[pkamb]

An interesting wrinkle in these "column" keyboards (where Q-A-Z are lined up in a column rather than staggered) is that I self-corrected for this deficiency years ago; my left pinky hits Q-A-Shift, ring finger hits W-S-Z, middle hits E-D-X etc.

The W-S-Z fingering leads to a nice curve that mostly follows the movement of your finger, just like what you get on the right side of the keyboard (U-J-M, etc).

I don't know how folks type Q-A-Z with their little finger. It causes immediate hand pain to curl my fingers inward/perpendicular to hit Z, X, C, and V.

I imagine this method was only taught in the first place thanks to clueless typing teachers who thought "first keys on the left = first left finger", ergonomics be damned. Does anyone else type "Z" with their ring finger?

[obrajesse]

Actually, I do. That's part of what has made this design challenging for me. The next thing I build will have a ...somewhat different layout.