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Why are the keys on the keyboard not in alphabetical order. Why are the letters on the keyboard not in alphabetical order? Why are the letters on the keyboard

18.03.2012 2 14158

When someone sees a computer keyboard for the first time, he has a question “Why are the letters on the keys not in alphabetical order?”. In this article, we provide a comprehensive answer to this question.

Look at the computer keyboard. Is it not true that it is difficult to find logic in such an arrangement of letters? The letters are not in their usual positions - according to the alphabet, the letter "A" should be located at the beginning of the first row of keys. Wouldn't that be the ideal solution? Or the letter "W" which is on the first line instead of being on the last. This arrangement of letters is called the "QWERTY" layout - according to the first 6 letters on the keyboard. So why complicate everything and not make the keyboard clear and comfortable?

To understand the logic of the arrangement of letters according to the “QWERTY” standard, we must return to the past, to the end of the 19th century, when K. Scholes introduced the first typewriter with such an arrangement of letters. At that time, the arrangement of letters on typewriters was in alphabetical order. But here the producers were waiting for a technical problem. The typewriter had metal arcs, at the ends of which letters were located. And when printing text quickly, if the printed letters were nearby, these arcs interlocked with each other. This required a certain amount of time, and the overall productivity of typists fell.

To solve this problem, K. Scholes compiled a list of the most common combinations of letters in English words and, having studied it, came up with a new layout. Now, although the typing speed has slowed down a bit, adjacent letters in words have been spaced across the keyboard, making arcs less likely to tangle.

With the advent of computers in the 40s of the 20th century, typewriters were supplanted by new devices, and now it was possible to return to keyboards (already computers) the layout with the keys in alphabetical order. However, there was a problem: the people who typed on the computer were the same people who typed on typewriters. They needed to retrain to a new layout. However, companies did not want to spend money on retraining employees, and it was decided to keep the keyboard layout.

on the existing layout, you can find a little from the alphabetical layout. Looking at the middle row of keys, you will find the letters "DFGHJKL" in alphabetical order, excluding "E" and "I";
the eight keys on the middle row of the keyboard are called the "home row". These are the keys you have to put your fingers on in order to type faster;
The "QWERTY" keyboard is more suitable for left-handed people, as there are letters on the left side that can be used to type more words than using right side keyboards;
you can find all the letters of the word "typewriter" on the top line of the keyboard.

As we have seen, typewriters are to blame for today's keyboard difficulties. However, we are so accustomed to the existing layout that we even introduced it to mobile phones.

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 the 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? ..

Why are the letters on the keyboard arranged in this order? What did not please the alphabet, is there an alternative?

Answered by Sergey Kulikov
computer science teacher

The usual layout of keys on a computer keyboard is a legacy of typewriters. On the first of them, the letters were arranged alphabetically, in two rows. But with fast printing, this led to the fact that neighboring levers did not have time to return to their place and clung to each other. The keys "sticky", and the person typing the text had to interrupt work frequently.

The father of the QWERTY layout is American Christopher Scholes. He decided to arrange the letters included in the most frequently occurring digraphs as far apart as possible. So the frequency of clutches was reduced to a minimum. It took a dozen years and several dozen prototypes - two-, three-, four- and, finally, five-row machines to come to just such an option. The final version appeared in 1878.

Christopher Sholes and his typewriter

The cars improved, the speeds of the levers increased, the clutch problem disappeared, but the layout remained. Moreover, she migrated to the keyboard of computers.

But that doesn't mean they haven't tried to replace her. University of Washington professor August Dvorak was convinced that the QWERTY layout could be improved. He noticed that typing frequently occurring combinations of letters required the placement of fingers in a rather clumsy manner. And typing such common words as “was” (was) and “were” (were) must be done with the left hand.

August Dvorak develops a new layout

Dvorak patented a keyboard where frequently used letters were in the middle and top rows. Under the left hand in the middle row were vowels, in the lower and upper row - rare consonants. And under the right hand were the most frequent consonants.

With the Russian layout, YTSUKE is easier. It was designed so that the letters that are used most often are placed under the index fingers.<...>
Despite the obvious conveniences, the Dvorak layout did not take root, like another Latin layout - Colemak. There are several reasons for this. First, the need to retrain. Secondly, the need, at least at first, to rename the keys. Also, do not discount the habit and the fact that most keyboards are sold with a QWERTY layout. You can switch to another layout, but for this you need to make an effort. But is it worth it if you have to work on different computers?

With the Russian layout, YTSUKE is easier. It was originally designed so that the letters that are used most often are placed under the index fingers, and those that are less common are placed under the ring and little fingers.

There is also the so-called phonetic layout YAVERTA, or YAZHERTA, but it is more convenient for foreigners studying Russian. Russian letters in it are located on the same keys where the Latin ones are similar in phonetic sound: A-A, B-B, V-V, G-G, D-D, F-F, KK, OO, etc. True, the phonetic layout is even rarer than the Dvorak and Colemak layouts.

You have probably noticed that the letters on the computer keyboard are not in alphabetical order. This principle of their arrangement is borrowed from typewriters that were used in the 19th century. The principle of their work is quite simple. To print, it was necessary to hit the key with the desired letter with your finger, which actuated the lever, at the end of which there was a matrix with the logo of the letter. The matrix hit the ink-soaked tape, which came into contact with the paper and left an imprint on it.

The first typewriters were invented by Christopher Scholes. Here on their keyboard, the letters were arranged in alphabetical order, and were collected in two rows. There were no capital letters here. Only capital letters were present. There were also no numbers that could be printed using the letters "O" and "I". It is clear that with this layout, the print speed was quite low. If you quickly press the keys, then the levers simply did not have time to return, and stuck. The reason for this lay in the fact that the English letters often used in printing were next to each other. When two adjacent keys were pressed, the levers interlocked with each other, and they had to be constantly disconnected. This took a long time, and therefore it was not possible to print quickly.

After studying this fact, the manufacturers of typewriters came to the conclusion that frequently occurring letters should be placed away from each other, and so that they can be pressed without problems with the index fingers of two hands. All this led to the appearance of a keyboard with a QWERTY layout. If you notice, then these letters are located in order in the top row of a modern keyboard. The layout turned out to be convenient, and is used to this day.

Although, to be honest, it is difficult to call such an arrangement of letters on the QWERTY keyboard rational. Professor Dvorak proposed a more convenient layout, in which the letters were arranged in two rows, top and middle. The vowels are placed in the middle row, and the consonants are placed in the upper row. This layout made it possible to evenly distribute the load on the hands. It was found that when using the QWERTY keyboard, for eight hours (length of the working day), the typist's hands run a distance that is a multiple of seven kilometers. If you use the Dvorak keyboard, then it is reduced by a factor of three. Due to this, the printing speed also increases, which is quite natural.

In the Russian keyboard, the letters are also out of order. Typewriters in Russia appeared much later, and already with a QWERTY keyboard. At the same time, the layout of Russian letters was carried out, guided by the principles of maximum convenience and ergonomics. The principle was taken as a basis that frequently used letters should be under the index fingers of both hands, and vice versa, rare letters were tied to the ring fingers. It turned out very convenient, but not without flaws. So, for example, for the same comma, a separate key was not enough, and therefore, to print it, you have to press two keys at the same time, which is not very convenient.

on the existing layout, you can find a little from the alphabetical layout. Looking at the middle row of keys, you will find the letters "DFGHJKL" in alphabetical order, excluding "E" and "I";
the eight keys on the middle row of the keyboard are called the "home row". These are the keys you have to put your fingers on in order to type faster;
the "QWERTY" keyboard is more suitable for left-handers, since the letters are located on the left side, with which you can type more words than using the right side of the keyboard;
you can find all the letters of the word "typewriter" on the top line of the keyboard.

As we have seen, typewriters are to blame for today's keyboard difficulties. However, we are so accustomed to the existing layout that we even introduced it to mobile phones.