# Any other Dvorak keyboard users here?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-dvorak-keyboard-users-here/231319
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [February 26, 2004, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-dvorak-keyboard-users-here/231319 "2004-02-26T18:34:30Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@htns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/htns)
#### Post date: [February 26, 2004, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-dvorak-keyboard-users-here/231319/1 "2004-02-26T18:34:30Z")
Or am I the only one?
C’mon, all those enlightened souls who have shunned ASDF for AOEU, you _do_ post here, right?
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### Author:  [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)
#### Post date: [February 26, 2004, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-dvorak-keyboard-users-here/231319/2 "2004-02-26T18:53:21Z")
Me!
I never learned to touch-type until I was in grad school. At that point, I decided if I was going to bite the bullet and learn, I might as well learn Dvorak. So I type about 70 wpm in Dvorak, and about 25 wpm hunt-and-peck if I have to use Qwerty. My husband touch-types both, and is faster than me with Dvorak. I don’t know what his Qwerty speed is.
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### Author:  [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)
#### Post date: [February 26, 2004, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-dvorak-keyboard-users-here/231319/3 "2004-02-26T19:44:04Z")
I’d give it a shot if I’d ever seen one … but I type pretty quickly on QWERTY and I’m a bit worried about the learning curve, starting something new. (Plus I’d have to learn my shortcut keys all over again.)
Hey, **htns** , now I understand your sig !
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### Author:  [@htns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/htns)
#### Post date: [February 26, 2004, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-dvorak-keyboard-users-here/231319/4 "2004-02-26T19:58:59Z")
> [@cowgirl](#):
>
> Hey, **htns** , now I understand your sig !
And my nick? 😉
(I wanted “aoeu”, but that was taken. Ah well, such is life I guess.)
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### Author:  [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)
#### Post date: [February 26, 2004, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-dvorak-keyboard-users-here/231319/5 "2004-02-26T20:27:20Z")
Yo! (or should I type Ts!).
I just use a standard qwerty keyboard with a software driver switch, but my pal Sanguine (who converted after I did) actually owns the hardware.
And the main reason I did it: wrist problems. They’ve vanished.
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### Author:  [@UWmite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UWmite)
#### Post date: [February 26, 2004, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-dvorak-keyboard-users-here/231319/6 "2004-02-26T23:32:30Z")
I switched over about 6 months ago, and I love dvorak. I only switch back when I have to type one-handed and don’t want to feel around for the keys. (Not like that! When I’m lying down on the couch and doing a crossword on my laptop or something!)
I was suprised at how fast I picked it up. It really only took a few weeks to get fairly proficient. I still don’t think I’m quite as fast as I used to be on qwerty, but then I don’t type as much now as I used to either.
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### Author:  [@Reader99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reader99)
#### Post date: [February 26, 2004, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-dvorak-keyboard-users-here/231319/7 "2004-02-26T23:52:52Z")
is it really possible to function comfortably in both languages? could you use a dvorak keyboard at home and a standard one at work, or on a travel laptop? typing seems like a mechanical skill that you would have to do one way or another unless you are consciously thinking about finger placement.
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### Author:  [@biqu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biqu)
#### Post date: [February 27, 2004, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-dvorak-keyboard-users-here/231319/8 "2004-02-27T00:14:08Z")
Here’s another dvorak user emerging from the woodwork. I made the switch six months ago,
after reading the article by Liebowitz and Margolis (“Fable of the Keys”) and the rebuttal
by Randy Cunningham. I adapted to the new keyboard layout pretty rapidly, with daily
practice on instant messenger and e-mail.
I agree with **Reader99** that typing involves too much muscle memory for one to be
comfortable with both layouts, but apparently some Dopers have had success being
keyboard-bilingual.
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### Author:  [@Bill\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_H)
#### Post date: [February 27, 2004, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-dvorak-keyboard-users-here/231319/9 "2004-02-27T06:10:37Z")
I tried switching several years ago. I type pretty fast, maybe 90 wpm on QWERTY, and when I couldn’t come close to that on Dvorak after trying solid for three weeks, I quit.
Also, after I was into it a couple weeks, I became confused at QWERTY when I had to use other peoples computers, and I figured that would only get worse if I used Dvorak permanently.
I sure like the idea of it though.
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### Author:  [@viking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/viking)
#### Post date: [February 27, 2004, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-dvorak-keyboard-users-here/231319/10 "2004-02-27T06:23:14Z")
yup, switched a year or so ago. Also because I had never learned to touch type, and every time I tried learning, the temptation to peek overcame me. So I figured, hey, if I switch to a dvorak layout, then the squiggles on the keys will bear no relationship to what gets typed, peeking would be of no use, and I’ll _have_ to learn to touch type. After I sorta-learned, I pulled an external keyboard apart and moved the keys around, mostly so I could find some odd bits of punctuation that perl used more than English. But my laptop keyboard still reads qwerty, it just types ',.py. Confuses the heck outta people if they ask to hop on my machine for a quick google 🙂