Ergonomics (draft)

(For technical documentation reasons, this article is not actually finished yet. To avoid unnecessary re-reading, wait until this line of information has disappeared.

People who work on computers for a long time begin to pay attention to their health. Many people suffer from lumbar muscle strain, cervical spondylosis, tendonitis and other annoying problems. Others began to watch out when they saw their colleagues suffering from the disease. The usual solution is to turn to “ergonomics”. Many companies invite professional ergonomic experts to consult and adjust their seat, posture and working mode for employees, and provide them with a variety of expensive ergonomic products, such as a variety of ergonomic keyboards, mice, chairs, tables, and so on.

As someone who has worked extensively with computers for a long time, I have never had any of these problems (except nearsightedness) as a result of computer use. I also learned a lot about the working styles and health of my friends and colleagues. So I want to take a moment today to give you my thoughts on these issues.

When I mentioned on Weibo that I was going to talk about ergonomics, many people began to guess what I was going to say. Some said I might mention some kind of expensive chair, some asked me to recommend a keyboard and mouse, some asked if I should adopt a “standing office,” some asked me about the treatment and rehabilitation of cervical spondylosis…

I do talk about some of them, but obviously I can’t answer them all. I am not a medical expert. I have never suffered from cervical spondylosis, lumbar strain or tendonitis. So if you already have these problems, I’m afraid I can’t tell you how to recover. I’m not responsible for these problems, so you’d better consult your doctor about them.

All I can do here is describe my experience of how an already healthy person can stay healthy while using a computer. In addition, I also want to explain the misunderstanding about ergonomics. Of course, it all depends on the individual, but this is just my personal experience. While I hope they are helpful, don’t take them as dogma. I am not responsible for any of your health problems resulting from blindly following my words :p

Keyboard and mouse

Some people have asked me to recommend ergonomic keyboards and mice, so I’d like to start with these computer’s most important input tools. Obviously, a bad keyboard or mouse can increase your chances of developing various problems, such as tendinitis. But is spending $10,000 on the best ergonomic keyboard, the best mouse, the answer? I don’t think so.

Let me tell you what keyboard and mouse I use.

  1. I use the keyboard that comes with the MacBook. I don’t use any external keyboards, including Apple’s Bluetooth keyboard.
  2. I only use the trackpad that comes with the MacBook, under the keyboard. I never press hard on it. I turn on the tap and click feature. I don’t use an external Apple Bluetooth trackpad. I don’t use any mouse, not even the Apple mouse.

In short, all I have is a MacBook Pro, made in 2013. I don’t have any other ergonomic computer products. I used a ThinkPad T60 for six years before switching to a MacBook. When I worked at Microsoft, I wrote code with a ThinkPad X1 Yoga without getting sick. I used the built-in keyboard and trackpad, no external keyboard or mouse, and no Little red dot of the ThinkPad.

Are you surprised? I don’t use any ergonomic keyboard or mouse. I sit on a laptop all day writing code, writing articles, doing research, surfing the Internet… Often for quite a long time without developing any problems?

It’s not like I haven’t tried other keyboards and mice. Early on I bought a Microsoft Natural keyboard, several other ergonomic keyboards. I also bought mechanical keyboards that were more expensive. I’ve tried ergonomic mice, trackballs, Apple’s large Bluetooth trackpad. I considered buying the expensive, shapely Kinesis recessed keyboard, Data Hand…

In the end, I gave up all these supposedly health-saving ergonomic tools and kept only a MacBook. Why is that? I’m going to talk now about the problems I found with these ergonomic input devices.

Microsoft Natural Keyboard

The most common ergonomic keyboard is probably the Microsoft Natural Keyboard. This keyboard splits the keys with two hands down the middle, leaving a gap between them. Place your hands on one side and at an Angle. Note that I do not recommend this keyboard. I just want to introduce a healthy keyboard position through one of its features.

Many people think it’s healthier to have both hands at an Angle like this, and it is. Obviously, if you type with your hands straight and perpendicular to the key, your shoulders are wider than your hands, so your wrist will have an unnatural twist that can cause problems over time.

But you don’t really need a Microsoft Natural keyboard to prevent that awkward posture. While the keys on my laptop’s keyboard are aligned, I used them to type with both hands at a ‘natural Angle.’ You might say, the keyboard is positive, how can you type accurately with your hands at that Angle? The truth is, you can actually hold your hands at a natural Angle and still use any normal keyboard accurately. You don’t have to turn the keys to an Angle. This is because human fingers are flexible and can be easily moved to any position you can reach, so you only need to adapt a little to type accurately.

So why don’t I use Microsoft’s natural keyboard, which has great angles? The reason I don’t use it is because it is actually uncomfortable to use and causes tension and fatigue. The keyboard splits the keys down the middle and leaves a blank space next to the keys controlled by the index finger, so those keys lack a physical and mental “boundary.”

To be more specific, on a normal keyboard, you press Y with your right index finger. If you reach over your head, you’ll hit the right side of the T key. This haptic feedback can help your index finger fall back to the Y key without using your eyes. But the natural keyboard is different, if the index finger stretches too far by the Y key, it stretches into the gap. You can’t effectively lean against the edge of the T key and “touch” back to where the Y key was.

So when typing, it’s easy to press your index finger into that gap. In order not to accidentally tap into that gap, your mind must give your index finger a little more control. Although this force is not much, it causes mild tension in the brain and muscles, which can build up over time and form fatigue.

In addition, some keys on the keyboard have strange sizes and shapes because of the split design, making them awkward to press. Because the space bar across two hands, so must be made of arc, turn a corner, feel the fulcrum is not balanced, not smooth. The whole keyboard has a certain slope, said to be “natural”, but I found that in order to adapt to this slope, caused tension in my hand muscles.

The whole keyboard arch is high, and I find that if the keyboard is too high from the table, my hands will be in a state of tension, even with the support board, it will not be comfortable. Because my elbows were on the table, the pads raised my hands but did not change the awkward Angle from hand to elbow.

(Why my elbows were resting on the table instead of resting on the arm of the chair or dangling, as ergonomics experts recommend, I’ll explain later.)

Also, the keyboard is large, wide and heavy, so unlike a normal keyboard, it can be moved to any position you like. Once this keyboard is down, it’s pretty much stuck there. You have to fit the position of the keyboard, and you can’t easily push it to fit your own posture. This immobile device, which forces you to work in a posture that is not suitable for you, can be a cause of fatigue and strain.

So while the Microsoft Natural keyboard puts my hands at a natural Angle, I don’t use it. Using a normal laptop keyboard, I can also use the “natural Angle” of my hand, which prevents misshapen wrist angles and excessive fatigue.

So, here are my keyboard tips:

  1. Use a normal keyboard
  2. Type with your hands at a natural Angle

Mechanical keyboard

A lot of people who are into programming or gaming, they love mechanical keyboards. The keyboard uses an old-fashioned mechanical trigger, with a variety of “coloured” mechanisms that can make a variety of clicks. Many people think it’s cool that the keyboard makes this sound, and it looks professional and classical, so they spend a lot of money on mechanical keyboards.

I’ve also tried mechanical keyboards, and I bought a nice mechanical keyboard for over two hundred dollars. I also bought the one with the shorter bond path and the smaller force. But after a few minutes of trying it out, the mechanical keyboard was noticeably more laborious than the MacBook’s.

Do not underestimate the keyboard out of that little key path and strength, so a little distance and strength, acting on thousands of keystrokes above the number of times, accumulated is equal to strain. An hour down, I obviously feel the muscles on the forearm began to fatigue and tension phenomenon.

Over time, this fatigue can lead to tendonitis or RSI. So after the first day, I stopped using the keyboard and returned it.

Using a variety of keyboards, I ended up finding that the MacBook keyboard (the older one) had just the right path and force. It was easy and quiet. In fact, it’s better not to make a clicking sound when typing, which is better for you and the people around you.

Kinesis recessed keyboard and DataHand

The Kinesis and DataHand are two oddly shaped ergonomic keyboards that can be quite pricey. I’ve never bought them, but I’ve seen others use both.

Kinesis places the buttons in two recessed “Wells,” supposedly keeping the fingers as straight as possible to prevent some problems.

DataHand is a keyboard that barely moves your fingers. Each finger is placed in a depression, with several triggers next to it. So the finger hardly has to move to input.

I did consider buying them, after all, for health, the price is nothing. However, I finally gave up the idea. Why is that? Because:

  1. I’ve never had a problem with the keyboard on my laptop. It worked fine for more than a decade, which suggests that maybe keyboards don’t cause injuries after all.
  2. These two fancy keyboards are so different from regular keyboards that it must have taken a lot of getting used to. Since laptop keyboards haven’t had serious consequences for me in more than a decade, I’m not sure it’s worth the time and effort to get used to these very different things. I still don’t know wubi input method, for the same reason, because pinyin input method is already very good: P
  3. I’m afraid I can’t use someone else’s computer once I get used to them. I carry this keyboard everywhere I go, which adds a lot of complexity to life.
  4. I’m not sure the ergonomics of these keyboards have been tested in scientific experiments. It takes a long time to know if a keyboard causes hand injuries. Perhaps instead of preventing injuries, these oddly shaped keyboards could actually cause them? I don’t have enough evidence to prove that they are “ergonomic.” If someone did get hurt by them, I wouldn’t know about it. These miserable people have no voice, and you don’t hear their sad stories.
  5. The people who recommend these keyboards to me almost always show the mentality of an enthusiast. These people are very different from me in their way of work and attitude, and they also show blind obedience in academic research. So I’m not really convinced that these keyboards really do any good.

For those reasons, I continue to use the MacBook’s built-in keyboard. There’s nothing wrong with it. Why would I bother?

Ergonomic mouse

Let’s talk about the mouse. I haven’t used a mouse for years because I find the trackpad that comes with my laptop more comfortable and more accurate and efficient than a mouse. I’ve tried a few ergonomic mice before, though, and abandoned them altogether. Now LET me talk about why I don’t use a mouse, especially the so-called “ergonomic mouse.”

Ergonomic mice tend to come in strange curved shapes, like the ones pictured above. When you see that they are shaped differently, you assume that the designer must know something about “ergonomics”. The curves fit the shape, so they should be comfortable to use and not cause problems. But when you buy them, you will find they are not as good as ordinary mice.

A very common problem with ergonomic mice is to make the mouse a streamline that is wide at the bottom and narrow at the top. That curve, let you hold it seems to match the curve of the hand, what’s wrong with it? The problem is, because it’s wide at the bottom and narrow at the top, and the grip is smooth, it’s hard to lift the mouse off the desktop.

As anyone who uses a mouse knows, you can’t keep pushing it around the table. Many times you need to pick up the mouse, move it away from the table, and move it a certain distance. This gives the desktop enough “runway” in a certain direction to allow the mouse pointer to move a long distance. Now these mice are shaped to make them hard to pick up, so you’re in trouble. You need a lot more force than a normal mouse to get them off the desktop. Obviously this is very tiring and very un-ergonomic.

Another problem with ergonomic mouse designs is that they seem to like placing “special function buttons” in places where you can easily touch the mouse. So you often accidentally bump into these buttons, causing unexpected things to happen. Even if you turn off these innocuous features in the operating system, the buttons will still make an annoying clicking sound when you touch them, making you nervous if anything serious will happen.

So I’ve found that the best mouse has at most three buttons: the left button, the right button, and a scroll wheel in the middle.

Another recent trend is the “vertical mouse,” which means you hold it with your hand side up instead of palm down. Legend has it that this side is the “natural position” of the hand, so many people believe it protects the hand. But when you bought it and tried it, you found a serious problem. Because to stand with the hand on its side, the mouse must stand between the thumb and the other four fingers. So if you put your hand over the keyboard to type, the mouse blocks it and you have to climb over a mountain to get there. The mouse also has a more serious problem of not being easy to pick up from the desktop. You try to pick it up and move it, and you accidentally hit the mouse button. So I just don’t understand why anyone would pay a lot of money for it.

Plus, I don’t use an Apple mouse. The mouse looks nice and has “design”, but it is very uncomfortable to use. The most serious problem is that the mouse is too flat, so the top of the mouse can’t reach the palm of your hand. And there is almost no place to hold it on the side, so the mouse is laborious and uncomfortable to hold. Because of its “buttonless” design, it also feels weird and unstable when pressed, and gives poor feedback when pressed or not.

So years ago, after trying out a variety of so-called “ergonomic mice,” I chose the simplest and cheapest. It’s a little narrower at the bottom than at the top, and it has rubber on the sides, so I can pick it up easily from the table. It only has two buttons, a scroll wheel, and no extra buttons on the side, so I don’t accidentally hit those fancy ones.

Later, I realized that the trackpad on my laptop was actually the most comfortable and efficient mouse, so I haven’t used a mouse since.

Apple Bluetooth touch pad

While I find the MacBook’s built-in trackpad the most comfortable, I don’t use Apple’s external Bluetooth trackpad. I actually bought one and returned it two days later. Why is that? Because it’s not as good as the one that comes with the MacBook.

As with the mouse, the trackpad must sit on the side of the keyboard, unlike the MacBook trackpad, which is pinned directly under the keyboard. So to use the external trackpad, you have to move your hand away from the keyboard, so you have to move it left and right. That’s a lot more space than the MacBook keyboard and trackpad, and it doesn’t feel comfortable.

The biggest problem, then, is that the trackpad is so big that once the hand is above it, there is no place to rest. The MacBook’s trackpad isn’t that big, and the case next to it is roughly the same height as it is, so there’s plenty of room for the trackpad. But the external trackpad is so large and sits higher than the table top that you can’t place your hands next to it.

Unlike a mouse, if your hand needs to stay above the trackpad to rest or think, your finger must be raised high enough otherwise it will touch the trackpad, causing the pointer to move or click. Lifting the fingers requires the muscles at the top of the forearm. And that muscle happens to be the one where RSI often develops.

So it wasn’t long after USING the trackpad that I noticed tension in my lower arm muscles. Then I noticed that the reason was that my muscles and tendons had to lift my fingers when I stayed on top of the trackpad. Recalling a classmate who had RSI and had to put a splint on that muscle every day, I resolutely stopped using the trackpad and returned to the MacBook trackpad and keyboard.

The people who buy these trackpads, generally because they work with their MacBook on a shelf, with an external monitor, with an external keyboard, so they have to use an external mouse, with an external trackpad. Since I don’t use a mouse and the external trackpad had this problem, I stopped using the external keyboard as well. Using the MacBook’s own keyboard and trackpad, the location and size are just right.

trackball

(To be continued…)