Over this last week I've noticed something interesting. Sitting in cafes as I do, I've become aware that many young people are *much* faster at "typing" on their iPhones or other Smartphones than I am, just *screaming* along using two thumbs to tweet to their friends.
But at work I've also been involved in interviewing a number of students from a local university that offers a Class A tech writing/information design degree to work as interns for IBM. They've all been sharp as tacks, and I would willingly work with all of them, but I noticed something while watching them perform the writing tests that my manager insisted on giving them. They've all been "two finger typists." They're *fast* at it, but so far out of six applicants for these internships, not one of them was a touch typist. Then I noticed that one of my coworkers, who started her career at IBM as one of these interns, was also a two-finger typist. Again, she's fast at it, and is an excellent tech writer, but it got me to thinking. What with the proliferation of mobile devices and touchscreen pads, is "touch typing" on its way out? I consider myself fortunate that I taught myself to write this way, to the point that I can now type literally as fast as I think. But I wonder whether it will become a "lost skill" in the future. I guess it will all become a moot point when someone invents plug-in interfaces that just translate what we think *into* text on a screen. But when that happens, I'll probably still rely on a keyboard. It's my "instrument," and "playing" on any other just wouldn't create the same music.
