[hollerith]

I, too, found a Kinesis (bowl-shaped) keyboard to be worse than a typical non-ergonomic keyboard with membrane switches. In fact, my worst RSI was during the year or 2 I used a Kinesis.

When a person switches to a different kind of keyboard, particularly if many of the keys are in a different location, he or she must pay closer attention to the mechanics of typing until the keyboard becomes familiar. I have found that this paying of attention to the mechanics reduces RSI, whether I switch from a standard keyboard to a Kinesis or I switch back to a standard keyboard after a long period of using a Kinesis. So if you are sufficiently like I was, then you should wait a few months after switching to a Kinesis before concluding that it is actually better for you than a standard board.

I had RSI (tendonitis) for about 5 years. A large fraction of my keyboarding time during those 5 years consisted of my slowly pecking at a (standard) keyboard with the eraser end of a pencil. I consulted doctors and worried that I would never again be able to work as a programmer.

I cured my RSI and have been free of RSI for about 15 years. I have been using cheap non-ergonomic membrane keyboards (Amazon Basics, $13 each including shipping before the pandemic started causing shortages of computer equipment) for a few years although for much of the last 15 years I used expensive non-ergonomic membrane keyboards (Logitech K750s) out of an abundance of caution.

The "height" of the keyboard (distance between the part resting on the desk and the top of the keycaps) is much lower on the membrane keyboards I have been using over the last 15 years than it is on any keyboard I have ever seen with mechanical switches. The lowness of the height is desirable because I can spend less time monitoring for good wrist position (because if my wrists are resting on the desk every now and then, the position is not as harmful as it would be if my keyboard were taller) and I don't need to bother with wrist rests.

[ben7799]

The problem with the Kinesis is you're never going to always have a Kinesis available if you have to use someone else's computer, so it's really hard to really get to the point you use it correctly without thinking about it.

Dvorak can be a huge handicap too if you can't be 100% in control of every computer you touch.

[hollerith]

>you're never going to always have a Kinesis available

My lifestyle was stationary and uncomplicated enough that I used the Kinesis for 99.5% of my typing except for those times when my RSI was so bad that I abandoned 10-finger typing and switched to typing very slowly with the eraser end of a pencil (for which I usually switched to a standard keyboard).