I thought the same thing, but I tried a split 40% layout and am typing on one now. It excels when there are long sequences of numbers and symbols, which are now

I thought the same thing, but I tried a split 40% layout and am typing on one now. It excels when there are long sequences of numbers and symbols, which are now within easier research. Pinkies are weakest, and on a typical keyboard there's about 14 keys assigned to the right pinky. I'm left-handed as well, and this layout allows me to put BOTH my thumbs to greater use and shift more work away from my pinkies and towards my left hand. In my typing pre-test on my old keyboard I typed about 65 wpm. Now for standard text it's closer to 70. I was concerned that typing code might be slower, so I used the "custom text" feature on keyhero.com to practice typing JavaScript code. While I didn't pre-test typing code, I often type it around 50 wpm, which seems fine-- coding is often more thinking than typing. I'm using an Ergodox EZ which has 75 keys, but I'm experimenting with this 42 key layout. So far, I prefer it. (I also receive no "fashion" benefit from trying this, as all 75 keys would appear to be in use to co-workers!)