I wanted to write a short update to my Emacs pinky / RSI situation.

I am still using my Kinesis Freestyle Edge keyboard. I think I’ve decided on the Glove80 as a replacement, but the price and the inability to easily return it are giving me second thoughts. Its style is very different, and I know I will have a hard time adjusting. Still as someone pointed out to me it’s not like I’m forced to throw away my current keyboard, which is true. I see myself using my Kinesis for work on the Mac while trying the new Glove80 on Linux for blog posts and more leisure-time typing.

I’ve made a few adjustments, however:

Auto-generated description: A split ergonomic keyboard with blue backlighting is connected by a cable, positioned on a large owl-themed mousepad alongside a Logitech gaming mouse.

First, the spread between the two halves is much wider. This is something I was considering when I first got this keyboard, but I didn’t follow through with it. I got used to the wider split within a couple of days. It does make my shoulders feel better and more natural, especially when I’m standing at my desk. With that, I also started using the keyboard’s full tenting capability at all times: I used to have the keyboard flatter when sitting down.

The mouse is in the middle, and since I use it for quick bursts between otherwise typing sessions, it’s fine. When I game, I move it back to the right. I can basically ignore the entire right half of my keyboard while gaming, since most of the action happens on the left.

Gone is the Caps Lock as Ctrl. Caps is just Caps again. I’m still pressing it now and then out of habit, but for the most part, I switched back to using the original Control keys. I try to force myself to use my thumb, which means I have to curve my thumb into my left palm if I use the left side, or I just go all the way to the right and use my Ctrl key there. This is the most difficult part because it’s not just muscle memory: the Ctrl key is out of the way, and it can slow me down.

I also realized that the Windows key, which also acts as the Command key on my Mac, should be way more prominent than this keyboard allows. Thanks to PopClip on the Mac, I don’t use it much for copy-pasting on macOS (and since you have to use your mouse anyway to highlight text in Emacs, having PopClip is just a natural extension that I’m happy to have).

Speaking of the mouse, I know some of you will wrinkle your nose in disgust — but I started using it more in Emacs. Sometimes when I want to select text further down or up from where I am with the mark, it’s just easier to grab it and highlight the text this way instead of using the keyboard. I am also in the process of rediscovering the menus in Emacs (yes, those menus that all of you Emacs gurus love to hide), especially when it comes to reminding myself of useful shortcuts I keep forgetting — like registers, the mark ring, and other org-mode tricks I keep forgetting about.

My pinky still annoys me, but less. I seem to have this habit now of letting it hover over the keyboard instead of resting on the shift key. It’s almost as if I lost my ability to place my left hand correctly and naturally at times. It’s one of the things I hope the Glove80 might help with.