I documented my Dvorak experience in an FAQ. https://www.nayuki.io/page/i-type-in-dvorak
Why the Dvorak keyboard didn't take over the world (2014) [video]
191–200 of 244 posts
Re: Why the Dvorak keyboard didn't take over the world (2014) [video]
#192Obv it would be helpful/nice/cool to have reconfigurable keycaps, where the keycap's legend (LED-enhanced) could display whatever character you choose.
Each key glowing in conformance with your current keyboard layout of choice.
The last time I searched around for something like this, all I could find was some guy in Russia who had hacked up a positively brilliant-looking homebrew keyboard.
Re: Why the Dvorak keyboard didn't take over the world (2014) [video]
#193I wonder if a keyboard optimized for typists (typing in English with the most common word being ‘the’) is also optimal for programmers (writing code in say Python, with the most commonly used word likely being ‘def’ or ‘if’). The statistics of the two corpora should be different.
I expect there'll be a difference in which layout is optimal when analysing an average python code base with names (variables, functions, etc.) in your language versus regular text in that language, but honestly this is not where typing holds me back. Very rarely do I max out on typing speed for just a few minutes when coding something greenfield. Even if we're talking comfort rather than speed, you'd probably get 99…
Agreed on optimal with respect to either task will be much better than QWERTY overall.
Re: Why the Dvorak keyboard didn't take over the world (2014) [video]
#194I'm a Dvorak user myself since ~2006, and it is good. The main benefit is not the speed, but much less fatigue from typing: you move your fingers far less. This does come at a cost: hotkeys are usually a mess, especially if you have a second language layout (Cyrillic in my case), sometimes working differently dependent on layout, and hotkeys positions are typically optimised for QWERTY. Interestingly, all Dvorak adva…
Messagease is an on-screen phone keyboard optimized for single finger use:
https://www.exideas.com/ME/index.php
I get about 30 words per minute with it.
Re: Why the Dvorak keyboard didn't take over the world (2014) [video]
#195Obv it would be helpful/nice/cool to have reconfigurable keycaps, where the keycap's legend (LED-enhanced) could display whatever character you choose. Each key glowing in conformance with your current keyboard layout of choice. The last time I searched around for something like this, all I could find was some guy in Russia who had hacked up a positively brilliant-looking homebrew keyboard.
Never used it, but there's https://www.nemeio.com/
With the right software, you could even "improve" the layout on a daily basis based on the most used keys the previous day.
Re: Why the Dvorak keyboard didn't take over the world (2014) [video]
#196I have switched to Dvorak only one year ago, after many decades of using QWERTY. I consider this as one of my best decisions and my only regret is that I have not tried to do this many years earlier, because I had wrongly feared that typing Dvorak on a keyboard with QWERTY inscriptions might be a hindrance. As many other posters have already said, the advantage of Dvorak is seldom a greater speed (and I needed a coup…
Did you have discomfort while typing on qwerty? That you noticed before trying Dvorak I mean.
Re: Why the Dvorak keyboard didn't take over the world (2014) [video]
#197I am generally very efficiency-minded (I run a speed-reading startup!), but I have never even felt the urge to try an alternate layout. Has anyone else who initially resisted these given it a try, and how long did it take you to figure out if it was amazing, or meh?
Do you mean that you run a speed reading startup or really a speed-reading startup?
Re: Why the Dvorak keyboard didn't take over the world (2014) [video]
#198As a dvorak user, whatever increase in typing speed is mostly irrelevant, for most of us, our output isn't limited by how fast we can type, but how fast we can think. That being said, a long time ago I took an analysis of one of our code bases, mapped every character onto dvorak and qwerty keyboards to produce heatmaps, and it's startling how much less the fingers have to move on a dvorak keyboard. So if you're lazy,…
I came to say this. It's not speed, it's comfort. I've been using Dvorak on my Kinesis Advantage since mid 90'es [1]. I don't actually think Dvorak is the best possible layout, but as the video points out, we are already in the realm of diminishing returns.
[1] I still use Qwerty on non-Kinesis keyboards and this fact is enough for my muscle memory to eliminate any mental overhead of switching.
Re: Why the Dvorak keyboard didn't take over the world (2014) [video]
#199Earlier quoted context omitted.
> QWERTY users naturally wander around and have their hands leave the home row and I'm not entirely convinced it's actually wrong. I think you are learning it wrong. It's not hard at all to learn QWERTY with the proper training technique. I took touch typing in High School, back in the 1980's. Even back then I knew I was going to be doing a lot of work with computers so it made sense to take it. It turned out to be t…
> the instructor would call out "J-J-J Space, K-K-K Space, L-L-L space, sem sem sem space" That nicely demonstrates the poor Qwerty layout. The very first keys you learn are among the least used, especially semicolon. Adding the left hand (ASDF), we can then type 44 words from /usr/share/dict/words, like "salad", "salsa", "flasks", "falls" and "alfalfa". For Dvorak, the instructor would be calling out "H-H-H Space, T…
None hunt out the one ton nun.
It's a silly sentence, but that's what makes learning Dvorak so fun.
Re: Why the Dvorak keyboard didn't take over the world (2014) [video]
#200Earlier quoted context omitted.
> QWERTY users naturally wander around and have their hands leave the home row and I'm not entirely convinced it's actually wrong. I think you are learning it wrong. It's not hard at all to learn QWERTY with the proper training technique. I took touch typing in High School, back in the 1980's. Even back then I knew I was going to be doing a lot of work with computers so it made sense to take it. It turned out to be t…
"I think you are learning it wrong." Well, of course I did. I used a keyboard for many years before my formal middle school typing class and by then it was too late. My brain already knew better and typing exercises did no good because I already knew how to use the keyboard without looking. I imagine this is the dominant case. If you want to fix it, I recommend simply learning a sensible layout for touch typing. You…
why would you even need to "learn", it comes naturally?
the school I went to also tried to push some crappy "correct" way to type on everyone. The teacher was moderately embarrased when I was able to type significantly faster without looking at the keyboard, because apparantly typing fast is only possible if following some special method..
dvorak is probably better, I dont know, but I type fast enough on qwerty