Anyone use Dvorak?

[Dimwhit]

This is an urban legend; the history of typewriter layouts is a bit confusing, but the QWERTY layout was not designed to slow typists down, and it actually became popular in part because people were winning speed-typing contests with QWERTY typewriters.

Hmm, not sure I agree. Every source of information I've found on the subject disagrees, too. Haven't found anywhere that says it's legend, either. Except you.

Also, FWIW, it's very, very rare for anyone to be a faster typist on Dvorak than on QWERTY, given a pre-existing state where almost all Latin-language keyboards are QWERTY. You have to unlearn whan you knew, and then learn to be good typist again. IIRC, most studies have shown that equally skilled typists are rarely more than slightly faster on Dvorak vs. QWERTY, so while some individuals may be much faster with an alternative layout, you definitely shouldn't expect a major improvement in typing speed.

Don't tell that to Mercule...

 

[LightPhoenix]

D'oh! I thought this was just a mispelled Dvorzak you were referring to.

I listen to Dvorzak, but I don't use him...

The composer's name is actually spelled Dvorak, with a diacritical mark (I think it's called that?) on the R and A, which gives it the "rz" sound.

I did use him once when I didn't want my roomie to hear my girlfriend and I...

 

[Mercule]

Hmm, not sure I agree. Every source of information I've found on the subject disagrees, too. Haven't found anywhere that says it's legend, either. Except you.

For reference, I recomend this Google search.

There is no evidence that I've found that indicates QWERTY as superior to Dvorak. Most of the naysayers seem to pull from the same article that is primarily concerned with economics, the Microsoft anti-trust case, and tearing apart some Naval research (wasn't there just a thread around here that postulated people are more likely to identify themselves by opposition than support?). Aside from some pretty blatant circular arguments and strawmen, this article supporting Dvorak has a section debunking the above.

Don't tell that to Mercule...

Indeed. I really don't care what keyboard anyone else uses -- mine has all the support I need built into my typing platform of choice. What really matters is what works for you.

For me, that's Dvorak. I can't speak empirically, because I've not done any studies on the matter -- and don't really care to do so. Personally, though, I am quite certain that I'm considerably faster on Dvorak than I ever was on QWERTY and it has eased the strain on my wrists (boo, carpal tunnel).

Because of that, I think it's great when people want to take the time to give Dvorak a try. I also have to raise an eyebrow when people (like the authors of the article) appear to pull out some real venom against Dvorak. Where does that come from?

 

[Terath Ninir]

I'm pretty sure that the QWERTY keyboard was designed specifically to limit jamming, though not necessarily to slow typists down. Initial keyboards had the letters in alphabetical order -- and you can still see remnants of that if you look at your keyboard. The initial creator of the QWERTY board most likely moved letters around until it jammed less.

I've heard some things say Dvorak is much better, and others that say it's just different. I've never tried it, though. I don't need an increase in typing speed, anyway. I have a very mild typing dyslexia, so I'm not likely to get any quicker than I am now. I'm always going back and correcting words; Dvorak would not affect that one way or the other.

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

Hmm, not sure I agree. Every source of information I've found on the subject disagrees, too. Haven't found anywhere that says it's legend, either. Except you.

Way back in 1984 I researched this for my Informative Speech on the speech team. The truth is that there is no conclusive evidence either way. Now, maybe something has been revealed in the last 20 years to change that.... But as of 1984, the "jamming" explanation had no more concrete proof than any other explanation. I do recall some heavily-promoted typing contest which helped QWERTY become more popular (due to speed) over some other keyboard layout (perhaps the alphabet layout).

At the time of my research, the Dvorak keyboard claimed a slight increase in productivity (which, when mutiplied by an 8-hour work day could mean a fair amount of increase in volume), but nothing like Mercule's friend. I wonder what his accuracy is?

There was another design (called the Maltron keyboard, I think), which claimed even faster typing times than the Dvorak-Dealey Simplified keyboard, but the actual design was very different, not just which letters corresponded to which keys.

 

[Abstraction]

I do not use the Dvorak layout, but intend to switch someday. The main advantage isn't really typing speed, it's reduced strain. In the qwerty layout, your fingers are constantly reaching off the home keys. The Dvorak puts the most used keys on the home row, meaning your fingers have to travel less and, for many words, do not even have to leave the home keys. Of course, all this is only significant if you are a touch-typist.

 

[trancejeremy]

IMHO, Dvorak is mostly a placebo - if you think it's faster and easier on your hands, then it will be.

Still, this is was people did before there were video game systems and computers - instead of arguing about which is better, Mac vs. PC or Sony vs Nintendo vs MS, they argued about which keyboard layout was better.

 

[Snapdragyn]

Wow, first time I've ever run across other people who use Dvorak!

I'm not sure why one would think Dvorak is a 'placebo'. If you read about the research that went into the design of Dvorak -- early 'ergonomic' (before they used the term) studies of typing, frequency of various two-letter combinations in English -- & consider the application of this research in the design, it's rather obvious that their should be some difference at least in ease of typing, if not also in speed. I certainly find my left hand in particular (I'm right-handed) has a much easier time in Dvorak, since I'm not doing so many awkward combinations of a, t, e, r, & s on one hand.

I do have to say that I've seen flawed studies promoting Dvorak. 'Oh look, these typists learned Dvorak in weeks when it took them 3 years to learn U.S. Standard to the same speed!' Well, sure, they already had the principles of 'typing' down, they just had to learn a new typing system. Why wouldn't that be faster regardless of which system was being learned second?

I'm quite happy that I made the switch to Dvorak. Heck, if nothing else it makes it just that little bit harder for anyone to log onto my computer & get into password-protected files; they'd be trying to type in U.S. Standard, & even if they knew the passsword it wouldn't come out right because the computer would be reading their keystrokes in Dvorak.

 

[Chorn]

One interesting thing to note with the QWERTY layout is that the letters for the word TYPEWRITER can all be found on the row of keys above the home row. So what was that about the letters being arranged in the most awkward positions to slow people down?

 

[The It's Man]

One interesting thing to note with the QWERTY layout is that the letters for the word TYPEWRITER can all be found on the row of keys above the home row. So what was that about the letters being arranged in the most awkward positions to slow people down?

You can also spell "WE TRIP YOU" with them.

Coincidence? I don't think so.