Medical Diagnosis: Surgically treated disk injury in neck
As the information center manager for a major bottling and distribution company, Jim is responsible for the team that installs and supports in-house computer systems. Several years ago, he began experiencing numbness in his arm. Although his doctor diagnosed an injury to a disk in his neck. "there wasn't any specific trauma he could point out as its cause. In 1988, Jim had the disk surgically repaired. And while he no longer needs medical treatment, he does experience discomfort when he uses a traditional keyboard.

Jim first heard about the Kinesis keyboard in 1991 from an employee who had tried a prototype. Recognizing that an ergonomic keyboard would benefit both himself and other staff members for whom traditional keyboarding was uncomfortable, he requested a demonstration. Impressed with the Kinesis' innovative design and user comfort, he placed an advance order for 20 keyboards.

When the Kinesis keyboards arrived, Jim was among the first to use one. He quickly found that he preferred Kinesis' contoured geometry to that of the traditional, flat keyboard. "I like the natural typing position of the Kinesis keyboard, with my fingers resting in keywells and my palms leaning against a sculptured palm rest. I can easily reach all of the keys without feeling any tension. On a traditional keyboard, I have to flatten out my hands and I can feel it in my arms." To further improve his comfort, Jim has attached Kinesis' optional palm pads to his keyboard. "When I type, the heels of my palms are on the palm rests at all times. Adding the pads made a big difference in comfort."

Jim had an easy transition to the Kinesis key layout. "At first, I had to look around for things a little. However, after I used the Typing Tutor software for about two and a half hours, I was fairly well adapted to the keyboard. Insert took a little time for me to learn. I have large hands. and Insert is so close to my hand that I can't read the label on it. I also had to adjust to the new position of the Backlash, and to the + = key because it's on a different hand."

He likes using Kinesis' innovative thumb keys. "The thumb keys seem to come immediately. It's certainly a lot nicer to have the Enter, Delete, Backspace and Space keys right under my thumbs. As a touch typist, but not a very good one, I use the Backspace and Delete keys fairly frequently. And it's good that they're right there where I can get at them." Jim also likes the Kinesis function keys "because, to use them, I really don't lift my hand at all. I just glance down at them, and my fingers barely reach out to press them."

Jim likes to tell about the first time his company's president saw the Kinesis keyboard. The executive paused at Jim's desk one day and watched as he entered data. The president commented on the keyboard's unique look and asked its price. "That's a lot of money for a keyboard," he said. "No it isn't," Jim replied. "Not when you realize that it costs this company an average of $15,000 for the medical treatment of an employee with carpal tunnel syndrome."

For Jim, Kinesis has made keyboarding a more satisfying experience. "Apparently I'm not alone. No one else at the company who opted to try the Kinesis keyboard has asked to turn it back in."