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Closing Thoughts: A New Spin on Ergonomics

At this point, I can say that I like much of what has been accomplished with the TECK. Truly Ergonomic claims that they’ve created a “revolution in typing”, but that’s probably a bit too far in my book. On the other hand, I’m not sure most people would be willing to invest in a "true" revolution—for example, I’ve toyed with the idea of trying out the Dvorak layout to see if it would improve my accuracy and speed, but it’s such a massive change from QWERTY that the learning curve is even worse than moving from a standard keyboard layout to the TECK; reportedly, it can take around a month of typing four hours a day to reach your previous QWERTY proficiency. Likewise, as someone who has used a “natural” keyboard for years, the modified layout of the TECK feels like a better take on a split key arrangement—the staggered keys on most keyboards really start to feel taxing once you get used to something else. The thing is, Truly Ergonomic isn’t the only company to “reinvent” the keyboard, and in fact they’re not even close to being the first.

One alternative is to go with keyboards from Kinesis, a company founded clear back in 1991 (when I was still in high school and carpal tunnel was so far in my future that it never even crossed my mind). I don’t know how much Kinesis has changed their design over the years, but the core design of their latest Contoured Advantage looks to be largely the same as the original Contoured introduced in 1992. What’s more, the Cherry MX Brown switches used in the TECK were actually created at the request of Kinesis as an alternative to the clicky MX Blue switches; that’s a pretty strong pedigree. Kinesis also offers their Advantage with Cherry MX Red linear switches for those that prefer a slightly different feel, though I’ve heard (and tend to agree) that reds are designed more for gamers than for typists. Still, I wouldn’t mind seeing TECK or others offer a selection of MX switches as an upgrade option.

For their part, Truly Ergonomic points to their clearly original design and says they’ve worked to make their keyboard more ergonomic than other options. I haven’t put the Advantage through the paces yet, so I can’t say which is (subjectively) better, but they are certainly different. Pricing is in favor of the TECK, as you can pick one up for $248 compared to $299 for the base Contoured Advantage, but the Kinesis keyboards also include macro functionality which might be worth the additional cost for some. The Advantage also includes USB hub functionality, and the Advantage Pro comes with a foot pedal that can be used to further improve typing performance. (As someone that is in awe of a good pianist or organist, however, I suspect learning to use your foot/feet while typing is not something that everyone will take to.)

Ultimately, I can’t recommend the TECK as a keyboard that is ideal for every user out there, but if you’re suffering from RSI/CTS (or think you might be), I can say that personally I feel like the past month of use has resulted in less discomfort after lengthy typing sessions than the MS Natural I’ve been using for years. That’s a pretty strong recommendation for a subset of users, but it comes with the caveats I’ve mentioned already. The learning curve on the TECK requires a serious commitment to change, and now that I’ve been typing on the TECK for a solid month I’m finding that my typing on regular keyboards has deteriorated somewhat (e.g. 57 WPM on the Rosewill RK-9100 compared to 70 WPM last month). It’s not as bad as what happened when I first switched to the TECK, but it’s definitely something that will take a bit of time to readjust, so if you happen to have multiple PCs that you use regularly (e.g. at work and at home), you might have to purchase two keyboards to avoid disorientation.

Then there’s the price. $248 makes this the type of product that you likely won’t be buying on an impulse, and when you look at other mechanical keyboards that sell for closer to $100 it can feel quite extreme. On the other hand, if you’re suffering from RSI/CTS, all it takes is a quick look at the cost of surgery and rehabilitation to make the TECK look far more enticing. For my part, it’s simple economics: not as many users are willing to commit to an ergonomic keyboard, particularly one like the TECK where there are enough changes that it requires effort to make the switch. When your market is smaller and you have to put more money into R&D to come up with your initial design, prices will be higher. That’s also why you don’t see other extras like a USB hub or keyboard backlighting on the TECK, as both items would take an already expensive keyboard up into the $300 range.

And that’s basically my recommendation right now: if you’re in the market for an ergonomic keyboard and want something more advanced than a simple split key “natural”, the options are quite limited. For ergonomic keyboards with mechanical switches, you have Truly Ergonomic’s TECK, the Kinesis Contoured Advantage, Maltron (the most expensive of the bunch), or if you don’t mind going the DIY route you could try the open source ErgoDox (which you can get for $200 via MassDrop). Depending on personal preference, I would imagine any of those three could end up being the “best”, but it’s a lot like shopping for clothing: there’s no such thing as “one size fits all” when it comes to keyboards. To that end, Truly Ergonomic does offer a 60-day money back guarantee on the TECK. I’m still well within that 60 day period and at this stage I’m more than happy to keep the TECK and continue using it. We’ll have to see if that’s still the case after I spend some time with Kinesis’ Advantage offering.

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