{"id":154,"date":"2017-04-20T10:23:58","date_gmt":"2017-04-20T16:23:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.typing.com\/?p=154"},"modified":"2022-08-29T11:24:51","modified_gmt":"2022-08-29T17:24:51","slug":"dvorak-keyboard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.typing.com\/dvorak-keyboard\/","title":{"rendered":"Should I switch to a Dvorak keyboard?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Where did the QWERTY keyboard come from?<\/h1>\n

Christopher Latham Sholes loved making things in his free time. One of the best things he and his friends came up with was a little metal machine that could type letters.<\/p>\n

Pleased with themselves for coming\u00a0up with this little contraption, the team was\u00a0about to break open the champagne, but\u2026 there was a glitch.<\/p>\n

If people became\u00a0too proficient with\u00a0the machine, and typed on it too quickly, the levers inside would get jammed.<\/p>\n

Since no one wanted to buy a machine that broke down like that all the time, they had to come up with a solution.<\/p>\n

It was a strange conundrum\u2026 they actually had to make it HARDER to use their machine in order to make more people buy it. But how?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when they got an idea.<\/p>\n

What if they put the letters randomly around the keyboard and separated letters that are\u00a0frequently typed together?<\/p>\n

With this, they created what we know now as the QWERTY keyboard. Finally, it was time for them to pop that champagne.<\/p>\n

\"qwerty
The QWERTY keyboard, named for the first 6 letters across the top<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So if you\u2019ve ever wondered why keyboards are laid out the way they are, now you know. It was literally designed to make your life harder.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s the thing. Even though the need for this keyboard layout has long passed, QWERTY remains.<\/p>\n

People got used to it.<\/p>\n

Muscle memory<\/a>, which enables us to learn touch typing in the first place, also makes it harder\u00a0to adjust to another layout.<\/p>\n

Once you’ve trained your fingers to know where all the keys are, it can be a real hassle to start all over.<\/p>\n

Some, however, are ready for change.<\/p>\n

Dvorak: The quest for an easier, more efficient keyboard<\/h1>\n

One man, Dr. Dvorak, pledged\u00a0to come up with a more efficient layout for the keyboard.<\/p>\n

After over a decade of studying the English language and the physiologies of our hands, he designed a whole new keyboard.<\/p>\n

One, he believed, which would enable people to type MUCH more quickly.<\/p>\n

As one example, by putting more commonly used letters on the home row, you can type almost 5,000 words literally without lifting a finger.<\/p>\n

\"dvorak
Dvorak keyboard layout<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For some, the Dvorak keyboard is clearly superior.<\/p>\n

In 1985, Barbara Blackburn<\/a>, broke the Guinness Book of World Records for typing with a speed of 170 words per minute using a Dvorak keyboard.<\/p>\n

However, in the time since there have been a number of much faster typers since who have come out from the cracks on various online competitions.<\/p>\n

Using a QWERTY keyboard, Sean Wrona blew Barbara\u2019s record out of the water with an astounding 256 wpm on one online test.<\/p>\n

He even scored 199 wpm<\/a> on our own NitroType racing game<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Which keyboard layout should I learn?<\/h1>\n

Despite its drawbacks, we focus on teaching the QWERTY keyboard layout in our lessons simply because it is the most common system.<\/p>\n

Unless you want to carry around your own keyboard when you go places, you pretty much have to learn it.<\/p>\n

That said, we\u2019re all for progress.<\/p>\n

\"\"So if you <\/span><\/span>are interested<\/span><\/span> in learning the Dvorak system, we have created three lessons completely dedicated to learning the basics<\/span><\/span>.<\/span> You will find these in our Practice section.<\/p>\n