💾 Archived View for mouseless.cities.yesterweb.org › thoughts › keyboards captured on 2023-07-22 at 16:26:49. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
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I don't use a mouse, at all. I interact with my computer entirely from my keyboard, which gives me all sorts of challenges to unpack. Especially since I need to use a special keyboard to avoid upsetting my nerve pain; the forearm pronation and funny wrist angles were causing me long term issues that I've never been able to shake.
Quite frankly, a laptop keyboard is convinient. You don't need to assemble it or put it on, there's a mouse alternative (or two, if you're lucky) built in... I will often tolerate the immense pain just to bash out a quick message. And then I keep scrolling, and talking, and before you know it, I feel like my arms are both frozen solid *and* on fire, and being stabbed. And then that doesn't go away for a few days, and I swear to not be lazy, and then it eventually happens again, a bit worse than last time.
The conflict of "my back hurts too much to get out of bed" and "using a normal keyboard hurts my arms too much" has been an ongoing struggle for me, which really sucks. I've done some thinking about a keyboard better shaped for using in bed, since my current one forces my wrists to bend strangely with my arms and legs straight (which is generally a more comfortable way to lay down, I dunno about you).
For one thing, my current keyboard is too big. I have a keebio iris, and I have probably pressed the top row about less than 100 times total (not counting when you mash F11 to get into the BIOS or whatever). But annoyingly, the easy to lose keys aren't the issue.
It's the 6th column that's causing me strife, the one where control, tab, etc all live on a normal keyboard. I can tell that removing that column would get me way closer to a comfortable keyboard both in and out of bed, but.. I like having that column, damn it. The right hand one I could live without, the only things I use there are enter and ', which could get relegated to a layer with no issues. But losing the left column would mean finding a new place for my number layer, Tab, and Escape. The last two aren't so bad, but having easy access to numbers (which then appear on the home row) is pretty important. I don't want to put that on a layer, and all my thumb buttons are taken or too awkward to reach anyway.
My current setup is like this:
_____ _____
| | |print|
| del | | scr |
___________|_____| |_____|___________
| | |back | | | | |
|ctrl |super|space| |space|shift| alt |
|_____|_____|_____| |_____|_____|_____|
I feel like 3 thumb keys is a good amount. Maybe there's a keyboard that squeezes a 4th in, I guess on the "inside" next to my (back)space. That's about the only place left i can think of, and I think putting numbers + enter there makes sense.
Well I guess talking about my problems walked me into finding a solution, huh. But then again, finding something that's basically a spicy Corne is gonna be a pain, especially when I don't have the motor skills or tools to solder it together myself. This keyboard I use now cost about $550AUD to be assembled and shipped from the US, and... I can't throw around money like that, you know. Then there's the issue of leg mounting. The iris mercifully has tenting holes on the side, designed for bolts to be screwed into. And that gives me something to run yarn through, and *that* gives me something I can thread backpack straps through, with clips to hold it on my thighs.
I would love something more tailor made, though. It's about as durable as you'd expect, and something designed with a slot already would be way better. But I don't own a 3d printer, and the kindness of random strangers doesn't often lead to "I will design an entire keyboard case for you, print it, and send it". Which I totally understand, but I don't have the money or skills to do that sort of thing myself. Maybe when I start earning something "close to the poverty line" instead of "well below it"... (thinking emoji)