QWERTY

2 definitions found

From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]:

  QWERTY /kwer'tee/ adj. [from the keycaps at the upper left] Pertaining
     to a standard English-language typewriter keyboard (sometimes called the
     Sholes keyboard after its inventor), as opposed to Dvorak or
     non-US-ASCII layouts or a {space-cadet keyboard} or APL keyboard.
  
     Historical note: The QWERTY layout is a fine example of a {fossil}. It


     is sometimes said that it was designed to slow down the typist, but this
     is wrong; it was designed to allow _faster_ typing -- under a constraint
     now long obsolete. In early typewriters, fast typing using nearby
     type-bars jammed the mechanism. So Sholes fiddled the layout to separate
     the letters of many common digraphs (he did a far from perfect job,
     though; `th', `tr', `ed', and `er', for example, each use two nearby
     keys). Also, putting the letters of `typewriter' on one line allowed it
     to be typed with particular speed and accuracy for {demo}s. The jamming
     problem was essentially solved soon afterward by a suitable use of
     springs, but the keyboard layout lives on.
  
     The QWERTY keyboard has also spawned some unhelpful economic myths
     about how technical standards get and stay established; see
     `http://www.reasonmag.com/9606/Fe.QWERTY.html'.
  
  = R =
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  QWERTY
       
           /kwer'tee/ (From the top left row of letter keys of
          most keyboards) Pertaining to a standard English-language
          typewriter keyboard (sometimes called the Sholes keyboard
          after its inventor), as opposed to {Dvorak} or
          foreign-language layouts (e.g. "keyboard AZERTY" in
          french-speaking countries) or a {space-cadet keyboard} or {APL
          keyboard}.
       
          The QWERTY layout is a fine example of a {fossil}.  It is
          sometimes said that it was designed to slow down the typist,
          but this is wrong; it was designed to allow *faster* typing -
          under a constraint now long obsolete.  In early typewriters,
          fast typing using nearby type-bars jammed the mechanism.  So
          Sholes fiddled the layout to separate the letters of many
          common digraphs (he did a far from perfect job, though; "th",
          "tr", "ed", and "er", for example, each use two nearby keys).
          Also, putting the letters of "typewriter" on one line allowed
          it to be typed with particular speed and accuracy for {demos}.
          The jamming problem was essentially solved soon afterward by a
          suitable use of springs, but the keyboard layout lives on.
       
          [{Jargon File}]
       
          (1998-01-15)