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Why are keycaps angled this way?

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isbels:
Hello  :D I am new to this forum as well as keyboards as a hobby. I think the drawing I included kinda explains what I'm trying to get at. Essentially this ''staircase'' like profile confuses me a bit. Why is it angled away from the hand, and not towards it?  Maybe I'm just typing at a really weird angle because I keep tapping the corners of the keycap when I type and it's not the most comfortable. I'm aware that profiles like SA have the first few rows angled towards the user, but why not just do that with the whole set? This is probably a really dumb question but I'm curious what you guys have to say on this

Handke:

--- Quote from: isbels on Wed, 09 February 2022, 01:50:51 ---Hello  :D I am new to this forum as well as keyboards as a hobby. I think the drawing I included kinda explains what I'm trying to get at. Essentially this ''staircase'' like profile confuses me a bit. Why is it angled away from the hand, and not towards it?  Maybe I'm just typing at a really weird angle because I keep tapping the corners of the keycap when I type and it's not the most comfortable. I'm aware that profiles like SA have the first few rows angled towards the user, but why not just do that with the whole set? This is probably a really dumb question but I'm curious what you guys have to say on this

--- End quote ---

About cherry, if you ask yourself why do they slope up, you're simply using it wrong. Maybe the spacebar could be a little bit different, but the other keys are perfect (until a 6 - 7 degrees inclination of the keyboard though, not sure that they're good for a bigger inclination).

About SA, I think that they're wrong, and that they are designed for angled stem.
here:
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=63052.0

nevin:
caps are meant to be "touched" in the center of the keycap. though off center keypresses can be common.

with most non-uniform profile keycaps, the profiles are meant to be a "dish" even if very minimal for some. top & bottom rows being the tallest, middle being shorter.
http://xahlee.info/kbd/keycap_profiles.html

if you're using the extra/extended feet on your keyboard, i'd suggest putting them down and laying the keyboard flat to see what that position feels like. it might seem strange at first if you've used a highly angled keyboard for a while, but give it a chance and see what you think.

qeebored:
I think that if you place your hand such that all finger tips rest comfortably on the home row (R3 as the row is called in keycap profile speech) and from this position move the fingers to reach the row above and below without moving the wrist, the profile angle will seem more natural. The fingertips will form an arc when the knuckle and the upper finger joint extends/flexes, and the lower row has to be angled away from your body in order to be angled perpendicular the center of this arc.

I suspect that the bottom row angle might be uncomfortable if the fingers are stretched out and have a rather flat angle as demonstrated in the drawing, though. 

DubbTom:
Based on your drawing it looks like you type in a poking motion. For me most of the finger movement is up-and-down perpendicular to the face of the keyboard. Cherry profile feels very natural for me because I'm always striking the flat face of the keycap. Cherry profile keycaps do have an aggressive edge though so if you're typing on the corner I could see how it would be uncomfortable.

Also, just wanted to mention that your illustration is very pleasant.

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