I frequently see comments saying things along the lines of "I'm a programmer, and so my keyboard needs the Function keys", "why do these keyboards not have F1-F12 keys", etc.
That seems to have the "laptop-style keyboard" model in mind: where pressing keys like F5 is cumbersome on a laptop keyboard since it involves holding a Fn key with the pinky finger.
Whereas, with small keyboards like the Ferris (that one of the other replies mentioned).. the keyboard can be so small because it doesn't need to be any bigger. People see "34 keys" and think "104 keys - 70 keys".. whereas the more significant detail is the Ferris allows each thumb to use two keys each. -- With these 40%-and-smaller keyboards, the Fn keys can be put on the thumb keys, and this makes it as easy to type F5 as it is to type an uppercase 'A'.
Similarly: although 40%-and-smaller keyboards will be more complicated to use than a typical keyboard, people discount the cost of moving the hand. With your hands rested on home row, in order to use nav keys, your hands will either have to move from home row, or you'll need to hold down some kind of Fn modifier. -- I see "move hand and hit the key" stated as "just hit the key".
That seems to have the "laptop-style keyboard" model in mind: where pressing keys like F5 is cumbersome on a laptop keyboard since it involves holding a Fn key with the pinky finger.
Whereas, with small keyboards like the Ferris (that one of the other replies mentioned).. the keyboard can be so small because it doesn't need to be any bigger. People see "34 keys" and think "104 keys - 70 keys".. whereas the more significant detail is the Ferris allows each thumb to use two keys each. -- With these 40%-and-smaller keyboards, the Fn keys can be put on the thumb keys, and this makes it as easy to type F5 as it is to type an uppercase 'A'.
Similarly: although 40%-and-smaller keyboards will be more complicated to use than a typical keyboard, people discount the cost of moving the hand. With your hands rested on home row, in order to use nav keys, your hands will either have to move from home row, or you'll need to hold down some kind of Fn modifier. -- I see "move hand and hit the key" stated as "just hit the key".