Keyboards Should Have Been Like This

My ortho keyboard struggle

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[shApYT]

Just wait till he finds split curved keyboards. Its called dactyl btw.

[GoddamnAxl]

Nobody can convince me that any non-split ortho board is ergonomic

[zacharyarmendariz]

Some things worth noting about ergonomic keyboards...
1. Ortholinear keyboards are typically columnar, but good ergonomic keyboards should have row stagger. (If you put your hands in a natural resting position their should be a curve to your finger placement). Row linear layouts increase the risk of "trigger finger" and is not a good design.
2. The wrist strain you are explaining sounds like RSI from "Ulnar Deviation". This is something fixed by a split keyboard layout, but has nothing to do with columnar keyboard ergonomics. My speculation is that your wrist pain had more to do with not using your pinkies when typing which, on a non-split keyboard that already causes bad ulnar deviation, would dial those extensions (where you should be using your pinkies) to 11.
3. The other wrist related RSI would be extension (your wrists being arched up instead of straight on the keyboard). You should consider a wrist rest for your keyboard since many of the ones you show have a fairly high profile which makes them terrible ergonomic keyboards. This is why many people like apple keyboards so much: their thin profile minimizes wrist extension which is usually the most common type of RSI people experience since the strain exists even when you are resting your hands and not actively typing.
4. Ergonomic keyboards should have a natural tenting angle to prevent pronation (this would be the weird curved hump you see in most "ergonomic keyboards"). This is also why split keyboards tend to have adjustable feet for angling them closer to a 'natural' hand shaking position. It is also why "ergonomic mice" are vertical.

In conclusion, every keyboard you showed in that video had absolutely terrible ergonomics. They look cool, but if someone actually cares about minimizing RSI they should pass on all of these. It is important to identify what type of strain is causing discomfort and choose a keyboard that minimizes that. For Ulnar Deviation you should look at split keyboards. For wrist extension you should look at moving your keyboards further away, getting a good wrist rest, etc. For pronation you should get a keyboard that rotates the resting position of your hand closer to the position of a handshake (Such as the Logitech ERGO K860). If you have finger pain or "trigger finger" than it may be worth exploring an ortholinear layout, but don't expect it to move the needle that much. If that is something that really bothers you, than you should really consider biting the bullet on learning an ergonomic keyboard layout such as Dvorak, Workman, or Colemak-DH. The best of all worlds would be keyboards like the Glove-80, the Kinesis Advantage 360, the ZSA Voyager/Moonlander, etc. These are all very expensive keyboards, but that's the price to have it all.

[HeisenbergFam]

"saw this pic on Reddit" Dave is the cleanest Redditor who takes baths

[fnneko]

i wouldnt call an ortho keyboard "ergonomic" because it still has your wrists bent in a way that produces ulnar deviation, along with forearm pronation due to your wrists being flat parallel to your desktop. the keys not being staggered reduces neither of these strains on your wrists, and simply provides a comfort that is very much individual based. a tented split ergo keyboard is something to look into if you want an actual ergonomic keyboard.

[xReeQz]

Now try a split ortho linear one. That's what's really ergonomic. The rectangular bricks are good, but way beyond what comfortable typing can be.

[keyboard_g]

Ortho but not split sounds like a nightmare. Look how cramped your hands are together.

[DannerBanks]

Switching to better keyboards is like the US switching from imperial to metric. The outcome makes sense but the process to get there is painful

[MdotAmaan]

My personal take is that apart from looks, there isn't much of an ergonomic advantage with these type of ortho keyboards. Just splitting the board alone would massively improve ergonomics. Id love to see you try something like a dactyl, or even just a corne / lily / kyria / etc

[HuwRees]

April Fool's was 2 months ago, Dave

[Ironhide]

Finally bro has made a keyboard video after 84 years...

[TheHypeCom]

I think Dave is confusing two things here: the reason his wrists don’t feel sore isn’t because the board is ortholinear, but because it’s a small 40% board that doesn’t require you to move your wrists as much. A staggered 40% keyboard would have the exact same benefit. Ortho is mainly an aesthetical difference.

[Its_ok_Rocky]

For those of you that live near a Microcenter and wanting to try this keyboard layout, they sell an Orthlinear keyboard for $40, the Inland 47-Key Mechanical Keyboard. Great little keyboard, that has RGB and hot swappable switches.

[gamingpriests]

"What if I made a keyboard... But I made it a pain in the ass to use!" - average keyboard head

[orienv]

Naturally there’s a divergence of keyboard users where on one side you have people who type like literally pages of pages each day over hours literally using all keys to form words, and those who mainly use keyboards with hotkeys in repetitive workflows such as CAD users or number heavy lines of work. A single style of keyboard such as orthos will eventually diverge naturally as it adapts to the style of the user. You can’t give an accountant a gamer focused keyboard, a video editor a writer’s keyboard etc it just wouldn’t work. It can even hurt the user over time.

[Darkstar]

Wait till he finds out about split keybs

[ja]

I love that you tried ortho! I'm an ortho user myself. I would say, however, that it's *not* inherently more *ergonomic*. The real benefits are, as I see them:
- Muscle memory. Columns are in proper columns instead of shifty diagonals, making it simpler to know exactly which key you are reaching for.
- Size. That Planck you have demonstrates this pretty well.
- The ability to map a numpad or other grid-oriented layouts to a function key and not have the stagger make it weird.

Oh also, I think people who touch type (use their pinkies and adhere to the proper columns) will have an easier time with the transition. That's just my anecdotal observation.

As for why you're feeling less strain when using ortho, are you perhaps touch typing now? I wonder if touch typing is inherently easier on the wrists.

[Godalming]

There are much more ergonomic keyboards such as the corne (also 42 keys) these keyboards adds a couple of changes to the planck:
- Each of the rows for the fingers is staggered to consider the different lengths of each finger
- The keyboard is split so that you can place the halves further apart to avoid being cramped
- The thumb keys curve outwards

[BrandonArnold]

I think it’s true that if we designed a keyboard today, it might be an ergo split ortho type thing. It’s also true that ortho-ness hardly matters at all, for ergonomic or speed properties. Learners would have fewer hiccups on an ortho, but once those key locations are drilled into your muscle memory, staggered and ortho are functionally identical.

[CommanderGinyu]

I could never type with a legend less keyboard lol