MacBook Mods & Hacks

I wonder if just swapping the keys on the keyboard also changes the characters those keys produce when pushed down. Imagine painting some white keys on a piano black, they will still produce the same note when struck. Can somebody comment on this?

Julian, the answer to that is rather simple. Mac OS X supports it out of the box. Just go to System Preferences >> International >> Input Menu and select Dvorak.

I just got a new SR macbook and they've rotated the plastic scissors 90 degrees under the F and J keys, so this mod no longer works on new macbooks! (Unless you don't mind having four sideways keys in Dvorak - F,J,E,T.)

I don't exactly find how this is more simple, but, whatever.

Any idea's on how to turn my macbook into a half qwerty (holding space bar turns left hand keys into right hand keys so you can type one handed)

I have deciced to learn to type in Dvorakw seeing as I am already 'fluent' in qwerty. It is proving insanely hard, however I will see how I go.
This will be interesting.

I've just done this to my keyboard :) took about 10 mins :P

Does anyone have any experience with the Macbook Air keyboard?

Dvorak is cool,.. and it makes people wonder when they use iBook =]

thats dumb

I just did this to my macbook (early 2008)....the crooked f, j, u, and h look pretty cool in my opinion

id love 2 try this

interesting

dvorak is hard to get used to

its quite hard but i like it

I've been trying to get the hang of Dvorak for over a year now. It's very hard. I used to type at 42wpm on Qwerty. My speed on Dvorak is 26wpm. For the last 3 months I've been fully on Dvorak at home and at work (I write software) - not used Qwerty at all and still I'm not up to my Qwerty speeds - will I ever get to the speed I was at before the switch ?

I've used Dvorak for several years now, after randomly trying it in college with some friends just for the heck of it. I must say, after sticking with it for several years, I have more than exceeded my previous wpm typing speed, and the location of the most frequently used characters (aoeu, snth) on the home row lends itself to being extremely comfortable and efficient after the learning curve. Although I occasionally am forced to use Qwerty on other PCs/devices that aren't necessarily mine, I have learned to cope with both and prefer Dvorak. Good luck to those interested.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the Qwerty keyboard. I've used it all my life, and been able to type at a reasonable speed.

If anything, forcing yourself to type faster using a Dvorak keyboard will cause RSI, NOT moving your fingers a few extra centimetres.

Is this just another case of laziness?

The qwerty format can cause stress and fatigue in many more ways that the dvorak design, simple logic denotes this. If you look at the dvorak wikipedia entry you will see what I mean

lot of ignorance here. did any of the trolls read about dvorak before they showed up?

QWERTY keyboard was developed over 100 years ago for the old fashioned typewriters. It was designed that way to stop the letter hammers snagging when hitting the page. Dvorak layout was designed for speed and to reduce repetitive stress syndrome.

In 1872, when Christopher Sholes invented the first practical typewriter, he was faced with a serious problem: his typists constantly jammed their machines. They were typing too fast. Because typewriting mechanisms were bulky and heavy, those early machines were designed to be typed using only the two index fingers, with what came to be known as the Columbus method. The typist "discovered" the location of a key and hit that key with the index finger. We now call this method Hunt and Peck. Sholes had to solve this problem of jammed machines. His solution was the only one available to him: he rearranged the keys to slow down the typists! That keyboard layout is still in use today, 125 years later. We know this keyboard layout as the QWERTY keyboard, named for the layout of the keyboard's first six letters.

Touch typing (using all 10 fingers) started to catch on in the 1880s. The QWERTY layout was the only layout then available, so it became the standard. But QWERTY had serious problems, having never been designed for touch typing. Even Sholes recognized this truth, and in 1889, he was granted a patent for an improved layout. But the QWERTY keyboard layout was firmly entrenched, and thus it remained the standard.

I use DVORAK at home and QWERTY at work (no option to change it in a retail setting where everything is blocked off) and I like DVORAK much better. I can type about the same speed in both (took about 6 months total to become 'fluent' enough in DVORAK to not mind using it though before that it was very frustrating) though sometimes I'll start typing in the wrong layout on the wrong keyboard and have to go back (I catch this within the first word or two) and make the mental switch over.

It's well worth sticking with. There is a learning curve but if you keep at it, you will get used to it. There's a noticeable difference in how much stress is put on my wrists and fingers as I'm typing and DVORAK has made it a lot easier. This means I can type for a lot longer without getting fatigued and it also isn't messing up my wrists as much in the long run.

I used QWERTY all through school since that's what I learned on. I was around 75 WPM on it and I still made the switch and haven't regretted it at all. For a really long time in the beginning of learning DVORAK, I was frustrated with my slow speeds (like 15 WPM after doing 75... ugh) but I kept at it and got faster and faster and it wasn't as frustrating.

I will say though the one thing I DO miss about QWERTY is that you can type one handed a lot easier but I can hunt and peck reasonably well in DVORAK. My hands don't mind sharing the workload, it just makes it more challenging to eat and multitask on the computer at the same time.

hi...where can i get the black keyboard only?my macbook laptop is white i want to change it to black keyboard.thanks!

ronald check ebay

whoever on here uses DVORAK must be a genius, god, there is no way possible that I could type with that keyboard! congratulations to you all, shit your good.

Someone should make (or maybe there's already one out there) a keyboard skin for making this conversion. They could make dozens of dollars with the market for Dvorak layout enthusiasts. ;-)

Actually, they do (http://www.zcover.com/zCover_Product_Keyboard_Cover_Apple_Dvorak.htm) Thank you, Googly.

you all are stupid

Says the hole in the ass.

Commented head in the large hole

says the empty abyss

stop trolling... jeez

I found this Dvorak thing very interesting... I think I'm going to try it, the problem is that my keyboard has the spanish layout so I'll have to memorize all the dots and those other characters...

BTW, I found another Dvorak layer for macbooks here:

http://www.kbcovers.com/servlet/Detail?no=44

peace.

I can't type for crap, I am very slow. I never forced myself to learn touch typing and I don't type enough to be quick. I can manage to do it looking at my fingers but I have many errors if I look at the screen. I tried dvorak and was able to type on it much faster right away with fewer errors. Not being too trained in the qwerty layout helped. The layout is more comfortable for me and seems more natural of a layout. Common letters and groupings placed in a way to make them easy to reach.

When I first heard about the Dvorak keyboard, I learned that average typing speed on a Qwerty is 40-45 WPM. The high end of the spectrum is 90-100 WPM, for typists, secretaries and such. There are, of course, those who type faster, I understand this.

Average typing speed with a similar test group to the former group, on a Dvorak showed results at about 80-90 WPM. Tests with secretaries and such showed averages of 170-180 WPM. There were also those who typed faster than this as well.

The learning curve is difficult at first, but the difference is substantial. I think that Dvorak layout should be an open option when buying computers at the least. When using public computers would also be nice, but not always practical. I also think that we should seriously consider requesting that kids be taught an Dvorak keyboards in public schools.

I hope that word gets out about Dvorak keyboards so that those of us who prefer it don't have to struggle every step of the way to make it work.

This would really help alot in the hour long keyboarding class i have to take, the qwerty keyboard is a actually painful to use, and i am of the same opinion a marine6680 on this keyboard

asdfsdf

Good grief!
(Not at the nice people in this thread, but that they have to mess with the keyboard.)

On my laptop I just click a button to switch betwwen qwerty and dvorak layouts. Is there no way of changing the layout on macbook without removing keys as on someone elses mac while I teach them to set up an email.

I am a fast touch typist on dvorak.
Two finger typing on here is laborious.

Kudos to everyone that learns to touch type via dvorak - I promise it is worth it. I went on discussion forums and had debates while learning, it stopped boredom while exercising and once into a debate gave me motivation to carry on.

Hope you all have fun that try the challenge, timewise it pays dividends xxxx

just switched, this minute, feels odd, but it will be great at coffee shops when people ask "just to check thier email." btw, some keys being sideways will make it fun to watch, as my hands are squirming just typing this.

yes it's easy to change on a mac too

@AJ

You have a point there. Very nice idea! I would vote for that!

I thank to my highschool teacher who tought us blindwritting, regardless of that that was the peak of her teaching...

Thank you AJ, and thank to Juliet Storm for support.

I am one of the faster typist although i NEVER practice. So i guess with dvorak i will be able to double my speed.

I am not trying to brag myself, i am just super-optimistic. ;-)

I have 107 wpm and 480 cpm showed on that test - without errors.

I will try my luck with dvorak and will inform you in some time about my progress. ;-P


Thank you all for posts, its a very interesting thema.

And thank the positive ones for backup & support. ;-)

Dvorak proponents claim the Dvorak layout uses less finger motion, increases typing rate, and reduces errors compared to the standard QWERTY keyboard. This reduction in finger distance traveled was originally purported to permit faster rates of typing, and also in later years, it was purported to reduce repetitive strain injuries including carpal tunnel syndrome. It's quite a thing to have the ability to either stay within the old ways or try something new, that hey! could benefit and promote better habits on the computer..

blabla

EPIC FEUD BETWEEN QWERTY AND DVORAK

I was using a Dvorak cover from KB covers for my macbook for the longest time and I saw this article. I was able to change all my keys to the Dvorak layout quite easily, Thanks! The only teensy-tiny problem is that the little raised bumps on the home row keys (F and J) are no longer on the home row to remind of where to place my fingers.
Does anyone know were to get keys with the raised bumps for the home row of Dvorak (U and H)?

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