Re: Dvorak (& Lojban)

["Lee Sau Dan ~{@nJX6X~}" <sdlee@CS.HKU.HK>]

>>>>> "HACKER" == HACKER G N <c9709244@ALINGA.NEWCASTLE.EDU.AU> writes:

    >> Heh. In fact, when imagining the location of a key, I tend to
    >> imagine pressing it, then think about where my fingers have
    >> gone. Sort of like asking my fingers where it is ;). It seems
    >> that not all of our memory is in our heads...

    HACKER> Yeah, that's the same way I remember it. :)

I do the same thing, too, even when I type Chinese!

When I type Chinese, I use the Changjie inputting method.  Changjie is
not phonetically  based.  It is based on  the shape of the characters.
It decomposes a  Chinese   character  into several  'radicals'.    The
character is  then  typed in  by keying    in the component   radicals
according to certain rules.  Now, seeing a character and its component
radicals, my  hands would  automatically move  to the  correct key and
type it.  It's a reflex action.

Now, when a friend asks me how to type a certain character, I'll first
imagine that I  had to type  that  character.  Then  from the intended
movements of my  fingers, I can tell my   friend which keys  he should
press in order to type that character.  To specify  the keys to press,
I  use the corresponding letters  on  a QWERTY  keyboard (unless he is
also a Chanjie typist, in which case I  tell him the Chanjie radicals)
It is  a  translation  from the   key  positions into English  letters
(according to QWERTY positions).




    HACKER> I'm not surprised, because Dvorak is intuitive; QWERTY

Well... what IS "intuitive"?

QWERTY was  designed  in such a   way so as to  avoid   the jamming of
adjacent types in a typewritter when  one types rapidly.  (If you have
a mechanical  typewritter, try pressing  the keys for 2 adjacent types
simultaneously, and  you'll find that the  types jam together.)  Isn't
that intuitive (from the aspect of mechanical engineering)?

Dvorak was designed to minimize hand/finger  movement.  In this sense,
it   is ALSO  intuitive   (from  the aspect  of the   typist,  esp. on
non-mechanical devices).


So, whether something is "intuitive" depends on  the aspect from which
you view it.     It is a  very  subjective  judgement, and  is  highly
cultural dependent.




--
Lee Sau Dan                     'u&u40(Big5)                    ~{@nJX6X~}(HZ)
.----------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| http://www.cs.hku.hk/~sdlee                        e-mail: sdlee@cs.hku.hk |
`----------------------------------------------------------------------------'