Dvorak vs. QWERTY, not just efficiency a different mindset

There is a post on Arstechnica that Dvorak keyboards are now supported in iOS16.

Apple and Dvorak have an interesting history. The company first included native Dvorak support for its computers in the US model of the Apple IIc, released in 1984. It included a special "Keyboard" button that would swap the layout between QWERTY and Dvorak logically, but the physical keycaps would need to be re-arranged to match if you needed a label reference.

Steve “Woz” Wozniak is referenced as a Dvorak user, but he did not start using Dvorak until 1993 so Woz did not put the code into Apple OS.

Interestingly, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak ("Woz") learned Dvorak around 1993 and never looked back (he wasn't involved with Dvorak on the Apple IIc, he says). In an email to Ars Technica, Woz recounted how he first learned Dvorak. "I was on a flight to Tokyo and I ran Mavis Beacon teaches typing in Dvorak mode," he wrote. "I spent 5 hours learning it and never again looked at a QWERTY keyboard. That’s all it took. My son had already switched over successfully, and learned Dvorak in a short time and quickly got up to the same speed he typed in QWERTY in about a week."

After Apple added Dvorak to Mac and Apple II, Microsoft’s Nathan Myhrvold was the one who put the code into Windows 2.0 in 1987

I have been using Dvorak keyboards since 1988 on the Mac. I worked as project leader on Apple Keyboards and the mechanical engineer was a Dvorak user and I gave it a try and have been using Dvorak since. My family hates it because they get frustrated when they reach for my devices and letters typed are all messed up.

But the one thing I have been using QWERTY for is typing on my iPhone which may be why I preferred to use MacBook or iPad with Dvorak keyboards. But now there is Dvorak on iPhone with iOS16. Making the transition to Dvorak on the iPhone is relearning as now use two thumbs to type instead of 10 fingers.

And here is the difference noticing when I type with Dvorak my mindset changes as I don’t think about the keys at all. It is more like the ideas just flow as I can’t look at the keys as I did not remap the keyboard. This same mindset shift happens when I type Dvorak on the iPhone. Think of things and let the fingers find the sequence.

This is kind of a random thing, and will revisit it after more time making the transition.

Now if I had my iPhone to my family they will again be pissed the keys are messed up, but at least they can see where the keys are. :-)