The first six letters at the top left of your keyboard spell it out QWERTY. This arrangement of letters, along with the other 20 on the traditional keyboard were actually arranged that way to make the job of typing more difficult.

The first commercially successful typewriter was developed by Christopher Latham Sholes in 1873. Originally, the keys were arranged alphabetically. However, a problem soon arose. People became so adept at using the keyboard that the keys would stick or jam when struck in quick succession. In order to overcome this problem Sholes decided to make the job of typing (you know that typing is a critical skill that is absolutely need today) as slow as he possibly could. His solution? He placed the most frequently used keys as far apart from each other as he could. His keyboard became known as the QWERTY keyboard.

So, that is the reason why your keyboard is formatted the way it is. Ironic, considering that every other aspect of your computer is streamlined for maximum efficiency and yet you have to labor over a 127 year old system designed specifically for inefficiency. And inefficient it certainly is. For one thing, QWERTY was not designed for touch typing, which came much later. For keys that are not in the middle or home row it is necessary to reach across diagonally. This is difficult and leads to a high error rate.

Some claim that there is a better system called the DVORAK keyboard format. It was designed by August Dvorak in the 1930s. Dvorak's keyboard put nine of the most used letters in the middle row of the keyboard. This allows the typist to write over 3,000 words without the fingers reaching. In comparison, only about 50 words can be typed on a keyboard without reaching on QWERTY's middle or home row. Another advantage of the DVORAK keyboard is that the workload is much reduced.

Does the DVORAK system really improve performance? In order to prove that maybe it does August Dvorak retrained 14 Navy typists during World War Two. The result? After just one month their work productivity rate improved by an amazing 74 percent. Accuracy improved by 68 percent. So, you would think that people would be jumping over each other to switch over from QWERTY to DVORAK. Surprisingly, this has not proved to be the case. DVORAK keyboards are readily available for most computers and on typewriters, yet by and large they remain unaccepted.

Another supposedly better keyboard than the DVORAK version is the MALT keyboard devised by Lillian Malt. The Malt keyboard does away with staggered rows, gives greater use of the thumb and makes it easier to reach the backspace and other normally out of the way keys. Unlike the DVORAK keyboard, however, the MALT version will require special hardware I order to be installed onto your computer. Modern designs are also available on both the DVORAK and the MALT keyboards that are specially contoured to alleviate the physical problems associated with the traditional typewriter style keyboard. DVORAK have also put out one handed keyboards which give a free hand for other tasks while typing.

Unlike the telephone or the automobile, the invention of the typewriter has never received worldwide acclaim. This may be because the product is one associated with work rather than social life. Initially typewriters were slow sellers. When first shown to the public at an industrial fair, the machines attracted little interest, unlike the newly invented telephone, which received international attention. One reason given was that many professionals felt typing would appear rude to potential clients, as there would be no personal touch.

The first patent for a 'writing machine' was given to Henry Mill in 1714. Sadly there are no surviving details to prove its existence as a working machine. The first known typewriter was invented in the United States of America by William Burt in 1830. This was called a Typographer and printed one single letter after another. From this point on there was a flood of designs both in the United States and Europe, causing some dispute over who invented what components. These machines were usually one-offs and it was not until 1874 that a typewriter became a commercial success.

This was achieved by the inventors Christopher Sholes and Carlos Glidden, who made an agreement with the Remington company to have their model, the 'Type-writer', manufactured in quantity.

The first machine produced wrote in capitals and was heavily influenced by the workings and appearance of the sewing machine, which was also produced by Remington. Sholes was also famous for introducing the layout of the letters on a keyboard, QWERTY, which is still in use today.

It was this machine which eventually began to inspire the public and started appearing in offices around the USA and Europe. With its growing popularity came a new source of employment, typing.

During the 1880's many different types of typewriters were designed, but the one which developed the style we know today was the Underwood No.1, invented by F. X. Wagner and produced by the Wagner and Underwood Company.

The Underwood was invented by the American Franz X. Wagner. He began to develop a mechanism which placed the bars that supported the moulded letters around the front of the machine. When a letter was depressed on the keyboard the bar would strike the front sheet, print and then fall back. This is how most modern manual typewriters work today.

Wagner showed this model to the manufacturer of inks and typewriter ribbons, John Underwood. He instantly recognised the importance of such a design and supported the scheme. It is arguable whether Wagner was the first to think of the idea of visible typing, but he was the first to perfect it.

This advance was not the only one seen on the Underwood. The machine also speeded up the type bar so that typing could be done with a lighter touch. It also had two shift keys giving capital letters and lowercase, and a tabulator key, which prevented rapid travel of the carriage (the top part of the typewriter).

The machine keyboard also adopted the QWERTY layout, recognising its popularity and usability.

The machine was a success and the company had to move twice to expand, changing its name in the process from the Wagner Typewriter Company to the Underwood Typewriter Company. By 1939 five million Underwood machines had been produced and marketed all around the world.

The success of such a machine led to the decline of many of the earlier more unusual typewriter designs. Most manufactures recognised that they could not better the Underwood and instead set about adapting it so that they could manufacture it under their name.

Another advance in design and mechanics came with the development of the electric typewriter. The advantage of an electric machine was greater speed and legibility. Early attempts date back as far as 1871 when George Arrington and Thomas A. Edison (famous for inventing the light bulb) obtained a patent for an electrically driven typewriter. The public was slow to accept the machine, as many did not trust its reliability. It took until the middle of the 1950s for them to be successful, with some of the most popular being those produced by IBM.

Today the standard typewriter has disappeared from the office and the home. Instead the personal computer dominates. Writers are no longer desk-bound but free to work wherever they lay their laptops. This revolution has caused the typewriter to become a collectable rather than an indispensable product. An original Remington No.1 is now of considerable value.

Museums also collect these machines as they are examples of great design, scientific achievement and reflect the social development of the workplace. The Science Museum has a collection covering all the major phases of their development.

Recently the popularity of typewriters has undergone a resurgence. Many people have become nostalgic for a bygone era of journalists reporting in remote areas of the world or poverty-stricken authors working away at their greatest novel. From its slow beginnings the typewriter has become an icon of these times.