I’m just a newb when it comes to high grade keyboards, but these things look wild, and I kind of want to try one.
Glove 80 keyboard:
There’s also a wide world of alt letter layouts.
I would really love to try something like that, but I don’t want to sink money into it just to realize I hate it.
Edit: 400$ for the Glove 80. As much as I love the idea, that’s a no for me
Got a split keyboard (ergodox ez) just to notice that all the special keys are very tough to reach and there are no F-keys. All in all not such a great experience. The split part is good though if you type a loooot anf if you have wrist rests.
I’m not sure I understand. I have an ergodox moonlander and while it’s true there is no dedicated button for Function keys, that’s what the layers are for. It’s kind of the point of a configurable customizable keyboard.
So for me I have all my special symbols under my left hand while my right hand holds a special key. Takes some getting used to, but once I had practiced the special keys are actually closer than before because they’re all the normal keys. Similarly I have arrow keys under the keys labeled ‘hjkl’ when another key is held. My Function Keys are all accessible with special key and the number keys.
It takes some tweaking and tuning to figure out the layouts you want, but the whole point of a keyboard like this is that you can tune it to be whatever you need it to be. Now, if you don’t like to tinker and just want something out of the box, I get that, but even the default config has function keys, I think. Maybe you just didn’t read about how it works?
I love my Glove80, had it for about a year now and couldn’t be happier.
For anyone interested in alt layouts, https://getreuer.info/posts/keyboards/alt-layouts/index.html is one of the best introductions out there. Also https://lemmy.world/c/ergomechkeyboards is a nice resource on fancy keyboards.
I can’t use a split keyboard because of the way I’ve taught myself to touch-type. My fingers move around too much. On the other hand, I type around ~90 wpm (mostly using two fingers) so I win something or other.
You can re-teach yourself.
Touch typing is like learning different languages. Just because you learn a new one doesn’t mean you forget the first.
Same. I learned to type without the whole “home rows” method and with some exceptions like shift (and A for some reason?) I type with two fingers per hand. Typing at 150wpm consistently is very fun.
This is what I use every day
That’s a columnar stagger, not ortholinear.
I was kinda disappointed that this article didn’t explain columnar stagger.
I daily drive an iris by keebio.
Is that your own layout, or is it a scheme like QWERTY or DVORAK that I haven’t heard about?
Colemak is an alternative keyboard created by Shai Coleman, named as a portmanteau of Dvorak and Coleman. Its design goals consist of easy transition from QWERTY due to repositioning only 17 letter keys. Additionally the AZXCV shortcuts are in the same location perhaps allowing an easier time switching from QWERTY.
It also claims greater efficiency than Dvorak. Furthermore it places complete emphasis on the home-row: the ten most-common characters in English are on the ten home-row keys.
Source: Wikipedia
I type in dvorak and actually love it. It just feels comfortable when I type.
Fellow Dvorak user here. Can’t recommend it enough.
In one of my classes at the beginning of my doctoral studies we talked about parth dependency, and QWERTY was used as an example. All studies showed that even experienced typists would increase their typing speed within just a few days of switching, and that it’s just a superior set-up. But because of path dependency we all write QWERTY.
I changed my layout the same day and I haven’t looked back. If you want to start messing around with your keyboard and you use it for typing, switching to Dvorak should be the obvious first step. Colemak is a compromise solution that is still a lot better than QWERTY and probably quicker to learn.
No need to get a new keyboard. Dvorak is designed around touch typing, you won’t be looking at the keyboard anyway.
just to chime in on alternative keyboard layouts:
I’m german and can’t recommend the neo2 family of layouts enough.
I currently am using the “noted” layout and it feels absolutely amazing.
The different layer approach makes it easy to write all the symbols for programming I need, or if you are a writer, all the »correct« „quotation“ marks.
there’s even support for all the greek letters used in math equations: ℤℵ×∀ℂΣ∫∃∇ℕℝ∂ΛΦΨ
You can learn more about the layout here (site is in german):
https://www.neo-layout.org/
This is something I would consider using. I’ve had issues in the past with tendonitis and I don’t want that issue to get worse.
Moving away from qwerty to colemak-dh did more for my tendonitis than the keyboard itself. Having both an ortho linear / columnar stagger keyboard and a better layout is the end goal though. But the layout makes the biggest impact.
Then the next biggest impact will be getting a keyboard with a thumb cluster so you can do more with your thumb in a comfy position rather than your pinkies stretched out to the edges of the keyboard.
Ergodox makes keyboards like this. Don’t know if they sell them in Colemak key position like this one, I know they do QWERTY. I’ve been meaning to get one myself for aaages, but I have too many other stupid things I spend my money on instead.
Is that an ErgoDash? I use the same. Good for people who want a fuller keyboard layout.
for keyboard shortcuts do they map with the key location or physically? for control + p (print page) would you press control + y or the actual p button?
Prefer column staggered, but yes they really make you wonder how we got stuck with the dominant keyboard configurations. Typing with linear columns feels way more natural.
Typewriters.
They had bars that needed to physically move, and so staggering them helped them not collide and get jammed.
If you imagine a bar coming from the center of each key towards your screen, you can see how the staggering was helpful. For instance, M misses J and K above it, naturally, but it also slightly misses I and the 8 above that.
It’s a great solution for a nonexistent problem in keyboards.
Wasn’t the whole idea to minimize the amount of times your typewriter seized up? Happened often enough with QWERTY keyboards when it came to the cheap typewriters. Yes, I’m old.
I’m of the firm opinion that the best keyboard layout and type is the one you feel most comfortable with.
But then I’m also of that opinion when it comes to things like desktop OSes, phone brands, etc.
It’s not a popular opinion.
Unfortunately what you are most comfortable could also cause repetitive stress injury like carpal tunnel. I have a brother in law who damaged his nerves because a Macplus keyboard felt best to him.
I’ve been typing pretty much every day since I was 6 and got my brother’s old Apple ][+. I’m 47 now and still no carpal tunnel.
I’ve been using a computer on an almost daily basis for over a decade now, and before that I used one whenever I had the opportunity because I’ve loved computers since I was a kid. I’m 30 and have carpal tunnel in my mouse hand, not bad enough to get it surgically fixed, but I wear a wrist brace pretty much 24/7 at this point to keep the pain under control.
That said I agree with your point about using whatever you’re comfortable with completely, just wanted to throw my own anecdotal experience out there for others to see. Everyone’s different and what’s fine for you or me may not be for others.
That sometimes works, but sometimes the right way is not immediately comfortable so people so stuff that seems right and hurt themselves. Sometimes the thing that seemed correct initially was only because of a lack of deeper understanding and an ignorance of the knowledge of those who have already made the mistakes.
I dance, play instruments, drive cars, and do a whole lot of other things where the immediately comfortable thing is so often one of the best ways to develop a massively limiting habit that is a huge pain to get away from once you realize how badly it’s holding you back.
It’s a case-by-case basis, of course, but simply “the best is what you’re most comfortable with” does not have near the nuance it needs to not be abused. It is great advice for people once they have built up a strong base of knowledge, and until then they need to get over it and try things.
I share that opinion! Doowutchyalike!
