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Your keyboard layout is broken

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Re: Your keyboard layout is broken

#11

Post by dillydogg »

hellcow wrote: post #8
dillydogg wrote: post #2

I find the concept of learning colemak very intriguing. The qwerty layout is just so strange in some aspects. But the problem is that for my career (hospital medicine) I'm going to need to use random computers all the time. There's just no way to reliably use colemak. I talked to my hospital IT about whether they could attach an alternative layout to my account but it just wasn't in the cards. In my office I have a m…

I use Colemak as my daily driver, and I find it incredibly difficult to switch back and forth with QWERTY. The muscle memory just no longer works. Others say it’s easy for them, so YMMV. I had such severe wrist pain on QWERTY that the switch wasn’t an option.

I just can't imagine trying to switch. I just don't have the time to commit to relearning a new keyboard layout anyways. The home row mods/ortholinear layout are enough of a mental switch for me.

I used to have wrist pain from typing, but found when I started to focus on my ergonomics my symptoms improved. (thanks to the hospital ergonomics people for fixing my setup). I use a Planck with laptop and even on a 40% kb you can practice better posture to put less strain on your hands

Re: Your keyboard layout is broken

#12

Post by ArchieMaclean »

eviks wrote: post #9

> The Colemak layout was designed with the capabilities of modern keyboards in mind But it wasn't! Modern keyboard is precisely what the author describes in the following bullet points: split and ortho (though it shouldn't be linear, our fingers have different lengths). He also forgot to mention utilizing your strongest fingers with a thumb cluster instead of that dumb long spacebar None of the popular QWERTY alterna…

Workman [0] was designed to be used on an ortho keyboard, though it is also usable on a normal keyboard. I suppose it's tricky to design for many modern features as they are not yet standardised between keyboards.

[0] https://workmanlayout.org/

Re: Your keyboard layout is broken

#13

Post by eviks »

ig-88ms wrote: post #6

The entire article is moot, because the story of qwerty keyboards being layed out that way is a myth. Nothing more. People can type in an astonishing speed on normal layouts. https://wiredpen.com/2022/05/12/origin-myths-qwerty-and-dvor... .

The health and usabilty issues of the QWERTY layout do not disappear like a debunked historical myth.

But yes, people can adapt to a lot of poorly designed interfaces!

Re: Your keyboard layout is broken

#14

Post by michidk »

I started with Colemak 4 years ago on an Ergodox EZ because of RSI, and switched to Halmak on a Moonlander keyboard since then. Never would want to go back.

But, to highlight some downsides: You need a custom config for most programs and games! My vim config is full of remappings. And I spend a lot of time in the setup menus of games before actually plaing.

Re: Your keyboard layout is broken

#15

Post by bongobingo1 »

dillydogg wrote: post #2

I find the concept of learning colemak very intriguing. The qwerty layout is just so strange in some aspects. But the problem is that for my career (hospital medicine) I'm going to need to use random computers all the time. There's just no way to reliably use colemak. I talked to my hospital IT about whether they could attach an alternative layout to my account but it just wasn't in the cards. In my office I have a m…

I have a colemak-dh split and can still use qwerty with some adeptness, but I also dont touch a qwerty board very often (once a week or so for a few minutes). I think the split between forms helps, possibly thats an unspoken reason why some people can flip between better than others (whether thats split, ortho or 36key, etc to "normal qwerty").

Re: Your keyboard layout is broken

#16

Post by walnutclosefarm »

I have no doubt that the standard keyboard QWERTY layout is broken, but I really wonder whether it's broken in an way that's particularly important to most users of keyboards. I totally understand looking for a more ergonomic design of the physical layout - I've long used the relatively straightforward split keyboards, and find them physically more comfortable, and I can see for people who type a fair bit, going even further with those changes being helpful. But changing the logical arrangement of the keys doesn't seem to me to be of much benefit to MOST people who type. Most of us aren't particularly limited by the speed at which we type. People who spend most of their day producing code or written text in bulk are exceptions, but the way I see most people working, navigation and think time are the limiting factors in productivity, not character production. So, while I get that QWERTY is sub-optimal, I'm not sure I see that the juice is worth the squeeze in changing it, for most people.

And if that's the case, there isn't much hope for industry-wide change.

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