“Random, patchily alphabetic, and in places wantonly arbitrary.”

"A deliberate spanner in the works of language, metaphorically and technologically".

And yet, we use the QWERTY keyboard every day.

Replicated on computer keyboards, and some of the most sophisticated technology around the world, the QWERTY layout remains unchanged since it was standardised in the 1870s.

The inventor of the QWERTY keyboard was Christopher Sholes, a Milwaukee port official / senator / newspaper editor.

Sholes’ first attempt was alphabetical, but the typebars clashed due to the key arrangements. Frequency and combinations of letters had to be considered to prevent key clashes.

Typewriter wars began with the start of typing competitions. Typists would battle it out to achieve the highest word counts.

Unsurprisingly, typebars would clash. So Sholes changed the layout of the letters on his machine in order to keep speeds down.

If this is true, argues Stephen Fry, then Sholes could be accused of "conspiracy to pervert the course of language and to limit the speed of creativity and language input, endangering billions with repetitive strain injury".

If you're looking for speed and accuracy, then consider the stenotypes, used in courtrooms. These machines are capable of typing at around 180 words per minute. Alternatively, try the easy, and ergonomic option ...Dragon software allows speech to text at an average of 120 words a minute!