The QWERTY layout was invented by Christopher Sholes, the inventor of the first modern typewriter. At first the letters on the typewriter were placed alphabetically. However, when the user of the typewriter learned to type quickly, the bars attached to letters became caught in one another. The typist had to stop and unstick the typebars with his hands. A business associate of Sholes named James Densmore suggested splitting up the keys to speed up typing by preventing the typebars from striking the typewriter roller at the same time and sticking together. Some people say the QWERTY layout was created to slow down typing speed, while others say it worked by separating series of English letters.