please... only answer if you know
2006-09-11 22:05:18 · 6 answers · asked by MiG 2 in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Other - Hardware
I'm guess you are talking about the QWERTY keys and not all the new ones added like F1, F2, and such which do get moved around.
The main reason today, is just because people have learned them in this order and to change now would be very hard for most people.
For the history of why they are that way, well that is a funny story.
The original inventor of the typewriter didn't arrange them in the way you see. They were arranged more like abc... But back then you pressed the key it sprang forward and hit the paper. And all of these hammers with the letters on them had to hit the same spot. Well if you typed to fast the hammers would jam. These lead to complaints of jamming. Well he couldn't fix the jamming so what he did is pick the Worst possible arrangement he could think of. This slowed down the people typing and then his typewriter was adopted.
There have been many attempts to correct this and put the letters in better position based on words and such, but most of them have falling away because people that learned the QWERTY keyboard just couldn't adjust to another.
2006-09-11 22:14:48 · answer #1 · answered by Bulk O 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Originally they were arranged in a manner that would optimize typing speed (making the most often used letters in the most accessible places). However with a typewriter there were people who were typing faster than the mechanism could handle (remember the "arms" that stamp the paper). So they rearranged them making the keyboard less efficient.
I don't know how to do this or what it's called, however you can set up your keyboard so that it acts like it originally was laid out enabling faster typing.
2006-09-12 05:08:44 · answer #2 · answered by Ender 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the 'qwerty' system was devised by analysing what letters were most commonly used and placing these letters in closest proximity to the starting hand position on the keyboard. It was tested against an 'abcdef' arrangement and won handily in comparing WPM.
2006-09-12 05:08:34 · answer #3 · answered by niwriffej 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's been answered before, here's the link.
2006-09-12 05:09:27 · answer #4 · answered by Tsk_Master 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
this arrangement is for best performance, or at least thats what they say!
2006-09-12 07:11:29 · answer #5 · answered by Wish Master 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
http://www.howstuffworks.com/question458.htm
Read this link, sorry it's not my own knowledge but it's the reason!
2006-09-12 05:08:09 · answer #6 · answered by claire 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋