Koren, how a staggered layout could be finagled to create an ergonomic setup doesn't change the reality of the Matias Ergo Pro and its standard staggered layout.
I fully agree with this (and with most, if not all, of the rest of your post, in fact).
There’s a perfectly valid reason: it’s what people are used to.
From a commercial point of view, I agree, it's a perfectly valid one. I was speaking of "valid" reasons that doesn't involve habits. Should have been more clear on that.
I don't expect "classic" keyboards disappearing anytime soon, but there is a market for ergonomics keyboards, and when you're ready to sell a split keyboard (or mechanical touch keyboard), you could sometimes consider a slight change in the staggering (at least, an inward staggering is better than an outward one, and most people won't even notice the change at first glance on a split keyboard). I'd say that Matias products don't really compete with the "standardized" keyboard you buy in a supermarket.
But I fully agree that consumer habits plays a great part in commercial choices. Or we would have seen some changes in layouts... even if I don't think you'll type much more quickly on a dvorak after training, a good layout is still more confortable.
Just to be clear, I'm not fond of Dvorak per se, it's just an example... for example, I kind of prefer roll over strict alternating hands, because when I play music, alternating hands is always harder to perform at high speed than rolls. And classic layouts are NOT random or even worse designed to slow down typing... they're just designed so that the top row is used more often
'B' is equally far from both home row positions. There’s no a priori obvious side for it to be on.
That's true, but right-handed people usually flex far more easily their right forefinger inwards than their left one (it's a thing that bothered me a bit when I used a split keyboard for the first time, and when I discussed this with other people, I haven't found many counter-example of this).
But I think you're right for the reason:
However, typing schools have been teaching people to use their left index finger for the 'B' key for almost a century now, so if one side has to be picked, we might as well follow convention.
Indeed, except that's not a universal rule. Most "schools" suggest this, though.
The problem: that's for a stupid reason (even if it's a 130-years old one). And linked to the staggered layout. They decided that Z was under A (little finger), thus V under F (forefinger)... and so B is next to V like N is next to M, so it "makes sense" to reach B with left forefinger (I hope I get this right for QWERTY layout, I don't use it).
But with this, when you move your right hand to the bottom row, it moves outwards. With these rules on the left hand, it moves inwards. That doesn't make sense, and it's one of the reasons staggered layout are even more awful (the simple fact that people can't agree on which finger should be used for a given key is a very bad sign).
Some schools make Z under S (ring finger), C under F (forefinger), and B a "neutral" key that can be reached with the more apt hand.
Yes, habits, I know...
The one that annoys me is the '6' key, which is clearly closer to the left hand, but often gets stuck on the right side of a split keyboard.
Yes, I agree, and it's for the very same reason : over F is R, over R is 4 (left forefinger). Over J is U, over U is 7 (right forefinger). If you ignore the staggering when you set the finger rules, 6 becomes "closer" to the right forefinger.
And yes, that's stupid.
I prefer this finger placement :
Which is not the most common one found in schools, indeed (but not unkown either because it's the one my mother learned in typing class), but it makes B neutral and 6 at worse neutral, but rather leaning to the left side.
That being said, we're driving the thread away from its purpose. Keyboards such as the one we're waiting here solve those issues. One more reason to be eager to get one ^_^
And by the way, I thinking about rewriting a typing tutor for Axios (one that can support any layout), so that I can get used to it quickly, except if there's good ones for ergodox that could work... I'm not sure what are the most efficient strategies for training, though, so if anyone here has ideas on this and want to share them, or are interested in such a project, I'd welcome any suggestions (although probably not in this thread, the Axios forums are probably a better place for this)
Not almost a century, but over 130 years now. Striking TGB with the left index finger and YHN with the right one is already recommended in Ms. Longley's Type-writer lessons (1882).
As I said above, I know, and I disagree with TGB being a column that should be reached on the left forefinger. And some typing schools also disagree.
There's a bit of things that were teached in 1880 that have been revised in the century that followed, this could be another one ^_^
