Greatly inspired by this episode of the new podcast Under The Radar with Marco Arment and ‘underscore’ David Smith, computer ergonomics has been on my mind a lot lately, and as I spend more and more time working on one I feel it’s important to ensure I’m doing the right thing by myself by considering the ergonomics of my setup.
Having worked exclusively off of a 13″ laptop for the last four years, it’s certainly time for some upgrades. Yesterday began the transition, by moving to an old 21.5″ monitor. Unfortunately the screen quality isn’t quite where I’d like it to be, but it’s a nice temporary solution until I purchase a larger, higher resolution monitor. Not having to slouch over to read a tiny screen is a nice, comfortable change.
Today was part two, where I bought an external keyboard. Seeing as though this upgrade focuses on ergonomics, I went with the Microsoft Comfort Curve 3000. Aside from the horrible name, I really like this thing. The keys slope up in what is supposedly an ergonomic position and, as far as desktop keyboard go, it’s fairly quiet to type on. I’ve only written a few hundred words on it so far and I don’t think it’ll take very long to adapt completely. My biggest gripe is the fact it’s clearly designed for Windows and hence some of the keys are in different positions, or have different functions than on my MacBook Pro’s keyboard. (Side note: I now have a number pad - yay!)
The keyboard and mouse I’m using are both wired, and of course that called for a USB hub (who says USB is dead?!) It’s a little weird to have a few wires around my desk in 2016, but you’ve got do what you have to.
So, as I write this my MacBook Pro is sitting next to the external monitor with its screen shut, feeding it with content while the screen is off. It’s weird to even consider that it’s powered on still, let alone I’m operating from it without looking at it.
Next step… an external monitor (how does this 2K one from Asus look?) and a much better chair to enhance posture.