Software Developer

Several years ago I began developing a problem with the pinkie side of my right hand, which would become numb and painful after a day of keyboarding. The problem, which seemed particularly related to motions with the heavily used little finger, and which was related to an old injury to that side of my hand, steadily got worse, and was aggravated by my tennis playing, to the point where I had to stop playing tennis in order to continue earning my livelihood as a software developer. I wasn't too happy about that, you can bet, but before long my concern over the loss of my beloved tennis became concern over being able to continue in my profession and support my family.

At that point I began research into alternative keyboards, having been tipped to their existence in an RSI online discussion group. I ultimately settled on the Kinesis primarily because of its programmability - though I was also sold on the separated and inverted keywells. I bought a Model 120, the equivalent of today's Classic model, and remapped the SHIFT, CTL, and ALT keys to put SHIFT and CTL under the control of my (strong!) thumbs. I remapped ALT, which I use much less than the other two, to the key normally used for SHIFT.

Between these remappings and the more comfortable ergonomics of the scooped out keywells, my RSI problem immediately began receding. I later switched from a right-handed mouse to a left-handed trackball to take further work away from the right hand.

My hand problems effectively went away, and both my tennis playing and my software development career have flourished.

I bought two of the Kinesis keyboards - one for work, one for home. At the time they were $450 each, and I was very glad to be able to solve my problem for $900. Today I'd be able to solve it for under $500!

[Please feel free to use this story for your publicity. I hope it will help others.]

Greg Dunn