Every day, we use an AZERTY keyboard on our computers and smartphones. For us, this is obvious, but when you think about it, this provision doesn’t really make sense. So why do we use the AZERTY (or QWERTY) format on our machines? The reason has absolutely nothing to do with IT. We will explain everything to you.
When we think a little about the layout of the keyboard keys, whether on our computer or our smartphone, we quickly realize that it doesn’t make much sense. Today we are used to it and we have all learned to type quickly in this format, but it is very far from being logical. Why is A next to Z, why are S and D neighbors? There is obviously a very specific reason for this, and we will explain it to you.
The origins of this provision have nothing to do with computing. To understand, we have to go back to the 1870s, more precisely in the United States. This is Christopher Scholespolitician and inventor from Wisconsin, who had the idea of placing the keys this way.
The QWERTY format was born with the typewriter, not with computers
The idea is simple: to allow stenographers to save time. Typewriters already existed, but took a thousand different forms. Some looked like pianos with ivory keys and others featured a ball on which the letters were placed (Hansen writing ball). Scholes sought to invent a more practical and universal system: the typewriter as we know it today.
He therefore imagines a system where the keys are aligned in four rows. At the very beginning, they are placed in alphabetical order. When you think about it, nothing could be more logical! But following feedback from numerous “beta testers”, he quickly realized that a very annoying problem was hampering this beautiful mechanism. Each key is connected to a rod which hits the paper with ink. The problem is that often, the rods tend to collide when you type quickly two adjacent keys and this blocks the machine.
The system is therefore good, but requires adjustment. As a result, Scholes imagines a new keyboard layout. The idea is to place frequently used letters together (like S and T) far from each other to avoid clashes. Some researchers go further by estimating that Scholes would have been inspired by Morse code to place his keys (like Z, S and E which are very close during the transcription and which are aligned vertically here). In 1868 he patented his invention to sell it and in 1874, the first typewriter with this layout was released on the American market: the Remington No 1. QWERTY was born, but would adopt its final form with the Remington No 2 in 1878. A century later, computing would reuse the same format for its keyboards. No more mechanical problems, but the habit has remained.
But why do we have an AZERTY keyboard in France?
The QWERTY format quickly became a must-have for all typewriters. Some countries have made adjustments. In Germany, for example, the Z and the Y have been swapped. The Turkish keyboard (F) is completely different to adapt to the specificities of the language. France has also experienced a big change by transforming QWERTY into AZERTY at the beginning of the 20th century.
For what ? Well… Nobody knows ! In reality it is physically no more practical than a QWERTY keyboard for writing the language of Molière (it’s a question of habit), but it remains a mystery. An involuntary reversal during the design of the first French machines? An ambition to stand out from the Anglo-Saxons? All theories are allowed.
Note that QWERTY is not the only layout that exists today. The Dvorak layout, which originated in the 1930s, is believed to be the most optimal for writing in English. The famous provision Bépo, for its part, is designed to be as effective as possible in French. But habits die hard and QWERTY (or AZERTY for us) seems indestructible.