This weird keyboard may be the biggest thing since your standing desk | Hacker News Reader

This weird keyboard may be the biggest thing since your standing desk

kadavy.net

26 pointspetercooper22 comments

As a touch typist (120-140wpm) that types entirely with muscle memory I notice that sometimes I use my left hand to type a key on the right and my right hand to type a key on the left. It really just depends on what finger is closest compared to the last key that I hit with that finger.

Unfortunately this keyboard would mess me up in that regard when I try to click r,t,g,f,v,b with my left index finger or y,h,n,m,j,u with my right index finger.

Just curious, but is muscle tension always a bad thing? Wouldn't that just exercise your muscles and make them more durable to do the same actions again? I'm sure after 20 years of typing these muscles are probably resistant to this kind of activity.

Could that be fixed by having certain keys from the middle of a standard keyboard appear on the inner side of both haves of a split one?

Or actually... Could we just use two keyboards?

> Just curious, but is muscle tension always a bad thing?

I was asking myself the same question. According to this article, sitting on a yoga ball at work all day would be bad right? Because you're constantly tensing up your muscles in your lower back and abs?

Lose your belly fat with this one weird trick... Seriously? How is this on the front page. Keyboards like this have been around for ages.

But Did You Know It's Cutting Off Your Circulation by 80%?

This explains why some people type with only two fingers: no blood in the other eight.

I know I'm only speaking for myself here but sometimes I upvote articles or links just so that people see it and comment on it. Sometimes I'm more interested in what people have to say about something rather than the content itself.

Can't you just plug in two USB keyboards, preferably identical, one for each hand? I think its been around a decade since I last tried this stunt. At least you could see if you like it, or not.

Going back further there were PS/2 era combiners to connect two keyboards.

I could almost swear I've seen this done at server racks, so you can plug in both a remote (expensive) KVM and/or a local keyboard right in front of the machine. And a similar splitter for video out (this was definitely analog VGA to give an idea how long ago)

It seems like David thinks that the keyboard itself is pretty lame ("By most objective measures, this keyboard sucks") but the fact that it is split makes it worth it.

Are there any keyboards that are 1) split, 2) good keyboards, and c) aren't ridiculously loud and can be used in public?

(I usually do my work in university libraries, and if the reactions to me using my Model M mechanical keyboard in an office told me anything, it's that a quiet keyboard is probably best.)

The Ergodox [1] might be what you're looking for, although there's a significant amount of assembly required. It's been sold on Massdrop [2] before to reduce the cost of the PCBs (~$200 with the maximum number of people participating). While I don't own one, I've only ever heard good things about them.

[1] http://ergodox.org/ [2] http://massdrop.com/

This is written like those 'one weird trick to lose weight' things, and contains just as much information.

The Half Keyboard allows you to type with one hand OR use it as a second keyboard in addition to your main, full-sized keyboard.

http://matias.ca/halfkeyboard/

Are there any split keyboards like this that have mechanical keys?

http://ergodox.org/

Open-source hardware and DIY, too!

Thanks.

There's a lot of love for the ergodox on http://reddit.com/r/mechanicalkeyboards

Some look really nice.

I keep missing the massdrop buys for these and it makes me sad every time.

There are a few people working on split mechanical keyboards on geekhack as well.

I just did a build and sourced all the parts myself. It actually doesn't end up being much more than the Massdrop kit.

Care to share your component sources? I actually did pick up a pair of the boards in a drop a while back, I just keep missing the full kit drops.

I just need a good price on MX clears, the case, and the rest of the electronics.

I think some Kinesis (http://kinesis-ergo.com/) split models do; the Advantage isn't technically a split keyboard but has Cherry Brown mechanical keys by default. (I wrote more about it here: http://jseliger.wordpress.com/2011/07/17/further-thoughts-on...).

EDIT: Didn't realize that Kinesis only makes a single split model. Sorry! The Advantage stuff still stands.

http://matias.ca/ergopro/pc/

I've had a freestyle for a couple of years, some of the keys are already malfunctioning

It would be good if the 5tgb and 6yhn keys were repeated either side for us psuedo-touchtypers. (Hasn't Apple got a software patent for a similar thing?)

EDIT: also F5

And if you found that impressive, there's some folk down the road with a big round thing, they say it'll be the biggest thing since fire.

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