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Comment by adamhp | Hacker News Reader

I think you bring up really great points, and it's probably the main reason there isn't more heterogeneity. There is a nice middle ground though, in customizable keyboards with macro buttons. I have the ErgoDox which is a split keyboard with these columns of three keys on each side of the split, and a cluster of thumb buttons. Really is nifty (once you get used to it) for programming. Even simple things like having one of the thumb buttons be a macro to enter "=>" which I use heavily in JavaScript is really nice.

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> I have the ErgoDox

This keyboard sure looks extremely nice! The price tag, though!

On the other hand, the keyboard is my main tools of trade, and the perfect solution is certainly worth a price between 250 to 400 bucks.

I would want to try the hardware before doing the investment. That could actually be a business: renting out keyboards for evaluation.

I use a Keebio Iris [0] which is similar to a stripped-down ErgoDox. Careful part selection (especially keycaps) could have one for <$150, though you do have to solder it together yourself. I enjoyed the experience.

[0] https://keeb.io/collections/iris-split-ergonomic-keyboard

I value my input devices, for they are the tools with which I interface to the world.

If you want to dip your toes into custom keyboards, I'd recommend finding some 60%-ish board with hotswap switch sockets, since that will let you experiment with the choice of switches before you have to worry about soldering anything. Plenty of 60s are available as kits, or just interchangeable parts.

That is how I rationalized it. It has held up pretty well. Took some getting used to. One of my favorite things is that the shift keys on left and right can be sort of short single tapped to create quotes (). That's really improved my output when programming.

It also alleviated some RSI for me (which was why I bought it originally). It's excessively customizable—I honestly probably don't get as much use out of it as I could. You can basically assign a key to anything, including compound keys, macros, etc. And then on top of that, there are several layers you can swap between. So you have a button to press, and it swaps out the entire arrangement for some other keymapping (either momentarily or toggled). I got the RGB version too, so on top of that, you can customize per-key colors, which is helpful to map out keybindings when you're switching layers. (e.g. mine switches from blue to purple when I switch to my second layer).

It's really neat, and I would definitely invest if you're typing 8+ hours a day like me.

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