Basis for the "correct" touch typing technique

[batfink]

No doubt we have all seen the standard zonal diagram for working out which fingers to use for which keys on a standard keyboard.
Even the Wikipedia page on touch typing shows this:



My particular issue is with the Z,X,C,V keys, as pointed out here and here. It's fairly obviously more comfortable and ergonomic to use the index finger for the C key (in most cases).

My question is: Where did this received wisdom come from? On what basis was it decided that this scheme is correct? I think whoever came up with it must have been an idiot - but what's worse, is that everyone seems to accept it as "correct" without question! How could this situation have come about?

[davkol]

Whole column per finger, that dates back to 1880s or so.

There are also keyboard layouts, that aren't fundamentally broken. Basically anything symmetrical, in fact. It doesn't even have to be Maltron. The standard 0.5u offset relative to home row is insane regardless of fingering scheme.

[xondat]

I always struggle with hitting ZX. I found resetting to using the home row and then adapting it myself meant that I type a lot quicker but also I don't trip over myself all the time. It's a good guideline to start on in my opinion.

I don't think people accept it as correct when they think about it, it's just the standard and far too difficult to change now.

[tp4tissue]

Looking at my typing speed guide..

it would seem that hands do not rest naturally on asdfjkl;,   they rest on awefjio;



for q and p,   depending on what technique you use,  resting-wrist or hover-wrist,  you may choose to use ring finger instead of pinky..


For hover wrist, because you can move between the keys really fast, it doesn't matter what finger you use..

For resting -wrist,  wrist on the table why typing,  THEN,  it's easier to use Ring-Finger for -Q- and -P-, because using the pinky is much further away.

[batfink]

Yeah, I know there are a million things wrong with keyboard design generally, but this a separate thing:

Given the standard keyboard design, it seems obvious that this would be better:


Therefore it's bizarre that people who are supposedly experts, i.e. they offer training on "correct" technique, all recommend a system that is worse than is necessary, even given the standard hardware!

[AMongoose]

This is why I prefer ISO to ANSI.

Given the standard keyboard design, it seems obvious that this would be better:

Show Image

what finger do you press 'B' with then? your forehead :p?

[xtrafrood]

That spacebar in the first picture is not giant at all

[tp4tissue]

Yeah, I know there are a million things wrong with keyboard design generally, but this a separate thing:

Given the standard keyboard design, it seems obvious that this would be better:

Show Image

Therefore it's bizarre that people who are supposedly experts, i.e. they offer training on "correct" technique, all recommend a system that is worse than is necessary, even given the standard hardware!

If they're not using an Ergodox,  They're not experts..

[MJL]

I like the philosophy of the Norman layout but at my age  (64) I am not going to re-learn my typing, especially since I am plagued by arthritis and more and more use less fingers (can no longer do touch typing).

There is also the "minor" issue of relocating the keycaps so you'll have to find a set of keycaps that is having all the keys the same height.

https://normanlayout.info/

[tp4tissue]

I like the philosophy of the Norman layout but at my age  (64) I am not going to re-learn my typing, especially since I am plagued by arthritis and more and more use less fingers (can no longer do touch typing).

There is also the "minor" issue of relocating the keycaps so you'll have to find a set of keycaps that is having all the keys the same height.

https://normanlayout.info/

In the beginning , how did you land upon this layout. ?

[MJL]

In the beginning , how did you land upon this layout. ?

Was reading up on the Coleman layout, then read about the workman layout and then came across this one.

[nmur]

i've been using an ergodox for about a month now. one of the reasons i bought one is because of this issue

don't see myself going back to a regular layout anytime soon as it deals with this issue, as well as others

[MJL]

an interesting website I came across while I was looking at the Norman layout (and criticism of many layouts):

http://xahlee.info/kbd/dvorak_and_all_keyboard_layouts.html

[menuhin]

i've been using an ergodox for about a month now. one of the reasons i bought one is because of this issue

don't see myself going back to a regular layout anytime soon as it deals with this issue, as well as others

Only the Ortholinear keyboards, such as Ergodox, TypeMatrix, etc solved this problem adopted from typewriter layout.

[Fictiouz]

i've been using an ergodox for about a month now. one of the reasons i bought one is because of this issue

don't see myself going back to a regular layout anytime soon as it deals with this issue, as well as others

Only the Ortholinear keyboards, such as Ergodox, TypeMatrix, etc solved this problem adopted from typewriter layout.

When you really think about it typing on qwerty is pretty dumb. It was designed to reduce typing speeds on a typewriter so they wouldn't jam. Since that's not much of an issue anymore the fact that we still do is kinda funny to me )