How many fingers do you use when typing?

[Ek weet nie]

A poor TouchType who did Mavis Beacon back in the day.

Anyone ever use a Dvorak keyboard?

[Stumpy Pepys]

Anyone ever use a Dvorak keyboard?

I've never even seen a Dvorak keyboard in real life. It also seems debatable that they're any faster than QWERTY ones.

[WOM]

You can usually set your computer's keyboard to Dvorak mode in Settings. Which, of course, is pointless unless you have a schematic of which letters are where.

[Stumpy Pepys]

I've never worked out why manufacturers don't make keyboards with changeable key displays.

I buy German keyboards these days, but change the OS settings to UK English.

[ursus arctos]

One used to be able to buy new plastic caps that allowed one to change the keyboard, but it seems to have become more difficult with the rise of laptops with "Chiclet" keyboards, not to mention tablets and phones.

[Femme Folle]

I really hate those Microsoft ergonomic keyboards. I'm strictly old skool.

[Ginger Yellow]

I've never worked out why manufacturers don't make keyboards with changeable key displays.

I buy German keyboards these days, but change the OS settings to UK English.

They do, but as UA suggests, not usually on cheap keyboards, and especially not chiclets. But pretty much any mechanical keyboard you can get replacement caps for. Or just move them around as appropriate (the latter doesn't work for missing symbols of course).

[3 Colours Red]

...laptops with "Chiclet" keyboards, not to mention tablets and phones.

Not just laptops - my Lenovo desktop came with a virtually flat keyboard. It was grim to type on and got replaced with a cheapish gaming keyboard pretty sharpish. I need decent travel. I NEED A WRIST REST!

[Stumpy Pepys]

They do, but as UA suggests, not usually on cheap keyboards, and especially not chiclets. But pretty much any mechanical keyboard you can get replacement caps for. Or just move them around as appropriate (the latter doesn't work for missing symbols of course).

Not so much changeable keys; rather something with keys where you could electronically change the display (e.g. e-Ink). So I could cycle between QWERTY and QWERTZ.

[Stumpy Pepys]

I really hate those Microsoft ergonomic keyboards. I'm strictly old skool.

I spent €€EUR100 on a mechanical keyboard (a Das Keyboard) which is ace for touch-typing. Noisy though.

[Fussbudget]

Not so much changeable keys; rather something with keys where you could electronically change the display (e.g. e-Ink). So I could cycle between QWERTY and QWERTZ.

Something like the MacBook Touch Bar but for the whole keyboard then?

[multipleman78]

Back in school I could qualify for a bursary if I did 21 hours at school in 6th year. I had 18 so the school arranged for me to piggy back into a business class for 3 hours. As I wasn't officially part of the class I was stuck in the corner with a textbook. Inside that was instructions to touch type and I set about learning the skill. It was perhaps the most effort I ever put into a class.

For years at work I was the fastest guy in town. So much so, my boss would continually use my skills to type out his emails. He was my opposite, a man who checked the screen after each push of a key.

Now, with the laptop generation, I am left behind. They can all type at rocket speed using just their index fingers. Everyone knows the keys off by heart now.

[Vicarious Thrillseeker]

Can't touch type to save my life

Lemonheads earworm

[WOM]

Not so much changeable keys; rather something with keys where you could electronically change the display (e.g. e-Ink). So I could cycle between QWERTY and QWERTZ.

That's a really clever idea. And surely dead simple to do. I wonder if there's just very, very little demand for it. But the ability to customize your 'board' even slightly would be cool.

[Lang Spoon]

I have always said as a union rep that we should have demanded time and resources for training once PCs, email etc became the norm. I do intend to make this demand concrete around the imposition of online marking next year. Lots of our members work in huge shared spaces of 15-25 desks where you can’t really think, so the work will have to be done at home, implying proper technology at your own expense, too.

my typing is slow and I can’t touchtype

holy fuck they expect you to work from home without supplying remote office equipment or remuneration? Bastarding profit driven third level cunts. Cunts deserve a virus on their shitey network.

[anton pulisov]

Both fists

[3 Colours Red]

Not so much changeable keys; rather something with keys where you could electronically change the display (e.g. e-Ink). So I could cycle between QWERTY and QWERTZ.

The Optimus Maximus keyboard is probably the closest thing to what you're looking for. 113 fully customiseable OLED-screen keys - a snip at $1,600.

[Wouter D]

holy fuck they expect you to work from home without supplying remote office equipment or remuneration? Bastarding profit driven third level cunts. Cunts deserve a virus on their shitey network.

Seconded.

[jdsx]

holy fuck they expect you to work from home without supplying remote office equipment or remuneration? Bastarding profit driven third level cunts. Cunts deserve a virus on their shitey network.

I'm expected as a matter of course to prepare work at home using my own equipment in my own time (without recompense) - my equipment is (typically) valued at between £10,000 and £100,000....
(I'm a violinist ;-))

[Felicity, I guess so]

The remuneration bit is cos we’m professionals. No overtime, no set working week.
the assumption that everyone has a pc or whatever at home is precisely that

[Femme Folle]

I spent €€EUR100 on a mechanical keyboard (a Das Keyboard) which is ace for touch-typing. Noisy though.

That is an excellent keyboard. It reminds me of the old dumb terminal keyboards in the office where I worked in the '90s.

[Fussbudget]

What with Stumpy being based in Germany, I assumed 'Das Keyboard' was a Mister Lady-style comedy branding situation, but it turns out it's an American company so I can stop chuckling at it now.

[Jah Womble]

Lemonheads earworm

I lied about being the indoor typist...

[anton pulisov]

I also have a mechanical keyboard. With the slightly quieter "brown" switches. It's fantastic. The tactile feedback is very good. Whenever I on any other keyboard it feels like typing on mud now. An Apple keyboard feels like having basketballs repeatedly stubbing my fingers.

[Ginger Yellow]

Tell me about it. I hate chiclet keyboards with a passion, and we recently had a desk move at work and I've been assigned... a chiclet keyboard. I'm seriously considering bringing in one of my own mechanical keyboards.