I started on a manual typewriter, where stream-of-consciousness, fast-as-possible writing was positively aerobic. Ka-chunk, ka-chunk, ka-chunk, Ding!
Electrics were a revelation; so light a touch. Effortless!
Word processing was a dream. No more scissors and tape and paper scraps on the floor, but a *virtual* cut-and-paste. Amazing!
Now, I have become totally dependent on spellchecking and auto-correct.
When I'm typing fast, it's very ugly.
In an email, I tried to type "employment" and mistyped so many letters the spell-checker suggested "Uzbekistan."
I hang my head in shame; I have become a very lazy typist.
Or, as in the firstvdraft, a very l;azu typist./
Cute! When are you going to start using speech recognition?
ReplyDeleteThat's why they put those little bumps on the "f" and the "j" keys...so you can feel that your fingers start out in the right place.
ReplyDeleteLinpa, I did in fact recently re-try speech recognition, but it was a colossal pain to get everything set up just right, and I didn't enjoy wearing the headphone/mic. Eventually, speech rec will be the way to go. I just don't think it's quite there for me yet.
ReplyDeleteAnd Gail, those little keytop bumps are below my typing touch-sensitivity. :-)
I'm a, er, vigorous typist. When I get going, it's a near aerobic activity. Probably another relic of the days of manual typing, when a heavy-duty professional-grade typewriter might have more than an inch (call it 25mm) of key travel against the stiff springs needed for a fast mechanical action. Never mind the right-hand wrist-action slap--- ratchet-ratchet-ding!--- you gave the machine at the end of every line. You could get your pulse up with heavy typing.
I've mostly given up slapping my screen, mostly. But I still hit each key like I mean it.
This may be too much information. The squeamish, pregnant ladies and those with heart conditions may wish to exit the ride at this time.
Still here? Masochists.
My fingertips get calloused from the constant pounding, and I lose touch sensitivity. I deal with that stupidly and crudely--- I tend to gnaw off the callouses when I'm thinking. This restores sensitivity, but makes my fingers look like, well, someone's been gnawing on them. But afterward, I have a few glorious days of sensitive (albeit ugly) fingertips. Then the pounding thickens the new skin and my fingertips deaden again.
Little bumps. Jeez. I wish. :-)
OK, we can let the squeamish pregnant ladies with heart conditions back in now.
Please stay seated until the ride comes to a complete stop.
And I think it just did.
Thanks, I needed a good laugh about now! I too started on a manual, Royal I think it was. What the electric taught me was to proceed with caution (messy whiteout and my fingers could never get the whiteout paper inserted correctly) so now I type s-l-o-w-l-y. Oh, the joy of computers! (And fingers+toes->calculator->computer too, but that's another topic.)
ReplyDeleteI learned to type on an Underwood (or was it a Royal?) in 1952(..3?) as a junior in high school (Mother insisted on typing class because I'd need it in later life) and then got a Royal portable as a birthday? graduation? present. So, yes, I do know about the aerobic activity associated with those old manuals. Now it may be that I'm old and don't have the strength I used to have as a teenager and young adult, or it may be that I'm more adaptable, but I sure don't pound these keys like I used to. One would think that gnawing off the calluses would make your fingertips so sensitive you might try a lighter touch? Bet you go through keyboards at a horrendous rate! (and now I've blogged the blog)
ReplyDeleteI occassionally superviser social work students on placements and like all of us, every now and then, they make wonderful typos. In our case however, they become "memorialized" as our case management software locks access to editing at the end of every day.
ReplyDeleteOne student several years ago was working with a single father of a 1year old child. He was looking for work and was offered a position with a local plumbing company unblocking clogged toilets. He could not accept the position as he would have to work evenings and weekends when there was no child care available.
She *meant* to write "the client had to refuse the job because it was shift work."
Unfortunately, her speedy fingers left out the letter "F" which resulted in the funniest typo Ithink I have ever seen.
I saw the error and was able to correct it before the note was locked at the end of the day thereby protecting her "dignity".
Just before doing so however, my evil side printed it just as it was and brought it to her last placement review with her school supervisor.
My favorite typo experience: A few years ago, a colleague - a programmer - sent an email to users explaining that one of their applications had to be taken off line for debugging. The last sentence of the spell-checked version was emailed to the users read: "I apologize for any incontinence this may have caused."
ReplyDelete