I’ve had the same keyboard here at work for nearly ten years. It’s now pretty (OK, very) disgusting due to the fact that I eat lunch at my desk. However, it still works perfectly. Well, almost. The “T” key is a bit finicky and the “numbers lock” key responds only when it wants to. And that got me thinking–why are keyboards laid out the way they are? Why is the “Q” key way up in the upper left-hand side? Who decided all this?
The story of the
keyboard’s layout may seem like the dullest topic in the world, but it’s actually pretty interesting. Commonly referred to as the “QWERTY” keyboard, this landmark creation was first used in 1875 by Christopher Sholes.
One might think that the keys are arranged in this way to make typing as efficient as possible. I was always told that the letters you use the most are the ones nearest to the center. But I was misinformed. It turns out
this layout was used because it is actually quite inefficient.
Back in 1875, people used typewriters with keyboards laid out in ABC order. Because folks typed so quickly, jamming was a common problem. Mr. Sholes couldn’t improve the mechanical aspects of the typewriter, so he would have to do the next best thing–get people to slow down. His solution was to arrange the letters in such a way so that the type bars wouldn’t get crossed up. Amazingly, it worked.
According to
Idea Finder, the change reduced typewriter jamming drastically. Over time, the QWERTY became the standard. Inventors have since introduced alternatives, but nothing has caught on with the mainstream. One of the best known is the
Dvorak Layout. HowStuffWorks breaks down the
pros and cons.
What would it take to get you to switch to a new keyboard layout? Would you ever consider it? I might, provided the “T” key worked more than 50% of the time.
Thanks for reading,