Editing Typewriter (section)

== Legacy ==
=== Keyboard layouts ===
[[File:UnderwoodKeyboard.jpg|thumb|The "[[QWERTY]]" layout of typewriter keys became a [[de facto standard|''de facto'' standard]] in several countries and continues to be used long after the mechanical reasons for its adoption ceased to apply.]]

==== QWERTY ====
{{main|QWERTY}}
The 1874 Sholes & Glidden typewriters established the "QWERTY" layout for the letter keys. During the period in which Sholes and his colleagues were experimenting with this invention, other keyboard arrangements were apparently tried, but these are poorly documented.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Liebowitz |first1=S. J. |last2=Stephen E. Margolis |year=1990 |title=The Fable of the Keys |url=http://wwwpub.utdallas.edu/~liebowit/keys1.html |url-status=live |journal=Journal of Law & Economics |publisher=The University of Chicago |volume=XXXIII |issue=April 1990 |pages=1 |doi=10.1086/467198 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080703204106/http://wwwpub.utdallas.edu/%7Eliebowit/keys1.html |archive-date=2008-07-03 |access-date=2008-06-18 |quote=This article examines the history, economics, and ergonomics of the typewriter keyboard. We show that David's version of the history of the market's rejection of Dvorak does not report the true history, and we present evidence that the continued use of Qwerty is efficient given the current understanding of keyboard design. |s2cid=14262869|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The QWERTY layout of keys has become the de facto standard for English-language typewriter and computer keyboards. Other languages written in the [[Latin alphabet]] sometimes use variants of the QWERTY layouts, such as the French [[AZERTY]], the Italian [[QZERTY]] and the German [[QWERTZ]] layouts.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Francis |first=Darryl |date=2015-11-01 |title=AZERTY & QWERTZ keyboards |url=https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=LitRC&sw=w&issn=00437980&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA435533172&sid=googleScholar&linkaccess=abs |journal=Word Ways |language=English |volume=48 |issue=4 |pages=292–295}}</ref>

The QWERTY layout is not the most efficient layout possible for the English language. [[Touch typing|Touch-typists]] are required to move their fingers between rows to type the most common letters. Although the QWERTY keyboard was the most commonly used layout in typewriters, a better, less strenuous keyboard was being searched for throughout the late 1900s.<ref>{{Citation |last=Kroemer |first=Karl H.E |title=Keyboards and keying an annotated bibliography of the literature from 1878 to 1999 |journal=Universal Access in the Information Society |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=99–160 |year=2014 |doi=10.1007/s102090100012 |s2cid=207064170}}</ref>

One popular but incorrect<ref name="Smithsonian">{{Cite web |last=Stamp |first=Jimmy |title=Fact of Fiction? The Legend of the QWERTY Keyboard |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/fact-of-fiction-the-legend-of-the-qwerty-keyboard-49863249/ |website=Smithsonian}}</ref> explanation for the QWERTY arrangement is that it was designed to reduce the likelihood of internal clashing of typebars by placing commonly used combinations of letters farther from each other inside the machine.<ref name="David, P.A. 1986">David, P. A. (1986). "Understanding the Economics of QWERTY: the Necessity of History". In Parker, William N., ''Economic History and the Modern Economist''. Basil Blackwell, New York and Oxford.</ref>

==== Other layouts for English ====
A number of radically different layouts such as [[Dvorak Simplified Keyboard|Dvorak]] have been proposed to reduce the perceived inefficiencies of QWERTY, but none have been able to displace the QWERTY layout; their proponents claim considerable advantages, but so far none has been widely used. The [[Blickensderfer typewriter]] with its [[DHIATENSOR]] layout may have possibly been the first attempt at optimizing the keyboard layout for efficiency advantages.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Instructions for Using the Blickensderfer Typewriter |url=http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/eaa_A0562/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221053745/http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/eaa_A0562/ |archive-date=2014-02-21 |access-date=2014-01-03}}</ref>

On modern keyboards, the exclamation point is the shifted character on the 1 key, because these were the last characters to become "standard" on keyboards. Holding the spacebar down usually suspended the carriage advance mechanism (a so-called "[[dead key]]" feature), allowing one to superimpose multiple keystrikes on a single location. The ¢ symbol (meaning cents) was located above the number 6 on American electric typewriters, whereas [[ANSI]]-[[INCITS]]-standard [[computer keyboard]]s have ^ instead.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130131061059/http://webstore.ansi.org/RecordDetail.aspx?sku=ANSI%20INCITS%20154-1988%20%28R1999%29 ANSI INCITS 154-1988 (R1999) Office Machines and Supplies – Alphanumeric Machines – Keyboard Arrangement (formerly ANSI X3.154-1988 (R1999))] (retrieved 2012-07-04)</ref>

==== Keyboards for other languages ====
[[File:Lettera 22 2.JPG|thumb|Italian typewriter [[Olivetti Lettera 22]]]]
[[File:آلة كاتبة قديمة 01.jpg|thumb|Arabic typewriter [[Imperial Typewriter Company]]]]

The keyboards for other Latin languages are broadly similar to QWERTY but are optimised for the relevant orthography. In addition to some changes in the order of letters, perhaps the most obvious is the presence of [[precomposed character]]s and [[diacritic]]s.

Many non-Latin alphabets have keyboard layouts that have nothing to do with QWERTY. The Russian layout, for instance, puts the common trigrams ыва, про, and ить on adjacent keys so that they can be typed by rolling the fingers.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Purcell |first=Edward T. |date=1974 |title=Computer-Controlled Drills for First-Year Russian |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/306437 |journal=The Slavic and East European Journal |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=56–68 |doi=10.2307/306437 |jstor=306437 |issn=0037-6752|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Text in the [[Arabic alphabet]] is written from right to left (rather than from left to right): consequently, the carriage on an Arabic typewriter moves to the right after each keystroke.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Arabic Selectric |url=https://www.phillytypewriter.com/arabic-selectric.html#/ |access-date=2025-02-27 |website=PHILLY TYPEWRITER |language=en}}</ref> In Arabic script, letters take different shapes depending upon their position in the word and whether they are connected to a preceding letter. A special key is used to allow switching between independent and connected letters.<ref>{{Cite web |last=مؤلف |date=2017-02-13 |title=The Arabic Alphabet: A Guide to the Phonology and Orthography of MSA and Lebanese Arabic |url=https://www.lebanesearabicinstitute.com/arabic-alphabet/ |access-date=2025-02-27 |website=Lebanese Arabic Institute |language=en-US}}</ref>

Typewriters were also made for [[East Asian languages]] with thousands of characters, such as [[Chinese typewriter|Chinese]] or [[Japanese typewriter|Japanese]]. They were not easy to operate, but professional typists used them for a long time until the development of electronic word processors and [[laser printer]]s in the 1980s.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Makinen |first=Julie |date=2016-09-03 |title=Before the computer, there was something almost as complex: the Chinese typewriter |url=https://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-chinese-typewriter-snap-story.html |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Typewriter conventions ===
[[File:Typerwriter conventions text example.gif|thumb|This typed page uses a number of typographic conventions stemming from the mechanical limitations of the typewriter: two hyphens in place of an [[em dash]], double [[sentence spacing]], straight [[quotation mark]]s, [[Tab key|tab]] indents for paragraphs, and double [[carriage return]]s between paragraphs.]]
A number of typographical conventions stem from the typewriter's characteristics and limitations. For example, the QWERTY keyboard typewriter did not include keys for the [[en dash]] and the [[em dash]]. To overcome this limitation, users typically typed more than one adjacent hyphen to approximate these symbols.<ref>{{cite book |title = The elements of typographic style |edition = third |first = Robert |last = Bringhurst |publisher = Hartley & Marks, Publishers |year = 2004 |isbn = 978-0-88179-206-5 |page = 80  |access-date = 10 November 2020  |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780881791327/page/80/mode/2up |quote=In typescript, a double hyphen (--) is often used for a long dash. Double hyphens in a typeset document are a sure sign that the type was set by a typist, not a typographer. A typographer will use an em dash, three-quarter em, or en dash, depending on context or personal style. The em dash is the nineteenth-century standard, still prescribed in many editorial style books, but the em dash is too long for use with the best text faces. Like the oversized space between sentences, it belongs to the padded and corseted aesthetic of Victorian typography.}}</ref> This typewriter convention is still sometimes used today, although modern computer word processing applications can input the correct en and em dashes for each font type.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Upper and Lower Case Magazine |title=U&lc Online Issue 41.1.1: Top Ten Type Crimes |url=http://www.itcfonts.com/Ulc/4111/TopTenTypeCrimes.htm |access-date=23 March 2010}}</ref>

Other examples of typewriter practices that are sometimes still used in desktop publishing systems include inserting a [[sentence spacing|double space]] between sentences,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Williams |first=Robin |title=The Mac is not a typewriter: A style manual for creating professional-level type on your Macintosh |publisher=Peachpit Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-201-78263-9 |edition=2nd |location=Berkeley, California |ref=Wil03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Felici |first=James |title=The Complete Manual of Typography: A Guide to Setting Perfect Type |publisher=Peachpit Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-321-12730-3 |location=Berkeley, California |pages=80}}</ref> and the use of the [[typewriter apostrophe]], {{char|'}}, and [[Quotation mark#Typewriters and early computers|straight quotes]], {{char|"}}, as quotation marks and [[prime mark]]s.<ref>{{cite book |title= The Typographic Desk Reference|url= https://archive.org/details/typographicdeskr0000rose|url-access= registration|edition= 1st|last= Rosendorf|first= Theodore|year= 2009|location= New Castle, Delaware|isbn= 978-1-58456-231-3|ref=Ros09}};
{{Cite web |last=Upper and Lower Case Magazine |title=U&lc Online Issue 41.1.1: Top Ten Type Crimes |url=http://www.itcfonts.com/Ulc/4111/TopTenTypeCrimes.htm |access-date=23 March 2010}}; {{cite book |title= Type Rules: The Designer's Guide to Professional Typography|edition= 3rd|last= Strizver|first= Ilene|year= 2010|publisher= John Wiley & Sons|location= New Jersey|isbn= 978-0-470-54251-4|page=199|ref=Str11 }}. Strizver states that "When available, true primes should be used for measurements, but typewriter quotes (not smart quotes) have become the accepted practice in digital typography."</ref> The [[List of proofreader's marks|practice of underlining text in place of italics]] and the use of all capitals to provide emphasis are additional examples of typographical conventions that derived from the limitations of the typewriter keyboard that still carry on today.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Regents of the University of Minnesota |date=18 July 2007 |title=University of Minnesota Style Manual |url=http://www1.umn.edu/urelate/style/copyprep.html#Anchor-Copy-47857 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090117122230/http://www1.umn.edu/urelate/style/copyprep.html |archive-date=January 17, 2009 |access-date=12 May 2010 |website=University of Minnesota |publisher=Regents of the University of Minnesota}} This topic is discussed under "Creating Professional-looking Text."; Williams 2003. pps. 31, 33. Another example of the limitation of the typewriter in regard to underlining, was the necessity to underline the titles of books and stand-alone works in Bibliographies—works that would otherwise have been italicized, if that capability existed on the typewriter.</ref>

Many older typewriters did not include a separate key for the numeral {{char|1}} or the exclamation point {{char|!}}, and some even older ones also lacked the numeral zero, {{char|0}}.  Typists who trained on these machines learned the habit of using the lowercase letter {{char|l}} ("ell") for the digit {{char|1}}, and the uppercase {{char|O}} ("oh") for the zero. A cents symbol, {{char|¢}} was created by combining ([[Overstrike|over-striking]]) a lower case {{char|c}} with a slash character (typing {{char|c}}, then backspace, then {{char|/}}). Similarly, the exclamation point was created by combining an apostrophe and a period ({{keypress|'|.}} ≈{{char|!}}).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Truss |first=Lynn |title=Eats, Shoot & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation |publisher=Gotham Books |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-59240-087-4 |location=New York |page=135}}</ref>

=== Terminology repurposed for the computer age <span class="anchor" id="Terminology"></span>===
Some terminology from the typewriter age has survived into the computer era.

* [[backspace]] (BS) – a keystroke that moved the cursor backwards one position (on a typewriter, this moved the physical platen backwards), to enable a character to be overtyped. Originally this was used to combine characters (for example, the sequence {{char|'}}, backspace, {{char|.}} to make {{char|!}}). Subsequently it facilitated "erase and retype" corrections (using [[correction tape]] or [[Correction fluid|fluid]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kelechava |first=Brad |date=2016-05-17 |title=Invention of the Backspace Key |url=https://blog.ansi.org/2016/05/invention-of-backspace-key/ |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=The ANSI Blog |language=en-US}}</ref>). Only the latter concept has survived into the computer age.
* [[carriage return]] (CR) – return to the first column of text. (Most typewriters switched automatically to the next line. In computer systems, "line feed" (see below) is a function that is controlled independently.)<ref name="Daniel Miessler">{{Cite web |title=The Carriage Return and Line Feed Characters |url=https://danielmiessler.com/study/crlf/ |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=Daniel Miessler |language=en-US}}</ref>
* [[Cursor (computers)|cursor]] – a marker used to indicate where the next character will be printed. The cursor was originally a term to describe the clear slider on a [[slide rule]];<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stoll |first=Cliff |date=April 2020 |title=When Slide Rules Ruled |url=https://www.physics.wisc.edu/ingersollmuseum/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/04/scientificamerican0506-80-WhenSlideRulesRuled.pdf |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=Ingersoll Museum}}</ref> on typewriters, it was the paper that moved and the insertion point was fixed.
* [[Cut, copy, and paste|cut and paste]] – taking text, a numerical table, or an image and pasting it into a document. The term originated when such compound documents were created using manual [[paste up]] techniques for typographic [[page layout]].  Actual brushes and paste were later replaced by hot-wax machines equipped with cylinders that applied melted adhesive wax to developed prints of "typeset" copy. This copy was then cut out with knives and rulers, and slid into position on layout sheets on slanting layout tables. After the "copy" had been correctly positioned and squared up using a T-square and set square, it was pressed down with a brayer, or roller. The whole point of the exercise was to create so-called "camera-ready copy" which existed only to be photographed and then printed, usually by [[offset lithography]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-05-23 |title=John Naughton: Log on to an old-time typewriter; now try to cut and paste |url=http://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/may/24/typewriter-versus-wordprocessor-technological-innovation |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref>
* [[dead key]] – a key that, when typed, does not advance the typing position, thus allowing another character to be overstruck on top of the original character. This was typically used to combine [[diacritical mark]]s with letters they modified (e.g., ''è'' can be generated by first pressing {{key|`}} and then {{key|e}}). In Europe, where most languages have diacritics, a typical mechanical arrangement meant that hitting the accent key typed the symbol but did not advance the carriage, consequently the next character to be typed 'landed' on the same position. It was this method that carried across to the computer age whereas an alternative method (press the space bar simultaneously) did not.
* [[line feed]] (LF), also called "newline" – whereas most typewriters rolled the paper forward automatically on a "carriage return), this is an explicit [[control character]] on computer systems that moves the [[Cursor (computers)|cursor]] to the next on-screen line of text<ref name="Daniel Miessler" /> (but not to the beginning of that line—a CR is also needed if that effect is desired).
* [[Shift key|shift]] – a [[modifier key]] used to type capital letters and other alternate "upper case" characters; when pressed and held down, would shift a typewriter's mechanism to allow a different typebar impression (such as 'D' instead of 'd') to press into the ribbon and print on a page. The concept of a shift key or modifier key was later extended to [[Control key|Ctrl]], [[Alt key|Alt]], [[AltGr]] and Super ("Windows" or "Apple") keys on modern computer keyboards. The generalized concept of a shift key reached its apex in the [[MIT]] [[space-cadet keyboard]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Keyboard Design for the LISP Machine |url=http://xahlee.info/kbd/space-cadet_design.html |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=Xah Keyboard Guide}}</ref>
* [[Tabulator key|tab]] (HT), shortened from "horizontal tab" or "tabulator stop" – caused the print position to advance horizontally to the next pre-set "tab stop". This was used for typing lists and tables with vertical columns of numbers or words.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tabs and tab stops |url=https://typographyforlawyers.com/tabs-and-tab-stops.html |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=Typography for Lawyers}}</ref>  
** The [[vertical tab]] (VT) control character, named by analogy with HT, was designed for use with early computer [[line printer]]s, and would cause the [[fan-fold paper]] to be fed until the next line's position.
* [[Tty (Unix)|tty]], short for [[teletypewriter]] – used in [[Unix-like]] operating systems to designate a given "terminal".<ref>{{Cite news |title=What is TTY? |url=https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/t/tty.htm |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=Computer Hope |language=en}}</ref>