by MF Dowman

No one has ever accused me of being a terrific typist. For evidence one need only read a few of my message board postings where I have even mis-typed my own name. But given that I've never taken a typing class, I manage fairly well, and with a lot of de facto practice over the last two years, have even become fairly quick.

But one of the drawbacks of working with computers all day (as many of you already know) is that you risk damaging your hands and wrists. Recently I've had a few of the same problems so I thought I'd turn to the latest technology for a little relief. I bought a new keyboard, one of those pop-art-looking kinds with the split and offset keys and a built-in touch pad instead of the mouse. (I'm convinced it's the mouse that's causing most of the soreness in my hand and wrist.)

I've used a touch pad before (there's one on my laptop) so I don't expect the learning curve here to be very steep. But I won't know for another few days because, surprise, surprise, I need an extra adapter not included in the keyboard box to hook up the touch pad as my new mouse.

But I've run into a mini crisis of sorts with the keyboard. I hadn't realized until I started using the new split keys that I type like I play piano, using whatever finger is handy at the moment. On a regular keyboard, this is pretty easy to get used to because your hand positions just shift as necessary. (Yes, I'm the piano student who used to get his hands smacked for never having them in the right positions anyway. I was a master at creative fingerings, turning simple passages into virtuostic displays of silliness.)

On this new keyboard, though, it's almost impossible to cross over from one section to the other because of the gap running down the middle of the keys and the angle of the offset. So when I want to type a B, for example, I can't do it with my right index finger easily anymore like I used to. I tried writing only words without any Bs for a while, but I couldn't find a way around it for long, given my name (Robert).

So as I see it, I have two choices. I can go back to my old keyboard set-up and deal with the discomfort (read: cripple myself permanently), or learn how to type. But I like looking at my hands when I type. When I finally look up at the screen, it's always amusing to see what new words I've created.

Ah, technology, I thought you were my friend?