You’re reading this, so chances are you’re more than a little familiar with a keyboard. Even if you belong to the hunt-and-peck school of typistry, you probably know your way around those keys (you just do it at a more leisurely pace, right? Right!). If you’re past a certain age there’s a strong possibility that you spent some time in a typing class. Using a typewriter. Remember those? Some of us got lucky and learned on an electric one, but the sturdy-fingered among us did their time on a manual.
It’s astonishing to realize how quickly the typewriter has become obsolete – just two decades ago it wasn’t unusual to see one in any office, yet these days they’re a bit of an oddity. However, the mighty typewriter still has some adherents, and we’re proud to tell you that we’ve got a number of them listed in our Office Equipment category.
The keyboard we all know and love uses what’s called the QUERTY format; it’s a rather apt name, considering that the five letters that comprise it are the five that are to the upper left of the keyboard. Though we’re used to it now, it does seem rather counterintuitive to use such a layout. What’s up with that?
The QUERTY layout was designed in 1872 specifically for manual typewriters. As anyone who’s ever used a manual typewriter can tell you, the hammers that activate to print the typed letters had a rather cumbersome habit of jamming together if the user didn’t apply just the right amount of finesse. By placing the most commonly used letters on different parts of the keyboard, the chances of those hammer jams was lessened: the awkwardness of the placement was designed to slow down the typist just enough that the hammers wouldn’t need to move virtually at once. And, as a rule, it worked pretty well. Most of the time.
We’re delighted when you use our website to place ads, but if you’re feeling a little QWERTY fatigue, we understand. That’s why we’ve got live customer service associates ready to take your ads, answer your questions, and assist you in any way we can.