4 ms·

I learned to type on a Corona typewriter and it would jam when the key metal arms (or whatever the name was) came from the opposite side. The arm coming from th

I learned to type on a Corona typewriter and it would jam when the key metal arms (or whatever the name was) came from the opposite side. The arm coming from the left side leaving too slow and bam! the arm from the right side comes smashing the other arm. My guess then was that the letters were put in some fashion that the group of letters coming from the right side seldom where adjacent from the group of letters coming from the left side. The closer the arms where to the center of the typewriter the less they would travel hence faster going in and out and beneficial for the letters to be adjacent, for the English language of course. ETAOIN SHRDLU The 10 most common letters in the English language. With exception of the A, all towards the center of keyboard.

pbhjpbhj 3y ago
L is the opposite position to A, so also an edge letter. I too learnt to type in part on a mechanical typewriter keyboard -- there was a TV kids show about journalists and I wanted to mimic them I think. IME (a long time ago) you wanted to have consecutive keys on opposite hands because it took the whole hand moving to provide a good force to move the key and impact the ribbon hard enough to make a good print of the letter. But then, as you said, you would occassionally get the type arms locking up. I definitely couldn't use my pinky to type on that keyboard. TH, ER, ON, AN are the most common letter pairs [in British English]; TH is good on a QWERTY but the other pairs are not particularly well placed I think.
fanf2 3y ago
The Linotype keyboard has ETAOIN SHRDLU as the leftmost two columns of each block of letters (separate keys for lower and upper case!) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Linotype_keyboard_with_Star_Quadder_attachment.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Linotype_keyboard_wi...
robertlagrant 3y ago
I wouldn't count L, O or S as particularly central either.

pbhjpbhj 3y ago

L is the opposite position to A, so also an edge letter. I too learnt to type in part on a mechanical typewriter keyboard -- there was a TV kids show about journalists and I wanted to mimic them I think. IME (a long time ago) you wanted to have consecutive keys on opposite hands because it took the whole hand moving to provide a good force to move the key and impact the ribbon hard enough to make a good print of the letter. But then, as you said, you would occassionally get the type arms locking up. I definitely couldn't use my pinky to type on that keyboard. TH, ER, ON, AN are the most common letter pairs [in British English]; TH is good on a QWERTY but the other pairs are not particularly well placed I think.

fanf2 3y ago

The Linotype keyboard has ETAOIN SHRDLU as the leftmost two columns of each block of letters (separate keys for lower and upper case!) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Linotype_keyboard_with_Star_Quadder_attachment.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Linotype_keyboard_wi...

robertlagrant 3y ago

I wouldn't count L, O or S as particularly central either.