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Or you can get RSI in just a few years (right out of college) using QWERTY. I switched to an ergonomic keyboard and it has helped a lot, but it flares up on occ

Or you can get RSI in just a few years (right out of college) using QWERTY. I switched to an ergonomic keyboard and it has helped a lot, but it flares up on occasion....I've considered Dvorak on several occasions, but doubt I have the time to be that inefficient for a few weeks. I also use Vim when testing some of our software and would hate to have to relearn all the things I only know my muscle memory now.

ustamills 8y ago
I can touch type both qwerty and Dvorak and have been for almost 30 years. Dvorak definitely saved me from RSI. I was genuinely losing my hand use due to a data entry job in college. As a developer, I would not have been able to continue, successfully, without Dvorak. I have never been that much faster on Dvorak because I keep stopping to think. Keyboard can't help that. Beyond all that, Dvorak just feels good to use. Although phones & other qwerty biased situations are a pain, I still think Dvorak was worth it.
- WorldMaker 8y ago
  Similarly, I credit a switch to Colemak in grad school with narrowly avoiding an RSI that year. I couldn't touch type QWERTY, and realized I needed to relearn touch typing from first principles and wasn't going to go through all that effort just to relearn QWERTY. > Beyond all that, Dvorak just feels good to use. I mention this a lot. Even if the extra efficiencies touted by Dvorak and Colemak are marginal at best (and the evidence goes both ways), the interesting part is that they still feel better / more "fun" to type. There are some words with interesting rolls in Colemak that are just "fun", as silly of a thing to be excited about as that can be. For instance, "start" in Colemak is two left-handed inward rolls on the homerow, like idly tapping your fingers against a desk. A big thing that convinced me about Colemak in grad school, and help push me to make the switch, was that the typing tutor had none of that asdf;jkjk nonsense of touch typing in QWERTY, from the first four letters on the home row in the "strong positions", S T N E you are spelling full words and never typing nonsense (tents, Tennessee, …). Touch typing training is never "fun", but it is much easier to force yourself to relearn when it answers "when would I ever use this particular exercise" immediately out of the gate.

ustamills 8y ago

I can touch type both qwerty and Dvorak and have been for almost 30 years. Dvorak definitely saved me from RSI. I was genuinely losing my hand use due to a data entry job in college. As a developer, I would not have been able to continue, successfully, without Dvorak. I have never been that much faster on Dvorak because I keep stopping to think. Keyboard can't help that. Beyond all that, Dvorak just feels good to use. Although phones & other qwerty biased situations are a pain, I still think Dvorak was worth it.

WorldMaker 8y ago
Similarly, I credit a switch to Colemak in grad school with narrowly avoiding an RSI that year. I couldn't touch type QWERTY, and realized I needed to relearn touch typing from first principles and wasn't going to go through all that effort just to relearn QWERTY. > Beyond all that, Dvorak just feels good to use. I mention this a lot. Even if the extra efficiencies touted by Dvorak and Colemak are marginal at best (and the evidence goes both ways), the interesting part is that they still feel better / more "fun" to type. There are some words with interesting rolls in Colemak that are just "fun", as silly of a thing to be excited about as that can be. For instance, "start" in Colemak is two left-handed inward rolls on the homerow, like idly tapping your fingers against a desk. A big thing that convinced me about Colemak in grad school, and help push me to make the switch, was that the typing tutor had none of that asdf;jkjk nonsense of touch typing in QWERTY, from the first four letters on the home row in the "strong positions", S T N E you are spelling full words and never typing nonsense (tents, Tennessee, …). Touch typing training is never "fun", but it is much easier to force yourself to relearn when it answers "when would I ever use this particular exercise" immediately out of the gate.