I wonder why QWERTY was arranged the way it is. People are used to alphabetical order but this layout is too far from the arrangement.
Hi,
Yes and no.
The QWERTY layout was developed and instituted both to decrease the likelihood of key jamming in older manual typewriters as well as to improve on the ergonomics of typing. While an Alphabetical keyboard might be easier to memorize, it does not consider the frequency of certain keys being used more or less than others. Old, manual typewriters used to jam, a result of the bars in the typewrites colliding with one another.
As a result, Christopher Sholes rearranged the typewriter keys to alleviate this problem, particularly for faster typists. Studies by the US Navy as well as several universities have calculated that the QWERTY layout is close enough to optimal that if another layout, such as DVORAK, is really any better, it’s by an incredibly narrow margin.
These same studies figured out that with modern keyboards and typists, typing speed is determined more by effort and practice than layout.
Best Regards,
Lyka Remeticado
Community Associate at Typesy
I think the reason for the QWERTY layout is because the letters you use most are in the same aria, did you realize you use the y-o-u keys to spell you (vary obviously) but the letters y-o-u are in the same aria. and the ASDF keys are ones you use a lot like in the word ‘as’ and ‘fast’ the T is just above the F it is a very helpful layout. I think it is so it is simpler to type, like if it was in the ABC order, then you wold have to would have to reach all the way across the keyboard JUST to write the word ‘as’ that is what I think they made it the QWERTY layout.