Ask Mike: What’s up with QWERTY?
Hey Guys,
I’ve had the same keyboard here at work for nearly ten years. It’s now pretty (OK, very) disgusting due to the fact that I eat lunch at my desk. However, it still works perfectly. Well, almost. The “T” key is a bit finicky and the “numbers lock” key responds only when it wants to. And that got me thinking–why are keyboards laid out the way they are? Why is the “Q” key way up in the upper left-hand side? Who decided all this?
The story of the keyboard’s layout may seem like the dullest topic in the world, but it’s actually pretty interesting. Commonly referred to as the “QWERTY” keyboard, this landmark creation was first used in 1875 by Christopher Sholes.
One might think that the keys are arranged in this way to make typing as efficient as possible. I was always told that the letters you use the most are the ones nearest to the center. But I was misinformed. It turns out this layout was used because it is actually quite inefficient.
Back in 1875, people used typewriters with keyboards laid out in ABC order. Because folks typed so quickly, jamming was a common problem. Mr. Sholes couldn’t improve the mechanical aspects of the typewriter, so he would have to do the next best thing–get people to slow down. His solution was to arrange the letters in such a way so that the type bars wouldn’t get crossed up. Amazingly, it worked.
According to Idea Finder, the change reduced typewriter jamming drastically. Over time, the QWERTY became the standard. Inventors have since introduced alternatives, but nothing has caught on with the mainstream. One of the best known is the Dvorak Layout. HowStuffWorks breaks down the pros and cons.
What would it take to get you to switch to a new keyboard layout? Would you ever consider it? I might, provided the “T” key worked more than 50% of the time.
Thanks for reading,
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I’ve always wondered why the keyboard was set out the way it is. Very interesting post.
Thanks.
I’m too set in my ways to change to another keyboard layout. My fingers would refuse to work and then poise to attack anyone getting in the way. Such an operation might become useful to those first learning to type, but not for the old writers that had long depended upon the QWERTY system.
In the end I suppose a newer keyboard would hit the market for those interested in learning the improved way; I’m not entirely certain such a change will take hold right away until the old typists, having had used the Underwoods, the Remingtons, the Royals, the IBM Selectrics, and then the mighty keyboards of Microsoft and WordPerfect, would die off.
Interesting concept for creative minds.
aww. i always wondered about it but was too lazy to look it up
thanks.
Maybe the ultimate future is either the end of keyboards altogether (speech, gesture, handwriting), or a multi-tap system such as Quinkey.
Maybe computers should use something like T9 for input, though there have been a few utilities and editors with prediction.
Sorry Mike, but you’re wrong. The point of the QWERTY layout was not to slow people down (as it didn’t work, typists got quite fast any how), the goal was to make it so frequenty used successive letters weren’t on adjacent typebars to keep them from interfering with each other.
Thanks for the article! I never knew any of this. I think it would take a lot to get me to change keyboard layouts.. I can type 100 WPM on my QWERTY, so I don’t want to change. =)
This version of things is widely popular, but widely questioned. In the early 1900s, there were typing contests, for speed – the most consistent winner was QWERTY. It’s thought that commonly used letters are farther apart, making them less likely to jam at high speeds.
Dvorak spread this when he was trying to market his alternative keyboard.
PS: QWERTY has some ergonomic advantages over dvorak (your hands move up and down more, which is more like natural motion), and there are a lot who think that’s a big reason why QWERTY continues to survive.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typewriter#Keyboard_layouts:_.22QWERTY.22_and_others
http://organizationsandmarkets.com/2009/01/19/more-evidence-against-qwerty/
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/01/25/intelligent-errors-are-totally-book/
hmmmm..
very interesting
Mike, in college and for many years thereafter, while using the QWERTY keyboard, I achieved a typing speed of 128 words a minute. Today on the computer keyboards that’s not fast, but back then, on a typewriter, it was really fast.
Back in the late ’80s, I did try the Dvorak keyboard. My lead operator insisted that for more speed in our word processing center, we needed the Dvorak keyboards. Two operators quit and after a week’s trial with no work going out, she gave up and let us have our keyboards back. If you never used the QWERTY, a Dvorak would be great. But after years of use, trying to switch was more time consuming and therefore more costly to my employers than leaving us alone. I have been typing now for 66 years. Too late for me!
but if people type often enough they’ll type faster, so it wouldnt help to slow them down. i know this cuz when i first started typing hebrew it took me forever, and now it’s much faster (not as fast as english though).
Have a look at carpalx website; just google it up.
The author (a scientist, who does lots of such research as a hobby), performed what is probably the best-to-date computer-aided comparison of major keyboard layouts.
QWERTY scores very badly in compare to every alternative, and almost in every category.
Dvorak is better, although not best.
The third most popular alternative is Colemak, which was designed with computer users in mind (ZXCV are not moved, so that one can keep on using their Copy/Paste shortcuts), and it’s supposed to be easier to learn.
I tried Colemak, there were things I didn’t like about it (I’m testing carpalX layouts now), but I have to admit that it’s not so difficult to learn.
It didn’t take me long to get to 40-50 wpm speed: slow, but I know lots of long-time QWERTY users who can’t go faster than that anyway. (My QWERTY record is 129 wpm / 1 minute).
> This version of things is widely popular,
> but widely questioned. In the early 1900s,
> there were typing contests, for speed –
> the most consistent winner was QWERTY
Of course, because this was already the most popular layout.
The fastest typist ever was Barbara Blackburn though, and she used Dvorak.
PS. This is a well known trivia perhaps, but deserving of a brief reflection – QWERTY puts all the letters of the word “TYPEWRITER” in the top row.
Does it help us in our everyday typing? Of course not. It was supposed to help the first salesmen to do demonstrations
This fact by itself shows just how little importance did QWERTY attribute to overall ergonomy.
Thanks mike, I found your article quite interesting. I would try a different layout on a keyboard in a NY second. I am the world’s worst and slowest typist. I am sixty years old and got a 3.6 GPA in college but I can’t type without looking at the keys. That’s pretty shameful.
I really don’t think I would like to have the keyboard any other way. I like the QWERTY! I think if it was changed now I’d go crazy!
Very interesting article by the way!
Thanks for the read! Now I’m really interested in trying out Dvorak, but no one seems to make Dvorak keyboards (for obvious marketing reasons).
I, personally, like the “QWERTY” keyboard and I think that it should stay the same. After all, it is what we are used to! Fyi… no one wants to have to take keyboarding class again! It was bad enough the first time…
Yes, I’ve heard both versions…that it was developed for efficiency, or help us pace our typing. Either way, I’m glad I took typing lessons as a kid. Once you get that good old FFF drill into your head, it’s there forever!
It’s been shown that the QWERTY layout is more efficient than the alphabetical. Efficiency increases if your hands alternate between letters; the English language is biased towards the start of the alphabet, so an alphabetical layout would produce a bias. The QWERTY layout is essentially random, so it would be more likely to cause switching between letters.
And Dvorak for the win. aoeuidhtns!
It’s not the keyboard that slows me down, it’s my hands…
Interesting post!
Wow, way to spread misinformation.
Where did you check your “facts”, Mike?
In fact, the first link in your article contradicts you!
“For years, popular writers have accused Sholes of deliberately arranging his keyboard to slow down fast typists who would otherwise jam up his sluggish machine. In fact, his motives were just the opposite.”
That’s quite interesting, because I was also always told in school that it was arranged this way for convenience and not the other way around.
Unfortunately I’ve been typing this way for a long time now and I think my fingers are too dumb to learn any other way!
Yup, this is true, I learned it in school!
QWERTY is the new setting they place way back in the days of typewriters the keys sucked they jammed all the time so they set it so it would take them more time to hit the keys they wanted so it was harder so the type writer tended to unjam before pushing another button
when they did get better keys everyone was so used to it that they just kept qwerty
What about the AZERTY layout used in France or QWERTZ in Germany for example ?
I’ll just stick with what I have because my fingers and brain don’t always work together. I have arthritis and somedays it works good and sometimes not. Your article was interesting and nice to learn new ways but as for me I’ll just keep plugging away the way I do now.
It makes sense now that I think about it. “Y” is the center of the keyboard and it isn’t used as much as some other letters. : )
i know all i hear is about QWERTY keyboards. And did u know QWERTY are all put together.on the keyboard well atleast on my laptop, but people are talking about it like its heaven and Earth. The QWERTY is cool. I can see why. Easy to txt.
It is actualy the brain that commands the fingers to the right keys that makes for faster typewriting.
Wow, I learned this from my ‘ol typing teacher
.
Thanks! I’ve always wondered about that.
I’ve used QWERTZ in Switzerland, and it took me forever to stop messing up the y and the z. Then I moved back to the US and had to readjust. I also spent part of my time in Switzerland living over the border in France, and trying to use AZERTY drove me crazy. I’ve been a touch typist since high school, so it’s hard to change, though I’m sure I would with enough practice. I remember typing teacher having us type to dorky sounding music so we’d get better rhythm and not get the keys stuck. It worked.
Can I just say that I don’t miss setting tag stops, trying to space the footnotes, using an eraser – especially with carbons, and setting margins for Pica and Elite fonts? QWERTY is about the only hold over I’ll keep!
Nice post. Very interesting =}
I don’t understand why the Dvorak Vs QWERTY is an issue. there is already mapping characters
to different keys. I would think that all keyboards could be manufactured so that the letters can be in any location by simply lighting up the letter on the keyboards – at the users preference.
then, gradually, the standard characters layout would migrate towards the most efficient layout.
there would still need to be a standard lay out for
teaching purposes.
I was thinking of this recently! Like yesterday or so. I feel really psychic! woah.
WOW! you really got me thinking this is a wonderful post very informative i love it i feel so smart lol
Thanks, I’ve been wondering about this for a long time now. So this is why…………
I read about this last week, and i tried desperately to share my new found knowledge with my friends and family. I mostly just got strange looks and “change the subject” eyes; it’s nice to see I’m not the only one with too much time on my hands!
Also, did you know you can write something like 3000 more English words using your just your left hand than you can with only your right.
Man I’m dull…
I was in the process of learning the DVORAK keyboard under the tutiorial Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing program. I would have to reconfigure the QWERTY keyboard to be setup as the DVORAK. Now that we don’t have keys that get stuck it would be nice to have your most common keys on the home row instead of reaching.
Jabril
I have owned and used a left handed computer keyboard for years. I was priorly in peril of the official wrist slashing for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome as my right hand got too much of a bashing over the arrow and number keys being out to the right. Pushing most of the keys over to the left balanced the load.
It has been pointed out the typewriter is already one of the most left handed things a man can own. It is of note it took a year or so to get used to the layout of a left handed keyboard but you will get safer ergonomics by not destroying your right wrist.
qwerty is also a kind of scrabble game played at pogo.com
Thnx for this info.
What’s so upsetting for SOME people is that there is no one named QWERTY! Most people today would want the keyboard layout named after them! So, to our tiny, conceited minds, it perplexes us that no one wanted to take credit for this.
Actually a couple years ago a company did make a keyboard in alphabetical order. it was somewhat designed for little kids and older people who had a hard time typing. but the problem was reviews got used to the QWERTY keyboard and it was a big flop for reviewers. they just could not get used to it and of course, and any child growing up would have to get used to a QWERTY keyboard anyway so it didn’t go very far
I switched to Dvorak about seven years ago. It took me about a month to get used to it. I like it so much better than QWERTY. I can type faster than before, and it’s more comfortable with less finger travel. I watch the screen when I type with Dvorak, but I have to watch the keyboard when I type on QWERTY.
The QWERTY was created so that you are less likely to hit two keys that are right next to each other and jam. On typewriters; the keys flip up to the paper and gets stuck on each other on the way. Try flipping two fingers, you see they separate? On the typewriter these two fingers will hit exact same spot, now try that, then they pull back to almost same place… they don’t separate, but if you try with index and little-finger, they separate on the way back, they do not jam. There are several other keyboard layouts you can download. There are also keymapping programs that you use to change the address of any keys on keyboard, then you can pull out and put keys on somewhere else on keyboard. I used to do this in school, because I liked to have the letters F U C K right next to each other next to ENTER-key because it was so convenient to just hit the 5 keys in madness, it looks funny, and the next person to use the computer is cursing at the keyboard. I recently used a keymapping software on a keyboard that had many nonworking keys because of a spill of soda, now the keyboard works fine because I could use several keys that are not for keys that I didn’t have, for example; I didn’t have ENTER-key, so I remapped the right SHIFT to become ENTER.
um… i dont mean to be rude.. but this is the first one i ever saw.. and um.. i think its wrong.. dont get mad or anything… but its called qwerty because thats the first few letters in the top row.. there is also 2 types of keyboards qwerty and one with d (i think dext something) but thats just what my computing teacher told me… other then that… its an O.K. post… oh and flip the keyboard upside down then shake it and it SHOULD get some of those pesky crumbs out of the keyboard… but shake like you mean it if you want it out!
Okay… I learned this in middle school. This information is part of a curriculum for a 12 year old… ho hum.
**Qwert Yuiop was a hungarian inventor who invented the keyboard and thats how he left his signature..
KEWL! I never knew why it wasn’t just laid out in ABC order. I sort of got confused there though when you said you found out it was laid out in QWERTY order to slow people down, until i read on.
Qwerty is the computer on veggie tales thats sooo random i just realized why
That’s really interesting!!
I have always wondered why it was all muddled. I like it though, I think it would be annoying if they were all in ABC order.
Thanks for this post, that’s awesome !
It’s not to slow people down!
Very interesting and a pretty neat story. It is amazing how your mind remembers which keys are what after learning how to type. Kinda like riding a bike I guess..lol.
this was great. i love having knowledge on topics you wouldnt normally hear in a conversation. lol
having been taught typing using this layout way back in the 6th grade, I’m way too used to this to change now, even if another way is more effecient.
habits die hard. like old folks and their refusal to change, I stand my ground for the QWERTY.
Another nuisance is that the keys are not directly on top of each other, but skewed to the side, a leftover from mechanical typewriters. Some “ergonomic” keyboards did away with that odd angle but they could not be sold in large quantities.
Greetings from QWERTZUIOPÜ country!
This is interesting. I learned to type professionally when I was 11 and I hated typing school and used to curse the inventor of the Qwerty keyboard (I didn’t know it was called that then).
I am very fast so I guess that guy’s plan in 1875 didn’t work much.
Hehe, good old QWERTY.
Why is it so funny to me? I never knew that it was called that, and obviously neither did my sis. She was playing SIMS on the computer and couldn’t find a name for one of the guys. So, as you may have guessed, Qwerty the Sim came into existence. Everything bad that is imaginable happened to that guy. I guess the name “Qwerty” is bad luck! 8P We have somehow picked up the line “Poor Qwerty” because of his misfortune, and five years later I find out that that is actually a very commonly used name for a keybord! So much for originality…
Dvorak is great. I’ve used it for years, so much faster.
The best thing is when people try to use your computer they get absolutely baffled.
I would hope that we could eventually get to the day when each person can customize they’re own keyboard. We’re not too far off, considering that they already have keyboards where the keys are imposed onto a panel. Until then nothing will replace the QWERTY because it’s everywhere!
thats cool, never knew that?
I cannot type without loooking at the key bourd. I tried to learn, but I couldn’t. I type fast, though but i dont fly.
Lucee, 128WPM is NOT FAST??? What are you talking about? How many people do you know that can type faster than that?? I don’t think I have even been able to break 100! Exactly what is your definition of ‘fast’?
lol Ryan! So Roy G. Biv invented the colors of the rainbow? BTW, Qwert Yuiop is a very strange name!
Okay. I feel quite talented. I’ve been reading most of these comments, and you people can type pretty fast. I’m 12 years old, and my fastest record for typing is 90 words per minute. My average speed varies, but its usually 75 words per minute. And I thought I was slow! But this information you’ve provided us with is quite interesting, but I’m not too sure it’s exactly accurate. I’ve heard plenty of alternatives to this story.
wow, very interesting..i had always wondered why it was the way it is..
thanx for the interesting topic..
:]
good i usually get confused with why it was arranged the way it is .
Impressive!! bravo
Is it possible to buy keyboards with keys in alphabetical order? I want one so I can type faster. Are keys jamming due to overly fast typing even an issue nowadays? Maybe in 1875 they didn’t have the technology to prevent keys from jamming, but surely nowadays they do, no matter how fast someone types.
Interesting… whenever I’ve been presented with an ABC keyboard, I type very slowly, but I am fairly quick on a QWERTY keyboard. I don’t think I have to switch.
I am in a keyboarding class in7th grade. We had to copy a three page essay on QWERTY. For me it was very boring.
BORING!!!!
O_o
Have another one available to buy.
I am in the market today, and I am 70 years old.
thanks! you helped my rember my password to CP!
ha ha i just typed this really fast! qwerty hasn’t slowed me down one bit!!!!!!!!! he he he he he he ha ha ha ha!!!!!!
Interestingly, computer keyboard ‘language’ used to be switchable in the control panel to “Standard”, Dvorak, and a couple others. It wasn’t an issue of a different physical keyboard. You just pop off the keys and replace them in their new positions. I just checked in Windows XP, but it isn’t there, so maybe I’m remembering my very old Apple IIgs system. Maybe the keyboards are still software switchable on Mac systems, not apparently in Windows.
Note that I used the term “Standard”, not “QWERTY”. I stumbled upon this article because I was wondering who decided to rename the keyboard layout to ‘qwerrty’ and when they did it. It’s a new phenomenon with the internet, every person of average intelligence is out there trying to ‘invent’ new and improved English-language words. Some not-so-bright person has renamed the ‘Standard’ Keyboard a “QWERTY” Keyboard. This is just one of the many new but not-necessarily-improved ‘words’ being thrown (rather forcefully) into the English language in the past 10-20 years..
A correction or two to my previous post… it was called “Keyboard Layout” not keyboard ‘language’. And ‘Standard’ keyboard layouts actually came in 2 versions if I’m remembering properly, Standard-US and Standard_Europe, a 2 key switch, if i remember properly. If anyone has any information in furtherance of my above comments (when some idiot started calling a Standard Keyboard a ‘QWERTY’ Keyboard, and more specifics on switchable keyboard layouts), please comment!
lol Ryan! So Roy G. Biv invented the colors of the rainbow? BTW, Qwert Yuiop is a very strange name!
If you do a search for ‘qwerty’ on any filesharing program (LimeWire, eDonkey, etc), you’ll find illegal kiddy-porn. Not sure a keyboard style should be renamed from ‘standard’ to ‘qwerty’, thereby renaming it after a code-word for kiddy-porn… Just my $.02.
I use Dvorak full time, and I love it! Not only is it much faster than qwerty, almost all keyboards today are in the qwerty format which means you have to know the Dvorak layout to even attempt to use it. (In other words, it forces you away from hunt and peck.)
I have also been using the Dvorak keyboard for several years. Here are a few of my experiences:
On the plus side:
Using QWERTY I had several bad habits and learning a new keyboard allowed me a new start to correct them.
I find Dvorak more accurate and therefore faster.
Since I have physically changed the mapping of the keys on my laptop other people hate using my computer.
Using Dvorak mapping on QWERTY keyboards actually helps me touch type.
I can still type fairly fast (with a couple fingers) using QWERTY if I have to.
On the negative side:
I have to switch keyboard layouts in the operating system each time I other computers
It took several months to reach a comparable level of typing speed/accuracy.
I can not touch type user names/passwords to login to these computers
Keys such as XZWV are not in convenient places for keyboard shortcuts
Some games do not support Dvorak or offer remapping so using WASD in place of the arrows isn’t possible.
If I forget to logout of a shared computer, other users cannot log me out because they can not type.
All in all I am glad that I have made the change, but this is mostly because I like to be different and I absolutely HATE when things are done because “that is the way they have always been done”.
Hello,
I too have switched keyboards. I now use Dvorak. Let me tell you that when I first switched, it wasn’t easy. But I am now into my 6th or 8th month in it, and I am happy to say that my WPM has surpassed that of QWERTY, and so has my accuracy, I can still type QWERTY, and I am glad I have switched. I really can’t understand why more people don’t switch to this more efficient layout.
That is great! I saw my cell phone keypad referred to as a qwerty and was like what the heck is that….never occured to me to just look down!
The qwerty key board was made by trial and error since people wanted to type with both hand, they need a way to work with both hands, it would be hard and slow if only one hand was writing the whole thing. the person experimented until it got to the perfect layout.
I’d rather not to have the ‘n’ next to the ‘m’ and the ‘v’ next to the ‘b’