This month, we're spotlighting the most widely used input device in human history, the Keyboard!
The very tool on which this sentence was typed. The one sitting in front of you right now. And probably the one in your pocket too, even if it's made of glass. But here's the twist: the layout you're using? It was designed in 1870. And the company that mass-produced it? They were better known for making rifles and sewing machines.
Let's dive in!
Christopher Latham Sholes' 1870s typewriter, the machine that gave us QWERTY.
1870: The Problem With Speed
The first patent for a "writing machine" appeared in 1714, courtesy of Henry Mill. It never made it to production, but it planted a seed. Fast forward to the 1870s. Christopher Latham Sholes had a problem. He'd built a typewriter - metal type bars arranged in a circle, each one swinging up to strike an inked ribbon when you pressed a key. Brilliant, right? Except when you typed too fast, the bars jammed. Adjacent letters would collide mid-swing, tangling the mechanism and forcing you to stop, untangle, and start over. His solution? Separate the most frequently paired letters. Put "T" and "H" far apart. Same with "E" and "R."
The result: QWERTY. Not designed for speed. Designed to prevent mechanical failure. And the company that saw the potential and mass-produced it? Remington. Yes, the firearms and sewing machine manufacturer. They had the factories, the metal-working expertise, and the distribution network. QWERTY wasn't the best layout. But it was just the first to scale.
The Teletype Model 33 - This machine turned QWERTY into ASCII code
1910: QWERTY Goes ASCII
By the mid-20th century, QWERTY had a new job: sending messages over wires. Enter the Teleprinters. These were essentially networked typewriters. Type in New York, and the same text would appear on a machine in Los Angeles. Almost instantly. But here's the thing: letters couldn't travel as letters. They had to become electrical signals.
So engineers created encoding systems. Early versions used 5-bit codes - meaning each character was represented by a unique pattern of 5 electrical pulses (on or off). Later, they upgraded to 7-bit codes, allowing for 128 possible characters. This evolved into ASCII - the digital alphabet still in use today. Every letter you type has a secret number: "A" = 65, "Space" = 32. "!" = 33. Your keyboard doesn't type letters. It types numbers that computers interpret as letters. QWERTY had gone from mechanical to electrical to digital. And the layout? Still the same one Sholes designed to prevent jams.
1980 - The Zenith Data Systems terminal - with a QWERTY Keyboard.
1956: The First keyboard To Input Data
Up until the 1950s, if you wanted to interact with a computer, you punched holes in cards or flipped switches on a panel. Then came the Whirlwind Flexowriter in 1956. This machine was the first direct keyboard-to-computer interface. You could type a command, hit enter, and the computer would execute it right there. It looked like a typewriter. It sounded like a typewriter. But it wasn't recording any letters, it was issuing commands! QWERTY wasn't just for writing anymore. It was for programming computers.
As computers evolved, from giant mainframes to small terminals to personal desktops, keyboards came along for the ride. They got smaller, quieter, more ergonomic. But the layout? Still QWERTY!
By the 1980s, millions of people had keyboards in their homes. By the 2000s, billions had them in their pockets. Sholes' mechanical workaround had become the most universal interface in human history.
Why We Write
Let's step back for a second. Keyboards are part of a much older and much more human story. Language is how we shape our world, how we share ideas, build societies, and pass knowledge across generations. Writing is how we make those ideas tangible.
From clay tablets in Mesopotamia to Gutenberg's printing press, humans have always found ways to capture thought and make it last. The keyboard might be relatively new in human history terms, but the core act? Still the same. Taking what's in your head and putting it into the world - one character at a time.
And That Other Human Thing
As language is uniquely human. So too are our hands! They're how we build, create, and express ourselves. For decades, digital interaction has required intermediaries, keys, mice, touchscreens.
But what if we could interact with the digital world with our hands, just as we do with the physical world? Mudra is on a mission to do just that! By reading neural signals directly from your wrist Mudra turns your hand's natural gestures into digital commands.
