The Revolution starts now -- death to QWERTY!

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Just got through reading Guns, Germs and Steel and one particularly interesting sidenote was the brief page on QWERTY keyboards to illustrate the occasional inefficacy of technological evolution; specifically, in the nascent age of typewriters, which would frequently jam if its keys were struck too quickly, some stupid broad decided to scatter the commonest letters throughout the keyboard to slow down typists.

Enter the Dvorak keyboard! Among its most important advantages to QWERTY is that the Dvorak keymap is carefully adapted to the English language. For example, most typing in Dvorak takes place on the home row, so your fingers and hands don't have to move around so much -- an obvious asset to those of us who suffer from RSIs in the wrists.

LET'S DO THIS THANG.

― The Dreaded Rear Admiral (Leee), Monday, 19 July 2004 04:54 (twenty-one years ago)

Ever tried to use the Dvorak configuration in a modern GUI environment? It's impossible.

― That's the Way (uh huh uh huh) I Almanac (Autumn Almanac), Monday, 19 July 2004 04:57 (twenty-one years ago)

I just wanted to be on the forefront of a new fad.

― The Dreaded Rear Admiral (Leee), Monday, 19 July 2004 05:04 (twenty-one years ago)

There is no way I'm giving up using QWERTY. All my old keyboarding skills were drilled into my cranium way too far back for me to adapt to a different way of typing. Um, okay, so it was only about nine, almost ten years ago. But still, that's a long time! And I've grown so accustomed to QWERTY that I can watch TV and type at the same time, just as what I'm doing right now. (Oops, almost forgot "Unwrapped" was being repeated on the Food Network.) I can't be learning a whole new keyboard layout! I will die a QWERTY user.

― Many Coloured Halo (Dee the Lurker), Monday, 19 July 2004 05:28 (twenty-one years ago)

From the same site: "With careful training, it seems most QWERTY typists can switch to Dvorak and regain their old speed in about a month. After that, it's all gravy."

― The Dreaded Rear Admiral (Leee), Monday, 19 July 2004 05:37 (twenty-one years ago)

My profession requires me to use a whole bunch of different computers all over the place - retraining my typing would just make things difficult whenever I encountered a QWERTY keyboard. I would switch in a second if everyone else would. :-)

That said, I can type 100-120 wpm on average using QWERTY keyboards, which is often in excess of my speed of thinking, so I've no real need for speed.

― Andrew (enneff), Monday, 19 July 2004 06:47 (twenty-one years ago)

> I just wanted to be on the forefront of a new fad.

about 70 years too late there leee:

"In about 1930, Dr. August Dvorak, an American from Seattle ... undertook a study of efficiency in the office."

― koogs (koogs), Monday, 19 July 2004 07:14 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't understand what gravy has to do with typing.

― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Monday, 19 July 2004 11:39 (twenty-one years ago)

piers anthony to thread!

― teeny (teeny), Monday, 19 July 2004 11:58 (twenty-one years ago)

why are we still using keyboards?

― ken c (ken c), Monday, 19 July 2004 12:04 (twenty-one years ago)

and isn't the "velotype" faster?

http://www.velotype.com/

― ken c (ken c), Monday, 19 July 2004 12:13 (twenty-one years ago)

My roommate remmaped his keyboard to be dvorak but left all the same keycaps on. He made a point of letting people try to use his pc.

― I CAN LEAD YOU THROUGH THE ZONE (ex machina), Monday, 19 July 2004 12:20 (twenty-one years ago)

The only barrier to dvorak is the remapping of shortcuts. Apple/Ctrl + z/x/c/v/q/w re all in exactly the correct places for their functions.

― Ed (dali), Monday, 19 July 2004 12:54 (twenty-one years ago)

I'd imagine people with crazy XFree86/XModMap sk1llz could work around this.

― I CAN LEAD YOU THROUGH THE ZONE (ex machina), Monday, 19 July 2004 12:55 (twenty-one years ago)

granted, but keyboard shoirtcutrs are way more important than typing speed is to me.

― Ed (dali), Monday, 19 July 2004 12:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh, dude, I know, I know.

― I CAN LEAD YOU THROUGH THE ZONE (ex machina), Monday, 19 July 2004 12:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Do you have you caps lock and left control key switched?

― I CAN LEAD YOU THROUGH THE ZONE (ex machina), Monday, 19 July 2004 12:58 (twenty-one years ago)

even if you can remap it it won't be the same cos you can no longer remember the cut and paste keys as

ctrl - c for copy cos "copy" begins with c
ctrl - x for cut cos it's a pair of scissors
ctrl - v for paste cos it's a stick of glue pointing down

― ken c (ken c), Monday, 19 July 2004 12:59 (twenty-one years ago)

if you leave the same keycaps, they'll still be ZXCV

― I CAN LEAD YOU THROUGH THE ZONE (ex machina), Monday, 19 July 2004 13:00 (twenty-one years ago)

that's true.

― ken c (ken c), Monday, 19 July 2004 13:03 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.uni-regensburg.de/EDV/Misc/KeyBoards/keys03l.jpg

― I CAN LEAD YOU THROUGH THE ZONE (ex machina), Monday, 19 July 2004 13:04 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm disappointed D-V-O-R-A-K isn't in a row in that layout. For that alone, QWERTY seems superior.

― Vinnie (vprabhu), Monday, 19 July 2004 13:59 (twenty-one years ago)

What's that weird discontinued 'keyboard' with only a few keys that you use in conjunction with one another to produce letters? It has a rabid fanbase that claims it allows them to type faster than the speed of light or something? I don't think it's the velotype - that looks too much like a normal keyboard.

― Alba (Alba), Monday, 19 July 2004 14:10 (twenty-one years ago)

ihttps://store.frogpad.com/graphics/00000001/frogusb-large.jpg
https://store.frogpad.com/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=FPUSB200IR&Category_Code=ALL

― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Monday, 19 July 2004 14:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Alba that's the chord keyboard, and I think if you're going to ask the entire planet of famous internet typists, and even the non-famous ones, the spreadsheeters, the solitaire-players, etc to change their typing habits IN TOTO surely asking them to switch layouts - with the same number of keys - is like rearranging deck chairs on the H.M.S. Anachronism? Chord keyboards are to normal keyboards like what trumpets are to pianos - same notes, but only a few keys to make them with, rather than having them all spatialized in front of you. I've rehashed this again and again, but imagine if everyone could "chord" - you could communicate silently to someone just by holding their hand!! (and subtly pressing different potentially amourous fingertip patterns into their palm)

it would also make the minimum size of a fully-functional laptop far far smaller

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 19 July 2004 14:42 (twenty-one years ago)

here's a link - http://www.bellaire.demon.co.uk/newcykey.htm

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 19 July 2004 14:44 (twenty-one years ago)

LIKE, OMG WTF QWERTY UIOP LOL ROFLMAO @ I CAN LEAD YOU THROUGH THE ZONE (JW@▐███▓▓▒▒░░) :-) LOL ROFLMAO LIKE, TOTALLY DUDE!!!!!1111

― Amazing Randy (Amazing Randy), Monday, 19 July 2004 14:44 (twenty-one years ago)

I have a hard enough time going back and forth from numeric keypads and calculators to telephones.

I think of my typing more in "flower petals" where "F" is surrounded by T-R-E-D-C-V-G than everything being all linear. May as well rearrange the chemistry chart.

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Monday, 19 July 2004 14:50 (twenty-one years ago)

That's not the Amazing Randy.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 19 July 2004 14:53 (twenty-one years ago)

aw man i mentione the one of the chord keyboards already!

the velotype was one of them
The Revolution starts now -- death to QWERTY!

no one reads my posts :(

― ken c (ken c), Monday, 19 July 2004 20:27 (twenty-one years ago)

although the one i linked actually does syllables rather than letters (more keys needed but speedier typing)

― ken c (ken c), Monday, 19 July 2004 20:33 (twenty-one years ago)

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