[j74k]

OTOH, UNIX tradition is the reductio ad eruditionem of every recurring expression.

This is not the perfect consonance with recent idolatry of UNIX keyboards that I imagine a number of proponents believe it to be.

Has there been a study of the ergonomic and productivity effects of various keyboard designs?

I type in the region of ten thousand words every day and I have no adverse physical symptoms, after almost three decades of continuing typing. Not continuous. I suppose continuous typing is inadvisable.

I hope you don't take my comment as derogatory, it's merely suspicious of the whole rigmarole that keyboards are involved in, and I have spent many more days in search of the ideal keyboard,myself. I have serious doubts about my chances of overcoming the importance of screen input devices, so far as my own use is concerned. Really, I can't believe it is impossible to produce a superb quality mechanical keyboard, even inside the tolerances of a laptop. Business margins are desperately short sighted in this regard. I will tell anyone unfortunate to be within earshot, how the first manufacturer of such a laptop will take my programmatic heart until I am thoroughly retired.

[m463]

I think most typing problems could be cured with a good wrist rest and good posture.

The wrist rest should keep your wrists straight and keep them off the cold desk and its sharp edges.

Posture should keep your head balanced over your neck, not holding it forward or backwards. The monitor height should support this, and it should be straight in front of you. Your shoulders should be relaxed and your elbows should be around 90 degrees to help your wrists.

By the way, laptops are not ergonomic. There are no OSHA approved laptops.

[barbs]

My impression is that RSI differs from person to person, which means the solution differs from person to person depending on what is strained. For some, a new keyboard layout fixes the problem. For others, simply changing to a less strenuous editor like Vim helps.

[m463]

cruising around work and checking people's setups...

The overwhelming majority do nothing. Many folks do everything on their laptop (not possible to be ergonomic) and most desktops lack any sort of ergonomic planning (monitors off center, no wrist rests, etc)

There's a lot of low hanging fruit out there.

[knorker]

Health issues aside, I will pay a fraction of a cent per hour for a keyboard that feels better, and a mouse that feels better.