chymes@fribourg.csmil.umich.edu (Charles Hymes) (06/15/90)
I might want a Dvorak keyboard. Does anybody use one? Are they any good? What are the ups and downs of using one? Where can I get one? Charlweed
laba-3en@web-3a.berkeley.edu (The great and wonderful Jarafan) (06/16/90)
In article <1990Jun15.163327.14822@csmil.umich.edu> chymes@fribourg.csmil.umich.edu (Charles Hymes) writes: >I might want a Dvorak keyboard. >Does anybody use one? Are they any good? What are the ups and downs of using one? >Where can I get one? > >Charlweed I use a dvorak keyboard. They are much more efficient than standard qwerty. All the common characters are located at easier to access places: `1234567890\=} ',.pyfgcrl/] aoeuidhtns- ;qjkxbmwvz I have found it to be more comfortable after the initial change. Some drawbacks are that on a unix system the programs such as vi are biased to qwerty so it is difficult to get used to having the movement keys for instance in different points of the keyboard. The major advantage to dvorak is speed, and in my case(and maybe for others too) comfort. Much of your typing is actually done on the middle row and most other is actually taken care of on the second row from the top. Assuming you have an amiga, you don't need any different keyboard than your current one. You need to use a program called setmap. :system/setmap usa2 , this will give you dvorak. I found a program called Mavis Beacon Typing helpful because it has an option for dvorak and it's an enthusiastic and intelligent tutor program. Hope this was helpful. --Dan C. Jalkut-- Mail: gorn!snozer@ssyx.ucsc.edu
ESDYKE@MTUS5.BITNET (Erick Dyke) (06/16/90)
And, if your really wanting the actual feel of a dvorak keyboard, not only use setmap, but pop off the keycaps on your keyboard and switch them around. That works real well (and is a lot cheaper than buying a new keyboard) Erick.
dougp@voodoo.ucsb.edu (06/17/90)
-Message-Text-Follows- In article <1990Jun15.163327.14822@csmil.umich.edu>, chymes@fribourg.csmil.umich.edu (Charles Hymes) writes... >I might want a Dvorak keyboard. >Does anybody use one? Are they any good? What are the ups and downs of using one? >Where can I get one? > >Charlweed If you have an Amiga, then you already have one. Try putting system/setmap usa2 in your startup sequence. The dissadvantages are that some brain-damaged software sidestepps the accepted practice of using the OS, and translates the key codes directly to charactors ignoring the currently selected keymap. Terminal programs are notorious for this transgression, I have found that A-Talk III works correctly with keymaps though. As far as use goes, I can't claim that I am getting much of an improvement out of it, but that is mostly because I must program IBM PC's at work, and those monstrosities are incapable of handling anything so simple as remaping the keyboard. Basicly, I have found that the keymap I revert to is dependant on what I am doing. If I am BBSing, my typing reverts to dvorak, If I am writing C code, I revert to qwerty. Also I have to watch the screen as I type, or the wrong sequence of letters will be typed. My opinion is that if you can avoid using querty entirely, go for the dvorak, otherwise it will only slow you down. I use dvorak because I am an idealist and won't use kludges unless I absolutely must. Douglas peale Note: Spelling errors are not caused by my mixing of dvorak and querty, they are because I refused to learn how to spell. (spelling did not folow a logical algorithm, Webster should have been shot :-)