OT...but perhaps of interest

[skearney]

Aset keyboard
It has been said that the most common letters were taken off the home
row of the first typewriter keyboard to slow down the typist and
prevent jamming.
On a Dvorak keyboard almost sixty percent of average text is typed from
the home keys. Transposing the letters 'etni' with 'dfjk' would put
more than 55% of text on the home keys, up from only 26% on the qwerty
layout. Thats more than twice the text typed without lifting a finger.

The change is quite pleasent and easy to learn. I hope you will pass
this on.

To put e, t, n and i back where they belong, there is a keyboard
remapping program that is free, downloads quickly and is very easy to
use. I am typing this email on a keyboard remapped to the 'etni'
transposition layout. The program is called 'Keytweak 2.11' and can be
googled up by that name. It is available from several sites, including
PC magazine and recommended by several keyboard manufacturers,
including TypeMatrix. The creator of the program is Travis Krumsick.

1) After you have loaded the program click start.
2) Click the "KeyTweak" icon and a graphic of a keyboard will appear.
3) Click the "Full Teach Mode" at the bottom of the screen.
4) A box will appear. Click "Begin Teach Mode".
5) Press the key you want to reassign, then the key you want it
reassigned to, in this case D to E.
6) Click "Remap Key#1 to Key#2"
7) The box will disappear and the scancodes of the keys will appear in
the "Pending Changes" window at the bottom right.
8) Follow the same procedure (from 3) for E to D, and the remaining
six remaps.
9) Click "Apply" and you will be asked if you want to turn off the
computer to apply the changes.
At the top there is also a clickable "Restore Defaults" to give
you back your qwerty layout.
I was able to remap in under three minutes and restore qwerty in
thirty seconds, not including the restart.

You can try out the sample lines of text below to discover that your
fingers already know where etni should go.

nineteen lean little saints settle in a nest
jkjdfddj ldaj lkffld askjfs sdffld kj jdsf

an alien eats an ant antenna in atlanta
aj alkdj dafs aj ajf ajfdjja kj aflajfa

elite sense entails a siesta in a satin seat
dlkfd sdjsd djfakls a skdsfa kj a safkj sdaf

a stain is seen at a linen sale
a sfakj ks sddj af a lkjdj sald

a latent latin talent tast tests in seattle
a lafdjf lafkj faldjf fasf fdsfs kj sdaffld

insane santa sails in sea salt
kjsajd sajfa sakls kj sda salf

Many thanks,

 

[Peter]

Ah Dvorak, it never really caught on.

 

[Mike Hall \(MS-MVP\)]

... and not likely to catch on either.. typists have gotten so used to QWERTY
keyboards, I really can't see them changing..

--
Mike Hall
MVP - Windows Shell/user

 

[skearney]

The two studies often cited, by the navy in '44 that showed significant
increases in speed and accuracy and the '56 GSA study which showed
little benefit, were both flawed. If a rigorous modern study were to
show a 10 to 20% increase in a composite measure of speed and accuracy
there would be a renewed interest in the 'simplified' layout.
If the greatest part of this benefit came from having the most used
letters on the home keys then the etni transposition keyboard would fit
the bill as well, and it is much easier to learn.

 

[Guest]

American Simplified Keyboard - Simplified Keyboard or the Dvorak keyboard

An alternate keyboard layout designed in the 1930s by August Dvorak,
University of Washington, and his brother-in-law, William Dealey.

70% of words are typed on the home row compared to 32% with qwerty, and more
words are typed using both hands. In eight hours, fingers of a qwerty typist
travel 16 miles, but only one for the Dvorak typist.


Qwerty
52% Q W E R T Y U I O P
32% A S D F G H J K L ; '
16% Z X C V B N M , . /

Dvorak
22% ' , . P Y F G C R L ?
70% A O E U I D H T N S -
8% ; Q J K X B M W V Z


SO yes it is proven faster: it is tested by Governments and other companies
and yet in the interest of productivity, they ALL remain faithful to the
QWERTY layout.

Why? Cost of retraining, cost to re-equippe or just plain old stuidity?

For me, I learnt on QWERTY and have used it for so many years, there is
little or no benefit to change! Maybe when I get arthritis or start to type
with a pen held in my mouth.

 

[skearney]

I also learned qwerty and used it for decades. The simple
transposition of four letter pairs was simple to learn and has turned
out to be downright fun. After a couple of weeks of frustration you
might find out that it is more comfortable and it builds on you
proficiency with qwerty.