I've thought of this for the shift keys, I find that certain key combinations that require shift are a lot more awkward for my hands to do and I wonder if year after year eventually that is going to give me arthritis or increase the chances of it. I think that with a pedal it might make +, -, {, }, (, ) etc much easier on the hands to complete since they account for the worst stretches my hands have to make.
> ... wonder if year after year eventually that is going to give me arthritis or increase the chances of it.
This is precisely the reason I picked-up an ergodox [1] when my wrists started to hurt from `ctrl+whatever` key combos. moving modifier keys to the thumbs is so obviously superior I'm not sure why it's not more common.
admittedly it felt ridiculous to pay ~$250 for a keyboard (thanks, ebay), but now i almost never have to contort my wrists into weird angles &
