The QWERTY keyboard was invented in 1875, by Christopher Latham Scholes. He was assisted by Amos Densmore, although Scholes is usually given all the credit. The first typewrite received its patent in 1868. However, Scholes realised that it was a cumbersome object and there was a problem with the keyboard because the keys were prone to locking together since the most common letters were close together.
The QWERTY keyboard places the letters at opposite ends of the board, so they wouldn't hit each other and become stuck.
Since this keyboard was designed for a typewriter and keys which actually moved up and down to hit the page, with modern computers it is sometimes seen as old fashioned.
Whilst this type of keyboard is useful to typists who have been trained in how to use them, most people using computers are not trained typists and an increasing number of keyboards are being designed which are more user friendly to the average user, which may eventually lead to the QWERTY keyboard becoming replaced.
