A colleague is letting me borrow their ergonomic keyboard, and it’s unlike anything I’ve ever typed on before.
Many of the functional keys are in different places, there is a specific mapping of fingers to keys, and there is a hell of a learning curve.
The underlying idea is for your hands be in a fixed position that only requires minimal effort to reach all the keys. This, in theory, reduces the risk of repetitive strain injury and other office ailments in the long run.
But it’s tanked my typing speed today.
I like to think of it as a “go slow to go fast” example. It may not be efficient immediately, but over the long run it’ll likely save some pain and discomfort.