Feb8

qwerty.

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not me, but someone from back in the day 
who is frustrated by the illogical order of the keyboard.

have you ever wondered why the letters on the keyboard are organized the way they are? while it seems like the letters were randomly strewn across the keys, this method of organizing the keyboard was developed as way to slow down typists. back in 1872, typewriter users were typing too fast and causing the typewriters to jam. so, the QWERTY method actually kept the machines from breaking down and is still used today.

 

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“wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast. ”    

-william shakespeare

 

 

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source: mental floss, noam

 

92 responses »

  5. Interesting, though I never researched it or really thought about it, I understood they were designed so the most used keys were in the centre. Now that I look at the keyboard, your suggestion is probably more correct.

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  7. Although this particular topic didn’t make my list, I have a stronger “why” interest than I did as a child. Thank you for telling me the ‘why’ about this! Now, if only the question comes up in a trivia game, think of how smart I’ll sound!

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  8. That is interesting. I was one of the last generation I think to go to a typing institute and learn typing and stenography. I always thought the more frequent alphabets were place in the middle and not much frequent ones needed our tinybpinky fingers. This jogged up lot of memories!😃

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  9. In 1961, my mum was able to bring home a 1930s Adler typewriter from her office. The company had bought new machines, and were throwing out the old models. I was given it to put in my bedroom, and she showed me the basics of how to use it. I fell in love with typing at the age of 9, and still use a real Qwerty keyboard on my PC to this day. I wrote about it on my blog. (with photos)

    In Praise Of Typewriters


    Best wishes, Pete.

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  17. So that’s why it takes me so long to write my poems . Thanks for solving the mystery for me Beth. XXX

    On Tue, 8 Feb 2022, 10:03 I didn’t have my glasses on…., wrote:

    > beth posted: ” not me, but someone from back in the day who is frustrated > by the illogical order of the keyboard. have you ever wondered why the > letters on the keyboard are organized the way they are? while it seems like > the letters were randomly strewn acr” >

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  27. Funny what people think — I remember learning this from my Aunt Martha’s typing book. I’m a touch typist — not my life’s dream or anything — but I’m very grateful for that now. I don’t think the idea of the most commonly used letters eliminates the real reason for QWERTY, but I don’t think J is really a biggy nor is V 😉

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  31. I’ve developed my own typing system employing a combination of memorized keys and hunting and pecking with preferred fingers. I’m sure others type much faster than me, but it works for me.

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  34. I remember having keys stuck to each other when typing as an adolescent, trying to get done quickly. That makes perfect sense to me but it didn’t seem to help. Glad that’s not an issue anymore. I didn’t know this and now I do. It’s a good day when you learn something new!

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  35. I have heard various explanations for the keyboard configuration but I guess it does not affect me since I type with only one finger. I should have listened to my Mom when she tried to get me to take a class when I was 15.

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  39. Pingback: qwerty. – Nelsapy

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