Every day we face dozens of secrets. And in order to find them, it is not at all necessary to spy on someone else's personal life and fish out someone's skeletons from closets. Just looking around is enough.
One of the household mysteries right now is at your fingertips. Why are the letters on the keyboard arranged in such a strange order? 
Let's try to figure it out.
Do you think you are fast at typing on the keyboard? Do you make a lot of mistakes? Perhaps if the letters were in alphabetical order, things would be much more productive? Japanese researchers asked this question and tried to find out why, instead of the “normal” arrangement of keys, the whole world uses the QWERTY (or in the Russian version YTSUKEN) layout. Documents have been raised, answers have been found, and in parallel, two popular myths about the origin of the modern keyboard have been debunked.
Myth 1: QWERTY layout was designed for speed typing and because of the low "popularity" of individual letters
This version is the most common and quite logical. At first sight. But practical studies have shown that if the subjects used exclusively a specially designed keyboard with a different arrangement of letters for some time, they got used to it. And the dialing speed practically did not differ from working with QWERTY.
Myth 2: the keyboard is a descendant of the typewriter, and there the QWERTY order helped to avoid “freezing”
This version was completely opposite to the first. Its essence was that the unusual and "illogical" layout of the keys on the typewriter was supposed to slightly confuse typists. They could not print at high speed and, accordingly, the typewriter did not freeze. And everyone was happy. But the counterargument to an interesting theory lies on the surface: rote memory. That was proved by the experiment from the previous paragraph. Over time, we adapt to any conditions, so you can learn to type quickly and almost blindly on an "illogical" keyboard.
Truth: Thank you morse code
It turned out that the first prototypes of modern keyboards were provided with just the same alphabetic layout. And they began to "test" them on telegraph operators. Testers who had to quickly transcribe messages found the alphabetical order annoyingly awkward. And in order to work more efficiently with Morse code, they offered their own version - QWERTY. The proposal was heard, and after a few years all telegraphs switched to QWERTY. And behind them is the rest of the printed world.
The arrangement of letters on a computer keyboard is a legacy of typewriters that appeared in the 19th century.
The principle of operation of such a machine is simple. When a finger strikes a key with a letter, a lever (hammer) with a cast matrix of this letter on top is activated. He strikes a ribbon soaked in ink between the paper and the mallet, and thus leaves an imprint on the paper. When typing, the hammers alternately hit the drum with paper.
On the first typewriters, invented by Christopher Sholes, the letters on the keys were located in alphabetical order, in two rows. In addition, it was possible to print only in capital letters, and there were no numbers 1 and 0 at all. They were successfully replaced by the letters "I" and "O". At first, this suited everyone. However, over time, the printing speed became more and more, and then such machines revealed a serious problem: individual hammers did not have time to return to their place and constantly interlocked with each other. Very often, attempts to separate them led to a breakdown of the machines.
And this happened because English alphabet there are a lot of neighboring letters that are used more often than others (for example, p-r, n-o). As a result, it often turned out that adjacent keys were pressed one after another, which led to the clutch and jamming of the hammers.
Typewriter manufacturers have learned and developed a keyboard in which letters often found in texts were placed away from the index fingers (after all, before the invention of the "blind" ten-finger method, they typed mainly with the index fingers). This is how the famous QWERTY keyboard layout (according to the first letters of the top row from left to right) appeared, which is still used today. She migrated to computer keyboards, although the problem of clutching levers (hammers) does not exist on them at all.
QWERTY keyboard
It must be admitted that the arrangement of letters on the QWERTY keyboard is far from the most rational. Much more convenient is the layout, which was invented by Arthur Dvorak, professor of statistics at the University of Washington. In it, frequently used letters are in the middle and upper rows. Under the left hand in the middle row are all the vowels, and under right hand are the most frequent consonants.
In this case, the load on the hands is more balanced. Judge for yourself: in an 8-hour working day, our fingers travel about 2 km on a Dvorak keyboard, while on a traditional QWERTY keyboard the same figure is already 7 kilometers. Accordingly, the typing speed on the Dvorak keyboard is 2 times higher compared to the QWERTY keyboard.
Dvorak keyboard
How are things with the Russian keyboard? Why are the letters on it in that order and not otherwise? The fact is that in Russia typewriters, like all technical innovations, appeared much later than in the West. By this time, many design flaws have already been eliminated. And the Russian keyboard was originally designed as ergonomic, that is, with a convenient and rational arrangement of keys. The most frequently used letters were placed under the strongest and fastest index fingers, and the rarer ones were placed under the weakest ring fingers and little fingers.
Unfortunately, the Russian computer keyboard also has drawbacks. For example, for a comma, which is used, you see, very often, they did not bother to allocate a separate key, but placed it on the same key on which the dot is located - in upper case! Therefore, in order to print a comma, you need to press two keys. Maybe that's why modern schoolchildren who like to surf the Internet miss commas so often? ..
The letters on the keyboard at first sight of the uninitiated are arranged in a chaotic order, not alphabetically. If you delve into history and remember the distant 19th century, when there were printed ones, the developers were not worried about the arrangement of letters on the keyboard, they thought only about the process of transferring letters to paper. But soon they saw that they began to sink, clinging to each other from the frequency of use. And in 1868, mathematician Christopher Sholes decided to come up with a new layout of letters. He simply spaced frequently used letters further apart.
Scattering the letters over different ones, he solved the problem of sticking keys, and an ingenious layout was born - the so-called QWERTY. It is named after the first letters of the first row on the keyboard. It is the location of the letters that is customary to use on 98% of the world's keyboards.
McGurrin Method
The blind method allowed not to look at the keyboard, but to type with all fingers (index fingers were more often used).
The ten-finger method on the ergonomic keyboard has raised typing speed by new level and increased the productivity of typists and secretaries.
For many years of research in mathematics, scientists, stenographers have tried to improve the keyboard layout, it is clear that the arrangement of letters in alphabetical order was extremely inconvenient for work. Carrying out their measurements, all of them, in fact, came to a brilliant discovery that simplified the life of mankind for many centuries to come.
QWERTY keyboards are so popular and ergonomic that manufacturers are actively using them today mobile phones. In addition, the habit of the letter row of the keyboard allows you to save time when typing SMS.
2% balance
What keyboard layout do the other 2% of users use? The American psychologist and professor at the University of Washington, August Dvorak, based on the original layout, invented his own convenient arrangement of letters. But his teachings were ridiculed and soon forgotten altogether. Nevertheless, his work on ergonomics, a science based on the adaptation of the workplace, objects and objects of labor to a person, was not forgotten and was taken into account in the Windows version.
This layout is called the “Dvorak layout” after its creator. Based on scientifically proven facts, it follows that the non-alphabetical layout is the most convenient for users.
The progenitors of today's computer keyboard are typewriters, which you might have seen in old movies. The first of them appeared in the 19th century. There were many models, but they all worked on the same principle. Keys were placed on the surface of the machine. Keys with a certain letter set the hammer in motion. The hammer on the top had a three-dimensional matrix of the same letter as on the key. He hit the tape. The tape was impregnated with paint, and was located between the hammer and paper, on which each letter was imprinted. The hammers took turns drumming on the paper, typing entire texts.
The first successful typewriters were the invention of K. Scholes. The letters on such copies were arranged alphabetically on two rows. All of them had same size, taking the form of only capital letters. There were no numbers on this keyboard. They were successfully replaced by some letters of the English alphabet. People typing on such typewriters over time, gaining skill, began to type faster than before. And suddenly it turned out that the machine could not work at such a print speed. 
And the thing is that the hammers, imprinting the letters, must have time to return to their original position. And they didn't succeed. Moreover, they often began to get confused and interlocked, and it took precious time to separate the hammers, and often, due to the interweaving, the machine simply fell into disrepair.
It turns out that the English alphabet is rich in neighbor letters, they are used more often than others. When sequentially pressing the neighboring keys, the hammers could interlock and jam.
Manufacturers thought about this problem and decided that it was necessary to create a new keyboard on which the letters would be located differently. Special tables were studied that showed the frequency of use of various combinations of letters in words. Those letters, the combinations of which were encountered most often, were located on the keyboard far from each other. Now the hammers of these letters worked without intersecting.
Working on such a keyboard allows you to type at high speed, in addition, this layout, which is still used by the whole world, allows you to work with all fingers. You probably already know her too. They call it QWERTY. Look at the top row of keys. The first five keys from left to right are labeled with these letters.
There are no complex mechanisms of hammers on the computer keyboard, and it would seem that such an arrangement of letters is not at all necessary here, but everyone is so used to this layout that they simply use it without thinking about why the letters are arranged in this way.
Many scientists are still developing new layouts that will help type text even faster, while the load on the hands will be less.
A. Dvorak, a professor at the University of Washington, came up with his own version of the layout. The most common letters occupy the middle and top rows in it. By left hand frequent vowels are located, and on the right - frequent consonants.
The professor claims that the load when using his keyboard is gentle. Just imagine that for a whole working day, fingers, using the professor's layout, overcome a path of 2 km on the keys. On the classic QWERTY layout, such work will take a longer distance of 7 km.
Pay attention except English letters Russians are placed in a special order on the keyboard. They are arranged according to the following scheme: the index fingers work with the most used letters of the alphabet, and the ring and little fingers get all the rest.
The arrangement of letters on a computer keyboard is a legacy of typewriters that appeared in the 19th century.
The principle of operation of such a machine is simple. When a finger strikes a key with a letter, a lever (hammer) with a cast matrix of this letter on top is activated. He strikes a ribbon soaked in ink between the paper and the mallet, and thus leaves an imprint on the paper. When typing, the hammers alternately hit the drum with paper.
On the first typewriters, invented by Christopher Sholes, the letters on the keys were located in alphabetical order, in two rows. In addition, it was possible to print only in capital letters, and there were no numbers 1 and 0 at all. They were successfully replaced by the letters "I" and "O". At first, this suited everyone. However, over time, the printing speed became more and more, and then such machines revealed a serious problem: individual hammers did not have time to return to their place and constantly interlocked with each other. Very often, attempts to separate them led to a breakdown of the machines.
And this happened because in the English alphabet there are a lot of neighboring letters that are used more often than others (for example, p-r, n-o). As a result, it often turned out that adjacent keys were pressed one after another, which led to the clutch and jamming of the hammers.
Typewriter manufacturers have learned and developed a keyboard in which letters often found in texts were placed away from the index fingers (after all, before the invention of the "blind" ten-finger method, they typed mainly with the index fingers). This is how the famous QWERTY keyboard layout (according to the first letters of the top row from left to right) appeared, which is still used today. She migrated to computer keyboards, although the problem of clutching levers (hammers) does not exist on them at all.
QWERTY keyboard
It must be admitted that the arrangement of letters on the QWERTY keyboard is far from the most rational. Much more convenient is the layout, which was invented by Arthur Dvorak, professor of statistics at the University of Washington. In it, frequently used letters are in the middle and upper rows. Under the left hand in the middle row are all the vowels, and under the right hand are the most frequent consonants.
In this case, the load on the hands is more balanced. Judge for yourself: in an 8-hour working day, our fingers travel about 2 km on a Dvorak keyboard, while on a traditional QWERTY keyboard the same figure is already 7 kilometers. Accordingly, the typing speed on the Dvorak keyboard is 2 times higher compared to the QWERTY keyboard.
Dvorak keyboard
How are things with the Russian keyboard? Why are the letters on it in that order and not otherwise? The fact is that in Russia typewriters, like all technical innovations, appeared much later than in the West. By this time, many design flaws have already been eliminated. And the Russian keyboard was originally designed as ergonomic, that is, with a convenient and rational arrangement of keys. The most frequently used letters were placed under the strongest and fastest index fingers, and the rarer ones were placed under the weakest ring fingers and little fingers.
Unfortunately, the Russian computer keyboard also has drawbacks. For example, for a comma, which is used, you see, very often, they did not bother to allocate a separate key, but placed it on the same key on which the dot is located - in upper case! Therefore, in order to print a comma, you need to press two keys. Maybe that's why modern schoolchildren who like to surf the Internet miss commas so often? ..
