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    Colemak: No big deal

    • Started by NottNott
    • 5 Replies:
    • Reputation: 30
    • Registered: 03-Feb-2018
    • Posts: 126

    Thought I'd just throw some of my thoughts down for any potential newbies (I know you're out there!) The intended audience of this post isn't for frequent forum posters, but lurkers.

    Anyone who is interested in getting into the layout or any other layout is bound to see this forum with its regular posters. Regulars around these parts will try to discuss the best possible way to do something on a keyboard. often using highly complex ways models of how fingers move, calculated effort, certain finger motions vs others etc. It's challenging stuff for those involved. It can be fun and it's thought-provoking for those who enjoy it.

    But... there are a great deal more users of Colemak who pick up the layout, learn to use it properly over a given period of time, and just proceed to continue to use it for as long as they like with little to no community interaction. This is the majority of users. By reading this forum, you might be forgiven for thinking that Colemak is super advanced, a deep rabbit hole that knows no bounds, requires an expensive keyboard upgrade, only for the nerdiest people around, will require hours of configuration blah blah blah blah etc. This is only as true as you want it to be. In reality you really don't need to have a degree in keyboard ergonomics to use and benefit from the layout. You don't need to modify Colemak into some unique behemoth just for you (swap 'S' and R'???) for imagined benefit. You don't need to spend the next year thinking about every little scrap of anxiety-inducing detail imaginable to do with keyboards and layouts at all.

    At its core, Colemak is an investment that you benefit from, every moment you type, as long as you continue to use it. Ask any ordinary Colemak user whether they'd want to go back to QWERTY and the answer is generally no. They think their fun investment learning it paid off in the end. This can be you as well as long as you give it a fair shot. Simply by using Colemak your life doesn't have to be keyboard obsessive. Colemak is no big deal.

    So don't get the wrong impression of complexity. 17 keys have moved and maybe you want to change the way your fingers press the buttons a bit. That's it, it's like learning to ride a better bike!

    Last edited by NottNott (31-Jul-2018 14:39:39)
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    • From: Viken, Norway
    • Registered: 13-Dec-2006
    • Posts: 5,343

    Nice! Just... you make it look as if swapping S and R may give a minor benefit when in general consensus it'd be a real disadvantage! I know, this is unclear to the acolyte who thinks it'd be a good idea and that is what you're hinting at. But the way you said it made me feel you were saying something else.

    *** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
    *** Check out my Big Bag of Keyboard Tricks for Win/Linux/TMK... ***

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    • From: New York, New York
    • Registered: 22-Nov-2008
    • Posts: 129

    Colemak is nice. But we cannot ever say it is the perfect ideal layout.

    Agreed; mentioning swapping S and R, even in jest, can be misleading and/or detrimental to new/silent users.

    Dreymar on the money once again.

    Colemak typist

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    DreymaR said:

    Nice! Just... you make it look as if swapping S and R may give a minor benefit when in general consensus it'd be a real disadvantage! I know, this is unclear to the acolyte who thinks it'd be a good idea and that is what you're hinting at. But the way you said it made me feel you were saying something else.

    That's the joke, I've seen several newbies come into Colemak and immediately want to swap those two characters without giving it a shot first. Generally because the 'S' then moves back to the QWERTY position 'where i'm used to it'

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    • From: Viken, Norway
    • Registered: 13-Dec-2006
    • Posts: 5,343

    Yeah, the joke's on every S-R-swapping newbie. I was just concerned that they wouldn't get the joke. Nice writeup now!

    *** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
    *** Check out my Big Bag of Keyboard Tricks for Win/Linux/TMK... ***

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