The Kinesis Advantage keyboard [1]. The height of the keys in each column are different because, well, the length of each of our fingers is different. It’s so naturally comfortable that it goes unnoticed and one’s fingers just fall into the right position. Placing one’s fingers offset left or right is so obviously uncomfortable that it’s basically impossible to have off-by-one typos. There is a lot of subtly well-designed ergonomics to this keyboard (though also some not great bits—looking at you, function row).
I use a custom keyboard with a similar columnar stagger. In addition it's small enough that I can reach every key without moving my hands, which means my accuracy is noticeably better. There's no chance I'm ever going back voluntarily. Typing all kinds of symbols all day just doesn't get more comfortable.
This is why I'm always so annoyed by all the "qwerty vs. dvorak" arguments. It's pretty much the least problematic part of conventional keyboard design.
Could not agree more. Especially for programmers I would argue that the alphabetical character layout matters so much less than where one reaches special characters and the modifiers.
Having used a DIY columnar staggered keyboard for about a year a laptop keyboard feels like using a device that is not designed for humans.
I bought the PCB(Signum 3) and soldered on 42 keys and the controller board. It's got no case but with rubber pads on the bottom it's pretty quiet and thin.
I'm planning to build a custom 3d printed one with a comparable layout but fewer keys. Mostly to try some ideas and features.
It was very good about 5 years ago, and is still quite comfortable.
However I would say that today this has largely been superseded by a myriad of better choices. For the adventurous type there's e.g. Dactyl Manuform. If one does not care so much for the keywell there's Lily 58, Iris or Kyria. For built-in tenting there's ZSA Moonlander, Redox etc.
All of these have better customizability, repairability and portability than a Kinesis Advantage.
Want to try diffent key switches? Use hot-swap sockets.
Want wireless? Drop in a nice!nano microcontroller.
Want to create a crazy custom key layout or macros? You can do anything you want in QMK and flash it to the microcontrollers.
I own a Kinesis Advantage 2, a Lily, and a Corne, and tried a Dactyl Manuform. IMO the Kinesis still wins hands down. I’ve tried dozens of keyboards but the Kinesis is the one I will always go back to.
Why? To be blunt, I don’t care at all about fancy keyswitches, or wirelessness, or portability. I’m simply looking for the most comfortable input device possible.
If non-ergonomic rubber dome keyboards feel like plastic chairs, all of the other keyboards you mentioned feel like fancy wooden chairs. Some of them might be incredibly well-crafted and contour to your body! But the Kinesis feels like a top-of-the-line high-tech massage chair. I’ve tried dozens and dozens of ergonomic keyboards —- and even made one, by designing a PCB and printing it out —- but at the end of the day, the Kinesis is the keyboard I will ALWAYS reach for.
I put all the modifiers on the thumbs. so meta and mac option need to be mapped, and I put a control key on each thumb, space, backspace and newline. so all chords are 1 or 2 thumbs plus a normal key.
I guess that leaves 3 on the thumbs unused ... I should look at that
[1]: https://kinesis-ergo.com/shop/advantage2/