Can you text without looking at your phone?

Philippines
September 16, 2008 8:47pm CST
My friend and I were talking about cellphones being banned in some areas of the States because of the recent train accident that happened, if I'm not mistaken, Los Angeles. We were telling each other that the person probably did not know how to text without looking at the phone. Seriously though, a lot of people have cellular phones and I was wondering how many of you have actually developed the skill of not looking at your phones while texting? I've been doing this since College and a lot of my colleagues are able to do it as well. I guess it's because we text a lot everyday and have sort of memorized the keypads. Lol. Another question would be if you are able to text without looking at your phone, how fast can you finish the text?
8 people like this
49 responses
@magojordan (3252)
• Philippines
17 Sep 08
Before when my phone's keypad was problematic, I can't text without looking although I memorize already the keypads of my phone. Now that I got a new phone I do it most of the time and I don't often make errors.
2 people like this
• Philippines
24 Sep 08
That's good to hear magojordan. The less errors, the better.
@anne12d (676)
• Philippines
17 Sep 08
I can text without looking at the screen of my cellphone... I do it when I'm walking, watching TV, or by just looking around. Sometimes I don't want any of my supervisor caught me texting during duty hours...LOL!!!! Texting here in the Philippines is I think the number one habit... I've heard from the news that there are car accidents that is caused by texting while driving. So, I encourage texters to have a talent on texting without looking at the screen of your cellphone to prevent accident!!! LOL.
2 people like this
@arcidy (5005)
• United States
17 Sep 08
I cant even text message while looking at my phone. I have never figured out how to nor do I really care lol Im not into the whole text messaging thing if I want to talk to the person I will just call them its too annoying to text the words on a phone imo.
1 person likes this
• Philippines
17 Sep 08
I understand arcidy. There are times when I get too lazy too text and just resort to calling the person. It's easier that way. Lol.
@ehlsie (730)
• Philippines
17 Sep 08
yeah i can...Most of the time i do that thing,specially when aomeone's talking to me while im texting...And i can text very fast...I think it's because i know what buttons i will press on my keypad and i have a same brand of cellphone which is nokia since then and i've already memorized my keypad toO! I'm using cellphone for 11 years and that's why! happy mylotters!
• Philippines
17 Sep 08
A very fast texter. I guess that's normal since you were able to "practice" for eleven years.
• India
17 Sep 08
Hi rose...me too can text without looking at cellphone...may b the same reason as frm college time we are used to this......n usually i send short messages so wnt take more than 1 min to text the message wat i wan in my few words.i think all college guys will be same....
1 person likes this
• Philippines
17 Sep 08
Looks like you're really used to texting. Kidding aside, I guess a lot of people are able to text without looking at their phones.
• Philippines
24 Sep 08
You'll get the hang of it soon. It takes some time to get used to it. I wasn't too fast when I started out as well.
• United States
17 Sep 08
I sure can't text without looking at what I am writing. I do not think that I can do it because, as a kid, I did not have a cell phone. I recently got one (last year) and I can barely text on it WITH looking at my phone. The bad thing about it is, I have a full keyboard that slides out of the phone and I still have to look at what I type. I can't type very fast either. Maybe, if I had a cell phone when I was growing up, like most of the youth around now do, I woul not have this problem. Oh well.
1 person likes this
• Brunei Darussalam
17 Sep 08
i cant text without looking at my phone...i just wandering how do some people can text by not looking at their phone while they are driving...i did try once,but i type my text incorrectly and sent it to the wrong person...
• Philippines
17 Sep 08
There are some people who can I guess. Especially if they're driving an automatic. I think it would be a little difficult to drive and text at the same time if you're using a manual shift.
• United States
17 Sep 08
I can, although I don't have a numerical keypad phone anymore; I guess you can say I haven't tried it in a few weeks. I got a Blackberry Curve a few weeks ago, so I have a full QWERTY keyboard now and don't have to worry about learning how to text without looking. Although that also means that I can't text without both hands anymore. It's cool, though, I only text when it's safe and definitely not when I ma driving. But when I did have the old type of phone with the texting on the numbers, then yeah I could do it; fairly quickly, too. I also learned how to in college; it's a necessity for the quick text message while you are in class... not that we should be texting in class... ;-) It was a shame; I live in the area north of where the crash happened; there were a lot of local people where I'm from (Ventura County) who were victims of that accident. All for a text message, allegedly.
1 person likes this
• Philippines
17 Sep 08
I see. Yeah. You'd really have to say goodbye to texting with just one hand. Lol. (Although a lot of people use both hands to text.) I remember there was one time during college when we had a very boring teacher and a very boring subject and because I was so bored I started texting... Haha. My teacher did not notice it and thought I was attentively listening to her. She didn't know that I was texting. Haha. Hmmm... I read the article and yes, it was allegedly because of a text message and it was sad to hear that a lot of people got hurt.. I hope people will be more careful the next time around.
@roniroxas (10560)
• Philippines
17 Sep 08
yes i can, but i still look every once in a while to make sure that i am not pressing any wrong letter. i am so used with mycelphone that i am having a hard time when i change unit. i only look when i need to send it for i still need to press the right number to whom i will send, but if i will just reply then there is no need to look.
• Philippines
17 Sep 08
you'll definitely have to look at the text you've made to make sure that it makes sense. Lol. Plus make sure that the recipient is the one you need to send the text to and not someone else!
@austere (2812)
• Philippines
17 Sep 08
yes i can. i mean i am so used to texting that i can definitely finish a message without looking at the screen or at the keypad. i texting more or less 50 times in a day. sometimes more when my boyfriend and i are doing nothing, we text each other. and that's our main source of communication. when he is home. he is out of the country right now and we do email and calls, sometimes i text him, when he has a signal. he is a seafarer and most of the time especially when they are sailing, he doesnt have a signal on his phone so we just text. but really, in our country, we text a lot.
@izathewzia (5134)
• Philippines
17 Sep 08
Yes because I had my cellphone for quite a long time now. So when I type my messages, i can afford even if I don't look at the keypad. I already memorize where the letters and numbers are.
• Sri Lanka
17 Sep 08
I can text without looking at it if I want. Huge SMSs which had been exchanged between my GF and has given me that capability. As you say, there had been many accidents in the world due to cell phones. When it is used without a control such things happen.
1 person likes this
@peach25 (188)
• Philippines
17 Sep 08
HI!! Yes, I can text without looking at my phone, because I have this phone for about four years, so I already memorized the keypad, and I guess, I can finish the text the same time when I am looking at it...lol
1 person likes this
• Philippines
17 Sep 08
Cool. So you're pretty fast at texting as well huh peach? I assume you don't have that many mistakes huh? Or probably none.
• United States
17 Sep 08
I can't type ANYTHING (other than numbers) on a phone without glancing down at my phone. Besides the fact that I don't have texts activated on my phone, I find that it's really pointless to learn a whole new system of typing when the QWERTY one suits me just fine. If I ever wanted to text via cell-phone, I would just get one of those...or a blackberry. In my opinion, texting is just another way to get carpel tunnel syndrome, and I already do enough things that put me at risk for that! XD
1 person likes this
• Philippines
17 Sep 08
you have a point there. If the QWERTY one works for you, that's good. Carpel Tunnel syndrome huh? Haha! Ouch. I should put that into consideration.
@ddurbin (25)
• United States
17 Sep 08
It depends..if its a really short response I can, but if its a long drawn out response no not at all. I wait until im at a stoplight to text, or to finish up a text. It is way too dangerous to be looking down at your phone while you are trying to drive. You never know if someone is going to slam on their brakes. You should always be paying attention to "driving" and your surroundings when you are driving anyway.
1 person likes this
@ronaldinu (12422)
• Malta
17 Sep 08
No I cannot text without looking at my phone. Youngsters do bewilder me when they type without looking at the phone, some even when driving and they type really fast. If I had to do it, I would end up doing a lot of mistakes. Some years ago I had type a text without looking because I had an eye operation. My friends replied...in which language are you writing?
1 person likes this
@laila675 (528)
• United Arab Emirates
17 Sep 08
yes i can text without looking at the pad, coz on my previous work mobiles are not allow so i learned how to type a text without looking at the pad so i will not be noticed
1 person likes this
@pinks17 (2192)
• Philippines
17 Sep 08
[i]I've mastered the art of texting my friend.I can also text without looking on my cellphone.At the office we are not allowed to bring our cellphones on the floor it's prohibited and as usual if it's not allowed the more we bring it on the floor.We have a lot of guards roaming around on the floor,probably 6 of them.They check if there are bags on the station and if agents are using their phones on the floor.So if you don't master the art of texting without looking you'll be more likely be caught by the guard and worst they'll confiscate your cellphone and will have a file note and you will have to go to the HR for not following the cellphone policy at the office. So you will notice a lot of us are taking in calls and texting at the same time and never caught the attention of our guards.I was caught eating on the floor though...tentenen...there goes my file note.[/i]
1 person likes this
• Philippines
17 Sep 08
yea... i did. hihihihi. i can text without looking my phone. maybe because im already hand it out.. i havent change my unit 3years till now..
1 person likes this
@scorpio19 (1363)
17 Sep 08
I'm terrible with texting, I'm really good with a pc I have learnt myself so much and can type quite well now, my family and friends laugh at me because they say your a whizz with a computer but give you a mobile phone and your lost and it's so true I am completely lost.
• Philippines
17 Sep 08
I'm one of those people who can text without looking at the keypad and with the same speed as when I look.
1 person likes this