

Keyboard layouts: Dvorak better than QWERTY ? - smwhreyebelong
http://www.theworldofstuff.com/dvorak/

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jerf
Sigh. This again. Here's my best synopsis on the issue:

The science on both sides is completely inadequate. All studies actually
performed are seriously tainted by being run by people with axes to grind.
Thus, as much as we don't like anecdotal data, it's really all we have. The
studies are also _very_ old, and I would worry that even if they applied to
old-style typewriters that they may not apply to modern keyboards, which are
much, much softer than the typewriters of the early 20th century.

There is no compelling evidence that there's a huge speed difference between
Dvorak and QWERTY. People who have tried both frequently report that Dvorak
does _feel_ better, though. Some do not report that it feels easier. I choose
the word "feel" with care; it is subjective, but we have nothing much better
to go on.

Current science can not prove whether Dvorak can prevent or mitigate RSI, but
many people with existing RSI problems have reported improvement anecdotally.
Given the difficulty of fixing or improving RSI, I would think these reports
shouldn't be entirely dismissed, even if they aren't proof. Science _can_
prove that typing with Dvorak does empirically involve less finger and wrist
motion for the same thing to be typed, so at least there is a plausible
mechanism for such an effect.

Programmers often complain about the mappings of the [] and the /= keys being
reversed. I would say two things: First, if it bothers you, flip it back! And
second, your mileage will vary based on your language of choice. My primary
language is Perl (professionally), and I once did an actual character count on
those characters, and it was as close to even as you could ask.

I type in Dvorak (with Caps Lock mapped to backspace), and I have not gone
back, despite the inconveniences it sometimes brings up; the wrist comfort for
me wins out. Also, science can't prove it prevents RSI, but it can't prove it
_doesn't_ either, so as an informed person, I am acting on the belief that it
doesn't hurt and probably helps. I may be wrong. Who knows.

Finally, I think that everyone should consider fiddling with their keyboard,
even if you don't choose Dvorak. There are other layouts closer to QWERTY, and
other things you can try independently, like remapping Caps Lock to something
useful. (I choose backspace, like I said; CTRL is a popular choice.) I'm
thinking of trying flipping the digits and symbols so the "4" key gives $ and
SHIFT-4 gives 4. Learning an entire new keyboard layout is hard, but learning
one key switch is easy; remapping Caps Lock to Backspace takes about ten
minutes to learn, and ten minutes to unlearn if you don't like it. The key is
to _un_ map the real Backspace key. I have a theory that one could
incrementally learn Dvorak without completely slowing yourself down by
flipping one key at a time and learning it over a month or so, but this may
destroy your QWERTY skills and I've never actually tried it or heard from
anyone who did.

There. I think that about covers it.

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rarrrrrr
I switchedin my early twenties and it's been well worth it. It's not so much
about speed, as it is about accuracy, and especially about comfort.

I would recommend in switching that you not move your keycaps around, or draw
new letters on your keyboard, or any other mental crutch, but instead simply
memorize the new layout. It won't take long, and that small step will hasten
your transition.

There were a few interesting side effects during the transition. For the first
couple of days, I realized that I could no longer spell some words -- my life
is so terminal oriented that much of my rote spelling knowledge was based on
muscle memory.

During the transition, it was an added challenge to do everything, and that
sort of reminded me of how the older generation of punch card programmers
often described their work. Suddenly it became more efficient to think about
the problem harder before trying solutions, increasing the chance of success,
rather than just firing rapidly from initial thoughts until I had bludgeoned a
solution.

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neilo
I've considered trying different keyboard layouts, but it seems like it would
hamper "portability". Nearly every device with a keyboard is QWERTY and
mentally switching my muscle memory between a primary workstation and all
those other things sounds exhausting.

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phrotoma
I completely agree with the bit about losing your QWERTY skills. I wasn't
expecting it at all when I switched and was pretty shocked when I discovered I
had to hunt and peck on most other peoples machines.

That being said the opposite is also true. I worked for quite a few years in a
team environment where other people hopping over your shoulder to "just do
something quick" was quite common (and quite annoying). Switching to DVORAK
nipped that nonsense in the bud very well.

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quoderat
I can type about 100WPM on Qwerty.

Tried Dvorak for a while, only could get up to 45WPM after months. Not worth
it to me at all.

