They had to invent QWERTY format to slow down typist, they had alphabetic keys before but were a failure, its was way too quick and they ended up jamming those mechanical striker arms together before they could return from stroke,
Your explanation is accurate with one small detail.
The QWERTY keyboard wasn't intended to slow down typists. It was created to allow typists to type faster by reducing jams between letters that often follow each other.
Here's a good explanation, too.
https://www.cnet.com/news/a-brief-history-of-the-qwerty-keyboard/On another tangent, the E-3 AWACS carries a mission crew which operates several consoles for weapons control, surveillance, communications and computer tech positions. The keyboards used to be in QWERTY arrangements, but they were redesigned by Boeing in a top-left to bottom-right alphabetical arrangement.
The reason the was done was because operators made a huge number of mistakes thinking they can use their touch-typing skills to enter data. They would hit "Enter" without first verifying the text entered (kind of like people posting garbage to forums without proofreading first).
Not only were the keys rearranged, but the keyboards were replaced with harder-to-press buttons/switches. This slowed the operators enough that they had to really concentrate, verifying what they actually typed was as intended.
Another issue is that crews wore gloves. That caused constant errors on regular keyboards. It couldn't be replicated in the simulator lab, because there was no need to wear gloves unless you were flying. This also helped justify removing the keyboards and replacing with harder-to-press and well-spaced switches.