Comment Mod Parents down (not Re:Mod Parent(s) Up!) (Score 1) 624
No, this is not true. The original marketing of Dvorak concerned speed and accuracy. The question here is about RSI. And my specific experience is that Dvorak makes a dramatic difference in the ability to use a keyboard constantly without RSI becoming an issue.
I am a programmer and, while in college, was a data-entry droid on the side.
About 5 years into my profesional career, carpal-tunnel took over and I could no longer user my hands and wrists without significant paint from my forearms up into my palms and fingers. I had to wear braces nearly 24-hours a day to protect my wrists.
Switching to Dvorak ended the pain within two weeks and I've not had the pain or the braces since. The change was absolutely that dramatic.
In western society, we live under a fallacy that some research can quote a statistic and that somehow that statistic will make a difference in your life. If some research finds that 50% of respondents had an overage reduction in pain of 65%, that in no way means that half of me is going to feel 2/3rds better. Nor can you quote the statistic and say with certainty that I will or will not feel better. Neither approach is truthful or accurate.
Every single reader of this thread has a different structural set-up of their arm/wrist/hand bones. Everyone has different sensitivities in their neural sheath in the wrist. Really, the only way you are going to know if this will help is to try it. The test on you is the only one that matters to you. You might also want to try some of the other suggestions in this thread. Find something that works for you. Dvorak worked for me.
But to tell anyone that any particular mechanism is bogus or is your salvation is inaccurate at best and irresponsible at worst.
Find something that works for you. Dvorak worked for me, and it worked dramatically. And it might be a waste of time for you.
Drew
I am a programmer and, while in college, was a data-entry droid on the side.
About 5 years into my profesional career, carpal-tunnel took over and I could no longer user my hands and wrists without significant paint from my forearms up into my palms and fingers. I had to wear braces nearly 24-hours a day to protect my wrists.
Switching to Dvorak ended the pain within two weeks and I've not had the pain or the braces since. The change was absolutely that dramatic.
In western society, we live under a fallacy that some research can quote a statistic and that somehow that statistic will make a difference in your life. If some research finds that 50% of respondents had an overage reduction in pain of 65%, that in no way means that half of me is going to feel 2/3rds better. Nor can you quote the statistic and say with certainty that I will or will not feel better. Neither approach is truthful or accurate.
Every single reader of this thread has a different structural set-up of their arm/wrist/hand bones. Everyone has different sensitivities in their neural sheath in the wrist. Really, the only way you are going to know if this will help is to try it. The test on you is the only one that matters to you. You might also want to try some of the other suggestions in this thread. Find something that works for you. Dvorak worked for me.
But to tell anyone that any particular mechanism is bogus or is your salvation is inaccurate at best and irresponsible at worst.
Find something that works for you. Dvorak worked for me, and it worked dramatically. And it might be a waste of time for you.
Drew
