Dvorak vs qwerty keyboard. history and utilities of both keyboards.

Dvorak keyboard history

Although we commonly know it today as the Dvorak keyboard, the real name of this distribution is 'Simplified Keyboard' . Its colloquial name is due to one of its two creators August Dvorak , an American psychologist and professor.

Dvorak key layout

The Dvorak keyboard was patented in 1936 and was studied and designed primarily by the duo of August Dvorak and William Dealey. Since that year, they presented different distributions, but it was not until 1982, when the ANSI (American National Standards Institute, in Spanish) established a solid foundation.

At the beginning of the century, the two teachers carried out a series of exhaustive studies on the English language and the physiology of the hands. As they concluded, the reigning QWERTY keyboard does not make good use of both hands and puts excessive stress on them. This is why they set out to create a new standard.

Dvorak and Dealey's goal was to design a more ergonomic keyboard to decrease typing errors, reduce stress on the hands, and speed up typing. It was so when in 1932 they managed to assemble the world's first Dvorak keyboard, which is slightly different from the one shown in the photo above.

History of QWERTY, the standard

If you've ever wondered why it's called that, it's very simple. The first five letters of the keyboard starting at the left / top corner are “QWERTY”.

QWERTY key layout

Like the Dvorak , the QWERTY keyboard was designed to optimize typing, although it was created approximately 60 years earlier, in 1868 . Since only very rudimentary typewriters existed at the time , the layout turned out to be very different from Dvorak due to system limitations.

Its creator, Christopher Sholes , designed it to prevent typewriter keys from colliding due to high typing rates. With that limitation in mind, he searched for a way to optimize writing with both hands. Today we do not suffer from that problem, but this standard has been so popular that no other distribution has been able to undo it.

Another design decision that we have today is the distinctive feature of the 'F' and 'J' keys . When the hands are at rest, both index fingers usually rest on these two letters. Most keyboards have an engraving or bulge to let the user know which keys he is playing without having to look at the keyboard.

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In the early 20th century, together with the first office computers, they installed keyboards with this key layout. Why, if it is a lower distribution? It was primarily done to allow office workers and writers not to have to relearn how to write. Since then, several countries have implemented minor differences in QWERTY.

For example, Germany exchanged 'Y' for 'Z' , a variant we call QWERTZ, and France created its own with a totally different first line, which is called AZERTY . Spain, for its part, included the 'Ñ' and 'Ç' keys and hardly changed it . In general, each country has small differences, especially in the area of symbols (|,, \…) , where even Spanish and Latin American keyboards vary.

Advantages of the Dvorak keyboard

Once introduced to the computer age, keyboards were already commonplace, so dragging past customs was stupid. (Something very common in computing).

"Without the hardware limitations of the past century, we could evolve to a new standard, " Dvorak and Dealey thought .

The two teachers in education discovered in their studies a series of hobbies generated by QWERTY keyboards:

Most of the most common keys are not on the center line, the easiest to reach. The left hand works more than the right. Some combinations require strange movements or keystrokes followed by the same finger.

Most used letters on the Dvorak keyboard

In response, the Dvorak keyboard placed the most common letters of the English language on the center line. Since the hands rest on this line, they are the keys that we can press the fastest followed by the keys on the top line. Continuing the scheme, the least used keys were placed on the slowest line, the bottom one.

On the other hand, they wanted to make both hands work in a balanced way, so they placed the vowels on the left and the most used consonants in English, respectively. The main reason was that this forces the work to be inserted with each hand and reduces the stress of the left-handed person. They also stressed that, being the majority of right-handed people, it would be more pleasant if the dominant hand worked harder.

Another point they took into account is that it is more natural for people to move their fingers consecutively from the little fingers to the index, than vice versa. With all these ideas in mind, they created the distribution that we have today, which is the luxury of some writers.

Dvorak keyboard and health

Apart from the stress reduction that we have already discussed, using Dvorak can offer you some improvements in your day to day.

When you have already adapted to writing in Dvorak , writing becomes much more relaxed and natural. This is why people suffering from repetitive movement disorders such as 'Carpal Tunnel Syndrome' claim relief or even the disappearance of injuries by using these keyboards for a time.

Also note that the more ergonomic layout of the keys better distributes the workload and speeds up typing. If you are someone dedicated to writing or who writes a lot, it is an alternative that you should try.

As a curiosity, there are also mice where the important thing is the ergonomics of the device. These mice are also designed to reduce fatigue by continuously using the computer and have a vertical shape.

Dvorak

As we've already seen, the Dvorak keyboard is optimized for two-handed use. However, Dvorak and Dealey also created two distributions for use with only one.

One-handed Dvorak keyboards

These layouts concentrate the important keys, not on the center line, but on the right or left side of the device. In this way we can use it with one hand and with the other we can use the mouse, a control panel or even write. (Get away from these parts, dirty minds).

Clearly, the images you see here are the basic versions, but there are several slightly different distributions depending on your country, language or taste. In addition, the drivers to use these keyboards are usually available both from Microsoft and the most famous Linux distros. Apple , on the other hand, does not have such a direct method for using alternative keyboards.

Drawbacks of the Simplified Keyboard

The biggest weakness of Dvorak keyboards is the difficulty of obtaining dedicated hardware. Since QWERTY is a recognized standard in almost all parts of the world, there are hardly any manufacturers that create Dvorak devices. There are many devices that have embedded keyboards such as laptops or keyboards, however, virtually all mount QWERTY keyboards.

To solve this, we can buy a set of stickers to 'remap' the keys, although the final finish will not be as good. Also, if the keyboard is backlit, you will lose this function on overwritten keys.

Dvorak keyboard with homemade labels. (We recommend buying ones of a slightly better quality)

Another simple way to enjoy an almost complete Dvora k keyboard is to modify a mechanical keyboard so that the keys are in the same position.

On the other hand, we have the problem of shortcuts and keys with special functions. Many applications have key combinations that perform actions and typically design them with the QWERTY keyboard in mind. By repositioning all of these keys, the shortcuts get in the way or can be annoying to use.

Admittedly, this can be fixed, but it adds an extra layer of complication that some users will never take advantage of. The clearest example of this is the combination 'Ctrl + C' and 'Ctrl + V', both of which are on the right side of the keyboard. You can change the key combination, but if another user uses your PC it may have even another extra difficulty to work with it.

Who uses these keyboards?

There are an interesting number of people who are known, among other things, to type on Dvorak keyboards. Among them we have:

Steve Wozniak, Apple co-founder Barbara Blackbum, the fastest writing person in the world. His mark was at 150 ppm (Words Per Minute) and peaks of up to 225 ppm. Bram Cohen, BitTorrent creator Matt Mullenweg, WordPress creator

As you can see, among some of the most famous people are users dedicated to the world of computing, people who spend many hours writing code.

Final thoughts

Now that we have seen the strengths and weaknesses of the Dvorak keyboard, we can make a clear assessment of this peculiar system.

Without much doubt, we can conclude that the Simplified Keyboard is a distribution, in all areas, superior to the QWERTY , both in efficiency and speed. If you are open to new experiences you have to try this new way of writing.

Once you have passed the re-learning phase (it lasts between one and three months) you will enjoy a natural, smooth and very agile typing. Of course, for the people around you it will be a quite peculiar change, because it can be similar to using a keyboard adapted for another language.

Luckily, the drawbacks to using this distribution can be overcome with cheap solutions. After that, we will get a unique experience that few people today enjoy. We highly recommend trying the switch to the Dvorak keyboard, both for its versatility. as for its usefulness for typing.

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And you, what do you think about Dvorak ? Would you try to make the change? Tell us your ideas about the Simplified Keyboard below.