Re:I designed my own keyboard layout. Was it worth it?
by footy on Thursday November 02, 2023 @08:49AM
(#38112780)
I did the same but just went cold turkey (from a TKL mechanical with a QWERTY layout to a split using Colemak-DH). The one I got is also programmable and I eliminated the need to do a lot of weird hand gymnastics. It's only been a couple of weeks and I'm not back up to my old speed, but my shoulders and wrists feel so good!
And I can do about 40 wpm now, so I know I'll get there eventually.
Re:I designed my own keyboard layout. Was it worth it?
by birdyrooster on Thursday November 02, 2023 @10:28AM
(#38113979)
Do you have large hands? I was wondering if Colemak-DH has less utility for people who don’t feel the stretch is significant when using Colemak. I’ve been using Colemak for 11 years and it’s saved my wrists from RSI
Re:I designed my own keyboard layout. Was it worth it?
by lawn on Thursday November 02, 2023 @01:03PM
(#38116626)
It's my understanding that in general Colemak-DH is an improvement (that I agree with), but it's not that significant that you should feel the need to switch, especially if you're happy with what you have.
I'm also under the illusion that Colemak-DH is more preferable if you have smaller hands, because lateral movement is more demanding the smaller hands you have.
And the shoulders, the best part of split keyboard is the open shoulders! It feels good to work on the split keyboard. One of the best investment!
I am glad you created a layout for yourself!
Considering speed, I am all recovered and even surpassed by QWERTY speed. I am average (~60wpm) when it comes to typing speed so it wasn't hard to catch up to it.
My switching experience was also similar to yours. Get to ~35 wpm and start using. It took me 14 hrs to reach there (1hr deliberate practice everyday for 2 weeks.)