There's a certain ergnomic justification to the qwerty layout in reality.I'd love to see that justification. I fail to see any ergonomic design principles at all in the QWERTY layout. Just because you can get used to it, doesn't mean that it's ergonomic.
I'd love to see that justification. I fail to see any ergonomic design principles at all in the QWERTY layout. Just because you can get used to it, doesn't mean that it's ergonomic.
I mean, really... a semicolon on the home keys? Outside of programming, that has absolutely no business being there. QWERTY wasn't designed with programming in mind either, so it just goes to show how it wasn't designed with ergonomics or efficiency in mind.
Actually that's not it, that one is another one that bases Qwerty being the superior layout because there were a lot of typing competitions in the early 1900's and also when computers came out, why it survived over other formats.
I started out typing on QWERTY, I capped out at around 65 WPM and would get horrible pains in my wrists and hands from typing at that speed, so I would slow down.
I decided to switch to dvorak, mostly because it was the only layout I found when researching alternative ones.
There was a period of about a week where I was straining to get out 10wpm, but I got back up to speed within a month, and was up to around 80 WPM within about three months. The pain in my hands was completely gone. Dvorak is a lot more 'comfortable' to use than qwerty, probably because of the reduced finger travel.
I now type at around 100WPM, and I've been using DVORAK for about five years. It has never occurred to me to switch back, because Dvorak is just so much more efficient than qwerty. I've never had any pains in my hands again, even after hours of typing.
I can still type in qwerty, but it's only around 60wpm, and it's just not as pleasant to type in as dvorak. I feel like I'm reaching all over the place whenever I type in qwerty.
Also, Dvorak favors the right hand when typing, so it's good for righties. (it shifts 8-9% of the workload to the right hand over the left one.)
Any questions? Hope I helped.
That may make it the one for me
I have two of the SIIG MiniTouches (one is my spare) I think
I'll switch one over to dvorak and leave the other qwerty.
Then I can give dvorak an honest try.
My left hand hurts right now after a day of typing.
It's the keyboard, not the layout. Those keyboards make your hands hurt. I'm glad I'm not the only one that experienced that. lol
I'm not sure I'll switch since all the machines I work on are QWERTY so ?????
I mean, really... a semicolon on the home keys? Outside of programming, that has absolutely no business being there.
this is exactly why i quit using dvorak. i was working as a computer tech, and while i found dvorak to be comfortable enough, just as i started to approach a decent speed with it, i started being unable to type on a normal keyboard.
it's a bummer that qwerty is the main kb layout, but really, if you use multiple computers that other people use, you are probably causing a net inefficiency in the world either by forcing a bunch of muggles to use dvorak, or by having to switch your brain back and forth.
just my 2 cents.
You could get a dvorak keyboard, or a keyboard that has Dvorak to querty conversion built in. As for the home row, I think thats just a learning thing, I imagine most people got tutored to use those nipples... all it takes is a small glance to position your self, once thats done its all speeding. Its not hard to position your self by the enter and the caps button. I just did anyways.
I never learned home row typing, but I do 80-100WPM (when I'm booking it, I can hit 120, but under realistic extended typing, ~80 is realistically sustainable) without looking at the keyboard.
I'm trying to learn the home row with COLEMAK, which should be beneficial given its greater use of letters on that row.
Old habits die hard though. Just keeping my hands on the now is weird, and the nubs on the Filco aren't big enough in my opinion (sometimes I can't find them).
(image of a tenkeyless, hotlinking isn't nice)
Why not just use one of those. meh. I learned my layout by looking down, it was just tooooo unbearable to learn a new layout and not be able to do anything on my keyboard until i did something on it. I mean learn something on it.
Id advise against switching layouts every day. My speed fluxes about 30 to 40 wpm when I am constantly flipping layouts. When I sit down on my comp alone due to vacation my wpm skyrockets, which i love. Flipping layouts is easy, but not very benneficial to speed. But do we really need the speed. Like I said before, there ergonomics are reason enough.
OOOh, I was a technical director at a tv station, the board only had one row that we used. Meaning there was little motion, and little fatigue, that totally blows the claims of the dude in the first post about keeping in the home row being bad.
Interesting.
Does someone have an idea of what the unit would cost?
Good luck finding a phone with switchable keys... large android touchscreens arent bad though.I use Dvorak on my Iphone...
I use Dvorak on my Iphone...
I disagree with that fingering scheme above - the row stagger makes it very hard on your left wrist. As mentioned before, use an ISO board and do this:Show Image(http://folk.uio.no/obech/Images/Colemak/Cmk-BoardFigs/CmkIBM-ISO90d-Wide_FengShuiFinger.png)
Bunch of problems solved, at minor cost. If you wish, you can do it with QWERTY too and the benefit will be quite tangible.