Re: org-meta-return

[James Harkins < jamshark70@gmail.com>]

42 147 <aeuster <at> gmail.com> writes:

> [continues off-topic]
>> Have you tried a Dvorak keyboard?
> A friend of mine ridicules me for being a QWERTY typist, but I have found no 
empirical evidence that it is actually superior. At best, it has been
> proven, in /some/ studies, to be /slightly/ superior; and from a cost-benefit 
standpoint, /slight/ superiority according to /some/ studies (and I should add, 
only at extreme speeds), is not worth relearning how to type.

FWIW, and I'm well aware this is purely anecdotal evidence with a sample size of 
1, after I switched to Dvorak some years ago, the difference in the amount of 
strain and fatigue I felt in my fingers and wrists was (and still is) more than 
slight. I know it's still the case because I have my customized Dvorak layout in 
Linux (it's basically a mirror image, but slightly different from left-handed 
Dvorak), but I never figured out how to replicate it in Windows 7. I don't have 
to use win7 often, just for teaching some Windows-only software, so it hasn't 
been worth digging through Microsoft documents. I've actually gotten a fair 
amount of QWERTY speed back, but boy, I can sure feel how much more *work* it 
is. The muscle movements flow in Dvorak, and they don't in QWERTY (not 
surprising, since QWERTY's purpose was to slow typists down and prevent the 
machinery from jamming).

I can believe that studies would find only a slight /speed/ improvement, but we 
aren't talking about speed. We're talking about RSI pain. I'd at least question 
the relevance of words/minute studies to measure reduction in muscle effort. 
Studies of finger travel are more on point.

The cost of relearning to type is high, but the cost is temporary and the 
benefits last the rest of your life.

Just my experience.
hjh