I learned to type on a manual typewriter Manual not electric and I
have problems on computer keyboard as its to sensative on the "home"
keys.  Who makes software or hardware that will provide the feal of a
manual tyupewriter or emulate a manual typewriter.

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Request for Question Clarification by rainbow-ga on 11 Nov 2005 14:36 PST

Hi ajoele1,

Would this suit your purposes?

Visual Typewriter 1.1

"Visual Typewriter is a writing software, simulating a classic manual
typewriter. You can use Visual Typewriter to write stories,
screenplays, poems or mail using a photorealistic typewriter that
looks and sounds real. Create authentic looking documents from a
selection of stationery and a experience the romantic writing
experience of days long gone. Using Visual Typewriter is not only fun,
it is inspiring. Publish your manuscript as an e-book in pdf or html
format, create a weblog or send it as an e-mail message. You can even
use the integrated spellchecker to help you correct typos or let the
text-to-speech convertor read-out your pages. Visual Typewriter brings
back the romance of writing.

Product features: 
- Photorealistic virtual typewriter - Typed documents have an
authentic mid-20th century look and feel - Large selection of
stationery to choose from - Export documents as PDF, HTML, JPG or
plain TEXT - Quality and realism configuration - Send your letters
using e-mail (MAPI or SMTP) - Integrated spell checker (both American
and British) - Text-To-Speech support - Change the wallpaper to match
your theme - typewriter sound effects - Intuitive and simple-to-use
user interface."

http://shareware.pcmag.com/product.php[id]86494[cid]137[SiteID]pcmag

Looking forward to hearing your views.

Best regards,
Rainbow

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Request for Question Clarification by rainbow-ga on 11 Nov 2005 14:43 PST

I downloaded the program to try it and think it's excellent. I really
like it and believe you will too!

Best regards,
Rainbow

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Clarification of Question by ajoele1-ga on 14 Nov 2005 15:40 PST

Visual typewriter does not solve this problem. Its cute and changes
the way the paper letter is typed so it looks as if it was typed on a
manuel typeewiter but is no help to me.  Mostly what I am typing is
emails.
Obviously the guy who converted a real manual typewriter to input to a
computer has achieved this but I dont want a do it youself project. 
I'm looking for an off the shelf solution if one exists.  The problem
is to make a normal computer keyboard "feel" like a typewrter.  The
main problem I have is I rest my hands on the "home keys" to hard so
they get accidently hit  Home keys being asdf and jkl;  I need to make
them less sensative espcialy the "l" key.  Please see what you can
find

Get a really solid keyboard.

I now prefer Cherry (German)
- although I've hammered a few old style IBM keyboards to death
- the old Compaq ones were not bad, but a bit spongy

Nowadays a lot of machines come with cheepo keyboards that retail for about $7
- they feel horrible and are not robust

I suggest that you budget $30 and test out a lot of keyboards at work,
at friends ... or wherever (avoid the trendy ergonomic ones).

My hunch is that you are afraid of the fragility of the keyboards that
you have used.
My first typing was two fingered on old manual portable typewriters,
and later on Telex machines
- but I've adapted to robust keyboards that can take a good thumping.

Here's an interesting way to achieve the manual typewriter "feel."
This guy actually turned a real manual typewriter into a workable
computer keyboard:

http://www.multipledigression.com/type/