I was reading an interesting story today about that little fuckup at the Tokyo stoke exchange (millions of dallars lost due to a typing error). news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4545714.stm
Anyway, they were talking about how qwerty keyboards were originally designed to SLOW typists down (so that the hammers didn’t get suck). I found that very interesting.
They then went on to talk about the different kinds of typists. At one end, there are touch typists, and then at the other end, there are two-fingered “hunt and peck” typists.
I guess, like most people, I’m somewhere in-between, but closer to being a hunt and peck typist. I have to look at the keyboard, can type with most fingers and am faster than most of my friends.
If I try to look at the screen though, it all goes horribly wrong.
How about the rest of you?
One more question for those of you that can touch type. How did you learn, and how long did it take?
But seriously, I’m a bit of both, right now I’m not looking, but with some use of the backspace key. When working, I need to use every key (even those above Tab and Enter, but not sys req. not even I know what that’s for) and it’s more thinking than typing, so I look more.
If I try to look at the screen though, it all goes horribly wrong.
How about the rest of you?
One more question for those of you that can touch type. How did you learn, and how long did it take?[/quote]
I am a touch typist. Haven’t checked my speed recently, but probably improved since I learned it. I went to a business school, and the typing teacher used to make us put paper over our hands, so we won’t be able to see the keys. I bet she would have even used some paintthinner to rub of the key labels, just to prevent us from peeking. Anyway, now I am thankful for her strictness, since it does make things easier.
At them moment I am teaching myself to write text messages on my mobile phone without looking at the keys. Works pretty good so far, just need to work on the speed.
After about 20 years of ‘hunt and pecking’, including the last 2 where I could actually say “I’m being paid to sit in front of a keyboard all day” I finally decided it was about time I learnt to type properly.
I installed Mavis Beacon on the PC at work, and started doing an hour a day during my lunch. It took about 3 days to learn all the letters, and 2 weeks before I got bored and stopped trying to learn.
At the moment my accuracy is bad, I spend too much time hitting backspace, and I have to look down to type numbers and symbols usually, but overall just being able to sit properly and having to spend less time concentrating on the keyboard has made a big difference.
I learned to touch type from Mavis Beacon about 10 years ago. I highly recommend her! She got me typing fast with high accuracy and of course, no looking at the keyboard. If you really want to learn how to type, check her out!
I type pretty quickly and without looking at the keyboard, but I never took courses, so my fingers and wrists are all over the place in crazy contortions.
It probably makes me less likely to get RSI, but it also puts a limit on how fast I’ll ever be able to type without retraining (actually, I think I hit that limit a while back).
[quote=“irishstu”]Anyway, they were talking about how qwerty keyboards were originally designed to SLOW typists down (so that the hammers didn’t get suck). I found that very interesting.[/quote]That’s a bit of a myth. Yes, qwerty reduces the times when the hammers get stuck, but it’s not specifically designed to slow typing down.
Learning touch typing isn’t that difficult, and it’s very satisfying when you have that skill. But to do it properly, you really need to make a complete break from hunt and peck, which will probably mean that you can’t do any typing-related work for a week or so. I think the software I learned on had the edge on Mavis Beacon but this was some years ago and I don’t even remember what it was called. Mavis Beacon should be fine, anyway. My dad learned on that and said it was OK.
If you mainly only use one computer, you might want to change your keyboard to the dvorak layout (or buy a dvorak keyboard) and learn that. It’s faster, more intuitive and probably more ergonomic. Some good info, including a link to a free dvorak typing tutor, in this thread:
[forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopic.ph … 494#411494](RSI? Natural keyboard?
I went half-way – a bad idea! I popped off the keys on my keyboard and put them back in the dvorak format. I started learning dvorak but then decided that as I don’t really type that much and I sometimes use different computers, I might as well stick with qwerty for the moment. But I haven’t got round to changing my keyboard back, so I’m typing qwerty on a dvorak layout.
I would love to, however have not had an assistant since I left my last job. I sneek a peek once in a while, however actually types using 10 fingers. A bit of backspace once in a while, but not too bad. I learned mine while working on my masters thesis. Discovered that I spent way too much time typing, and that my train of thought was moving faster than my fingers. So I downloaded a danish freeware program, and learned it from that. Only took 30 minutes twice a day for a week, and then I was typing happily away. (sort of)
it’s a long time ago, and it works for Danish layout keyboards only. no I don’t however I think that you could find something similar on tucows, google etc.
Edit, I tried to locate something, it took me 30 seconds:
Touch typing, thanks to a quarter-long course therein, in junior high in Mexico. Essential, in today’s computer-dominated world, I would think. Definitely take a course in it (there’s probably some good software for this) – the time invested in it over a couple weeks will HUGELY pay off in time saved over the rest of your typing life!!!
[quote=“Mr He”]it’s a long time ago, and it works for Danish layout keyboards only. no I don’t however I think that you could find something similar on tucows, google etc.
Edit, I tried to locate something, it took me 30 seconds:
Interesting article. I like the comparison of touch typing to playing the piano. I remember being scolded as a youngster for looking down at the piano keys, but sometimes I just couldn
Funny you should say that. I was just noticing that if you squint when you’re looking at the title of this thread it looks like it’s asking if you can touch your pecker. I guess I’ve been staring at the computer screen too long today.
I had the choice between Home Ec and Word Processing when I was a HS senior a decade ago (damn, that’s scary to see what I just wrote). It seemed silly at the time, but as I went to major in English, worked in (Hellish) Corporate America for 4 years and love my messenger and email options, especially to keep in touch as I pile on the years on this lovely little island, I must say that being able to type speedily, without having to watch the keyboard, is an invaluable skill. I imagine I’m somewhere between 70-80 words per minute, and I dare anyone to try to dust me in a typing war.
