Tangential: I find using an actual (Mac) laptop, with the trackpad in front of the keyboard, to be very ergonomic. This is on a desk with a screen attached, so I’m not staring down at the laptop screen.
Rather than the hand sweeping all the way over to the right to reach the mouse, it just twists a little towards the trackpad. The palms never really leave their rests.
I don’t use it like this a lot, but when I do I enjoy it.
In an interesting demonstration of how all ergonomics is personal, my use of a Mac laptop and the repeated wrist rotation from the trackpad to they keyboard and back led to RSI.
That said, I love the Mac trackpad and it has great ergonomic potential, I just personally have to use it with a split keyboard with the halves on either side of the laptop. That way the motion of moving from trackpad to keyboard and back is a bend at the elbow, while the wrist stays straight.
Huh, interesting. I already bend my arm at the elbow when using the trackpad. However, I find the finger position painful if I'm using the trackpad intensively for a while (think lots of scrolling during random web browsing).
A few months ago I have discovered the joys of using a trackball and I think a great setup would be to fit the that between the halves of a split keyboard. I suppose a Kinesis Freestyle or similar could accommodate that.
That being said, even though I absolutely love the mbp trackpad and find the keyboard ok-ish (I have an older, 2013 model), I don't like using it with an external screen. It feels somehow off.
I've always wished for an external trackpad and keyboard combo in this layout, basically a Macbook without the screen to use with your monitor setup. Reaching to the side for the trackpad frequently seems much slower and less ergonomic. Plus the fixed relative layout of the trackpad and keys helps orient myself.
Rather than the hand sweeping all the way over to the right to reach the mouse, it just twists a little towards the trackpad. The palms never really leave their rests.
I don’t use it like this a lot, but when I do I enjoy it.