Kinesis

I extend my gratitude to Bill Clementson, who provided enough impetus and thorough information for me to order a Kinesis Advantage USB in black from Fentek Industries. $250; we shall see if it arrives, how good it is, and whether it helps my wrists.

Thanks, Bill! I might have to post your emails; they're a great resource.

Posted at 2006-10-16 18:19:22 by Richard • Link to Kinesis

VW Transparent Factory

Thank you, Tobin, for pointing me to the coolest thing ever. This is where the Phaeton is built.

Posted at 2006-10-16 17:43:44 by Richard • Link to VW Transparent Fac…

On keyboards

Programmers have a hard time choosing keyboards. My requirements are very different to those of a data entry person, a novelist, or even a sysadmin.

My wrists are beginning to give me a little discomfort. After having a lot of pain for two years after I had RSI, back in 2003, I'm keen not to let it happen again.

Step one is to get Facilities to swap out my chair for one that's not a torture device (the present one is too short, so I hunch and have to raise my arms to reach my desk surface). Step two is to get another keyboard, which I've been meaning to do anyway: mine has the UK layout, which differs from my MacBook Pro.

So, I'm doing the usual tour; Kinesis, DataHand, Goldtouch, normal smaller keyboards that I can put on my lap, and so on.

The DataHand is down to $500, and compared to wrist pain it's a bargain. However, to type ( and ), two of my most common characters, I'd have to press down with my right thumb, and push either my little finger or my ring finger on my right hand forward. The advantage of a conventional keyboard is that I can actually move my hands around, so if I'm entering several parentheses I can shift the work to a stronger finger. (Yes, I know I can remap the DataHand. My point still stands.)

Oh, and the DataHand's mouse sucks.

The Kinesis Advantage keyboards start at around $300. I've heard that they're not the most reliable of beasts, but I'd be willing to give it a shot. As a downside, though, they aren't actually an enormous improvement in ergonomic layout, but mostly lose the benefits of more conventional keyboards — typing with one hand, repositioning of fingers, small size, and already-learned layout.

Then there are keyboards like the Kinesis Maxim, the Goldtouch GTU-MACW, and so on, that provide adjustable split with a conventional QWERTY layout. That might solve my wrist problems… if only they had the right keys and decent keyswitches.

… which brings me to the M15, an IBM Model M with a split layout. No wonder they're always sold out.

Any advice, LazyWeb?

Posted at 2006-10-16 10:30:01 by Richard • Link to On keyboards