# Hear me out, Dvorak would improve iPod touch, iPhone efficiency



## Sean.Perrin (Aug 13, 2007)

So after typing on the iPhone for a couple days i notice that the biggest problem with typing is QWERTY!

It's not difficult for me to type on the QWERTY because it is a "hunt and peck" typing style, but it would sure be easier with Dvorak... here's why:

1) Home row contains the most commonly used letters. Finger walking is greatly reduced, which would improve stability of the device in the user's hands. Since there is more usage of home row and less moving around "touch typing" may actually occur in some users because of a more constant reference point.

2) Thumb (well, hand) alternation. You can only type several words on the same hand with Dvorak, by alternating thumbs more often you are reducing errors due to close proximity QWERTY words such as "like", "doing", and anything else that has many instances of same hand usage.

3) Because it's hunt and peck, it won't take any getting used to, people see the letter, then they type it.

4) However, I would propose that an entirely new hunt and peck keypad is developed, there is no reason to use any previous method for a "hunting" device.

Thoughts?


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## Vexel (Jan 30, 2005)

It's a lot quicker for people to use qwerty than dvorak because it's what is on 99% of keyboards in the iPod/iPhone market. Since they're so used to qwerty anyway, it's much easier to hunt letters down.


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## JustAMacUser (Oct 21, 2007)

Keep in mind the QWERTY keyboard was designed to slow an individual's typing down (from way back in the "typewriter" (remember those?  ) days). A lot of other keyboard designs, technically, have the ability to yield faster typing speeds. But like Vexel said, most of the population use QWERTY; so to have to re-learn something they've been doing since childhood would actually make it more difficult.

(Of course, Apple giving the user the option for alternate layouts would be nice, even a plug-in style design so 3rd party developers could add-on their own layouts.)


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## hayesk (Mar 5, 2000)

JustAMacUser said:


> (Of course, Apple giving the user the option for alternate layouts would be nice, even a plug-in style design so 3rd party developers could add-on their own layouts.)


What do you mean "would be" nice? Apple already does this.


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## jasonwood (Oct 19, 2003)

JustAMacUser said:


> Keep in mind the QWERTY keyboard was designed to slow an individual's typing down


The Qwerty layout was designed to keep commonly used letters apart to reduce jamming, even when typing fast. In other words, it was intended to help typewriters keep up with fast typists, not to slow the typists down.

I am not asserting that qwerty is in fact faster, but I haven't seen the evidence. It smells like an urban legend.

Also, given the original purpose, I'd be curious about whether Dvorak could actually cause problems with the iPhone's small keyboard. Something to think about?


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## zarquon (May 24, 2005)

jasonwood said:


> The Qwerty layout was designed to keep commonly used letters apart to reduce jamming, even when typing fast. In other words, it was intended to help typewriters keep up with fast typists, not to slow the typists down.
> 
> I am not asserting that qwerty is in fact faster, but I haven't seen the evidence. It smells like an urban legend.
> 
> Also, given the original purpose, I'd be curious about whether Dvorak could actually cause problems with the iPhone's small keyboard. Something to think about?


Actually, your both right.

The point was to keep the keys from jamming, so it was designed to slow down the typists speed. Kind of a 2 tiered approach.

Z.


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## Corvillus (Nov 15, 2007)

Being a Dvorak typist myself, I can honestly say I don't has a problem with the iPhone's QWERTY keyboard. That said, it would be nice to have Dvorak as being selectable in the settings. I honestly don't know how much I'd benefit given that Dvorak is specifically designed to use all of your fingers and how the iPhone soft keyboard has no tactile feedback, but it would be interesting to see nonetheless.


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## Sean.Perrin (Aug 13, 2007)

zarquon said:


> Actually, your both right.


"you're"


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## Maverick (Sep 18, 2007)

Both the "Qwerty" and the "Dvorak" layouts are equally irrelevant in the context of the iPhone. Everyone "types" on an iPhone by the hunt-and-peck method, afterall. They are both out-dated and certainly not designed with any regard to a touch-screen interface. I don't believe that Dvorak would be any better, or any worse, than Qwerty with regards to the iPhone as probably the most important factor is that the character that one is looking for is in the location that xe expects to find it. With that criteria in mind, Apple should probably have a Dvorak layout as an option, if only so that users familiar with that layout can locate characters faster. I'm sure that a much better keyboard input mechanism can be developed for the iPhone, thanks to its ability to modify the layout on-the-fly, even though I think that - by today's standards at least - the current iPhone keyboard is adequate and better than any of the other available mobile options.


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## Cliffy (Apr 18, 2005)

And here I thought Dvorak had a new article out on the iPhone.


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## TroutMaskReplica (Feb 28, 2003)

why not give users the choice?

it's a software keyboard., ie., just a picture on the screen, so why not make it a preference or something?


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## zlinger (Aug 28, 2007)

What about arranging the letters in alphabetical order. Or a shuffle option for random layouts


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