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From: Will Kemp on 1 Dec 2008 13:22 Dave Liquorice wrote: > On Sun, 30 Nov 2008 17:53:30 +0000, Whiskers wrote: > >>>> Now that just about everyone has access to a PC and needs that skill >>>> they don't seem to teach it anyone any more. > > Not taught at primary school that's for sure but they all have access to > and use computers. I feel that it ought to be taught at least in some > basic form but I'm not sure that 5 or 6 year olds have the language abilty > for it. > >>> Does that mean that touch typing is a dieing art? >> I think the ability to type accurately and quickly without being able to >> see the keyboard, is the hallmark of a genuine touch-typist. > > Agreed that's why the F and J keys have tactile mark as these are the > "home" keys for the index finger of each hand. A real touch typist watches > the screen not the keys, corrects as they go along and rattles through at > well over 60 words per minute all without taking their eyes of the screen. > > I'm two fingers and thumb on my right hand and one finger on my left. I > have a copy of Mavis Beacon somehere and did try to follow it but it is > pretty tedious, probably because I have a lot of bad habits to break, the > hardest being not to look at the keys. That's simple to fix (so long as you don't use a laptop) - cut one side off a cardboard box and put it upside down over the keyboard so your hands can fit under it but you can't see the keys. You'll get the hang of it quickly enough! ;-)
From: Martin Gregorie on 1 Dec 2008 14:07 On Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:29:15 +0000, Daniel James wrote: > I taught myself to type on an ancient manual typewriter when I was about > ten. Of course, I had no notion of "properly", so I used no more than a > couple of fingers on each hand. It was SO unlike typing on a modern PC > keyboard -- the keys required considerable pressure to get them to leave > a mark, and if you accidentally pressed two at once the little arms with > the type on the ends jammed together inside the machine and had to be > separated. > Don Maquis wrote a book or two of connected short stories with the effort needed to type on a manual as a sort of running gag. Ever read "Archy & Mehitabel"? -- martin@ | Martin Gregorie gregorie. | Essex, UK org |
From: zed on 2 Dec 2008 02:11 Martin Gregorie <martin(a)see.sig.for.address.invalid> wrote: > On Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:29:15 +0000, Daniel James wrote: > > > I taught myself to type on an ancient manual typewriter when I was about > > ten. Of course, I had no notion of "properly", so I used no more than a > > couple of fingers on each hand. It was SO unlike typing on a modern PC > > keyboard -- the keys required considerable pressure to get them to leave > > a mark, and if you accidentally pressed two at once the little arms with > > the type on the ends jammed together inside the machine and had to be > > separated. > > > Don Maquis wrote a book or two of connected short stories with the effort > needed to type on a manual as a sort of running gag. Ever read "Archy & > Mehitabel"? Yes. I've got the two books. They're hilarious. Archy - the cockroach poet, and Menitabel - the alleycat with attitude. Zed -- zed
From: Theo Markettos on 2 Dec 2008 09:16 Geoffrey Clements <geoffrey.clementsNO(a)spambaesystems.com> wrote: > Now this I can totally relate to. Having coached similarly aged people on > how to use a computer it seems they live in fear of breaking it which seems > to be reinforced by doing things they can't recover from without help. IME > they seem to want a list of instructions of how to do things rather than > trying to understand the basic principles and letting everything else flow > from there. Is it possible that education styles through the different > decades have an influence? I think the amount of damage you can do with technology has decreased: In the Industrial Revolution there were big nasty machines with little safety protection. Fatal injuries were common. If you tinker with a car without knowing what you're doing and break something vital, best case it'll sit down by the side of the road. Worst case you'll crash and die. Other domestic appliances can easily be damaged by misuse - loose change in washing machines damaging the drum, not changing the hoover filter causing overheating etc. Damage usually costs serious money to fix because the user can't do it themselves. So the idea of a machine where you all your mistakes are erased at switchoff for free is a relatively new (1970/80s) invention. Possibly this is also because there's now a difference between what you do /with/ a machine (which is usually undoable) and what you do /to/ a machine (ie unscrewing things, which isn't) I think it's gone up again: in comparison with all those 1980s ROM-based machines, you can do a lot of damage by deleting C:\WINDOWS Theo
From: Ian Rawlings on 2 Dec 2008 09:56
On 2008-12-02, Theo Markettos <theom+news(a)chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote: > you can do a lot of damage by deleting C:\WINDOWS I think the benefits outweigh the disadvantages ;-) -- Blast off and strike the evil Bydo empire! http://youtube.com/user/tarcus69 http://www.flickr.com/photos/tarcus/sets/ |