I’m genuinely just confused what the hype is with HHKB. It sounds just like a membrane but for 250 dollars. What the hell is the hype about?
I’m genuinely just confused what the hype is with HHKB. It sounds just like a membrane but for 250 dollars. What the hell is the hype about?
I like Topre switches, but don’t care for the actual HHKB layout, so I made my own.
The first thing to go was the antiquated staggered layout.
There’s absolutely no reason for that to still exist.
A keyboard is not a manual typewriter.
The keys aren’t going to get stuck, if you type too fast.
My layout retains all the good features from the original, like the split backspace, but it adds a numpad, splits the spacebar, and fixes the issues with the arrow keys, all in the same footprint.
https://preview.redd.it/fxyq30h4162c1.jpeg?width=3811&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7f71cdd5b3580642849c9e5180b5b5f5204b5090
After years of using a Planck and Preonic I returned to row staggered. If anything columnar stagger and/or split should be what is utilized, full ortho doesn’t seem any more ergonomic due to the way you need to turn your wrists
Sounds like ‘Moonlander’ to me…
I have no idea what you’re talking about with your “turn your wrists” comment.
My wrists are perfectly straight, with respect to my forearms, both horizontally and vertically, when using any of my orthos, including my Preonic.
I make all the alignment adjustments with my fingers, just like I do when playing guitar or bass.
Columnar stagger is OK, but is exactly the same as ortho, with respect to wrist position.
You just have to reach farther for some keys, which doesn’t affect wrist alignment, when done properly.
Splits, assuming you are still using some form of straight line layout with them, do not change your wrist positions either.
They change the alignment of your elbows and shoulders.
Standard stagger splits have exactly the same issues as a single board standard stagger, with respect to your left wrist having to turn outward.
The scientific term would be “ulnar deviation”.
True ergonomics would be more along the lines of Dactyl Manuform or Corne with tenting.
The pronation and extension of the wrists in addition to ulnar deviation is very similar on both row staggered and ortholinear boards, the main difference being that there is less space from key-to-key with ortholinear layouts, but that doesn’t mean that it is more ergonomic.
I can’t imagine typing in a layout like the one you are currently using and having your wrists ‘perfectly straight’ unless you had incredibly narrow shoulders with your elbows tucked into your rib cage. I have fairly petite dimensions, and even for me they would be nowhere near ‘perfectly straight’.
Standard stagger turns your left wrist outward, as you ascend the rows, which is what creates ulnar deviation.
Ortho, with proper form, does not create this condition because there is no outward stagger to the keys forcing you to chase them.
Your fingers should travel straight up and down the columns, which does not require any deviations in the wrist to accomplish.
There is no “less space from key to key” with ortho.
The keys are spaced exactly the same as they are on a standard layout, they are just aligned differently.
Your own form is causing you to misinterpret my claim to straight wrists.
As I mentioned in my previous post, my wrists are straight with respect to my forearms.
My upper arms are at a comfortable distance from my chest, and angling outward from my body.
My forearms make the return trip to the keyboard at maybe a 20 degree angle to the board.
My fingers stagger, to align themselves to the rows.
You, by contrast, are trying to align your wrists to the keys themselves, which is terrible form for typing.
That is why you have to uncomfortably compress yourself, and/or bend your wrists outward, to align to the keyboard.
don’t you essentially create outward stagger by virtue of the fact that, by your own admission, the key columns are 20 degrees off alignment from your forearms?
ortho seems like such a half-measure compared to a split ortho or columnar staggered board
Columnar stagger is exactly the same as ortho, and traditional stagger splits are nearly as bad as traditional stagger on a single board setup.
The be-all, end-all of this discussion is whether you keep your wrists straight, as referenced from your forearms.
How you choose to do that is up to you.
Imagine having a piece of diamond-coated piano wire running through a wooden hoop.
As long as you pull the wire straight, nothing happens to the wood.
If you pull one end, or the other, out of alignment, the wire starts sawing at the wood.
That is a very good simulacrum of your carpal tunnels.
As long as there is minimal contact between your tendons, and the surrounding bones, you are good.
The tendons contact the bone, get irritated, then inflamed, and begin pushing against the nerves, which is what causes the intense pain.
Your wrist angle, compared to the board itself, is not the important part of this issue.
It’s your wrist angle, compared to your forearm that causes issues.
Straighten that out in whatever manner works best for you.
No, that is present at any point on Ortholinear. Here’s some random images from Youtube videos: Even with the split ortho keyboard, ulnar deviation is present. For that to be avoided with an Ortholinear board, you would have to have inhumanly narrow shoulders.
Unless your proper form is literally sticking your arms out in front of you like a stereotypical zombie, I don’t know how one could feasibly achieve this.
There absolutely is and it is easily observable.
I’ve told you nothing about how I type, so any assumptions you are making here are based on something else.
You’ve told me you have to compress your arms against your chest to use an ortho, and that you have blatant ulnar deviation while doing so.
The only way those two add up, is if you are trying to keep your arms perpendicular to the keyboard rows.
Here’s picture of my right arm, in typing position, on my Preonic.
Notice that my wrist is straight, even though my arm is coming in at an angle.
You can’t really tell from the overhead picture, but it is also straight vertically because I float my hands over the keyboard, like a pianist.
https://preview.redd.it/8sz1ohe48j2c1.jpeg?width=1445&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1ea2b450428307f9234aec6a9b1cdcb95807e91f
As I told the other user above, the only thing that matters here is that you keep your wrists straight, with respect to your forearms.
Do that however you want, with whatever you want.
🤯