Date: Wed, 17 Jul 1996 11:43:23 -0500 (EST) From: John Fieber <jfieber@indiana.edu> To: Stephen McKay <syssgm@devetir.qld.gov.au> Cc: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Switching to Dvorak (was Re: FreeBSD keyboard) Message-ID: <Pine.BSF.3.94.960717112605.11612A-100000@Fieber-John.campusview.indiana.edu> In-Reply-To: <199607170735.RAA04599@orion.devetir.qld.gov.au>
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On Wed, 17 Jul 1996, Stephen McKay wrote:
> Now that I know someone who has switched, I can ask that all important
> question: "Was it really worth it?". Yes, *really* worth it. How long did
> the switch take you?
My case is pretty atypical.
I never properly learned qwerty. When I first had a computer,
and discovered that being able to type was helpful, I got some
typing books and worked away for some months, all the time
thinking there must be a better way. At some point I remembered
hearing something about a faster keyboard layout and after some
hunting, I found a picture of a dvorak keyboard. I figured out
how to remap the keyboard and set to work on the new layout. I'd
say that it was less than a week before I surpased my qwerty
speed and have never gone back.
> I can think of lots of reasons against changing:
> 3) Won't my brain turn liquid and drip out my ears if I switch back and
> forth a lot between the two?
I have not found this to be a problem. In a past job, I I had to
use a typewriter (qwerty) and a computer (dvorak) extensively. I
didn't find switching back and forth to be a problem at all,
other than the speed difference. Fingers "misfiring" was pretty
rare.
> 4) I've got no dvorak tutor program.
The popular Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing has a dvorak tutor.
However, I think real-world typing works just fine. Just tape
' , . p y f g r / = \
a o e u i d h t n s -
; q j k x b w m w v z
on the bottom edge of your monitor and go at it!
> 5) My keytops won't match what they do (unless I get keen with a screwdriver?).
Utterly irrelevant for touch typists. You can remove the
keycaps, but on most keyboards, the angle of the top of the key
depends on the row it is in so you end up with something pretty
hideous if you move keys between rows.
If its any conselation, numbers, A and M are in the same place.
;-)
-john
== jfieber@indiana.edu ===========================================
== http://fallout.campusview.indiana.edu/~jfieber ================
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