Why Does The "N" On A Keyboard Wear Out First?

The most used alphabet in English language is 'e' but the wearing out may depend on typing style and other personal factors. But I have been using my current laptop from a few years now and have also used it heavily but I haven't noticed the problem yet. All the letters are clearly visible and no button is showing the signs of wear out in the near future. But I have seen many desktop keyboards wearing out as I think it is the case with most desktop keyboards. Very expensive keyboards may be exception but it just happens with most keyboards. Also most desktop keyboards need more pressure to get pressing registered as compared to laptop keyboards so that might also reduce the wear out time.

maybe in the English Alphabets, N is the frequent letter is present aside from vowels....

Having you been using your keyboard to type a lot of 'nonsense'? There 3 N's in that

I have been using my keyboard for several years already and it is only this year that I noticed that some keys have faded letters. For me the ones that got worn out first were the letters -- A S D & E. I am a touch typist so I don't mind much if the letters get worn out. I've memorized the placement of the letters anyway. Other people who try to use my computer are the ones who complain about the faded keys.

I have mentioned to you before about my old HP keyboard and how awesome it is. I was without it for about a month but have been using again in my new house with my new computer for the last week and it is so much easier to use. I never did notice that there was one key which was showing a minor amount of fading until you pointed it out here. Yes, it is the N key for some reason. Maybe because it is in the middle and we often hit it by mistake? Or maybe it is just a really common letter? I just noticed how many times I hit it in this post and it is 21 times!

If your laptop is manufactured by Apple or other companies based in the United States and the letter N is the first to deteriorate or wear out, it appears to be a sort of discrimination!

The initial thought I got when I read your discussion is perhaps you type a lot of "No" hehehe.. because as I recall the "Y" in our keyboards where usually the first ones to start fading. However, with this one, no letter has started fading yet. Perhaps it depends on the type of keyboard you have and the kind of touch you use. I usually use my nails and tips of my fingers because I have long nails (well not that long). My keyboard is nice because it's light to the touch and reacts fast. I got fed up of buying those keyboards that were cheaper and lighter because it just doesn't sound as good as this one. Further, there came a point in my life where I needed to change keyboards almost every months because the ants were eating them! I don't know why, I've tried everything and it only ended when I bought this must more pricey keyboard. My partner said that perhaps the cheaper keyboards had some parts which attracted ants. Anyway, while typing this I was counting the number of times I had to type "N" and I think I type the "I" or the vowels more. So I'm really wondering why a specific letter - usually consonant start to fade first. Have a great MyLot experience!

I wish I k_ow the a_swer to your question_ but alas, I refuse to type the letter _ and wear it out more si_ce it is bei_g used so much. So I resolve to try and omit all the letter _ in my reply to see if it works and it did However, I thi_k it has more to do with the fact that certai_ letters are commo_ like __ S, a_d the vowels...so they get used more ofte_ tha_ others. In today fast paced world, time is _ot take_ a_ymore to do a great job i_ the ma_ufacturi_g process, so what we get is ofte_ quick, work that soo_ have to be recalled or wear out faster. Just replace the dashes with the dreded N and you will get the message

Hello Janey. As a kid, and i haven noticed this today to other children that the most used letters usually go away first. The first one for young ones are W, A, S, D used for controls in most games in the recent years.

Most people are right handed. Most people use their right index finger to depress the N key which uses more pressure than the other keys. ergo: The N lettering is smudged more.

That's interesting. I've never had any letters wear out on my keyboards. But if it's really a problem, why not try out those cool new laser keyboards? Ya know, that one that 'projects' a keyboard onto your desk? I'd get one of those if I had a desktop...or enough money, haha!

I keep my keyboards forever. The one Im using now is a tiny keyboard. The numbers arent on the right side, only the letters. For me the first to go are M, N,

Hmm I'm a bit confused by this as I have also noticed this. It might be because "N" is one of the most commonly used letters in the alphabet. It's probably just cheaper to make the keyboard, well cheaper!

I have had that happen years ago at work and from what I have seen it is those cheap plastic keys on those keyboards. I now own a Mac at home and have for quite some years now. I have never had that happen with the Mac. I think these PC companies make those computers and keyboards cheap with cheap material. Thats why they are cheap and do not last long. Maybe you should get one of those clear covers for your keyboard. May that will help.

Back in the day when the old style of typewriter was used, the keys were made in such a way that they were much less likely to wear than modern keyboards (partly because, in those days, you couldn't just buy a new keyboard and so the whole machine was made to last). These days, a keyboard is a 'disposable item' and when it wears out, it can be easily replaced. Most of the keys on a keyboard are identical bits of plastic. All that makes them different is the letter which is stencilled onto the top after the key is made. These days, it seems, although the ink used to print the letters is remarkably hard-wearing, it is only on the surface and wears off after several hundred thousand times that key is used. The most commonly used letters in English are (in order) ETAO NRIS HDLF CMUG YPWB VKXJ QZ. The actual order varies a little depending on the type of text and is also different for every language. I think that the reason that your 'N' key is more worn is that it is the only one of the first 8 letters which is on the bottom row of the keyboard. It therefore is likely to be hit harder or more 'full on' than the others, even though they are more frequent. Looking at my keyboard, I can see, for example, that ERTIO (on the top row) have the bottoms of the letters worn away and that ASH and L on the middle row tend to be worn on the right hand side but N has nearly disappeared (and M is on its way out).

I hadn't noticed that I have to say. But of course the most used letters will wear out first. Looking down on my keyboard, my letter N is one of the healthiest on there! On the other hand, A, S, and H are ailing fast. So for me, A, S and H are obviously the most deployed...:o)

After reading your discussion I took a look down at my keyboard and three of the letters on my keyboard have "rubbed" off. And the 'N' is one of them. I don't know if it went first, but I find it funny that I'm not the only one whose 'N' is missing!

is it just the lettering that is wearing out or do the keyboard themselves wear out? because I used the same keyboard for 7 or 8 years at the State and a LOT of letters were gone, but since I don't look at the keyboard it didn't matter... in my case, the "m" is only one that seems to be losing any of its letters... but at work I think "Q" and "Z" were the only ones withOUT most of the letters gone - the "X" was one of the first, but I was always having to key "TX" because that's Texas' abbreviation.

I don't know if it's always the n key. My mother has a keyboard that's just lost the c button which is in her name and email and making accessing the internet and sites such as facebook impossible. I know that one of our old keyboards lost the n key before others.

lol you had me examining every letter on my key board and no I have not worn out any keys. Though this one is only 6 months old and can't recall wearing out any letters. It must be that the N is being used more then the others and that the materials used to create the letters are simply of cheaper materials. I can believe this as almost everything in electronics seems to be made out of cheap plastic.