Why are the letters on the keyboard arranged the way they are?

Answer 1

take a look at this
http://home.earthlink.net/~dcrehr/whyqwert.html

Answer 2

The QWERTY arrangment was originally laid out on a mechanical typewritter. To prevent jamming, letters were seperated so frequently used combinations like the OA in boat would be less likely to cause a jam. (Only one key could be pressed at a time) Also the QWERTY arrangment forced users to type a little slower which also helped prevent key jams.