Introduction
No matter what kind of a computer user you are, faster typing will benefit you. In most cases, it might make you a more productive and more valuable person. It will certainly improve your sex life.
I used to peck at the keyboard with the index finger of my right hand, until I saw Harman type. He was devastatingly fast, and one side-effect of his commendable typing skills was that people who watched him immediately went into dummy mode! For those of us who might not know, the phrase "dummy mode" was made famous by the BOFH (Bastard Operator From Hell) Chronicles.
I was deeply inspired by Harman, and decided that I need to type correctly, with all fingers and thumbs and whatever else. It was excruciatingly slow in the beginning, since everything took many times longer if I tried to type correctly, but I think I persevered (sometimes I unhooked the keyboard and kept typing while watching a movie, for example), and it sort of worked. I am pretty okay now, to put it mildly.
Dvorak Vs. QWERTY
Well, I did give Dvorak a shot. The inertia was too much. Here is some information on the Dvorak keyboard.
Useful Typing Software
- The only typing software I ever used was typefast (Harman found it on the Net). I think it was written for MS-DOS originally but we compiled it on SVR4.
- TypeQuick
- Some Typing Tutors for Windows.
- Course Technology Typing Links.
Every Key Hurts
Most people who employ keyboards would know that repetitive strain can hurt. The Typing Injury FAQ Home Page has a lot of useful information.