How many MacRumors members can't type?

[phreakout13]

I know I'm terrible at it. I use 2 fingers and it takes me forever yo type. I was thinking of switching a study hall to typing at school, but people say it's a bad class. Anyways, am I the only one here who can't type?

[Duff-Man]

Duff-Man says....I too am a "hunt and peck" 2 finger typist...on a good day I can get 3 or 4 fingers going...but over the years I have gotten pretty quick with the 2-finger routine...oh yeah!

[kanker]

It never hurts to have a typing class under your belt. I have to admit that I go between 2 finger typing and 'correct' typing, frequently in the same word, but if the lighting is low or I have my attention diverted from the screen, it certainly does help to have the 'correct' technique.

[Archaeopteryx]

this web site ratesyour typing

http://www.typingtest.com/


/edit I pulled a 25 WPM with 12 errors and a 57% accuracy :(

[Mudbug]

the answer to this question totally corresponds with how many drinks the poster has made... but that's a totally different thread ;)

I took a typing class in junior high (1989, I think?) as an elective - I thought at the time it might come in handy later on in school for writing papers or whatever. Then low and behold a few years later, I had a job as a typesetter. I haven't taken a real timed typing test in a long time, but last time I checked I was somewhere around 125-130 wpm without an error.

Stream of consciousness typing as in the forums slows me down a good bit, since often times I have more spelling issues than anything else with the words that are trying to flee the drowning ship that is my brain - but letter to letter retyping straight copy - I can fly. Comes in handy quite often - if anyone reading this is still in school, and your school offers a touch-type class, I'd snap it up. As the world progresses, you'll probably only use computers more, not less.

[homerjward]

i've typed correctly since i was in 2nd grade :cool: but im really surprised at the number of my friends who can't type. my elementary was unique even in the district but we took computer class once a week for an hour from kindergarten thru 5th grade, then we need 45 minutes a day for a semester in 6th grade. most of that was typing. although for every person i know who can't type there's 1 who types like 80+ words a minute... :confused:

btw i learned to type using bank street writer on an apple lc 2. but we got gateways in 3rd grade and the district is now on the dark side...
edit: took the typing test and got 66wpm gross with 94% accuracy

[iJon]

this web site ratesyour typing

http://www.typingtest.com/
That was fun. I have slowed down since Jr. High School. I used to be 110WPM, now I am at 73. Typing was a requirement since my early days at elementary school. Honestly I can't imagine not being able to type, I would feel like I am loosing so much time.

edit: I did again and got about 85WPM with 95% accuracy.

iJon

[Elan0204]

this web site ratesyour typing

http://www.typingtest.com/

Anyone else having problems getting that URL to load? I'm using Camino.

edit: I got it to load up fine using Safari.

[Kingsnapped]

My dad got me "Mario teaches typing" when I was a youngin,' and I took typing throughout school, but my real typing skills didn't emerge for a while.

When I got a computer with AIM at home (1999ish), chatting with friends really taught me how to type. I never took up the aol shorthand crap, beyond brb or lol. Because of that, I can type pretty well. Around 70wpm copying, much faster when it's flowing out of my head.

[iJon]

Around 70wpm copying, much faster when it's flowing out of my head.
That's why I felt like I was going kind of slow. I type much faster when I am free flowing my thoughts. Makes much more sense now.

iJon

[tech4all]

this web site ratesyour typing

http://www.typingtest.com/


/edit I pulled a 25 WPM with 12 errors and a 57% accuracy :(

Neat. But it seems to me that when you know your being tested for your typing speed and accuracy, you always screw up more than if you weren't.

[Mudbug]

97 WPM @ 94% accuracy on the Mark Twain one - fun stuff.

/decides not to practice

[hcuar]

I type fast as heck, with very few errors. I didn't say what I type is coherent though. :D

[agreenster]

I'm such a sucky typer. I was 48WPM with 95% accuracy. I never learned to touch type, and I always have to look at the keyboard. I type with my middle fingers, with thumbs for the spacebar and the occasional index finger sneaking through. Drat. Now that I'm paying attention, I'm miserable.

:mad:

[virividox]

im a touch typist, but once in a while i get lazy and my typing gets really messy

i know i should continue to type properly but sometimes u just cant be bothered

[Mr. Anderson]

I have an older keyboard and it slows me down some. I got around 50 wpm, but i know on some other keyboards I can get a bit more.

Regardless, I'm not a fast typist, although I can type in the dark:D

D

[mj_1903]

I can type between 70-90 WPM with pretty high accuracy, but sadly I use a really strange means of typing. I only use 5-6 fingers, rather than all of them and don't use my thumb to hit the spacebar. I really should correct it... just don't have the time to relearn the sucker.

[grapes911]

78 words per minute,
92% accuracy

[MacAztec]

84WPM
94% accuracy. Not bad.

[2A Batterie]

this web site ratesyour typing

http://www.typingtest.com/


/edit I pulled a 25 WPM with 12 errors and a 57% accuracy :( It's 1:30 am and I just got home from a gig. With a few drinks in me, I managed to net 64 wpm. I think there should also be a "How many MacRumors members do not know how to use spell check?". Obviously we all make errors here and there, but I hate posts that read like this... "Hey, I hve a queston. Why desn't ne-one respund to my posts? Prolly cuz u guyz r dummie-hedz." Obviously an over-exaggeration, but get my drift? Some of us suck at spelling, which is ok, but it can be a little bit funny when I read a post that is in some broken form of english.

[Abstract]

You know how you're supposed to place your index finger on the "F" and "J" keys, which explains the physical mark on both those keys? Well, I never took a course on typing, and when I taught myself to type, I just tried to imitate the shape and movement of the hands, not where to actually place my fingers. Since I didn't know that the index fingers had to be placed on F and J, I learned to type with my index fingers on "F" and "H". :o

I've tried to correct myself one time, but I couldn't do it, and I didn't see the point.

I type around 55-65 wpm with 100% accuracy every time. However, I always go back and make the correction on these tests, which slows me down. I can't leave a mistake because they actually bother me psychologically.

[Nermal]

Neat. But it seems to me that when you know your being tested for your typing speed and accuracy, you always screw up more than if you weren't.

Yep, I definitely agree with you there. Right now, I'm probably typing just as fast, if not faster, than during the test, and so far I haven't made a single mistake. However, while doing the test, I made several mistakes. Having the delete* key disabled* annoyed me too, because a few times I found myself pressing it.

*I made mistakes while typing these* words.

[Diatribe]

Nice test, tried it twice and got the same result on two different texts: 45wpm at 98% accuracy. I guess I suck. :D I should've taken those typing classes they offered in highschool. :rolleyes:

[wPod]

84WPM - the different tries on three different tests
with b/w 92 and 94% accuracy. i am screwd up by the capitol letters!! (though i do worse with numbers, i never got to numbers when i took typing in school in like fourth grade or something (back on an Apple II i believe, had to boot off a floppy drive (you know 5 1/4" floppy!)) i know ive taken other tests and gotten faster WPM but maybe im just out of practice!

[yellow]

After 14+ years of being an avid comptuer user, I have hunt and peck down to a science.

[makisushi]

I have a hard time speaking, let alone typing...

[Linux_The_Kid]

84 wpm 91% acurracy. Learned it on a mac (the order of macs i learned it on goes: All-in-one powerpc[don't remember which] then moved up to an iMac [g3] After that moved to a g4 iMac [lcd] then movied to an eMac, and finally ended up at a g3 tower.

[ejb190]

I took typing in High School for one semester. We used old IBM electrict typewriters with no correction ribbons! While I had the basics down, I really learned how to type when I got to grad school and was working on a thesis 8 hours a day for three months!

[aricher]

68 WPM with 92% acc. not bad.

What's sad is that more and more people are using keyboards these days but don't know the basics of typing. On NPR yesterday they were talking about how kids here in the US will be disadvantaged taking the new SATs due to a 25 minute written essay. The moderator said that most high-schoolers can't write cursive because they all type now. From the looks of it most can't even do that well.

I'm old and I'm bitter and I'm not gonna take it anymore... kidding.

[emw]

It's interesting that the current QWERTY layout was specifically designed to slow down a person's typing so that the keys on old typewriters wouldn't get stuck together by someone typing too quickly.

There have been numerous studies and new keyboard layouts that improve typing speed and accuracy, but they've never caught on.

I am a cross between hunt and peck and touch typing. I usually don't spend much time looking at the keyboard, but don't use standard form either.

[Doctor Q]

If you need an incentive to practice your typing, listen to the experiment I did when I was teaching keyboarding to third-graders. At the beginning of the semester, I explained that they would learn to hold their hands properly and use their fingers properly. After only a few weeks of typing that way, we did a little typing test.

First, I had them type some text for one minute using a single index finger to hunt and peck (what they were used to doing). Then we did another minute typing the correct way. The result was that they typed, overall, equally fast either way.

Then I asked them a question: If you practice typing in class for the next few weeks, which one will you get faster at? They realized that there was nowhere to go but up with touch typing, whereas hunt and peck never gets much faster after you learn where the letters are.

[wordmunger]

All I have to say is that if you can type more than 50 words a minute, you have no business responding to this thread.

... oh... nevermind.

[rhpenguin]

learning to type probably is the one thing im really happy i did.. I can type about 75wpm at about 85% accuracy.

Typing is one of the things im glad to say i can do okay.. No more hunt and peck method for me!

[slughead]

I was formally taught how to type.

I just did one test .. I'm not used to transcribing or not being able to hit backspace.

1 minute test
gross speed: 77WPM
Errors on 4 words
net speed: 73 WPM
Accuracy: 94%

[patrick0brien]

-aeawa

Ldsakjt kf e lkej sertjn oewifj oif jwf iwfosanc saijucnlak ewlfiurgt orengoi ow hf owiewo ifhw ofi hjofewi fhoewifj ofij egfoiel f woif, jwo iffoiesjf nfo sckzjcnvrgforewigh. Fore owief oesif osifns dof eofiew forejgnt hytojw voi vodoir wreorf wof sjefo ewfowifeo sif sofihea foewifj saoc jxnvmbntyhj oeigjearlg eroiawj foasiejf wled waofeiwe fosaif soifja woeifjwa eofisa foiew fowaiejf saokfcjds foeaifj ewf.

Thsdkf sdfskdf wflkjf soijs fsd, sifj weif ofisjd fmtr tre, saodifj wefwe - eriwj gfwefrwe! Hthwqelkjf!! Juerwtuhergt!!!! HJTUYEHSS!!!

[Sun Baked]

Typing is the easy part, it's the spelling and the punctuation that slows me down.

Doesn't help that I get letters reversed all the time, thinking they're absolutely correct at the time, only to see the spelling errors later.

[Doctor Q]

Cross reference: typing skills test: WPM thread.

[makisushi]

Any use the Dvorak typing method? I remember the button on my apple IIc that would switch between the two keyboard sets.

[wide]

You can't use www.typingtest.com, or any other typing program that does not let you press the "backspace" button after you have finished a word.

I am a touch typist (I took a typing class in the 4th grade, but I always cheated so it didn't really help me). Instead of taking a typing test, I would reccommend that you PRACTICE. That's the most important thing a person could do. If you play any instrument, like bass, guitar, flute, sax, piano, clarinet, etc you should pick up touch typing quickly.

For me, the speed of my typing really depends on the keyboard I am using. the PowerBook and iBook keyboards are pretty good for me, but I am the most used to the keyboard on my 600m. I have a lot more difficulty typing with desktop keyboards (because they all have disgustingly large and bulky keys).

[krimson]

i use about 5-6 fingers, and i barely know where the letters are, but the years of being on IRC has helped me type well, up to a point.

[cslewis]

39 WPM, 84% accuracy. I usually just hold my hands above the keyboard and move my hands and fingers almost like i'm playing a mutant piano. I'm not used to having my fingers glued to the keyboard. I find that I am using only my two pointer fingers while typing this, yet the rest of my fingers move along with them.

[makisushi]

54 wpm with 94% accuracy...

[scem0]

With MicroType 3.0 on the keyboards at my school I maxed out at 100 WPM (my goal :) ) and 90+% accuracy.

However I averaged 92 or so with 95+% accuracy.

And, no, I don't hunt and peck. I use mostly my first 3 fingers and my thumbs.

scem0

[ravenvii]

I'm a touch-typist. Was taught in high school. I even remember Mario Teaches Typing (fun program :) ). From that test, I type at 77 WPM, 89% accuracy. I could probably have higher accuracy but a bit lower WPM if that test allows backspaces... I always use the backspace, and make mistakes often. But the thing is, I know I made the mistake the second I hit the key - I didn't have to see it. So I got it to a instinct level - hit wrong key, and my hand's already on it's way to the trusty backspace key :p

I didn't have the numbers down though - for those, I hunt-and-peck. I'm teaching myself to use the numberpad without looking at it. The top-row numbers, screw them. :D

[Santaduck]

They taught us on old manuals in junior high...We had to learn business letter forms to, and how to center (on a manual).

Add this with the concurrent release of the Infocom series (Zork, Planetfall, etc.), and my touchtyping hit about 80wpm (on a manual, oof oof), although slightly lower if we were graded on accuracy (no backing up with ink ribbons). We even learned the numbers...

Anyways... Two questions:


1) Who here can touch-type the top row? The numbers & symbols? That's 1337, then and now. Anybody?

2) Does keybinding your entire keyboard for FPS clan fragging count as touch typing?

[iceTrX]

77WPM, 93% accuracy.
I bet i would do better if I could hit the delete key. :p

[slooksterPSV]

93 WPM. If I just kept going it was about 120 (I delete and fix my mistakes though)

[rickvanr]

Duff-Man says....I too am a "hunt and peck" 2 finger typist...on a good day I can get 3 or 4 fingers going...but over the years I have gotten pretty quick with the 2-finger routine...oh yeah!

Duff-Man... you have too many computers if you type that slow... send me one, perferably the G5.

[homerjward]

have a lot more difficulty typing with desktop keyboards (because they all have disgustingly large and bulky keys).
2nded, but theyre so comfy...i dont like laptop boards cause they make my hands hurt but theyre so fast cause of the short keystroke!

[homerjward]

1) Who here can touch-type the top row? The numbers & symbols? That's 1337, then and now. Anybody?
gots me the numbers down but the symbols evade me except for * ! @ # () actually i suppose its just <removes fingers from keyboard --gasp> #^& that evade me...

[musicpyrite]

I'm not a horrible typist, but my bad spelling+dsylexia+slow though processes, means I type very slow in the forums, maybe 20 WPM.

When I'm typing a document that has already been hand written I can get ~50ish words per minute.


In computer class, I'm blown away by how fast some of these people type, it's amazing! But I feel much better after they see me typing command into the DOS prompt and seeing them with a confused look on their faces. :p

[continuum]

I'm not a horrible typist, but my bad spelling+dsylexia+slow though processes, means I type very slow in the forums, maybe 20 WPM.

When I'm typing a document that has already been hand written I can get ~50ish words per minute.


In computer class, I'm blown away by how fast some of these people type, it's amazing! But I feel much better after they see me typing command into the DOS prompt and seeing them with a confused look on their faces. :p

at least your sig states that you have a kick-ass computer! :)