Could not agree more with this! I've been a full-time web developer for over 15 years, and always scoffed at the ridiculousness of ergonomic keyboards. But then a few years ago, I started struggling with chronic upper-back and chest pain, mostly from the "hunched," shoulders-forward position that laptops and standard keyboards encourage. It became debilitating enough that I seriously questioned whether I could even continue working with computers.
I tried a bunch of solutions (standing desk, massage, more frequent breaks, foam rolling, ice, heat, NSAIDs), but none helped as much as a split, ergonomic keyboard. I asked my company to purchase the Kinesis Freestyle 2 on a whim, hoping the huge split (up to 20") would help open up my chest and shoulder posture... and it totally has. That back pain and chest tightness have disappeared (not immediately, of course). Being able to "spread out" my upper body at the keyboard feels amazing.
It's probably not for everyone, though: it took me a while (like, months) to truly adapt to the split layout. I worked at it because I didn't really have a choice. I was never formally trained in keyboarding, so it was surprising how often my fingers wanted to "cheat" and wander over to the wrong side of the keyboard. It's noisy and mechanical and satisfyingly clickety-clackety (which I like, but not everyone does). It's also kind of ugly—or at least less pretty than the MacBook Pro it's controlling. But even with those caveats, I recommend it as strongly as possible.
(And yeah, I know this sounds like stealth marketing. But I promise I'm not getting paid by Kinesis... I just love this keyboard! I feel like it helped save my career.)
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Could not agree more with this! I've been a full-time web developer for over 15 years, and always scoffed at the ridiculousness of ergonomic keyboards. But then a few years ago, I started struggling with chronic upper-back and chest pain, mostly from the "hunched," shoulders-forward position that laptops and standard keyboards encourage. It became debilitating enough that I seriously questioned whether I could even continue working with computers.
I tried a bunch of solutions (standing desk, massage, more frequent breaks, foam rolling, ice, heat, NSAIDs), but none helped as much as a split, ergonomic keyboard. I asked my company to purchase the Kinesis Freestyle 2 on a whim, hoping the huge split (up to 20") would help open up my chest and shoulder posture... and it totally has. That back pain and chest tightness have disappeared (not immediately, of course). Being able to "spread out" my upper body at the keyboard feels amazing.
It's probably not for everyone, though: it took me a while (like, months) to truly adapt to the split layout. I worked at it because I didn't really have a choice. I was never formally trained in keyboarding, so it was surprising how often my fingers wanted to "cheat" and wander over to the wrong side of the keyboard. It's noisy and mechanical and satisfyingly clickety-clackety (which I like, but not everyone does). It's also kind of ugly—or at least less pretty than the MacBook Pro it's controlling. But even with those caveats, I recommend it as strongly as possible.
kinesis-ergo.com/shop/freestyle2-f...
(And yeah, I know this sounds like stealth marketing. But I promise I'm not getting paid by Kinesis... I just love this keyboard! I feel like it helped save my career.)