QWERTY feels permanent because it is printed on almost every keyboard I touch. My laptop has it. My phone assumes it. Every office keyboard, BIOS password prompt, borrowed PC, and helpdesk walkthrough ...
A few years back I was at a convention somewhere and I stumbled into Palm's booth. They were showcasing a small half-qwerty keyboard. I was instantly in love, but didn't have the $$$ to drop on one.
Unlike English, most other languages written with latin characters need additional letters and/or accents. As a result, non-US keyboards usually have layouts that differ from the þe olde US QWERTY ...
The QWERTY keyboard layout has been around since the 19th century. Aren't there other arrangements better fit for the computer age? They vary from... QWERTY Traveled From Typewriter To iPhone, But ...