Carol DM
If you’ve ever looked down at your keyboard and wondered why it’s not in alphabetical order, you’re not alone. But who came up with the current design, anyway? A few popular myths abound, but one Japanese study got to the root of it. (Hint: This design dates back way farther than you think.)
Myth #1: The keyboard is designed in accordance with letter usage to allow for the fastest typing possible.
This idea makes sense: Designers must have looked at the varying degrees of usefulness of each letter and attempted to evenly split them between each hand. That way, we could type quickly and not have one hand doing more work than the other.
Myth #2: The design is a relic of the typewriter era, and was engineered to stop the machine from jamming.
This myth is the opposite of the first, and alleges that the QWERTY design was meant to slow typists down in order to stop the typewriter from jamming. While it’s unclear whether or not separating the useful keys makes typing a slower endeavor or a faster one (as the creators of the first myth would argue), this one’s also been debunked.
The truth: The design is a hand-me-down from morse code transcribers.
It’s an interesting idea, but now that we’ve moved from morse code to iPhones, we’re thinking it might be time for a new system.
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Question of
Have you ever wondered why the letters are not in ABC order?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
Do you think the keyboard should be changed to ABC order?
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Yes
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No
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I would have a big problem with changing the keyboard …. I use this keyboard since high school (about 40 years)
I know, I hope it doesn’t change.
I thought about it too but then if they do change the layout now, I’ve to re-adjust my typing habits …
and I do see how its better some alphabets are not that close …
I know it’s a little late now to start changing things.
honestly speaking, never really wonder why the keys are set like this, i knew for a fact that it is for easy accesiblity purposes.
What I wonder is if it will be changed and we will learn over again, will it result as the same now?
I hope they leave it alone since we are all used to it now.
i agree with you..enough is enough, it is even difficult to type in a computer without the protuding keys to touch and press
I have always wondered, no keep it like this now! I just learned how to peck out this combination.
I know, they should leave it alone.
I thought the first myth to be true, good to know. ?
Yes it goes way back to the morse code days.
An article that is worth reading and adds to my knowledge.
Thanks, I thought it was very interesting as I have often wondered why they were trying to make it hard on us to learn the keyboard. 🙂
I have been asking myself for a long time since my sister went to the secretary academy, where she often told me how she had to learn to remember all the letters in ten fingers and at a measurable speed. It’s just that, I never tried to find the answer, and now you give it!