Typing and Keyboards

smokel

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!

stavros

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...

jiehong

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

jmclnx

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.

ivraatiems

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.

bonyt

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.

tsumnia

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

ebbi

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

raincole

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?

istillcantcode

Tangentially related to the lack of computer literacy in younger generations, but there are a lot of speed demons on their phones these days. I have high confidence that there are more people in the US that can type faster than 50WPM with the default Android or iOS keyboard than a physical keyboard. At this point I would bet on a cheap phone shaped USB touchscreen to use as a keyboard with a PC. It would be a cool Kickstarter project if its not already before getting cloned by 6-7 companies if successful. Also looking into using my phone as a keyboard as a write this comment too. I don't know why I have not looked into it sooner, but it seems like a no-brainer now that I am writing this out.

chirayuk

The Goldtouch split keyboards worked wonders for me.

lpghatguy

I bought the same keyboard when I was a teenager as my first "real" keyboard! These days I have a ZSA Moonlander. I adore it! I love how easy it is to program it without any software installed and it's been phenomenal to customize it to fit me perfectly. I just changed all the switches out (in order to be quieter than my stock Cherry MX Brown switches) and replaced them with a set of Gazzew U4 switches. I'm _shocked_ at how far mechanical switches have come along since the days of Cherry dominance. They're super quiet and still have an awesome tactile feel!

harel

Mavis Beacon thought me to touch type on my Amiga as a kid, and I'm grateful to her. In recent years I've been using a Logitech membrane keyboard. It's great for a membrane but mostly it's quiet. I work at night and that's a hard requirement. I'm looking for a mechanical as quiet as the Logitech and it's a struggle. Feels like there is a gap in the market for (really) quiet mechanicals.

sanjiwatsuki

I used to be a big keyboard enthusiast until I did a bunch of typing tests with many inexpensive keyboards. To my surprise, the data showed a statistically significant increase in my typing speed on several budget membrane keyboards.This disturbed me enough to fully convert back to membrane after all of these years. For an idea of the scale, I typed about 140WPM on the HHKB and about 150WPM on the budget membranes.

captn3m0

Good thread to promote: MK Meetup in Berlin at c-Base tomorrow evening (Monday). https://luma.com/hgwfl3pm