Advocating Dvorak

zeroweb writes "A group of three faithful Dvorak promoters have launched new website at DvZine.org. The big thing here is a Comic (available in print, pdf and html) describing the history of QWERTY and Dvorak, how and why one should make the switch, and real-life stories of the converted. If you are thinking about making the switch, this could push you over the edge. My favorite line: "It could be the difference between working in your garden at 70 or wearing wrist braces at 40." As someone who started wearing wrist braces at 23, I couldn't agree more - I read this comic, changed my keyboard layout and have been happier ever since."

Comments

Only going to work if it became standard

[syousef]

Bottom line is the last thing I need at work is to not be able to use anyone else's computer because I'm use to a non-standard keyboard layout. I refuse to use shortcut keys on non-standard keyboards for the same reasons.

I've been working in IT for a good number of years now without needing wrist braces, all the while using QWERTY. I know a lot of other people who haven't suffered this fate. I'm not saying no one has ever had this problem but when you exaggerate risks like this its called FUD/scaremongering.

Re:Only going to work if it became standard

[goatpunch]

Bottom line is the last thing I need at work is to not be able to use anyone else's computer because I'm use to a non-standard keyboard layout.

I use Dvorak full-time at home, and wherever else possible. Since I can touch-type, I can also quickly change the drivers. EVEN IF I must type with QWERTY, I have only lost a few WPM compared to when I used it all the time.

I switched to Dvorak 5 or 6 years ago. Never changed the keycaps- I was previously a Qwerty touch-typist and found that within a few weeks I was up to and perhaps surpassing my previous Qwerty speed. I switched back to Qwerty after a couple of months.

A couple of points I can add to the discussion:

• I found that, while Dvorak may be 'faster', flat-out typing speed is rarely the limiting factor when I am working, if I'm writing code or any text that I want to sound decent my fingers usually have to pause occasionally while my brain catches up. If I was transcribing large blocks of other people's writing typing speed would be more important, but for me there wasn't that much difference.
• Other people's keyboards- this is the reason that I switched back to Qwerty. It's all very well to be happily chugging along at 80wpm on your own machine, but when you have to sit down at your boss's desk for 2 minutes to look into a problem, and you're slowly hunt-and-peck typing, it's rather embarassing. Even if you install the drivers and/or switch keyboards on their machines, it's a pain for them if you forget to switch back ("What did you do to my fing keyboard?")
• Qwerty is a standard, and as anyone who uses the internet knows, sometimes a sub-optimal standard is better than a superiour non-standard solution.

I would only recommend the switch to Dvorak if: A) the geek factor of using an alternate layout is enough that the problems are worth it, or B) if you rarely have to switch machines, and you do a lot of typing at full speed, or C) you have room in your head for 2 keyboard layouts at once, and can switch at will.

Re:Only going to work if it became standard

[SuperQ]

I'm 27, and I started having a bit of hand pain from typing at work. I re-adusted my keyboard on my desk, raised my chair a couple inches, and the problem has mostly gone away.. having good typing posture is esential when you sit in front of a computer 8+ hours a day.

Re:Only going to work if it became standard

[Coryoth]

One of the best programmers I've met, who could turn out good code at least as fast as anyone else I've ever met, typed with his feet (he had cerebral palsy). Sure, his WPM rate wasn't as high as most, but give him a decent editor and he'd fly along - mostly because he could think through his code very efficiently.

Typing speed for coding is vastly overrated.

Jedidiah.

Crackpots?

[kzinti]

I haven't RTFA yet (it's printing now), but I can tell you as a longtime Dvorak user that we're viewed as crackpots and we have little credibility with the QWERTY types. So I hope that if these guys are making medical claims that they have some real medical evidence to back up their claims, and not just the kind of anecdote mentioned in the Slashdot teaser. I've used Dvorak for 13 years and I can type faster than I could in QWERTY and the keyboard feels more comfortable. But that doesn't mean that it will be so for everybody, and it certainly doesn't mean that Dvorak will reduce anybody's likelihood of damaging their wrists. Caveat emptor.

DVORAK for real world, SysAdmin/Programming uses?

[Blymie]

Someone should do a study of how fsck, dir, cd, ifconfig and other "stuff" works into dvorak.

These words often have none or few vowels.

One key line in the comic:

"Come on! How often do you type a semi-colon??? It's a wasted key! On the home row no less!"

Guess what ;) I type a _lot_ of semi-colons. Bash scripting, PERL coding, you name it.

Honestly, it would be amusing to see how DVORAK stacks up, when programming and sysadmin tasks are taken into account. DVORAK could be a detrement in these cases...

Re:Dvorak is very good

[odaen]

Actually for lots of people, now is a really good time to try and learn. It's the start of the Summer Holidays, and by the time you get back to School you'll be able to use qwerty without mucking up your dvorak knoledge. Just don't try to switch to Qwerty when you have trouble typing, it just makes it harder.

Re:Dvorak is very good

[mcgroarty]

But seriously, DVORAK is _so_ much more efficient, and typing actually becomes a pleasure.

This is the part where you move from advocate to fanatic. Seriously. You sound like the Mac or Firefox evangelist who spends half an hour showing how cool his tool is, changes someone's mind by revealing how it can be useful, then changes it back by going all weepy over it and making it clear this isn't about the tool qua tool. Big neon culty warning signs.

Re:Dvorak is very good

[CoolVibe]

Dvorak is _not_ so very good when vi (or vim) is one's standard editor. I tried using dvorak for a while, but my finger muscle memory is so attuned to vi(m) with querty, I destroyed several chunks of code while poking on the wrong keys (yay for CVS and Subversion). It also doesn't "flow" with vi like querty does. "hjkl" is useless with dvorak, as are many other well placed vi command-mode keystrokes.

The dvorak-advocates can blather all about languages and how one can speak several without losing proficiency in one, but muscle memory is a TOTALLY different league and is a bitch to relearn.

Sure, I can remap the keys so they have their "qwerty" equivs, but then I might as well stay with qwerty then.

And no, I'm NOT switching to emacs. They can pry my beloved vi from my cold dead fingers.

Re:Dvorak is very good

[ChuckleBug]

You sound like the Mac or Firefox evangelist who spends half an hour showing how cool his tool is, changes someone's mind by revealing how it can be useful, then changes it back by going all weepy over it and making it clear this isn't about the tool qua tool. Big neon culty warning signs.

I don't understand this mentality. If someone convinces you something works, why would you decide to discard that simply because the person who convinced you turned out to be annoying? Either he's right or wrong. Why does the attitude of the messenger enter into it?

I agree that zealots are annoying. That doesn't mean they're always wrong, though.