Poll: Do you touch-type?

I have learned to touch type properly using http://www.typingweb.com and I think it's fantastic but I don't know how it compares to Mavis Beacon.

C jab yrgjd yfl. cb ',.pyf xgy mf t.fxrape co cb ekrpatv

( I can touch type in qwerty but my keyboard is in dvorak. )

The Dvorak Way. Touchtyping is just one of the benefits of switching to Dvorak. There is no point looking down there since there is nothing useful to see.

Slifhtly sloppu toicj typing!

I found GTypist helpful. http://www.gnu.org/software/gtypist/

I'd guess the only 'odd' typing thing I do is that I only use the left side modifier keys. So for modifying a letter that is also typed with the left hand I am used to just simply 'shifting over' my fingers to account for the modifier. Anyone else do this or am I just weird?

During primary school I was given some introductory lessons to touch typing, although I didn't learn all the keys, I naturally learnt the positions of all the keys. It was only after I started learning that I realised what the bumps on F and J are for.

Since you should already know the positions of the keys, put your fingers on the home keys and try typing.

I learnt touch typing the right way ... however, I took at least 3-4 years to get here in steps (I first covered the letters area, after I got it right, I got the numbers right and then the braces etc... I am a hardened vi editor user so I had to get the curly brackets too within my "fingertips").

Good luck with your efforts.

I like http://keybr.com/

The right way is relative. I was never taught to touchtype, but I end up spending hours every day typing, so it just developed naturally.

Looking at the natural resting place of my fingers, I do use the F and J keys for resting my index fingers, but I'm pretty sure that there are faster ways of touchtyping than the methods I use.

I touch type, but I always look at the keyboard when typing passwords (because I don't like backtracking when I make mistakes; I'd rather get it right the first time)

I learned touch typing in high school '90 not knowing what career I would be in. I can type very fast now and love the fact that I took the time to learn. Know your instrument!

I had to learn to use my Kinesis (you just can't see the keys), also followed the lessons in http://www.typingweb.com which is I think an awesome service.

Yes. Swedish Dvorak variation. Das Keyboard III. Lots of programming and time on IRC.

Did not touch type when using QWERTY. Switched and learn it correctly. On the flip side, I have no idea where the keys are located if I try to do hunt-and-peck typing now.

Mavis Beacon was the only game on my home computer when I was a child. I'm a little 'freestyle' at times, but in general I use the correct fingers.

Well, I do tend to go back to the home keys, however, when programming it's using shortcuts all the way anyway. With the flash-game finger frenzy (http://www.gimme5games.com/play-game/finger-frenzy-world) I can type the alphabet in under 3 seconds, without using the "right way"

I can touch-type "the right way" when I write text, but I cannot do it while programming. The link is broken when I have to use a lot of punctuation, parentheses and other strange signs the language of choice needs, as most of them should be pressed by the small finger of the right hand. I can press them without looking using other fingers, but it's not that fast.

I switched two Dvorak two years ago and forced myself to touch type by buying a blank keyboard (HHKB2). The beginning was very frustrating, but it has payed of!

First computer when 10 years old in 1982. First year of typing in school, typed 70 WPM with three fingers in each hand. Second year of typing in school, typed 95 WPM with touch typing properly. Third year of typing in school, typed 130 WPM with typing properly.

I'm still 130+ WPM today. On strictly word typing tests I can hit over 160 but I don't think that counts for much.

I type in a strange fashion: I hover my fingers over the home keys, but never let them touch unless I am depressing a key, and I only use my pinkies for the shift and enter keys. I make surprisingly few mistakes, especially considering that I don't look at the keyboard when I am typing. I also feel that I am able to type as fast as someone who uses the correct technique.

I would suggest that you only use the Mavis Beacon method as a guide; you need to work out what you are comfortable with. Just because touch-typing is considered 'best practise' doesn't make it right for everybody.

I touch type. It's the result of almost 30 years behind a keyboard but I don't think what I do is the "right" way

Truthfully, I don't think 'proper' touchtyping is necessary, per se. I type without looking at the keys, but I only use - I think - three or four fingers of each hand, tops. No doubt proper touchtyping would be more natural for me had I learnt it from the beginning, but I haven't, and trying the proper way hurts my hands after a few hours. I'm able to keep up 100wpm with ease just by having typed a lot in my life. I don't think I'll ever need to type faster than that. Thus, I don't see a reason to learn to touchtype.

Also, I've always disliked those exercises where you have to type jj ff jj ff jj ff jjf jfj ffj fff fjf etc. etc. One of the reasons I can type fast is because I like to hold complete sentences (or blocks of text) in my head and then WHAM it all in on my keyboard. With these exercises, there is no such link, and I have to look at each specific character on my screen. It annoys the crap out of me.

I took a typing class in high school; it was probably the most useful course I took over the entire five years. It has paid for itself literally thousands of times over in increased productivity (my cruising speed is around 100-120 wpm).

I'm with Steve Yegge: if you can't touch-type, your productivity will remain stuck under a pretty hard ceiling.

http://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2008/09/programmings-dirties...

I learned to touch-type on a basic mechanic typewriter in the late 80s -- no electricity whatsoever, you had to hit the keys very hard to make it work. The teacher was an old style professional typist; she was almost able to hear each mistake (in a class of 20 people).

There was a huge screen at the end of the classroom that showed a keybord; when the teacher would say "A" she would lit the letter up at the same time. She made us type bizarre and unnatural sequences of letters just to practice some fingers. It was quite funny at times, but I don't think I ever saw her smile.

It was an optional course that didn't give any credit and that you had to pay for (the rest of my education was free, as this took place in France). Best investment I ever made.