Why are the letters on the computer keyboard not in alphabetical order?

Question

I've wondered 4 ages!!!

Answer 1

Found this on answerbag.com:

The QWERTY keyboard layout was designed so that successive keystrokes would alternate sides of the keyboard so as to avoid jams in manual typewriters. Is frequently said that the design was also created to make people type slower.
First designs of manual typewriters using keyboards with letters on alphabetical order could not keep up with the speed of fast typers and the QWERTY keyboard layout was designed to reduce jamming. See:

http://home.earthlink.net/~dcrehr/whyqwert.html

Later a layout called Dvorak was introduced to allow faster typing and reduce fatigue but has never got widespread use. See:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dvorak_Simplified_Keyboard

The QWERTY keyboard layout survived the era of electrical typewriters and the digital age because it was the first standard design. Being first counts.

Answer 2

it somewhat is a shame. They QWERTY type has been around since 1873, the place it became into presented on Remington typewriters. It replaced an alphabetical format of keys; the subject became into that the bars on the typewriter would get caught at the same time in case you typed too rapidly and so letters that have been well-known have been separated. This made human beings type much less rapidly and the bars on the typewriter did no longer get caught as usually. we don't have this situation immediately with our digital keyboards, however the format won't likely in any respect replace.

Answer 3

Patty, and the other similar answers, is right. It is absolutely nothing whatsoever to with making typing easier, faster or more convenient, in English or any other language.

The QWERTY layout was designed specifically to NOT be convenient. It actively discourages fast typing. This is because the early American typewriters jammed when used fast.

The following link doesn't actually provide a clear answer. The BBC did a programme about typewriters recently and this was quite clear about the reason.

In a trial between models with different keyboard layouts the qwerty keyboard won because its operator had learned the key positions. This was the first example of touch-typing.

Answer 4

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. A business associate of Sholes, James Densmore, suggested splitting up keys for letters commonly used together to speed up typing by preventing common pairs of typebars from striking the platen at the same time and sticking together.

Answer 5

It's not for ease of typing or the vowels would all be along the center line.
It is indeed dating back to when manual typewriters were used. Touch typists could type to quick and the machines would jam. QWERTY reduced the speed slightly and spread the commonly used keys to reduce jams.
They have since tried new arrangements but none catch on and people revert back to QWERTY
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QWERTY

Answer 6

Because certain letters are used more often than others. This used to be a particular problem with manual typewriters as the keys used to jamb - the qwerty arrangement has been largely retained because it is relatively efficient - allowing for very fast typing.

Answer 7

Some smart person figured out usage and the letters are positioned so as to be easily involved in writing English. (Other languages have keyboards with letters in different positions.) Alphabetically would not be the fastest and once you have learned the arrangements on the keys, you start to see how quickly you can type/write.

Answer 8

they are arranged according to the probability of use in english language. try this if u had at in serial order then u wud have to use the "e" alphabet always since thats is the most commonly used one.
and look at the ther side its faster to type with both hands;what if they are in order then it doesnt create any words but what if they are equally distributed then u can type
a part of word with one while the rest with other.

Answer 9

Commonly used keys on an old typewriter were split apart to prevent the machine from jamming up. This is known as the QWERTY keyboard layout.

Answer 10

They are in the standard qwerty layout to accommodate touch typists. When typrewriters first came out, the keys were prone to jammin, and the qwerty keyboard was produced to slow the typist down! An attempt to change the layout for computers was mad, but met with howls of rage. That was as far as it got!