Why would you need a keyboard in the age of local llm writing everything you say directly on your XYZ application?
A beginner's guide to split keyboards
91–100 of 260 posts
Re: A beginner's guide to split keyboards
#92So after almost 50 years of hacking, I'm starting to feel it in my hands. But I don't have any wrist problems -- no carpal tunnel. What I have is tendonitis in my fingers, primarily in my middle fingers and my right pinky (from slamming Enter several million times). I've had steroid injections into the tendon sheaths of my fingers a couple of times, which hurts like a bugger when it's done but definitely improves thi…
Give svalboard a look. Might be some old threads on here about it.
Re: A beginner's guide to split keyboards
#93The issue with kinesis and all those nice small symmetrical keyboards is that not every alphabet is as short as English. Russian, for example, has 33 letters. So if you’re someone like that, you really want that ordinary macbook-like number of keys = larger non-symmetrical right half. — As for the ortholinear keyboards, I spent a few months with the latest kinesis but sold it eventually: not that comfortable. Just cl…
> Also don’t bother with dvorak, qwerty is 80/20 pareto stuff. Just isn’t worth it compared to returns. I wouldn't specifically recommend other people learn Dvorak, but I switched to it when I was in my early teens (~25 years ago) and I feel pretty great about the returns I got from that. My kid sure isn't getting qwerty as their default keyboard.
I had the same experience, I learned it early too. My thinking was, if I'm going to be typing my whole life, I might as well do it with the bee's knees.
I also swap ctrl+caps. That caps key real estate is just too good.
It's pretty wild, I can _ONLY_ touch type dvorak. I couldn't tell you which keys are which looking down at the keyboard. And I'm fast. I'm so fast I don't even need to vibecode.
Re: A beginner's guide to split keyboards
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
I use a split keyboard, and I definitely don't want my two halves to be as far apart as the setup you describe would put them. It's an interesting hack, though.
I agree, though realize this configuration really shines when you relax the per-hand half-keyboard constraint.
Yeah, your hands don't actually need to be anywhere in relationship to each other, only the other fingers on that hand.
Re: A beginner's guide to split keyboards
#95No mention of the Kinesis Advantage 360? I was lucky and scored two of them for free, one from the ergo center at my employer, and one from a generous coworker who didn't vibe with his. There are a lot of keyboards I'd like to try, but I'm pretty happy with these.
Thanks for mentioning it, I included the Kinesis Freestyle (traditional split) but I think it's worth including the Advantage. Added!
Re: A beginner's guide to split keyboards
#96Surprised Ergodox is not mentioned, that's the keyboard that started the movement. Very safe pick since firmware is open source and it can be both self-assembled and bought. It has too many keys in thumb clusters and bottom row, but you can easily remove them.
I included ZSA's other boards (Moonlander and Voyager) since they seemed to have superseded the Ergodox in popularity. But yes, it definitely was one of the first to come out. ZSA is still a company paving ways though!
Re: A beginner's guide to split keyboards
#97There really is no going back when you go split and tented. I've was on a Kenesis Freestyle for years, then upgraded to a Dygma Raise (V1) about three years ago. It's served me well, but I've been eyeing a CyBoard Imprint, which is like a Dactyl or Charbydis, but has hot swap-able switches (a rarity for curved key-well boards.) Can't give up my holy panda switches. :)
Re: A beginner's guide to split keyboards
#98I found it easy to adapt to the x-bows keyboard (column staggered and splayed). The thumb buttons and large ctrl, alt, space are great for emacs. My only complaint is that the braces are a bit far away.
Re: A beginner's guide to split keyboards
#99The only learning curve is if you don't type correctly to start with. :)
When I switched to a split keyboard 20 years ago, I realized that I used my right hand to type T and B. But it was a pretty quick transition when I kept slamming my index finger into the gap!
Re: A beginner's guide to split keyboards
#100I do not buy the whole ergonomic portion for most split keyboards. It feels like a justification after the fact.
That said I used to use a lily58 and for me it was great. I have a lot of papers, notes and books on my desk. A small easily movable keyboard meant that i could have something between the keyboard halves, writing and reading without issue