Confessions of an Old Nerd

OK, it’s time to fess up. I’m in my mid-50s, and I never learned to touch-type. And even worse, I’ve worked in tech as a programmer and in other roles since the early 80s, and I’ve had computers with me or near me at least as long. There have been very few days — days! — since the early 80s when I did not spend at least some time in front of a computer.

I have carried the first luggables and the first laptops, and I’ve had XTs and ATs and 386s and 486s and all kinds of other PCs and Macs and Linux computers. And today I have Windows and Mac laptops — plural! — and tablets and phones and even RaspberryPi clusters.

I’m surrounded by computers and keyboards and mice — the electric kind (and we probably have the other kind in the basement) — and yet, I never learned to type properly. I didn’t learn it in school or college. And yes, I know that I must be the only person on this planet that somehow managed to avoid that.

Sure, I made a few (admittedly lame) attempts at learning on my own using software like Mavis Beacon and others. But it never stuck. Or rather, I never stuck with it. And frankly, at this point, I’m still on the fence whether it’s worth learning. Because … uhm … my hunt-and-peck technique is amazing! Besides, aren’t we all going to use voice commands anyway? 😜