Is typing in Dvorak.

[anc0de]

I think it's been mentioned, but can't you rearrange your keys on the system,
then switch around the keys or like Duoas said use stickers?

[chrisname]

@Duoas,
I guess you're right; maybe it explains why I'm so fast on a standard keyboard but on a touch screen phone I'm slow and make tons of mistakes. Or maybe it's because the damn buttons are too small(!)

[Duthomhas]

Personally, I think it is because the keyboard is so small... and there are no anchors for your hands. I use one of those Samsung Intensity II phones ( http://reviews.cnet.com/cell-phones/samsung-intensity-ii-deep/4505-6454_7-34140451.html ). The F and J keys have little nibs on them, but it is not very helpful when you are typing with your thumbs, and when your thumbs are big enough to press more than one key at a time. (Don't get me wrong, I like the phone. I don't like the software updates that Verizon has made, but that is another thing...)

To type fast, you need to have (1) an anchor position for your hands and (2) some tactile response when you finger the keys.

[Gaminic]

That's the main reason I don't want to "invest" in a smartphone. Having all those juicy gizmoz around is nice and all, but none of the input methods make sense to me. A full keyboard scaled down? Hell no. Touch screen? Not a fan. So far, the standard "12 buttons with multiple letters" and a good dictionary is the best for me. Also the cheapest!

[strongdrink]

I don't like the idea of typing on... well... nothing. I agree with the rest of you... I like my clicky keyboard :D

@LB if you switch to Dvorak on a QWERTY board, you will be forced to touch type. You should try it out.

[Gaminic]

@strongdrink: That's odd reasoning. If I switch my board to Dvorak settings, I'll spend a week guessing which buttons I have to press. Touch typing only makes sense when you know where each button is. I'd rather spend a few days back in look-at-keyboard mode and then adjust back to touch-typing than a week of randoming around.

[z05DSL3A]

I have never been able to get to touch typing, I think my hands are to big.

[1yR4jE8b]

@Gaminic

I'd rather spend a few days back in look-at-keyboard mode

You can buy stickers to place over your keys to do just this.

I learned Dvorak just fine using just a printout of the layout and taping it to the bezel of my monitor and looking at that.

[Gaminic]

Looking at anything else than the screen itself sort of defeats the purpose of touch-typing, doesn't it? :p
I don't want to start another debate on semantics, but I see no conceptual difference between looking at the keys and looking at a printout of the keys, and neither of them are touch-typing.

[strongdrink]

@Gaminic It only took about 6 days of about 2 hour practice per day to get up to 20wpm. The first day I used this site http://www.sense-lang.org/typing/tutor/keyboarding.php?lang=EN_Dvorak and the rest I just practised on Facebook and small code projects.

EDIT:

I think it is better if the keys don't have labels, like the Das Keyboard. Because then you will not be able to hunt and peck, and want to learn to touch type.

[Gaminic]

I watch my keyboard for special characters I don't use often (think è, ç, à, ´, `, etc). I don't feel the need to learn those by heart/touch, so a labelless keyboard would annoy me.

[1yR4jE8b]

I see no conceptual difference between looking at the keys and looking at a printout of the keys, and neither of them are touch-typing.

By looking at a printout, I found it easier to force myself to use the proper fingers instead of staring down and hunt/pecking all the time (let's call it "faux-touch typing"). You learn very quickly to rely on intuition instead of sight, there's a big difference. It only took me about 2 days until I was touch typing without the printout, and around 2 weeks until I was typing at full speed (faster then I ever could with QWERTY).

The best thing you can do to learn Dvorak, is to just go cold turkey. Doing anything else will just confuse your already confused muscle memory.

[strongdrink]

@darkestfright Agreed... Starting today, I am using solid Dvorak =D

[hanst99]

I watch my keyboard for special characters I don't use often (think è, ç, à, ´, `, etc). I don't feel the need to learn those by heart/touch, so a labelless keyboard would annoy me.

I never had to explicitly remember any keys, eventually I got all of them down, even the ones I use relatively rarely (which aren't that many anymore ever since I switched to QWERTY).

BTW: I don't like the Dvorak layout - it may be easier for typing text, I don't know about that - but it requires more key combinations for frequently needed special characters, so nah... I think I'll stick with what I know.

[ne555]

but it requires more key combinations for frequently needed special character

Sorry, I can't understand you. ¿Could you provide an example?
AFAICS the keys are the same, just in another order.

[hanst99]

Looks like I was mistaken. I was looking at a picture that supposedly depicted the dvorak layout and it had different keys.