Technology
Alternative Keyboard Information
I use the American Simplified Keyboard (also known as the Dvorak keyboard) rather than the standard QWERTY layout. QWERTY was designed to slow typing in order to prevent jamming early typewriting machines; the Dvorak layout was designed to reduce typing errors and increase speed. The Dvorak layout is superior in every way to the QWERTY layout. Want to know why? Check here: Dvorak Pros and Cons.
Below is a version of the layout and an article from the April 1997 issue of Discover Magazine on how we began using the inferior QWERTY keyboard that is now ubiquitous. This article is how I first learned about the Dvorak keyboard layout.
For a clearer, printable version of this layout, check out this PDF file.
For more information, also visit Introducing the Dvorak Keyboard, Dvorak International and Randy Cassingham's Dvorak web page. Randy Cassingham wrote the 1986 book, The Dvorak Keyboard, which reviews both keyboards and talks about the evolution of the Dvorak keyboard. Even some folks at Mensa agree, as shown in this 1995 essay from The Mensa Bulletin. If you are interested in some serious comparison examples, check out The Dvorak Simplified Keyboard: Forty Years of Frustration.
If you are interested in switching to the American Simplified Keyboard, please check out ABCD: A Basic Course in Dvorak for a free typing tutor. In fact, I have software that promises to convert you to Dvorak in five hours that I am willing to lend out. I also have all the files you will need to make Dvorak the standard setting on your Sparc, in Windows, and in DOS. I also have a conversion web page to show you how to switch to a better keyboard.
As a person who shares PCs with his wife, I have also purchased a couple of DvortyBoards, and TypeMatrix keyboards, all of which are hard-wired and switchable between Dvorak and QWERTY. The DvortyBoards have keys labeled with both layouts and all are switchable from Dvorak to QWERTY at the touch of a button. They are perfect for a household PC used by more than one person. I'll switch her to Dvorak yet.
The Fitaly Keyboard
I also use the Fitaly keyboard on my Palm T|X. This is a keyboard that's designed for using a stylus (one-finger typing), unlike the QWERTY layout which was designed for two-finger typing. The Dvorak layout was designed for two-handed typing, so it, too is ineffective for a stylus, and much more so than QWERTY.
The Fitaly Stamp is a sticker that goes over the standard graffiti area of the PDA, though with my new T|X, I use Fitaly Virtual.
The layout looks like this:
You can check all this out at fitaly.com.
