[ndeast]

I went through the entire process of learning Colemak-DH last year, and made sure to maintain my ability to type QWERTY. I would bring my reprogrammed HHKB to work every day, and switching between layouts at home to keep the skill. Eventually I realized that all the new layout did was add an extra layer of cognitive friction when it came to keyboard shortcuts. Now a year later I am back to just using QWERTY.

Glad I tried it, now I know I could do it all over with only a little bit of discomfort, but I never saw any of the oft lauded benefits of switching keyboard layouts. Maybe at 60-70WPM I am just not fast enough to notice improved efficiency, or my youthful joints have yet to decay enough to have pain from typing. Who knows.

[readthenotes1]

I looked into the Dvorak stuff about 20 years ago and apparently there weren't any real good studies showing Dvorak was that much better.

The studies showing Dvorak superiority apparently were never compared with qwerty users going through similar training, and when they did, the advantage disappeared.

Apparently, we do better if we train.

[insane_dreamer]

The benefit is not the speed but the reduced effort and fatigue as your fingers move much less with Dvorak (when typing English)

[EasyMark]

I’ve never had an issue with that. I spend more typing that thinking unlike a data entry person or someone who types all day long, my fingers get plenty of rest between using vim for everything and just being a developer.

[Izkata]

It seems to mostly be a problem with home-row typists having to twist their wrists to hit some keys.

I'm self taught through online games like StarCraft and don't use the home row - my hands settle in a different location, I use the edges of the keyboard for positioning (mostly through peripheral vision rather than touch), and I use my elbows and shoulders in addition to my wrists to move across the keyboard. Don't have to stretch or twist my fingers and wrists into awkward positions that cause strain, never had the issues others describe, and so far no hint I'll develop them.

[ZeroGravitas]

There was a big Libertarian propaganda effort against Dvorak around that time.

They hate it for the same reason they hate recycling and climate change. It's a very visible and popular example of markets not being perfect and needing regulation to perform better.

It's highly likely that your source was in economics rather than ergonomics.

[slaughtr]

Do you have any source or further reading on this topic? The only thing I can readily find is you making similar comments on HN for the last decade, and I’d like to learn more.

[ZeroGravitas]

https://personal.utdallas.edu/~liebowit/keys1.html

Is the original paper that kicked it off, I think there was a few follow ups.

This wiki page has a snippet from a site talking about it that is no longer online:

https://wiki.c2.com/?TheFableOfTheKeys

http://www.mwbrooks.com/dvorak/dissent.html

edit to add:

https://reason.com/1996/06/01/typing-errors/

Vs

https://dvorak-keyboard.com/anti-dvorak/