3 ms·

The weird part about (non-split) "ortholinear" keyboards is that they seem to be built for perfectly parallel arms/wrists sprouting out of the center of your ch

by pkamb 8y ago

The weird part about (non-split) "ortholinear" keyboards is that they seem to be built for perfectly parallel arms/wrists sprouting out of the center of your chest. Split keyboards like the Ergodox fix this by splitting and angling each hand's individual keyboard. But... standard keyboards are already angled for your hands. The [U,J,M] column is a perfect mapping of the curl of your right index finger. The real issue is that typing tutorials for some reason encourage left hand finger positions forming a curls that are completely orthogonal to the natural curl of your left finger / left wrist position. QWERTY tutorials encourage [E,D,C], when you really should be using [E,D,X] or even [R,D,C]. I type (in Dvorak) using the columns [W,S,Z], [E,D,X], etc. and am completely happy with the columns of a normal keyboard.

simias 8y ago
Thank you for mentioning that, it turns out that I do the exact same thing. It's true that if you look at tutorials online the hand position for the left hand is pretty insane to me: https://skambo.info/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Touch-Typing.gif https://skambo.info/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Touch-Typing.... Do people actually type like that? My hand ends up in a very awkward position if I try to hit X (in qwerty, Q in dvorak) with my ring finger while it's trivial with my middle finger. Actually it's pretty funny because in the illustration above it does look like the hands are sprouting from somebody's chest!
- Asooka 8y ago
  Yes, because the keys on the keyboard are offset just slightly to the left, so it's easier to hit them by curling your left hand inward, than reaching up and to the right. Nothing+ beats an angled ortholinear keyboard though. + Except specially-designed ergonomic keyboards of course, but if you need one you'll know.
  - markmark 8y ago
    Exactly, standard keyboards are pretty bad for your left hand because of the way the keys are typically offset, so even if you hit different keys to the "standard" with your left hand things are shaped poorly.
pkamb 8y ago
> QWERTY tutorials encourage [E,D,C], when you really should be using [E,D,X] or even [R,D,C]. I meant "[E,D,X] or even [R,D,X]" of course

by pkamb 8y ago

simias 8y ago

Thank you for mentioning that, it turns out that I do the exact same thing. It's true that if you look at tutorials online the hand position for the left hand is pretty insane to me: https://skambo.info/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Touch-Typing.gif https://skambo.info/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Touch-Typing.... Do people actually type like that? My hand ends up in a very awkward position if I try to hit X (in qwerty, Q in dvorak) with my ring finger while it's trivial with my middle finger. Actually it's pretty funny because in the illustration above it does look like the hands are sprouting from somebody's chest!

Asooka 8y ago
Yes, because the keys on the keyboard are offset just slightly to the left, so it's easier to hit them by curling your left hand inward, than reaching up and to the right. Nothing+ beats an angled ortholinear keyboard though. + Except specially-designed ergonomic keyboards of course, but if you need one you'll know.
- markmark 8y ago
  Exactly, standard keyboards are pretty bad for your left hand because of the way the keys are typically offset, so even if you hit different keys to the "standard" with your left hand things are shaped poorly.

pkamb 8y ago

> QWERTY tutorials encourage [E,D,C], when you really should be using [E,D,X] or even [R,D,C]. I meant "[E,D,X] or even [R,D,X]" of course