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Comment by earenndil | Hacker News Reader

If you have RSI, you would probably be better served by a bowl keyboard like a kinesis or a maltron; or, at least, a split keyboard like an ergodox.

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It’s been sometime since I last checked out either but the last time I checked they were all wired and Windows specific? I know I can re-map keys and all that but was holding out mainly because I need to keep the keyboard on my lap.

Definitely not windows-specific; they're standard USB, so should work anywhere.

As for holding in your lap, the cord on mine (kinesis advantage) is long enough that I can comfortably take it off my desk and put it in my lap. YMMV, of course, depending on how you have your desktop set up, but I doubt that's an insurmountable problem.

These keyboards look like they have very long travel times, it looks like just asking for RSI

Nope, long travel time is good, it means your fingers have longer to decelerate, so there's less impact. Also, what you don't see from a picture is that you don't have to bottom the keys out, which: #1, means less travel time than you think; #2, again, less impact.

It probably depends on the way one writes on the keyboard. I've seen mechanical keyboards work well for people who like to mash the keys. My style of typing is very gentle taps, hands flying over the keyboard, so the shorter the travel time, the better for me because I want to barely press the key.

I tried the "you don't have to bottom out" approach on several mech keyboards with blue switches, but never really felt it. I still had to consciously wait for it to register the click, while normally I'd be over the next key already.

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