Programmable Logic DesignLine Blog
New keyboard improves typing skills...
Clive Maxfield
11/24/2008 5:07 PM EST
The product is a standard "QWERTY" keyboard that features color-coded keys that identify eight "finger zones" for correct typing. For example, the blue keys are used by the right index finger, while the green keys are used by the left index finger, so typists know which finger controls each key.
Quite apart from anything else, this has given me the perfect opportunity to use my digital Flip Video recorder to make the mini-movie shown above (all of this is much more fun than doing real work).
The KeyRight keyboard (which is priced at $39.95 plus $9.95 shipping and handling) comes equipped with a software application that promises to have me touch-typing in only 6 hours (give-or-take). This could be just what I'm looking for, because I'm a classic "two-fingered" typist. This is a tad embarrassing when you consider that I spend all day, every day at the keyboard and have written quite a few books (one of which weighed in with a whopping 872 pages).
It would be great to learn to touch type, because it would significantly increase my productivity. In fact, I was watching my wife (Gina the Gorgeous) entering something into her computer yesterday evening and I was amazed by the speed with which she worked.
Truth-to-tell, I've tried a number of self-help schemes in the past (like the classic "Mavis Beacon" software), but all have come to naught. One reason I have high hopes for this one is that I'm a visual person (and this keyboard is nothing if not visual); also, this training is NOT based on the "Home Keys" approach (in past attempts I found the home keys technique put a lot of strain on my wrists).
And, let's not forget the most important point of all, which is the fact that I now have the coolest keyboard in the office. By some strange quirk of fate, while I was typing the previous sentence, someone just walked into my office to deliver a package and the first thing he said was: "Wow, that's a cool keyboard!" Why, yes it is, and it's mine, all mine...
Questions? Comments? Feel free to email me – Clive "Max" Maxfield – at max@techbites.com). And, of course, if you haven't already done so, don't forget to Sign Up for our weekly Programmable Logic DesignLine Newsletter.
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daleinaz
12/5/2008 11:32 AM EST
Oh, Max... I can't imagine "two-fingering" an entire book. I'm just too lazy for that. I learned to touch-type years ago when I had to create simple specs and reports. But you are not alone, Tolkien "two-fingered" his first book "The Hobbit". Its commercial success allowed him to (as he put it) "leave the typing to the ten-fingered" for the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
What worked for me was to tape a small keyboard layout diagram, with the finger positioned highlighted much like this keyboard, onto the monitor bezel. Instead of looking at the actual keyboard, I looked at the diagram instead. Yes, for a short time, your typing speed will decrease, but stick with it. Soon it will get easier and faster.
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