Gizmodo: typing

This Fifth Grader Can Type Faster Than You

Rosa Golijan — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 23:22:37 EST

This cute fifth grader is named Mackenzie. She types at a rapid 119 words per minute and makes the rest of us look pathetic.

I'd be happy to just plain stop making typos and maybe type a little bit faster, but Mackenzie won't rest until she reaches a 200 WPM pace.

Geez, these overachieving kids nowadays. [Mashable via Boing Boing]

Lenovo on the Slow, Painful Evolution of Keyboards

John Herrman — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 06:36:20 EDT

The Lenovo T400 series, aside from its occasional tussles with heavy machinery, doesn't immediately stand out in the mid-size, high-end laptop crowd. That is, until you try to type on one.

What Lenovo has done sounds like a smaller deal than it actually is: on the T400 series, the delete and escape keys are about twice as large as normal, taking an odd, long vertical form. As anyone who has used international keyboards can attest, even a little layout or proportion change can throw your typing off. Now why in the world would Lenovo go and do that? USA Today explains:

In designing the new ThinkPad, [Lenovo] installed keystroke-tracking software on about 30 employees' computers (They volunteered). On average, they used the "Escape" and "Delete" keys 700 times per week, yet those were the only "outboard" keys, or non-letter keys, that hadn't been enlarged.

As you can see, this is probably a practical change. The most fascinating thing about this kind of change, though, is how rare it is. Nearly everything about modern keyboards harks back to the early days of the typewriter, from letter spacing to key layout. This anecdote from the article sums up the problem fairly succinctly:

Tom Hardy, who designed the original IBM PC of 1981, said companies have tried many times to change the sizes of keys. That first PC had a smaller "Shift" key than IBM's popular Selectric typewriter did, and it was placed in a different spot, in part because the industry didn't think computers would replace typewriters for high-volume typing tasks.
IBM reversed course with the next version to quiet the outcry from skilled touch-typists.

When we're all living on Mars, our spacepods will still have Model Ms. [USA Today]

This Is Not Proper Computer Use Posture

Jason Chen — Wed, 20 May 2009 20:00:00 EDT

What's even worse is that she's typing in Dvorak. [Girls With Flexibility (Slightly NSFW)]

iPhone vs Asus Netbook Extreme Typing Test

Jesus Diaz — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 20:20:00 EDT

Crave UK's Rory Reid did a great experiment: Test the typing accuracy of the iPhone vs an Asus Netbook in a rally car racing at full speed. The video and the results will surprise you.

Jump to minute 2:00 to get into the test itself:

Yes, the iPhone wins. Even with its software keyboard, it proves more accurate than the netbook's tiny keys. I think I see him doing some finger sliding with the iPhone at one point—which is a good way to get accurate typing under stress conditions—but my guess is that the iPhone word prediction and correction did the rest of the trick.

Some will argue that this test is too extreme and it will not happen in real life. Obviously, those people have never ridden the New York City subway, which sometimes gets pretty close to this experience. Specially in some of the express lines, which feel like a amusement park crazy ride rather than a train. Sure, maybe the subway turns don't generate three times the force of gravity, but to me it feels close enough. [Crave UK]

Lightning Review: Awethumb Smartphone Typing Helper is Horribly Pointless

Jason Chen — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 17:40:00 EST

The Gadget: Awethumb, a thumb attachment that's meant to reduce hand discomfort and increase typing speed when texting on smartphones.

The Price: Who the hell cares! Don't buy this thing! Ok, it's $8.

The Verdict: Hello? Didn't I just say not to buy this thing? Not only is it pretty useless in adding any kind of support to your thumbs when you type, it actually makes you cramp up MORE because you're trying to keep these Awethumbs from sliding off. The thumbs, which have a rubbery tip, also can't be used on capacitive touch-based phones, like the iPhone and the T-Mobile G1 (which has a touchscreen AND a hard keyboard).

What's even worse is that in our tests, the Awethumb tips actually decreased accuracy in our phones (T-Mobile G1's keyboard and an HTC Windows Mobile smartphone). Maybe a couple weeks of use would fix this, but I doubt it. So what's the point if this doesn't help protect your thumb from injuries and doesn't increase typing speed or typing accuracy? Exactly. There is no point. It's Awethumb. [Awethumb]

Firemail Brings Free Landscape Emailing to iPhone

Mark Wilson — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 19:40:00 EDT

Not so long ago we told you about Touchtype, a 99-cent iPhone app that adds a sort of universal landscape typing option to the iPhone. You write up a message in a wide mode text editor and that content can be forwarded to other programs, like your email. Now a competitor named Firemail has hit the scene and it looks to do the same thing but for free. Who knows, maybe Touchtype is somehow one million times better than Firemail, making its users smarter, stronger and better looking. But now most of us will never find out. [Firemail via LifeHacker]

Question of the Day: How Fast Can You Type? (Test Yourself)

Sean Fallon — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:00:00 EDT

With all of that time spent on the computer, I would imagine that most of you can type at a pretty good clip. Back in elementary school I managed a personal best of 88 WPM (Not that great, but I still had to cheat by working over the same paragraph for an hour or so *shhhhh*). Anyway, I'm curious to know what the average is, so pick the closest figure to your WPM score in the poll after the break. If you don't know your WPM, take this typing test to find out (set on default: 1 min, Zebra, WPM). Make sure to enter in your net speed figure.

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

Sean Fallon — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:20:00 EDT

Thanks to a first grade teacher who had a boot camp approach to handwriting, my cursive remains elegant despite the fact that I haven't written as much as a letter in at least 5 years. However, it has come to my attention that in an age of email, text messages and electronic documents, handwriting skill can deteriorate when unused. So, the question is: has typing made your handwriting worse?

Japanese-Style Keyboards Look Almost Too Good for Typing

Kit Eaton — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 04:03:13 EDT

These traditional Japanese-style keyboards are a class apart from the grey or white boringness of the average keyboard. As well as looking different, and neat these devices are even handmade for that extra "creative" touch. The gold one's damn attractive and would look cool on many a desk: but not the green "kara kusa" one... that just looks like a typing nightmare. That attractiveness costs, mind you, as they're available for $154.90. Except the gold "Zip-Ang" one, which is a whopping $214.21. [Akihabaranews]

USB Speedometer Measures WPM From Super Slow to Court Reporter Speed

Jason Chen — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 14:20:00 EST

We can see this USB typing Speedometer being extremely useful for young typists who want to improve their speed, or Brian Lam if he ever wants to type faster than three words per minute, but it's a USB gadget that plugs into your computer and tells you how fast you're typing. If you want to keep track of how much you've typed during the entire day (say, if you're a writer getting paid by the word), it measures that too. The meter goes up to 260 WPM, but the world's fastest typist can only go 212 WPM. And that was with a DVORAK keyboard layout, which you're probably not using. [Drink Stuff via Nexus 404 via Technabob]

35WPM On an iPhone Keyboard

Jason Chen — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 20:00:41 EDT

Here's another guy claiming he gets 35wpm by typing with a thumb an his index finger. Personally, we don't see how using the index finger on one side and a thumb on the other helps the typing. Unless of course, he's got a foam rubber thumb on his right hand.

YouTube (see related videos for this one) is filled with these videos now, with people claiming using their two pinkies, an ear and an elbow, an eyeball and some snot, or their genitalia gets them super fast iPhone typing.

Us? We use two thumbs and we're pulling it off, just a day or two into our experience. After a week of practice and training the dictionary, we'll probably be pros.

Pawsense, Kitty Keyboard Kover Prevents that Feline from Typipppppffffffssss

Travis Hudson — Tue, 15 May 2007 16:30:31 EDT

Cat owners know that 99.9 percent of felines love to walk all over keyboards, and these two products show that cat who really wears the pants in the house. The Kitty Keyboard Cover is a "simple and elegant" solution to the cat- walking problem. It is a clear acrylic cover that sits above the keyboard and allows the cat to walk all over and sleep on without disturbing your typing.

The other options is a little more intuitive and ingenious. Pawsense is a software utility that can actually detect cat typing. This has to be the work of some of the smartest software engineers in the world because I have no idea how one can distinguish cat typing. Pawsense supposedly does so with the help of complex algorithms that detects speed, motion and force on the keyboard. Upon detection of cat typing Pawsense will disable any inputs from the keyboard and begin playing an annoying sound to rid the cat of the area. Windows only. Thanks, Karson and Barry! –Travis Hudson

Pawsense
Kitty Keyboard Kover

USB Typing Speedometer Mouse—Yes, As Stupid as You're Imagining

Travis Hudson — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 17:20:49 EDT

Geek with an huge ego? This peripheral is for you. This mouse sits atop a bicycle and LCD screen. It will pedal based on how fast you type and uh, well, that is it. It plugs into a USB port and pedals as you type. This toy is available for $40, and you are better off buying a real mouse and genetically altering its muscles to run on a wheel as you type, which would be a hell of a lot cooler. –Travis Hudson

Product Page [Via EverythingUSB]

Brain-Computer Typing

Jason Chen — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 07:30:09 EDT

A new project somewhere—readers, can you fill us in if you know—allows two users to type in a computer screen using only the power of their minds. The participants, Heath Ledger and some lady, are navigating possible letters by just thinking about the choices.

Interesting research if we can develop this further. At the level they're at right now, simple eye-recognition would accomplish the same thing much faster. – Jason Chen

Brain-Computer Typing Interface [TechEBlog]

Ten Fingers On The Das Keyboard 2

Noah R — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 08:33:17 EST

Update: The Das Keyboard 2 was supposed to go on sale March 27, but the shipments were held up at customs. The new Das (pictured above) will be available starting April 3.

The creator of the all-black, all-blank Das Keyboard claims it will improve your typing 100 percent in a few weeks. As someone who types all day, that's might[y] appealing. So, the makers of Das were kind enough to send me one of their updated goth ~~$79.95~~ $90 keyboards to test out. Read on after the jump to find out how the ~~individually weighted~~ mechanical, gold-plated key switches fared in my typing test.

I used TypingTest.com as my constant. The competition was a standard Mac G4 full-size keyboard, and an iBook G4 keyboard with several letters that have rubbed off from use (another year and it will almost be an off-white version of the Das Keyboard). I scored 75 words per minute on the laptop, which I use daily, 74 wpm on the full-size keyboard and 69 wpm on the Das Keyboard 2. But the big surprise is that my typing was more accurate on the Das than the other keyboards—which is counter-intuitive since there are no letters on the keys.

Seasoned typists won't gain much speed from using the Das. But hunt-and-peckers will see huge improvements. Here's why: Anyone who has been typing for a few years has the keyboard memorized but doesn't realize it. It takes a device like the Das Keyboard to force you into keeping your eyes on the screen instead of looking down at the keys. The result of un-learning your reliance on the letters is that you will type much more quickly. I'm lost when it comes to the number and symbol keys on the Das, for example. With a few weeks of use, I'll probably have them memorized, and thus become a better typist overall.

What about the increased accuracy? I suspect the high quality keys are responsible. They require less pressure and offer just the right mix of sensitivity and feedback. The clicking is a bit noisy for my taste, but not annoyingly so. My only complaint is the lack of a USB jack on either side or in back. It's such an easy and convenient add-on, why not put one in?

There are other reasons to like the Das Keyboard 2 as well. It was invented by an open source software programmer. It's got phantom key lockout, which means that gamers can hit three keys simultaneously and not worry about the board jamming up. And it's been stress-tested for a 30 million keystroke life expectancy. And I, for one, would be happy to keep this Das Keyboard around long enough to find out whether or not that claim is true.

Product Page [Das Keyboard 2]