I'm sure this has come up before (here on AWAD) but I can't find it... why is the computer keyboard (typewriter keyboard) laid out in the manner it is.. and has anyone ever suggested an improvement to this century+ old technology?

Musick, emanuela's typing link talks about that. I didn't read it all. It talks about QWERTY and why it's used, claims DVORAK isn't much better, and gives extra links (which I didn't follow) to discussions of pros and cons of both.

Does anyone find they type better when copying something than when making things up as they go along? I think that is my problem, I think faster than I type. But when typing copy, there is no thinking, so my letters come out better.