Do you use the \| symbols on your keyboard?
Do you use them so much that they demand a 1.5 width key to access them?
If you’re a Linux user, you also use ~´ …and probably pretty much the same amount as the \|. Do you have a 1.5 width key for those?
In a 65% or smaller layout, we often get the 1.5 \| and no ~´ at all!
I would like all keyboard designers to think very carefully about that little wasted space used by a large \| … it’s all laziness caused by picking a 1.5 for the Tab key, isn’t it? :-p You have to put something on there, and everyone else puts \| on it, so …
Stop it!
Make that 1.5 key the backspace, and then cast your eyes on the 2 width backspace above it, split that one in half and restore \| and ~´ to their rightful places, in easy reach!
I mean you are describing a “split backspace” layout, which is often a layout option (especially on soldered PCBs) and often the only choice on HHKB-like boards.
I’m voting with my wallet from now on then … If it has a 1.5 \| and no tilde/backquote, I’m not buying it. No-one will notice my attempt at market manipulation
I do have a Drop Alt, which has an extra key to the right of the \\| that I have remapped, so it isn’t as if I can’t use alternatives. It’s just that thinking about it, I can’t see any reason for that \| to be granted such a big key and I think it’s just some form of design inertia that needs to be given a kick.
Most custom PCBs support split backspace which gives you the keys you need as dedicated buttons. And in fact they’re getting more and more commonplace as well, not just in custom PCBs
I had a Nasty ISO rubberdome keyboard at work for ~5 years which had 2 \ keys! One snuggled into the ISO enter key, and one beside the left shift.
I can’t be doing ISO (enter is too small horizontally) but I’d love to buy a basically ANSI keyboard which had the split left-shift & \ keys, since my muscle memory still whacks the left shift every once in a while when I want a backslash.
If we’re adding fuel to the preference fire, I’ll throw in mine for Delete being the second key on a split backspace. For my needs, I use that WAY more than I ever would a tilde or back quote so I put that on a layer (assuming I remember to - that’s how little I use it).
Already was doing it every time possible and now making bespoke keeb with split BS fixed, although I’m not frequent tilde user (Fn+Esc is enough for it).
