why the characters of the keyboard not sorted alphabetically (A then B then C .. etc )?

Answer 1

The QWERTY system was designed to make it easier to type. Typewriters would get stuck as they used to be actual arms that would smack the piece of paper....by changing the arrangement of the letters it is less likely that you would be using two keys that are right next to each other. The reasoning behind this is there are few words that are typed entirely with one hand.


according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QWERTY

The QWERTY keyboard layout was devised and created 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] A business associate of Sholes, James Densmore, suggested splitting up keys for letters commonly used together to slow down typing and prevent pairs of typebars from striking the platen at the same time and sticking together. A disputed issue is the effect this rearrangement of letters had on maximum typing speed.[2][3][4] Other sources assert the rearrangement worked by separating common sequences of letters in English.[citation needed] Ostensibly, the hammers that were likely to be used in quick succession were less likely to interfere with each other.[4]

It has also been suggested the top row was designed to have all the letters for the word "typewriter" so that typewriter salesmen could "peck" the word "typewriter" more quickly and easily without appearing to have to "hunt" for the keys.[5] This was in the period when typing was considered women's work and men rarely could type.[citation needed] However, the first typewriter operators were typically male clerks at railroad offices.

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. This is helpful for left-handed people. [1]

Answer 2

At the time when typewriters were introduced, the keys were sorted alphabetically. But typewriter had a printing stick associated with each key. When the user press the key, the stick would hit the page to print the letter. So sticks sometimes got stuck with each other. To resolve this problem, a deep analysis of words was performed to find out how much each letter is used in English. Producers made their typewriters based on that analysis and it worked out.
"E" is the letter mostly used in the words. Mostly used letter in sentence is "T" because of "this,that,the..." etc.
With the passing of time computer came. Computer didn't have such printing stick as typewriter but makers of computer didn't wanted typing student to have difficulty in operating computer's keyboard. So, keyboard's design remained unchanged.

Answer 3

According to Wikipedia, they used to be alphabetical on typewriters before 1860. Typists using the old layout found that the typewriter hammers often get stuck together if they typed too fast because a lot of common letter combinations were right next to each other. The QWERTY layout was invented because it kept a lot of those common letter combinations separate from each other on the keyboard, allowing users to type faster with less tangles.

Answer 4

I think the reason originates in the days of manual typewriters. If someone could type fast, adjacent keys would tend to stick together. For this reason, keys were separated so that letters which were likely to be used together were kept apart. That keyboard, known as the QWERTY layout (named after the first five keys), is still around today.

Also, by separating adjacent letters, it was much more likely that you'd need to change hands with each keystroke. This allowed one hand to set up while the other one was pushing a key, which ultimately led to faster possible typing speeds.

Answer 5

as this keyboards are coming from typewriter if u know this... and computer take place of same . So most of ppls are familler with typewrite as in begaining its look bit complicated but the person who invented typewrite had made list of word that which words we are useing most of time like a s d f... its most common word he make it near to your finger tip so u can type more faster as u can see Z is in lower line as we are not ussing Z most of time in words... i hope u can understand now well why keyboard are in this possition not like A B C....

Answer 6

You can have it that way if you want. Just go into XP and remap the keyboard to anyhting you want.

QUERTY keyboard was designed to "slow down" typists so the lineotype nmachines could drop the letters down fast enough.

http://www.usnetizen.com/fix_capslock.html

Answer 7

You may not know this.. but there are other configurations than the "qwerty" keyboard, like Dvorak and XpERT.

Check my sources for more info on why qwerty keyboards came about.

Answer 8

the keyboard is arranged so that you reach keys which forms a word faster than that of the combination abcdefgh which does not form a meaningful word