Particularly on the bottom row, keys stay pretty much where they were. Known as a “partial optimization”, it relocates only some keys, concentrating on getting the most frequently used keys under your finger tips on the home row. It scores over Dvorak in a number of ways, but most significantly it is much easier for QWERTY users to learn. This is a “modern” optimized keyboard layout and claims to be faster and “more optimal” than Dvorak. This got me started on learning the Colemak layout. The Colemak partially optimized keyboard layout Dvorak is to QWERTY in that respect as the Brandenburg Concertos are to slowly scratching chalk over a blackboard. The very fastest typists tend to be Dvorak users ( sustained 150 wpm for 50 minutes, peaking at 212wpm) and I think that the fact that the hands alternate so often might be a key factor in that. One hand presses a key while the other is getting in position. Most of the time when you type in Dvorak, successive keys are on alternating hands. One thing that most Dvorak users note is the nicely flowing rhythm of the layout. All those finger contortions the fact that the most frequently used keys are in the least accessible places and most importantly: the God awful rhythm. ![]() Six weeks later, however, I was still no faster and more importantly it still felt awful. While it still felt slow I felt certain that by just sticking with it I was surely going to get faster with time. I got to 45 wpm after about a week and I felt that this would be perfectly fine. So I decided to bite the bullet and re-learn QWERTY touch typing. On my desktop my thoughts just magically flow through my fingers onto the virtual paper while on the laptop I’m plodding along at quarter speed. and with that came my dissatisfaction with not being able to touch type on it. It quickly pushed my iPad out of my day bag and I found myself writing code and answering email on the go. It wasn’t a huge deal because I was a very occasional laptop user.Ī year ago, however, all that changed because I fell in love with the 12″ MacBook. The actual labels on the keyboard become especially irresistible when I reach for a keyboard shortcut when my fingers have not been resting on their home row positions.Įventually I settled on using hunt and peck on the laptop and just live with QWERTY. All this is made worse by the fact that I’m subconsciously peeking at the QWERTY labels on the keys because the screen is right above the keyboard. ![]() My fingers have memorised the key positions on the Kinesis’ straight rows of keys and I mishit the keys on the bottom row almost constantly. I have at various times tried to use Dvorak on a MacBook keyboard, but never with any real success. Unfortunately laptops come with the standard crappy staggered key arrangements and there is precisely zero hope that Apple is ever going to come out with a matrix keyboard on a laptop. So you’ve got to make do with what they give you. My current quest for a new keyboard layout was triggered by the fact that I want to be less dependant on my desktop setup and be able to work effectively in coffee shops and similar settings.
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