[Sussex] Keyboard Skills [Was: Check Out Tesco for a Cheap MP3 Player]

[Steve Dobson]

Jacqui

On Tue, Feb 06, 2007 at 09:02:05AM +0000, Jacqui Caren wrote:
> Using a keyboard for a living I tend to go through a new one every year 
> or so. I am not a touch typist and tend to hammer the poor sods to 
> death. So I have been hunting for a decent split layout keyboard to 
> force me to type correctly.

I had a split keyboard a few years back and while it works if you only
use that one keyboard it is a sod if you jump from machine to machine.
So when it died I never replaced it.

I learnt to touch type back in the old days of mechanical typewriters,
where if you didn't hit the keys like you were banning nails into steel
you didn't leave a mark on the paper.

I learnt to touch type from a tape.  A voice read to you and your just
type along with it.  It taught the keyboard one row at a time.  You just 
placed your fingers lightly on the home keys (the middle row with your
index fingers on the F & J - that's why they have those little bumps 
so you can home your hands just by feel) and pressed with the appropriate
finger when the voice read out a letter.  Yes it takes a while, but it is
a skill that I wouldn't be without these days.  It great to be able to
look at the screen and just type.

I would recommend that you get a keyboard with as short a key travel as
possible.  If you start with your fingers on the keys you can't build 
up much momentum when you press a key.

Steve
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