A beginner's guide to split keyboards

What about when you’re on the go? Or can we presume split-keyboard users never leave the house

I got the Kinesis Gaming split 5 years ago and honestly it has been a game changer. My wrist pain went away, takes about a week to get used to it but it has been a welcome change. I also feel like I can type faster on it.

The main question should be: are split keyboards any better than normal keyboard?

When I gave it a look, the studies were on the side of split keyboards being the hardware equivalent of snake oil.

But whatever.

And maybe then: are keyboards the best input device in 2026?

My dream is to use this kind of keyboard with my MacBook on my lap. Has anyone tried this?

Can somebody recommend a layout for a programmer for a 54 key kyeboard?

Intensive keyboard used caused me two problems: soft tissue overload in my palms and elbow pain. After trying Microsoft Natural 4000, Kinesis Advantage 2, I finally settled on ErgoDox EZ with Kailh Silver switches.

These switches don't require much force to activate, and I retrained myself to type lightly. This made the palm issue go away. For my elbows, physical therapy and foam rolling made the pain go away. I keep it away by ensuring proper posture when sitting: bending my elbows without turning my forearms inside (like the person pictured on the right in the article) and tilting the keyboard to minimize wrist rotation. I believe this helps minimize tension in the ulnar nerve. If you want to feel that tension then try a few reps of ulnar nerve flossing!

I optimized my typing further with a custom keyboard layout (see https://configure.zsa.io/ergodox-ez/layouts/60Q7r/pjzqDd/0):

1. Colemak as middle ground between QWERTY and Dvorak.

2. Command, Shift, Alt, and Control keys on both sides of the keyboard. I'm Polish and a standard keyboard layout forces you to use the right alt + letter to type diacritical characters (for example ą is Right Alt + a). This prevents you from typing with proper technique, but having two equivalent Alts solved the problem.

3. Hyper (Command + Shift + Alt + Control) and Meh (Shift + Alt + Control) on both sides of the keyboard. I use Hyper for system-level shortcuts (e.g. Hyper + A is Sublime Text; Hyper + Q is Sublime Merge; Hyper + Z is Ghostty) and Meh for application-level shortcuts (e.g. Meh + 2 is a two column layout in Sublime).

4. I have dedicated keys for (), [], and _, so that I can type them without modifiers.

5. There's a function layer with function keys from F1 to F24 - useful for switching panes in tmux!

6. A dedicated mouse layer helps me reduce my mouse use.

If you want to improve your workplace ergonomics I suggest taking an iterative approach and making full use of customization abilities in the software and hardware you own.

I also made a special belt for my keyboard: each half had it's holster and I was able to type standing with my arms and wrists completely straight. This helped a lot with alleviating elbow pain.

Be advised, the standard rp2040 split board design paradigm has extreme ESD issues and will degrade and fail with time if you live in a dry climate.

Prepare your wallets....

Are the touchpads workable?

Analog desktop synthesisers localise signal to noise ratio as 1:1.

A 2KH sin wave sampling at 1000 Hz reconstructs to 1000 Hz.

I used a Kinesis Advantage for YEARS AND YEARS until I let it go ahead of a x-country move last year. It needed a bunch of repairs at that point, and I had drifted into using a different keyboard, so it seemed rational.

Since settling in our new home, though, I've been kinda pining for another one. The disadvantage of the KA though is that it's huge on the desk. The 360 seems like it might be a BIT more space efficient, but I haven't pulled the trigger on anything yet.

I moved from a regular keyboard (freestyle hunt-and-peck) to a corne (touch typing), ditching qwerty for Colemak Mod-DH. It took me six months to really get comfortable with it. At month four I was almost ready to kick off the training wheels (the training wheels here being the layout printout I looked at while typing).

Five years later, I have no regrets. It's easily the best thing I've done for productivity, ever. My fingers are my BCI. Effortless.

I keep the two halves far apart: wider than my shoulders so my arms are angled outwards and my chest is up and I'm sitting up straight. And I modified the keymap to work just the way I intuitively expect it to.

I can still type ~60wpm on qwerty on a standard keyboard. My phone is qwerty and I have no issues typing on it. Muscle memory of my posture and arm position makes this possible.

Why would you need a keyboard in the age of local llm writing everything you say directly on your XYZ application?

Note: column staggered is harder to adjust to than a split keyboard

I did not realize this when I switched from one split keyboard to another. It’s fine, but it was a difficult adjustment.

Sort of related: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwriter

Saw this in a YouTube video of an old tech TV program episode. It was a failed product. Maybe single-handed keyboards could come back as an inspiration for modern versions?

My hot take: go to https://www.zsa.io and buy either the Voyager or Moonlander. They're both excellent, well built, offer integrated training, and you won't have to worry about anything else.