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I have a distinct memory of 8th grade typing class: once a week over the whole fall semester we practiced typing on these awful AlphaSmart devices. Made almost

I have a distinct memory of 8th grade typing class: once a week over the whole fall semester we practiced typing on these awful AlphaSmart devices. Made almost no progress in our words-per-minute. Then, over Christmas break, we all started using AIM to message each other. Spring semester began and our teacher was flummoxed... We had all jumped up by 20-30 words per minute from where we had been on the first day back in class.

fma 8y ago
Back in the 90's I had a computer...a 386. It had Windows 3.1 but still I used a lot of DOS. I also played BBS games where there's multiplayer chat...so I typed pretty fast. I was fastest type in the class in middle school, even better than the teacher in our computer class. A year or two later, everyone gets computers, AOL...AIM....and the classroom is now clickity clack, full of fast typers.
maxaht 8y ago
I had a similar experience as well- I attribute most (if not all) of my typing ability to an unhealthy Runescape habit in my younger years.
- ebullientocelot 8y ago
  Typing "333333 to buy a R2H!" repeatedly led to my initial discovery of copy/paste in my younger days. +1 for nostalgic smiles.
  - Cthulhu_ 8y ago
    A friend of mine used a macro tool to automate things like mining, another thing you don't really learn in school.
bcaa7f3a8bbc 8y ago
Completely agree. Touch-typing in standard finger position is ABSOLUTELY NOT REQUIRED to be a successful computer technician unless you are doing office document processing. As long as you can type in a reasonable speed so it doesn't become a significant bottleneck of your human-machine interface, it is okay. It's good to have this skill to become a more efficient computer operator, but it is optional in many cases. I can type at 50 WPM minimum by just pecking two fingers on the keyboard, and even faster when I use more fingers. I barely need to look down at the keyboard, I only do it to readjust my hand position, but most of the time, I can do this by using the text I just mistyped on the screen as my negative feedback. Many people I know who are not touch-typers, have also naturally acquired a similar "just works" way of typing - you don't need to actually study it, if you use computers day-by-day, you have probably obtained it. In the same way, when the cool kids in the 2000s were using SMS to text all the days, they learned to type at an unbelievable speed on the 3x3 numpad phone keyboard. On the other hand, if one is struggling to type words and commands on the keyboard to operate the commandline, it doesn't mean one is merely an inefficient typer, but often indicates a larger problem: A LACK OF GENERAL EXPERIENCE ON USING COMPUTERS, and this is the real problem, as general-purpose computers are becoming less and less common and many people of the young generation do not share your experience, which was how the older generation learned to type.
- derblitzmann 8y ago
  I remember this too. Funny thing is that I never got good until I enter the industry after college. And even then, the times I need to type quickly is when I already know what I'm typing, otherwise I'm thinking more than going for WPM.
- erfgh 8y ago
  You can learn touch typing to a very good standard in 1-2 weeks if you give it a try. It is not required but it will definitely help you. Sure, you can learn to type fast using another way, but what's the point? It's like learning to play the guitar stand-up. You can do it, but what's the point?
  - ghaff 8y ago
    I never learned. (I think the first time I used a typewriter was senior year in HS.) I went to a "prep" school and we didn't have classes for secretarial-type stuff. I type quickly enough and have developed good enough typing muscle memory over time that I've never quite gotten up the incentive to properly teach myself to touch type but I would almost certainly have benefited from both typing and shorthand classes at some point.
    - ams6110 8y ago
      Same. I generally rest in the home row, but I'm sure the fingers I'm using to strike specific keys are not the "correct" ones. I've never been formally trained in typing. I do find that I make fewer errors when I have a correct keyboard height and I keep my wrists elevated.
      - amrx431 8y ago
        Didn't have a computer till I went to university(grew up poor in a developing world). I am pretty fast without touch typing and I move my hand all around the keyboard. I also feel it when I happen to strike an incorrect key. Currently I look at keyboard occasionally when I make a mistake, but I think I have got an idea as to which keys are where. Its almost touch typing except I never start with the "home" position and yet manage to almost touch type. I believe as we type more and more we will eventually develop the touch typing pattern. The pattern might be different than the standard recommendation of "home" positioning.
peterlk 8y ago
Very similar experience. I learned to type fast because typing faster meant "winning" more arguments on Runescape. Also AIM helped me as well
analog31 8y ago
Maybe we should teach kids to type by having them copy simple computer programs. They could progress to correcting errors in those programs, or adding minor features. It wouldn't be full blown programming, but it might spark an interest and teach a little bit by imitation without being frightening.
taneq 8y ago
Yep. I did a touch typing course in year 8 which did almost nothing for me (or so I thought). I started using the home row and the right fingers per key but nothing more than that. Then in first year uni everyone communicated primarily via ICQ / irc / ytalk and suddenly typing fast was important. A year later, someone talked to me while I was typing, I looked up and responded to them and then realised I'd finished typing the sentence I was working on as I was talking. Accidental touch typing!
jjjensen90 8y ago
My typing breakthrough came from EverQuest, as did learning a lot of archaic and interesting words as a young child (grotesque, diadem, sepulchre... etc!). Being forced to type to party members or to auction items whipped me into shape as a typist pretty fast.
- zinckiwi 8y ago
  Plus sheer manual dexterity, "/yell TRAIN TO ZONE" while running like the dickens yourself.
nkrisc 8y ago
I can touch type, though my technique is definitely not standard. I learned it entirely from playing Starcraft online as a child. I couldn't type fast when I started playing, but I had to learn to type fast if I wanted to spend more time micromanaging my units and winning than typing messages to my allies.

fma 8y ago

Back in the 90's I had a computer...a 386. It had Windows 3.1 but still I used a lot of DOS. I also played BBS games where there's multiplayer chat...so I typed pretty fast. I was fastest type in the class in middle school, even better than the teacher in our computer class. A year or two later, everyone gets computers, AOL...AIM....and the classroom is now clickity clack, full of fast typers.

maxaht 8y ago

I had a similar experience as well- I attribute most (if not all) of my typing ability to an unhealthy Runescape habit in my younger years.

ebullientocelot 8y ago
Typing "333333 to buy a R2H!" repeatedly led to my initial discovery of copy/paste in my younger days. +1 for nostalgic smiles.
- Cthulhu_ 8y ago
  A friend of mine used a macro tool to automate things like mining, another thing you don't really learn in school.

bcaa7f3a8bbc 8y ago

Completely agree. Touch-typing in standard finger position is ABSOLUTELY NOT REQUIRED to be a successful computer technician unless you are doing office document processing. As long as you can type in a reasonable speed so it doesn't become a significant bottleneck of your human-machine interface, it is okay. It's good to have this skill to become a more efficient computer operator, but it is optional in many cases. I can type at 50 WPM minimum by just pecking two fingers on the keyboard, and even faster when I use more fingers. I barely need to look down at the keyboard, I only do it to readjust my hand position, but most of the time, I can do this by using the text I just mistyped on the screen as my negative feedback. Many people I know who are not touch-typers, have also naturally acquired a similar "just works" way of typing - you don't need to actually study it, if you use computers day-by-day, you have probably obtained it. In the same way, when the cool kids in the 2000s were using SMS to text all the days, they learned to type at an unbelievable speed on the 3x3 numpad phone keyboard. On the other hand, if one is struggling to type words and commands on the keyboard to operate the commandline, it doesn't mean one is merely an inefficient typer, but often indicates a larger problem: A LACK OF GENERAL EXPERIENCE ON USING COMPUTERS, and this is the real problem, as general-purpose computers are becoming less and less common and many people of the young generation do not share your experience, which was how the older generation learned to type.

derblitzmann 8y ago
I remember this too. Funny thing is that I never got good until I enter the industry after college. And even then, the times I need to type quickly is when I already know what I'm typing, otherwise I'm thinking more than going for WPM.
erfgh 8y ago
You can learn touch typing to a very good standard in 1-2 weeks if you give it a try. It is not required but it will definitely help you. Sure, you can learn to type fast using another way, but what's the point? It's like learning to play the guitar stand-up. You can do it, but what's the point?
- ghaff 8y ago
  I never learned. (I think the first time I used a typewriter was senior year in HS.) I went to a "prep" school and we didn't have classes for secretarial-type stuff. I type quickly enough and have developed good enough typing muscle memory over time that I've never quite gotten up the incentive to properly teach myself to touch type but I would almost certainly have benefited from both typing and shorthand classes at some point.
  - ams6110 8y ago
    Same. I generally rest in the home row, but I'm sure the fingers I'm using to strike specific keys are not the "correct" ones. I've never been formally trained in typing. I do find that I make fewer errors when I have a correct keyboard height and I keep my wrists elevated.
    - amrx431 8y ago
      Didn't have a computer till I went to university(grew up poor in a developing world). I am pretty fast without touch typing and I move my hand all around the keyboard. I also feel it when I happen to strike an incorrect key. Currently I look at keyboard occasionally when I make a mistake, but I think I have got an idea as to which keys are where. Its almost touch typing except I never start with the "home" position and yet manage to almost touch type. I believe as we type more and more we will eventually develop the touch typing pattern. The pattern might be different than the standard recommendation of "home" positioning.

peterlk 8y ago

Very similar experience. I learned to type fast because typing faster meant "winning" more arguments on Runescape. Also AIM helped me as well

analog31 8y ago

Maybe we should teach kids to type by having them copy simple computer programs. They could progress to correcting errors in those programs, or adding minor features. It wouldn't be full blown programming, but it might spark an interest and teach a little bit by imitation without being frightening.

taneq 8y ago

Yep. I did a touch typing course in year 8 which did almost nothing for me (or so I thought). I started using the home row and the right fingers per key but nothing more than that. Then in first year uni everyone communicated primarily via ICQ / irc / ytalk and suddenly typing fast was important. A year later, someone talked to me while I was typing, I looked up and responded to them and then realised I'd finished typing the sentence I was working on as I was talking. Accidental touch typing!

jjjensen90 8y ago

My typing breakthrough came from EverQuest, as did learning a lot of archaic and interesting words as a young child (grotesque, diadem, sepulchre... etc!). Being forced to type to party members or to auction items whipped me into shape as a typist pretty fast.

zinckiwi 8y ago
Plus sheer manual dexterity, "/yell TRAIN TO ZONE" while running like the dickens yourself.

nkrisc 8y ago

I can touch type, though my technique is definitely not standard. I learned it entirely from playing Starcraft online as a child. I couldn't type fast when I started playing, but I had to learn to type fast if I wanted to spend more time micromanaging my units and winning than typing messages to my allies.