Is being a programmer a good career?

What are some good career alternatives for a computer programmer with RSI?

• For the past 6 years, I have continued to work as a software engineer after developing a severe case of RSI (repetitive strain injury) in both arms, which makes it difficult to use the computer (keyboard and mouse) for more than a couple of hours per day.  I'm hoping to make a career transition in the near future. What are some specific roles/careers that would (1) make good use of my  skills in computer science, data analysis, and general analytical/engineering skills and (2) provide better ergonomics (_less_ computer use and _more_ physically dynamic activities like discussions with teammates, visiting customers, etc.)?

• Answer:

  I have some good news for you, from first-hand experience as a computer scientist:  you do not need your arms to use the computer. Or barely. (except for some specific tasks such as playing FPS at a good level or if you use graphics software as a professional) Short answer: Use SmartNAV for moving the mouse cursor with your head. Most clicks can be done via a dwell clicking software provided by SmartNAV Use Dragon NaturallySpeaking for voice recognition Long answer: Part 1: Replacing the mouse I use the awesome hands-free mouse http://www.naturalpoint.com/smartnav/products/about.html. It uses an infrared (IR) camera to track head movements. More details here: http://superuser.com/a/436332/1164http://5http://7 Works great even with "big" setup such as mine: I wrote an article about it exploring other solutions for hands-free mice. http://francky.me/doc/mouse2012.pdf http://francky.me/publications.php#mouse2012 : Abstract—In a few months the computer mouse will be half-a-century-old. It is known to have many drawbacks, the main ones being: loss of productivity due to constant switching between keyboard and mouse, health issues such as RSI, medical impossibility to use the mouse e.g. broken or amputated arm and unnatural human-computer interface like the keyboard. However almost everybody still uses a computer mouse nowadays. In this short article, we explore computer mouse alternatives. Our research shows that moving the mouse cursor can be done efficiently with the SmartNav device and mouse clicks can be emulated in many complementary ways. We believe that computer users can increase their productivity and their health by using those alternatives. This article is voluntary short and not overly technical, our main motivation being to make the readers aware of these solutions and their efficiencies. Details can be found in the appendices and by following the URLs and references. The primarily intended readers are computer scientists, people with RSI, physicians and interface pioneers. Feedback is highly welcome: this is work in progress. Part 2: Replacing the keyboard Note that any keyboard - no matter how ergonomic it is - to some extent can trigger RSI after some time. So it's good to get rid of it ASAP (or simply reduce its use) by using voice recognition (Dragon NaturallySpeaking is currently the best). Statistics: The average rate for transcription is 33 words per minute, and 19 words per minute for composition. An average professional typist types usually in speeds of 50 to 80 words per minute. Using speech recognition, one can easily achieve over 100 words per minute with more than 95% accuracy. I am currently focusing on replacing the keyboard by optimizing the use of Dragon NaturallySpeaking to see how efficient we can get with Dragon NaturallySpeaking (especially voice commands as well as voice programming). For that purpose, I am investigating several questions (just listing them here to show the kind of questions I have to mind): * * * http://productivity.stackexchange.com/q/3605/2476 : How can we use Dragon NaturallySpeaking to code more efficiently? * * I use voice recognition around 95% of my input time (i.e. I type with the keyboard at most for 5%, maybe even just 1%), but I'm still not entirely satisfied about voice commands as well as voice programming, but is still very useful to reduce the keyboard usage. I'm currently evaluating http://www.redstartsystems.com/uttercommand.html and http://www.knowbrainer.com/NewStore/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=445&idcategory=76 Bottom line: If RSI is such a annoyance for you, definitely invest time in the above mentioned solution and please give me feedback (especially on how using voice recognition to code efficiently) Disclaimer: I use keyboards since childhood and here are the keyboards I tested this year only, so don't think I type with two fingers or have only tried the Dell shitty keyboard ;-) Also note that http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/q/7272/7654 than regular ones.