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How the hell do people type on "modern" keyboards?

I learned to "type" on a BBC Model B with four fingers and my thumbs for space, and although I can type properly I don't do it much because I'm faster the old way and my wrists hurt otherwise if I type for too long.

Modern keyboards have no tactile feedback - except pain because instead of hitting a key with some movement, I'm effectively repeatedly hitting the desk, they make a racket because I'm repeatedly hitting the desk, and there's no differentiation between keys to keep your fingers in the right place. They're little better than the "keyboard" of a ZX81.

Why? Just, why?

in reply to Ghost of Hope

Baroque Mongoose
Baroque Mongoose
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I feel your pain! This is why I don't have a smartphone. I did try. But I'm a touch typist and I need keys that move. (Fortunately my laptop has them.)
in reply to Ghost of Hope

I’m Tired And Everything Hurts
I’m Tired And Everything Hurts
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Most cheap keyboards are total cack. Bubble membrane keyboards should all be burnt on a huge bonfire.
in reply to Ghost of Hope

Actually a LLM
Actually a LLM
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wait, are you talking about these popping-in-popping-out switches they use for all laptops nowadays?
in reply to Ghost of Hope

MW1CFN
MW1CFN
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A very personal thing. But I've written a book on a Dell. It's angle isn't quite right, but you can do something about that and it has reasonable feedback, though not as much as the BBC/C64, etc.
in reply to Ghost of Hope

Ollie
Ollie
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Don't! Lenovo changed the keyboards on ThinkPads and although for average use I've satisfactorily adapted my typing style, I'm eyeing-up an external keyboard as I've collected several lever arch folders of notes this year that need to be typed.
in reply to Ghost of Hope

Sarah Brown
Sarah Brown
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@Ghost of Hope BBC micro keyboards were bloody industrial, for sure. I learned on a VIC-20 so was pleased not to have to put up with the Sinclair stuff, but I was jealous of BBC types because they had 4 cursor keys.
@Ghost of Hope
in reply to Ghost of Hope

Spencer
Spencer
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I snagged an HP keyboard from my Buy Nothing group so I had something to plug into computers as I was building them and setting them up, and I've never used a more infuriating keyboard, for a lot of the reasons you allude to. The low-profile keys give very little tactile feedback, and I kept losing my fingers' place on the board.
in reply to Ghost of Hope

Ghost of Hope
Ghost of Hope
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And don't get me started on moving the backslash key, some of us have to deal with Windows code still
in reply to Ghost of Hope

WeThePeopleRFucked
WeThePeopleRFucked
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"Only in America can they invent a 64-bit O/S that requires a System32 folder to work" - Bill Gates's Epstein party hat
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