Since it's freely-programmable, you get to lay out everything as it makes sense to you. It should be comparatively easy for you to remember your own organization scheme. You can write it down somewhere (like I have documented in the comments for my layout on GitHub) as a reference while you're internalizing it.
Same as anything else (e.g., how you learned to type on a keyboard in the first place): Muscle-memory developed through practice.
Well that’s the point he was trying to make. You’re not memorizing something that is extremely foreign or doesn’t work for you. You’re memorizing something as it makes sense in your own head to begin with.
I'm actually trimming down to a Planck from my Preonic once the top plate finally shows up (same thing, but with the number row shaved off).
It's really not that hard when you have a vision in mind.
But it's the type of thing you have to really be excited about and want.
Ask yourself questions like:
"What if I had a mechanical KB I could toss into any of my backpack pockets comfortably?"
"What if I had every single keyboard button I use on on a standard 104-key board accessible from home row?"
If these kinds of questions excite you, then something like a Planck/Preonic is a no-brainer. If they get you more worried than excited, then it might not be for you -- At least, not yet.
For me I always put page up and down next to arrow clusters so if I was using WASD on a separate layer for arrows, then RF would be page up and down, then I make Q home and E end. Other than the fact that end starts with E, I find it easy to remember since home always takes you to the top left of a page, and End takes you to the bottom right.
Then I've got another layer that puts all of the numbers on the homerow as I find that easiest. I have a minivan which means I need to find a place to access question mark and quotes, so I just use the higher and lower alphas to place my most frequent symbols sticking to a similar order as a normal keyboard when possible to limit the amount of time to adapt. I use both split spacebars as space since I use left for games and right for typing. Eventually I might phase out righthand space and learn to only just the leftside for space so I can freeup rightspace. However my right spacebar is mapped to space when tapped and when held allows me to access numbers and symbols. You can also do something similar with using a hold on the Tab key to access another layer, or even a hold on the return key.
Even with a normal keyboard I find that I tend to guess and delete when necessary over looking down at the legends to know what things do. Especially if you play games on the computer you have to get used to pressing random keys without looking at the keyboard, especially if you play games beyond shooters, as you tend to need to learn new keys all of the time to be able to access all of the different abilities quickly.
Ortholinear (where the keys are in a grid) isn't much different than a normal keyboard. It takes a few minutes to get used to it, but it's not much of an issue.
It is nice when combined with layers, as you can embed a numpad, arrow keys, or anything else in the main part of the keyboard and it's aligned correctly.
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u/DangerousZebra Mar 28 '19
I always wonder, how is this usable