Medical Diagnosis Tendonitis
Dan is a graduate student in computer science, and a professional programmer. Diagnosed with tendonitis a year and a half ago, his condition had improved significantly, but he still wore wrist braces while driving his car.

Being able to comfortably use a computer is crucial to both his academic and career goal, but he often experiences pain when using traditional keyboards. "On campus there are many different kinds of computers, and many different kinds of computers, and many different kinds of keyboards. The keys on some of the keyboards are so mushy that it's like typing on sponges. When I have to use one of those keyboards I'm in pain within a half an hour."

After researching a variety of alternative keyboards, Dan bought the Kinesis keyboard based upon his conclusions that "Kinesis has a very knowledgeable staff and the Kinesis keyboard's ergonomic design is well suited to my need." Because he uses a Sun computer for most of his work,he had to first adapt public domain software that allows his PC-compatible Kinesis keyboard to work with his Sun system.

Even though Dan has been a touch typist since junior high school, he used the Typing Tutor software Kinesis provided with his keyboard to ease his transition. "The Typing Tutor lessons provided a really nice introduction to the keyboard."

Initially, Dan experienced some muscle fatigue as he adjusted to the Kinesis keyboard. His body was adapting to the new positions and motions required of it. "When I first started using the keyboard, I'd type for a while and feel like I'd been typing all day." He found that the fatigue went away with more experience and with the addition of rest breaks, as Kinesis recommends. "Within a week, I was able to type pain free for ten hours a day. It's significant to me that I can use it without the discomfort I have a lot of other keyboards."

Dan types faster on the Kinesis keyboard than on most traditional keyboards. "Typing Tutor says my alphanumeric typing speed is over 90 words a minute. My speed on a traditional keyboard is between 70 and 80 words a minute." When programming, his typing speed is still "a little behind - but it's improving." It is taking longer to adapt to the new positions of such keys as Square Brackets and Curly Brackets and Tilde - keys that Kinesis has repositioned.

Dan believes that the Kinesis keyboard has made him a better typist. He feels that he had "gotten a little sloppy" about which hand he used to strike keys. "The Kinesis keyboard forces me to be correct because the keys are divided into separate pads. I found that I always used to hit the B key with my right hand. But on the Kinesis it's a very blatantly left-handed key. At first I kept slamming into the plastic barrier in my attempt to hit the B key with my right hand, although I quickly learned not to do that. I got over this and a few other quirks in about a week."

Dan says that the Kinesis keyboard has also improved his typing posture. To page through a document on a traditional keyboard, he could "lean back and lackadaisically use one or two keys to get the job done. Whereas, with the Kinesis you pretty much have to be sitting in proper typing position to be able to comfortably hit most keys."

It took Dan a little time to adapt to the Kinesis keyboard's columnar key layout. "I found that I kept missing keys because they aren't in the diagonal positions you expect them to be in." Now that he has adjusted to the Kinesis layout, he finds that it feels odd to type on a traditional keyboard "where the keys aren't straight."

To accommodate his programming needs, Dan reprogrammed a few of the keys on his Kinesis keyboard. "In my work, I find that I use the Escape key continuously. So I remapped the Delete key - on the left thumb - to generate Escape. I also have a foot pedal generating Escape, although I don't use it very often. Since I need Delete once in a while, I remapped the Insert key - on the left ring finger - to generate Delete."

Now that Dan has adapted to the Kinesis keyboard - and adapted the Kinesis keyboard to him - who is convinced that "It's better than a traditional keyboard. It's not a panacea for people because it can't solve all of your problems all by itself. You still have to take reasonable rest breaks. And you still have to pay attention to what your body's telling you. It's definitely a good keyboard:Now that I have mine, I wouldn't give it up."