james mckay dot net

It came as no surprise to me when I decided to revert to qwerty that my blog was inundated with spirited comments from the Colemak crowd. After all, some of them seem to think that the aforementioned layout could triple your typing speed, cure cancer, and stop global warming, and for me to admit that I’d failed to reach my qwerty speed after four months was nothing short of heresy for which I should be burned at the stake.

Well perhaps I was a bit too hard on it, and no doubt I’ll get another firestorm of comments from the fanboys here, because I’ve started using it again.

I’m not using it all the time, mind you. I tend to use my laptop at home, and in my experience, Colemak and laptop keyboards simply do not mix. But I’ve been using it increasingly at work with my Microsoft Natural 4000 keyboard, and the two of them seem to go together fairly well. I really can’t emphasise this strongly enough: if you want to get the most out of Colemak, get a split ergonomic keyboard.

Switching between the two layouts also seems more comfortable in the long run, once you get used to it. They exercise different muscles in your hands and arms, so I find that when I get tired working with one, switching to the other helps a lot. I also seem to be picking up a bit of speed with it too, and though I haven’t got round to testing myself again, I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m managing to hit 70 a bit more consistently.

Now if only someone would treat me to an Aeron chair…

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Posted at 08:00 in Typing