[shadowofneptune]

In my personal experience, you avoid repetitive stress injuries by shaking up how you type. Reaching for the mouse, moving where you hold your hands. It's the old way of teaching typing with a rigid posture that causes carpal tunnel, not the rectangle frame in itself.

Ergo layouts are nice in theory but they make it harder to touch type. The modern keyboard layout is an example of a standard that works: everyone can sit down at a keyboard and start typing, even if function keys are different here or there.

EDIT: Ah, of course I am just one singer in the chorus of self-taught typists responding.

[brightlancer]

> Ergo layouts are nice in theory but they make it harder to touch type.

Because they're the exception? That's a bad rule. The only way we improve things is by creating exceptions and adopting them.

Personally, I switched to ergo keyboards 20+ years ago and I'm much happier for it. I've had to change models over the years and there was always a brief adjustment, but it was minor -- and my hands rest is such a more natural position!

[shadowofneptune]

See, you are demonstrating what I mean right here. I would like to switch just once. The Microsoft ergo model is the closest to a standard, it seems.

[TonyStr]

How do Ergo layouts make it harder to touch type? I learnt touch typing after getting my first ergo keyboard, but I found it a transferrable skill to normal qwerty staggered keyboards with little need for adjustment. My error rate might be 1% higher on none-ergo keyboards, but otherwise I don't notice much difference.

For reference, I use a ZSA Moonlander.

[shadowofneptune]

Personally, the split is a big problem. I don't keep a strict separation of left-hand and right-hand during typing.