Bye Bye DVORAK
Around a month ago, I tried out the DVORAK keyboard layout after reading about it from a Buzz by a friend. The layout is supposed to increase typing speed, reduce mistakes and be a healthier layout to type (fingers have to travel a lot).
One of the first things to get noticed was the the 'M' and the 'A' keys were the same as the QWERTY layout. What I didn't understand was why the 'U' key (in place of 'F' key of QWERTY) was placed where it was. It is a key barely used while typing, but is assigned a prime location.
Anyway, once I started typing, it was quite evident that it was much better for the fingers. I rarely had to go to the bottom row. My fingers didn't have to travel much. Was quite comfortable. It didn't even take me a long time to memorize the keyboard. Speed, of course, was a problem. It used to get a bit frustrating while typing a sentence of more than a few words; but then I could quickly change to QWERTY. Windows XP makes it quite convenient for you.
Let's fast forward to the present. Today, I can type at an average speed of 25 words per minute in DVORAK. It's very slow as compared to my QWERTY speed. However, I know that if I try, my DVORAK speed will improve over time and will definitely be better than my QWERTY speed. I will even make fewer mistakes. The special characters will take a little longer, but it will only be a matter of time until I will be comfortable with them as well.
However, the problem is that DVORAK severely slows down my speed of using the computer. Many shortcuts are so designed that in the QWERTY layout, you can key them in by using only the left hand (^X, ^V, ^C, ^S, ^Z, etc), the right hand being on the mouse. On the other hand, while using DVORAK, you have to use both hands to key in several shortcuts, severely slowing down ones speed.
Even if you use the keyboard heavily, using applications such as excel can be a pain because you have to continuously switch between the arrow keys and the home position of the keyboard.
So bye bye DVORAK. I guess it wasn't meant to be.
One of the first things to get noticed was the the 'M' and the 'A' keys were the same as the QWERTY layout. What I didn't understand was why the 'U' key (in place of 'F' key of QWERTY) was placed where it was. It is a key barely used while typing, but is assigned a prime location.
Anyway, once I started typing, it was quite evident that it was much better for the fingers. I rarely had to go to the bottom row. My fingers didn't have to travel much. Was quite comfortable. It didn't even take me a long time to memorize the keyboard. Speed, of course, was a problem. It used to get a bit frustrating while typing a sentence of more than a few words; but then I could quickly change to QWERTY. Windows XP makes it quite convenient for you.
Let's fast forward to the present. Today, I can type at an average speed of 25 words per minute in DVORAK. It's very slow as compared to my QWERTY speed. However, I know that if I try, my DVORAK speed will improve over time and will definitely be better than my QWERTY speed. I will even make fewer mistakes. The special characters will take a little longer, but it will only be a matter of time until I will be comfortable with them as well.
However, the problem is that DVORAK severely slows down my speed of using the computer. Many shortcuts are so designed that in the QWERTY layout, you can key them in by using only the left hand (^X, ^V, ^C, ^S, ^Z, etc), the right hand being on the mouse. On the other hand, while using DVORAK, you have to use both hands to key in several shortcuts, severely slowing down ones speed.
Even if you use the keyboard heavily, using applications such as excel can be a pain because you have to continuously switch between the arrow keys and the home position of the keyboard.
So bye bye DVORAK. I guess it wasn't meant to be.
Labels: computers
posted by SagYer at
11:35 am
2 Comments:
try using DVORAK on mobile. typing mobile short language for sms and chats should be a lot easier. Again I am just saying it after looking at the layout on wiki. cant find the option on Mac.
By
Unknown, at 12:16 pm
That's a problem, actually. DVORAK isn't supported by most smart phones. The DVORAK community is quite upset because of that.
You have a Mac?
By
SagYer, at 2:02 pm
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