I DIDN’T realise what being able to touch-type meant to me until I burnt the little finger on my left hand with a glue gun this week. It’s sore but no major drama – just one of the hazards of being a bit crafty (in a studio sense, that is).
Since then, it’s been trial-and-error typing for me, leaving my wrists aching and my mood grouchy at the end of a stint at the computer keyboard. “Hunt and peck” is the order of my day as it’s impossible to touch- type with my unharmed hand while jabbing away with the other. It’s like patting your head and rubbing your tummy at the same time – and I can’t do that, either. (Nor can I see the point except, perhaps, for wannabe ambidextrous concert pianists.)
The whole irritating episode got me wondering whether touch-typing is still taught now we all use keyboards, or does everyone muddle through, hunting and pecking, until their own invented method is fast enough to meet their needs?
Once upon a time, in the not-so-distant- past, it was pretty much only girls who were taught to touch-type. That was so they’d be able to toddle off and join the typing pool, churning out letters and reports for their (mostly) male executive bosses.
The beloved, though, was a complete oddity. (He still is, but that’s another story.)
He was determined to equip himself with absolutely everything he needed to become a newspaper reporter – not satisfied, like me, with just a notebook and pen. Which is how he came to be one of only two boys in Miss Jones’s 27-strong typing and Pitman’s shorthand class.
Well, that’s what he says. I reckon it was just so he was never short of a date.
As he tells it, the elderly spinster in charge was neat and trim, with little round glasses on the end of her nose, and very proud of her background as former secretary to the MD of a large company.
With her built-in radar she’d hone in on anyone in her class who dared to take their eyes off the book at the side of their typewriter and glance at the keys. Offend twice, and out came a shield to cover the keys.
They had to type in time to music Miss Jones played on an old vinyl turntable which she’d sneakily speed up if her students seemed to be too easily getting the hang of things. Certificates were only awarded for 99-100% accuracy for a 10-minute test.
The beloved was inordinately proud of the 33 words a minute he finally achieved – until he joined his first newspaper, where the chief reporter hammered out his stories at the speed of light using only his two index fingers. “It sounded like the rapid fire of a machine-gun,” he recalls.
Checking around to see what’s available in the way of typing lessons today, I found a few websites offering them at no charge, including the ultra-efficient looking typingweb.com, complete with typing games to make it all a little easier. Even so, touch- typist “Jake”, from The Apps Lab, reckons it’s a lost skill. “I’ve met developers who pound out millions of characters each week without touch-typing,” he says. “It seems horribly inefficient. Didn’t they ever stop to wonder why the ‘F’ and ‘J’ keys have ‘nubbies’ on them?” Indeed.
Today’s Chiel is Stevie Godson. E-mail her at
Ultimately true to type
Since then, it’s been trial-and-error typing for me, leaving my wrists aching and my mood grouchy at the end of a stint at the computer keyboard. “Hunt and peck” is the order of my day as it’s impossible to touch- type with my unharmed hand while jabbing away with the other. It’s like patting your head and rubbing your tummy at the same time – and I can’t do that, either. (Nor can I see the point except, perhaps, for wannabe ambidextrous concert pianists.)
The whole irritating episode got me wondering whether touch-typing is still taught now we all use keyboards, or does everyone muddle through, hunting and pecking, until their own invented method is fast enough to meet their needs?
Once upon a time, in the not-so-distant- past, it was pretty much only girls who were taught to touch-type. That was so they’d be able to toddle off and join the typing pool, churning out letters and reports for their (mostly) male executive bosses.
The beloved, though, was a complete oddity. (He still is, but that’s another story.)
He was determined to equip himself with absolutely everything he needed to become a newspaper reporter – not satisfied, like me, with just a notebook and pen. Which is how he came to be one of only two boys in Miss Jones’s 27-strong typing and Pitman’s shorthand class.
Well, that’s what he says. I reckon it was just so he was never short of a date.
As he tells it, the elderly spinster in charge was neat and trim, with little round glasses on the end of her nose, and very proud of her background as former secretary to the MD of a large company.
With her built-in radar she’d hone in on anyone in her class who dared to take their eyes off the book at the side of their typewriter and glance at the keys. Offend twice, and out came a shield to cover the keys.
They had to type in time to music Miss Jones played on an old vinyl turntable which she’d sneakily speed up if her students seemed to be too easily getting the hang of things. Certificates were only awarded for 99-100% accuracy for a 10-minute test.
The beloved was inordinately proud of the 33 words a minute he finally achieved – until he joined his first newspaper, where the chief reporter hammered out his stories at the speed of light using only his two index fingers. “It sounded like the rapid fire of a machine-gun,” he recalls.
Checking around to see what’s available in the way of typing lessons today, I found a few websites offering them at no charge, including the ultra-efficient looking typingweb.com, complete with typing games to make it all a little easier. Even so, touch- typist “Jake”, from The Apps Lab, reckons it’s a lost skill. “I’ve met developers who pound out millions of characters each week without touch-typing,” he says. “It seems horribly inefficient. Didn’t they ever stop to wonder why the ‘F’ and ‘J’ keys have ‘nubbies’ on them?” Indeed.
Today’s Chiel is Stevie Godson. E-mail her at
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending Now
Latest Videos