Projected Projects > "Dvorak Simplified Keyboard"

I mentioned this in passing in a previous post, but I thought I'd take the time to go more in depth about my latest little experiment.

So I've decided to go ahead and take the plunge and learn how to type using the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard layout. For those of you who are unaware, DSK is, save for a few keys, a totally different layout for your standard QWERTY keyboard. You can find a more thorough explanation about the layout on Wikipedia, but the gist of the article goes on to explain how the traditional QWERTY set-up was designed to slow down your typing speed so as to not jam the typewriters of old. Dvorak was developed by an educational psychologist, for whom the layout is named after, who studied the physiology of our hand movements and letter frequency within the English language to develop a layout that was meant to imporve typing speed and overall physical comfort.

It was only by chance that I decided to give this a go. I was on Virb° the other night when I decided to join some more groups to dress up my profile page, when I decided to go looking for a "Cranky Geeks" podcast group. But when I came up empty, I decided to search for a general "John C. Dvorak" group. Still nothing. So I searched for an even more general "Dvorak". Then I came across this tiny group of users of the Dvorak layout. I visited the aforementioned Wikipedia article and I was hooked! :P

I did my research, found some tutorials and given my new love of my Apple Keyboard... I felt that it was somehow destined. :P I'd heard of the Dvorak method before... but never looked into it, although I was intrigued. And some months back I remember falling in love with a Dvorak mod for a MacBook I saw on "The Unofficial Apple Weblog". I thought it was the coolest thing ever! In so many ways I've fallen hard for Dvorak. For one, I think it's the most 1337 thing ever. I love mods. I absolutely crumble at the thought of improving my typing speed. I love the exclusivity of the community. I love the idea of learning a new "language". I love the geek cred. :P I don't know, there's just so many things to go crazy over.

Besides everything else, OSX makes the transition a simple one. There's a simple configuration you can make in the International panel of the System Preferences to switch between the traditional QWERTY and Dvorak layouts. It was easy as easy can be. What was surprisingly easy was learning the new method. So far, I've just about mastered the Home Row, thanks to this great online tutorial I've been frequenting for the last couple of days. I imagine I'll be more or less proficient in the new method come the following week. Which reminds me, I really need to take a typing test soon so that I can compare scores once I'm fully entrenched in the Dvorak camp. I'd be very curious to see any difference, seeing as how fast a typist I already am. *shrug* We'll see. If anything else, I'll have all the bragging rights of a Dvorak geek... plus a pretty sweet mod for my Apple Keyboard. :P Which by the way, I did the other day. It looks wild. And it too was surprisingly easy to switch up. Easy is apparently the watchword of this little project. ;)

DS333, "<>PYF. ;)