This unconventional keyboard could help prevent chronic wrist pain
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If your job requires you to type a lot, you should consider getting a more ergonomically friendly keyboard. Repetitive strain injury (RSI) and carpal tunnel syndrome are extremely painful, and can be contracted by subjecting your hands and fingers to hours of fatigue.
This fatigue can be significantly reduced by using a keyboard that's ergonomically designed to reduce hand strain; the best keyboard in this class is the Kinesis Advantage. It looks strange, and many who have used it say it takes up to a couple of weeks to get used to, but it's worth it. Instead of angling your wrists upward, the keys on the Kenesis keyboard are located in two wells. Your wrists and fingers are pointed downward, and the keys themselves are configured in such a way that you'll never have to stretch a finger to reach one.
People who have used this keyboard actually noticed that after acclimating to it they increased their typing speed, in some cases up to 30%. The biggest hurdle I could see in getting used to it would be having some of the auxiliary keys, including control, alt, and delete, located by your thumbs. Ironically, that key combo is exactly the type of finger-bending move that can lead to RSI.
The Kinesis Advantage's Achilles heel is its price, it's $269, which is very expensive considering you can get a great keyboard for under $20. Still, this keyboard is specifically made to save you from years of pain and potentially even surgery. When viewed as a preventative measure, its price is a little easier to understand. If you're sitting in front of a computer typing all day and you've begun to feel even a little bit of chronic wrist pain because of it, you should seriously consider getting an ergonomic keyboard, and this one is considered the best.
Kinesis Advantage Keyboard, $269, available at Amazon.