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June 06 Dvorak Typist at MicrosoftNathan Myhrvold, formerly Chief Technology Officer at Microsoft, is co-founder of Intellectual Ventures, which is seeking to build a large invention portfolio. He personally holds more than 18 U.S. patents and has applied for more than 100. His company has been described as a "patent troll", accumulating patents (especially in software), not in order to develop products around them but with the goal to pressure large companies into paying licensing fees.[1] I just found out that this man types on Dvorak from an article I was reading. The link is on the left - the Dvorak user blog site I think. I'll have to find an article where Nathan talks about typing on Dvorak, so I can find out what his experience is with it. Beginnings of DvorakIt is now June 2007. I've been typing in Dvorak since February 2006, and it took me only about six months to make the switch. I made an internet comment on the Dvorak user blog site in January 2006, saying that I was about to start.
It took me about three to four years to become really good at Qwerty keyboarding. In the end, I was in an average range of between 75 and 85 WPM, with a peak of 101 WPM in a three minute timing, without errors. What makes me really happy about Dvorak is that, by the time I was finished learning it and well on the way of practicing it, I was typing the same speed as Qwerty, in that six month period. By the time I started college in September 2007, I had already passed the typing class. The final passing grade was 55 WPM, and I had 63 WPM by the first week.
It was a strange transition to switch. I noticed my brain was stuck half way between knowing Qwerty and the new Dvorak, because my fingers still had trouble typing in both languages at first. It was a bit frustrating, but I was determined to check out those statistics and the history. I wanted to find out for myself how good it was.
I've read many sites that say the switch to Dvorak isn't worth it because it's expensive to buy a Dvorak keyboard. That's pure bull! I wasted $30 buying a Dvorak keyboard, only to read another article that said all I had to do was go into the computer control panel, into language settings, and change the keyboard. I could put an icon on my desktop, or even set some hotkeys, so that I could change to Dvorak and type away.
My family found it really interesting having to use my Dvorak default computer. They had to remember to click the icon and change back to Qwerty so they could type. In a couple jobs I've had, I forgot to change it back, and had some funny moments of watching another person get confused and say the computer was all screwed up and they swore they didn't type THAT!
I've devoted this live space to Dvorak. The links are all Dvorak related, so do educate yourself and enjoy. If you want to switch, I'm right behind you 100%. I think it's worth it. I like the alternative in life. Trying something different! And do share your experiences here. I encourage and welcome it! For those of you who already type on Dvorak, I also welcome you to share your thoughts and experiences here.
Well, that's all for now. I hope to keep coming back to share how well I'm doing, and to see that people have visited too.
Cheers! |
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