On Mon, Sep 11, 2017 at 11:35 PM, Fred Cisin via cctalk <cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > (It is sometimes stated that Sholes deliberately chose QWERTY to slow down > typists to the speeds that the early typewriters could handle; that story > has been challenged, but a replacement story of how that layout was chosen > has not been advanced)
Two things I have heard that contributed to the QWERTY layout was _not_ that it "slowed down typists", but that with common english words, it produced a cadence that alternated left and right hands to minimize jamming of the hammers which led to _faster_ typing than earlier arrangements - the typists formerly had to slow down either to prevent hammers from entangling or to take time to unjam them and get back into the flow. The other facet of the arrangement was a sales gimmick to be able to type TYPEWRITER on the top row in customer demonstrations. -ethan
