11 August, 2005

Beyond QWERTY

I took advanced studies computing back in 1981. My school considered typing to be an integral part of computer class. It could have been because we had only a few computers at the time; I doubt it was because Mrs. Miller was a big hacker. So, I signed up thinking I would dive instantly into the forefront of programming, and instead spent nine arduous weeks learning how to type.

I don't think I've ever been more grateful for being made do something I didn't want to do. I can now type a good 80 wpm if I want to, and I spend most of my waking life at a keyboard, writing either for fun or profit.

This would have been Mrs. Miller's dream keyboard. She was an old-school business teacher who rapped knuckles and refused to allow long fingernails in her class. Imagine not having to rap my knuckles for looking at the number row.

3 Comments:

At 2:17 PM, August 11, 2005, Blogger melusina said...

Yes, I am also grateful for a typing class I had in school. However, I would have been terribly annoyed if I thought I would be learning programming, only to spend my time learning how to type.

 
At 2:23 PM, August 11, 2005, Blogger Kat Coble said...

In all fairness, we did learn programming, too. It was a semester course, with the first 9 weeks spent on keyboarding and the second 9 weeks spent on programming.

 
At 12:34 AM, August 12, 2005, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I hated typing class, and have never learned to type properly -- and I can still tear it up. I don't ever look at the keyboard, and use one of those weird MS ergo keyboards -- because guitar, drums and long nights in the cold colocation facility have gimped me severely. If I were to pick a bad*ss keyboard, this would be it. I haven't used one, but it looks promising, anyway.

 

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