Sholes and Glidden typewriter: Difference between revisions

Content deleted Content added
Undid revision 347570225 by 207.165.159.10 (talk)
QWERTY keyboard: why the R was moved
Line 50:
The mechanics of the machine, however, made this arrangement problematic. The typebars were attached to the circumference of a metal ring, forming a "basket". When a key was pressed, the corresponding typebar would swing upwards, causing the [[print head]] to strike at the center of the ring. Gravity would then return the typebar to its initial position. The implication of this design, however, was that pressing adjoining keys in quick succession would cause their typebars to collide and jam the machine. To mitigate this problem, keys were reordered using analysis of [[letter frequency]] and trial and error.<ref name="utterback5">Utterback 1999, p. 5</ref> Typebars corresponding to letters in commonly occurring alphabetical pairs, such as S and T, were placed on opposite sides on the disk.<ref>Campbell-Kelly 2004, p. 25</ref> The keyboard ultimately presented to Remington was arranged as follows:<ref name="utterback5"/>
{{quotation|2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 - ,</br>Q W E . T Y I U O P</br>Z S D F G H J K L M</br>A X & C V B N ? ; R}}
After it purchased the device, Remington made several adjustments—including switching the period and "R" keys—which created a keyboard with what is essentially the modern QWERTY layout.<ref>Pool 1997, p. 159</ref> While much of the redesign was for such practical purposes as avoiding jamming, some aspects of the keyboard layout were for less practical reasons: the R key was moved to the top row to provide a better marketing demonstration; a salesman could quickly type the word "typewriter" using one row of keys.<ref>[http://www.junkworthknowing.com/history/why_the_qwerty_keyboard_beat_dvoraks Why the QWERTY Keyboard Beat Dvorak's]. Junk Worth Knowing, February 4th, 2009.</ref>
 
==Reception and legacy==