Serious question: does anybody know how English alphabet ordering originated? It seems that the order is completely arbitrary, but interestingly has never been

Serious question: does anybody know how English alphabet ordering originated? It seems that the order is completely arbitrary, but interestingly has never been changed because it works for teaching and is universally understood. I think that parallels the development of the QWERTY keyboard system and really any universally-accepted protocol (electrical outlets, clockwise downward screwing, vertical gas pedal right of horizontal brake, etc.). Once something is established that is simple and works, it becomes widespread and indoctrinated into society, and it takes an improvement of not just huge gains, but monumental gains to change people's behavior. I think a lot about how many designs we accept as completely evolved that may not necessarily be ideal but trade perfection for universal understanding which is apparently more valuable. EDIT: This section annoys me: There’s a somewhat related theory that credits Remington’s pre-merger business tactics with the popularization of QWERTY. Remington didn’t just produce typewriters, they also provided training courses – for a small fee, of course. Typists who learned on their proprietary system would have to stay loyal to the brand, so companies that wanted to hire trained typists had to stock their desks with Remington typewriters. It’s a system that’s still works today, as illustrated by the devout following Apple built through the ecosystem created by iTunes, the iTunes store, and the iPod. That example makes no sense to me. I think Oracle, Microsoft, or SAP are a lot better examples. Hell, SAP makes more from training courses in a month than most companies make in ten years.