> fulfill a daydream of optimization that oftentimes never gets realized

with so many things, creating something like this maybe you start like that but end up realizing you just wanted to express yourself. challenging the norm is a given and popularity is just a plus.

On the one hand, yes… no, in fact three things:

1. On the one hand, yes. It can be very idealistic. You might imagine that you will achieve a new level of productivity where you will look down on your previous level and think: “How did I ever get anything done down there?”

2. Computer input optimization often gets derided with some variation on the “my typing speed is not the bottleneck when writing code”. But first of all, productivity in the immediate sense might not be the point: the point might be ergonomics and health. And it sounds silly to get health issues by just sitting and typing stuff and yet… well, it does happen a lot, apparently.[1]

I have done some optimizations with regards to my keyboard but the holy grail for me (I feel like) is stenography (which you mentioned). But I fear that I’m not the kind of person that could devote something like on average 30 minutes a day for multiple months to that.

3. Things like optimizing my setup is what makes me excited. So if I can keep my idealism in check then the journey itself will have been worth the effort.

[1] You’re screwed either way: if you’re in a physical profession (a “trade”) you wear your body out. If you are in an office job you either don’t use your body enough, get some kind of ergonomic problem, or get burnout from being too much in your head.

I daydream sometimes of a day where someone manages to optimize keyboard input all the way down to just a few switches without making it too difficult to transition from QWERTY.

That is the dawn of seriously practical wearable computers. I think it would be a far bigger leap than smartphones ever were.

We already have mobile versions of every other computer interface without much, if any, compromise... except the darn keyboard.

The transition is the hard part for sure. I love reading about all this cool layout stuff, and it makes total sense for people who speed-type as part of their job (eg stenographers) or have some disability that precludes QWERTY usage. But for the vast majority of people (eg anyone who will be put into a situation where they will have to type on some keyboard that isn’t theirs more than once every two years) a non-QWERTY interface is not worth the investment.

Dvorak user here. I just love the fact that nobody else can use my keyboard.

Worth it.

I totally agree with you in theory but for this specific board, can tell you that it improved my typing speed ~10wpm, and completely eliminated my RSI issues.

When I say I had major RSI issues, I mean I once had to spend 6 weeks typing with only my left hand bc the right hurt so bad. So it was worth it just for getting rid of that.

But in general I totally agree with you. I think about that a lot when optimizing like VSCode settings, for example. Like "this isn't really productive work here. it just feels like it."

Ya this is exactly the kind of bike shedding I get wrapped up in sometimes. Lately I have been creating custom shelving and storage in my office for a clean look and better optimization for lighting, camera, and sound.

I realize I could be working on real work when I do this, but I enjoy it and I find it to be a needed break from real work as well as actually engender a bit more excitement in myself to get back to work.

Its nice to enjoy optimizations that you have worked on and implemented yourself.