Disagree whole heartedly. The benefits of ortho is minor compared to the split, but it’s still there. And if you’re already willing to buy an expensive split mechanical keyboard, what’s the drawback?

The drawback is that you'll spend months learning to type again, and you won't be nearly as fast as you were.

That's what happened for me, at least.

Counter anecdote; I switched to split ortho a couple weeks ago and it didn't take much more than a week of consistently using only the new keyboard to get back up to normal speeds. The ortho seems to have made it much easier for me to touch type, as a result of which I now make fewer errors and generally barely ever consciously think about the actual action of typing.

Took me like 3 or 4 days to get up to my normal speed of a bit over 100wpm.

This was also going from 60% to my first split/ortho.

Took me another couple of days to get used to chording and these days I use a 36 key split board.

So your mileage may vary, but it's definitely not going to take you months typically.

Ease of adaption may depend on users age. No point to argue about this imho

Also, people can have different preferences and that’s ok.

What I noticed is that people who are really good at (properly) touch typing on a staggered keyboard have more difficulties adapting to a linear one.

In my example, I type around 80 wpm on a regular keyboard, but I've never learned and used the proper key->finger assignment - I just type how I adapted over the years. So for me there was no trouble switching to proper technique on an ortholinear. I'm not yet nearly as fast, but it feels like it's 3-4 times easier to type (ie. less finger movement).

I don't know, I never learned proper touch typing, but I went from 100 WPM to 80 when I learned to touch type on the ortho keyboard. You're right that there's less movement, but I find it a bit less... convenient.

i'm definitely not as fast as i used to be (somewhere around 120 wpm as a non-touch-typist) after 2 years of typing on an ortholinear keyboard, but I don't really mind. I'm much more comfortable and my fingers don't hurt as much.

I went from ~110 pb, 100 average (on common word typing tests) on row-staggered QWERTY with an untrained hunt-and-peck to ~105 pb, 100 average (on common word typing tests) with Dvorak layout on an ortholinear keyboard.

I'd already spent the time to learn Dvorak layout on row-staggered keyboards. Having had that training, picking up an ortho was straightforward. (Although my average wpm on typing tests after picking up the board would've been ~90).

I suspect if all your fingers 'know' is where the keys are (rather than following discipline of 'column per finger'), then adjusting to ortholinear would be harder.

I think it’s more individualistic. I switched to ortho (Kinesis Advantage), and it only took a couple days to get back to my prior typing speed.

Agreed, it didn't take long for me to learn to use the Advantage. But before that I had tried it a few times and got frustrated that I wasn't immediately able to use it. I'm glad I finally took the time though, because I love this keyboard.

I think the advantage is way easier to use and way more comfortable than any of it's 'flat clones'. I've been on one advantage or another for about 20 years. I picked up a used ergodox awhile back because they look kinda cool and I wanted to try out a split. Resold it only a couple of weeks later because it's 'just worse' than an advantage. You hands need to be huge (and mine are) and it still feels like you are reaching all the time. The thumb cluster is way less comfortable.

Since I printed/wired myself a dactyl. Great little kb.

It takes a few weeks to retrain muscle memory, to be sure, but I've found that once you get used to it, you actually make fewer typos because your fingers are moving in a more predictable/logical up and down pattern.

Took me about a month to get used to an ortho, but even during that transition period my WPM wasn't reduced so much that I was unproductive.

Non-split ortho is silly, but with split layouts I find them vastly more comfortable, especially for the left hand.

The only thing I had to relearn were the keys on the bottom alpha row on the left side, because on a regular keyboard I would tend to offset them by one column (i.e. type C with the index, X with the middle finger etc...) but with an ortho I didn't need to anymore. And the only reason I needed to offset them in the first place is because standard keyboards have such a bad layout for the left hand.

I've loved learning how to use ortho keyboards. They open your brain to new text editing possibilities. Just like how learning Spanish teaches you about English and learning new programming languages teaches you about what's possible with code. They improved my typing accuracy and got rid of my right pinky pain too. I agree that they're not for everyone.

Hmm, really? What did they open your brain to? I didn't see any benefit, it's just harder.

Can't speak for OP, but I've found that staggered layouts are rather non-standardized when it comes to the severity of the slant. As a consequence, my muscle memory is all over the place when touch typing, especially for the third row (ZXCVBN).

Ortholinears, of course, are all exactly the same, which lets me type with more confidence. I don't type any faster, but I do suffer fewer typos for words that require multiple row switches.

Yeah there, in my experience, keyboards can come with generally two different layouts for the bottom alpha row, it's a slight move, only about half a unit (where a unit is the width of one key), but it's significant.

Emacs keybindings like Control-x Control-c don't work for me on regular keyboards. They work just fine for me on ortho keyboards with an easily accessible control key for my right thumb.

Ortho keyboards got me in the habit on using modifier keys on the opposite side of the keyboard from the shortcut key. On a regular keyboard, I'll type Command + c with my left thumb / left index finger with an unergonmic movement. On an ortho keyboard, I use my right thumb + left middle finger for the same motion.

For Vim, I started using Control + c to escape with ortho keyboards, which keeps me on the home row.

None of these are huge productivity gains. But a fun way to shock your brain and to stay sharp.

Eh, a few buttons had slightly lower accuracy than on a staggered, when I first started, but it was pretty easy.

I was at full typing speed within a few days. Main problem was getting used to the custom locations of modifiers (e.g. thumb clusters).

For me it was honestly a day or two. N=1 I know, but it's not too tough.

My typing speed has increased from 65 wpm to 80 wpm after switching to a split ortho keyboard. Took just a couple of weeks to get back to my old speed.