The Story Behind the Keyboard That's Used Every Day

by Dellany Onyango age, 9

In the late 19th century, the novel invention of the QWERTY keyboard changed the way of typing for decades to come. As the use of typewriters grew in popularity by journalists, poets, and other writers, the QWERTY keyboard became the standard. It is now the most common keyboard layout used, including on cell phones.

In the 1860s, Christopher Sholes, Samuel W. Soule, and Carlos Glidden, collaboratively created and patented the first commercially successful manual typewriter. This typewriter came with the QWERTY keyboard as the default. The keyboard was named after the first six letters on the top row of the keyboard which are q, w, e, r, t, y. The patent to this typewriter was then sold to a company by the name of E. Remington & Sons. This mechanical machine became commonly known as the Remington Typewriter.

There have been several attempts to create alternative keyboard layouts. The Dvorak keyboard was made in the 1930’s by Professor August Dvorak and gained some public popularity. However, it could not stand up to the widespread QWERTY keyboard.

The QWERTY keyboard is far from perfect, it was designed to be durable, not necessarily to make typing fast and easy. This keyboard layout can cause injury through strain on the fingers and wrists. It also can take longer to type on the QWERTY layout because the keys require more finger movement.

The typewriter, like the one created by Sholes, Soule, and Glidden, revolutionized written communication and helped lead to new technology. Today, the QWERTY keyboard layout continues to be used in computers and other electronic devices all over the world!

[Source: How Stuff Works]