Letters aren’t arranged alphabetically on a keyboard: Ever wondered why?

When you're tapping away on your phone or laptop, you might have noticed that the letters aren't set up in alphabetical order. Take a look at your keyboard or keypad - the first six letters in a row are QWERTY. Ever wondered why they're arranged that way? Well, it all goes back to the time when typewriters were first created. Want to know more about why these keyboards and keypads ended up with the QWERTY setup? Let's take a trip back in time to uncover the story behind it all.
Typewriters in the early stages
About two centuries ago, before the age of computers, people used to write everything by hand. Whether it was a simple letter or official paperwork, it was all done manually. But this method was slow and took a lot of time and effort. To tackle this issue, inventors came up with a brilliant invention known as the typewriter.
In 1829, an American scientist named William Austin Burt invented one of the earliest versions of the typewriter called the Typographer. However, despite its creation, it didn't become popular commercially. Why? Well, these early typewriters were huge and resembled heavy metal machines that worked similar to a piano.
Think about how a piano functions inside: pressing keys triggers levers to hit specific strings to create musical notes. Early typewriters operated somewhat similarly. They had many levers, each marked with a metal letter. When a key was pressed, its corresponding lever would strike the paper, imprinting the letter. But there was a catch – after each letter was typed, the paper had to shift slightly to align for the next letter. Initially, the keys were arranged in alphabetical order, but a major problem emerged. What was it? If you pressed two keys quickly in succession, the levers would get stuck or jam, especially when the keys were close together on the keyboard.
This issue was quite frustrating because it slowed down the typing process. Imagine trying to write quickly and having to deal with keys jamming constantly. This flaw led inventors to rethink the arrangement of the keys. They needed a layout that reduced the likelihood of keys jamming when used consecutively, which eventually led to the development of the QWERTY keyboard that we commonly use today.
QWERTY Keyboard Arrives
Even the more advanced and widely successful typewriter, created by American inventors Samuel W. Soule, Frank Haven Hall, Carlos Glidden, and Christopher Latham Sholes from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, faced this same problem. Christopher Sholes stepped in as the problem solver.
He experimented with various setups to prevent keys that were too close from jamming. The best arrangement he found looked a lot like the QWERTY keyboard we all use now. This layout debuted in the Sholes and Glidden Typewriter in the late 1870s, which was eventually sold to the American Remington Corporation. By 1877, they started producing and selling the first commercially successful typewriters, quite similar to the ones we're familiar with today!
From Modern keyboards to keypads: The journey
By 1910, typewriters had become standardized, all looking quite alike, until the game-changing arrival of the IBM Selectric, designed by American architect Eliot Noyes in 1961. Unlike traditional typebars, it used a spherical typeball, revolutionizing typewriting. This innovation completely eliminated the issue of jams, marking a new era for typewriters.
Fast forward to today, with the surge in popularity of gadgets like smartphones, new keyboard layouts are being explored. The challenge? Finding one that's compact yet precise. Enter the 'soft keyboard.' This approach involves a touchscreen display serving as the keyboard. Users input text by tapping on the virtual keys using their fingers or a stylus. It's a different way of typing, adapting to our changing tech landscape while offering a whole new typing experience.
Half QWERTY keyboards
Check out the Nokia E55—ever seen its unique half QWERTY keyboard layout? On this keyboard, two characters share a single key. This design choice reduces the total number of keys while enlarging the surface area of each key. It's particularly handy for mobile phones with limited keypad space. Essentially, the half-QWERTY keyboard combines an alphanumeric keypad (featuring both letters and numbers) with a QWERTY keypad, offering a practical solution tailored for mobile phones.