[PLUG] Time for a new keyboard.... (OT?)

Kyle Accardi sandbox at pacifier.com
Sun Aug 25 02:24:22 UTC 2002


Russ Johnson wrote:
> Kyle Accardi wrote:
> 
>> Someone once told me--I've never researched this--that the reason that 
>> there was almost no carpal tunnel injuries with typewriters is because 
>> some force was required to press the keys and that the advent of 
>> "soft-touch" keyboards don't give your fingers enough excercise: 
>> muscular resistance.
> 
> 
> That "sounds" counter intuitive to me. Carpal Tunnel Syndrom (CTS) is a 
> Repetitive Stress Injury (RSI) and a Cummulative Trama Disorder (CTD). 
> According to one article 
> (http://continuous-speech.com/carpal_tunnel.html) CTS has been described 
> and studied since at least 1863. The carpal tunnel release surgery has 
> been common since the 1950s.

<sniping some links & history for further study>

This all seems likely.  Sorry, it was heresay on my part.  The only thing I 
could think of is the extra muscular effort required to "pull" your fingers 
from the key as opposed to letting it "bounce" off.

Seems strange that in 2002, with all the so-called science availble, that we 
are still suffering with such primitive input devices.  As much as I like my 
scroll mouse, it is terribly uncomfortable in my big hand (both hands are 
the same size).  Haven't tried a trackball yet only because I don't want to 
shell out $50+ for something that I might hate.


--
Kyle Accardi






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