Why isn't the keyboard in alphabetical order?

Question

why is it qwertyu instead of abcdefg?

Answer 1

Keyboards are based on typewriters. When typewriters were first made the mechanical parts were large and heavy and very hard to push down. They were in a fan shape with all the letter parts on the outside and the bar shaped connection to the keys close together in the center. These bars were also fragile and got stuck against each other and bent easily. To reduce or prevent sticking, the keys were arranged in the way you see today to slow the typist's fingers down to reduce the sticking and bending problem.

When PCs became more common there were programs for sale that would change the keyboard to the abcd configuration. I am not sure why these didn't become more popular. You might still be able to find this kind of software with keycovers.

Answer 2

They weren't hurting themselves, but they were using typewriters with letters on the end of a wire which struck a ribbon and transferred the letter through the ribbon to the paper on the roller. If they typed too fast the wires would jam and have to be untangled by hand—qwerty was indeed designed to slow down typists. If you are so inclined, on most computers, you can reassign the letter arrangement to the fastest that will work for you

Answer 3

It was done in the days of manual typewriters to slow people down. They were typing so fast that the keys kept getting jammed.

Answer 4

This design is also good based on the most commonly used letters. Notice z, x, q, and p are out on the edges because they're not as common in our words.

Answer 5

they used to be a long time ago but what happened was people were hurting theirselves because they learned to type so fast so they mixed the letters up so that it would slow people down.