surrealization.com

Typing speed

Saturday, April 24 2004

I just saw a very odd thing (at least I think it's very odd). There's some show about Stephen King on A&E right now, and they showed him typing on his computer (apparently typing a book, whatever). And you know what? He's a hunt-and-peck typist. He used two fingers (both index fingers) and lifted his hands fully off the keyboard to find the next key.

What really surprises me about this, is that I type at around 90 words per minute when I'm taking my time. If I really get into it I can get to 120 with only a small number of errors (this is with my ultra-ergonomic you-barely-have-to-move-your-fingers keyboard). My entire job is typing (well, there is some brain activity thrown in there, but the majority of my output is typing) and I learned to type when I was in 7th grade (I typed at an impressive 30 words per minute back then) and I've actively worked at getting better ever since. I just really find it surprising that people who type for a living (Stephen King for example, some people I work with as well) have no idea how to type correctly and at a reasonable pace for someone who does it day in and day out.

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