I often browse threads on 4channel's /g/ containing people's "battle stations". the term is a fossil of a time of sincere bliss among enthusiasts which stands in contrast to the age of cynicism we have adopted. Immersed in the theme of cynicism I am equal part conditioned and just naturally cynical I will mock to my friends the images posted partially in earnest by the users.
Buying gewgaws has been quite a burdensome thing for me. Not because I am naturally a conservative buyer, but because my self hate uses the vehicle of shame to scrutinize all of my purchasing decisions. While self-hate undeniably isn't a healthy long term tool, but for here and now it has imparted on me a strong sense of prejudice upon computer peripherals. So I feel like after having bought many things off eBay and selling back the chaff I have developed maybe what some would call a "good taste" in computer widgets.
I actually maintain a large markdown document containing all of the gadgets I have bought and a blurb of why or why not to buy any given trinket. I won't labor you with the full extent of the document. Instead of creating a shopping list with an accompanying amazon affiliate link, I would like to create some criteria which I think makes for good computer peripherals.
to be ergonomic
I have never had hand fatigue or hand pains from extended use of a keyboard for a mouse. I do however frequently have bad pain from prolonged use of my dip pen and most pencils. Regardless though I have stayed vigilant on the ergonomics of the tools I use daily. It is a challenge because before is a battlefield polluted with traps: buzzwords, terrestrial mines, inappropriate graphs, and payed actors. Upfront I must confess that I don't have any tools for you to sort through these besides anecdotes that you trust.
There are a lot of mechanics involved in ergonomics. To a degree such that I don't have the confidence to impart any information on the mechanics. In fact I will be intentionally not be linking to any external articles about ergonomics. Not because you shouldn't read about it, but because I have simply believed so many wrong things about ergonomics I refuse to lead you down an almost certainly wrong path. There's a good chance your discretion is better than mine, but I do warn that you will probably make mistakes and that's ok because literally the world is against you. trying to sell crap you don't need to you with ads filtered through the world history's sum of ad algorithms fueled with a concerning degree of details about the time you spend on your computer.
But there is one important lesson I have partially learned through experience and also imparted on me by discussion of user's more cynical than I. Almost all peripherals can be appropriately ergonomic with proper posture. When using a non keyboard try to keep your elbows low; not rolled forward and your arms straight as reasonable. You don't want to have to strain your wrist because your arms are splayed wide as they have to center in on the keyboard. This may feel like a reductive lesson to take away, but its' important nonetheless. It is so important because it is something that's in our control (excluding the physically disabled :P ).
Posture while important can still only take you so far. For most peripherals that aren't offensively lacking in ergonomics posture will probably take you to the finish line. So I find the pursuit of ergonomic baubles noble.
Keyboards exist on a spectrum of ergonomics. I find that small keyboards work for me as long as I make adjustments to match my posture. But undeniably they are not designed with ergonomics in mind. I have use compact keyboards for the bulk of my life and have grown quite accustomed to them. Which im embarassed to say has definitely lead me to be more narrow minded about other form factors.
The next point in this spectrum are elevated keyboards. These are popular in office spaces and I remember seeing them littered around ECU's labs when I was a child. These are also the preferred form factor of my dad so whenever I have use his computer I get a quick taste of how it feels on the other side. From the sum of my experiences in libraries and campuses where I have used these I think they're a kind of comfortable medium. I would recommend them if you want to try something new coming from the standard keyboard form factor, try it and see if this is something you care about.
I won't speak much on split keyboards as I think they're pretty much only for people who'd rather post pictures of they're devices rather than actually use them. Ergonomically it is sound to have two separate adjustable pieces for you arms to use at a natural extension. But I just find that they're still so confined to the keyboard form factor and are outclassed by the truly enthusiast class of devices. Which could be excusable if they weren't asking for $300 for these devices (doom shotgun sound). I think the best advantage the split keyboards have is that they don't take up as much room as the big shell ergonomic keyboards and they allow for minute micro adjustments to match your shifting posture.
Lastly are the devices so eccentric they're identifiable from silhouette and their form so embarrassing just a profile image could be used as a reaction image. The class of keyboards so enthusiasts that they don't really have a well defined name for their form factor. The most identifiable is the The Kinesis Advantage 2 QD. Boasting a MSRP of $350 and the build quality to match. I have never layed eyes on the beast, and I envy those who have and lived to tell the tale. I'm a little hesitant to have brought it up, because my input is so shallow, but you have to know of the depths man will go.
On the subject of mice I have a lot of experience. Partially because mice are cheaper than enthusiast keyboards. But inspite of the double digit amount of mice I have tried I have basically no wisdom to pass onto you. Basically all mice are bastards, and the less you use your mouse the better off you are lol. The whole concept of a pointer that doesn't use the god given pointer ABOVE YOUR BELT is ungrateful. Also don't give any bullshit about trackballs because I have tried them and if you're the guy who brings them up in every thread you should lay your BALLS on the TRAIN TRACKS (doom shotgun sound).
I do find myself quite partial to vertical mice. Besides the ergonomics I also find myself to be much more precise with them. No file is safe from my double click with a Ali express "Healthy Mouse". That one mouse I bought for $6 lasted me 4 years. Ever since that button broke I have been chasing that high.
Not the vertical mouse I owned, but like look at it. How could you not literally LOL at this, like what?
In the tail end of Covid era I invested $99 in 2022 on a Logictech MX Vertical mouse, which I resented through its' life. I gave up on before I could even experience mechanical failure (though I have heard they're prone to a litany of mechanical failures). I tossed it because its rubber finished had grown a stickiness that could not be cleaned. Some warm water and soap could quench the problem but for no more than a day.
I currently use a Logitech MX Master 3s. I do not recommend any Logitech product. Their products seem to all be prone to false positives and most of them have this rubber surface keen on absorbing as much hand oil as a possible. Having returned to a normal mouse form factor in contrast to the previous two vertical mice has been hard. I think I have mostly adapted, but I do notice when playing my favorite 'puter game Hopoo Game's Risk of Rain 2 that sometimes I can't quite hit enemies with the same accuracy before.
to be with you until death do us part.
We exist in a very unique time. A time of unseen posterity, the likes not seen before in history. But even in the best of times it is prudent of us to not act frivolous. Thingamabobs as much as I resent them, simply do make my life better. So when I open myself up to a new one I want it to be with me for a long time. At time of writing I do not have a job. I do have a bit of money saved up and my expenses are basically zero. But in the face of having no income I have to make purchases count, and coming out of this recession I think this scrutiny is shared by most people.
The only tool to find a tool, that will be there when you're at your lowest is scrutiny. It has been hard for me because I think I have a lot of prejudice; I find a little comfy hole and it is hard for me to go out of that hole. I try to integrate this conservative disposition into my personality more and more in age. I am still very discontent with my life, so I want to admit to you that these ramblings are from a perspective who's ends are not great.
to be you.
Behind every dumb terminal is a capable user. Gizmos are how we interface with our magical black boxes and we grow intimate with these peripherals. we grow cynical of our inhibitions too, personal or mechanical. People have told me since I was young that computers (and I imagine for young kids now: cellphones) have become extensions of our body. Like arms, the appendages are how we interface with our world. This co-dependence has been the subject of endless scrutiny and mockery for as long as I have been alive.
The internet as it has settled deeper into its niche as a store front it has been hard to find information about products that aren't thinly veiled product endorsements. Amazon sponsor links often conveniently included. But putting the goods in our face is only half the battle, the other half is subversively convincing you that your life could be so much better if you could only have one more gadget. I am not trying to look down on those who have been caught in this trap, as I am regularly the victim to the same desires.
Cynicism towards needless consumerism has been the default disposition among internet preachers since amazon sold more than book. While I do think that disposition isn't unneeded, I do think we should at the same time make room for comfort plastic do nothings give us. As a completely arbitrary ratio I would say that only 1 in 40 of my plastic things do genuinely make me more content with my life. Our lives can't sustainably be built on consumerism, but surely the even minded shouldn't dismiss our possessions as just frivolous.
to be what is yours.
I just want you to be ok. Things are bad, a lot of the time, and that is ok. Your Windows PC sucks, but Linux is just as bad. The grass is greener on the otherside. But your side; your world; your desk, its' your domain. Our computers for as much as sometimes it's hard to see, they are some of the only things we have direct control over. A new keyboard may fix it, it may not. For me I think my keyboard, headset, not my mouse, and my dock make me content.
