Are you interested in an ortholinear keyboard for the Reform Classic, Reform Next or standalone keyboard?
A few of us are interested and if interest is sufficient, we can maybe push for a new keyboard.
This is a limited audience though. Maybe try pushing people from Mastodon and the MNT IRC channel to come here and vote. Other social media platforms would be useful in advertising this as well.
From experience, I know that desktop ortholinear keyboards, especially in their split version, provide excellent ergonomics. However, when it comes to a laptop keyboard—considering its size and the positions in which it is often used, which involve a shorter distance from the body and bent arms—I wonder if a staggered layout might actually be more ergonomic, particularly in terms of hand angles. What do those who use the Pocket think?
I second that.
A column staggered layout might be a much better option. I haven’t received my Pocket Reform yet, but I guess the ortholinear layout will give me not the best time.
Actually I’ve already planned to make a new keyboard for the Pocket. I’ll let you know when things take shape.
Cheers,
Triss
my experience has been that the ortho keyboard is much nicer.
The staggered keyboard may be nicer for the right hand but it is way worse for the left
I think you’re mixing up column stagger with row stagger.
Row stagger is what we know from all the typewriter-inspired keyboards where the rows are misplaces to create space for the mechanics. That unfortunate layout made it through more than a century and is still used in most modern keyboards.
Column stagger is a concept from highly ergonomic keyboards, taking the different lengths of the fingers into account. Think of an ortho-linear keyboard, but the column for the middle finger is slightly shifted upwards. That way the home row key is positioned right under the fingertip. The same goes for the pinky columns which are shifted downwards.
I hope I explained it well enough. I can see, if I find some pictures to share.
Cheers,
Triss
yes your right I did not read that correctly. I have used both and like them.
seems like we are getting to a decent number of people who are interested now.
Dear @minute and @jackhumbert ,
there seems to be a moderate amount if interest in an ortholinear keyboard in the community. 24 (and counting) forum visitors have indicated that they would like to buy (at least) one. I am not sure how many Reform users are visiting the forum frequently, but I would imagine the actual number would be (maybe significantly) higher.
Is there any chance you would be willing to work toward such a keyboard? I am not sure what number of orders you would need to be profitable. I also know that you have other things on your plates right now. But maybe this is a reasonable thing to work towards, given that @jackhumbert seems to already have a working prototype that I’m honestly quite psyched about. What do you think?