The Colemak Experience
Since around 26th of August 2023, I have been typing with the keys of my laptop jumbled around. What is it like typing with a non-qwerty layout? Are there any benefits? But most importantly: Is it worth it?
Abstract: Typing a non-qwerty layout feels more comfortable and satisfying to type. The learning curve is steep for the first days but with enough practice, the awkwardness can be reduced completely in a week or so. Anecdotally, I did experience greater typing speed improvement compared to qwerty. Therefore, I would consider that switching permanently to an alternate keyboard layout is worth it, although I would choose a modern, well-optimized keyboard.
I don’t quite remember what was the thing that sparked my interest in alternative keyboard layouts, but it probably was a YouTube video. According to my YouTube history, the oldest mention to an alternate keyboard layout was “how I went from 10 to 130WPM in 3 months” by Pinguefy.
I had heard that there were variations of the standard layout, like the French AZERTY, but never had given them a second thought, and thought that they were unnecessary. QWERTY worked fine. Right?
