103 lines
5.7 KiB
Org Mode
103 lines
5.7 KiB
Org Mode
#+TITLE: My new keyboard
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I have been using [[http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs][GNU Emacs]] for a few years now, at first only in my
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spare time, and for about 1.5 years also for work. Since I've started
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using it for work my [[http://org.ryuslash.org/dotfiles/emacs/init.html][init file]] has exploded in size and my knowledge
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of both emacs and emacs-lisp have as well.
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As a result of using it full time, I have started paying more
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attention to what I'm doing and how I can do it faster or more
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efficiently. Sometimes this means writing a function, and possibly
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hooking it up to some key combination, but sometimes it also means
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changing the way you use your PC.
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The first change was trying more and more to leave the mouse behind
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and use the keyboard for everything. In emacs this is easy, there are
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many window managers that offer this, mostly tiling, and for browsers
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this is somewhat more difficult.
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After switching to an almost completely keyboard-based system, I was
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starting to feel pain in my left pinkie. It was getting tired of
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always having to travel to the lower left bottom of my keyboard in
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order to press that darn ~CTRL~ key that I use oh so very much. So I
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switched my ~CTRL~ and ~Caps Lock~ keys, as is suggested by many an emacs
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user.
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Following that, much later, was the desire to type more efficiently.
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I've read a long time ago already that QWERTY was designed to be slow
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and that it is unbelievable that we all still use it. Now, as I don't
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like mangling my keyboard by using a layout that it was never designed
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for and which was never designed for it, like dvorak, I chose [[http://colemak.com][colemak]].
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I've now gotten the hang of it, for the most part, and I'm happy with
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it, it types pretty nicely and still fits well on a QWERTY keyboard.
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At this point, I'm at the stage where a friend of mine commented to
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me, once, that he would just love to see a burglar/thief make heads or
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tails of the setup I'm using, since my keyboard doesn't show the keys
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in the right place, when you log in you're greeted by an empty screen
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with no hints on how to proceed, the ~CTRL~ key is not the ~CTRL~ key and
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the mouse does absolutely *nothing*.
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*But*, after a while of using colemak and paying attention to my typing
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and paying attention to tips about how to type, like use the modifier
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on the opposite side of the keyboard in relation to the character you
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have to use with it, I got frustrated by my keyboard. Using the
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modifier opposite of the key you're using with it doesn't work well if
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they're hidden away from your hands, all the way down in the lower
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right and left corners. So I started keeping an eye out for keyboards
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that would better fit my needs.
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After weeks, months, of seeing absolutely nothing that interested me I
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finally came across [[http://xahlee.org/index.html][Xah Lee]]'s [[http://ergoemacs.org/emacs/ergonomic_keyboards.html][Ergonomic Keyboards Gallery]], I see my
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vision has come to life. [[http://www.trulyergonomic.com/][The Truly Ergonomic Keyboard]] seems like
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exactly what I'm looking for, *finally* a keyboard that has /big/ modifier
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keys on /both/ sides.
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From the moment I saw it I knew I wanted it, but impulse buys are
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never a good idea, so I slept on it, talked to some people I respect
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and I thought about it, it is €230 after-all. Then after a few days
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there I am, ordering it, having just weeks before proclaimed that I
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couldn't fathom ever paying more than some €20 for one.
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Unfortunately it was still in production, or at least this batch was,
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and I had to wait. I went to pick it up a few days ago, an extra
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charge of €64.12 was added by customs. The people that brought me
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there were intrigued and surprised by my purchase and didn't really
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understand it, but they thought it looked cool nonetheless.
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Now I have it and have been using it for a few days. *Man* is it
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different. It's like learning colemak all over again, although
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luckily this seems to be going faster.
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The few moments I have where I don't screw up every single word and
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have to type everything at least thrice I feel comfortable using it.
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Having both the Control and Shift keys near the sides of my hands, big
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and high up is convenient. Being able to press ~RET~ with either my
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thumbs or my index fingers is much more comfortable than my right
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pinkie. It also makes a nice sound when I'm typing and the keys are
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not all that resistant, so I don't have to press hard, on either the
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modifiers or the keys, which would be a pretty big downer.
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Of course it's not all perfect. I still have to press ~M-x~ with just
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my left hand, since the right ~ALT~ key is an ~AltGR~ key, which is
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completely different and doesn't seem to be recognized as a modifier
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by any program, instead being a direct switch on the keyboard itself.
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But in this case I could look into reprogramming the keyboard's
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firmware, which it supports and allows, to switch the two alt keys, or
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I could use xmodmap. Having my ~Super~ key in the top-center portion of
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my keyboard is an adjustment, I usually use it as /the/ modifier key for
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everything window-manager related. And, of course, having often-used
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keys such as (back)slashes and brackets/accolades in far-away places
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is different. But I'm sure I will overcome these difficulties once I
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get a little more used to it.
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Well, writing this post should help, I feel my proficiency has grown
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about 10%.
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Anyway, if you're writing a lot on the computer, or you use a lot of
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modifier keys with programs like emacs, I won't yet recommend buying
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it, but I will recommend taking a serious look at it, it might be /just/
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what you are looking for, even if you don't yet know you're looking
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for it. In the end it cost me €293,12 and I haven't regretted it yet.
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In fact, I already felt completely lost when using my netbook, to
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which I did not connect my new keyboard.
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