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The origin of the QWERTY keyboard layout

Did you know that the QWERTY keyboard layout was chosen to ensure that typists did not type too quickly?

When typewriters were still widely used, the letter arms would get tangled up if typed too quickly. The QWERTY layout was designed to slow down typists.

The QWERTY keyboard layout was developed in the 19th century by Christopher Sholes, an American inventor. It was designed for use with early typewriters and was primarily intended to prevent the mechanical arms of the keys from jamming. Sholes arranged the keys so that commonly used letters and letter combinations were spaced apart, reducing the likelihood of two keys colliding when typed quickly.

The QWERTY layout was widely accepted and has since remained the standard for most keyboards. Despite some criticism and the development of alternative layouts such as Dvorak and Colemak, the entrenched use and the effort required to switch have ensured that QWERTY remains the dominant keyboard layout in many parts of the world.

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