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This is not excellent advice regarding the keyboard used. Instead: - learn about the risk factors: https://kinesis-ergo.com/solutions/keyboard-risk-factors/ ht

This is not excellent advice regarding the keyboard used. Instead: - learn about the risk factors: https://kinesis-ergo.com/solutions/keyboard-risk-factors/ https://kinesis-ergo.com/solutions/keyboard-risk-factors/ Keep in mind that there are hundreds of tendons in our hands, so the pattern of inflammation is very personal. Anecdotes are not your friend. - use split keyboards (or any ergo keyboard with enough space between hands) with inclination to limit pronation - use ortholinear (aka matrix) key layout - use the Dvorak layout - avoid hard/mechanical keys - exercise and stretch every 30 mins

robotmay 6y ago
The article does address both split keyboards and ortho-linear layouts. I disagree with both, personally. Interestingly the Kinesis article you link supports the arguments I make in the article, but their solution is obviously a split keyboard because that's what they sell, rather than offering an alternative typing style. My typing style avoids all the risks they identify.
- throwaway_moo 6y ago
  > My typing style avoids all the risks they identify. From the article: "This is the Way" Also: "The hands should move freely over the keyboard" These are good examples of why we should not listen to advice based on a single example of RSI and contradicts the conclusion "no universal solution for everybody" A lot of people experience contraction and sometimes pains in the shoulders, trapezium, arms due to moving the hands over the keyboard instead of not doing so. It's a well documented problem.
  - robotmay 6y ago
    Ah perhaps it’s not clear enough that those 3 items are my own ideals and I wouldn’t claim them to be correct for everybody. The article exists precisely because I was seeing comments arguing entirely to the contrary, such as “movement is bad”, which I know to be wrong for me. There is a lot of cognitive bias towards the one way of solving RSI (buy an ergonomic keyboard) which then frustrates those for whom it doesn’t work. I’m hoping to offer a different experience which worked for me.
lawn 6y ago
While I agree with your points I'll add that Dvorak is far from the ultimate layout. For instance just try to type 'ls', which as a command-line user you'll do a lot. People are different and will prefer different layouts. Colemak DH is a very popular and very good one, if you dislike using your pinkies the BEAKL style layouts are very good and if you have a split keyboard you might want E on one of the thumbs so RSTHD might be good. There are many, many more and you can also tweak them or create a completely new one. Oh I'll add tenting as a good thing explore.
- eimrine 6y ago
  Your argument about Dvorak is far from the ultimate layout because of "ls" utility is strange. I think it is really best layout and in regular typing "ls" is rare. If "ls" case bothers you, you can just add an alias. What you can not get in any other layout is alteration of right and left hands, that is what makes Dvorak ultimate.
  - lawn 6y ago
    "ls" was just an example. L being a common letter in an awkward position is another, imbalance between the hands a third and other layouts get a lower score on same finger usage (pressing two keys with the same finger right after each other). See this writeup for a bunch of ways you can analyze a layout: https://sites.google.com/alanreiser.com/handsdown#h.u8i88askuf5c https://sites.google.com/alanreiser.com/handsdown#h.u8i88ask... There are many layouts that give you right/left alternation. The BEAKL layouts for example.
    - eimrine 6y ago
      Interesting layout, but my opinion is that pinky keypresses is not so hard as a Beacl's effort grid says. Especially I disagree with placing rare letters on a home row in pinky positions, it is just wrong. I really want to explore the metriks which make Dvorak worse than Workman or Colemak, my experience with those three layouts tells me that something is wrong with those data on the link you have published. For me typing on a keyboard is like a piano playing, if your pinkies move hardly, then you will have hard time playing literally any chord and it is not a piano's problem. But who knows, maybe people with hard moving pinkies want to have their own layout and Beacle is comfortable for them.
accelbred 6y ago
Typing on ortholinear is quite uncomfortable for me. I find column staggered to be far better. Also why would someone learning a new layout pick Dvorak when there are better alternatives like Colemak, Workman, or Colemak mod-DH? Theres softer mechanical keys too like silenced linears.
- nomel 6y ago
  Dvorak is still the only one that's available on Windows, by default.
  - Cu3PO42 6y ago
    If you really find this to be a limiting factor for whatever reason, you can get a programmable keyboard and have it perform the translation between your desired layout and QWERTY or the default layout on your systems.

robotmay 6y ago

The article does address both split keyboards and ortho-linear layouts. I disagree with both, personally. Interestingly the Kinesis article you link supports the arguments I make in the article, but their solution is obviously a split keyboard because that's what they sell, rather than offering an alternative typing style. My typing style avoids all the risks they identify.

throwaway_moo 6y ago
> My typing style avoids all the risks they identify. From the article: "This is the Way" Also: "The hands should move freely over the keyboard" These are good examples of why we should not listen to advice based on a single example of RSI and contradicts the conclusion "no universal solution for everybody" A lot of people experience contraction and sometimes pains in the shoulders, trapezium, arms due to moving the hands over the keyboard instead of not doing so. It's a well documented problem.
- robotmay 6y ago
  Ah perhaps it’s not clear enough that those 3 items are my own ideals and I wouldn’t claim them to be correct for everybody. The article exists precisely because I was seeing comments arguing entirely to the contrary, such as “movement is bad”, which I know to be wrong for me. There is a lot of cognitive bias towards the one way of solving RSI (buy an ergonomic keyboard) which then frustrates those for whom it doesn’t work. I’m hoping to offer a different experience which worked for me.

lawn 6y ago

While I agree with your points I'll add that Dvorak is far from the ultimate layout. For instance just try to type 'ls', which as a command-line user you'll do a lot. People are different and will prefer different layouts. Colemak DH is a very popular and very good one, if you dislike using your pinkies the BEAKL style layouts are very good and if you have a split keyboard you might want E on one of the thumbs so RSTHD might be good. There are many, many more and you can also tweak them or create a completely new one. Oh I'll add tenting as a good thing explore.

eimrine 6y ago
Your argument about Dvorak is far from the ultimate layout because of "ls" utility is strange. I think it is really best layout and in regular typing "ls" is rare. If "ls" case bothers you, you can just add an alias. What you can not get in any other layout is alteration of right and left hands, that is what makes Dvorak ultimate.
- lawn 6y ago
  "ls" was just an example. L being a common letter in an awkward position is another, imbalance between the hands a third and other layouts get a lower score on same finger usage (pressing two keys with the same finger right after each other). See this writeup for a bunch of ways you can analyze a layout: https://sites.google.com/alanreiser.com/handsdown#h.u8i88askuf5c https://sites.google.com/alanreiser.com/handsdown#h.u8i88ask... There are many layouts that give you right/left alternation. The BEAKL layouts for example.
  - eimrine 6y ago
    Interesting layout, but my opinion is that pinky keypresses is not so hard as a Beacl's effort grid says. Especially I disagree with placing rare letters on a home row in pinky positions, it is just wrong. I really want to explore the metriks which make Dvorak worse than Workman or Colemak, my experience with those three layouts tells me that something is wrong with those data on the link you have published. For me typing on a keyboard is like a piano playing, if your pinkies move hardly, then you will have hard time playing literally any chord and it is not a piano's problem. But who knows, maybe people with hard moving pinkies want to have their own layout and Beacle is comfortable for them.

accelbred 6y ago

Typing on ortholinear is quite uncomfortable for me. I find column staggered to be far better. Also why would someone learning a new layout pick Dvorak when there are better alternatives like Colemak, Workman, or Colemak mod-DH? Theres softer mechanical keys too like silenced linears.

nomel 6y ago
Dvorak is still the only one that's available on Windows, by default.
- Cu3PO42 6y ago
  If you really find this to be a limiting factor for whatever reason, you can get a programmable keyboard and have it perform the translation between your desired layout and QWERTY or the default layout on your systems.