Ask HN: Is Dvorak worth it?

I'd also agree that the comfort aspect is much more important than raw speed. I can type slightly faster on Colemak than I used to type on QWERTY, but after I switched, I feel far less fatigued by long typing sessions. As a developer, I figure I'll probably be doing a lot of typing on keyboards throughout my life, so I should do what I can to ease the negative impact on my wrists and fingers, etc.

If OP has already invested time learning Dvorak, maybe that's the way to go -- either one will be better for you than QWERTY. The hard part is setting aside time to learn and transitioning. At first I tried flip-flopping back and forth (what with having a job that required typing and all), but I ended up not getting better at Colemak and actually getting worse at QWERTY. After 2 weeks of dedicated practice and lots of typing games, I could slowly type in Colemak without making a huge amount of errors, and after about 6-8 weeks I'd say I was proficient and back at my normal typing speed. That murky time at the beginning when typing productivity drops can be tricky to manage, but it's definitely worth the effort in the long run.

1) A kinesis advantage

2) Colemak layout

3) No mouse (tablet)

Nobody can cheese me in the time it takes me to pee.

About a year ago I switched cold turkey to Dvorak. Aware of Qwerty's obvious design flaws and the improvements Dvorak had made, I had been toying with the idea of learning Dvorak for quite some time. That summer I found myself with a few weeks of nothing to do, so I learned Dvorak. My regimen was to do the exercises on http://learn.dvorak.nl everyday for as long as I could. Using a computer during that time was extraordinarily painful. I had to consciously think about the placement of every single keystroke, and simple things like googling "hockey scores" became a monumental task. I even started to avoid using a computer because typing was so difficult. If that sounds terrible, it was. However, with more practice things got better, and within a few weeks I could confidently type Dvorak at a reasonable speed.

A few months later, at school, two of my friends noticed I was using a different keyboard layout. I explained to them how I switched to Dvorak, and they decided to learn it too (which decision they made completely on their own; I hadn't even suggested they try it). Apparently their learning experiences were a lot more pleasant than mine, but it makes sense that it varies from person to person.

About a year later, I am a regular Dvorak user. However, would I recommend switching? No, not really. Dvorak is better than Qwerty, that much is obvious. But, did my typing speed increase? No, not really. I hadn't done any WPM measurements before I switched, but I'm roughly the same speed as before. Is Dvorak easier on your hands? Perhaps, but not by much in my opinion. If you do have hand pains, it is much easier and likely more effective to switch to a keyboard that is more ergonomic, rather than a layout. There are loads of these keyboards out there, such as TypeMatrix, ErgoDox, Truly Ergonomic, Kinesis, knock your self out. Switching to an ergonomic keyboard is something I absolutely do recommend (your pinkies will thank you).

Do I regret switching to Dvorak? No, I don't. I'm no worse off than before, and maybe even slightly better. However, is learning Dvorak worth it? For its ergonomic benefits, no, and my two friends that learned Dvorak share this opinion. If you want to learn Dvorak, by all means go ahead, but don't do so with the wrong expectations.

The switch was largely a wake up call in how adaptable the human mind is. The learning process was slow and comical until I started having Dvorak reflexes on a Qwerty keyboard.

I finally also learned to type properly. I type faster in Dvorak than I used to type in Qwerty.

What's not to like from a clean slate?