Comment by lmilcin | Hacker News Reader

Comment by lmilcin | Hacker News Reader

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My keyboard has no markings, except for the name of the manufacturer.

I have no trouble hitting any key on the keyboard without looking at it. I can lock eyes with you while you dictate and type the email you would dictate, perfectly (albeit not at the a normal dictation speed, I only type about 100WPM at most). I can fix errors as I type using backspace because I always know where I am and where I made a mistake.

The important part is learning this correctly.

I had fortune of going to school where for a single semester I had a course in typing documents on an electric typewriter, with a professional typewriting teacher.

Because it was so long ago I have trouble understanding not being able to type. I lay my hands on the keyboard and they just do it without me even thinking about it. I don't even know where keys are. If you ask me where a particular key is I can only point to handful of them. Otherwise I need to put my all fingers on the keyboard and think the key and then observe which finger goes where, and only then I know where the key is.

When I was a teenager my sisters went to typing classes on a weekend, and my parents insisted I go with them. I suspect I was mostly encouraged to make sure my parents had some free time alone, without the children, but it was definitely useful!

These days I can type 55-75 words per minute, and have no difficulty typing "blind".

Edit: Did a trivial online typing test, at typingtest.com, for a few minutes "Typing Speed 98 WPM, Accuracy 99 % Adjusted Speed 97 WPM" So better than I estimated!

On the flip side of this, I type at 130-140WPM and never learned to type “properly”. I use my index fingers.

I think of myself as "mechanically challenged". No matter how much I train, I cannot break 100WPM while typing effortlessly. And this goes to other activities that require hands to be agile and precise like playing instruments, which I never was able to do well regardless of how much effort I put into it.

So I understand that there is a lot of people who are much more naturally agile with their hands.

But I still think learning to type properly has huge advantages. Even if you dismiss every other advantage (say you decide you don't need to type fast), I think it just feels extremely satisfying to be able to focus on anything you want while your hands just produce constant stream of characters on the screen in a flowing, effortless motion.

140wpm only with your index fingers? I'm gonna need a video of that :)

You’re going to have to take my word for it, not much incentive for me to go through all of that to sate your doubts.

Let's do some calculation. 120-140WPM = 600-700 characters per minute or about 10-12 characters per second.

Even in ideal situation where consecutive characters fall are alternating between left and right hand, that gives 5-6 characters PER SECOND for a single finger to type.

This guy does it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9psfOxJysw

But it does not look comfortable or effortless at all.

Add to it that you have to look at the keyboard instead of comfortably focus on the screen, you are straining your hands, your eyes and your neck.

So you still loose.

It is a gimmick, there is no way you can work like this hour after hour, day after day, year after year. Most likely this is some kind top speed you can technically reach, but you will not be able to sustain.

Your calculations are pretty fast and loose and involve heavy-weight assumptions.

I don’t look at the keyboard to type with two fingers (and my thumb, technically).

I can probably sustain 120 effortlessly. 130-140 if I’m comfortable.

I’ve been doing it for nearly two decades and haven’t had a problem.

How my calculations are loose if it is the numbers you have stated in your post? The rest is just a consequence.

I'm skeptical..

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