) left us with a keyboard designed for 1873.

For a long time, this was just an inconvenience. But as the 20th century came to a close, computers moved from the laboratory to every desk in the world. Suddenly, the "Ghost" wasn't just slowing us down—it was injuring us.

The Collision: Biology vs. Machine

In the 1980s and 90s, the nature of work changed fundamentally. Typists were no longer hitting keys intermittently; they were typing thousands of keystrokes per hour, for eight hours a day, on rigid plastic boards.

The human hand is an anatomical marvel of curves and arches. The standard keyboard is a rigid, staggered grid. When you force the former to conform to the latter for 40 hours a week, something eventually breaks.

The "Australian Epidemic" (1980s)

The first major warning sign didn't come from Silicon Valley. It came from Australia.

The Warning Siren

In the early 1980s, Australia experienced a massive surge in occupational injuries known as the "RSI Epidemic." It wasn't just a few isolated complaints. At the height of the crisis in 1985, data showed that nearly one-third of typists at Telecom Australia reported symptoms severe enough to affect their work.

The issue became a national emergency, debated in Parliament and covered nightly on the news. It forced the government to establish the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission (NOHSC) to intervene.

The "Mass Hysteria" Controversy

Despite the overwhelming numbers, the medical community was divided. Because X-rays often showed no broken bones, skeptics refused to believe the pain was real.

In a controversial move, leading medical bodies—including members of the Royal Australian College of Physicians—labeled the epidemic as "mass hysteria" or "social contagion." They argued that the pain was psychological, not physical.

However, subsequent medical data proved them wrong. This period marks the first widespread historical recognition of Occupational Musculoskeletal Disorders (OMDs) caused directly by computer use. The pain wasn't in their heads; it was in their hands.

The Medical Realization

Following this crisis, biomechanical researchers began to study the act of typing with forensic precision. They realized that the standard keyboard forced the body into three specific, unnatural postures that can increase pressure on the carpal tunnel:

1. Ulnar Deviation: Twisting the wrists outward to align with staggered keys.
2. Forearm Pronation: Rotating the palms face-down to hit the flat board.
3. Wrist Extension: Bending the wrists backward to reach upper rows.

The Verdict

By the end of the 20th century, the verdict was clear. The "Ghost of the Typewriter" had created a public health crisis. The problem was identified. Now, the world needed a solution.

Next in the Series: In Part 3, we enter "The Revolution Period." We will look at the golden age of ergonomic invention, where bold designers tried to kill the Ghost before it was too late.