Look at your keyboard and the top row of letters begins Q-W-E-R-T-Y. The arrangement looks random, and it has been with us for about 150 years. The story behind it involves typewriter jams, telegraph operators and a lot of later myth-making.
Key Takeaways
- QWERTY developed from typewriters designed by Christopher Latham Sholes and colleagues in the 1870s.
- It was not designed simply to slow typists down; it likely evolved to reduce jams and through practical feedback.
- Remington’s commercial success made QWERTY the standard.
- Alternative layouts such as Dvorak exist, but evidence that they are dramatically faster is mixed.
The Sholes and Glidden typewriter
Christopher Latham Sholes, a Milwaukee newspaper editor and inventor, worked with Carlos Glidden and Samuel Soule on early typewriters in the late 1860s. Early models had keys arranged alphabetically in two rows.
The jamming problem
Early typewriters had typebars arranged in a circle beneath the paper. If two typebars next to each other were struck in quick succession, they could clash and jam. Separating commonly paired letters helped reduce this.
Telegraph influence
Researchers Koichi Yasuoka and Motoko Yasuoka argued in a 2011 paper that early typewriter users included telegraph operators transcribing Morse code, and that their needs shaped the layout. For example, the placement of some letters may relate to Morse code ambiguities. Historians still discuss the relative importance of these factors.
The Remington deal
In 1873 Sholes and his partners sold rights to E. Remington and Sons, the arms manufacturer. The Remington No. 1 typewriter, released in 1874, used an almost-QWERTY layout. Remington’s later models became very popular, and typing schools trained students on QWERTY. Once people learned one layout, switching was costly.
The “slow down” myth
It is often said that QWERTY was designed to slow typists down. It is more accurate to say it was designed to reduce jams, which could involve separating common letter pairs. Fast touch typing developed later.
Dvorak and other layouts
In the 1930s, August Dvorak and William Dealey patented the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard, placing common letters on the home row. Some studies suggested it was faster, but later reviews questioned how large the advantage was. Today Dvorak and Colemak have devoted users, but QWERTY remains standard for English.
Other languages
Variants include AZERTY, used in France and Belgium, and QWERTZ, used in Germany and Central Europe, adapted to different letter frequencies and characters.
The typewriter test
A popular claim is that “typewriter” can be typed using only the top row of a QWERTY keyboard, sometimes linked to salesmen demonstrating it. The word does fit on the top row, though the story is hard to verify.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I learn Dvorak? Some people find it more comfortable, but the switching cost and QWERTY’s ubiquity are drawbacks.
Why do phones use QWERTY? Familiarity. People already know it.
Did Sholes regret the design? He kept refining typewriter designs and filed later patents with different arrangements.
The bottom line
QWERTY grew from 1870s typewriter engineering and commercial success. Its staying power comes from habit more than design.
