bl@hplabsb.UUCP (Bruce T. Lowerre) (03/25/86)
> Your description of the Dvorak keyboard is wrong on several counts. > Observe: many (most) speed typing records were attained on a Dvorak > keyboard (or its close relative, ASK); the state of Oregon requires > that its typists be given a choice of keyboards; SCM has made ASK > available as an option for years; the Apple //c has a switch to > change between the two keyboards. The main reason most keyboards > are still QWERTY is that that is what the vast majority of touch > typists were trained on; retraining appears to be just expensive > enough that it is hard to sell businesses and manufacturers on the > idea. I have NEVER heard of any scientific study pooh-poohing the > Dvorak keyboard arrangement as an alternative to QWERTY. Just for the record, the Army did a study of the Dvorak keyboard back in the 30's or there abouts. They took people who were not typists and divided them into two groups, one trained on the Dvorak and the other on the QWERTY keyboard. The results? The QWERTY keyboard was NO competition against the Dvorak keyboard. The Army then took typists who were trained on the QWERTY keyboard and had typed for number of years and retrained them to use the Dvorak keyboard. The results? The QWERTY keyboard was NO competition against the Dvorak keyboard. The retrained typists not only did better when retrained to use the Dvorak keyboard but also preferred it. What keyboard does the Army use today? You guessed it. The U.S. Army, 200 years of proud service unhampered by progress.
gwyn@brl-smoke.ARPA (Doug Gwyn ) (03/26/86)
In article <3366@hplabsb.UUCP> bl@hplabsb.UUCP (Bruce T. Lowerre) writes: >Just for the record, the Army did a study of the Dvorak keyboard back >in the 30's or there abouts. They took people who were not typists >and divided them into two groups, one trained on the Dvorak and the >other on the QWERTY keyboard. The results? The QWERTY keyboard was >NO competition against the Dvorak keyboard. The Army then took typists >who were trained on the QWERTY keyboard and had typed for number of >years and retrained them to use the Dvorak keyboard. The results? The >QWERTY keyboard was NO competition against the Dvorak keyboard. The >retrained typists not only did better when retrained to use the Dvorak >keyboard but also preferred it. What keyboard does the Army use today? >You guessed it. The U.S. Army, 200 years of proud service unhampered >by progress. The Army is by no means the only agency using QWERTY keyboards.. I admit that our procurement regulations are so stupid that it is next to impossible to acquire Dvorak typewriters, at least until they become more widely available. We have to fight such regulations almost daily in our attempt to make progress; but we are making progress (at BRL, at least). One hears a lot of political talk about reforming the federal bureaucracy, but there is very little improvement down "in the trenches" where efficiency is really being lost.