Same. I’m actually skeptical of some of the claims, particularly in regards to ortholinear/column stagger key arrangements. In particular I feel like this actually makes the layout worse in some situations. For example, consider the `in` bigram in qwerty. It’s one of the most common bigrams in English, and if you switch to most ergo boards, the distance between those keys will _increase_ which will require a bigger stretch for your index and middle finger, and consequently reduce your ergonomics (at least for that bigram).
HHKB JP is very nice in that it has a slightly reduced row stagger, is a single board, and has extra thumb keys which can be remapped to for layers or moving things such as shift or backspace into more comfortable positions.
> I’m actually skeptical of some of the claims, particularly in regards to ortholinear/column stagger key arrangements. In particular I feel like this actually makes the layout worse in some situations. For example, consider the `in` bigram in qwerty.
In different arrangements of keys, some words will be easier to type than others (and some will be more difficult).
e.g. Comparing Dvorak and qwerty. -- With the example 'in', both of these letters are on home row on Dvorak, whereas both letters require reaching with the fingers on qwerty.
I don't think it's worth putting strong weight on any one example.
I'd point to the distances between (on a typical keyboard); between FT should be the same as JY; and between FB should be the same as JN. -- But on the traditional row stagger, these distances are absurdly different.
I find it hard to believe that the best arrangement of alphabetical keys would be asymmetrical.
The fact is that language is itself not symmetrical (consider 5 major vowels vs 21 consonants and semivowels), so really a better solution is to use a keyboard layout that is optimized to fit a physical arrangement of keys. (Side note: I’ve spent the last three years critically thinking about, learning, and designing a few handfuls of keyboard layouts and keyboard layout analyzers/generators. At the moment, the layouts which works best for me are MTGAP and Graphite, both of which work really well in both an ortholinear and rowstagger configuration. (I also used Dvorak for 15 years prior to switching). Though, the layout iceberg goes pretty deep, so if you don’t like the layouts I mention, there are tons of other layouts to pick from).
The only reason I bring up `in` and ignore the rest of the keyboard is because `in` is right up there with `th` in terms of frequency. Worsening it has a significant and noticeable effect IMO. Though, I could also point to another reason which might make ortholinear not ideal for some people. Consider the left middle finger column on qwerty: EDC. E is simultaneously the most common letter, and also combines with basically every other letter (consider typing `decided`). It’s very common for qwerty typists to use alternative fingerings to avoid the same finger sequences. Commonly you’ll see index finger used for D and C. An ortholinear layout used with qwerty moves D and C further away from the index finger, making the alternate fingerings more difficult/cramped/impossible.
Tangentially, something I think works in the glove80’s favor however is the scooped design. While `in` is pushed further apart, I imagine that the curvature of the keyboard in utilizing the 3rd dimension helps reduce this distance somewhat.
EDIT: Here’s a video demonstrating someone using an ortholinear keyboard with qwerty at an impressive 170+ wpm: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HHFK-GbECWA Note, my comments above have to do with ergonomics. At the end of the day, ~~honey badger don’t care~~ people adapt, and can sometimes get incredibly efficient using tools with dubious ergonomic value. Compare that video with my own using MTGAP and you can immediately see a difference in finger movement: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Msebf_zNaxY
Here's a video with a direct comparison (typing same text, video above video) of row-stagger qwerty vs ortho dvorak; both at about the same WPM.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWjgFqy8IE0
HHKB JP is very nice in that it has a slightly reduced row stagger, is a single board, and has extra thumb keys which can be remapped to for layers or moving things such as shift or backspace into more comfortable positions.