5 ms·

Keyboard layout needs to be reinvented

3 points by pythops 4y ago

it's really inefficent to use the keyboard layouts that has been created for an old era that is obsolete now. The position of ctrl, espace, shift keys for example are messed up especially for programmers. Something needs to be done !

PaulKeeble 4y ago
There is Dvorak and Colemak both of which on programming workloads "outperform" QWERTY. I am sure that even better layouts could be considered if the entire concept of a keyboard layout was readdressed not just the primary letter and symbol keys. However for most programmers it doesn't seem to be the input device that is limiting the speed of their work but rather their ability to think. Its well worth playing with Dvorak if you haven't done so and the layout is already well supported. Just don't expect anything magical to happen.
- pythops 4y ago
  Yeah I heard about advantages of Dvorak and I recently started playing with it. But Dvorak only focus on character keys. The other keys that I need like shift, escape, ctrl ... are in places that are not ideal. So definetly they can be optimized.
GianFabien 4y ago
I don't doubt that many people would benefit from alternate keyboard layouts. I would have thought that the many DIY esoteric keyboard projects cater for that segment. Or you could buy a DAS keyboard with blank keytops and reprogram the key positions to suit yourself. Personally I learnt to touch type decades ago. 99% of my work doesn't even make me reach for function keys, nor the cursor keys. (Ok, I'm a vim user). The escape key is the same as CTRL-[ so it's very easy to type quickly. I rarely look at the keyboard, I just watch text appear on the screen. In my experience, it is my thinking, reading and comprehension speeds that slow me up. I can type fast enough when I know what I'm trying to write or program.
- pythops 4y ago
  In the case where you know what to type, don't you find the position of ctrl/escape ... positions akwards ? have you even used the right alt key ? My point is that with the current layouts could be definetly improved
DemocracyFTW2 4y ago
Your complaint is rather unspecific. For me the position and size of the space bar is among the last things I can complain about, pretty much the same goes for the shift keys. Somehow for a lot of people saying that something is 'old' is already sufficient to claim it's 'obsolete' and in need of replacement. In your argument, too, the unsubstantiated claim that 'positions are somehow not ideal' is the only hand-wavy bit that you offer beyond the observation that keyboard layouts are 'old', period. That I regard as a kind of psychological ailment, a fixed idea bordering on the pathological. Out whole society is obsessed with that. Today, where simple solutions (a paper ticket for the bus) would suffice, No! That's so 19th century! Instead, let's build a crappy, expensive electronic ticket-vending system that will break down without electricity, and let's issue plastic cards with chips in them!
- pythops 4y ago
  you sound like a trol. I leave it here with you
  - DemocracyFTW2 4y ago
    wat

3 points by pythops 4y ago

PaulKeeble 4y ago

There is Dvorak and Colemak both of which on programming workloads "outperform" QWERTY. I am sure that even better layouts could be considered if the entire concept of a keyboard layout was readdressed not just the primary letter and symbol keys. However for most programmers it doesn't seem to be the input device that is limiting the speed of their work but rather their ability to think. Its well worth playing with Dvorak if you haven't done so and the layout is already well supported. Just don't expect anything magical to happen.

pythops 4y ago
Yeah I heard about advantages of Dvorak and I recently started playing with it. But Dvorak only focus on character keys. The other keys that I need like shift, escape, ctrl ... are in places that are not ideal. So definetly they can be optimized.

GianFabien 4y ago

I don't doubt that many people would benefit from alternate keyboard layouts. I would have thought that the many DIY esoteric keyboard projects cater for that segment. Or you could buy a DAS keyboard with blank keytops and reprogram the key positions to suit yourself. Personally I learnt to touch type decades ago. 99% of my work doesn't even make me reach for function keys, nor the cursor keys. (Ok, I'm a vim user). The escape key is the same as CTRL-[ so it's very easy to type quickly. I rarely look at the keyboard, I just watch text appear on the screen. In my experience, it is my thinking, reading and comprehension speeds that slow me up. I can type fast enough when I know what I'm trying to write or program.

pythops 4y ago
In the case where you know what to type, don't you find the position of ctrl/escape ... positions akwards ? have you even used the right alt key ? My point is that with the current layouts could be definetly improved

DemocracyFTW2 4y ago

Your complaint is rather unspecific. For me the position and size of the space bar is among the last things I can complain about, pretty much the same goes for the shift keys. Somehow for a lot of people saying that something is 'old' is already sufficient to claim it's 'obsolete' and in need of replacement. In your argument, too, the unsubstantiated claim that 'positions are somehow not ideal' is the only hand-wavy bit that you offer beyond the observation that keyboard layouts are 'old', period. That I regard as a kind of psychological ailment, a fixed idea bordering on the pathological. Out whole society is obsessed with that. Today, where simple solutions (a paper ticket for the bus) would suffice, No! That's so 19th century! Instead, let's build a crappy, expensive electronic ticket-vending system that will break down without electricity, and let's issue plastic cards with chips in them!

pythops 4y ago
you sound like a trol. I leave it here with you
- DemocracyFTW2 4y ago
  wat