[dylan604]

Maybe it's because I took an actual typing class way back in the dark days of actual clackity-clack type writers, but I don't get the dislike of shift keys. Are these people that learned to type from only playing games or other non-formalized learning to type? Kudos for you learning regardless of the method, I'm just looking at why I don't have the same aversion to the shift keys. I even use the "proper" shift key meaning I use the left shift when using a right hand key and vice-versa.

[wk_end]

I never learned to type "properly" and I also don't really care or think about modifier keys. I suspect it's one of those things - like coffee snobs searching for the perfect pourover technique, or steak snobs perfecting their reverse sear - wherein people take a hobby, passion, or profession of theirs and feel a need to hyperoptimize it.

[neilv]

One of the reasons...

Back when the Internet became aware of typing injuries (RSI), folk wisdom was that one of the causes was the multiple simultaneous key presses, because of how people often contorted their hands to do it.

I made various changes, and now, decades later, I can type all day and night, without discomfort (much to the chagrin of HN).

(Kudos to people who limit yourself to one modifier at a time, and who use the alternate hand for it. It's still more repetitive motion, but at least you're not going against the folk wisdom about contorting hands.)

[akira2501]

Entirely anecdotal point here, but I learned to type in 6th grade, at a time when manual typewriters where more prevalent than computer keyboards. I've never experienced RSI. My hands only get tired after about 10 hours of work and after a full night of sleep they're entirely fine.

Probably the same reason I love keyboards with "cherry blue" type switches in them.

[dylan604]

This was my thinking as well that the "formal" typing instruction really helps more than people appreciate. Having a teacher come by and scold you for having lazy typing posture definitely sets a good habit. At least it wasn't as bad as the meme of a nun and a her ruler, but it was the next best thing without physical contact.

[kevindamm]

I wonder how much of this is the formal techniques like opposite-shift use and good hand/wrist posture, vs how much was from muscle tone developed from having to really push on a manual key set. Even the automatics had a bit of give to them compared to the typical computer keyboard, and now we have nearly as many keyboards on screen displays as there are physical keyboards (I'm estimating), where you may not even have a haptic vibration response on key down.

This isn't a "get off my mechanical keys" rant, this is a "should we be making exercise typewriters?" plea.

[kazinator]

That proper shift technique never clicked with me. I developed a technique whereby I use only the left pinky for shift, and only the right thumb for the spacebar. Thus, for text not requiring shifting, I'm using nine fingers including the right thumb. Yet, I can touch type just about as fast if I lose the left pinky by keeping it planted on the left shift key! FOR INSTANCE, I TYPED THIS SENTENCE WITHOUT LIFTING MY PINKY FROM THE SHIFT KEY.

My technique is efficient in circumstances where I have to type several upper case letters in a row, which happens quite regularly in C programming. Using "proper" shifting for an identifier like UINT_MAX is nonstarter, and using CapsLock before and after is likewise inefficient.

I think the double Shift key design and the related proper technique is a holdover from mechanical typewriters. You need to put a good amount of strength into the shift. It's not as easy to type with your left hand while its pinky is anchored to the Shift key.