We were made to learn touch typing when I was at high school- it was a girls' school and the staff anticipated that many of the students would end up as secretaries and receptionists. It was the 70s, what can I say?

I cheated a lot so my touch typing isn't perfect but good enough that I could still type reasonably well when the letters started wearing off my previous keyboard :-)

I don't understand why, given that computers are so ubiquitous these days, touch typing isn't still taught in schools. My poor touch typing is still better than the average high school student's. One day I had a girl taking shelter and calming down in my lab while her teacher dealt with the nasty bully who had upset her, and as I typed she exclaimed, "Wow! You're so fast!"

" the staff anticipated that many of the students would end up as secretaries and receptionists. It was the 70s, what can I say? "

I was in high school in the 70s too, and that's where I first learned touch typing as well. One of the best pieces of advice my mother ever gave me was to learn to type well, but don't let anyone know (lest you be relegated to a secretarial job).

I didn't know I was good, until I had somebody standing and dictating to me, while I typed it all?! Self taught, 93 words per minute, the only time that it was ever timed. My brain actually goes as fast as my fingers, so I type faster than I could write anything down ever. Started out with a hunt and peck typewriter from the 1920s. I'm self-taught, because when other people were taking typing classes, I was in chemistry. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Don't why we had to choose? I guess they didn't know computers were going to run the world at that point.

Typing - the 70s - and an all girls high school! That brought back memories. Although in my case it was more of the 60s than 70s since I graduated in 1971. We only had 360 students in my all girls high school and you either signed up for the secretarial track or academic (college bound). I was in the academic core but had to convince the typing teacher that I really wanted to take her class. I had already decided that I wanted to go to grad school to become a librarian and I think she let me take the class so that I could type library cards.

I taught myself typing on a manual typewriter when I was pretty young. I was overjoyed to receive a correcting Selectric as a gift when I was in college. My speed is pretty sad these days and my brain works faster than my fingers so I'm apt to leave out words or the "s" on plural words.

I also taught myself how to use a 10-key calculator accurately and rapidly. That skill was invaluable in my early jobs.

I'm a 2-3 finger typist - hopeless with touch typing. I took it in Jr. College and I got worse! 😄

My dad typed with 2 fingers as well 🙂

I took a class called ”College Typing and Notehand”, which included formatting papers, as well as letters and such, and a form of shorthand. It was the best class I took, I used it a lot in college! and beyond! It wasn’t secretarial, thought it was mostly girls in the class.

When computers came in, and function keys, and then mice, my coworkers were surprised at how fast I could navigate menues and such, without using the mouse. Give me function keys!

Now I am on tablet, and since the physical keyboard doesn’t work well anymore I use the virtual keyboard. I’m still a touch-typist as much as possible, but since the keyboard changes completely if I accidentally hit the 123 key, I have to watch what shows up on a text field.

My older son, well, I should have gotten him OT as a kid, he really struggled with writing. Once he started using a typewriter, he moved up two levels in Language Arts, just because it was so much easier to compose his thoughts onto screen/paper.

If I had to replace keys, I would have to kind of position my hands an imagine typing something! Kind of like some music, I have to picture a piano keyboard.

Can we all agree that the IBM Selectric II is the best typewriter ever?

I can do okay as long as I am looking at my fingers. I also had to take typing when i was in junior high school. We all did. The teacher’s name was Mrs. Edgerton and she had a lisp. She’d stand in front of the class and say “themi themi, themi, thapth” which translates to semi, semi, semi, space.

I ended up with a typewriter that had no letters on the keys. Id have to crane my neck over to the next person to figure out which key was which letter.

I am not a great typist by any means. My mom was terrific at it. Her fingers could fly.

I took the academic route in high school, but since I hated algebra so much, my math teacher thought I'd really hate trigonometry, so I ended up in a typing class. I have no memory of how fast I typed, just knew I'd never want to do this for a living.

My mom made me take a typing class in summer school at a public school. I didn't like it but it was great when I took typing in high school. We started out on manual typewriters and only towards the end of school did we get to use electric typewriters. That was in the mid to late 60's. We were also divided into those going to college and those going to work right away. Choices for jobs were mainly teachers (college), nurses (college) and secretarial. While I never liked secretarial work, I was happy I was skilled in typing. I easily got jobs and would get more responsibilities easily. This lead to accounting/bookkeeping and much better jobs. I use a laptop computer now because it's so much easier and faster to type. It also helps that I can spell. I have a built in need to edit so I am always aware of typing errors and grammatical errors when reading content online. I cringe when I see a spelling error on the feed that runs under the news, usually local but I saw one on a national news show this past week. I come from a time of having to take written notes from the boss and then typing up either letters or notes. I hated that so much. I was so lucky to be good at accounting and getting away from the secretarial world. It is just what the times were then.

I had two years of typing in high school, more than 45 years ago. I won awards at scholastic competition. (I am a male person.)

I can type words, sentences, etc, with proper punctuation without looking, and at a good clip. For numbers, I use the number pad and can enter numbers similarly.

(I hope everyone knows there are ridges on home keys - the f and the j for letters, and 5 on the number pad, to help you get back to the normal starting spot by feel, to continue no-look touch typing).

I took the typing class offered in my high school, to fill a free period. It was because of the recommendation of a friend. Along the lines of -"Hey, I'm taking a class you should take. It's full of females, I'm one of only two guys in it. Talk about getting lots of attention!" That was enough for me and it was everything he described and more. Along the way, I became a capable and fast touch typist. In my career, I didn't need the skill because other than emails, my written work product was done by my admin assistants (from recorded dictation) or by professional staff working with me.

But hey, here, I can fly!. And developing the ability to hit keys confidently without looking came in handy when I taught myself basic piano playing.

I did not know about the ridges! You learn something new every day.

Yeah and what's this about being able to remove all the keys and clean a keyboard? I have never heard of doing this? Is this just on special fancy keyboards?

I must have a very strange brain indeed because I couldn't tell you where the S or T key was but I can type without looking at the keyboard? It is bizarre to me. No, I'm not a speed typist but I don't look at the keys to type. Back in high school, I took typing and shorthand and was terrible at both really. I could never type more than about 50 wpm and my shorthand skills were terrible! I had dreams of following in my sister's footsteps as she was a secretary and was making good money. I mean she lived in her own apartment and had a brand new car. To me, I thought it was great! She worked for a good company in Houston, one of the many oil companies. She worked downtown. Unfortunately my dream was dashed when I realized that I didn't have the right stuff to type fast or memorize shorthand! UGH!

I can touch type also. Elmer you beat me to it about the ridges. They are on the "home row" as I learned it.

Left hand L-R a s d f
Right hand R-L semi l k j

I also use the number keypad not the top row numbers.

In typing I, I was the only jr. high kid in the class. DH (whom I didn't know at the time) sat in front of me. My brother Bart sat behind me. 🤷‍♀️

I won the typing award for fastest typer. I taught our daughter how to type. She wanted to learn so we got her the selectric II typewriter for Christmas one year. (Yes bpath I agree on that.) She is an extremely fast typist.

We have 3 Lenovo laptops. My 14" one has the ridges, hubby's 14" doesn't. The 15" has the ridge on the number pad but not the alpha keyboard but a small piece of electrical tape on the f and j signal "home" to me. Maybe Lenovo found they could save millions in plastic costs by eliminating the ridge 😉 .

Elmer, your comment about learning piano stunned me! I never put those two together! I can type very well. I tried learning to play the piano and my left hand just couldn't get the hang of it. I wonder what that means?

i got straight A's in high school typing and shorthand. i don't remember my actual speed but if typing was an olympic sport, i'd bring home the gold, even now with my old arthritic hands.

upon high school graduation, i went to work in the patent law department at honeywell, inc. in minneapolis. back then, we transcribed from a dictaphone and many of the words used were very long and totally unfamiliar. my speed suffered a bit until i got used to them.

" Yeah and what's this about being able to remove all the keys and clean a keyboard? I have never heard of doing this? Is this just on special fancy keyboards? "

It might only be with mechanical keyboards - I've used one for at least 15 years now (on my desktop), that I can't remember what a "traditional" desktop keyboard is like.

My father gave me one as a gift, and I got hooked on the click-y tactile feel; that's unfortunate because they're about $200 each. They're "mechanical" because they use springs rather than a flexible membrane, but the springs make it more expensive. They're used a lot by gamers because of that tactile feedback (and increased longevity). I think the tactile and audible feedback is just more enjoyable. You can buy them with different key switches, which is what gives the feeling and sound of the keystrokes - firmer, softer, silent, etc.

And I use the ridges all the time - I'd be lost without them.

2 finger typers here, we recently upgraded our keyboard to one with extra-large letters and numbers which helped a lot with our aging eyes.

Yes, I do believe there is a link between being proficient on the 2 keyboards, piano and typing. I also learned to type in a high school class in the early-mid 60’s. Of course it was full of females. I don’t recall the specific reason why, because I was also on an academic path with math and sciences. I think it was one of those years when you could fill an empty period with Home Economics or Typing or maybe Agriculture or Shop Skills for the guys. Although I loved the Home Ec teacher, I couldn’t see me making another baked alaska or sewing (I already knew how). My Mom said I needed to know how to type my term papers in college so that made sense.

I had been playing piano since 3rd grade and was pretty good and also played the organ). I attribute my finger agility as a result of piano skills to my being one of the fastest typists in school at the time. I can still type fast on my laptop, but I’m lousy at typing on an ipad or phone.

I agree about the Selectric. What a revolution in typing that was! Does anyone remember the brief period a few years back when there was talk of replacing the ‘qwerty keyboard’? In case anyone doesn’t know, that is the first line of letters on the top row and was how the keyboard has been referred to for ages. That fell flat thankfully. I can’t imagine why we would do that!

I hated typing in high school. I was nervous and my sweaty hands slid off the keys and caused lots of hangnails. I think I was about a C typer. When computers came out the keyboard was so much easier. Still have to look for typing numbers.

I'm an excellent touch typist. Learned in high school way back when. Used to do secretarial work and medical transcription when I was young -- speed is key to making $ when you're a transcriptionist and production pay is involved. Too bad that job as it used to exist pretty much went the way of the dodo, we all made a very good living back then doing that work in the hospital.

To this day, what I often regret not learning is shorthand. I am a pen to paper sort of person, it would have been very handy during college, and in my current job I do a lot of fieldwork and that involves note-taking -- would be so much better with the shorthand, I scribble down notes and half-sentences and often can't read or interpret them afterwards when I have to type up my reports LOL! (and no, a voice recorder would not work in my situation)

The shorthand I learned, called Notehand and very similar, came in so handy in college! And at school board meetings, Curriculum Night, etc. I was a secretary for a time but typing was only a small part of the job. For a technical writer, though, typing was of course indispensable. Our system allowed us to create ”tags” to format text, and it was a breeze to be typing along, type a tag to italicize or change font or build a table, all without taking fingers off the keyboard or even looking at it or at the screen.

One thing I like about my virtual keyboards is how easy it is to to type special characters, like æ, ø, diacriticals, fractions, and symbols for currencies or ° for degrees. No knowledge of ASCII needed!

porkchop, I hated taking shorthand but it was like a secret language so that part of it was fun. I wasn't fast enough in either typing or shorthand to get a job in the big insurance company here in town. That was a prize job for sure. My niece was a medical transcriptionist when she had her kids and it was a good job. After they were grown and gone, she went back to school and got her nursing degree. Between the transcribing and now nursing, she just celebrated 35 years with her hospital. I am proud of her. She was the youngest of my sister's 5 kids and the only one to really make something of herself. Your job sounds interesting.

I took typing in high school and could type at lightning speed without ever looking at the keyboard. Those little ridges on the F and J keys? Lifesavers. Like braille for the fully sighted and proudly overconfident.

At one point in my career, my office was fully decked out in IBM gear—printer, scanner, desktop, laptop. It felt very official. I loved the solid, satisfying clack of the IBM keyboard. I still keep it at home and use it occasionally, mostly for nostalgia and to remind myself I once had proper typing posture.

These days, I mostly use my iPad and type with two fingers. Somehow, I’m still as fast as ever—proof that muscle memory never dies, it just adapts. With predictive text and autocorrect doing half the work, I like to think I’m the supervisor while my iPad handles the typing.

My freshman English teacher (who also headed the yearbook staff on which I served for three years, two years as editor) played piano and said she had been clocked typing at 96 WPM.

The school had a limited number of Selectrics. I don't recall if everyone in the class was cycled through experiencing them or if they were reserved for the best performers. I was assigned one for competition.

"Typing" on (i)phones and (i)pads/tablets is a joke. A huge no-go for me regards to using them for web access and email.

Palisades, i am with you on the satisfying touch of an IBM keyboard!

I use ”glide typing” on my phone. It’s rather satisfying to just use a finger to slide around that tiny keyboard, relying of course on autocorrect and predictive text. It feels like part cursive and part shorthand. I do have to glance at it before I hit OK/Enter/Send.

Somewhere on my path to learning how to play the guitar, I came to realize that with a given hand position on the neck, you can think of the fingering of chords and individual notes as a 6 by X grid of "keys". Just like the keys on 2-dimensional typing keyboard. The only difference is, for chords and other playing, you pressed more than one key at a time. With multiple fingers.

This may not make sense to anyone who doesn't play a stringed instrument but for me, the analogy to keys on a typing or piano keyboard was a mental breakthrough that has positively affected my guitar playing. And yes, depending on what I'm playing I can play without looking. That's mostly muscle memory and having practiced scale patterns.

" and type with two fingers. Somehow, I’m still as fast as ever "

My father was a three finger typist (well, two fingers and a thumb) and he was really fast - and he never learned typing in school in the 50s, 'natch. Self taught because need is the mother of invention - but I definitely know that one can be a fast typist without touch typing.

The "solid, satisfying clack" if the old IBM keyboard is why I now use a mechanical keyboard.

Typing was a required class for 9th grade at my overseas dependents school in England. The school was run by the army and they expected males as well as females to know how to type. While I was an A student otherwise taking advanced classes I hit the wall with typing. I was hopeless. My fingers went into spasms when we did timed tests. And I cant spell worth a toot. Fortunately typing on a computer is easier and there is autocorrect. The one key I know the best is the backup key. My ex was a two finger super typer but my present DH did not know there was a backup key. He is a one finger typer. I vividly remember a girl named Ingrid. She was the very persona of an executive secretary. Slim, tall, blond, tidy, calm, 85 words a minute without even trying. Her pages were never smudged or off kilter and I could see a very successful future for her.

"The "solid, satisfying clack" if the old IBM keyboard is why I now use a mechanical keyboard"

The clack is satisfying for sure, but it's the springs that make the old keyboards better -- better in this case meaning less physically taxing. If someone isn't used to these, they initially may think their fingers/hands are working harder because it takes more downward force to push the keys, but because those springy springs push the fingers back up, it's actually less fatiguing on the hands if you do a lot of typing. Modern keyboards lack that strong spring mechanism of the old keyboards.

I'll take my beat-up old IBMs any day over these "toys" they call keyboards nowadays or touchscreens. I have two old IBMs, one for both of my workstations. Used them all through my transcription years and they've travelled with me to every job I've had since, they've got to be 25-30 years old and still work perfectly. I need a special adapter to get them to fit into the ports of the computers, but it hasn't yet been a problem to find what I need to get them to work whenever I get a new computer.

My dad took typing in high school. When he graduated and went into the Army, WWII was only just ending, his form listed typing as a skill. He was made a company clerk, in Japan.

Over on Karen’s thread about her new car, I noted how the old-fashioned buttons and knobs on dashboards were like touch-typing: you could drive along and change the temp and radio and rewind your audiobook without ever looking at anything but the road.

"...I noted how the old-fashioned buttons and knobs on dashboards were like touch-typing: you could drive along and change the temp and radio and rewind your audiobook without ever looking at anything but the road."

Yep.