An adventure in ergonomics

A picture named ergonomic.jpg The huge amount of heavy typing I have been doing this week forced me to make a change to my computing set up last night. So far this week, a surge of work has had me typing fast and hard for about six hours each day, and although the keyboard on my Pismo PowerBook is comfortable to type on in normal circumstances, it is time to deal with the ergonomics compromise of using a laptop, where you can either have the keyboard at a correct height and suffer from a sore neck while gazing down at the screen or choose to have the keyboard at an improper height in order to limit the amount of neck strain while adding more risk of carpal tunnel or other repetitive stress injuries. Add to this standard setup the fact that I work in my home office with a second monitor attached to my PowerBook, and there are new issues in dealing with the ergonomic pluses and minuses.

To make a long story short, after 30 hours of heavy keyboarding this week, last night I went out and bought an external keyboard and mouse for this PowerBook for the first time in the two years I have owned the machine. I thought it would be worthwhile to mention what I bought and why.

First, on the keyboard front, after reading through the recent excellent discussion on Macintouch about ergonomic keyboards and then looking at the time demands of my decision to get an ergonomic setup working within a day or two, I drove to the local CompUSA store to see what keyboards are available there. A number of people in the Macintouch discussion mentioned that they made the compromise of buying a Microsoft product because they found the Microsoft Natural Keyboard Pro - an ergonomic model that has the split keyboard design and contoured, rounded design and that is readily available in retail stores for less than $70 - a good solution. It didn't take long to look at my budget and then look at the anemic keyboard offerings at the local computer store and decide to go with the Microsoft keyboard. After all, the company's Intellitype Pro software works under OS X, so all of the specialized keys on the keyboard can be programmed to launch applications and files, helping eliminate the need for extra mousing that can also be an issue in ergonomics.

The keyboard was just the first thing I needed in order to create a more ergonomic office. I also needed a mouse or pointing device of some kind. The decision here was easy...I have always liked the trackball products from Kensington, so I plunked down $90-plus for the Kensington Expert Mouse Pro, which also has OS X compatible software (the latest version of Kensington Mouseworks 2.0 was released recently). In addition to the trackball in the center of the Kensington mouse, it also has a scroll wheel (which I suspect could be an ergonomics problem rather than a feature if it was used too much), four individually programmable clicking buttons, and six programmable application, file, or Web page launching buttons at the top of the mouse.

So, with about $180 in new products in hand, I headed home to rearrange my desk to fit the PowerBook and a secondary monitor together side-by-side with the keyboard on its own pull out keyboard tray and the Kensington trackball mouse in the mix somewhere. The other component of my gear is a laptop stand that raises the height of my LCD screen to eye level, making it much easier on my neck. I set the PowerBook on the left hand side of the dual-screen set up in front of me, with the 15-inch CRT on a riser to the right of the PowerBook - creating a roughly 30-inch wide screen space in front of me.

After an hour or so of moving things around on this admittedly thrown together desk, I had a workable ergonomic setup...sort of. A big problem with a right-handed person using the Microsoft Natural Keyboard Pro in conjunction with any kind of mouse is that the width of the keyboard to the right, where the keypad and other keys are situated, makes placing a mouse on the right side a big reach. I can either be centered on the regular typing keys on the keyboard, or I can be set up correctly to use the mouse. Both is not an option. Add to this mix the fact that most keyboard trays are not wide enough for a decent keyboard and the mouse - something that every computer use must know by now - and you can see problems in ergonomicsville.

I am still trying to find the right compromise in my ergonomic set up. I can place the Kensington mouse on the desk top to the right and above the keyboard, and then work to avoid too much mousing (something that is always a good idea anyway if you are trying to avoid RSI injuries), I can lump it and put the mouse to the right of the keyboard, or I can retrain myself to use the mouse with my left hand since there is much more room and it is ergonomically better placement to put the mouse to the left, where it is closer to the Home keys on the keyboard. Right now, the mouse is above the keyboard to the right, but I am certainly not settled on that position.

Overall, while I hated to spend the money on more computer gear right now, I am hoping that this new set up will help me deal with the typing that is part of covering the financial industry doing these write ups of financial earnings calls across the Internet for 20-30 hours a week. It should also be helpful as I start writing more of the book that Natalie and I are busy working on, Birding Washington. That book is already being delayed due to the tight schedule, lack of enough time to complete the research, lack of enough income to cover the pace of travel expenses we have been racking up each month and a recent health problem in Natalie's family that has our priorities shifting. I don't need to add RSI injuries to the mix.

Mac's running OS X can be set up as ergonomically correct workstations - even an aging PowerBook like mine.

Rob McNair-Huff is a longtime Mac user and writer from the Pacific Northwest. In addition to writing about the Mac, and running this Web site, Mac Net Journal, he is the author of two books - Insiders' Guide to the Olympic Peninsula and Mountain Bike America: Washington - and he is working with his wife Natalie to write a third book this year called Birding Washington. If you have a need for Mac consulting, writing, Web design or photography help, check out Rob's business site: White Rabbit Publishing.

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