The QWERTY keyboard has been around since the 1870s when newspaper editor Christopher Latham Sholes decided some improvements needed to be made.
It has been around since the 1870s – but many people still have no idea why we use QWERTY keyboards. Originally, early typewriters used an alphabetical arrangement but newspaper editor Christopher Latham Sholes discovered an issue with the letter layout and created a new design.
At first, in 1867, Sholes, working with his friends Carlos Glidden and Samuel W. Soulé, came up with a piano-like keyboard with two rows of characters. The letters were arranged alphabetically, as shown below:
- – 3 5 7 9 N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
- 2 4 6 8 . A B C D E F G H I J K L M
But with five years of feedback on the design, he rearranged the letters to make it ‘easier for the users’, as many complained about keys jamming in the keyboard. In 1870, he revealed a four-row keyboard moving A, E, I, O, U, and Y to the second row under the numbers, like as followed:
- 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 –
- A E I . ? Y U O ,
- B C D F G H J K L M
- Z X W V T S R Q P N
Why do we still use the QWERTY keyboard?
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Edging closer to today’s layout, in 1973, Sholes’s financial backer James Densmore sold the manufacturing rights for the Sholes & Glidden Type-Writer to E. Remington and Sons, with the layout shown below:
- 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 – ,
- Q W E . T Y I U O P
- Z S D F G H J K L M
- A X & C V B N ? ; R
Following this, Remington made several adjustments to the keyboard, creating the modern QWERTY layout used today. The name QWERTY came from the order of the first six key letters on the top letter row of the keyboard.
A statement from Tech Target reads: “The QWERTY arrangement was intended to reduce the jamming of typebars as they moved to strike ink on paper. Separating certain letters from each other on the keyboard reduced the amount of jamming.”
But confused as to why we still use the QWERTY layout when most typists now use electronic keyboards, one Reddit user asked: “Why do we still use the QWERTY keyboard? The layout for the QWERTY keyboard was designed to slow down typists when the mechanical arms could not keep up with the speed at which a practiced typist could go.
“It forced users to ‘hunt and peck’ and prevented the arms from jamming together when too many keys were pressed in too short a time. Obviously, this isn’t a problem any more; so why aren’t we using keyboards with a more intuitive, optimised layout?”
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Speaking about its advantages today, it adds: “The QWERTY layout quickly became the standard for typewriters and has remained so for computers and other digital devices to this day. There are a number of variations of the QWERTY layout, depending on the language and region, but the basic arrangement of the keys is generally the same.
“One of the main advantages of the QWERTY layout is that it is easy to learn and use. Most people who have used a computer or typewriter are familiar with the layout, and it is generally considered to be intuitive and efficient. Another advantage of QWERTY keyboards is that they are widely available and relatively cheap, making them a popular choice for both personal and professional use.”
Responding to the Reddit user’s question, one user said: “QWERTY was not designed to slow down typing. The problem was that, with the old layout, typewriters often jammed when people typed too fast because common letter combinations were too close to each other. QWERTY spaced out those letters in such a way that typists could type faster without jamming typewriter.”
Another user added: “Use a system for a very long time, and people often get set in their ways and don’t want to change it. For instance, look at the word ‘knight’, which nobody has pronounced that way for many centuries.
“Or the calendar we use, which is a slight modification of the one the Romans were using 2000 years ago.” A third user said: “The problem is that everybody had learned to use that keyboard layout and if it got changed should everybody start all over learning to type, so it was easier to just keep it.”
Sourse: www.express.co.uk
