How long does it take to learn to type on a Dvorak keyboard?
Can one switch back and forth between QWERTRy and Dvorak keyboards. Probably this is better asked “what speed and error rate do you have when you try and type on a QW k.b. when you have been working on a Dv?”
If you are not transcribing things from audio or doing something else where speed is the essence, but instead composing, that is, doing a lot of thinking in between typing, would you say it is worth it to switch?
Archives: the great untapped resource of SDMB.
And then of course there’s Cecil’s column Was the QWERTY keyboard purposely designed
to slow typists? where he discussed the controversial issue of whether the Dvorak keyboard is actually worth the trouble of learning.
In case anyone’s interested, you can check out the layout here.
I reckon my brain would turn to mush if I tried a different keyboard layout.
no, I tapped it. I just searched in General and for less than one year ago.
I can answer from my personal experience.
It’s been a while for me, but IIRC, about a month, or about one-eighth as long as it took me to learn QWERTY.
It takes me about five seconds to get up to full speed, going either way. Fifteen tops. YMMV.
Indeed, as I have said before, the main advantage for me in switching to Dvorak is not speed, but comfort. I was quite shocked the first time I tried typing on QWERTY again and realized how unweildy it is. Certainly, I get no significant speed advantage in Dvorak, but I think it was worth it 100%. I don’t understand at all why so many people who have an opinion on the issue, Cecil included, equate better and faster.
Gonna ring in with my 2 cents. I never learned to type on a qwerty keyboard (couldn’t stand the typing teacher) and, until i got stuck in an office and plunked down in front of a computer, never had the need.
Once i found myself in this position, i immedialety popped the keys off the qwerty keyboard and re-arranged them in the dvorak layout. I went into keyboard properties through windows and changed the input to US dvorak and set to work. Unfortunately, this layout would not work with DOS without further tweaking, so i got an additional keyboard and a Y-adapter and had 2 keyboards connected at once. This was a bit unwieldy, but allowed others (especially the IT guys) to work on my computer without the hoops required to switch back to qwerty layout.
I have been very happy with the dvorak layout and my son has actually switched to it as he says that it is more comfortable. I have no basis to compare speed or accuracy as this is the only layout i ‘know’.
I stumbled across DvortyBoards and picked up one of their boards (i now have 3). What sold me was that the board was ‘switchable’ and with the push of a button it would convert to the qwerty layout. It also works in DOS. I think the ‘cheapest’ board is now going for about $US65, but it has been worth it for me.
I have one too! They replace the very useless Scroll Lock :rolleyes: with the much more cool Dvorak Lock :D!
In a related question, what’s the wpm typing record for Dvorak vs. Qwerty?