keyboard layouts

I've started using Learn to Type | Teach Typing | Free Typing Tutor and Typing Lessons to increase my typing speed while learning to type better. So far its been Good and Not so Good.
Maybe its me, but I tend to feel fatigued easily and find my left hand doing more of the typing; which is fine considering I'm left handed... but it causes my hand to grow tired and every time I practice the mistakes seem to increase rather than decrease.
My old typing method was one where I used only 3 fingers from each hand and I used to go quite fast with that, but there was no room for improvement in speed, etc... hence my decision to start learning to type. It dropped my speed dramatically.. You can imagine how ling irs taking me to type this...

I was reading up on the Dvorak keyboard layout and even came across this ingenious device.. Humble Hacker Keyboard and this The Humble Hacker Keyboard
Apparently the Dvorak layout makes it easier to increase the speed, decrease errors and it has been proven by testing and science.

If that is the case, why are we still using QWERTY layouts? Is the Dvorak layout truly better for faster typing or is the normal QWERTY the best.

If the Dvorak layout is the way to go, how do I get the layout on my iPhone and iPad as well?

Sure, Dvorak is supposedly faster. After a few decades of typing on QWERTY, it'd take me so long to become accustom to a Dvorak keyboard it would drive me insane.

One of the keys in learning to type accurately is the same as that in playing a musical instrument - particularly a string/keyboard instrument.

Take your practice down to a speed only as fast as you can go without mistakes.

If you can only type 20 words per minute without error, then practice typing 20 words per minute - don't practice typing 30 words per minute. By practicing at rates faster than you are able to play/type correctly, ultimately, what ends up happening is that your fingers become programmed for the mistake.

By practicing (over and over again) at a speed where you are error free, your fingers will become programmed to the correct keys. You then gradually increase your speed, trying to maintain a speed where you are error free.

bobtomay said:

One of the keys in learning to type accurately is the same as that in playing a musical instrument - particularly a string/keyboard instrument.

Take your practice down to a speed only as fast as you can go without mistakes.

If you can only type 20 words per minute without error, then practice typing 20 words per minute - don't practice typing 30 words per minute. By practicing at rates faster than you are able to play/type correctly, ultimately, what ends up happening is that your fingers become programmed for the mistake.

By practicing (over and over again) at a speed where you are error free, your fingers will become programmed to the correct keys. You then gradually increase your speed, trying to maintain a speed where you are error free.

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I understand what you are saying. But I find myself making mistakes even typing 1WPM... It's driving me nuts..

Reading up on the Dvorak keyboard again. By the way, my typing has become a bit better, but I need to concentrate more on the letters rather than what I'm actually trying to say.
Anyways came across this links..
7 Reasons to Switch to the Dvorak Keyboard Layout
The Dvorak Keyboard
The Dvorak Keyboard and You

I still can't say that one is better than the other yet, simply 'cuz I have a friend who is amazingly fast on the QWERTY keyboard; without ever using any form of typing training. I'm only able to match half his speed with the little training that I took from the fore mentioned site.
According to those who made the switch, they proved that Dvorak's claims were true, but never really caught the mainstream market.
I now know why some programmers use the Dvorak format. It appears to make typing long lines of code easier and fadter.

I never had any formal training, I generally cruise at about 90wpm. But I type all...day...long...

Dysfunction said:

I never had any formal training, I generally cruise at about 90wpm. But I type all...day...long...

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I guess typing speed depends on your practice and fluency with either layouts, but it can't be denied that personal accounts and other tests have proven that its easier to get speed through the Dvorak keyboard than with the QWERTY one.

Iron Man keyboard

Alright.. forget QWERTY or Dvorak for a moment. Does anyone remember this?...


Making the Mark 2 - YouTube

How cool does that keyboard look?

Question is, what language is that?? Is that language even real or something made up for the movie itself??

knightjp said:

Question is, what language is that??

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I think that it's "Asgard":

- Nick

pigoo3 said:

I think that it's "Asgard":

- Nick

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LOL Good one...


On another note, it interesting to see more votes for QWERTY on the poll, when its widely known that the Dvorak layout is the actual faster one.

I just tried out this site... Keyboard Layout Analyzer - QWERTY vs Dvorak vs Colemak to get a perspective and just pasted random pieces of text from here and there to get an idea of which layout would be better...
In most instances the Dvorak came out on top. Others, it was Colemak.... But QWERTY was always in last place. I don't know if the programming behind the script is biased against QWERTY, but I've yet to see a random piece of text where it is proved better than the others.

Has anyone here ever used the typematrix keyboard as in the video below??
TypeMatrix Keyboard

Also does anyone of another great dvorak keyboard that you can buy?? I know about the Kenesis keyboards, etc...

I type 50 words per minute when I started typing on a DVORAK keyboard. Several years ago, I switched my keyword to QWERTY, and now I type at 95 words per minute with 99% accuracy. As for the keyboard, I'll stick with QWERTY.

Welcome to our forums.

Please note that you posted to a thread that's 9 years old.

Also.... no advertising links allowed. Link was removed.

Thanks.

chscag said:

Please note that you posted to a thread that's 9 years old.

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@Elizabeth J Cornett
Thanks for reviving this thread. I'd never heard of the Dvorak keyboard, although it's been around longer that I have. It's very interesting.

toMACsh said:

@Elizabeth J Cornett
Thanks for reviving this thread. I'd never heard of the Dvorak keyboard, although it's been around longer that I have. It's very interesting.

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Whenever I need to improve my typing score, I use the typing test tool. Every day, I practice for 1 - 2 hours on this tool.