You have probably heard that QWERTY was designed to slow typists down to prevent typewriter key jams. This story is widely repeated and almost certainly wrong. Here is what the historical evidence actually shows.
The Myth: Deliberately Slow QWERTY
The popular story: Christopher Sholes designed QWERTY to separate commonly used letter pairs so typewriter hammers would not jam when typed in succession. The implication is that QWERTY deliberately sacrifices typing efficiency for mechanical reliability.
The problem: the historical evidence does not support this. Sholes's patent documents and correspondence show he was trying to improve typing performance, not impede it. The letter arrangement shows some influence from telegraph operators' input about common digraphs.
What the Evidence Shows
QWERTY emerged through iteration between 1868 and 1873. The design was influenced by: the mechanical requirements of the Sholes typewriter, feedback from salespeople and operators, telegraph code conventions, and commercial competition. It was not designed according to a single organizing principle.
Why QWERTY Persists
By the time alternative layouts like Dvorak (1936) and Colemak (2006) were developed with ergonomic goals in mind, QWERTY had tens of millions of trained typists, hundreds of millions of keyboards, and an entire industry built around it. The switching cost is enormous — not just for individuals relearning, but for every keyboard, training program, and muscle memory system that assumes QWERTY.
Studies comparing QWERTY to Dvorak in controlled conditions show mixed results, with the performance differences being smaller than commonly claimed. The productivity loss from switching typically exceeds any long-term gain for most users.
The Practical Conclusion
Learn QWERTY touch typing unless you have a strong specific reason not to. The alternative layout community is interesting, but you will spend months relearning for uncertain benefit, and you will lose speed on every keyboard you encounter that is not your customized layout.