Re: Dvorak Keyboards.
On 10 Jan 2012, Dan Serban wrote:
> > That site is down at present.
> >
> > My question: is it really worth the trouble of learning a new way of
> > typing, if you are already a moderately competent touch typist on the
> > QWERTY keyboard?
> >
> >
>
> Well, I hope the site has become available to you again since the original
> message. There, you can see the layout that colemak provides, it's close
> to Qwerty and provides some pros (maybe some cons) to the layout. While I
> do admit that it is quite aggravating to learn a new layout; IMHO it has
> paid off for me. I've learned to effectively touch type, and I feel that
> my comfort level is certainly higher. I've never been a speedy typer so I
> cannot add that to the advantages. Though I do find that I make much fewer
> mistakes and my fingers definitely do not travel as far as I felt that they
> used to using Qwerty.
>
> I suggest you print out whatever layout you ever decide to go
> with, if you so decide.. then at least you will be able to enter your
> passwords without too much frustration.
>
> If you feel that you have reasons to switch I suggest you give it a shot,
> otherwise, don't simply add a layer of frustration to your daily routine
> until you are convinced this is the way to go.
>
Thank you - and yes, the site is up again now. Your advice about
deciding to change is similar to that given by colemak. I can see the
force of the arguments for changing and if I were younger I'd probably
try, but at nearly 78 I doubt if it is worth it. I don't actually have
RSI or other problems with qwerty. Not that I'm averse to new ideas: I'm
currently making a start on learning a little C.
They do suggest that even if you don't make the switch you should
reprogram CapsLock to give BackSpace. I had long had it giving Escape
(needed frequently in my favourite editor, Vim) but I'm trying it out
as BackSpace now. I find I often hit Return instead of the normal
BackSpace so this may be worth while.
Anthony
--
Anthony Campbell - ac@acampbell.org.uk
Microsoft-free zone - using Linux
http://www.acampbell.org.uk - book reviews,
articles, blog, and printed books and ebooks
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