Of course, we all realize that the original difference between AZERTY
and QWERTY was the analyzed solutions to the problem of the likelihood
of two typewriter hammers striking the platen in close enough succession
that they would jam together and get stuck. Accents arose as a
distinction only because the French decided, based presumably on a
letter frequency analysis that AZERTY was the optimal key arrangement
based on letter frequency in French words while Americans (I've never
noticed what they type on in England) chose QWERTY. It was always a
puzzle to me in my childhood as to why the keys weren't arranged in a
more obvious fashion. It wasn't answered until, as I was acquainted with
the Dvorak key layout, it was explained to me why typewriter keys had
been arranged like that in the first place. Of course, now, it's all
just tradition--strong enough that the Dvorak guys haven't carried the
day and the chording guys are just a lone voice in the wilderness.
cga2000 wrote:
On Mon, Jul 24, 2006 at 08:37:47AM EDT, A.J.Mechelynck wrote:
Warning: off-topic post. Read at your own risk.
[..]
Before computers, I used a "French" typewriter keyboard (AZERTY type).
Nowadays I use a "Belgian" computer keyboard (also AZERTY but with
special characters arranged differently). My father has an old
typewriter he bought in Switzerland when he was a student, and it uses a
QWERTZ layout. (Switzerland has four official languages, viz. German,
French, Italian and Romanche; and I don't know how many different
keyboards they use.)
[snip]
