Before there were computers, there was the typewriter. Our inventor of the month is Christopher Sholes, who invented the first practical type writing machine that would be commercially successful and introduced the keyboard layout we use today. Born in Mooresburg, Pennsylvania on the 14th of February 1819 and died in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on the 17th of February 1890. When he was a young teenager he moved to Danville, PA and became an apprentice for a printer and when he finished his apprenticeship, he move to Wisconsin.Christopher Sholes had always been interested in the issues going on in his state and country. He enjoyed reaching out to people and so he became a newspaper publisher. His paper was called The Kenosha Telegraph and reported on many important issues of the day. He was also involved in politics and served two terms as a state Senator for Wisconsin (one as a Democrat and one as a Republican) and he served a term in the State Assembly.A man named John Pratt invented a prototype typewriter called “Pterotype”; however when Christopher saw the contraption, he thought it was “too complex” and so set out to make one himself that was less complex. After numerous tries, he kept coming across the problem that the levers would jam when he arranged the keys in alphabetical order. So, he decided to rearrange the keyboard. Instead of having the keys in alphabetical order, he rearranged the levers so that they wouldn’t jam when frequently used keys were utilized. Instead of the upper row being ABCDEF, the upper row became QWERTY. This innovative design is still in use today.Christopher Sholes was the first inventor of a typewriter that was a commercial success. After numerous marketing tactics, he and his investors tried to no avail. He decided to license his product out and in 1873; he sold his half of the rights to Remington Arms Company for $12,000. While Remington started manufacturing the Remington typewriter, Christopher Sholes was still involved and five years later in 1878, he added a shift key for the option of having uppercase or lowercase letters.There had been many people who came up with the idea and invented the typewriter; however there is only one inventor, who saw the vision of what it could become and that was Christopher Sholes. Without his innovation and his product development of the keyboard, we could still be writing things by hand.Further Reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Latham_SholesDesigning your new idea doesn’t need to be complex nor does it have to be simple, it just has to be innovative. Do you have an innovative idea that you need help with? Innovate Product Design helps individuals with new idea product development and helps them get their new idea to market. Call or email them today to see how they can help you with your idea. Email info@innovate-design.com or Call us at 415-970-5276
Inventor of the Month – Who is Christopher Sholes?
