QWERTY

QWERTY is a keyboard layout named for the first six letters on its upper letter row. It became the standard layout for typewriters and remains widely used on computers.

Christopher Latham Sholes: Christopher Latham Sholes was an American inventor who developed an influential early typewriter and the QWERTY layout. Sholes helped devise the typewriter layout that became QWERTY.
Home row: The home row is the middle row of letter keys where typists rest their fingers between keystrokes. QWERTY touch typists use the home row as their starting position.
Dvorak Simplified Keyboard: The Dvorak Simplified Keyboard is a 1930s layout that places common letters on the home row to reduce finger movement. Dvorak was designed as a more efficient alternative to QWERTY.
Path dependence: Path dependence is the process by which earlier choices constrain or shape later options. QWERTY’s widespread adoption makes switching layouts costly even when alternatives exist.
Sholes and Glidden typewriter: The Sholes and Glidden typewriter, introduced in 1874, was the first commercially successful typewriter. Its commercial success helped establish QWERTY on typewriters.
Keyboard matrix: A keyboard matrix is an electrical arrangement that detects key presses using intersecting rows and columns of circuits. Electronic keyboards can retain QWERTY’s visible arrangement while sensing keys through a matrix.
Colemak: Colemak is a keyboard layout designed to reduce finger movement while retaining many QWERTY key positions. Colemak offers an alternative with fewer changes for people already familiar with QWERTY.
Network effect: A network effect occurs when a product or standard becomes more valuable as more people use it. Shared QWERTY skills and equipment make the layout more useful as its user base grows.
Remington No. 2: The Remington No. 2 was an 1878 typewriter that introduced the shift key and printed both uppercase and lowercase letters. It spread the familiar QWERTY arrangement with a practical way to switch letter case.
Key rollover: Key rollover is a keyboard’s ability to register multiple key presses made before earlier keys are released. QWERTY keyboards must register rapid sequences of neighboring key presses accurately.

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