The news that Tom Hanks is writing a book of short stories, inspired by his love of typewriters – he owns over a hundred – is a timely reminder of what a strange device it is.
The original Qwerty keyboard, sold to Remington back in 1873, was designed to slow you down because mechanical typewriters with keys that followed each other too quickly led to jamming. But how can it be that in the digital age, a product designed to be inefficient has lasted?
Neuroscientists would say it’s down to how good we are at generating – and remembering – precise and arbitrary movement sequences with our fingers. These patterns can take the motor cortex – the brain’s movement control centre – days or weeks to consolidate but once fixed, are extremely difficult to ‘unlearn’.
Even the sight of a different layout (try searching for French Azerty) can, anecdotally, produce weird feelings in your fingertips, thanks to the deep association between the visual and the mechanical. Another reason this fossilised relic from the mechanical age is likely to be around for years to come.
Listen to this week’s podcast at theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/series/neuroscientist-explains
