Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why the Dvorak keyboard didn't take over the world (2014) [video]

youtube.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 244 posts

Re: Why the Dvorak keyboard didn't take over the world (2014) [video]

#91

Post by waynesonfire »

nfriend wrote: post #26

Anecdotally, I gave Dvorak a try and became somewhat proficient, but ultimately reverted back to QWERTY for one reason: keyboard shortcuts! Control-C|V|Z are all transformed into either two-handed shortcuts or right-handed shortcuts. In either case, I can't copy/paste while selecting text with the mouse (since I'm right-handed). I now use Colemak ( https://colemak.com/ ) which doesn't have this issue and I'm quite ha…

I've been using dvorak exclusively for over 20 years. Best investment of my career. I don't bother remapping keys and just learn them however they land on the layout.

Re: Why the Dvorak keyboard didn't take over the world (2014) [video]

#92

Post by codemac »

grog454 wrote: post #11
throwawaymaths wrote: post #5

As a dvorak user: in a way that's kinda great that dvorak didn't make it. It's terrible for mobile.

I use Dvorak for keyboards and qwerty for thumbs. Keeps them both in muscle memory to some extent, so it's not too painful when I'm using someone else's keyboard.

Ditto! It's actually good for thumbs because your thumbs can't get all crumbled on top of eachother. Same for swipe typing - the further distances makes it easier to pick up on different words.

Re: Why the Dvorak keyboard didn't take over the world (2014) [video]

#93

Post by kqr »

api_or_ipa wrote: post #9

As 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,…

Same experience for me with Colemak. My wife at one point got curious enough to try typing a few sentences on my machine (with me reading out which finger to move how to get the right letters) and even she had to admit it felt very relaxing compared to what she's used to. (But not enough that she's willing to relearn...)

Re: Why the Dvorak keyboard didn't take over the world (2014) [video]

#94

Post by jocaal »

chasil wrote: post #79
jerf wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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…

I also took junior high typing in the 1980s, but we used manual typewriters. There were two IBM Selectrics in the back of the class that were used by lucky students for the day. I type with only the three inner index fingers of each hand, because the keys on the manual typewriters were hard to press. This limits my typing speed to 60wpm. If I used all four fingers, I could probably hit 90.

I was also stuck at like 50wpm and I knew it was because of using the wrong fingers for the wrong keys. Someone recommended typing.com's complete beginner lesson where they literally just walk you through which fingers to use with which keys and after completing that and 2 days of practise my speed jumped by 10wpm. Highly recommend.

Re: Why the Dvorak keyboard didn't take over the world (2014) [video]

#95

Post by fareesh »

api_or_ipa wrote: post #9

As 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 type between 80-120 wpm with reasonable accuracy on qwerty and I feel super slow compared to the pace of thinking.

It's a constant source of stress. I'm only ever comfortable if I force myself to think slower.

Re: Why the Dvorak keyboard didn't take over the world (2014) [video]

#96

Post by geocrasher »

I once decided that since I broke my left hand, it would be a good opportunity to learn Right Hand Dvorak. I was wrong. I was a terrible idea. Instead of being somewhat able to type with QWERTY, I was barely able to type at all with RH Dvorak. I tried it for a day, went back to QWERTY.

Re: Why the Dvorak keyboard didn't take over the world (2014) [video]

#97

Post by Jabrov »

geocrasher wrote: post #96

I once decided that since I broke my left hand, it would be a good opportunity to learn Right Hand Dvorak. I was wrong. I was a terrible idea. Instead of being somewhat able to type with QWERTY, I was barely able to type at all with RH Dvorak. I tried it for a day, went back to QWERTY.

It takes longer than a day though! It took me about 2 weeks to get accustomed to Dvorak, and maybe a few weeks more to start being faster than QWERTY

Re: Why the Dvorak keyboard didn't take over the world (2014) [video]

#98

Post by hinkley »

ComputerGuru wrote: post #61

As a Dvorak user (for 20 years now), I always say "I came for the speed benefits that never materialized, but stayed for the ergonomics (reduced strain)"

I was dealing with RSI when I learned Dvorak. The speed appealed to my ego, but I was really just trying to save my career.

Re: Why the Dvorak keyboard didn't take over the world (2014) [video]

#99

Post by mgbmtl »

geocrasher wrote: post #96

I once decided that since I broke my left hand, it would be a good opportunity to learn Right Hand Dvorak. I was wrong. I was a terrible idea. Instead of being somewhat able to type with QWERTY, I was barely able to type at all with RH Dvorak. I tried it for a day, went back to QWERTY.

Switching keyboards takes at least 2-4 weeks, in my opinion, to get to somewhat 80% speed of what you would expect.

Personally, switching to a "columnar" keyboard (Moonlander keyboard) took me about that time, but afterwards I could switch between keyboards without too much confusion. (I don't type faster, but I feel less pain from typing)

Re: Why the Dvorak keyboard didn't take over the world (2014) [video]

#100

Post by geocrasher »

Jabrov wrote: post #97
geocrasher wrote: post #96

I once decided that since I broke my left hand, it would be a good opportunity to learn Right Hand Dvorak. I was wrong. I was a terrible idea. Instead of being somewhat able to type with QWERTY, I was barely able to type at all with RH Dvorak. I tried it for a day, went back to QWERTY.

It takes longer than a day though! It took me about 2 weeks to get accustomed to Dvorak, and maybe a few weeks more to start being faster than QWERTY

For sure- the issue though was that I was almost completely unproductive. I had work to do :)
Post reply on HN