By separating the most commonly used letter combinations to slow typists down Sholes resolved the problem by inventing what became commonly known as the QWERTY keyboard. The name Qwerty derives from the first six characters on the top, left hand alphabetic line of the keyboard in the order of Q W E R T Y. The Keyboard Who invented the Keyboard? Inventions and Inventors Index. Cookies Policy.
By Linda Alchin. Privacy Statement. Also in , Sholes and his colleagues entered into a deal with Remington, the well-known gun-maker. Right before the first machine developed with Remington went into production, Sholes filed another patent — this time, for the familiar QWERTY keyboard we all know. Both the deal with Remington and the keyboard layout proved to be a huge success. In , the top typewriter manufacturers merged to form the Union Typewriter Company, and agreed to feature the QWERTY keyboard as the standard design from that point forward.
As the Smithsonian explains:. In a paper, the [Kyoto University] researchers tracked the evolution of the typewriter keyboard alongside a record of its early professional users. They conclude that the mechanics of the typewriter did not influence the keyboard design. He continued his tinkering, and continued to invent improvements and alternatives to the typewriter for the remainder of his days, including a number of designs he deemed as more efficient than QWERTY.
Skip to content Site Navigation The Atlantic. Popular Latest. The Atlantic Crossword. Sign In Subscribe. The researchers tracked the evolution of the typewriter keyboard alongside a record of its early professional users. They conclude that the mechanics of the typewriter did not influence the keyboard design. One such invention was an early typewriter, which he developed with Samuel W. The earliest typewriter keyboard resembled a piano and was built with an alphabetical arrangement of 28 keys.
The team surely assumed it would be the most efficient arrangement. After all, anyone who used the keyboard would know immediately where to find each letter; hunting would be reduced, pecking would be increased.
Why change things? The popular theory states that Sholes had to redesign the keyboard in response to the mechanical failings of early typewriters, which were slightly different from the models most often seen in thrift stores and flea markets.
The type bars connecting the key and the letter plate hung in a cycle beneath the paper. If a user quickly typed a succession of letters whose type bars were near each other, the delicate machinery would get jammed. However, one of the typewriter prototypes had a slightly different keyboard that was only changed at the last minute. If it had been put into production this article would have been about the QWE.
TY keyboard:. Form follows function and the keyboard trains the typist. That same year, Sholes and his cohorts entered into a manufacturing agreement with gun-maker Remington, a well-equipped company familiar with producing precision machinery and, in the wake of the Cilvil War, no doubt looking to turn their swords into plowshares.
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