Since third grade when our elementary school got those colorful Macs and forced us to take typing classes, I have tried to learn with very little success. Every typing class I have ever been in said to NEVER look at the keyboard else your eyeballs melt, but I can't for the life of me type like that. Now, 10 years later, I can type like the wind but I still have to look at the keyboard. I figure there is no disadvantage to that. Who else never learned the proper way to type and still looks at the keyboard?

I learned to type in the 7th Grade (or was it the 8th?) when we had a keyboarding class that they forced us to take. We sat there for a semester typing long essays and letters into Microsoft Word. We learned to type fast because when we were done with our work for the day we were allowed to go on the internet and play games. We also would download games onto the computers as well. They were only Pentium III systems with 128MB of ram running Windows 2000 Pro, but even so, we had fun playing games like Pocket Tanks, Elasto Mania, and the GTA 2 demo

I find it interesting you learned to type on Macs, because in my school district each school only really had one room with Apple Macintosh-based computers. In 5/6th grade we used those old colorful iMacs to do some sort of basic drawing thing. In the 7/8th grade we didn't have any Macs. Then in High School, we also had one room full of Macs (and 1 Windows 2000 PC). This is where I learned Photoshop, Illustrator, and how crappy iMovie is.

But no, I do not really look at the keyboard. Once in a while I may look down at it. But I typed this entire reply without looking down at the keyboard once.

I took a typing class in high school because our driving class was only one semester, so I had to fill up the other semester somehow. I didn't learn anything in that class because all I did was flirt with cute girls.

Then when I first got the internet (way back in 1999 - good lord) I would go troll various Yahoo chat rooms and I learned to type pretty quickly so I could CORRECT ALL THOSE WRONG PEOPLE ON THE INTERNET. I still looked at the keyboard though.

When I went back to college I started to look at the monitor more as I was writing lots of essays and papers, but I'd still look at the keyboard a lot.

What got my eyes off the keyboard was my current job. We have to enter notes for each account we access, but it's a GUI built on some older OS and our notes don't wrap at the end of each line. It's pretty annoying to take very detailed notes and then look up and realize the last 30 seconds of what you typed haven't even registered. Looking at the monitor also helps me catch typos sooner, which makes me faster overall.

That system is also about a gazillion times faster if navigated via keyboard instead of with a mouse, so that helps me too. F2 EQ TAB TAB TAB TAB SPACE ALT+H TAB SPACE TAB F2 CC [enters notes]. See, that's much quicker.

I kind of want to learn Dvorak but I'm not sure it's worth it.

I pretty much taught myself to type. My dad worked in the Electronics Lab when he was in the Air Force, and he, one day, brought home a bunch of spare parts that they'd deemed no longer necessary, and had been cleared of any classified information. Well, he built us a computer, and I kinda just learned how to type that way, starting when I was around 4 or 5 years old. Of course, I didn't really perfect it until I was later into elementary school.

These days, I average around 80 WPM, and I still look at the keyboard from time to time, but not very often. Just don't be afraid of your eyeballs melting, and you'll be fine.

I do remember taking typing lessons in elementary school, and they actually took file folders, and propped them up over our hands so we couldn't look at the keyboard. Intense!

Edit - I've also found that learning a computer language (HTML, C++, et al) will really improve your dexterity, since you have to go out of your way to type otherwise irregular sequences of characters.

Ha, nice topic. I learned typing back in high school, many many moons ago. Colorful Macs? You're lucky, we had these, http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Macintosh_1...arency.png LOL

But they weren't the ones we used for keyboarding class, we used IBM PCs with WordPerfect 5.1 in DOS. By the end of that class we learned not only QWERTY, but also completely mastered WP 5.1, which was an insane key commands controlled program.

I love typing. I do not need to look at the keyboard, and exceed 90 wpm in max speed. However, to this day, I can not type the number "6" key properly. "6" supposed to be typed with your right index finger, but since it's too far reach and uncomfortable for me, I use left index finger instead naturally.

Dr. Peaceful said:
You're fired. Clean out your desk immediately. Security! Please escort this man off the premises.

LOL. XD

There is certain keys that I probably do not use the correct finger for as well, but I still have a way that I do it that works for me. I never use the correct finger for the period button or the comma button, I always move my index finger over to press those keys.

Yeah, you have to fire a lot of people. Consider some of my co-workers type with only two index fingers (from different hands of course). LOL

I learned to type myself. I'd the commodore 16 when I was a kid,and learned to also
program some wee games myself - basic programming of course. I'd the Spectrum 128k+2
also. I'd a huge gap since Nintendo/Sega/ PS/XBOX,until 2002 when I decided to
get into computers again. My keyboard skills were still there. A wee bit rusty, but
picked em up really quick. I either look at the keyboard, or look at the screen whilst
I type. I pick n choose. I rest my left hand over the QWERT side of the keyboard and
my right hand over the IOP[]& ENTER side of the keyboard with my thumbs rested
both on the spacebar. Yawn.. I know... i bored you lot there lol!

I think I had two years worth of typing classes and they didn't help my typing performance at all. I actually got fast from spending many hours in games (where you can be killed if you chat), IM conversations, and GameSpy Arcade game chatrooms.

I only rarely look at the keyboard if I made a few attempts at a shift+# symbol and failed. I never really bothered to memorize most of those due to lack of use.

iHatetyping..lol

I hate typing the most whem I'm on msn messenger... aaargh!!

Here, a typing exercise program. http://www.snapfiles.com/screenshots/ttdeluxe.htm It gives you extremely detailed analysis, too. LOL

Here's a fun online game for typing.

http://play.typeracer.com/

I like typing, I learned it nine years back, I type at 70-80WPM.

What slows me down the most is my terrible spelling.

Using msn in the dark kinda taught me not to look at the keyboard but I never learnt how to type, just got faster over time. I still only use 4 fingers mind. Heh, 71wpm. Good enough for me.