Most people know that the QWERTY keyboard layout is a holdover from the early days of the typewriter, when it was found to be the most effective arrangement for keeping the machine’s internal metal typebars from jamming. What most people don’t know is that the design was also influenced by manufacturer Remington’s desire to have the word “typewriter” appear as an acrostic in the top row of keys. Pretty neat, huh? I learned that from going back to Lisa Gitelman’s Scripts, Grooves, and Writing Machines (Stanford UP, 1999), her richly researched study of the phonograph and other late nineteenth century inscription technologies.
It’s an outstanding read, and should find its way into your summer beachbag.
Posted by mgk at July 7, 2003 08:49 PMOut of curiousity, what does she cite in support of this? I've read this is a myth, but the person claiming that doesn't provide any citation for why.
Nope, there's no citation; and in fact, it's presented as a parenthetical, and qualified by "reportedly"--so it seems Gitelman had some sense of its possible apocryphal nature.
Posted by: MGK at July 9, 2003 10:36 PM | Link to CommentFWIW, on the book table here at the SHARP conference is a copy of _Quirky QWERTY: The Story of the Keyboard at Your Fingertips_ by Torbjorn Lundmark (New South Wales Univ Pr Ltd, 2002).
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/0868404365/mockerybird/ref%3Dnosim/102-0021835-3213722
An anagram isn't an acrostic, is it?
Posted by: Anton Sherwood at July 25, 2003 05:14 PM | Link to Commentdo you know what qwertyuiop really means? here's a hint
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"oh baby"
k. just wanted to let you know.
peace
Posted by: uncan at July 26, 2003 10:28 PM | Link to CommentDo you know a word using all the letters?
Posted by: Raphael Mills at October 2, 2003 10:49 PM | Link to Comment