I’m starting to learn to touch type correctly on a keyboard, but typing something like :q with the pinky finger always feels so awkward to me. Is it worth using it?
You’ll get used to it with practice. It’s fine if you prefer to type differently, but you’ll probably hit a plateau with how efficiently you can type (or you’ll rely on looking at the keyboard, which is not ideal).
Never thought about it, but I think it’s mainly left shift and control key.
Yes. I’m using the standard typing system on an ANSI keyboard which requires pinkies.
Yes, i do and yes, it’s worth it.
Also, practice the number row, too! That’s my weakest area by far. I can touch-type everything else but i always have to check the number row.I just switch to the num pad. Also worth practicing on if you do a lot of typing.
I’ve got my caps lock key remapped to escape.
I use my left pinky for ctrl, shift, a, and my remapped caps lock/escape key.
I use my right pinky for shift, enter, and I’m pretty sure that’s all.
I use my ring fingers for backspace, tilde, tab, q, backslash, quote, and that probably isn’t a comprehensive list.
I use my middle finger for semicolon/colon! I never realized that before. Wild.
Not for me, but then again I have residual nerve damage in my pinky fingers from a case of meningitis back in 2004.
However, I do still use my left pinky for the left shift key, and my right pinky for the enter key. At least those keys are big enough that the mild numbness doesn’t cause me to miss those keys.
Definitely. Keep your palms high to make it easier for the pinky to reach. If you rest your palms on the keyboard, it will make it awkward to use the pinky for keys in the upper rows.
Yes. I also use the heel of my hand, at least on the left side, at least for modifier keys. Everyone who has ever observed this (well, minus one, to be technically accurate) seems to have been personally offended by it.
Yeah, mostly I use the pinky for hitting shift. Apostrophe, question mark, and brackets are next used. I play games so I also use it for hitting ctrl quite regularly by bending my pinky in and hitting it with the top of my nail.
Yes. All the time.
Yes, q,a,z, shift, and control.
Yeah. But I’m also using a keyboard layout where frequently used keys aren’t on my pinky, and a keyboard where modifiers are on my thumb cluster, rather than on my pinky.
