Re: Arrow Keys?

[Miles Bader]

use.address@my.homepage.invalid (Chris Gordon-Smith) writes:
> Perhaps an expert can type slightly faster using C-N etc., but much
> of my time in front of a keyboard is in any case spent thinking, so
> any increase in typing speed would be marginal.

Note that there are other good reasons besides the "home row
advantage" (though that is quite real) to use the standard Emacs
keybindings.  They represent a sort of "system", and getting used to
the C-f etc help you become familiar with it.

By "system", I mean that e.g., C-f moves forward a character, M-f
moves forward a word, C-M-f moves forward an expression, etc.  By
using C-u prefixes, you can then "amplify" these movements, again with
fairly minimal finger movement (e.g. C-u C-u C-f moves forward 16
characters, etc -- and this is simpler to type than it looks:  it's
really "C- u u f", and the u and f keys are right under your fingers).

Once your fingers start to feel comfortable with this, it _really_
helps make movement fast, easy, and precise.  Then you'll start to
understand why long-term Emacs users consider the arrow keys clumsy
and awkward...

-Miles

-- 
"She looks like the wax version of herself."
                                   [Comment under a Paris Hilton fashion pic]