Re: OT...but perhaps of interest

[skearney@accessbee.com]

Jeff Blakeney wrote:
> On 2 Apr 2005 22:15:32 -0800, skearney@accessbee.com wrote:
>
> >But suppose you just want to transpose dfjk with etni, does your
> >operating system allow you to remap keys?  While I would like to
learn
> >Dvorak, it is just too big of a change.  I can really feel the boost
> >that having etni on the home keys gives me, you could call it the
> >cowards Dvorak.
>
> If I was going to learn to touch type with a different layout I would
> go with Dvorak.  No real point in learning a layout that practically
> no one else uses.
>
> In fact, I was going to teach myself to touch type with the Dvorak
> layout many years ago when I first got my IIgs as it is just a
control
> panel setting to change the keyboard to the Dvorak layout.  However,
> upon thinking about it further, I figured I would never get very good
> at touch typing with Dvorak and my QWERTY touch typing would suffer
> because I would only really be able to use the Dvorak layout on my
> machine at home.  Whenever I used someone else's machine, I'd most
> likely not have the option to change the layout so I never bothered
to
> learn the Dvorak layout.
>
> --
>  Jeff Blakeney - Dean of the Apple II University in the
>                  Apple II Community on Syndicomm.com
>  CUT the obvious from my address if you want to e-mail me

   I have corresponded with atleast half a dozen Dvorak users who
maintain their proficiency on qwerty for the reasons you cited.
Atleast this small change of transposing four letter pairs has a
shallower learning curve.  The letters remain under the control of the
same fingers and are swapped as a block.  I seem to have little trouble
going back to qwerty.  My assumption is that Dvorak is just too big a
change for most typists.
   It is sort of a catch 22, noone wants to change to a keyboard that
noone else uses, and so long as noone changes....