What would your ideal keyboard work like?

Where’s Q?

Since I type one-handed, the Qwerty keyboard, which tries to ensure successive letters require opposite hands, is a bad fit. So if I build my own, I might put letters in numerical order. With v, c, y, etc. in a fourth row.

What’s with everyone always going smaller with keyboards?

My current daily driver at work is an IBM 122 Terminal Keyboard (converted to USB with Soarer’s Converter)

(Not my keyboard, but same model)

I would have enough keys to assign

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

or

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

or

( ಠ ͜ʖರೃ)

And, yes, Its great when it completely derails the conversation when people first see it

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In my case, my rsi started when I was using a larger laptop with a big keyboard an unsupported touchpad which would go haywire. I eventually got drivers for the touchpad, but still had trouble with the keyboard. First, the alt key was too far from some other keys, such as alt+p to print. Second, the keyboard was too far from the mouse, because of the keypad in the way.

It’s hard to get good one-handed ergonomics with everything so far apart.

I think it would be easier to get good two-handed ergonomics with some spacing though.

I think it might still help with one-handed ergonomics due to coordination problems if a moderately bigger keyboard meant much less reliance on modifier keys.

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D’oh! I forgot the ‘Q’. It’s left-adjacent to ‘J’. Thanks for pointing that out, I’ll submit a revision when I have time.

There is a one-handed Dvorak layout (two, really—left and right), which I’ve read great things about from those who’ve had to use such a layout. Never tried it myself.

Most one-handed layouts are intended for people who can touch type, and can coordinate several fingers at once, so they use even more modifier keys.

Like you I use IBM keyboards (Model M in my case) on the desktop, but small keyboards make it possible to make smaller laptop computers, at least until IBM releases rights to the wonderful Butterfly Keyboard I had on my old Thinkpad 701c.

I know, right? The standard keyboard is so bloody stupid - the numpad should be on the left.

Then, the typing keys wouldn’t be all the way to the left of a desk, you could type with a keyboard on your lap without it constantly slipping off your right leg, and FPS games could use a proper bunch of keys instead of stupid WASD.

Sometimes it amazes me how seldom folks think outside the box.

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You are clearly right handed.

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Just acquired: Ice Cap SA, full set.

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?

So you’re saying the standard keyboard layout is for lefties…?

Isn’t QWERTY heavily biased towards using your left hand?

That’s so you can work the carriage return more easily, I guess

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How? You use your left hand for the carriage return on most typewriters.

Didn’t give my facetious reply much consideration

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No, I guess I couldn’t tell from your response whether you were being facetious or maybe weren’t old enough to have ever seen a typewriter with a mechanical lever.

I’m not saying it is specifically. I’m just saying it works well with left-handed mouse placement.

Two things you require most of all-- the ability to escape your own existence, and the ability to delete what you cannot escape.

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I like those but the lack of media keys is a dealbreaker to me.

I have one of these at work and I love it:

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Not a keyboard so much as could double as a keyboard.

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