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This Isn't Your Typical Type-Casting

AT THE KEYBOARD--They stab at a keyboard like a plastic toothpick at a gherkin. They pound away mercilessly one keystroke at a time. They search for the letters like men looking for feminine hygiene products at the drugstore. These are your hunt-and-peckers, a dying breed of writers, hackers, and users who refuse to conform to the changing standards of typing.

Hunt-and-peckers type with only one finger from each hand.

It's difficult to understand why these people type the way they do--two fingers at a time. God blessed Man with ten fingers, and it is a shame that these writers choose to clench the other eight into balls while they haphazardly slap at their computer keyboards like a child at a toy piano.

"My grandfather had his wrists slapped for hunting-and-pecking," said Darrell Smedley, a freelance writer who types normally but prefers the Dvorak-style keyboard. "It was considered the Devil's work. His teachers were strict, and made him spend detentions with his hands in the "home position."

Journalists think it's stylish to use the hunt-and-peck method. On quaint manual typewriters it seems to work with their idiom, snapping their wrists away with whimsy while they compose their columns, editorials, and exclusives.

"At one time, like back in the 1500's, typewriter keys required a great deal of strength to push," said Darrell. "Back then, the letters were extremely heavy, and hitting the keys in a hunt-and-peck style was the only way to get the metal-casted letters to leave a decent ink impression on the paper."

When electric typewriters were invented, hunting-and-pecking became unnecessary. Hunt-and-peckers were considering “lazy” and “uninspired” because they refused to learn where the letters were positioned on the keyboard.

But some professionals defend the classic typing style.

“There’s a certain style associated with the hunt-and-peck method of typing,” said editor-in-chief Jonah Jackson. “It’s snappy, it’s bold, and it’s got moxy.”

Mostly, it’s the men who are the hunters and the peckers. They have been typing for years, but still they rely on the hunt-and-peck style to complete their emails, their technical manuals, and their unpublished manuscripts. Any other method breeds distrust and spelling mistakes, as men lack the same motor coordination in their fingers as women. (well-known fact).

“I respect a man who types with only two fingers,” said Darlene McDaniel, associate news editor. “Each keystroke is made with conviction, without hesitation. It says that man has confidence, courage, and daring. It's very sexy.”

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