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From: ee5391aa@hydra.unm.edu (Duke McMullan n5gax)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc,misc.wanted
Subject: Re: Dvorak Keyboards
Message-ID: <1798@ariel.unm.edu>
Date: 25 Feb 90 22:16:59 GMT
References: <1990Jan25.151952.23138@deimos.cis.ksu.edu> <362PD1w160w@gendep> <1570@ariel.unm.edu> <1352@jura.tcom.stc.co.uk>
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Reply-To: ee5391aa@hydra.unm.edu.UUCP (Duke McMullan n5gax)
Organization: University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
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The Dvorak Simplified Keyboard was developed by Dr. August (I think) Dvorak
in the first half of the century. He did this in association with George
Gilbreth (read _Cheaper_by_the_Dozen_ for background on Gilbreath; a delight-
ful book), a time-and-motion specialist.

There are several variations; mine looks like this:

` 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 - = \ '	...quite ordinary
   / , . p y f g c r l [ ]	...quite Dvorak
    a o e u i d h t n s BS CR	...  "     "
     ; q j k x b m w v z	...  "     "

The letter layout is standard Dvorak. The other keys are a mixture of personal
choices and compromises forced by the fact that I made this keyboard by rewir-
ing a standard keyboard. BE WARNED: cutting and jumpering a circuit board on
this scale is a pain in the fanny. I only did it because the commercial Dvorak
keyboards are (due, I assume, to low demand) obnoxiously expensive.

Dr. D. originally had the numerals done differently, a 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2 0 pat-
ern, if memory serves...don't take that exact pattern too seriously...it's 
been a while since I've seen that layout.

From the time frame, it will be evident that Dr. D. did his work on type-
writers, not computers. We have a lot more characters on computer keyboards,
so the original designs weren't usable as is.

I discovered recently that there are one-handed keyboard variants around; I'm
uncertain if these are Dvorak's work or not.

My major personal choice was the location of that backspace key -- I use it 
a LOT!  ;^)

I wanted to move the backslash into a more accessable place, but I decided to
try it this way for a while. It's not that bad; I doubt now that I'll bother
to change it...but if I ever get my hand on the compujerks who used \ as the
MessDOS pathname separator...CRUNCH!

Backward compatability means backward...PERIOD!

Anyway, off my soapbox. I'd have preferred to reverse the casing of ' and ",
but that's more than just a rewiring job, and I didn't feel like opening up
and rewiring the keyboard ROMs. :-O

It's too bad that the keyboards aren't made completely programmable: That
would save LOTS of hassle. There are ways of modifying one of the ANSI drivers
to give a DSK, but it won't work with all the programs.

A week or so after I got the computer, I borrowed a commercial DVORAK driver
from a friend (she had gotten it over a year previously, but had never used it)
which kept my head...excuse me, fingers, above the water until I got the new
keyboard and rewired it. The driver worked, but it used up too much memory for
my liking, and it was incompatable with a compiled QuickBasic program, and with
Microsoft Works. Seems there were a couple of other things that locked up with
it, but I don't remember what....

The keys themselves were simply permuted, a process which works with varying
degrees of success on different keyboards. The critical factor is the extent
of the "sculpting" of the various rows. I originally did this on a TRS-80
Model I, which had all rows of keytops at the same angle. It's the best I've
ever done.... Years later, I did it to a TRS-80 Model 4p, and that keyboard
looks like it is in serious need of orthodontia. It wasn't much of a problem
to use, however.

I wouldn't even try it on my original Packard-Bell keyboard; that is VERY deep-
ly sculpted. My new one is the one you see in many of the ads that has the 
built-in trackball on the right side of the board. It's sculpting was much less
than the P-B, and while it does look a little odd, it's not a candidate for
the dentist's chair. I'm quite happy with it.

I think someone else posted sources of DSKs, so I won't bother. I don't have
the addresses, anyway. ;^)


							aoeuid,
							   d


Only in America could women demand to be considered an official minority
	group with all the special privileges pertaining thereunto.
							-- "Cactus Ed" Abbey
      Duke McMullan n5gax nss13429r phon505-255-4642 ee5391aa@hydra.unm.edu