Blue-Sky Tech (OT)

[UPDATE No. 2, AKA UPDATE to the UPDATE: This is so cool. I figured it out!!! I managed to open the Sweep in Vial, and I figured out how to program the "tapdance" mods. Too long and not interesting to give all the details, but I think I'm going to be able to figure out how to do 90% or even 95% of what I originally wanted to do. I've actually programmed alpha keys on the top layer to double as Control, Option, and Command. Plus I'm getting used to the little keeb after some practice. I'm as fired up now as I was depressed when I wrote the first update. This ain't over yet babies!

Onward.]

[UPDATE after I learned a little more about what I'm talking about: In my 12-step program we have a principle that states, "continued to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong promptly admitted it." Well, I was wrong. The keyboard described below, which I bought because it was the cheapest 34-key keyboard I could find, arrived yesterday. To my dismay, it is not flashed with the firmware it has to have to use the software I need. It uses VIA, and I need Vial, which has the "Tapdance" feature that would allow me to assign different actions to the same key, such as the shift functionality I described in this post.

Another quote: you remember in Goodfellas when Henry Hill narrates in voiceover, "It was among the Italians. It was real greaseball sh*t." Well, these minimal keyboards are real hotshot sh*t. It is among the mavens and the keyboard fanatics. For instance, many of them require you to do your own programming and many of them sell out after limited runs. Mine was 3D printed and handmade to order. That is, the whole category is mostly a hobby among keyboard wizards, some of whom code or program for a living and who use various programming languages and are comfortable working directly in code. Whereas I couldn't even define any of those terms with a gun to my head. Michael W. Plant asked which Ferris Sweep I bought and where I got it, but I can't recommend the one I bought...unless you're competent to flash your own firmware (which, the Vail website tells me, casually but hilariously, I might have to code myself. Right, that's going to happen).

The only products in this category I would recommend are by ZSA. ZSA is the hotshot sh*t made ready for prime time. The ZSA Voyager is a fully developed consumer product. A Voyager was what I really wanted, but I was too miserly to spring for one. I bought the Sweep trying to get something "almost as good" but cheaper. ZSA's products are expensive, but part of what you buy is the programming software which is powerful and easy to use. It's called Oryx, and you can try it out online before buying. VIA and Vial are free and can be used online, but VIA is very simple and doesn't allow for a lot of the functionality Oryx does. It's mainly just for layout remapping. I knew that, as is the case whenever you try to cheap out, it was a calculated risk and that I might just be throwing money away. And, well, sure enough. It was a gamble.

Here are reviews of the ZSA Voyager by my two favorite online keyboard reviewers, Ben Vallack and Ben Frain.

I considered just deleting this post but there have already been lots of comments [Featured Comments have been added] and oh well, TOP is surely warts 'n' all. As John Hall commented, "Mike, you're nuts. But we love it." Fortunately, I am at the stage of learning Colemak in which I'm just typing lowercase nonsense words on keybr.com and Colemak Club. So I can use the Ferris Sweep I bought just for the alpha characters (remapped to Colemak, which is easy to do) to experiment with the 34-key form-factor. Thus it still works for demystification, to an extent. So not a total loss. 

I'll leave this up, but proceed here with caution.... 

By the way, this will be the last keyboard post until February 2025. I started this "voyage" in February '24, while I was recovering from my pacemaker procedure and couldn't play pool. I'll report back at the year mark. Till then!]

[Original post:]

I wrote about demystification recently, as you might recall if you are following along. The idea is simple: when you learn about something new, you just have to try a few things for yourself, to help you come up to speed in terms of direct personal experience.

This is my next experiment:

Screenshot from this video

Rad, huh? It's called a Ferris Sweep. The Sweep was originally designed by Pierre Chevalier. Mine's supposed to come today.

I bought it because it was the cheapest limited-key keyboard I could find. There don't appear to be many used ones out there. It's a mechanical keyboard, but the keys and switches are low-profile types called Choc 1, developed by Kailh. You'll notice it has 34 physical keys. These consist of 15 alphabetical (alpha) keys and two thumb keys per side.

So how does a keyboard like this work? It seems to have too few keys, right? But actually it can have as many as 340 136 direct keys, and each key has multiple possible functionalities. They're accessible through layers.

You already know what a layer is. On your keyboard, you press a modifier key called shift, which gives you access to a second layer that includes capital letters and, on the number row, symbols. The Sweep keyboard and others like it just put more keys on a different layer, and use multiple layers. How many? You decide. I think the Sweep supports up to 10 layers [CORRECTION: VIA, which you use to program the Sweep, supports up to four layers]. Not counting regular shift, I'll probably use three. Others use additional layers for things like gaming, audio controls, or mouse movement keys.

On the base layer, Layer 0, the 30 alpha keys will be arranged in standard Colemak, the layout I've been learning. (I have the luxury of choosing a different layout because I've never been a touch-typist in standard QWERTY. I've been typing with 3–4 fingers and one thumb since I was 14.) My modest twofold goal is: 1.) 40 WPM without conscious thought or much effort, and 2.) comfort and no pain for my hands. Colemak was invented in 2007 to be easy on your hands and comfortable to use, and 40 WPM is thought to be the approximate universal average for all typists. I've been practicing Colemak every day for the past month. It's going slowly but well: I'm up to 15–25 WPM when typing exercises in plain lowercase text. I like Colemak a lot. Muscle memory is about 30–40% there, getting better steadily, albeit at about the speed of the hour hand on a clock.

My main layer of 30 keys are arranged like this (this is standard Colemak):

This illustration shows an ortholinear arrangement of keys, meaning a plain grid. The Ferris Sweep uses what's called a vertical stagger to make the rows easier to reach for each finger:

This is (obviously) the right-hand module. The labeled keys are thumb keys. The grayed keys are the right-hand home row, which as you can see is arranged to fall more comfortably under your fingertips.

Here you can see the intended benefit of minimal-key keyboards: no key is ever more than one unit away from the home row. And since more than 70% of the alpha characters you type will be on the home row in Colemak, this minimizes the use of your hands and eliminates uncomfortable "reaches," especially with the weak and easily damaged pinky finger*, which now only has to go one unit up and one unit down and that's it.

The thumb keys on the right side are Backspace and Raise. The corresponding left hand thumb keys are Space and Lower. Raise and Lower are how you get into and out of the other layers, but more about that in a minute.

V. cool
But you might have already noticed a problem: where the heck are the plain old shift keys?

Here's a neat thing about programmable keyboards. The shift keys are wherever you want them to be.

Normal modifier keys like Option (Alt), Command (the Windows key) and regular shift keys don't do anything on their own; the shift key just shifts. You can tap it ten times and nothing will happen. But on a programmable keyboard, you can program keys to perform multiple functions. The most important are typically called home row modifiers (or mods). I'm planning to put my shift key under my ring fingers, which in Colemak are the R and I keys. Tap on those keys, and I'll get an "r" or an "i." But hold the same key down, and it temporarily becomes the left or right shift key. (You can even adjust the number of milliseconds it takes to register as a hold rather than a tap.) So, to type capital "R," I would hold down the I key and tap R. This means I never have to reach with my pinky to hit shift. Other keys on the main layer can similarly become the other modifiers like Option (Alt) and Control.

It's very cool in practice.

You can actually program each key to do many different things. For instance, holding down the C key could be programmed to be Command-C for copy. You can also program a double-tap and double-tap-hold. I already have my current keyboard programmed so that the hyphen key also gives me an em-dash:

-        hyphen (tap)

–       en-dash (option-tap)

—      em-dash (hold)

And that's very nice, because, as you know, I use em-dashes a lot in my writing—like so.

As far as the Raise and Lower keys are concerned, I'm planning to set them so that a tap toggles the layer, meaning, tap the Lower key and it will go to the next layer down and stay there until you tap Raise to get back out of it again, but press and hold the Lower key and it changes to the next layer down for only as long as you hold the key down. (There are technical names for these actions but I forget what they are at the moment.) I've yet to see what programming options are actually available.

I've made a list of all the keys I normally use, and I've been planning my layers, but what usually happens is a process called iteration—you program your keyboard and layers however you think makes the most sense, try them for a while so you can see what works and what doesn't, make any changes you think need to be made, then use that for a while, rinse and repeat. So I've been planning the first iteration for when the Ferris Sweep gets here, but I'm assuming I'll move on from there.

Is this meaningful?!
The big investment, of course, is the time I'll have to spend to learn how to use these innovations. And the underlying Big Question: am I likely to stick with this little minimalist board? Seems doubtful. I'm not a maven. But I want to try it for a while to see what I can learn. Gotta try things for yourself and gather data as you make up your mind, same as with cameras, photo editing programs, and so forth.

I only know one thing for sure, which is that I do not intend to become a keyboard hobbyist. I just want to find what will work for me going forward, and that'll be that. The options even include falling all the way back to the 3–4 finger and one thumb method on a Microsoft-style "ergo" faux-split keyboard, if need be. Whatever works. In the end the point is what you type, not how.

Mike

*Lots of people with RSI (repetitive strain injury) have problems with their pinkies and the tendons and muscles on the side of their hand opposite the thumb.

Original contents copyright 2024 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. (To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below or on the title of this post.)

Featured Comments from:

James Weekes: "Your readers are now organizing an intervention for your keyboard habit."

Michael W Plant: "Hi Mike, I would love to have had a link to where you got this item from as the story behind it is really interesting and after reading your stories on keywords, I am tempted to try them myself. As a writer you always bring interesting things to the table with your blog, so please keep this up, as the things you bring to your blog I do not often find on other websites. Reading your blog reminds me of a newspaper, as I often encounter subjects on your website that I would not otherwise find and the keyboard topic is one of them. Now that you have mentioned it, I have found myself interested and thinking about it. Whereas, I would not have ever thought about this subject beforehand. I am dyslexic and I suspect that one of these keyboards would really help my typing, as I have always struggled with the standard keyboard that comes with the Mac laptops that I have used for years. So please give us a link to where you purchased this new keyboard, so we can see what it is exactly that you brought and please continue with telling us how it goes when you have put this new keyboard though its paces."

[Ed note: See new Update above.]

Jay Salisbury (partial comment): "As a very long term reader I long ago realized I enjoy your writing and your story, beyond any specific interest in photography. In that vein, you've opened my eyes to the possibilities of a non-standard keyboard and sooner or later I think I'll try this sweep or something similar."

Eric: "My eldest built one of these this school year, and has been using it whenever he's not out and about on his laptop. It's taken concerted practice to be able to type reliably on it and learn where the letters are (and when necessary, remap them). Personally, I'm in the M series clicky key camp, and can deal with a straight keyboaard as long as the mouse is on the left."

Sroyon: "Re 'But on a programmable keyboard, you can program keys to perform multiple functions.' For anyone who is using a regular keyboard and wants to do something similar, you can do so with a program called AutoHotkey (free, open source). For example, I programmed my right-Alt key to give me an em-dash on a single press, but when I press and hold, it works like a normal Alt key. My Caps Lock is mapped to Shift, because I seldom use Caps Lock, but it's often easier to reach than the actual Shift key below it. Long-pressing the close square bracket key types out my email address. I have keyboard shortcuts for launching various programs. And so on. The list of my customisations is a long one. As Mike says, it's a process of iteration. I have probably spent more time tweaking these than I will actually save in the long run. But that's okay, because the tweaking is inherently fun for me."

[Ed. note: AutoHotkey is Windows only.]

Arch Noble: "After all this—how many posts has this been now, about how many different keyboards and philosophies about keyboards?—wouldn't it have been easier and more productive to have just taken that typing course back in high school and learned how to touch type?? You would be amazed how easy it is."

Mike replies: Oh, absolutely it would have been. Not sticking with touch-typing when I was 14 turned out to be among the top 10 worst decisions of my life. Top 20 at least. I absolutely wish I had done it right from the start, yes.

Comments

[John Camp]

Let me see if I've got this right: You don't want an ordinary camera with a video switch because its (invisible) presence bothers you. But you have a keyboard with ten layers and that *doesn't* bother you. Have I got that right?

[Not really...I don't know yet if it will bother me or not. It hadn't arrived when I wrote that, and I need at least a few weeks to try it out. As I said, I just want to try it, so that I have some direct personal experience of some of the things I'm reading about. I hope and expect that this will be learning experience for me, and I don't demand any more of it than that. --Mike]

[cerement]

If you’re going with Colemak, look into Colemak-DH (or “Colemak Mod-DH”) – moves D and H into better spots to match their frequent use – https://colemakmods.github.io/mod-dh/

[I started on that, but regular Colemak is supported on Mac and I can switch to it with the click of the mouse. So I switched to regular Colemak for the sake of convenience. So far I think I like it better, but then I'm not a speed typist. --Mike]

[Kye Wood]

YOU
SIR
ARE
A
SUCKER
FOR
PUNISHMENT

Make no mistake, I applaud your zeal. But wow, typing on this reminds me of programming in 'assembly' instead of using a 'programming language'.

Just quietly, between us, have you tested the latest voice to text functionality? It can make a keyboard irrelevant. Just sayin'

[Wolfgang Lonien]

Looks interesting. So I looked up Colemak for Germans, in https://colemak.com/Multilingual#German_.28Deutsch.29 - but that still wouldn't solve my thoughts about where to put all that AltGR and so on. "Wherever you want" might be your answer, but I'm afraid I'm getting too old for that, muscle memory and all...
Nice article, thanks!

[jim]

This makes my head hurt! I will just keep typing with one, sometimes two fingers!

[robert e]

Since you brought up keyboards, I'll report that I've been trying out Logitech's K860 ERGO keyboard https://www.logitech.com/en-us/products/keyboards/k860-split-ergonomic.920-009166.html

A la Microsoft, Logitech took a fairly standard PC 101-key layout and footprint and 'sculpted' it to a more ergonomic but fixed shape, adding a split, tenting and splay. Logitech gives the rows a slight radius to further accommodate hand anatomy.

Top marks for build quality and materials--unexpectedly sturdy-feeling with a padded palm rest with just-right texture and firmness. There are legs to optionally tilt the keyboard up at the front at either of two angles. Best feature for me is that it's dual-OS and pairs with multiple devices, which makes switching between Mac and Windows machines quick and easy, and all the keys are where they should be in either case and labeled for both systems where needed.

Unfortunately, I don't like the keys. They're scissor/membrane (a feel I dislike), require more pressure than I like, and keys like Enter and Backspace are on the small side (I miss occasionally, though I expect I'd acclimate).

I have various niggles and likes, but them's the highlights.

[Keith]

You said, "So, to type capital "R," I would hold down the I key and tap R."

How do you type a capital I?

[By holding down R and tapping I. I is right-shift, R is left-shift, just as your laptop keyboard has two shift buttons one on each side. --Mike]

[Herman Krieger]

Not many people seem to be getting on (key)board with you.

[DavidB]

Is dictation an option?

[Jeff]

Oh my. Fits right in with your camera contraption. Seems you have a rebellious streak (often bordering on reverse snobbery) for many of your product preferences and choices. Did you ever try the borrowed Monochrom? Simple as it gets.

[hugh crawford]

Gee I have things I actually need to get done today and you made me Google Ferris Sweep. Now that’s a rabbit hole of many dimensions.

[John Camp]

To chip in again, I also bought a Logitech K860 (as did robert e, above.) I found it quite easy to adapt to, although it really forces you (or me, anyway) to sharpen up on the touch-typing. It's like a standard keyboard that got melted. I didn't notice right away, the leveling legs on the bottom actually have two components, raising it either lower or higher. I haven't had it long, but I do think it helps my wrists.

[John Hall]

Mike, you're nuts. But we love it!

[Malcolm Leader]

I just got the GKM-Combo 1 a full-size "normal" QWERTY keyboard. I'm in love with it. I've been typing on MacBook Pro units for over 10 years, and I've never been super satisfied. The GKM has conservatively added 5 WPM to my typing, already at about 20 WPM. I compose as I type so the WPM number isn't that important. The GKM keyboard uses Cherry switches, considered the industry standard. I always believed that the prudent place to spend your money is with your interface with the world. This is similar to stereo equipment where the turntable and stylus as well as the speakers are the most important components in your system.

[Jim Arthur]

I think its time to test drive the Logitech ERGO K860. It may not look like a Borg input device but its easy on the wrists and customizable to some degree. The shiny brochure says you can use its unifying dongle with a Logitech mouse and Logitech Flow to move between multiple paired devices, remap function keys, create keystroke shortcuts/mouse gestures/App-Specific settings and its two AAA batteries last for two years. Its also got Bluetooth and three pairing keys so you can pair it with your phone if you like. I just use mine to toggle back and forth between Apple and Windows laptops and appreciate that the keys have text for both systems.

[JTK]

"Here are reviews of the ZSA Voyager by my two favorite online keyboard reviewers, Ben Vallack and Ben Frain."

Yeah? well mine are, Ben There and Don That!

[robert e]

[Ed. note: AutoHotkey is Windows only.]

For Mac, try Karabiner-Elements at https://karabiner-elements.pqrs.org

Free, open source, community supported (you can download rule sets uploaded by other users).

I use it to make my Windows keyboard act like a Mac keyboard and hot-key launch a program or two, but it's capable of much more (though I'm not ready to invest the time).

[Severian]

will there be a "Keyboard" category? I think there should be.

[Kye Wood]

That's a dilly of a pickle [bites apple].
Hey Mike. How ya gonna program that keyboard without a... keyboard?

This post. This is why I read this, and only this, blog g. You really write good :-)

[H Bernstein]

Oh boy, I haven’t checked VSL yet, but just wait until Kirk reads this post!

[Jeff]

Ok, I get it now. Instead of sparing us a new post until next year, you’re just going to keep updating this post along the way.

[Yeah, but what would you have to complain about if I didn't? ::wink:: By the way, I'm up to 15 WPM on the whole alphabet in Colemak using the split Dygma Raise with the awesomely smooth and solid Gamakay Mercury switches. Knew you'd want to know. ::wink and smiley:: --Mike]

[Jeff]

Complaints bothersome? Imagine being a TOP reader. ::wink::