3 ms·

Going off at a bit of a tangent here, but this reminds me of something that I find quite interesting: I believe history has it that the querty keyboard layout

Going off at a bit of a tangent here, but this reminds me of something that I find quite interesting: I believe history has it that the querty keyboard layout was intentionally designed to slow down the typing speed, because the mechanical efficiency of the first gen/early typewriters (1860/70?) was fairly low, causing the moving prongs to jam if typing was done rapidly. I also believe the dvorak layout (which got invented later and never gained much popularity) allows measurably faster typing (never used it myself). I think the older Apple keyboards used to have a qwerty/dvorak switch on the backside. Any dvorak users/fans here, I wonder?

roymurdock 10y ago
That QWERTY was invented to slow typists down is a popular misconception. Read this for more info on the origins of QWERTY: http://repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2433/139379/1/42_161.pdf http://repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2433/... Read this great blog post for more an alternative layouts: https://viralintrospection.wordpress.com/2010/09/06/a-different-philosophy-in-designing-keyboard-layouts/ https://viralintrospection.wordpress.com/2010/09/06/a-differ... Also read this HN discussion of the post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11883233 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11883233
mikeash 10y ago
I learned Dvorak as a teenager and I've been using it ever since. Obviously I can't use it all the time, since it's not worth setting up on other people's computers, iPads don't support it for the onscreen keyboard, and similar, but I use it on my computers. I think it's faster, and more importantly it's more comfortable since there's less movement involved. It's sometimes inconvenient, as keyboard shortcuts which make sense for QWERTY are sometimes weird for Dvorak, but overall I'm glad I made the switch. I don't have any real trouble using QWERTY when I need to, either. It takes me a minute or so to get back up to speed, then I'm fine.
- Symbiote 10y ago
  > more importantly it's more comfortable since there's less movement involved This is far more important for me. Even typing a couple of words on Qwerty feels uncomfortable. Assuming your keyboard is Qwerty, try typing "feels uncomfortable" "yddp; flismysokanpd" The second line is the keys you'd type if your layout was Dvorak. Notice only two letters are on the bottom row, and the top→bottom pair is an unusual letter combination (MF) rather than very common ones (UN, OM). The hand alternation is also more even, with at most two letters typed on the same hand, compared to Qwerty's four: "LLLRL RRLRRLRLLLLRL" "RLLRR LRRLRRLRRLRRL"

roymurdock 10y ago

That QWERTY was invented to slow typists down is a popular misconception. Read this for more info on the origins of QWERTY: http://repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2433/139379/1/42_161.pdf http://repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2433/... Read this great blog post for more an alternative layouts: https://viralintrospection.wordpress.com/2010/09/06/a-different-philosophy-in-designing-keyboard-layouts/ https://viralintrospection.wordpress.com/2010/09/06/a-differ... Also read this HN discussion of the post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11883233 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11883233

mikeash 10y ago

I learned Dvorak as a teenager and I've been using it ever since. Obviously I can't use it all the time, since it's not worth setting up on other people's computers, iPads don't support it for the onscreen keyboard, and similar, but I use it on my computers. I think it's faster, and more importantly it's more comfortable since there's less movement involved. It's sometimes inconvenient, as keyboard shortcuts which make sense for QWERTY are sometimes weird for Dvorak, but overall I'm glad I made the switch. I don't have any real trouble using QWERTY when I need to, either. It takes me a minute or so to get back up to speed, then I'm fine.

Symbiote 10y ago
> more importantly it's more comfortable since there's less movement involved This is far more important for me. Even typing a couple of words on Qwerty feels uncomfortable. Assuming your keyboard is Qwerty, try typing "feels uncomfortable" "yddp; flismysokanpd" The second line is the keys you'd type if your layout was Dvorak. Notice only two letters are on the bottom row, and the top→bottom pair is an unusual letter combination (MF) rather than very common ones (UN, OM). The hand alternation is also more even, with at most two letters typed on the same hand, compared to Qwerty's four: "LLLRL RRLRRLRLLLLRL" "RLLRR LRRLRRLRRLRRL"