Hate 'em.
I do an easy 75 wpm with bursts of upwards of 110 on my Saratoga, the best keyboard ever made. No carpal tunnel from it either.
I’ve used one since… jeez… 8 years now? Or since whenever they came out.
Love the things amazingly. The wrist-ache I used to feel all the time has completely disappeared, and when I have to type on a flat keyboard, it feels like I’m scrunching up my hands.
I introduced a keyboard like this to our accountant. It made the “arthritis” she used to get in her hands go away – so I think it was just wrist ache on her part.
Damn good things.
I don’t like the “bent” split keyboards that everyone seems to be pushing these days. They don’t seem any more comfortable than regular keyboards to me, as they still enforce the arms-angled-inward, mantis-like posture.
I’ve had a chance to use a truly split keyboard–two separate pieces you could spread apart, with a cable between them. That, I liked, and wanted to mount on the arms of my chair. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen any commercially available versions quite like it.
I probably still have mine down in the basement, but I haven’t used it in years. Do you get it to work with modern USB-equipped computers?
I use the Apple standard keyboard. It’s smooth but a bit too small.
I have the keyboard jjimm posted at work, and I have an ancient MS split-n-bent keyboard at home (the one with the full size function keys and arrows in the classic upsidedown T position). You can’t buy 'em like that anymore, and I won’t give it up until it flat out dies.
I can use standard keyboards, but to me, they force my hands and arms into a funky potition. The bent-n-curve ones are much more comfortable.
I’m not a secretary, but I type. How the heck else can I post on the SD? Oh, and there’s that “writing code” thing I do on occasion as well, which is also rather typing-intensive.
I love a split keyboard.
And, I never learned touch typing, but my style probably isn’t far from it. It’s just a more natural position for my arms (I don’t know what your arms would have to be shaped like so that it’s not).
And, everybody types nowadays. Posting here, writing email, and writing code. All typing-intensive, and I never have any wrist problems.
I loved my split keyboard, but when we got new desks at the office, they came with these trays for the keyboards. Since the split keyboards have a different footprint than standard keyboards, I had to go back to a regular one. Ah well. It doesn’t hurt when I type either way.
And I avoid using my mouse like the plague. I’m old skool, so I still use all the CTRL, ALT and SHIFT commands.
If you’re rich, you could try to kluge something with this.
I was 100% against split keyboards for ages. I hated them, and the keys didn’t line up to how I typed (I used my left index finger for the Y and my right index finger for the B).
Unfortunately, I was having a hard time with my wrist because I do type a whole lot at work, and I finally gave in and got a split keyboard. The first week or two was torture. I was ready to run it over with my car. However, since I’ve gotten used to it (and I’ve mostly gotten my speed back), I’m actually quite happy with it. My only complaint is that I can’t go back to straight keyboards very easily anymore!
riker1384 (re: “Saratoga” ADB keyboard):
I have a couple of those little iMate USB-ADB adapters, and it works fine with my PB G4. Every now and then the computer & the keyboard get confused about whether or not the Caps Lock key is down — usually the light is showing on the Saratoga but not on the built-in laptop kb and data entry is not capitalized until I toggle the CL key on the Saratoga off and back on. More rarely (maybe twice since February), it gets stuck in Caps Lock mode and I have to toggle the CL key on the built-in kb to get it to relinquish caps. Other than that, it’s as compatible as it was with a true ADB Mac.
I don’t, but I can; they don’t bother me at all. I was somewhat surprised the first time I used one by how naturally I could touch-type on it. It didn’t feel markedly different from typing on a regular keyboard. Still, I use the standard board, mostly because they’re cheaper and I don’t care to pay extra just for the novelty of “hey, I can use this!”
My wife wouldn’t let me get a split keyboard, so we compramised and now use a curved keyboard. It’s better than nothing.
What I really want is those lifter thingies on the spacebar side of the keyboard.
I tried one and found that it slowed me down. They put the “6” on the wrong side!
[10-key brain]Whaddaya mean? Mine’s on the right-hand side, right under the 9 and above the 3, where it belongs.[/10-key brain]
I go both ways. 
Never used one for more than a few painful minutes on someone else’s computer. Never will get one. I suppose, as some other posters have indicated, I could learn to use one. But my home computer has been a laptop for years, and the reason it’s a laptop is, well, I actually use it on my lap most of the time and having to use an external keyboard would make that nearly impossible, not to mention kinda getting in the way of the whole idea of a portable computer. I’ve been typing on regular keyboards for thirty years, and my wrists are just fine.
I have a lady at work with one (as mentioned above) that will often give up quickly on simple instruction regarding the computer. She will usually say “Oh just come do it for me!” And I get to say “I’m sorry, I can’t work that f*k’d up thing.”
Works both ways.
I’d hate to see the code of a software engineer who codes using voice-recognition software. 
Personally, I use a split keyboard at work and a non-split keyboard at home. The split feels marginally better to my wrists, though I don’t feel any real discomfort with the non-split. I have the feeling that gaming would be marginally more difficult on the split keyboard due to the way/fact that the number keys are split.
1) Have you ever used a split keyboard? If not, would you try it?
Yes, I have.
2) Do you have a preference between the two, and if so, what is it and why?
I hate using a split keyboard. Reason? I’ve learned to touchtype in such a way that the “Y” key is always depressed by my left index finger, not right. Every split keyboard I’ve seen has had the “Y” reserved for the right hand only, and I just can’t make myself do it.
(As to two other typing quirks: I almost always shift with the left shift key. I always use the right thumb to hit the spacebar. But neither is relevant to why I dislike split keyboards.)
Mrs. Danalan has a split keyboard. When I have to use her system, it drives me nuts. To big, ugly, and the keys are all in the wrong orientation. Hate it.