Education & Work Keyboard Typing - should I take the time to learn to type properly?

Discussion in 'Living Room' started by Gockie, 24th Sep, 2015.

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  1. spludgey

    spludgey Well-Known Member

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    Contrary to popular belief,[3] the QWERTY layout was not designed to slow the typist down,[4] but rather to speed up typing by preventing jams. There is also evidence that, aside from the issue of jamming, placing often-used keys farther apart increases typing speed, because it encourages alternation between the hands.[4]

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QWERTY
    I disagree. After a fairly short amount of time, you'll be quicker at touch typing than your current typing system. From then on, improving your touch typing comes at a negative cost, as you're already benefiting.
    Given the amount that you write on here (and I'm assuming that this isn't the only typing you do), I would say that you'll get back the time that you invest within a couple of years. So an ROI of 50% is pretty good, isn't it?
     
    spludgey, 25th Sep, 2015
    #21
  2. Ace in the Hole

    Ace in the Hole Well-Known Member

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    Why not learn with the Dvorak keyboard instead of QUERTY.
    It's supposed to be much faster, efficient, accurate.
     
    Ace in the Hole, 25th Sep, 2015
    #22
  3. Ace in the Hole

    Ace in the Hole Well-Known Member

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    This is one of those - My time is worth $500/hour situations isn't it....

    I only use a keyboard at work and enjoy posting on this forum, so being less that expert at typing doesn't bother me.
    Apart from that, I do very little typing on a keyboard.
    If my typing is a bit slower on here, I can just make it back by taking a quicker shower or getting dressed faster, or watching less TV...
    It's no big deal.
     
    Ace in the Hole, 25th Sep, 2015
    #23
  4. citystar

    citystar Well-Known Member

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    I am satisfied with my speed using four fingers to type. I tried to learn to type with the whole of both hands however it didn't work well. The thing it did do is allow me to use the keyboard without having to look at the keys.
     
    citystar, 25th Sep, 2015
    #24
  5. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

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    I don't think it comes down to an "either/or" situation ;)

    For me, I cannot stand writing anything, dictation machines get words wrong, so unless that changes in the future (and surely it will) then typing is the way I can get the thousand things chasing around in my brain down quickly and accurately onto the page.

    I type a LOT. I do scenarios about out future investing, type emails rather than call people (mostly family). I cannot even imagine having to look at the keyboard and pick and peck at the keys. To each their own I guess.
     
    wylie, 25th Sep, 2015
    #25
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  6. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

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    LOL Just thinking about my day yesterday. My brother and I are nutting out the way forward to disentangle our finances tied together via a trust, no longer needed. I get on well with him, but this took a lot of "what if we did this?" and "how would that impact?" scenarios to run through.

    Through the day, he at his house, me at mine, we each put up ideas via email. We each then had time to read it, digest it, think of what is good, what doesn't work, email back the changes. We did that all day. By last night, we had worked our way through the next couple of steps.

    We could never have done that in a phone call. We needed thinking time. What was running around in my head, even if we discussed it, needed to be put down quickly on paper so it wasn't lost in the flow of the conversation.

    I guess I'm not alone in this style of planning, typing as it comes out of my head, able to look back on it, mull over it, and tweak it.

    I cannot imagine touch screens taking the place of the keyboard. I also put off typing too much on my phone as it is so slow.

    Speaking converted to text is quick too, but needs careful checking, and I can type almost faster than I can read. For me, dictating straight to an email would mean I need a keyboard to make the changes. For quite a while I think typing skills will be a plus.
     
    wylie, 25th Sep, 2015
    #26
  7. Samten

    Samten Well-Known Member

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    Yes good idea to learn but as a hunter and pecker I really wish that someone would invent something that would UNDO MY CAPITALS when I have hit caps lock instead of a and I have merrily written a whole paragraph and find there is nothing for it but lots of backspacing!!! :eek:
     
    Samten, 25th Sep, 2015
    #27
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  8. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

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    You used to be able to do this (forgotten how to though). If you google (I just did) there are ways to do it, but it depends on what computer system you are on.
     
    wylie, 25th Sep, 2015
    #28
  9. Samten

    Samten Well-Known Member

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    Brilliant @wylie!! Never knew this option was in word. Learn something new everyday!! Thanks again...so many knowledgeable people here.
     
    Samten, 25th Sep, 2015
    #29
  10. spludgey

    spludgey Well-Known Member

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    Shift + F3 in Word. But that doesn't really help you on these forums or the like.
     
    spludgey, 25th Sep, 2015
    #30
  11. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

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    If you pick up the typing in capitals from the forum, move it into a word document, change it and move it back, that is probably still faster than retyping.
     
    wylie, 25th Sep, 2015
    #31
  12. spludgey

    spludgey Well-Known Member

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    For me, it definitely would be (if it was more than a couple of words). Word and Excel are pretty much always open.
     
    spludgey, 25th Sep, 2015
    #32
  13. THX

    THX Well-Known Member

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    I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno’t mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!
     
    THX, 25th Sep, 2015
    #33
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  14. Samten

    Samten Well-Known Member

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    I'm really impressed that you took the time to write this ....or do you have a secret MI5 scrambling programme?
     
    Samten, 25th Sep, 2015
    #34
  15. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

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    This is a very commonly seen paragraph. I'm sure google will find it. It is amazing, but not new. (Apologies to THX if he/she did type this from scratch, but I mean this amazing proof that we can indeed read it is not new and I've seen it a number of times.)

    I'd love to hear from any dyslexics whether they can read that paragraph? That would be interesting to know.
     
    wylie, 25th Sep, 2015
    #35
    THX likes this.
  16. Northy85

    Northy85 Well-Known Member

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    I got faster and more accurate by using facebook chat. I'd just have about 5 or 6 conversations going at once and madly type away to each person.
     
    Northy85, 25th Sep, 2015
    #36
  17. spludgey

    spludgey Well-Known Member

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    I get emails written in a similar manner a fair bit of the time! :oops:

    It's surprising how few people seem to know the difference between "you're" and "your", but I'll save that rant for another thread.
     
    spludgey, 25th Sep, 2015
    #37
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  18. Investig8

    Investig8 Well-Known Member

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    I had never seen this before or anything like it however, I read it perfectly. Maybe I was doing something else in the dark when I was a teenager all those years ago..

    :confused::mad::p:D:rolleyes:
     
    Investig8, 25th Sep, 2015
    #38
  19. Ed Barton

    Ed Barton Well-Known Member

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    That's the beauty of touch typing. Since you're looking at the screen and not the keyboard you can pick up these sort of errors, and correct very quickly.
     
    Ed Barton, 25th Sep, 2015
    #39
  20. Sonamic

    Sonamic Well-Known Member

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    I learnt to touch type in year 9 at high school. Did typing as a subject for a year to "prepare" for the coming of the computer age. This was on an old school manual typewriter as it was juuuuust pre Commodore 16 days. Double sheet paper, ink ribbons, thwack thwack thwack, ding. Keys depress much deeper than a computer keyboard qwerty setup was designed to prevent key jam during frenzied typing. It was just never changed.
     
    Sonamic, 25th Sep, 2015
    #40
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