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pioneered by Apple (AFAIK)

I says to myself, "That doesn't sound right, Apple doesn't really pioneer anything..." After a little searching: looks like Maltron made the first one in 1978. However, apparently a guy named K.H. Eberhard Kroemer published a paper describing a split keyboard in the journal Human Factors in 1972.

So there you are. History!

You can try with a single-hand maltron keyboard. I have used the two-hand version and it is quite comfortable for me.

http://www.maltron.com/keyboard-info/single-hand-keyboards.html

The Maltron -- http://www.maltron.com/. It's been a lifesaver -- not only a better shape (curved, to match your hands) but a better layout of letters (to avoid "single-finger hurdles" and other problematic movements). See also http://www.red-bean.com/kfogel/maltron.html.

More keyboards for your one handed (or no handed) typing consideration:

http://www.maltron.com/maltron-keyboards.html
http://www.engadget.com/2007/10/19/actbrises-touchless-keyboard-for-your-laziness-handicap/

and here's a neat one for CTS, or if you just get tired of constantly moving your hand to the mouse and back:
http://www.alphagrips.com/ it has a wicked tough learning curve though (prolly about the same as frogpad) and if you are like me with twisted fingers that don't quite fit a gaming controller, forget it. Also, the alphagrips is kind of gimmicky and microsoft's curvy, split keyboard is actually pretty good for CTS.

if you just don't like to move your hands off the keyboard to grab the mouse, or if you have a one-hand keyboard for the obvious reason, try a foot-mouse:
http://www.footmouse.com/nohands.php
though I'm sure there are other manufacturers, this one seems kind of expensive. Or if you are handy (heh heh, a pun) you could probably rig one up with the spare mice you have lying around

I use TypeMatrix keyboards with Dvorak skins and I love them! I also have Plum keyboards but I don't really like them much. I also have laser projection virtual keyboards (their error rate isn't low though). From the article I liked the wearable keyboard, though. I will probably buy it, because I think it will be useful for as I use laptops while standing or walking. I have also seen AlphaGrip at shops and they are also interesting. Another company with interesting products is Maltron. Data hands look nice too. However, I have found my TypeMatrix a very good choice and I like it for its small size and a design which is comfortable while maintaining compatibility with Qwerty. This is important for me as I know to type fast in Dvorak only in English. For other languages I am still stuck with Qwerty for fast typing as I didn't bother to learn Dvorak for non-English languages. TypeMatrix has built-in Qwerty and Dvorak modes so I don't need any changes in software to make it switch between the two depending on which language I type.

What about this one?
http://www.maltron.com/

I know someone who uses a keyboard from Maltron ( http://www.maltron.com/ ) and within a few months they went from being able to type for 5 minutes and not hold a mouse to being able to type for several hours with easily use a mouse. If they go back to a normal keyboard the pain returns within 30 minutes, but the Malton keyboard (specifically the Maltron Ergonomic 3d) never causes any pain. Takes a week or so of use to get used to the layout of it though. They do ones with trackballs built in, but I don't know much about those and how good the trackball is for input.

Now what could you possibly do with a one-handed keyboa-- oh, nevermind.

• "The" keyboard for me is the Maltron. Flat keyboards are for lusers.
• The german word for keyboard is "Tastatur"; "die Tastatur". In German, keyboard is feminine, not neuter.

Have you done other things to prevent RSI?

Things like making sure your desk and chair are the right height? Also it might make sense for you to not just change the layout, but change the keyboard. Either use a Microsoft Natural Keyboard or something like this: Maltron Keyboard

If you're serious, then rather than Dvorak, choose one of the layouts specifically designed to help RSI. The leading contender is probably the Maltron layout. The sculpted keyboard helps, too, but they're also available in more traditional flat models as well.

If you're serious, then rather than Dvorak, choose one of the layouts specifically designed to help RSI. The leading contender is probably the Maltron layout. The sculpted keyboard helps, too, but they're also available in more traditional flat models as well.

These are much better split keyboard designs:

http://www.typematrix.com/
http://www.maltron.com/
http://www.kinesis.com/

http://www.maltron.com/

Here is an alternative that's actually more expensive, and I think has been around much longer.

I certainly haven't noticed any keyboards with individually weighted keys, but I've been using mainly the same keyboards since before that article was published. It seems like a good idea, and I'd think there would be less resistance than to a contour keyboard, like the Kinesis or Maltron.

One handed keyboards
One handed keyboards
One handed keyboards

Obviously the optimal layout depends on the type of data you're entering. So what's ideal for a journalist may well be very different to the ideal programmer's layout. The Maltron layout was designed by statistical analysis of a large amount of prose text (since most data entry is prose text), and is pretty close to optimal for that purpose.

And for another layout designed following a statistical frequency analysis, see Maltron. The Maltron layout not only puts commonly used letters under your fingers, but also places the keys to minimise RSI when you do need to move away from the home row.

When I first became interested in computers, I quickly learned of the deliberate inefficiencies of the QWERTY layout. Since I didn't want to waste my time learning an inefficient layout, I decided to not learn to type on a QWERTY layout. I set my sights on someday learning to type on a Maltron or Dvorak keyboard. But being a teenager with no money and a computer with an integrated QWERTY keyboard, I never attained my goal. Besides, as many programmers will tell you, keyboards with a bend towards the english language make typing code more difficult

Earlier this year, I bought a Happy Hacking keyboard off of ebay, and I simply love it. The compact layout with all the functions available and the "proper" positioning of the CONTROL key has made typing a lot easier and faster with less strain on my hands and wrists.

So now, after 20 years of using computers, I'm going to finally break down and learn to type, because although it may be nice to talk about better layouts for the future, the fact is the vast majority of people just don't want to change.

Let's see, no time to download and look at the slashcrap code. Hmm. Removing punctuation and small keypad. Would percentage of junk characters count too? Maybe I will try to inserst some random text here, and hope that someone will fix this stuupit lameness filter. Maybe lowercasing the layout helps?

It's difficult to beat a Maltron keyboard for comfort. But they're not cheap. Not at all.

The Amiga 2000 keyboard was great in its day. Shame it's completely incompatible with anything else :-)

One thing the Amiga got right was the provision of a key marked "HELP" in big letters, and the positioning of the control key. I think the numeric keypad may have also had brackets and maybe an equals sign... which helped a lot...

Hey, how about a keyboard with LCD screens on the keycaps - _really_ switch to dvorak at the touch of a button :-)

What you want is a Maltron.

They make one-handed keyboards just for people like you. They're a little pricey, but you have to admit that they can't exactly spread out their development costs the same way that other companies can with more popular models.


Until the designers start to realise that we're not all 6' tall

Actually, dude, I'm 6'3", and the world is not designed for me at all. Chairs, cars, desk height, door ways, door knobs, etc. I personally think the perfect height is 5'11": tall enough to be "tall" and short enough to fit everything well.

Maltron makes a one-handed keyboard (either hand), that doesnt use chording. I ran across it while looking for my current keyboard. It looks absolutely insane, but might be what you had in mind ;)

Maltron makes a one-handed keyboard (either hand), that doesnt use chording. I ran across it while looking for my current keyboard. It looks absolutely insane, but might be what you had in mind ;)

I also use a Kinesis keyboard, and I am incredibly happy with it.
It has the following (for me) huge advantages:
- your thumbs are no longer wasted, with two fantastic thumbpads, including enter, space, backspace, delete, control (emacs heaven), alt, home, end, pgup and pgdown. This has a really great side effect: absolutely no more long and painful pinky-stretches to get to enter and backspace. Remember that your thumbs are your strongest and most agile digits, and it's a crying shame to waste them both on a space bar.
- the keyboard is separated into two wells, making it so you no longer have to turn your wrist outwards in order to type.
- The wells are shaped _exactly_ like your hand at rest. Let your hand droop in front of you - look at your fingers. The keys are exactly at that depth vis a vis each other.
- The pro is entirely programmable, so if you'd rather use a modern layout like the maltron keyboard, you can. You can see this layout here: maltron layout, but don't buy the maltron keyboard from teleprint, cause I have one and it sucks compared to my kinesis, in size, look and feel.
- The keys are laid out straight up and down, which is a natural movement for your fingers, unlike the diagonal movement a normal keyboard forces you to take.
- (totally anecdotal) My wrists and hands have stopped hurting since I bought this thing. I have never been so happy with a computer product, ever. Well, well worth the price.
- Oh one other note, David Bialick sells these for the best price when I bought mine, and the service is also excellent. His site is http://www.dmb-ergonomics.com/. I am not associated with him.
Cheers,
Paul

For the rest, all I can say is: do what your mommy told to you: go out a little more, have some excercise. Slashdot isn't everything.