Typing and Keyboards

I type 120 wpm using a bizarre method I acquired through trial and error as a kid. It uses mostly my thumbs and index fingers and has been described by observers as "disconcerting". But it works great for me, and about perfectly matches the speed of my thoughts. My typing teachers hated it. It's touch typing in the sense that I don't need to look at the keys, but it is definitely Not Right.

It does mean that I can't use "ergonomic" or split hand keyboards easily, though.

I have a couple different inexpensive Aula and similar mechanical keyboards I prefer to use.

I'm a fan of scissor switch keyboards, which I think makes me a bit odd - I got used to them from laptops and now I have an MX Keys Mini that I really like. I like the short travel and the tactile nature of them - I tried a slim mechanical (Nuphy Air75) but it still slowed me down considerably and was uncomfortable. I touch type but not home-row, so maybe my chaotic typing style doesn't work on heavier keys.

My journey went from using membrane keyboards (not knowing there was anything else available), to finding out about mechanical keyboards after watching a game streamer and his clacky keyboard, to going out and buying one...only to find out it was a membrane keyboard that was marketed as mechanical-like (!). After a few proper mechanical keyboards (trying to chase the 'thock'), then to low-profile, I'm now on a low-profile split mechanical keyboard, and I think this format is end game for me. The split helps a lot with ergonomics and just feels so natural, and the ortholinear setup just makes sense, despite the few weeks it took me to get used to it.

I was skeptical about the split keyboard, and living in an area that has no stores where I could try it out, I ended up buying a relatively cheap one from AliExpress. I swapped in my own switches and keycaps, and now it feels amazing to type on.

Being able to lean back on my chair while typing with each side sitting on the arm rest is amazing

I never learnt how to touch-type, until I moved to a different keyboard layout (namely bepo [0]).

I recommend finding a good keyboard you enjoy using, but it's a bit annoying if you need to carry it around. Whatever you do, don't be afraid to try some ortholinear versions or split ones!

I sometimes like to use dictation nowadays, but I found out I tend to be much more concise when I type, compared to when I dictate (but thank god for easily available great dictation systems nowadays! [1]).

[0]: https://bepo.fr/wiki/Accueil

[1]: although, dictating terminal commands or code is too much of a hassle

How do people (especially programmers) actually type )_+={}\'"

I know the touch typing says they're all typed by pinky, but after so many years it still doesn't feel right for me. Why is the weakest finger in charge of so many keys?

I'll be very curious to see if my research on typing practice [1] will still be relevant in the era of LLMs...

[1] https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3373165.3373177

Does anyone here use a numpad? What for? I made my own macropad[1] but I struggle to find a use, the only thing I use it for is CAD shortcut keys. Any ideas are welcome!

[1] https://immich.home.stavros.io/share/GE_noaUx1_cayK9WDVvzutr...

What, an article on typing and keyboards, and no mention of Dvorak or Colemak? Let's have that eternal discussion again!

Swap Caps and Ctrl, use Emacs or vi keybindings, and save your wrist from moving to the arrow keys!

My all time favorite was the Wang 724 keyboard.

http://blog.komar.be/wang-724-teardown/

Since then, it does not really matter which keyboard I use. Now I have a reddragon keyboard (Redragon K552 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard, 87-Key Compact). I picked that up a while ago because it does not use much space on the table/desk I have.