7 ms·

Completely agree. Touch-typing in standard finger position is ABSOLUTELY NOT REQUIRED to be a successful computer technician unless you are doing office docume

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.
cm2187 8y ago
I never learned to type formally and type fast but with a lot of typos. It is a problem when programming. Particularly the location of special characters, and particularly given that many IDE are "path dependent", i.e. if you type the wrong character and press back, you are not in the state in which you were before you mistyped, auto-complete doesn't reset properly, some auto-format may have inserted lots of new lines and symbols, etc. To me typing reliably is almost more important than typing very fast.
brokenmachine 8y ago
> I can type at 50 WPM minimum by just pecking two fingers on the keyboard I don't believe this TBH. I've seen people who think they are fast hunt-and-peckers, and I'd be surprised if they're getting to 30 WPM. Have a go at one of those online tests and you might be surprised. eg https://www.typingtest.com/ https://www.typingtest.com/
- FiddlyPack 8y ago
  I believe it. “Hunt and peck” may be a misnomer. Full disclosure, I’m a pianist as well and use all ten fingers, but my fingers float all over the keyboard rather than using the home row, and I might use three or four different fingers to hit any particular key. This style is muscle memory, but it’s also not “touch typing.” I typically type around 110wpm with high accuracy, and am slowed by figuring out what I want to type not by my fingers. I mostly don’t look down as long as I’m using my own keyboard, though I am slowed considerably when moving to an unfamiliar keyboard. I say all this because I know some of this style translates well to reduced fingers, eg sometimes I type exclusively with my left hand because I’m too lazy to move my right hand off the mouse and I’m thinking hard and don’t need to type as quickly anyway. Good two-finger typists probably also rely on spatial-muscle memory, and may not look at their keyboard at all despite only using two fingers.
  - brokenmachine 8y ago
    Not the ones I've seen, lol! You sound like a super-advanced hunt and pecker. I've never seen someone who can type without looking but their hands not in the "correct" positions.

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.

cm2187 8y ago

I never learned to type formally and type fast but with a lot of typos. It is a problem when programming. Particularly the location of special characters, and particularly given that many IDE are "path dependent", i.e. if you type the wrong character and press back, you are not in the state in which you were before you mistyped, auto-complete doesn't reset properly, some auto-format may have inserted lots of new lines and symbols, etc. To me typing reliably is almost more important than typing very fast.

brokenmachine 8y ago

> I can type at 50 WPM minimum by just pecking two fingers on the keyboard I don't believe this TBH. I've seen people who think they are fast hunt-and-peckers, and I'd be surprised if they're getting to 30 WPM. Have a go at one of those online tests and you might be surprised. eg https://www.typingtest.com/ https://www.typingtest.com/

FiddlyPack 8y ago
I believe it. “Hunt and peck” may be a misnomer. Full disclosure, I’m a pianist as well and use all ten fingers, but my fingers float all over the keyboard rather than using the home row, and I might use three or four different fingers to hit any particular key. This style is muscle memory, but it’s also not “touch typing.” I typically type around 110wpm with high accuracy, and am slowed by figuring out what I want to type not by my fingers. I mostly don’t look down as long as I’m using my own keyboard, though I am slowed considerably when moving to an unfamiliar keyboard. I say all this because I know some of this style translates well to reduced fingers, eg sometimes I type exclusively with my left hand because I’m too lazy to move my right hand off the mouse and I’m thinking hard and don’t need to type as quickly anyway. Good two-finger typists probably also rely on spatial-muscle memory, and may not look at their keyboard at all despite only using two fingers.
- brokenmachine 8y ago
  Not the ones I've seen, lol! You sound like a super-advanced hunt and pecker. I've never seen someone who can type without looking but their hands not in the "correct" positions.