Numbers

From:  "Claudia Dumas"

Why do the numbers on the telephone progress from top to bottom, but the numbers on the keyboard keypad go from the bottom to the top??

We have all pondered this question many times... C.H.U.D. once again is our savior and has solved this question for us for once and for all!

The numbers on your computer keyboard are laid out in the same manner as cash registers and adding machines, and has been that way since those machines were invented. When touch-tone telephones were being invented it was feared the system wouldn't be able to read the input given to the phone by someone proficient with an adding machine. They would be able to "type" too fast for the phone to keep up. To solve this problem they reversed the layout of the telephone keypad.