As an update, I haven’t used my Apple Magic Keyboard in over a week, and I’ve gotten my prose typing speed up to 82 WPM at 97% accuracy. I’m still working on the accuracy, but it’s getting better.
A few learnings:
- I wish I’d bought a key tester up front, as I wonder if I’d have enjoyed a different key better. Even so, the MX Browns aren’t bad.
- Typing practice is so important - 5 minutes once a day over a few weeks makes a huge difference.
- It’s not bad to switch back to your old keyboard. I’m finding that I’m still able to use the QWERTY keyboard without too much trouble shifting between the two, and that is comforting since not all keyboards are like mine.
- I’ve made gradual tweaks to my layout over time, and it’s really starting to get to be just right. It was good to go nuts on all the stuff it can do (tap dance, layers, etc). I’ve come to value accuracy, so layer shifts are all momentary and not permanent.
- Is it worth all this? Maybe. It has been fun to try, and I’m far more mindful of how I interact with the machine. Some things are about the same speed, some things might be a bit slower, I don’t think anything has been so tremendously life-changing at this point to make me feel like it’s a 10x improvement. Even so, it has been very fun and enjoyable to dig into and make it work. I would get mine again for sure.
Tl;dr - I would get my moonlander again, follow a similar layout design process, but spend more time in typing practice to get up to speed.