Touch typing is a method of typing without looking at your keyboard. Those who have mastered touch typing can find keys on the keyboard using their muscle memory. The theory of muscle memory is described in another AgileFingers article. This method of typing increases your typing speed significantly. When learning to type faster, it is more important to type correctly than to type fast. It is even better to look at your keyboard and press a given key with the correct finger than to press it faster with the wrong one. It is because of how muscle memory functions.
History
Former keyboard layouts for the first typewriters were alphabetical. It was ineffective due to the specificity of typewriter construction. It was ineffective because it caused more exploitation of certain areas of the typewriters. The constructors have changed it in later typewriter models. More emphasis was put on the equal load on most fingers. This change not only increased the longevity of typewriters but also increased the typing speed. Different keyboard layouts are more efficient for different languages which is why there is no one common keyboard layout. For example, keyboards in English-speaking countries use a QWERTY layout and in countries where French is spoken, the AZERTY system is used much more often.
The common way of using a keyboard
Although the typing technology is as old as the typewriters, most people still do not use touch typing. Most often people use mostly their two index fingers. Typing in this way is much slower than touch typing because instead of remembering your fingers' position, you need to find a key every time you want to click it. Using fewer fingers also causes slower typing and index strain of index fingers.
AgileFingers
There have been many programs for teaching touch typing techniques. However, something can always be improved. We hope that AgileFingers is a way of improving the touch typing learning method. The benefits of typing faster are so significant that it is worth taking time and learning touch typing. It is also worth helping others improve their skills - that is why AgileFingers exists.