Re: Staggered or not ???

Yes, you need to try for yourself. I for one have some distance  
between my shoulders, so the staggered layout lines up with my  
forearms and fingers much better than the TypeMatrix-style columns.  
Kinesis might be OK, I haven't tried it.

Marcus


On Mar 14, 2007, at 10:25 AM, Chuck Esterbrook wrote:

> I can say that I've used both, and the columnar layout is more
> comfortable for me. This would really be your ultimate test--try it.
>
> I believe both the TypeMatrix and the Kinesis Contour (I've only used
> the former) require less finger movement than a staggered keyboard.
>
> I'm sure the original staggering was due to the levers on mechanical
> keyboards and never came out of any ergonomics decision. Also, I find
> the idea that staggering lets you reach multiple letters--implying
> that columnar does not--to be laughable. I reach multiple letters on a
> columnar layout, too!
>
> -Chuck
>
>
> On 3/14/07, Yatin Sethi <[email protected]> wrote:
>> Hi guys,
>>
>> I have always been reading on the staggered and columnar layouts  
>> but haven't
>> got any better clarity.
>> There are discussions to support both the viewpoints. Few quotes:
>>
>> In favor of Staggered layout:
>> "The stagger is important in that you can reach multiple letters  
>> with the
>> same finger. Moving those letters directly under a finger reduces
>> efficiency."
>>
>> If the staggering of keys are supposed to have some benefit to  
>> your finger
>> movements, why is it then that the whole keyboard is staggered the  
>> same way?
>> Doesn't it stand to reason that one side should be staggered the  
>> other way?
>> After all, we don't have two right hands...
>>
>> Against Staggered layout:
>> "Today's keyboards descend in a straight line from yesterday's  
>> mechanical
>> typewriters. The reason the keys are staggered is because it gives  
>> the
>> typewriter engineers more space to place their levers. It too was
>> specifically designed to avoid the collision of the levers."
>>
>> "The staggered key arrangement is a bad thing because it forces  
>> your fingers
>> to do a lot of diagonal reaching. When you strike the key down  
>> your finger
>> is thus in a particularly vulnerable position and at a mechanical
>> disadvantage resulting in more strain than is necessary."
>>
>> My only confusion that still prevails:
>> Which one is better: staggered or non-staggered  .. and WHY ??
>>
>> We do see many new keyboards coming up with non-staggered layouts
>> (Typematrix 2030) and many other which are still following the  
>> staggered
>> layout. Any suggestions guys ??
>>
>>
>> Regards'
>>
>> Yatin.
>>
>>
>> --
>> Yatin Sethi
>> www.yatinsethi.com
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 3/14/07, Chuck Esterbrook <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>>   Pretty cool stuff, but too bad the Apple keyboards are still  
>>> staggered
>>> instead of columnar...
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 3/13/07, nkmcalli <[email protected] <nkmcalli%40yahoo.com>>  
>> wrote:
>>>> Some follow-up about dvorak laptops. Check out these pix on Flickr.
>>>> It's step by step photos of a person moving the keys on their Apple
>>>> MacBook.
>>>>
>>>> http://www.flickr.com/photos/69631394@N00/tags/keyboard/
>>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>>
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