Dragaera

QWERTY vs Dvorak - anyone made the switch?

Thu Jan 27 06:02:22 PST 2005

Author Holly Lisle wrote something in her writing blog that resonates with me:
http://www.hollylisle.com/fm/Articles/ed-yours3.html

"I don't consider myself especially subject to whims, and in fact when
I do most things, I've been thinking about them so long on and off
that I've almost forgotten when the idea first occurred to me.
Sometimes the original idea occurred so far in the past that when I do
make the change, I think at first that I jumped spontaneously. This is
one of those times---no real warning that I was going to make this
switch, not for me or anyone else.

But my sudden leap to Dvorak isn't really; I've had some pain in my
wrists for years after long bouts of typing, and I've already moved to
the ergonomic keyboard and the ergonomic desk and chair and I
occasionally wear wrist splints and do all the other things that
people trying to fend off long-term damage from repetitive-stress
injuries do. I knew that the Dvorak layout would help, and I filed
that fact in the back of my mind, and at some point, something
triggered in me the knowledge that the time to make the change had
finally arrived. And I jumped all at once, knowing that if I tried to
shuttle between the two systems, I would only slow down my progress
and render the whole process more difficult."

I'm right there.  I'm feeling some ghost pain in my hands, nothing
much, but enough to make me just a bit nervous.  And then I remembered
reading the Piers Anthony (who is nothing if not prolific) switched to
Dvorak and was more prolific and effective than ever.  And then I
realized that I was again checking out various Dvorak articles.

I'm standing here at the edge of the cliff and am curious if any of
you have taken the plunge, and if you have any tips or considerations
beyond the obvious.

tia
-- 
johne cook | johne.cook at gmail.com | http://www.phywriter.com |