Why is Everyone Still Stuck in QWERTY?

theWrkncacnter asks: "I was recently giving some instructions over IRC to a long time QWERTY keyboard user who wanted to switch to the Dvorak layout, mostly because a good majority of the people in channel had made the switch and were all talking it up, myself included, about how our speeds had increased and how its much more comfortable. This made me think, why don't more people use the Dvorak layout? Searching around I found an older topic on the subject, but that didn't answer too many questions, as most people in the comment section seemed to think that Dvorak vs. QWERTY was a hardware issue, when it is really a matter simply changing the layout on your particular OS. I took the time to pry off and remap my powerbook keyboard's keys but I have no problem typing in Dvorak on a physically QWERTY mapped keyboard, and I know many others who don't have a problem doing so either. So given all of this, why don't more people switch? Is it that most people just can't be bothered to make the change, even when its more efficient and more comfortable?" Is it mostly due to the fact that most people learn to type first on QWERTY due to its popularity, and hence don't bother to learn anything else?

Comments

Beyond Dvorak

[aster_ken]

Slashdot had an article a long time ago about going beyond the efficiency of Dvorak and determining what is better through genetic algorithms. You can read the Slashdot article here.

Re:A question for those who have switched...

[sidesh0w]

YMMV, but I've found your speculations about switching between layouts to be true. I've been using Dvorak for about 5 years at home and I use QWERTY basically everywhere else, and I have managed to remain proficient on both. But if I try to type in Dvorak in other contexts (eg - at school, I switch the layout in software, but leave the keys the same), it takes me a lot longer to adjust -- even though I am not looking at the keys.

And no, I'm not saying this because I'm some some raving Dvorak promoter -- as people have pointed out, it isn't that much faster, and there is always the inconvenience for other people who want to use my computer (It's very simple to remap the keys back & forth with an international layout tool, but some people still can't get over the fact that all the keycaps have been swapped around). Dvorak just has that same geek fun factor that Linux does -- I like using something different from "everyone else" -- because I can -- even if it's only marginally better.

Re:Obvious answers?

[Verne]

I grew up using QWERTY. Although as I started typing at a very young age, I never learnt how to touch type.

I could type in QWERTY at adequate speeds, and I didn't feel I needed to be any faster.

The main drive for me to switch, was that I wanted to learn how to touch type. I'd tried to learn to touch type a few times, but it was always so easy to cheat and go back to typing with the incorrect fingures, as I was too used to typing in my own way.

I switched to DVORAK at work, and used QWERTY at home. For a number of years I could adequately use both. But it was not until I switched over at home as well that I really started becoming FAST at DVORAK.

At the moment, I use DVORAK everywhere, and have trouble with switching to QWERTY, although once I realise what's going on I can type by looking at the keys, reasonably well. I get the odd letter wrong, and if I try to think about it, I get REALLY confused.

One of the main drawbacks to using DVORAK is when programs (especially games) assume you have a QWERTY keyboard. Setting the regonal settings to DVORAK under windows is ok, but when games do their own keyboard mapping, they don't seem to expect you use anything other than QWERTY. One of the worst examples of this has got to be Counter Strike. The Half-life bit of it, when you are setting up all your keys, seems to be fine with your regonal settings set to DVORAK. As soon as you launch the game, it assumes you are in QWERTY. There is no way to set up your keys in QWERTY at all. It took me AGES to try and get the keys set up, cause I had to type in DVORAK where the QWERTY keys would be.
Also, as with any keyboard layout, getting it set up for the default in windows logon was a bitch, and I ended up hacking the registry until it magically worked.

The best solution may be to get something like at dvortyboard.com where you can switch between QWERTY and DVORAK in hardware as much as you like.

All in all though, I think the switch to DVORAK was well worth it. Speed isn't the main concern, although I am typing faster and more evenly with DVORAK. And I love typing now for some reason, as all of my fingers are used all the time.

I read alot of debates over how DVORAK being better is just a myth, and QWERTY is better yada yada yada. For me, I find DVORAK comfortable. The common letters are easy to reach without moving your left hand too much (I'm right handed, so moving my right hand is more comfortable and coordinated than moving my left hand) and I don't need to move my less coordinated (ring and pinky) fingers up and down much. QWERTY has jkl; in the home row of your main hand. Yet you surely don't use these keys much at all... Seems strange to me....

Verne.