And this did not lower output?? He said, she said.
did not slow it down at all. If anything it improved speed because it prevent jamming.
If you ever messed around on those old typewriters the quickly way to jam them is to hit 2 letters right next to each other very quickly.
This way it spread them out a little so they would not hit each other as often when typing fast.
Also before QWERT there really was not a good single formate. QWERT took off because it prevent jamming.
They also have done studies comparing different key layout like dvorak vs QWERT and have found once someone gets use to the different format there really is not any real speed improvement. Typing speeds seem to work out to be about the same.
Speed is not the reason to learn a new formate. Now taking strain off the wrist and damage that a lot of typing can do is a reason to learn it but speed is not a factor.