why are the letters on the keyboard placed how they are?

Answer 1

The QWERTY keyboard layout takes its name from the first six letters seen in the keyboard's top first row of letters. The QWERTY design was patented by Christopher Sholes in 1868 and sold to Remington in 1873, when it first appeared in typewriters.

The QWERTY keyboard layout was devised in the 1860s by the creator of the first modern typewriter, Christopher Sholes, a newspaper editor who lived in Milwaukee. Originally, the characters on the typewriters he invented were arranged alphabetically, set on the end of a metal bar which struck the paper when its key was pressed. However, once an operator had learned to type at speed, the bars attached to letters that lay close together on the keyboard became entangled with one another, forcing the typist to manually unstick the typebars, and also frequently blotting the document

Sholes solved the jamming problem not by forcing typists to slow down, but by separating common sequences of letters in English. Pairs of keys that are frequently struck in succession were placed as far from each other as possible, so that the hammers that were likely to be used in quick succession were less likely to interfere with each other..

Answer 2

The QWERTY keyboard layout was devised in the 1860s by the creator of the first modern typewriter, Christopher Sholes, a newspaper editor who lived in Milwaukee. Originally, the characters on the typewriters he invented were arranged alphabetically, set on the end of a metal bar which struck the paper when its key was pressed. However, once an operator had learned to type at speed, the bars attached to letters that lay close together on the keyboard became entangled with one another, forcing the typist to manually unstick the typebars, and also frequently blotting the document[1]. Sholes solved the jamming problem not by forcing typists to slow down, but by separating common sequences of letters in English[2]. Pairs of keys that are frequently struck in succession were placed as far from each other as possible, so that the hammers that were likely to be used in quick succession were less likely to interfere with each other.

The home row (ASDFGHJKL) of the QWERTY layout is thought to be a remnant of the old alphabetical layout that QWERTY replaced. QWERTY also attempted to alternate keys between hands, allowing one hand to move into position while the other hand strikes a key. This sped up both the original double-handed hunt-and-peck technique and the later touch typing technique; however, single-handed words such as stewardesses, lollipop and monopoly show flaws in the alternation.

there are other keyboard layouts as well such as the dvorak which are supposedly more efficient.

Answer 3

The QWERTY keyboard layout was devised in the 1860s by the creator of the first modern typewriter, Christopher Sholes, a newspaper editor who lived in Milwaukee. Originally, the characters on the typewriters he invented were arranged alphabetically, set on the end of a metal bar which struck the paper when its key was pressed. However, once an operator had learned to type at speed, the bars attached to letters that lay close together on the keyboard became entangled with one another, forcing the typist to manually unstick the typebars, and also frequently blotting the document. Sholes solved the jamming problem not by forcing typists to slow down, but by separating common sequences of letters in English. Pairs of keys that are frequently struck in succession were placed as far from each other as possible, so that the hammers that were likely to be used in quick succession were less likely to interfere with each other. [citation needed]

The home row (ASDFGHJKL) of the QWERTY layout is thought to be a remnant of the old alphabetical layout that QWERTY replaced. QWERTY also attempted to alternate keys between hands, allowing one hand to move into position while the other hand strikes a key. This sped up both the original double-handed hunt-and-peck technique and the later touch typing technique; however, single-handed words such as stewardesses, lollipop and monopoly show flaws in the alternation.

An unfortunate consequence of the layout, for right-handed typists, is that many more words can be spelled using only the left hand. In fact, thousands of English words can be spelled using only the left hand, while only a couple of hundred words can be typed using only the right hand.

Answer 4

The keyboard is based on the typewriter, which was set up to prevent the likelihood of keys sticking to each other. It was kept the same because many people got used to the typewriter and it made for a easy progression onto computer.
From Shells book of firsts:- Typewriter Although the keys were originally arranged in alphabetical order, Sholes and Densmore decided on a new arrangement based on the order of type in a printers case.

Answer 5

The QWERTY scheme is a throwback to the old days of typewriters. They wanted to space out the commonly used keys so that they wouldn't get mashed together. To make it easier to move from typewriters to computers, they kept the same layout.

There are other layouts available (like DVORAK) which are supposidly faster to use, once you learn them.

Answer 6

It was designed for fast typing, common letters to make up words are arranged in such a way that five fingers on one side and five fingers on the other side can strike out common vowels and constants with out your fingers crossing over each other. If the letters were in order, you would not be able to type as fast.

Answer 7

The qwerty keyboard set up was so typewriter sales men could type out the word "typewriter" quickly because all the letters are in the top row of letters. it looked impressive when they were trying to sell to companies

Answer 8

Randomness! Joking, I'm not sure maybe it's comfort or something to do with the majorty of the letters on one side go together alot in a word or maybe even my first guess was right, it's random.

Answer 9

Some history of the Qwerty keyboard:
http://www.geocities.com/malibu_malv/curse_qwerty.html

Answer 10

Most often used are middle/center; Less used are off to the sides.