[lostcolony]

I'm the same way, and the reason is simple - I played MUDs as a kid. I can hit > 100 wpm easily if my brain can keep up. Occasionally something will throw me; a weird bit of punctuation, like the shift + number keys, but that's about it. I've tried to learn to touch type, but the drop in speed, and the promise of ending up basically where I am now means I just don't care. The way I move my hands and wrists and such probably also helps avoid carpal tunnel, though I have nothing other than my own suspicions (and the 20+ years I've been typing without issue or concern over posture/wrist rests/etc) to base that on.

[byteface]

I think speed is misinterpretted. I meant as a minimum benchmark, as in it won't be slower than your unorthodox methods once you are good at it. Not as a max. Typing words as you think them IMO beats holding your breathe and playing 3 finger whackamole to get a paragraph out while looking down at the keyboard. I have also been half way between 2 methods and glad I was able to transition over fully. As someone mentioned it also works on split keyboards.

[lostcolony]

I don't look at the keyboard, I don't hold my breath. It's perfectly natural. Playing a MUD I didn't look at my keyboard; I was watching the screen and reading lines as they went by.

[Izkata]

> I played MUDs as a kid.

For me it was the chat in StarCraft, had to get messages out fast enough not to interrupt the action.

[StavrosK]

Realms of Despair represent!