Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse? - Gizmodo Comments

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

MisterCow.Pnoy — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 16:39:55 EDT

@LindsayJoy:
heh, it's amazing how much different writing looks when written as the alphabet vs. real writing. It may look clean there, but when the letters are compiled to form words, they somehow morph themselves into ungodly lines.

MisterCow.Pnoy

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

nerdia314 — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 19:20:40 EDT

well i don't know about handwriting but those idiots typing in chatspeak all the time end up writing in it. someone handed in a report that used "r" as are and "u" as you. it's pathetic.

nerdia314

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

TurboFool — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 12:36:57 EDT

It hasn't necessarily made my handwriting worse, but it did pretty much dislodge any need or desire of mine to improve upon it. Around the time I should have been learning good penmanship I was instead learning to type. As such, I can type absurdly faster than I can write, and I cannot write in cursive (I read it just fine, though) beyond my own name. Never had any drive to learn. So while it didn't make matters worse, it prevented me from gaining any real handwriting skills to begin with.

TurboFool

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

BigViper — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 17:11:21 EDT

@lillian27: You sir are a moron. I misspelled the word lose by inserting an unecessary vowel "the letter O" None the less LOOSE is not a homonymn. I commend you though on a wonderful waste of a liberal arts degree. Lastly, posting your comment twice does not make you correct just supider not more stupid.
Glad to offer up the refresher course

Bibliography
[www.cooper.com]

[en.wikipedia.org]

BigViper

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

Ashe — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 16:18:19 EDT

Nope. But then again, I still write a fair bit still.

Ashe

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

B1663R — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 14:56:06 EDT

@fastthumbs: like teh? seriously you will write teh?

that is soooo freakin' weird!

B1663R

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

Cerixus — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 14:35:38 EDT

Handwriting? What is this handwriting?
[www.donotudnerstand.com]

Cerixus

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

LindsayJoy's MBP is into S+M — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 14:28:08 EDT

@mistercow.pnoy:

Your handwriting looks like calligraphy to my chicken-scratch.

LindsayJoy's MBP is into S+M

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

MasterYong — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 14:06:04 EDT

In the office I work in, I was forced to abolish long-hand and cursive in my department because my Admin. Assistants couldn't read the cursive. I'm not even sure they teach it in school anymore :(

MasterYong

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

BlackFlag55 — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 12:05:57 EDT

I'm of an age where First and Second grades stressed the Palmer Method of cursive writing. In junior high I got interested in calligraphy. Then came computers and my handwriting eventually took on the look a palsied victim of a neural disorder. Well, that and falling off the bigger barn and shattering both wrists. And the early days of skateboarding. And the head injury. What was the subject, again?

BlackFlag55

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

Ubik2501 — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 12:03:37 EDT

I have a super deluxe combo of reasons for bad handwriting: I've always had terrible handwriting (my lowest grades in elementary school were always in handwriting classes), I learned to type at an early age and preferred typing to handwriting, and I adopted my dad's all-caps engineer handwriting soon afterwards. I still use the all-caps engineer handwriting, but always do it so fast that it starts flowing together kind of like a cursive hybrid. I can read it just fine, but nobody else ever has a damn clue what it could be. I find I have to rewrite certain letters in Brain Age on my DS multiple times for it to decipher my scribbles.

And my signature is always basically a scribble that never quite looks the same.

Ubik2501

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

luckybob343 — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 10:54:49 EDT

My handwriting has, if anything, improved the more I type. I guess it is the mental correlation between clean print handwriting and font clarity...I don't know. It is a bit weird, now that I'm thinking about it. My print handwriting is typically evenly spaced...nearly registered. Thanks Courier!

My cursive still sucks. I haven't had to write anything important in cursive since 5th grade...and that was 18 years ago.

So yeah, my print handwriting looks great and receives compliments. My cursive looks like a monkey had a seizure whilst holding a pen.

luckybob343

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

mclark2112 — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 10:11:27 EDT

My handwriting has always been bad.

What I find, though, is that I can't spell worth a damn when I write things down. My brain tends to work faster than the pen, and I jumble letters like crazy.

If I could just find the backspace key on my pen...

mclark2112

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

yogibimbi — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 09:04:08 EDT

Well, the question really is: could my handwriting deteriorate even further. But I don't think the keyboard has made much of a difference.
However, I am writing more in Graffiti on my Centro (and have been on various other incarnations of Palm over the last 15 years) than with my hand, so I am often tempted to write in Graffiti while scribbling something on paper. Maybe I should just plain go ahead and do it... ;-) Would certainly add a more personal note to my handwriting, but also more legibility for those who know their Graffiti, since the Palm is more demanding than a human reader. Graffiti 2 however is just one more example of Palm's increased suckage after updates. 1 was oK, 2 just sux.

yogibimbi

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

PassinThrough — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 09:01:34 EDT

Handwriting? Is there a good program for that?

PassinThrough

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

tallboy — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 08:59:51 EDT

i've actually been trying to write longhand more and more lately in an effort to regain that lost art of cursive. mainly i got jealous of my wife's handwriting, which is always awesome, all the time.

tallboy

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

x23 — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 08:02:16 EDT

@fastthumbs: same here! probably because i just can't write fast enough by hand and am thinking of the keys... or... hell... i don't know. it's weird though.

@lillian27: "loose" and "lose" are homonyms now? since when? first of all you are thinking of homophones anyway. "there" and "their" are homophones... because they sound identical but are spelled differently. "loose" and "lose" do not sound anything alike unless you are incredibly liberal with phonetics. christ... you might as well put "loss" / "lass" / "laze" / "less" / "lease" and "louse" in your little "homonym" group as well.

there is actually a cute little chart on the homonym page ... and you may notice the completely blank sector at the "different spelling" and "different pronunciation" intersection. but hey... thanks for the lesson professor. i see you've been taught well.

- - -

my printed handwriting used to be impeccable. well... i was always told i had very nice handwriting. very legible. my cursive was pretty good too... but in general i preferred print. in the past 10 years or so ... i literally write grocery lists and that is it. or lists of tasks. never anything over a few lines.

i found some of my old homework and compared it... HUGE difference. my handwriting sucks now. (comparatively.) the worst thing i notice is i simply no longer have the correct hand muscles to handwrite for any length of time. i can type for literal hours... but can only handwrite for maybe 5-10 minutes tops before my hand turns into a withered crooked hook of pain.

x23

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

m-p{3} — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 07:55:25 EDT

My handwriting always sucked, so it didn't really changed much.

m-p{3}

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

dbsboy — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 06:57:24 EDT

it's made my hand writing better!

dbsboy

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

citizen024 — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 06:47:35 EDT

Whats this "handwriting" you speak of?

I believe you mean typing in URW Chancery L, Dyspepsia or Andy MT...... no?

citizen024

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

D.LYTE — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 05:48:30 EDT

um...i've had compliments on my handwriting, which is mostly caps for legibility. my cursive was kool in grade school, but in high school i switched to caps because that was how my dad wrote and i thought it looked neat-oh! later in life, when i was in a hurry, i'd intermingle cursive, caps, and lower case print. it turned into a jumblef@ck. i've taken notes for class and i can read my writing and that's really all that is necessary. no way i'd go back. i'm typing about roadrunner speed with a visual check before printing/submitting anything these days.

what i do find disturbing however are the number of people who suffer from their/they're/there, to/too, receipt/reciept syndrome. i blame it on them for being ignorant and on their teachers and the education system for not having the balls to fail people when they don't really deserve to pass.

*shoulder shrug* whatever...

D.LYTE

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

malaklaze — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 05:39:52 EDT

@ecobore:

It's similar to holding a stylus...

;o)

malaklaze

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

Narfmaster — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 05:10:36 EDT

Almost definitely. My handwriting wasn't ever brilliant but I practically never write anything these days. All notes are taken on my laptop, and my signature is just a load of loops, pretty much.

Narfmaster

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

dumblonde — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 04:09:53 EDT

My handwriting royally sucks. But I don't know if it's bc computers or just because there's something wrong with me.

dumblonde

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

FinalValgas — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 03:18:58 EDT

Yes. It's so bad that I have to take a few seconds to figure out how to write. Can't write a sentence in a straight line. Whenever I make a mistake, I try to delete it instead of erase it or cross it out. If I spell a word wrong I think I can spell check it. It's really bad man. Help?

FinalValgas

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

magicofpi — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 03:17:39 EDT

Ahh, all of you left-handed bad-handwriters... you make such a bad name for us... and the truth is many left-handers are excellent at handwriting (like me).

magicofpi

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

ecobore — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 02:41:11 EDT

Can't even remember how to hold a pen!

ecobore

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

Dooga — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 02:38:57 EDT

The real question is, do geeks just have crappy writing?

Dooga

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

GeekGoth — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 02:27:10 EDT

i write on occasion, and enjoy it, somthing romantic and old world when you write a letter or somthing personal by hand...my ex girlfriend always got a kick out of it..

GeekGoth

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

ceez — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 02:05:00 EDT

I had to actually WRITE my first/last name in cursive not to long ago when asked for a "signature". I was embarrased to find out that writing my name is cursive was all of a sudden a mission. Back in school I had great handwritting, now being that I am IT all I do is type all day...quick notes look fine if the writting is messy, but when you need to apply it then forget it! someone get me a keyboard.....WITH SPELL CHECK! not to mention that spelling is going down the drains!

ceez

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

jamesuschrist — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 01:59:44 EDT

I start to think sometimes that my handwriting has always sucked, and then every once in a while I come across something I wrote in early elementary school in cursive.

My social security card, for instance, has my signed name on there. I could never sign my full name like that in cursive nowadays even if I tried...

So I'm going to attribute it to the fact that I've been exposed to computers since 1st grade, and I've proudly been clocked at 110WPM on QWERTY.

jamesuschrist

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

dsween — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 01:21:12 EDT

When I shifted over from cursive to print, I pretty much lost the ability to write in cursive. Now the only cursive I can write is my signature, and it's pretty much a scribble. So yeah, if print killed my cursive, typing is degrading my print.

Though I did vote that my handwriting has always sucked.

dsween

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

twreckx — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 01:20:29 EDT

I'm left handed from a left handed family. My handwriting sucks so bad that in high school I couldn't read my notes a couple of days after I wrote them. My father went to school in one of those backward places where they would tie your left hand behind your back and force you to write with your right.
Then for good measure (and because the teachers were sick bastards) they would leave you tied up during recess so you could get your ass kicked.

twreckx

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

bhackethal — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 00:41:32 EDT

I type for a living. I can definitely see a degradation in my handwriting. It makes sense that without repetitive use, muscle memory is lost and those fine motor skills become less fine. When I'm writing something that matters, I notice that there is a lot more effort involved in making it legible and looking good.

bhackethal

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

uberfu — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 00:28:21 EDT

The more I type - the less I write and I get out of practice_

uberfu

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

wildness — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 00:25:43 EDT

The future of Textards is the lose of basic communication skills - we are all doomed!

wildness

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

Sora57 — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 23:36:36 EDT

I type much faster than I think. No, I didn't mean that. See?

Sora57

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

photophile — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 23:28:32 EDT

Maybe not worse, but I have to think before each word to make sure I draw the letters correctly. It's always looked horrible.

photophile

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

NightElfMohawk — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:53:29 EDT

It wasn't ever anything spectacular, but since the past decade has consisted of office/computer jobs and before that, waiting tables, my handwriting is almost unreadable at this point.

NightElfMohawk

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

thechansen — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:05:23 EDT

Now that my hand writing has gone to shit, I'm going to ruin my 60 WPM QWERTY touch typing. [www.instructables.com]

I'll tell you this much, its awkward as fuck so far

thechansen

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

lillian27 — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:03:51 EDT

@Pender:

I am in error. Thank you for pointing out my incorrect classification of loose and lose as homonyms. I'll also review my semicolon usage. Semicolons are not often used and perhaps I'm trying too hard to make up for the deficiency.

I'm not sure I deserved being called a nazi, but I'll take it as a measure of how strong a reaction I've provoked and use it as motivation to amend my behavior.

lillian27

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

kzooguy — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 21:58:38 EDT

When I take the time, I have rather good block handwriting, and I'm trying to improve my cursive.

kzooguy

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

Paintingneko — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 21:45:52 EDT

I've always written in cursive. I just find it easier to keep the pen/pencil down on the paper instead of picking it up for every letter. I don't think typing has changed my handwriting at all...

Paintingneko

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

origamimavin — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 21:40:44 EDT

my handwritings gone from awful to illegible, even to me. so yes.

origamimavin

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

Kareem King — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 21:34:58 EDT

When I got my first computer, I stopped with the "regular writing" and never looked back.

Kareem King

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

Palestina — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 21:31:59 EDT

I just forgot how to handwrite.

Palestina

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

Pender — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 21:30:00 EDT

@lillian27: Given your own misuse of the semicolon, your liberal arts degree is hardly an excuse to get uppity about things literal. And incidentally, loose and lose are not homonyms since they are pronounced differently. You just get angry about common mistakes: a run-of-the-mill grammar/symantics nazi.

Pender

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

xeijix — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 21:27:58 EDT

Oddly enough, same thing goes for those who use a tablet pc. There's almost no resistance from screen, so I tend to use as little strength as possible to write. It's also faster because the stylus just glides. I find myself half-finishing letters when I'm using a real pen and paper just to match the same speed as my writing on the tablet.

xeijix

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

Pender — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 21:24:20 EDT

Yes, of course, but it has made my ability to communicate much better.

Similarly, the advent of the automobile has seriously compromised my generation's ability to ride horseback, but somehow we survive.

Pender

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

lillian27 — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 21:14:56 EDT

@BigViper:
My apologies for being snarky; homonym misuse is a pet peeve of mine.

I also tend to look for a soapbox if the topic is writing or literature; it's just my liberal arts degree misbehaving ;-)

lillian27

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

lillian27 — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 21:03:00 EDT

@BigViper:
My apologies for being snarky; it has been a bit of a day and I find homonym misuse particularly annoying.

I also tend to start looking for a soapbox if the topic is writing or literature. My liberal arts degree occasionally gets a bit uppity ;-)

lillian27

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

Kaiser-Machead's Chips Ahoy! — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:51:20 EDT

My handwriting's been degrading for years, and I think this constant typing only makes it worse. Funny enough though, my drawing skills actually improved. Since drawing matters more to me than handwriting, I can't say I'm disappointed in my shitext.

Kaiser-Machead's Chips Ahoy!

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

ntrgc89 — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:48:33 EDT

as a university student, the answer is an emphatic no!

ntrgc89

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

odnet — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:43:18 EDT

I never really write any more.. had to recently I was shocked how bad my writing was.

odnet

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

BigViper — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:38:59 EDT

@lillian27: I was just saying... not looking for a critique but thanks for sharing. Nor was I comparing myself to the rest of the world... I am not that arrogant ;)

BigViper

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

bimplebean — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:32:44 EDT

It's not just the atrophy of the handwriting, it's the desire for speed. I want to write as fast as I can type, which of course ain't gonna happen, so it looks like drunken graphite atoms on a rhino run across the postit.

bimplebean

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

StarChaser Tyger — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:30:34 EDT

Never understood what the point of cursive is anyway. All it seems to do is deliberately make it more difficult to read. Some of my family will send me a letter and it will take me days to decipher it...

StarChaser Tyger

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

lillian27 — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:21:33 EDT

@BigViper:
This just in : everyone thinks faster than they write longhand; shorthand as well I suppose. (Hmmm, I wonder how many Gizmodo readers know shorthand?)

And upon what do you loose your train of thought? Faster doesn't mean more accurate.

lillian27

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

Reilaos~ — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:13:53 EDT

I have a tablet-if anything, my handwriting has improved.

Reilaos~

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

Mammoth — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:12:05 EDT

I'm 15 and my handwriting has degraded severely as I was pressured to write faster and faster in school. I doubt typing has much to do with it.

Mammoth

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

bugstomper2 — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:06:54 EDT

I am right handed, but because of a stroke, I write with my left hand. Hence, crappy looking writing. I also type with my left hand only, because of the stroke. So it's faster for me to type, than to write. So, what you're discussing, is a moot point. LOL

bugstomper2

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

BigViper — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:06:04 EDT

the problem is this. I've always thought faster than I could write and therefore my penmanship has suffered. The kicker is if I slow down my train of thought to even out with legable penmanship I loose my train of thought. (always the joke I should have been a Dr. writing prescriptions) Now when it comes to typing.. well I've gotten to a point were I can type just about as fast as I think so I tend to go with typing.

BigViper

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

shardik — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:01:34 EDT

ALL CAPS for me. I'm 26 and never could really make handwriting look pretty, but at least 5 years ago I could read it myself.

shardik

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

rbedi — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:00:36 EDT

I'm in 7th grade, and I haven't handwritten an assignment for any of my classes (except for math, obviously) since the beginning of the year. Teachers have finally stopped trying to drill cursive into our heads; they don't care how we write as long as they can read it.

rbedi

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

lillian27 — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:00:25 EDT

@gestorter:

Yes, absolutely.

lillian27

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

lillian27 — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:59:14 EDT

I am a lefty and my script is fairly bad if I'm out of practice or not warmed up. Yes, I said warmed up.
Handwriting - like typing - takes practice to maintain proficiency; its all about muscle control.

The longhand clerks and accountants of yore did longhand warmups - practice drills - to get ready for the day's work. A large part of their vocational business training was how to write properly. The clarity and consistency of their italic script is astonishing.

I've been keeping a longhand journal for 20 years along with dozens of comp books full of short stories, poetry, and essays. More than half of that time I've also been writing software. Writing longhand is less about efficiency (for me) than it is about the process and the meditative quality of writing well and with intention.

Also, many people don't like to write longhand because they use TERRIBLE tools and don't know any better. Would you program all day on a chiclet or membrane keyboard (think Atari 400)? How much do you think you would enjoy that? Cheap ballpoints are the pen equivalent. The ink is thick and gummy, you have to press too hard on the page to get the ball to roll, the pen has hardly any weight; all of these factors increase hand fatigue. Uniball Visions, Pilot Gel pens and fountain pens - especially good fountain pens - can bring the enjoyment back into longhand writing.

Matte black Sailor Profit 21 w/ Waterman Black ink FTW!

[www.sailor.co.jp]

lillian27

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

ackthbbft — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:59:12 EDT

In grade school, teachers drilled cursive writing into us, and everything had to be hand-written in cursive.

When I got to high school, on the other hand, teachers didn't seem to care, since they wanted typed reports anyway. I basically gave up on cursive at that point, and just about the only thing I write cursive is my signature, and even that is bad.

ackthbbft

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

Thomas Palmer — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:51:20 EDT

It is sad that people have poor handwriting, and it sounds like a personal problem, not something to be blamed on something else.

However, I think that typing has caused my hand to cramp when I write out essays.

Thomas Palmer

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

FrancesTheMute — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:49:00 EDT

@workingonyourinvoice: Yep, me too. 8 years in the navy left me with beautiful all caps printing, but my normal writing cursive sucks bad.

FrancesTheMute

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

dave the wet sprocket — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:34:17 EDT

i could never do cursive- in 3rd grade, i got so tired of teachers telling me they couldn't read my writing that i've been printing ever since. and my printing is no more or less illegible now than it was 25 years ago.

when i was looking for a new job last year at the age of 31, my mom offered to give me writing lessons. that wasn't embarrassing at all... didn't matter, found a good job regardless. (how ya like me now, brock?)

poor writing is a constant. i've seen notes by presidents and/or geniuses who couldn't write legibly. blame gutenberg and that f**king bible of his. i think the larger problem is people who can write perfectly well but are completely unable to spell or construct sentences that make any sense.

(checks for ironic typos before submitting...)

dave the wet sprocket

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

sumocat — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:32:51 EDT

I've been practicing my handwriting for nearly three years with subtle results. http://sumocat.blogspot.com/

sumocat

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

gestorter — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:31:29 EDT

Because I type most of the time, I have started to actually ENJOY the rare occasion I write. I bought myself a desk pad and a fountain pen. Not only has my penmanship improved, but I am far more careful when choosing words.

gestorter

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

norfizzle — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:27:31 EDT

I always had bad handwriting, but I also learned to use a computer while I was very young. Once people made that connection, they encouraged me to type on a computer(or typewriter), so my handwriting never improved.

norfizzle

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

olafson — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:27:21 EDT

Yes. It does. I'm old enough such that most of my schoolwork was not on a computer. When I had my C64 I couldn't write papers on it because the teachers wouldn't allow it because the ignorant 'tards thought the computer actually wrote the paper for you. Then I got a "near letter quality" printer and microperf paper and told them I used a type-writer.

From that point on my awesome script devolved into a illegible mishmash. Now? Fuck. Now my handwriting looks like that of a four year old. Fucking computers. I hate them.

olafson

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

malaklaze — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:22:55 EDT

@workingonyourinvoice:

"No two signatures of mine look identical."

Just like me... and my signature consists in just my name written in cursive...

malaklaze

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

mferrari — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:18:17 EDT

One thing is for sure, if you started using computers to just IM and didn't learn how to type at first, you will probably hunt and peck for the rest of your life. (Im getting pretty fast tho.)

mferrari

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

Rodime — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:17:16 EDT

The only ppl that need handwriting are those who can't n00b sp34k to make themselves look l33t while talking online. They're just too embarrassed to embrace the keyboard lifestyle.

Rodime

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

MisterCow.Pnoy — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:17:04 EDT

my handwriting since at least the beginning of highschool:(senior now) [i157.photobucket.com]

never been good at handwriting, in elementary school i wrote so small(hardly 1/4 of a college ruled line) my teacher constantly told me to write larger.

MisterCow.Pnoy

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

mferrari — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:16:55 EDT

no, i've always had the same quality penmanship as my kindergarten-age sister.

mferrari

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

catfewd — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:16:19 EDT

Whenever I have to take written notes in meetings at work I always end up writing about two lines of illegible scribble and resorting to jotting down half words and half dark inkblot drawings of spirals and arrows, sometimes even small animals. Its useless, I just can't read my own handwriting, yet an upside down dog will probably remind me that I need to turn in the quarterly report. I can type pretty damn fast though.

catfewd

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

nygenxer — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:13:00 EDT

I learned to type on an old manual when I was 8 and had been writing everything in cursive for a while by then. I type fast but I still pound on the keys a lot harder than is necessary.

My dominant hand handwriting is nice enough to get compliments whenever I use it; my left handed writing is average. I still have my writer's callous on my right middle finger, but I find that my hand cramps up a lot faster than it used to.

The biggest effect of using a computer is that my spelling has gotten wurse.

nygenxer

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

reckless_inoz — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:12:42 EDT

@catbutt: Nice. That sums it up prefectly.

reckless_inoz

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

Adolf — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:07:20 EDT

It would be a blatant lie to say that my handwriting sucks because of typing.

Adolf

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

catbutt — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:04:54 EDT

My horsemanship is pretty bad since the advent of cars.

catbutt

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

G3ttin-H3r-D0n3 — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:04:13 EDT

I'm in HS still so I do alot of handwriting every day.....and its still bad lol. I blame my kindergarden teacher. But after summer breaks you cant even read my handwriting its so bad.

G3ttin-H3r-D0n3

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

DMcGrew — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:02:47 EDT

I find that I can't nearly write as fast as I used too.. if I try to write fast its ugly. Its probably a combo of not being in school and using a computer and phone. I go days at a time without writing anything by hand.

DMcGrew

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

encyclia — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:02:18 EDT

When I was a young engineer out of college in the mid 80's, we didn't have much in the way of computers, so we released hand made drawings. My crappy handwriting actually got much better after having to use a writing guide to keep my letters the same size. I even got comments from people telling me I printed nicely. Those days are long gone. Now, my family recognizes which Christmas presents come from me by looking for handwriting that looks like it was done "by a third grader" (actual quote from my dad).

encyclia

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

The Sword Master — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:57:16 EDT

@The Sword Master:

Idiot. You can't type, either. It should be "...if anyone else could read it."

I just remembered the sad fact that I kept making 'typos' while I was handwriting my book, like writing "teh" instead of "the". It was ridiculous; I wanted to kill myself.

The Sword Master

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

Stang70Fastback — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:56:21 EDT

It's not so much that typing makes your handwriting worse as it is that LACK of writing does. I realize they are practically one and the same, but there is a BIT of a difference.

Stang70Fastback

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

kirby822 — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:55:25 EDT

@Rususeruru: Anyone who has something to write other than filling out a blank form or application. Other than that, I thought block handwriting was solely for serial killers.

Seriously, not everything can be done via keyboard yet and free-form writing is best done in cursive. Even for me and my terrible handwriting.

kirby822

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

graffiksguru — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:54:17 EDT

I'd say mine has gotten better, probably because of that architecture class I took in college. It's not cursive though, guess you'd call it more of a drop caps style of printing.

graffiksguru

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

bosskev — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:54:16 EDT

I've been a 60wpm touch typist for decades but have had prescription-pad-worthy (=illegible) cursive handwriting for a lot longer. My grade school-style printing, while more readable than my handwriting, is bland and, well, juvenile.

However, over the last ten years or so, recognizing my writing/printing deficiencies, I actively worked to develop for myself a new and different kind of hybrid cursive/printing handwriting style. As it has evolved, this third writing style, different from either of its precursors, is both more attractive than my printing and far more legible than my cursive writing. Aesthetically, it is inspired by architect-style lettering but has some cursive connectivity.

So, if anything, even as keyboard input has all but taken over, my handwriting has simultaneously improved (but neither is a causality for the other).

bosskev

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

mhlaxp — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:52:04 EDT

My handwriting is bad because I want to write much faster than my hands will move. The result is a scribbled mess of shorthand where just about every verb is replaced by an arrow.

Thus, I type.

mhlaxp

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

apeguero — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:51:53 EDT

Yes. And I prefer to type now rather than write and thus, my handwriting has suffered a lot.

apeguero

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

Sheemo44 — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:50:18 EDT

whats handwriting?

Sheemo44

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

deathscent — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:49:54 EDT

mine's a two way bid between it did and it didn't. i mean, my writing was never all to great, but as time progressed... it never really improved. maybe it did, slightly, when i wanted my writing to at least be legible to those that needed it, but other than that... wait, why would there be a reason for people to read my writing? computer's: solution to my terrible handwriting

deathscent

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

92BuickLeSabre — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:49:22 EDT

You can read your handwriting. I can read your handwriting.
I can't read my handwriting.

"Darling, I wrote 'Deerparking von pewtershchmit' here. Any idea what that means?"
"No. But just make sure you remember the bottle of wine, ham, and cucumbers."
"That's it!"
*Sigh*

92BuickLeSabre

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

jbhitter24 — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:47:44 EDT

kindof like when you come back from school after summer vacation and your handwriting sucks.

jbhitter24

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

thechansen — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:47:43 EDT

after typing all school and work related documents since 97 and really never hand writing anything, it was quite the shock when I got made fun of by a class room full of 16 year olds for having the penmenship of a 5 year old chimp with Down's

thechansen

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

The Sword Master — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:46:28 EDT

My pathetic lack of a laptop forced me to handwrite a good portion of the novel I wrote. When I went to type it up, most of it was legible. I don't know - or particularly care - if anyone else could.

Also, I'm a bit of a handwriting fetishist and I find messy writing much more interesting to look at than perfect lettering.

The Sword Master

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

Valicious — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:45:57 EDT

mine has actually improved or my attention value to it has grown , more appreciativeness.

one time i had trouble getting money trough western union in a Latvian bank , the cashier didn't accept signature although before i entered the boot my signature *matched*.

I told the lady there i have disslexia :0' that in our time and age people do more stuff a day for people it took years to do and she agreed to hand me the money.

Also last time i manualy tried to keep track of a phone call o' my friend mr.cow with his las i couldn't keep up and noticed how same word always changed shape due to speed and voice differance at time o' input.

Would've keept-up-ative on keyboard defianlty.

There's symbolism to writing and writing with symbolism and that is a xing.

Valicious

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

flame500 — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:43:10 EDT

I use a tablet most of the time which is somewhat harder to write on than regular paper so I would say its actually improving it.

flame500

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

nutbastard — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:42:45 EDT

Mines gotten better, actually, since I got into engineering. Of course even with all the typing I do, I also do more regular writing.

nutbastard

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

kingofmars — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:40:15 EDT

My handwriting used to be so bad in grade school, that the teachers just gave up and taught me to type instead.

kingofmars

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

HeartBurnKid, creepy morbid freak — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:39:58 EDT

Cursive? Man, I haven't used cursive for anything but name-signing since fourth grade (and when I sign my name, I skip half the letters). I always hated cursive; it's very difficult to read somebody else's cursive, no matter how "perfect" and "elegant" they do it.

I can write in block letters fine, though.

HeartBurnKid, creepy morbid freak

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

Megan Fox Iz Hot! ^-^ - ph15h — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:39:54 EDT

i write chicken scratch

Megan Fox Iz Hot! ^-^ - ph15h

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

CTJoyce — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:39:03 EDT

Meh my signature is a scribble, and I can read my hand writing which is all that counts. So if I need anything to be professional it's typed.

CTJoyce

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

NDub — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:38:53 EDT

Left handed terrible writer. So, yeah, my writing has always sucked.

NDub

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

DeadWriter — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:38:07 EDT

The reason I started to use a computer is that I can not handwrite. No amount of remediation ever worked. Warehousing me with the developmentally disabled kids did nothing to improve my reading, spelling, handwriting. My world changed when I got access to a keyboard and a word processor with TTS. My teachers learned that I wasn't retarded, though I am still working on accepting that reality.

DeadWriter

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

fastthumbs — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:37:03 EDT

Even weirder - I sometimes hand write common typos. Seriously.

fastthumbs

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

Curves — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:35:41 EDT

My signature is so horrid that it has been mistaken for a seismograph reading. Typing has probably made my handwriting even worse due to the fact that I type so FAST that its closer to the speed that I think, so when I have to slow way down to write, I lose patience.

The problem with patience is that it takes too damn long.

Curves

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

emdy — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:34:06 EDT

I always had very bad handwriting. But I noticed that after long breaks of not writing with a pen (i.e. after summer break) I found it so awkward to write.

emdy

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

FrankenPC — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:33:55 EDT

I've been using a computer since I was 10 (I'm 38). So, I never learned how to handwrite properly. I always did my book reports on a dot matrix.

Has this affected my life in anyway? Yes...I'm a member of the computer elite :D I don't give a damn what anyone thinks of my handwriting!

FrankenPC

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

Rususeruru — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:33:36 EDT

@kirby822: who the hell writes in cursive anymore?

I used to be able to write legibly... then I stopped handwriting anything, now my signatures even suck.

Rususeruru

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

draconis2941 — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:33:09 EDT

Am I the only one that thinks that very "neat" and "elegent" cursive incredibly hard to read? I don't think I could write much in cursive at this point and my singarure has long since devolved into a jittery looking line.

draconis2941

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

kirby822 — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:32:36 EDT

My handwriting has always been bad. Being left-handed, my teachers always left me on my own when practicing handwriting. At least they didn't force me to switch to writing right-handed...

kirby822

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

CarbonatedWater — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:31:05 EDT

I have terrible handwriting but thats ok since computers are better anyways. I've always had problems writing because it makes my hands get tired fast so it gets hard to write quickly, I don't have that problem when I'm typing and I'm a lot faster anyways. Typing saves paper too.

CarbonatedWater

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

workingonyourinvoice — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:29:45 EDT

I had to write a paragraph in cursive for something stupid not too long ago, and was embarrassed at how long it took me, and how ugly it looked. No two signatures of mine look identical. I have engineer handwriting, so all caps, very precise. Cursive just doesn't make sense.

workingonyourinvoice

Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?

lafond66 — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:29:00 EDT

I type much much more than I write, but I still keep a nice legible handwriting. There's some people out there though, that look like they learned how to write yesterday.

lafond66