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Vaniver comments on Spend Money on Ergonomics - Less Wrong
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And carpalx is strictly better than DVORAK. It even has an option to keep zxcv in place, which makes adoption that much easier (as those are the most common shortcut keys).
This surprises me, as I am 6'0" and my dad is ~6'2" and we both enjoy our Elantras. Is the issue leg room, height, wheel position, something else? Could you fix it by adding a cushion to the chair (cheaper than replacing the car, btw :P)?
These are the sorts of comments that could use a citation, or at least a mention of the tradeoff involved.
I think the take home lesson from that site is that QWERTY is horrible and almost everything else is a drastic improvement...
Don’t forget the secret lesson: using anything but QWERTY is rare, though users of keyboards are not, so it’s a high-visibility status statement. Especially if you do move your key caps, then pretty much nobody (not in the select few who can find the relevant settings quickly) can use your computer easily. It’s an excellent excuse not to cede the keyboard ;-)
QWERTY is closer to optimal than it is to the worst layout, so I'm not sure that's the case. Even so, switching to DVORAK instead of COLEMAK or QGMLWY is just silly as DVORAK is worse and harder to learn.
The reference class I had in mind was "keyboards intelligently designed for use by humans", not "random keyboard layouts" :)
But yeah, obviously if you're going to learn a new layout, learn the best one available. I just looked it up; Colemak was released in 2006 (http://www.colemak.com/wiki/index.php?title=FAQ#What_is_Colemak.3F). It didn't exist when I learned dvorak, which makes me feel better about lavalamp_2001's research skills.
My perception is that Colemak and QGMLWY aren't so much better than dvorak as to make it worth the effort for me to switch again.
Sounds right to me. The returns are far too diminished!
Yup. Agreed that there is room for more optimization and DVORAK isn't the end-all be-all of keyboard layouts. I still use QWERTY myself so saved this research for others in the comments. Thanks.
It's an '06 Elantra which was the last one before the model update, so an '07 Elantra is a little bigger. I mean that I would like to be able to sometimes drive with my arms in a practically, straight, almost locked position, and that I can't get the seat adjusted in such a way that I can do this without lowering the steering wheel such that it is obstructing the speedometer.
Agreed that that's the most important missing citation.
I was surprised to see that the California driving manual has been updated to support what I say here: http://dmv.ca.gov/pubs/hdbk/signaling.htm Sounds like lowered hand position while driving is now actually consensus and the meme just hasn't quite penetrated.
So, I didn't comment on this earlier, but I continue to think about it. If you aren't taking your own advice on this issue, how strongly do you believe it? Is there a good reason for others to take it?
I mean, it makes great sense for people who find typing effortful or start developing RSIs to switch to colemak or qgmlwy. But the impression I get is that happens to a minority of keyboard users, and thus switching before you develop any troubles is a lot of preventative effort with low chance of payout.
For example, I memorized the qgmlwy layout in about a day, but found that whenever I typed with it it was a constant battle to manually force the qgmlwy layout instead of using the muscle memory of qwerty. I suffered through my 7 wpm for a few days before I decided that it was more important to do my work at a reasonable pace than switch keyboard layouts.
I don't see a reason to try again (until I start developing a RSI), and so am hesitant to recommend to other people that they try (though I'm willing to point out superior alternatives to dvorak). Am I seriously underestimating my chances of developing a RSI, or is this indicative of a wider trend that optimizing without math is, well, premature?
[edit] I should also say, I'm much more willing to spend money than time on ergonomics, and keyboard layouts are very much a time thing, not a money thing.
That was not actually my own advice but was added to the article at the suggestion of my roommate, a DVORAK proponent.
I don't type professionally or very much in the scheme of things, so am not particularly concerned about my risk of developing RSIs from typing specifically. I'm still intrigued by Colemak so think I'll actually give that a try this upcoming week.
Thanks the for the citation. I have updated away from you.
Huh?
Ah, ok. We're driving a '10 and a '11.
Great! That's the sort of thing you should be linking to in your post. (No need to have a list of references; direct links are better.)