Is it true that the QWERTY layout was invented to prevent the jamming of the native keys on printing machines?

It is common that with the quick printing of the hammer responsible for neighboring letters, they adhered. The most common layout was invented to prevent it. We decided to check if this is so.

This version of the invention of the QWERTY layout can be found at resourcesdedicated to computer technologies, on thematic forums, cognitive And entertainment Internet-Portals, in the glossy magazines, on blogs on "Zen","Habre"And in"Live magazine". Users also write about this social networks.

QWERTY keyboard layout, so named after the first key of the upper row, is currently the most common standard For devices in countries using the English alphabet. It was developed in the early 1870s Christopher Showles, an American publisher and inventor-amateur who was standing At the origins creation and distribution of printing machines.

Initially, the keys on Showles cars were Located in alphabetical order. However, the legend says that with the rapidly pressing of the neighboring keys of the hammer, which were responsible for the print of the letter on paper, they were clutching each other, the printing machine jammed and the printing process had to be stopped. Allegedly, it was precisely to prevent such situations that Showles developed the layout of QWERTY, spreading the frequently found combinations of letters away from each other.

However, if we compare the most popular Combinations of letters In English with the location of the letter on the keyboard, it can be noted that, for example, the letters R and E (and their combinations Re and ER are one of the most frequent) are still nearby. And letters from the most popular combination - Th - close enough to each other. Moreover, on one of prototypes Showles cars at the site of the letter R had to be a point, so that this neighborhood could be avoided. But in the end, it was the machine with the usual arrangement of letters that fell into mass production. If the goal was to smash the frequently found letters as far as possible, why made an exception for some of them? In addition, in the text of the description of the invention in patent There is not a word that the QWERTY layout helps to reduce the frequency of seals when printing. And if it were so, such a competitive advantage should be mentioned first.

In addition, in the future, having already sold the rights to his invention of Remington, Showles continued to improve the device and received in 1896 patent On a machine where a completely different layout was presented. However, there are some frequently found combinations of letters (for example, N and T) were located nearby. So, Showles in the future was not guided by the idea of ​​prompting frequent combinations as far as possible from each other.

Another popular version The emergence of the usual location of the letters is that the letters necessary for the set of the word Typewriter (“printing machine” - English) are located in the upper row. This allegedly allowed sellers to gain this word with lightning speed, striking the imagination of customers, which, in turn, increased sales. However, to find historical evidence that would confirm this version, neither we nor other researchers were also able to.

Another common theory The popularity of the QWERTY layout states that the company Remington, which produced such cars, also opened the courses of the engineers, where she taught fast printing. Thus, the companies that needed the services of typing the text were forced to purchase such machines, since experts were best able to print on them. Perhaps the letters on the keyboard were specially located in an unobvious way, so that to master the quick print, it was necessary to study in courses. This created a kind of vicious circle: in order to master the seal on such machines, it was necessary to end a special school, and after graduating, it was most convenient to work on cars with such a layout. And all the profits - from the courses and the sale of cars - received Remington.

Historian Yan Noyes from the University of Lafboro (Great Britain) in 1983 studied documents related to the invention of QWERTY layout, examined all existing versions and came to conclusionThe obvious reason for just such a placement of letters on the keyboard simply does not exist.

In 2011, researchers from Kyoto University (Japan) put forward Another theory why the letters on the QWERTY keyboard are located in this way. The fact is that at the end of the 19th century, printing machines were often used to decipher messages transmitted through the telegraph using the ABC Morse. So, for example, in American Morse alphabet Z is designated as “· · · · ·”, and it was often confused with a combination of SE (S designated as “· · · · ·”, and e as “·”). Telegraphists often could not determine whether to use Z or SE until the next letters were received. In the QWERTY-dishes, unlike alphabetical ones, these letters are located close to each other, which allowed the telegraph operator to quickly dial the necessary letters as soon as he understood which of them was required. Japanese scientists also consider the version about an attempt to prevent jamming of the mechanism with a quick pressing of neighboring letters is unlikely.

Thus, there is not a single evidence that would confirm that the reason for the location of the letters on the QWERTY keyboard was an attempt to prevent jamming of hammers on neighboring letters. Moreover, if this were so, the inventors would surely mention this in the description of their product upon receipt of a patent. Some combinations often found in English are still quite close to each other, which partially refutes the theory under consideration. There are several more versions why the letters were located in this way, but not one of them has yet been confirmed for sure.

Most likely not true

What do our verdicts mean?

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