Steve, do you use dvorak?

[Andrew Gubb]

If you are drawn to replying here --

I can understand if you wouldn't want to tell people but used properly I think the opinion of others you respect can be used to help formulate your own opinion. I was decided on my viewpoint on B12 long before I read yours, for instance, but it was a helpful confirmation to see that you -- someone who I trust so much to have done his research well -- had the same opinion.

[Savage]

Tried it years ago and didn't like it, but at the time I was trying the standard Dvorak. I didn't know there was a left-handed version available, and I'm a lefty.

[Andrew Gubb]

Thanks for the info. Would be cool to hear an update if you try out the left hand version later.

[Criseyde]

I love Dvorak. There's a steep learning curve, but it saved my wrists when I came to college and suddenly all my schoolwork was on the computer. I'm equally fluent in QWERTY and Dvorak now, about 110wpm on both. If you do try it, I recommend not painting over your keyboard keys or anything like that. You'll learn much faster if you force yourself to touch type from the beginning. (I just kept a keyboard map on the screen.)

Not that I'm Steve, or anything.

[Andrew Gubb]

Not that I'm Steve, or anything.

Haha. No, thanks for the advice, it's cool too. If I don't get a lot of answers in this thread maybe I'll start up a thread about dvorak for the forum in general to reply to. :9

[ssandra]

Dvorak Simplified Keyboard - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For those like me who didn't know Dvorak...

[Ceoarob]

Originally Posted by Criseyde

I love Dvorak. There's a steep learning curve, but it saved my wrists when I came to college and suddenly all my schoolwork was on the computer. I'm equally fluent in QWERTY and Dvorak now, about 110wpm on both. If you do try it, I recommend not painting over your keyboard keys or anything like that. You'll learn much faster if you force yourself to touch type from the beginning. (I just kept a keyboard map on the screen.)

Not that I'm Steve, or anything.

Currently using DVORAK. It took me about 30 days to get to about 50-60 WPM on average with high accuracy. The first 5 or so were excruciatingly slow (I'm talking like 3-5 WPM), and I really wanted to switch back to QWERTY where I was getting 50+ with no effort.

I was in college, read about DV, and decided to switch cold turkey. I did my lessons with TypingMaster, and now, I max out about 65-80 WPM.

It's really a fun thing to learn, and you don't lose your QWERTY skills. I can go back to any QWERTY keyboard, and after 5 minutes of reacquainting myself with the keyboard, get back to 50+ easily.

The only drawback about DVORAK is whenever you need to use public computers. If you go to the library, and you want to type a paper, you probably won't be able to switch the keyboard settings to DVORAK even if temporarily. Mainly because Control Panel in Windows locks out everyone but admin.

I've only come across that problem whenever I left my laptop at home (which is programmed to DVORAK)

-------------

Just curious Criseyde, what did you do to push yourself past the 100 WPM mark?

I can usually max out around 80 and even sometimes 90, but it seems that anything past that and my accuracy drops. I've developed alot of fluency with the keys and my fingers, but around 80 seems to be pushing my fingers to the max.

How did you push past this? Was this ever a problem that you had to deal with?

[Ceoarob]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

I didn't know there was a left-handed version available, and I'm a lefty.

I'm left-handed.

I don't really like the LH Version of DVORAK mainly because of the distance between keys when writing common words.

The Standard DVORAK seems to have handled that entire issue of efficiency. It's like I'm writing with a Felt tipped pen on silk. My fingers just flow. It's beautiful the way that certain words just form with little movements of my fingers.

[ssandra]

I might actually try this...

I can already type relatively fast querty and Azerty (Belgium and French Lay out) so I don't think it'll take me too long to get used to a new one...

Just... Poor people who use my computer >>>

It is an Azerty key board, I type Querty now, and later this one?? That should confuse everybody enough to not mess with my computer!!

[votoshka]

I tried dvorak for awhile, I put stickers on the keyboard lol (Yes, I was learning to touch type, but umm it helps if you can check). However, somewhere along the way I got frustrated and gave up I can type fast with qwerty, and being unable to type was really annoying for me!

Then, when I went back to a keyboard with qwerty my fingers got a wee bit confused and I freaked out and quit dvorak!!!!

[Criseyde]

Originally Posted by Ceoarob

Just curious Criseyde, what did you do to push yourself past the 100 WPM mark?

I can usually max out around 80 and even sometimes 90, but it seems that anything past that and my accuracy drops. I've developed alot of fluency with the keys and my fingers, but around 80 seems to be pushing my fingers to the max.

How did you push past this? Was this ever a problem that you had to deal with?

I wish I could help you. I've always typed faster than everyone else I know. Most people seem to be like you, maxing out somewhere between 60 and 90. I have pretty small fingers and I move my hands over the keys a little more than I see other people doing (most people seem pretty stationary over the home row with just their fingers moving, but I move my palms slightly, kind of like if I were playing piano), but I don't really know if that's the reason, it's just a hypothesis. I've never consciously tried to increase my typing speed. I can get up to 120, but like you, I lose accuracy.

[Ceoarob]

Originally Posted by Criseyde

I wish I could help you. I've always typed faster than everyone else I know. Most people seem to be like you, maxing out somewhere between 60 and 90. I have pretty small fingers and I move my hands over the keys a little more than I see other people doing (most people seem pretty stationary over the home row with just their fingers moving, but I move my palms slightly, kind of like if I were playing piano), but I don't really know if that's the reason, it's just a hypothesis. I've never consciously tried to increase my typing speed. I can get up to 120, but like you, I lose accuracy.

Hmmm actually I'll try that out. I'll try putting some of my piano technique into actually typing on the keyboard.

I have extremely large hands (much larger than most people), so I don't know whether or not that helps or hurts.

I'm experimenting right now with putting a little wrist and palm movement into my typing and it seems to be helping out so far. Lol, it makes it feel alot more "fluid" than it used to be, but it's also pointing out that I probably need a refresher - I'm messing up on some of the basic vowels (mainly o and e; getting them mixed up on occassion)

But thanks though, I'll let you know if that helps.

I <3 DVORAK

[Ceoarob]

Oh yeah, another disadvantage is whenever it comes to certain shortcuts.

It is easier to copy and paste on a QWERTY keyboard, but it's all good in the end.

[Ceoarob]

I finally got my typing speed to 100 WPM using DVORAK.

It was mainly due to the help of alot of Facebook games.

[jayh]

This post inspired me to learn DVORAK, and I'm already up to 60 WPM, but only on the home row. What facebook games are good?

[Snorkledorf]

I used Dvorak years ago, and actually it was what spurred me on to learning to touch-type, as up until then I was a "four fingers and two thumbs" hunt & peck typist. While learning Dvorak whenever I mistyped a word twice in a row I forced myself to look only at the screen and touch-type it accurately before I moved on. That probably helped my typing improve pretty rapidly.

On my old PowerBook I actually popped off the key caps to rearrange them, but that was more for eliciting a WTF reaction from people who saw my computer than for any practical use, since I was touch-typing (if slowly) anyway.

I switched back to Qwerty for the convenience of being able to use other computers without reverting to hunt & peck, but I brought my touch-type skills with me. So after the transition I've been able to touch-type in Qwerty quite comfortably. No idea what my speed is though.

It's been over 10 years now so I might try it again, at least on my MacBook.

[ssandra]

Originally Posted by Snorkledorf

I switched back to Qwerty for the convenience of being able to use other computers without reverting to hunt & peck, but I brought my touch-type skills with me. So after the transition I've been able to touch-type in Qwerty quite comfortably. No idea what my speed is though.

I found that when I had to use both (querty and azerty) regularly I could switch with touch typing between them fairly smoothly....

[Ceoarob]

Originally Posted by jayh

This post inspired me to learn DVORAK, and I'm already up to 60 WPM, but only on the home row. What facebook games are good?

Read this post:

How to type faster?

[Criseyde]

Originally Posted by Ceoarob

I finally got my typing speed to 100 WPM using DVORAK.

It was mainly due to the help of alot of Facebook games.

Congrats!

[Ceoarob]

Originally Posted by Criseyde

Congrats!

And I did alot of what you said and moved my wrists as if though I was playing piano.

I already play piano, so this was pretty easy. fun stuff.

Thanks again.

[Orionjoel]

I have not tried Dvorak, however am consider that i may give it a go.

I have a similar typing style where i move my hands, and while the home row keys and always moving back to them was the way that we were taught in school, I have never been able to hold to this. I always start on the home row, however after the first keys my hands just go into auto seek mode, like they know where the keys are. I can fairly successfully touch type quite accurately this way. However do not know my actual speed.

[Hunter Nuttall]

When I heard that the QWERTY keyboard was designed to slow people down to prevent typewriter jams, I immediately became interested in Dvorak (and a little miffed at my typing teacher).

I remapped my keyboard in Control Panel and taped little paper squares on the keys to mark the new letters. Later, I used a credit card to pop off the keys and rearrange them. I worked through some lessons I found online, and became proficient in about two weeks.

I didn't find myself typing any faster, but I found it to put much less strain on my wrists. I didn't even realize what torture my wrists were going through until I experienced what it felt like to type on a Dvorak.

At one place where I worked, they weren't going to let me use Dvorak because they wanted anybody to be able to easily use my computer. I had to get a note from my doctor saying that it was medically necessary because I had developed an overuse syndrome of the left wrist.

That was years ago. Today my wrist pain is gone, and I actually don't have much preference between the two layouts (maybe because I don't do as much typing these days). I use QWERTY at work and Dvorak at home, and make the switch without even thinking about it. The only time I get thrown off is when I connect to my work computer from home, but then it just takes a second to adjust.

Tip for Unix: create a script called "asdf" that switches from QWERTY to Dvorak, and a script called "aoeu" that switches back. These are the first four letters on the home row in either layout, so you can switch layouts just by drumming your fingers.

I've heard that Colemak is even better, though I haven't looked into it much.