I can say for myself that I manage to touch-type. But I never actively *learned* how to do it, it just came by from years of computer use.
Since joining geekhack, getting a mechanical board and feeling the difference under my fingers I started being a bit more conscious about keyboard use - and what I do notice is that while I am touch-typing, my (acquired) techique completely ignores the home row position. My hands float around the board, mostly going with the flow of text. I do use most of my fingers, if not all ten - but I do wonder is it the right way to go or to continue.
What would be the advantages of relearning to touch type from the home row? Considering not only health issues but also typing speed. I tried to force myself to type from the home row but right now it slows me down considerably.
With two most frequent keys (E and T) are not on the homerow, Qwerty is not a good layout to try homerow.
For better typing experience, I suggest you switch to Colemak. It has all ten of most frequent keys on the home row.Show Image(http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/9264/colemak2.jpg)
Always remembering that the QWERTY layout was designed to make typing slower so that the mechanical levers on the olden typewriters did not stick together. Thus frequently used letters were placed further apart on the keyboards.
Always remembering that the QWERTY layout was designed to make typing slower so that the mechanical levers on the olden typewriters did not stick together. Thus frequently used letters were placed further apart on the keyboards.
And the staggered layout is because of the levers from the keys going up to the mechanism. Both completely redundant for an electronic keyboard, and both very bad for ergonomics.
Both also retained due to people being "used to" them, which is not as relevant now as it was when keyboards were used primarily for data entry by typists. It's time for a change.
My concern about Dvorak is whether it is optimal to type in languages other than English - and the interoperability given that I also frequently need to move around and change machines. And I cannot pick up any random machine and install a new keyboard layout just because. How easy it is to switch back and forth for you dvorak-typing people?
My concern about Dvorak is whether it is optimal to type in languages other than English - and the interoperability given that I also frequently need to move around and change machines. And I cannot pick up any random machine and install a new keyboard layout just because. How easy it is to switch back and forth for you dvorak-typing people?
It's pre-installed on all three major operating systems (MS, Mac, Linux) and can be made to be switched to via standard ctrl+shift or alt+shift with or without a number in about ten seconds in the control panel, or keyboard options for Mac. Alternately, you can download DVAssist and put it on a flash drive, you can activate it on any computer and remove it, which will be the same as using Dvorak. One of the many benefits over other layouts.
I play lots of games, so I keep my hand on WASD :P
I play lots of games, so I keep my hand on WASD :P
Dvorak has always interested me... but it's also one of those things that will probably won't work for me for practical reasons.
QWERTY may not be optimal, but at least it's 'universal' in the sense that if I use any computer or smartphone (in the US), it's there for sure.
With two most frequent keys (E and T) are not on the homerow, Qwerty is not a good layout to try homerow.
For better typing experience, I suggest you switch to Colemak. It has all ten of most frequent keys on the home row.Show Image(http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/9264/colemak2.jpg)
It also has keys in Qwerty positioning, completely anti-ergonomic. ZXCVB/QW should not be where they are, as it's very difficult to hit the upper left and bottom left keys for any speed.
Colemak really has nothing to brag about.
You seem to have forgotten that the problem with QWERTY is mainly on the home row, not the ZXCVB/QW positions. But I suppose its fitting to take a purist attitude towards a layout created from circa 1920s theory.
I'll take the product of 21st century analysis, thank you.
You seem to have forgotten that the problem with QWERTY is mainly on the home row, not the ZXCVB/QW positions. But I suppose its fitting to take a purist attitude towards a layout created from circa 1920s theory.
I'll take the product of 21st century analysis, thank you.
I'd rather take the idea that worked for a hundred years than one that's pretty useless for speed or accuracy made ten years ago.
You seem to have forgotten that the problem with QWERTY is mainly on the home row, not the ZXCVB/QW positions. But I suppose its fitting to take a purist attitude towards a layout created from circa 1920s theory.
I'll take the product of 21st century analysis, thank you.
I'd rather take the idea that worked for a hundred years than one that's pretty useless for speed or accuracy made ten years ago.
And you know this how...
You seem to have forgotten that the problem with QWERTY is mainly on the home row, not the ZXCVB/QW positions. But I suppose its fitting to take a purist attitude towards a layout created from circa 1920s theory.
I'll take the product of 21st century analysis, thank you.
I'd rather take the idea that worked for a hundred years than one that's pretty useless for speed or accuracy made ten years ago.
And you know this how...
Lack of any good speed typists on any typing site using Colemak.
I've never seen a Colemak user typing over 150, despite my repeated searches. I've learned Dvorak for less than a year, and I am already able to exceed 140. I doubt any Colemak typist anywhere can say the same, even after two or three years.
I'm not sure why you think this was relevant in the first place, but I did point out to you that on hi-games there are scores that meet these arbitrary qualifications. 156wpm for the 30 second test (same as the Dvorak high score). 148wpm for the minute test (higher than the Dvorak high score). Of course this is just a single site, but I'm not sure why you're still saying this unless you have some reason to believe that these scores are not legitimate.
I feel that without learning to correctly use and position my hands on the home row, I've saved my hands/wrists from injury. I type around 85-90WPM on average (100WPM max), but I let my hands float around the keyboard. I think the loss of potential WPM is worth it to reduce any kind of injury.
Those are still nothing high at all. Thirty second test is not indicative of typing ability, just sprint. As you can see, vonunov (i.e. Jack) has gotten 200 wpm (I'd assume on a short test), and scores in the 150s often. Again, 140 is not an impressive score for typists who have been using layouts for years and years. Colemak has been out for quite some time, and the standards are by NO means arbitrary. 120 can be reached by typists with poor technique, but anything above that requires technique.The point is that you claim to have made repeated searches, but it seems you haven't. Within a minute of searching I found scores that would suggest otherwise. It seems sort of dishonest to claim that there are no fast Colemak typists when you have not searched everywhere on the internet and especially not everywhere in the world.
Again, no good typists. Even in the 1970s, typing schools showed off their best at able to type over 150, on a typewriter. 140 is a rookie's score.
I feel that without learning to correctly use and position my hands on the home row, I've saved my hands/wrists from injury. I type around 85-90WPM on average (100WPM max), but I let my hands float around the keyboard. I think the loss of potential WPM is worth it to reduce any kind of injury.
I feel that without learning to correctly use and position my hands on the home row, I've saved my hands/wrists from injury. I type around 85-90WPM on average (100WPM max), but I let my hands float around the keyboard. I think the loss of potential WPM is worth it to reduce any kind of injury.
I agree with this. The physical layout is bad for extended home row use no matter what character layout you use.