You Asked for It
July 2003

Question:

"Hello, Sharon!

I attended a presentation you gave EAC members last fall, and have been checking out your Newsletter regularly since then.

Just now, my keyboard is in the process of dying, and I'm in the process of shopping for a new one under duress.

I do editing work on an iMac (bought when the graphite model first came out) which I will probably need to replace in the next year or two, so of course there will be a new keyboard with the new machine. But I doubt that I have that much time with my present KB. The keys stick badly--a real hazard for an editor--despite several visits to [a Mac dealer] for cleaning, and they tell me there's "nothing wrong with it". I can only think the problem is the fact that it isn't split, which my hands are, so I'm going for a split keyboard.

I saw your enthusiastic recommendation of the Microsoft Natural Multimedia keyboard in the January '03 Newsletter issue, and wonder if your enthusiasm has held. I'm also wondering, if there other brands of keyboard out there that you would recommend besides Microsoft (which is not in my list of even remotely favourite vocabulary).

I will appreciate hearing from you, and reiterate my appreciation of your EAC seminar."

Answer:

I too, am not a favourite subject in the Bill Gates Empire. But, I have to admit, they do some of the best research into the development of their products. As far as the split keyboards go, I haven't found any by other manufacturers that make keyboards suitable for small hands other than the Natural Elite and the Natural Multimedia. I have been using the Natural Multimedia since writing that article in my newsletter and am still enamoured with it.

One of the features that I noted before is that the key spacing is slightly closer together with the Natural Elite and Natural Multimedia boards. This is a critical feature when trying split keyboards. When the wrist is ulnar deviated (bent toward the little finger), the pull on the tendons creates some additional separation between the fingers. When the wrist is relaxed, with the longest finger forming a straight line with the forearm, there is less strain on the tendons and the fingers move closer together. This is why small to medium sized hands feel like the original split keyboards (and all the take-offs) forced them to type with their fingers apart.

Hope this helps,

st

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