Like the typewriter, the computer keyboard remained unchanged for years. However, in the past decade, the combination of an aging population and people of all ages spending increasingly long hours online has started to create a demand for innovative ergonomic keyboards. Increasingly, what was once the interest of hobbyists and hackers is becoming mainstream. The latest generation of ergonomic boards not only relieves and prevents repetitive stress injuries, but offers people of all ages an unprecedented freedom of choice – if only they can afford it. Leading producers of these new style keyboards include Dygma, Keyboardio, MoErgo, and ZSA.

The products of all four of these manufacturers have many things in common. To start with, their products have most of these design elements:

• a split design that allows the user's arm to be held comfortably at shoulder length
• mechanical key switches that can be easily swapped according to preference and typing style, including light, responsive switches suitable for long hours of work
• hot-swappable switches that can be replaced without soldering, so users can experiment to find the choice that best suits them
• one or more mechanisms for sloping the split keyboard halves into the most comfortable position. The halves can be tented (placed with the outer edges lower than the inner).
• a mechanism for tilting the keyboards away from the typist (negative tilting).
• keys arranged to minimize finger movement, usually with keys arranged in straight columns rather than the traditional staggered columns, and sometimes sculpted to guide fingers
• a cluster of keys that takes advantage of the thumb's greater strength and flexibility compared to the fingers
• wrist rests, padded or unpadded
• open source firmware to customize any key or even assign different actions depending on how the key is touched, and to add multiple layers for different purposes, applications, or personal preferences

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