What is a QWERTY keyboard

Each element of the computer carries its own functional load. Thus, a keyboard is necessary for fast and comfortable typing, searching for the necessary information and controlling the computer. People use the device every day, but few people know why it is called QWERTY.

What is a QWERTY keyboard

This option is the most popular and widespread layout option. It appeared back in the days when texts were typed using typewriters. Probably, many users have repeatedly wondered why the letters are arranged this way and not in alphabetical order? But it was the alphabetical layout that existed before QWERTY. However, the design features of the typewriters used at that time, as well as the nuances of the English language, led to the emergence of QWERTY.

Many words in the English language are made up of letters next to each other in the alphabet. When typing, this often led to the machine keys clinging to each other and the printing device to fail. In 1873, the American Scholes found a way out of this situation, and the world saw the first typewriter with a QWERTY layout. It was the arrangement of the first six left letters that gave the name to the emerging layout variant.

Typewriter users appreciated the convenience and the QWERTY keyboard quickly began to be used everywhere. Now this option is used on almost all data input devices.

Features of the QWERTY layout

The inventor of this type of keyboard arranged the letters in this order for a reason. He optimized their placement so that the most frequently used ones are in the center. This made it possible to significantly increase the speed of typing, and a little later led to the emergence of the “Blind Data Typing Method”, which is still used today.

Since this method turned out to be very popular, it began to be used on mobile devices. If on touch devices you have to press one letter several times to select the required character, then on phones equipped with a QWERTY keyboard, the typing procedure is much easier and faster. In addition, this layout option makes using the device comfortable and makes it possible to perform tasks on the phone that are implemented on a personal computer, for example, quickly typing text, using mail, and others.

REFERENCE! If in the English version the keyboard is called QWERTY, then in the Cyrillic segment it is called YTSUKEN.

What other keyboards are there?

In addition to the QWERTY keyboard, there are several alternative layout options:

1. Dvorak. The layout was invented at the beginning of the 20th century by Professor August Dvorak. The basis was taken from Scholes' version, in which Dvorak slightly changed the location of the letters. Thus, the most frequently used letters began to be located under the index and thumb. This keyboard is not in demand among users. Mostly programmers work on it.
2. Colemak. The Latin layout was proposed in 2006. It is a hybrid of QWERY and Dvorak keyboards. The 10 basic letters and the BackSpace key are in the second row. And some key combinations can be pressed with one hand.
3. There are also several regional variants of the QWERY keyboard. They are made taking into account the alphabet of the country in which they are produced. In Germany and Eastern European countries this option is called QWERTZ, in French-speaking countries - AZERTY.

Despite existing alternatives, QWERTY remains the most popular keyboard used on all devices. It is ergonomic, comfortable and allows for fast typing.