The Origin of Qwerty

The QWERTY keyboard, so named for the first six letters on the top row, was not designed for efficiency.

Instead, it was designed to keep telegraph operators from jamming their machines.

In the mid-1800s, inventors Christopher Latham Sholes and Carlos Glidden were workshopping a machine that could write telegraph messages through type-bars.

With faster typing, these bars were prone to clash and get stuck.

To resolve this issue, the layout was designed to slow the typist down by placing the most used keys far apart from each other.

This original layout has become the standard keyboard setting we use today.

Even though the reason for its layout is no longer relevant — modern devices don't jam up like old typewriters — the QWERTY design stuck around and was passed on to typewriters, then onto computer keyboards, laptops and smartphones becoming ubiquitous around the world..