One year with the Truly Ergonomic keyboard | Hacker News Reader

One year with the Truly Ergonomic keyboard

blog.thecybershadow.net

66 pointsCyberShadow96 comments

I've been using a TEK for a month but in the end I returned it.

I'm quite susceptible to RSI but it seems that, unlike others, my weak fingers are actually my thumbs instead of the pinkies, and this keyboard puts heavy emphasis to press modifier keys (enter, backspace - EDIT: ctrl, alt, etc were included in the list by accident) with the thumb. Within a couple of days I felt sore and could barely move my fingers. I then used the remapping software to move all modifiers to their usual places (as much as possible) and the situation did really improve.

However, I frequently switch between the desk and a laptop and always had to waste a couple of minutes to adjust to the different layout. The TEK _is_ slightly more comfortable but not enough to justify its high price for me, that's why I ended up returning it.

Additionally, the return process is long and tedious since they have a tendency to ignore the first few requests and they seem to respond only if put under pressure. I managed to ship back mine last week, after a monthlong attempt at gaining their attention.

I tried many keyboards during these years and in the end I think that switching to a mechanical keyboard (Unicomp EnduraPro) and from QWERTY to Colemak did 90% of the job for me. After that the law of diminishing returns kicks in.

Protip: get a keyboard with macro keys and set them up as modifiers or as modified keys. It helps.

Can you give an example? Are macro keys used for doing several keystrokes with one key?

Some razer keyboards and corsair keyboards have them. You program them using the software to whatever keystrokes you want. When pressed they do them. For example, I have one set to do $. Another to ctrl,alt,del.

If there are specific keys for the macros, I'd agree. Otherwise you'll never even more modifier combos, like the Poker 2 macros...

Could you explain what you mean by "this keyboard puts heavy emphasis to press modifier keys (enter, ctrl, alt, etc) with the thumb?" I'm sitting here with one in front of me and can't figure out how I would possibly hit anything in your list other than the 'enter' key with my thumb.

I'm sorry, memory failed me and I included more keys in the listing.

Anyway, having to hit the enter and backspace keys with the thumb is what I found problematic, that's why I remapped them to alternative places with their online tool.

This is my current keyboard/trackball setup. I have been tweaking my configuration for a number of years and this is the most comfortable option I have found for my particular body ratios. I think the best layout may vary somewhat from person to person.

https://plus.google.com/107061065248858824293/posts/S7X6x9kA...

Geez you look close to launch. Taking preorders?

I read your comment before clicking the link. Cracked me up!

Is that a detachable two-piece keyboard, or two regular keyboards?

The keyboard is a Kinesis Freestyle 2 (also referenced by other folks in this discussion). I find the regular one with the 9 inch cord is too short for the separation I need, so I have the 20 inch cord option. Come to think of it, I would be totally screwed if these went out of production, so I'm going to go order another one right now to keep as a backup. The trackball is a Logitech Cordless Optical Trackman, which is no longer made, and I wish I had a few of these stashed to use for backups.

That's pretty cool. I've sometimes imagined a programmer presenting things and instead of him fiddling with a laptop (MacBook..) from time to time, he manipulates a keyboard attached to his thighs or hips while using the projector as the monitor. Almost "cyborg"-like or really geeky, depending on how you look at it... :-)

The best keyboard hack I will ever recommend is to remap:

    CapsLock+hjkl -> the arrows

    CapsLock+Spacebar -> Return

    CapsLock+ui -> PgUp and PgDn

    CapsLock+yo -> Backspace and Delete

That's the best way to reach control keys, imho.

No really obvious way to do that in OS X (Mountain Lion)

These would typically be done within your editor itself.

Unfortunately, you have to install 3rd-party software. Thankfully, there has been quality free software for this since 2007. https://pqrs.org/osx/karabiner/ https://pqrs.org/osx/karabiner/seil.html.en add-on is needed to remap the caps lock key.

Once you re-map Caps Lock to Control (in the system preferences), I wouldn't be surprised if you could get there with some edits to ~/Library/KeyBindings/DefaultKeyBinding.dict

Try Karabiner: https://pqrs.org/osx/karabiner/

The amount of remapping options beats anything else I've tried on any operating system. I'm stuck on OS X for now because of this program.

On Linux, this is a simple addition to your ~/.Xmodmap:

    keycode 66 = Mode_switch
    keysym h = h H Left
    keysym j = j J Down
    keysym k = k K Up
    keysym l = l L Right
    keysym space = space space Return
    keysym y = y Y BackSpace
    keysym u = u U Next
    keysym i = i I Prior
    keysym o = o O Delete

Best remapping I ever did was changing my Caps Lock -> Control and Control -> Caps lock

Out of curiosity:

    > CapsLock+hjkl -> the arrows

Why use hjkl, which are on the same row, and not wasd (or another selection of keys)?

Because you want to press Caps Lock with one hand, and use the other to navigate. Also, vi.

If you're used to using hjkl for vi-style navigation, they're just as natural as wasd, and potentially more relaxed since they're all on the same row. And you wouldn't want to frequently use Caps Lock as a modifier with wasd, which are right next to it; Caps Lock with hjkl splits the combination across hands, which would make it more natural.

The best way to reach control keys is to leave them in the corners of your keyboard, and then use your palm, not your pinkies.

I use the Microsoft Natural keyboard, and this is how I solve the mouse distance problem for myself:

http://i.imgur.com/3OMpedd.jpg

I just remove the numpad keys, and then tape my ergo trackball down to it. Works like a charm and allows me to keep my wrists in neutral position at all times.

I've definitely struggled off and on with RSI over the years and this book has been really helpful in keeping me limber:

http://www.amazon.com/Conquering-Carpal-Syndrome-Repetitive-...

The other thing that's helped me is going to the gym and doing light wrist curls (and reverse wrist curls) at least once a week.

Interesting solution, will give it a try.

Microsoft has two good keyboard without numpad: http://www.cnet.com/products/microsoft-sculpt-ergonomic-desk... http://www.trustedreviews.com/Microsoft-Arc-Keyboard-review

My plan is to invest some time into learning VIM keys and migrate to Arc.

Ya, vim bindings help a lot too. I even use VIM to do everything in the browser (vimium), and that helps cut down on mouse usage a ton.

A truly ergonomic keyboard, in my mind, would be one on which the palms are facing each other like holding a tree trunk. My hands were not meant to be lay flat on a surface. Also, smartphones should have physical keyboards on the the back- blindly operable.

Kinesis has an accessory[1] for their Freestyle keyboard that does just this.

[1]: https://www.kinesis-ergo.com/shop/freestyle2-ascent-accessor...

With the Ergodox they call this tenting (not sure if that's a technical term), example:

https://github.com/adereth/ergodox-tent

> Also, smartphones should have physical keyboards on the the back- blindly operable.

Octodon (http://octodon.mobi/ ) claims that their repositionable joysticks for phones' backs are even better for the text input than ergonomic keyboards.

I got magnetic tape from Ikea, couple of old bookends and build my own with Kinesis Freestyle. Magnetic tape on keyboards and bookends keeps them together, yet easily separable if need be. And believe me, learning to type when you can't even see where your hand are in regards to home row is suprisingly hard.

I switched from Cherry G80-3000 with Querty where I was very fast, to a Kinesis with Dvorak. I had some RSI problems so I made a very hard cut switching both keyboard and layout at the same time. The keys of the Kinesis (soft click) are not as good as the Cherry's (hard click), but, well, the world is not ideal.

Anyway, the effect was great! I was so slow for the first few weeks that I cursed at the long identifiers I had introduced in my C programs. :-) But even after some years, I never had any serious RSI since, and I am back to the speed of typing as before.

The funny thing is, I never stopped typing Querty. I use a normal Querty laptop at home and a Dvorak Kinesis at work. Keyboards+layouts are so different that I absolutely cannot type Dvorak on a laptop nor Querty on a Kinesis. They are different enough so I very rarely mistype the wrong layout. I switch without thinking, because they are so different. And maybe the constant switching keeps my hands busy in different ways, contributing to not having any problems with RSI since.

Confused because AFAIK "The top row of keys, including the escape key and function keys, are small soft-touch keys with membrane dome switches. The remaining keys are standard size and each has its own Cherry MX brown key switch, providing a tactile feel, but no click. "

Maybe you just like blues? I love my browns on the Filco and Leopold...

I had severe right arm problems and in addition to getting treatment from doctors was looking for every way to relieve the issues in my workspace.

I had a friend let me borrow a https://www.kinesis-ergo.com/shop/advantage-pro-for-pc-mac/ and it took a while to adapt to it but it ended up helping. I didn't want to keep it indefinitely so while I thought about buying one for myself I wanted to try something different. I did some research online and ended up buying a Truly Ergonomic 229. I liked the keyboard layout for the most part, especially the most used keys being on the central line, but there were a couple annoyances (top-left escape/tilde/1 order I never got used to and always typoed). The major problem to me was what seemed like a bonus at first: it's too compact. While it's easy to pack away in a laptop bag, it was impossible for me to get an ergonomic arm position. My forearms were always angled inwards with my hands and wrists angled out. This ended up exacerbating my right arm problem and I had to stop using it. Unfortunately I really wanted it to work and had kept at it past the refund period so it's just sitting in a drawer now waiting for me to throw it up on ebay.

If the http://www.keyboard.io/ models were available I would have tried one of them next but I ended up going with a Microsoft Sculpt http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CYX26BC/ since the price was right after blowing the money on the TEK and I couldn't justify shelling out for the Kinesis now. I am still using the Sculpt and would definitely recommend it. I would also recommend the Kinesis if you're willing to spend the extra dough and don't mind (or appreciate) the archaic looks.

I happily used a Microsoft Ergonomic for a long time, but started looking for something else a couple years ago so I didn't have to hold my mouse so far out. Basically I needed something without a numpad.

Truly Ergonomic was my first choice. I adapted to it easily enough, but pretty soon I started feeling pain in the backs of my hands---the same pain I feel after using a non-ergonomic keyboard for too long. I'm not sure what the problem was, but I do recall feeling that the TE was too "square" so that my wrists had to bend the same way they would for a regular keyboard.

The refund took a long time, and I had to follow up a couple times to finally get it.

After that I switched to a Kinesis Advantage, and the adjustment was a bit harder but still not too bad. I'm very happy with it and still using it now.

Anyone else clicking on this because of their wrist/hand/arm pain, I would highly recommend

http://www.amazon.com/Conquering-Carpal-Syndrome-Repetitive-...

which is a series of very simple exercises.

I have found more relief in daily stretches outlined in the above book then the keyboards I use: kinesis advantage, placed on my lap, at work (8 hours a day) and Truly Ergonomic at home on weekends

Paul Egoscue's books "Pain Free" and "Pain Free at your PC" are also very good. I'm really looking forward to Kelly Starrett's "Deskbound" to come out too.

It looks like the author's name is Pete Egoscue

You are correct sir!

I use two apple bluetooth keyboards and some software called Karabiner that lets the keyboards share modifier keys like shift, option, control, and command. My hands tend to be 2 feet apart most of the time.

Been using Kinesis Freestyle 2 Mac[1] & bluetooth variant along with a Kensington Trackball[2] for just over 3 years and I'll never go back. I switched keyboards one week and then switched to the trackball and started using my left hand for the mouse the next.

Overall it took a week to feel comfortable with each and another week after that to be back up to my previous typing / mousing abilities (the week where both were new was particularly amusing - I could barely highlight text at first). Now I can switch between standard keyboards and right or left handed mousing / trackball / trackpads with ease.

Background: At my last job I developed tendonitis in my wrist after some particularly grueling work weeks using the Apple wireless keyboard and trackpad. I think the trackpad is what really did it - the flexed position it encourages your wrist to be in really couldn't be ergonomically worse.

[1] - https://www.kinesis-ergo.com/shop/freestyle2-blue-mac/ [2] - http://www.amazon.com/Kensington-Orbit-Trackball-Mouse-Scrol...

I've been using the Kinesis Advantage for a little over a year now. The first few weeks are indeed amusing. It hasn't alleviated my pain entirely, but it definitely has minimized it.

I agree on the horribleness of Apple mousing devices. I still haven't made the jump to a trackball but need to. Anybody have any recommendations?

I have used a Logitech Trackman Wheel for the past 15 years. My experience mirrors yours: I had to force myself to use it for the first two weeks. The following 178 weeks you would have had to pry it from my cold, dead, fingers.

It is however a thumb-ball, not a palm-ball like like Kensington, and the trick to efficient usage is to set the sensitity to maximum. Really, try it.

Logitech never understood the greatness of the device and they have slowly phased them out. They only sell the wireless version now. I bought a couple of the wired model on sale once and I am now down to my last two. The switches wear out, unfortunately.

I've been using an ErgoDox for 5 months and I regularly switch between it and a laptop. Switching isn't too bad, especially since I have ctrl bound to the caps lock key on both.

Does anyone has experience with the matias pro? http://matias.ca/ergopro/pc/

I ordered a 2nd production run, still waiting for it. Marco Arment has a nice review of it: [1], but note that they fixed the Num Lock key position which he mentioned.

[1] http://www.marco.org/2015/02/26/matis-ergo-pro-review

I've had one for 3 months and highly recommend it! It's pretty close to my dream keyboard - a tenkeyless version of the Microsoft Natural 4000 with mechanical switches.

What about the keys? I was thinking of getting a mechanical keyboard but with shared space the noise would be a problem. I have heard a lot about the cherry switches but not about matias, so wondering about that.

It seems that the ergonomics is a bit touch and go by person. Its difficult for me to get these keyboards so I want to make a safer choice. Anyone has a thought if I should try for a more ergonomic keyboard for comfort or getting a mechanical one should be first priority.

I don't have first-hand experience yet, but Matias claims to have "world's quietest mechanical keyswitches": http://matias.ca/switches/quiet/

Yes: http://jakeseliger.com/2007/10/18/product-review-matias-tact.... It wasn't good.

He's asking about their Ergo Pro keyboard. http://matias.ca/ergopro/pc/

He's asking about their Ergo Pro keyboard. http://matias.ca/ergopro/pc/*
Oh! I see. In that case I hope the quality is higher than the Tactile Pro 2.

Thanks to this article, I've become aware of both KeyMouse [0] and Keyboard.io [1]; The KeyMouse seems like it'd be something better for me - no need to move my hand away from keyboard to operate the mouse.
[0] http://www.keymouse.com/ [1] http://www.keyboard.io/

One way to minimize the distance between the keyboard and the mouse was to switch the mouse from the right side to the left. This, of course, means that I had to learn to use the left hand for mouse, but this actually helped more than anything else, since reaching for and moving it has been straining on my wrist. Another benefit is that it freed my right hand to occasionally write something on paper.

I've done that for years (I'm right-handed), and I find that a trackball on the left side is even better, because it's always in the same place.

That's why I love the trackpad on laptops. No big hand movements to get to it.

I've solved that problem by using a USB ThinkPad keyboard, so I have a mouse on home row and mouse buttons just under the spacebar.
That also puts all the usually distant keys much closer.

I tried to like Truly, but the lack of nordic layout was too much and I essentially gave up using it. Also, its version on mechanic keys were pretty noisy and somewhat too resistant for me. Key layout felt great, but like with other too different layouts, it is hard to move between normal keyboards and this.
These days I alternate between Macbook internal keyboard, Topre Realforce 88 and Kinesis Freestyle. I have grown used to OS X touch gestures, so I have external magic trackad.
With freestyle, I can keep the pad between two halves within easy reach. For Topre, I'm thinking of bying one for each side, but I'm leaning on getting this instead: http://www.keyboardco.com/keyboard/uk-ergo-pro-quiet-pc-ergo...
This has mechanical keys (which I prefer now thanks to Topre, though not its variable force for weaker and stronger fingers) and Freestyle's split. Its maker is relatively unknown, but I've taken risks like this before ;)

Articles like this validate my decision to just use a standard QWERTY keyboard. I learned to type at age 10 and type an average of 142 WPM with a max of 163 WPM.
OP doesn't say what kind of speed he is getting on these alternate keyboards with alternate layouts but I have to believe it is nowhere near justifying the hobbling you'll get when using a regular keyboard.

If your job is typing lots of words in minimal time, then that certainly makes the most sense. However, in my experience, very few information professionals are truly limited by their typing speed, no matter what that speed is.

These articles aren't about speed though, right? I've just started getting the first signs of physical hobbling in my hands from 25 years of programming. I'm worried what will happen to me in another 25 years.

I started having symptoms of RSI about 10 years ago after 22 years of 8+ hours of daily computer use. This went on about a year when a comment on Slashdot.org back then pointed me to an alternative theory of what causes RSI.
Anyway, cured me. Cost $0, took little time and I didn't have to change anything I was doing.
http://www.rsi.deas.harvard.edu/mb_what_is.html
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vsR4wydiIBI

From watching the video, the theory says that your mind is restricting blood flow to other parts of your body to deal with stress, for instance. Just the fact that people learn this is usually enough for them to stop their minds from doing this.
Sounds a little hard to believe. We need a few hundred people on HN to try it to get some anecdotal evidence.

the theory says that your mind is restricting blood flow to other parts of your body to deal with stress...Sounds a little hard to believe.
It is 100% fact that emotional states can impact blood flow. For example, your face getting red when you become embarrassed. Another example, having an upset stomach or even diarrhea or vomiting when you are nervous since your body is in a fight-or-flight mode and turns off blood flow to non-essentials such as your digestive system.
It isn't a big leap that it could be doing this as well in response to repressed rage and fear. I've seen it in my own personal life as well as the lives of many others... an ailment followed by extensive research and figuring out physical cures for the ailment followed by the symptom imperative causing the pain to move to another area, rinse, repeat.

Would it be possible to increase blood flow to the hand, for example, through some sort of exercise?

Sure. In fact, a heating pad is often used to treat the physical symptoms of this syndrome especially with back pain. A heating pad draws blood to the area.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heating_pad
It is important to note though that physically treating the physical symptoms like that 1) serves to validate them and 2) through the symptom imperative causes the pain to move elsewhere. The true treatment is to realize the psychogenic nature of the pain and identify and acknowledge the mental issues at the root of the problem.

OP here. keybr says that my speed is 97 on average and 150 max. IIRC my average was below 90 a year ago, but that was measured through some other method. I type a lot more code than English prose, though, and English is my third language.
That switching away from QWERTY will give you a massive speed boost is a myth. Although the world's fastest typists do not use QWERTY, the main benefit of alternate keyboard layouts is not speed, it's comfort (and, well, ergonomics).
The question is polarizing - you can find testimonials of people who tried Dvorak/Colemak/Workman/etc. and either liked or hated it (so be careful to not fall prey to confirmation bias). I don't mind the "hobbling" as I very rarely use others' computers.

As somebody who has typed in Dvorak continuously for the last 13 years, I agree one hundred percent with this post. I find that I type about the same (a little slower maybe) than in my QWERTY days, anywhere from 70-100 WPM on average. It's all about comfort, since my wrist pain basically went away for me (and my brother) since the switch.
It's not for everyone. But you can remap (and set a key to go back and forth) easily on most computers these days. I find myself mostly on my own devices too. Some people (myself included) can also switch back to QWERTY and be functional. It feels so wrong, though, that I avoid it whenever possible. Never felt hobbled after that first few weeks learning, which were terrible. That's where a natural curiosity for learning new things really helps.

google cache: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:8ql11qT...

Should be up now. Had to do an emergency migration of my blog to a faster server.

502 proxy error currently:
Reason: DNS lookup failure for: k3.1azy.net

I'm typing on a TECK right now, and I've been doing so for over a year. I still hate it.
I use the Workman layout, and I like the layout... BUT THE CHATTER!!!
At first I had to get used to the layout, then supposedly wait for the keys to "break in", then clean the switches.
It's not so bad... just annoying enough to barely not buy another keyboard. It was only last week that I ordered http://atreus.technomancy.us
If that one has chatter too, I don't know what I'll do. Go back to rubber dome maybe. Despite all the bad things people say about them, my old kb never missed a single press.

Have you tried the debouncing filter in the newer ROMs?

I love my Atreus keyboard w/the TMK-based Atreus firmware; I have not (yet) noticed that it misses keys.

For it to be truly ergonomic it should be split and chair mounted:
http://news.cornell.edu/stories/1996/06/chair-mounted-split-...
I think that's something from StarTrek that has not caught up.
http://www.cnet.com/news/mythbuster-adam-savage-builds-star-...

That's interesting.
Most "ergonomic computer posture" pictures (such as this one[0]) show that apparently your elbows should be suspended in mid-air.
Personally, I found this to be terrible advice. Instead, I make sure to have at least two feet of desk space in front of the monitor, on which I rest my arms. This also makes palm rests unnecessary.
I think this approach shares many benefits with that in the article you posted.
[0]: http://www.iogear.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Ergono...

There is one simple trick to avoiding RSI, and it works. It goes like this: change your keyboard every 3 - 6 months.
That's it! Its that simple! It doesn't matter if its an ergo keyboard or not. What matters is that you change your keyboard and get your muscles moving in different directions.
Been doing this for 20+ years, after suffering RSI horrendously in the late 80's, and I'll never look back. Whenever I start to feel uncomfortable/pain while typing I just change keyboards to something else. Solution!

I had a TEK for 2 months and ended up returning it. I loved the keyboard, but I use my laptop just often enough that switching back and forth was really annoying.

This is the biggest thing for me - I use so many different machines on a day to day basis that it just doesn't make sense to use anything other than US qwerty (in the same way that custom aliases on linux machines just isn't a thing when you do consulting.. You just need to learn the full command or flags and do that by default).
I used a dvorak layout for about 2+1/2 months, and while my speed was on par with normal qwerty, I just found going back and forth to be a nightmare. I had my work USB keyboard (for when my laptop was docked), the laptop keyboard itself, my desktop at home, my laptop at home, my ipad at home.. Not to mention server KVM keyboards and other co-workers' keyboards. Yuck.
I generally really struggle without a lot of the more unused function keys too, like the menu key, which I use ALL THE TIME so I don't have to resort to the mouse. When you make a typo, try moving the cursor into an incorrectly spelled word, then using <menu>, then finally the arrow keys and enter to make a correction in $word_processor next time, I guarantee you'll never look back. It very quickly becomes <back arrow x3-5><menu><down><enter><end> and you're back to typing in under a second.
Keyboards that remove this particular key, and replace it with function are a plague, especially in the mechanical keyboard world.. It's such a shame.
On the flip side, if you only ever interact with your own single keyboard (ie, your job is writing articles/novels/other full-bodied text) then I'd absolutely support a more personal solution such as this.
Me? I'll be sticking to my CODE keyboard and its delicious cherry clears.

> On the flip side, if you only ever interact with your own single keyboard (ie, your job is writing articles/novels/other full-bodied text) then I'd absolutely support a more personal solution such as this.
Programming too - I do all work from my home PC. But I think this can also be expanded to using an editor other than vi, using a shell other than bash, or customizing either to the point that you can't use it at their defaults.
After years of tweaking and customization, I dread the thought of being forced to get anything done without my current workflow setup. And I think that's OK.

Regarding Dvorak, I've had good success from only ever typing Dvorak on a split keyboard. To this day, 13 years on, I still can't type it on an ordinary keyboard. When I'm using my laptop away from a desk using its inbuilt keyboard - which I don't do much - I use it with the QWERTY layout.
Most of the times I need to type on somebody else's computer, they've got a non-split keyboard, so no problem there. And if they do have a split keyboard, I can just look at the keys. I can also do that if I need to use Remote Desktop and it pops up with QWERTY (as sometimes happens).
I've certainly found this to work for me, though of course if we were all the same you'd be doing this already and I wouldn't have had to mention it. I suspect it's part of the reason why my QWERTY speed is still OK, on non-split keyboard at least. Most people who see me type on a QWERTY keyboard are very surprised to find out that it's not what I'm used to.

my biggest problem with keyboard layouts always was, that with a german QWERTZ layout it was pretty much impossible to use (){}[]<> efficiently.
i tried NEO and DVORAK but somehow the english layout worked best.i still need to type umlauts (äöü) and ß, so i made a custom layout.
you can find it on github: https://github.com/bmaeser/coDE (osx only, sorry)

MacOS should come with a layout that's the same as the AltGr-international on linux - normal QWERTY, but AltGr(right alt) is used to type "international" letters, i.e. RAlt+y = ü, RAlt+q = ä, RAlt+p = ö, RAlt+s = ß and more (using RAlt+vowel gives you the accented variant).

I really like the build quality of the keyboard, but two things kill it for me (and I cannot, in good conscience recommend it to anyone):
1. I get a high number of missed or repeated keys, even after the keyboard is broken in
2. The customer service is atrocious, as in "absolutely no response - not even an auto-responder - atrocious"
Given that keyboards and their consistent performance are integral to our job, I'd recommend going with another product.

After years of wearing a wrist brace to alleviate repetitive-stress pain, I switched to a standing desk.
That was 4 years ago, and I haven't had wrist pain since.

How disappointing - the blank key model shown is discontinued - https://www.trulyergonomic.com/store/truly-ergonomic-mechani...

Anyone else seeing this error:
502 Proxy Error
Proxy Error
The proxy server received an invalid response from an upstream server. The proxy server could not handle the request GET /2015/05/25/one-year-with-the-truly-ergonomic-keyboard/.
Reason: DNS lookup failure for: k3.1azy.net

Sorry about that, server went under again, had to do some emergency maneuvering. Should be up now.

No problem. Out of curiosity, what's the setup there? Reverse proxy to another system?

I moved it to a more powerful server because Wordpress was overloading the old one. Because there was no time to let DNS propagate, I configured the old server as a reverse proxy to the new one. That lasted for a while, but wasn't enough and it went under again. Hopefully there will be no more hickups now (at least I had the DNS TTL set to 1 hour).

The ergodox was mentioned in the article as an alternative to this keyboard.
http://ergodox.org/
It's a fun (very) entry level hardware project, with a good product at the end.

The part at the end amused me, so quick poll:
How many people thought the Better Business Bureau was an actual (that is, governmental) bureau until I asked this question?
How many people were unaware that the BBB sold good ratings until I asked this question?

I did NOT think that BBB was a governmental bureau.
I was NOT aware that the BBB sells good ratings.

I use the TECK and I love it. One suggestion for buyers: put Ctrl on the right space and Enter on the right Ctrl. And if you're an Emacs user, Alt or Escape on the Enter in the middle.

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