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Comment by beaker52 | Hacker News Reader

Also wouldn't recommend. I switched to Colemak back in the day. Switched all my phone keyboard and everything. I was a typing god.

Started a new job where I ended up having to switch to qwerty for pairing sessions, typing like I was using a computer keyboard for the first time, never mind interviews where one might need to live code on a foreign machine. Having to explain "oh hai, yeah I actually use a different keyboard layout because my fingers move less but it hamstrings me whenever I sit at _anyone elses_ keyboard" just doesn't cut it. If you've got issues that'd be helped by better typing ergonomics and really need to switch then go for it.

Otherwise, don't waste your time, just get better at typing qwerty, trust me.

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What’s so difficult about it?

On Windows you just install an extra MSI for Colemak, add it to the standard desktop build and you’re off (you use win-spacebar to switch to the new keyboard quickly when sitting at the keyboard).

On Mac you just switch to that layout (cannot remember the hotkey but there is one), no install required.

Linux likely has 15 different ways to do it and you just have to pick the easiest one for you.

You just need to have a chat with your boss. He’ll probably be happy to allow something that requires zero budget and ticks an extra “ergonomics” checkbox.

I'm sorry, I've seen far too many smirks when explaining why my keyboard doesn't do the keys they want as I hurridly re-enable qwerty, or why I type like a 5 year old on their qwerty keyboard. And there's no way i'm getting someone to facilitate my keyboard fetish by installing/enabling any layouts. Plus, it's just _better_ when you can read the keys, and I can't go disassembling keyboards all the time to put the keys in the right place.

There's just too much friction. Only Apple has the power to re-educate the world's typing habits, only then will I get back on the train. I say this as someone who used Colemak for 2 whole years btw.

> I've seen far too many smirks

This reminds me of the "it's easy to be a weirdo now" thread from yesterday. (i.e. no it isn't, we just moved the window a bit)

> no way i'm getting someone to facilitate my keyboard fetish

That's demeaning to yourself. Ergonomics is important and a keyboard is a work tool. It's like saying that a basketball player has a "shoe fetish" for insisting on using a shoe that is not the same model as his teammates'.

> Only Apple has the power to re-educate the world's typing habits

What do you mean, that Apple should sell Colemak keyboards? I agree there, but it's a bit of a chicken and egg situation.

> What do you mean, that Apple should sell Colemak keyboards? I agree there, but it's a bit of a chicken and egg situation.

You're right, it's chicken and egg. But Apple have a history of making a bold stand around product features.

Phones without keypads, phones without audio jacks, laptops without CDROM, laptops without USB-A.

If someone is able to ween the world off it's QWERTY habit - it's Apple. It doesn't need to be Workman or nothing. It could be as simple as offering Workman as an alternative replacement, signalling a shift toward Workman as the future. Then one day, probably before everyone is ready, no more QWERTY MacBook. Baptism by fire is the only way, in the end.

Can't you just plug 2 keyboards, with 1 of them GMK based?

I hear you. I did it. But am I supposed to carry it around with me in a special case for all occasions?

The short of it is that in the end, I stepped down from my horse and conceded that it was more sensible just to make peace with QWERTY and get good at QWERTY'ing. This won't be the case for everyone, I'm just trying to shed light on my experience as "the keyboard guy". Colemak worked for me. The ubiquity of QWERTY worked against me. In the end I capitulated because going against the grain wasn't worth it for me all things considered.

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