I have been considering an ergonomic keyboard for a while and came pretty close to getting a sofle [0]. But I realised that I actually like having all the symbol keys. So now thinking about trying a keychron with alice layout [1]
It's like anything. You adapt. RSI forced me onto ergonomics so now I have all symbols on a layer. Going back to a normal keyboard now feels weird.
I have layers (most with home row mods) for:
- symbols (with long press-hold to simulate e.g. shift + keys like =, -, etc).
- navigation (vim cursor keys on rh home row, pg up/dn, etc below) & F keys
- numpad
- media & custom app keys (e.g. auto-fill password from my password manager, etc)
I also have long-press to switch window, copy, paste, undo (i.e. holding Z fires cmd-Z), combos for escape and caps.
TBH it's all muscle memory now so they might not be right.
Of course, there's a learning curve, but now I just use 34 keys (2 thumb keys each side, although dedicated shifts would be good instead of shift via home row mods which sometimes misfire).
The main thing is to make up your own keymap that makes sense. Forget trying to learn someone elses.
I thought the same, and went from an Apple standard keyboard to a Moonlander. Some time after that I went to a custom 36-key split ergo board.
It takes a little time to familiarize yourself, but you get very proficient with layers and home-row mods. The main benefit is that every single one of my fingers never has to move more than one key in any direction, and it has markedly improved my wrist health.
On a staggered (aka standard) keyboard layout, common programming symbols like !@#$%&*()_{}:”<>? need Shift anyway. On these keyboard you simply hold Layer button with your thumb instead of Shift.
One advantage is that you can now put the symbols on the home row.
Putting a lot of things on layers instead of having them on hardware is not working for anyone so I can totally understand! What symbol keys are you missing from the sofle? I think most of the "missing" symbols are on the thumb keys.
I have layers (most with home row mods) for:
- symbols (with long press-hold to simulate e.g. shift + keys like =, -, etc).
- navigation (vim cursor keys on rh home row, pg up/dn, etc below) & F keys
- numpad
- media & custom app keys (e.g. auto-fill password from my password manager, etc)
I also have long-press to switch window, copy, paste, undo (i.e. holding Z fires cmd-Z), combos for escape and caps.
TBH it's all muscle memory now so they might not be right.
Of course, there's a learning curve, but now I just use 34 keys (2 thumb keys each side, although dedicated shifts would be good instead of shift via home row mods which sometimes misfire).
The main thing is to make up your own keymap that makes sense. Forget trying to learn someone elses.