Martin Fowler – Kinesis Advantage2 – Review after three years of use

Martin Fowler – Kinesis Advantage2 – Review after three years of use(martinfowler.com)

15 points by dc_ist 5 years ago | 14 comments

secure 5 years ago |

I love my Kinesis Advantage, have been using it for 10+ years at this point.

I have recently released the kinT replacement keyboard controller: https://twitter.com/zekjur/status/1281130647776608257

Why would you replace the controller? There are a couple of good reasons:

* to build or modify your own keyboard

* to work around bugs in the standard controller, like I did back in 2013: https://michael.stapelberg.ch/posts/2013-03-21-kinesis_custo...

* because you prefer to run open source software such as the QMK firmware (https://docs.qmk.fm/), even on your keyboard

psanford 5 years ago | |

Also bluetooth: https://hackaday.io/project/161578-wireless-ble-kinesis-adva...

emit_time 5 years ago |

If anyone likes the ergodox / moonlander, but wants a keyboard with curved keys, look up the Dactyl Manuform / Dactyl keyboard. It’s a split keyboard that also has curve keys so it takes less movement to reach keys.

Unfortunately you have to have them custom built or build one yourself, but there are sites that let you easily order one.

Here’s an example https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/ak8d0m...

joshribakoff 5 years ago |

I use it too. For anyone questioning Dvorak vs QWERTY layout I recommend Dvorak. You’re learning a new layout anyways when switching to this thing. Dvorak won’t speed you up even after years of using it, but you can be essentially just as fast as QWERTY and it’s much more zen in the sense you have to stretch for keys less often. However you may find you need to change keyboard shortcuts as some chords that are natural in a regular QWERTY keyboard are no longer natural with the unique layout. Luckily you can buy foot pedals and program macros for common keyboard inputs right in the onboard computer in the keyboard. Well worth it if you have any kind of pain or uncomfortable experience with a traditional keyboard

copperx 5 years ago | |

After 10 years of switching to Dvorak, I wouldn't do it again. I don't live in one app, I use Office, Photoshop, Emacs, IntelliJ, Visual Studio, and each one, obviously, has different shortcut keys. I often have to think whether I'm in Dvorak or qwerty mode; and the muscle memory of shortcuts went away.

I can't deny that typing prose in Dvorak is extremely pleasant. But switching between Dvorak and qwerty (I often use others' computers) and between a regular keyboard and a Kinesis requires me to remember 4 different shortcuts sets for each program that I use.

If you are mostly a writer of prose, I recoomend the switch. But the ROI is not there for the jack-of-all-trades programmer.

Life is too short to forgo muscle memory.

joshribakoff 5 years ago | | |

For me personally switching has been surprisingly transparent.

hajile 5 years ago | |

I looked into Dvorak then settled on Colmak. It gives most of the advantages (some claim it's actually better) without messing up every single shortcut I've learned over the years.

I was doing lots of typing at the time and my first day learning Colmak, I was amazed that I'd been typing for hours and my fingers didn't hurt.

cls59 5 years ago |

I have one of these, nearly 12 years old at this point. Around two years in, it took nearly a full pint of double imperial stout head-on during a buzzed coding session. Was sticky for a little bit, but otherwise no ill effects. Built like a tank.

bsder 5 years ago |

One caution about folks thinking about foot pedals: your operating system might get in the way.

OS X, for example, can't use the foot pedal for "Shift" and apply it to the "A" that you hit on the keyboard if they are two different USB devices.

So, you may need a keyboard that the foot pedal plugs into in order to avoid this.

voltaireodactyl 5 years ago | |

I can’t be 100% sure, but I’ve been able to solve that problem by using Karabiner and making sure both devices were checked in the preferences of that app.

julesallen 5 years ago |

I'm still banging away on my original one from the mid 90's (PS/2 adaptor and all!) and it's still going strong. The ESC has all but worn off the rubber F key strip but other than that it's in fine shape.

I understand the new fangled 2 comes with real switches for the F key strip?

fimbulvetr 5 years ago | |

Yes, that's right. I switched from an advantage to an advantage2 (which has the non-rubber keys) a few years ago as my new gig purchased the advantage2 for me. Honestly, I didn't even notice a difference. The new f keys are slightly larger (but not full size) and plastic, but I would personally say that I wouldn't drop $350 for the plastic ones. I used the advantage for 15 years, so I was well used to the rubber ones. A few months after the switch, I realized they weren't rubber - that's how insignificant the change was for me.

nickm12 5 years ago | |

I still own a working Kinesis that is 20 years old (I think it's USB-1!) but I changed jobs two years ago and they paid for an Advantage 2. The biggest, biggest advantage is that it fixes the crazy firmware bugs in the old keyboard that resulted in stuck keys. The new F keys are nice, but for the most part it feels just about the same.

dhruvmittal 5 years ago |

I had one of these at a previous job, great keyboard. I still miss the reliability of the thing. Ended up building an ergodox the year after I left, and I've kept with that for the last 6 years.