Some people, such as myself, have no choice in the matter. I am physically incapable of using a QWERTY-layout keyboard for any significant amount of time. If I'm using an ergonomic keyboard (my kbd at home is the MS version 1, purchased in... oh, 1997? 1998? and still going strong), I last a little longer. If I remap to Dvorak, I can last a whole day.
I didn't switch for the performance gain. I switched because I had no choice. The fact that my typing speed went up significantly, I now have an amusingly effective "oh, just let me type.." deterrant, and most people can't tell what my password is just by watching me type (no matter the speed), these are just side benefits. ;)
When I was researching alternate keyboard layouts, I came across a number of fun-looking toys. The one that really made me drool was the DataHand line -- you could get an ergo chair with the "keyboard" attached to the end of the arms. You sit in the chair like normal, set your hands on the DataHand keypads, and wiggle your fingers to type. Talk about COOL! The price is the deterrant; a standard ergo keyboard is under $100, the cheap DataHand starts at $500 and I think that's the sale price. *pout*
One fun thing about Dvorak, btw, is that you can do left-handed or right-handed one-hand layouts. I haven't experimented with them because I prefer two-handed typing, but I suspect it's Uber Cool. And just because I like to be silly, the Dvorak layout is:
The A and the M didn't move. Everything else went walkabout. I think it's hilarious. :D
Regarding manual typewriters... one of my childhood toys was a really old typewrite. I have no clue how old, but I think I saw one just like it on an old, B&W original Leave It To Beaver episode. We were terrible to that poor typewriter, and took great glee in pushing down many keys at once to make it jam.
Regarding the history of Dvorak, I read somewhere when researching it that when computers started to go mainstream in the Gov't (roundabouts the late 30s, I believe), something Big Came Up that took precedence over switching to the more efficient layout. And that would be WWII. The program to switch office workers from QWERTY (Remington? Hm, much easier to type.) was scrapped because they needed those workers productive, not in training. Or at least, so I read. :)
(And I haven't read any other comments as I type this, I'm just blithely sharing in your geekery. :) )
Umf. Sorry if I messed up your Comments page, it seems to be formatting oddly at the bottom. :( I scanned the comments and feel the need to share...
I was initially touchtyping QWERTY at somewhere in the 70+ wpm range. When I did the switch, I taught myself the layout by switching at home, opening a Notepad window and entering the rows, then did the alphabet. It took 35 tries for me to be able to do it without error, looking at my 'template'. It then took two weeks of struggling at home until I was OK with the layout, a week to accept that I'd learned the layout well enough that I was getting confused, then another two weeks to get back up to approx 70+ wpm. I'm now faster.
*impish grin* And I touchtype Dvorak in the dark. I have to, I don't have a Dvorak keyboard -- I have my OS (Windows 2000, Windows XP) remap the keyboard for me. :) I can also touchtype QWERTY still, but occasionally get confused when I start to really get going; fortunately, I don't have to use QWERTY all that often. I've also been known to hunt-n-peck and single-hand type Dvorak; it's occasionally hard to remember where d and t are, but I'm getting better. :)
I do that with Hebrew -- have XP remap the keyboard for me. Considering that the standard Hebrew keyboard layout is based on the Remington layout, as near as I can tell, I think I'd have an even harder time switching. I'm only now starting to remember where some of the sofit letters are, but then, I don't type in Hebrew all that much. (I'd demonstrate here, but I don't yet have r-to-l scripts enabled on the laptop, and I think I need to get the CD-R drive fixed before I can, bah.)
Now that is cool. I've a friend who uses a Turkish laptop, so her keyboard is actually a Turkish keyboard. The first time I saw it, I just sat there staring at it, wide-eyed; I knew intellectually that non-English keyboards exist, but actually seeing one was very cool.
(no subject)
I didn't switch for the performance gain. I switched because I had no choice. The fact that my typing speed went up significantly, I now have an amusingly effective "oh, just let me type.." deterrant, and most people can't tell what my password is just by watching me type (no matter the speed), these are just side benefits. ;)
When I was researching alternate keyboard layouts, I came across a number of fun-looking toys. The one that really made me drool was the DataHand line -- you could get an ergo chair with the "keyboard" attached to the end of the arms. You sit in the chair like normal, set your hands on the DataHand keypads, and wiggle your fingers to type. Talk about COOL! The price is the deterrant; a standard ergo keyboard is under $100, the cheap DataHand starts at $500 and I think that's the sale price. *pout*
One fun thing about Dvorak, btw, is that you can do left-handed or right-handed one-hand layouts. I haven't experimented with them because I prefer two-handed typing, but I suspect it's Uber Cool. And just because I like to be silly, the Dvorak layout is:
1234567890[] -- !@#$%^&*(){}
',.pyfgcrl/=\ -- "<>PYFGCRL?+|
aoeuidhtns- -- AOEUIDHTNS_
;qjkxbmwvz -- :QJKXBMWVZ
The A and the M didn't move. Everything else went walkabout. I think it's hilarious. :D
Regarding manual typewriters... one of my childhood toys was a really old typewrite. I have no clue how old, but I think I saw one just like it on an old, B&W original Leave It To Beaver episode. We were terrible to that poor typewriter, and took great glee in pushing down many keys at once to make it jam.
Regarding the history of Dvorak, I read somewhere when researching it that when computers started to go mainstream in the Gov't (roundabouts the late 30s, I believe), something Big Came Up that took precedence over switching to the more efficient layout. And that would be WWII. The program to switch office workers from QWERTY (Remington? Hm, much easier to type.) was scrapped because they needed those workers productive, not in training. Or at least, so I read. :)
(And I haven't read any other comments as I type this, I'm just blithely sharing in your geekery. :) )
(no subject)
I was initially touchtyping QWERTY at somewhere in the 70+ wpm range. When I did the switch, I taught myself the layout by switching at home, opening a Notepad window and entering the rows, then did the alphabet. It took 35 tries for me to be able to do it without error, looking at my 'template'. It then took two weeks of struggling at home until I was OK with the layout, a week to accept that I'd learned the layout well enough that I was getting confused, then another two weeks to get back up to approx 70+ wpm. I'm now faster.
*impish grin* And I touchtype Dvorak in the dark. I have to, I don't have a Dvorak keyboard -- I have my OS (Windows 2000, Windows XP) remap the keyboard for me. :) I can also touchtype QWERTY still, but occasionally get confused when I start to really get going; fortunately, I don't have to use QWERTY all that often. I've also been known to hunt-n-peck and single-hand type Dvorak; it's occasionally hard to remember where d and t are, but I'm getting better. :)
(no subject)
(no subject)