I just got a ZSA Moonlander and I’ve been… on an adventure with it. Turns out my typing technique was total garbage so I’ve had to essentially start re-learning how to touch type. That, plus the ortho layout, plus the other ways my layout is now changed (special chars) has made the learning curve feel steep.
Going through all this has made me wonder some things about the long-term, and so I was hoping to lean on folks with more experience for some answers.
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Does learning to touch type on ortho (or a new layout w/ thumb clusters and such) mess with your ability to touch type on normal staggered boards? I still use my laptop when I travel and there is no shot I’ll be lugging around an ergo board.
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Is it worth going crazy with it and trying to learn workman or colemak at the same time? On some level I feel like it might not be that much harder, since it feels like I’m re-learning to touch type anyway.
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Would it be better to start with a keyboard that’s just split, but otherwise the same (Instead of ortho and alternative layout etc)? And maybe later move on to a crazier layout?
By layout on 1 do you mean the actual changed keyboard shape (ortho etc) or the layout of the letters (ie colemak)? I actually feel less worried about changing away from QWERTY since I can always configure that on my laptop, but I can’t change the physical shape of my laptop keyboard haha!
That’s a pretty good point (with layout I meant both colemak and ortholinearity (is that a word?)). I do think it’s additional work to learn colemak on a standard keyboard, but I guess you could go for it if you think it would pay off. I just prefer having the same keyboard for all my computers.