Where debating everything under the sun is only the beginning

I have no idea what secretary training is, but it's irrelevant.

An experienced typist is one who doesn't look at the keyboard, types at a certain minimum speed (let's say at least 300 characters/minute*), and presumably uses all of their available fingers to do so. If one manages to type 300 CPM with just two or four fingers I imagine it to be closer to a top speed than a minimum speed.**

I disagree with your suggestion that a method involving more than just a few fingers wouldn't be similar to your prescription image at least in principle. Although the physical layout of the keyboard is somewhat suboptimal, having more or less dedicated finger areas is surely the fastest and most efficient.

The kind of training that gets you a certificate about your typing skills. A certified typist.

Is the speed measured backspacing excluded? I.e. the characters that one must delete due to mistyping are not counted as typed, right?

I have to pay more attention to how I normally type, but I am not aware of having assigned specific territories to fingers on the keyboard. It seems to me I can hit any key with any finger - currently convenient finger in the course of the sequence, that is. Middle fingers do most of the work and little fingers least, but none is idle.

Quote from: ersi on 2015-06-14, 17:51:31

The kind of training that gets you a certificate about your typing skills. A certified typist.

As long as you meet the requirements for speed and accuracy your methods don't matter. In any event, I suppose I have one of those from about twenty years ago.

In the event that I do make a typo, I also tend to correct it before I even become aware of it.

Having your middle fingers do most of the work doesn't sound natural to me. You'll notice that people who type with two or four fingers do most of their typing by index finger. Perhaps your middle fingers are unnaturally dexterous?

One is the standard prescribed way, to assign territories on the keyboard for each finger. The other is patterns of convenience where every next key is pressed with a different finger.

The reason you use the natural (ahem, "prescribed" ) way is because otherwise you have no idea where your fingers are. That is, it's the F and J keys from which everything logically derives.

I recommend the Motospeed Inflictor CK104 Gaming Mechanical Keyboard.

Yup, looks perfect. But where to buy, other than Aliexpress? (shipping below €3, i.e. tolerable, delivery 15+ days, not quite tolerable)

I'm operating on the assumption that everyone has a few spare rubber domes lying around, I suppose.

Couldn't really find much info on the Tacens.

Surely you know how to look stuff up on YT.

The biggest issue is how loud it will be. My spare Dell KB-522 is a good baseline.

...available in three alternatives with different switches. Switches available:
• blue switches providing extraordinary accuracy, convenience in use and high-pitched clicking sound;
• red smooth linear switches with constant resistance all the way and no clicky sound;
• brown switches with noticeable actuation but more quiet than blue switches.

The biggest issue is how loud it will be.

The intros to mechanical keyboards talk long about the linear versus tactile switches as if it were some essential parameter.

Worst of all, the so-called mechanical keyboards do not provide a truly mechanical typing experience.

Brother AX-310

Both keyboards are loud as hell when you are not used to type lightly.

The problem with your average rubber domes is not necessarily the general feeling of pressing a key, but that you have to pound down to make sure your keypress is actually registered. As far as the comparison to mechanical typewriters goes, that's not unlike a mechanical typewriter. Yet perhaps ironically, pounding down on a rubber dome wears it down even quicker, while a mechanical keyboard can take a lot of abuse.

You can order a 100-pack of so-called o-rings from the likes of AliExpress for something like 60 cents if you want to pound. I wouldn't say mine is that loud without though. /shrugs

Part of a slightly bigger loudness when bottoming out comes from the sturdy steel plate that's also responsible for most of the weight.

Tactile switches give you better feedback as to when the key was activated precisely so you don't have to pound them down all the way. It's basically a soft bottom to your press. Linear switches are basically exactly the same in feeling as a decent rubber dome except they barely wear down and keypresses will register more reliably since not bottoming out hard enough is not a cause of failure. The distinction is definitely important.

Buckling springs feel more typewriter-like. I'm not the biggest fan but I still wouldn't part with mine for less than a few hundred. You should be able to get a reasonable used model for about €60 and they've recently started manufacturing new models again.

All they require is pushing (as opposed to pouding) the key all the way down, which sort of effortlessly happens by itself, at least given the way I type.

And not available across the street = not worth it.

To travel lightly on top of the keyboard is not what people do with typewriters, mechanical or electronic.

but they are marketed as if taking you back to the age before membranes and rubber-domes. False marketing.

From my perspective, the ideal keyboard would in fact have the same type of keys as the buttons on the trackball.

If you grew up on a mechanical typewriter, then perhaps pounding down properly feels as natural as can be, but you are almost certainly sacrificing comfort, speed, or both.

And I just realized my laptop keyboard suffers from ghosting.