Hey folks, me again.

Those of you who went from a larger keyboard to a smaller one that required the use of layers: was the transition hard? Could you still type on the old keyboard after?

Context: I was asking the other day about which ortholinear to get for commuting. Although the glove80 is the closest to my current home desktop keyboard, I’ve ruled it out as I don’t think it will fit in my backpack. If it does, it will take up too much space.

So I’m looking at something like the voyager, but with such a small keyboard, there will be a learning curve. I’m used to ortholinear, but I’ve never used layers. And if I manage to adapt, it’d be nice to still be able to use my desktop keywell keyboard at home.

Thoughts?

  • jaredj@infosec.pub
    2·
    3 months ago

    It took me a couple months to stop thinking about layers.

    My first move toward ergonomics was a Keebio Fourier 40%. It had been a few months before that when I started using Colemak on my laptop keyboard; I did that using Windows keyboard settings, and I was taking notes in meetings, so whenever I couldn’t keep up, switching back to QWERTY was a hotkey away.

    After switching to the Fourier, and iterating many times on the QMK settings, that was the month or two where I had to think through all the control keys, symbols, and function keys I was typing. I didn’t quit typing on other keyboards, although I typed on my Fourier as much as possible; and I have not ended up forgetting anything I learned before.

    I’m now on the precipice of moving from a 4x6 Dactyl Manuform to a 4x5 Splaytyl (if I can find those dang parts and get the thing built!) and that’s too small to have things like Tab, Enter, or the backslash on the home layer. I’m nervous. I’ve tried making a 4x5 layout for the DM, but haven’t ended up sticking with it. I couldn’t really get used to keys that are physically there, not doing anything.