

“Contrary to popular theories, the strange arrangement of typewriter keys wasn’t done in order to slow typists down,” Dr. Sholes rearranged the keys several times, as did his manufacturer. Zender, Sholes initially designed the typewriter with its keys in alphabetical order, but he found that letter pairs that were often used in English, like “S” and “T,” would jam if they were located side-by-side on the keyboard. “The Sholes & Glidden typewriter appeared in 1873, and it was such a runaway success commercially that its design was widely copied, particularly the curious arrangement of keys, with ‘Q-W-E-R-T-Y-U-I-O-P’ as the keys of the top letter row.” “The first practical, commercial typewriter was designed by the newspaper editor Christopher Sholes in the early 1870s,” Dr.

Marc Zender, Visiting Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Tulane University, said it’s likely-and explained the QWERTY keyboard.
Typewriter keyboard keys series#
In his video series Writing and Civilization: From Ancient Worlds to Modernity, Dr. Since humanity has moved on from clay tablets to handwriting, for example, will handwriting itself be outmoded? The history of writing has involved a number of media, including clay tablets, papyrus, quill and ink pens, printing presses, typewriters, computer keyboards, and all the innovations of the digital age. Although it doesn’t seem to be 100% functional, it does feature most of the moving parts of a standard typewriter. He received over 10,000 votes for his idea from other fans and the company picked up on it.

Photo By Kichigin / ShutterstockĪ British LEGO fan submitted an idea to the popular company to make a LEGO set which, when assembled, resembled a classic typewriter. Does history suggest keyboards in general will replace handwriting? The standard computer keyboard layout, which originated from typewriters, is still named QWERTY for the six letters of the top row of keys for the left hand. It features a functioning typebar, carriage, keys, and a platen roller. A 2,000-piece LEGO typewriter will be released for sale in July.
