Ever heard of the Dvorak keyboard lay-out? I just wrote a blog entry about this and I'm quite shocked about it's benefits vs. hardly anyone using it or even knowing about it! So a little poll to see how many of you knew about it and use it. If you have heard of it, why are you not using it?
I've heard of it, and in theory its a great keyboard. Problem is, is that from the day you are taught to type, you learn QWERTY. I can type about 120 words/minute on a standard layout, I'm not about to learn something else LOL.
Yeah but re-learning dvorak in about 2 weeks and then enjoying all the benefits... Isn't that worth a shot if you type loads you think?
I've heard of it, too, but I don't want to go to the hassle to switch over, because then I'd be used to DVORAK and anytime I had to use a keyboard anywhere eles I'd be messed up. Not that I use that many other keyboards now, it's just the principal. I mean yeah I type a lot, but is the difference of a fraction of the inch that big of a deal? It's like the guy that mentioned using foot pedals for Control and Shift at http://www.koniaris.com/dvorak/. I mean that's just overboard. Add a system for me to blow into for the space bar and I'd feel like a one man band. TOPS30, I am curious have you noticed a big difference and what negatives? If enough people start talking about how it's just incredible then I might give the software a try, but I'm not using foot pedals of a mouth thingy.
I have not even mastered QWERTY yet nor the piano - now foot pedals! That would be like expecting me to read music, cordinate my hands and feet and play the organ. Way too much multitasking. Shannon
I've used Dvorak... I love it. Sadly until I get my wife her own computer I won't be changing over any time soon. When I did have it I was typing about 20-30 WPM faster my first week. After the 2nd week you should be able to pick it up even more. As far as foot pedals, I never had anything like that. Anyone with Windows can go into their control panel and change their keyboard setup to Dvorak. After that I just printed out a layout of the Dvorak keyboard off a site and taped it up on my desk while I was learning. In my opinion they should stop teaching Qwerty in all basic keyboarding classes. That would begin to force people to change over... without something like that though.. I think people are to engrained into Qwerty to ever change, even if it is over a hundred years old and designed to slow you down.
have heard of it, tried it a little, found that what made it unusable is that people reconize many qwerty typos, but not dvorkak ones. Having to spend more time either correcting or explaining my typos lost more time then it saved me. also, I have to switch the computer I am using a few times a day and even more in the course of a month. Best to use what they all support stock.
I don't use it yet. But will try it at least just to satisfy my curiosity and to stick it to conventional wisdom. I don't think that once you learn Dvorak, you don't know how to Qwerty anymore. If you're an intelligent person, both shouldn't be hard. It's like left hand and right hand driving. Takes a bit of focus and concentration but it will come back as natural. Never seen or heard of the foot pedals, didn't get time to check that Koniaris website out. I did have a glance at their '3d' keyboard which looked intriguing. Thing is though, I can't even 100% touch-type. Never had any lessons. I'd probably need to become a proficient touch typist prior to going Dvorak or maybe better, learn touch-typing on Dvorak. Will try it though, I never like it when people just do things because every one else does it and it's become 'the standard' even when a quick investigation shows signs of it being a flawed standard. I'm not a sheep.
Normally I'm very big into doing anything that increases efficiency even if it is just a couple of seconds if it's a repeated task, because over the course of things it really adds up. However, from first glance it didn't seem like was much evidence that Dvorak would actually provide that much of an increase in efficiency. I'd like to know how it goes, and in the next day or two I'll probably start playing around with it just to see if provides a benefit to me in speed, because as much as I type I could use that extra time that I save by doing something else. From the stuff I had read it appeared that the most benefit was from a reduction of stress on the wrists and hands though.
That research I linked to from the student who thought Dvorak might be outdated was pretty convincing to me. He loaded text into some virtual keyboard setups and ran some algorithms to come up with the most efficient arrangement. The more he perfected his tests the closer he came to Dvorak's lay-out. And that's by recent, modern day's standard, 70 years on from Dvorak's invention.
I only use Dvorak. Hardly anyone I know has ever heard of it. I think I actually type slower than I used to, but it's supposed to be easier on your hands and I think I make less mistakes. I forgot the Qwerty keyboard. I like Dvorak.
Yes, I did totally forget the Qwerty keyboard. When I was learning Dvorak, my mind kept going back to Qwerty. Finally after I learned the Dvorak, I forgot the Qwerty. But I still like Dvorak. If I typed more, I probably could improve my speed. Some people I know can do Dvorak and Qwerty. It's easy to switch it on almost any computer. Except at the library (most libraries anyway.
Sh*t happens im affraid people looking to up there post counts so they browse through old threads to type rubbish so they can sell their signature links! regrds, B.