QWERTY

from Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003)
QWERTY
 /kwer'tee/, adj.

   [from the keycaps at the upper left] Pertaining to a standard
   English-language typewriter keyboard (sometimes called the Sholes
   keyboard after its inventor), as opposed to Dvorak or non-US-ASCII
   layouts or a {space-cadet keyboard} or APL keyboard.

   Historical note: The QWERTY layout is a fine example of a {fossil}. It
   is sometimes said that it was designed to slow down the typist, but
   this is wrong; it was designed to allow faster typing -- under a
   constraint now long obsolete. In early typewriters, fast typing using
   nearby type-bars jammed the mechanism. So Sholes fiddled the layout to
   separate the letters of many common digraphs (he did a far from
   perfect job, though; `th', `tr', `ed', and `er', for example, each use
   two nearby keys). Also, putting the letters of `typewriter' on one
   line allowed it to be typed with particular speed and accuracy for
   {demo}s. The jamming problem was essentially solved soon afterward by
   a suitable use of springs, but the keyboard layout lives on.

   The QWERTY keyboard has also spawned some unhelpful economic myths
   about how technical standards get and stay established; see
   http://www.reasonmag.com/9606/Fe.QWERTY.html.
    
from The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
QWERTY
AZERTY

   <hardware> /kwer'tee/ (From the top left row of letter keys of
   most keyboards) Pertaining to a standard English-language
   typewriter keyboard (sometimes called the Sholes keyboard
   after its inventor), as opposed to {Dvorak} or
   foreign-language layouts (e.g. "keyboard AZERTY" in
   french-speaking countries) or a {space-cadet keyboard} or {APL
   keyboard}.

   The QWERTY layout is a fine example of a {fossil}.  It is
   sometimes said that it was designed to slow down the typist,
   but this is wrong; it was designed to allow *faster* typing -
   under a constraint now long obsolete.  In early typewriters,
   fast typing using nearby type-bars jammed the mechanism.  So
   Sholes fiddled the layout to separate the letters of many
   common digraphs (he did a far from perfect job, though; "th",
   "tr", "ed", and "er", for example, each use two nearby keys).
   Also, putting the letters of "typewriter" on one line allowed
   it to be typed with particular speed and accuracy for {demos}.
   The jamming problem was essentially solved soon afterward by a
   suitable use of springs, but the keyboard layout lives on.

   [{Jargon File}]

   (1998-01-15)
    

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