I do not know how to type by touch. But I don't "hunt and peck" either. When challenged on it, I have no idea how to defend my position. I took a year of typing class ("touch typing" being a prerequisite for a programming class) due to this trivial distinction. I know many people who never "learned to type", but most of them I would not accuse of "hunting and pecking."

So what should I call it, since "touch typing" has already been claimed exclusively by those who have learned it by rote, and would look down on all those who don't follow The One True Way as "hunt and peck"ers? Spacial typing? Fluent typing? Knowing where the keys are instead of knowing where your hands are? I know it the same way I know how to ride a bicycle: Nobody taught me how to do it, they just gave me a push and then let go.

It amazes me that "touch typing" is always contrasted with "hunt and peck" when I can't imagine anyone seriously using a computer for more than a couple of months without intuitively memorizing where the keys are enough that not every stroke is characterized by:

I've seen "hunt and peck" typists who have been in the business for years. It's scary. But even then: they don't need to look when they type their passwords. Perhaps the difference is they don't use IRC, and so don't frequently need to type out every single word they're thinking.

Yes, I look at the keyboard to get a vague sense of where my hands are before I begin a stream of thought. Yes, I keep the my hands in my peripheral vision when typing, and can see every inefficient reach across the keys as I grab at one which I know the location of through repeated use.

I would probably get some speed increase if I "learned to type", but every time I have tried to hold my hands in that cramped, motionless position, my wrists have instantly begun to ache. I notice that "ergonomic" keyboards seem to force one's arms into the position which I find most natural on a flat keyboard, perhaps I'm doing it wrong.

Maybe we'd all get along better if you stopped trying to type correctly and just typed.

Or at least don't be such a prick about it.

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