Personal Development for Smart People Forums - View Single Post - dvorak keyboard layout to learn touch typing

Keith · 11-05-2006, 06:04 AM

My personal experience:
I converted from QWERTY to Dvorak years ago when I got RSI in my wrists and forearms. It took about one (really irritating) month to convert, during which time my typing speed was useless. I'd hoped for a speed (ie. efficiency) increase, but that never happened; I still type about the same rate I did with QWERTY. However the RSI symptoms decreased dramatically.

I was disappointed to find (contrary to what I'd read) that I lost the ability to touch-type QWERTY.

Was it worth it? As compared to QWERTY: Yes. As compared to "hunt-n-peck", I don't know. Since "hunt-n-peck" basically types with elbows rather than wrists, it may be more ergonomic than either QWERTY or Dvorak.

A caveat: I only really use two keyboards: one at work and one at home. If you need to hop between several PCs (or share your PC with someone else), using Dvorak could be annoying.

11-05-2006, 06:04 AM	#7 (permalink)
Keith Family Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Australia Posts: 1,139	My personal experience: I converted from QWERTY to Dvorak years ago when I got RSI in my wrists and forearms. It took about one (really irritating) month to convert, during which time my typing speed was useless. I'd hoped for a speed (ie. efficiency) increase, but that never happened; I still type about the same rate I did with QWERTY. However the RSI symptoms decreased dramatically. I was disappointed to find (contrary to what I'd read) that I lost the ability to touch-type QWERTY. Was it worth it? As compared to QWERTY: Yes. As compared to "hunt-n-peck", I don't know. Since "hunt-n-peck" basically types with elbows rather than wrists, it may be more ergonomic than either QWERTY or Dvorak. A caveat: I only really use two keyboards: one at work and one at home. If you need to hop between several PCs (or share your PC with someone else), using Dvorak could be annoying.