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Keyboard lets people type so fast it’s banned from typing competitions

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Re: Keyboard lets people type so fast it’s banned from typing competitions

#151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I, and I think many other people, didn't really 'work' at learning to type. We just practiced as a side effect of using the computer rather than, say, taking typing lessons. For someone like me, QWERTY has a difficulty curve. I think seno technically wouldn't have a curve. The inability to hunt and peck means that without explicitly setting aside time to train in steno, there isn't any way to make real progress. Math…

I never learned to write on a keyboard in a controlled way and I still can't 'touch type' naturally. I tried to learn in, but I always fall back to my old habits since my right hand hurt otherwise. I don't think I will ever bother getting fast. It is probably way better to learn it properly from the beginning.

A keyboard tray helps since you can’t comfortably keep your eyes on a keyboard that’s under the desk.

Forcing myself to stop looking at the keys initially increased error rate to an unacceptable/demotivating level, but in a couple of weeks I was touch typing quite a bit faster than I could hunt and peck with no loss in accuracy.

Re: Keyboard lets people type so fast it’s banned from typing competitions

#152
post #31

Cool but who needs this? I'd rather see a keyboard that limits you to 10 WPM so you are forced to think before you type

Not everyone thinks while typing. I do all my thinking ahead of time, then I just need to record it on the screen after I'm done. I'm usually thinking of other things at that time, since I just need to transcribe the words in my head, not think about them.

This seems more my style too.

I notice that I can listen to rap and write code this way, but if I shift to trying to write a comment or a docstring then I just get stuck. Its like all English circuits are busy, please hold. But the effect goes away when I know the lyrics very well.

Re: Keyboard lets people type so fast it’s banned from typing competitions

#153
post #110
post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You type a lot more than 0.5% of the time.

Yes, but typing speed is still not too important.

I'm glad I'm a fast typer because I can spend less time replying to pointless emails.

Re: Keyboard lets people type so fast it’s banned from typing competitions

#154
post #7

The "500 WPM" video is a little suspect. He types literally one memorized sentence and extrapolates a WPM from that one 10 word sentence. I'd like to see him actually type 500 meaningful words in under 60 seconds. Anyway, this is cool but basically just a modern stenography device. Steno has a learning curve problem that makes it so most people won't use it.

I'd say it's a lot suspect. Couple this with the fact that he scored 267 WPM with 76% accuracy in another competition. Until we see more and it gets more accurate I'm not sure typing this fast is very meaningful if I'm going to have to fix 24% of what I just typed.

I bet the 76% accuracy is coming from the CharaChorder's input method. From its website (https://www.charachorder.com/product-page/charachorder):

> CharaChorder’s internal processor arranges the letters on-screen in real time faster than the human eye can perceive.

So if it inputs one word, deletes it, and writes a new word every time you press a new letter, that would result in some decreased accuracy, even if the user doesn't ever correct anything.

Re: Keyboard lets people type so fast it’s banned from typing competitions

#155
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I type ~80WPM with 90%+ accuracy, but I don't find that typing speed is my blocker, rather the speed of a coherent thought I’m on typeracer.com with an average typing speed of 154 WPM with 99% accuracy. I don’t find my thoughts to be limiting for typing purposes.

I don't really know how people get past 120-130wpm with sustained accuracy. I find that I trail off around 100-110wpm. It really depends on the text too. Some text with a lot of difficult double repeated letters, fancy punctuation, etc. in a row or hard to read words - not so great. I just did the practice twice. Once at 100wpm (keyboard twister kind of text). Once at 130wpm (easy sentences). So much variation just f…

My ex-wife used to say that she could not randomly mash the keys on a keyboard as fast as I can accurately type. I've had people ask me if I'm human based on the speed of my typing. But honestly if you watch YouTube videos of typing competitions - there are lots of people that are 160+.

I first learned to type in 1982 and that really accelerated when I got online in 1985. I did not touch type at that point - I just used 3 fingers on each hand. The first year I learned to touch type my typing instructor typed 60 WPM and I typed 75. Then it just went up from there after 4 years of formal typing instruction.

For what it's worth, I use a Das Keyboard mechanical keyboard.

Re: Keyboard lets people type so fast it’s banned from typing competitions

#156
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A significant difference between a conventional keyboard and steno is that a conventional keyboard is capable of producing all the of the text we normally type, and a steno machine is not. A necessary part of stenotype is a combination of pre-work (dictionary development for e.g. proper names) and post-work (editing the steno transcript to produce a "real English" document instead of one that may only have the genera…

CharaCorder is not a stenograph, individual character entry is supported, just like a normal qwerty keyboard.

Typical steno keyboards can definitely type single characters. Of course the most sensible use of them involves chords (defined according to a text-specific 'theory'), but you might still use them for mostly single-character entry if, e.g. you were concerned about RSI.

Re: Keyboard lets people type so fast it’s banned from typing competitions

#157

> Keen also claimed that he’d won several online gaming competitions using the CharaChorder, which he says brings up an interesting ethical dilemma. “I’m not sure if there’s any restrictions on what keyboards you’re allowed to use,” he said over a video of him playing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on the Nintendo Switch, using his CharaChorder running through a XIM-style adapter. As someone who's somewhat familiar with…

There has been conversation happening regarding tournament play legality of digital input controllers for the Smash Bros games, most notably Super Smash Brothers Melee. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smash_Box_controller

Re: Keyboard lets people type so fast it’s banned from typing competitions

#158
All of this seems like an advertisement. It does seem pretty cool though if you have a need to be able type a lot of text really fast; I don't think most programmers need to type fast though. My daily work as a programmer is like 5% typing code and 95% talking to people and thinking about things.

Re: Keyboard lets people type so fast it’s banned from typing competitions

#160
post #7

The "500 WPM" video is a little suspect. He types literally one memorized sentence and extrapolates a WPM from that one 10 word sentence. I'd like to see him actually type 500 meaningful words in under 60 seconds. Anyway, this is cool but basically just a modern stenography device. Steno has a learning curve problem that makes it so most people won't use it.

QWERTY has a steep learning curve as well, it’s just that it’s so ubiquitous that most people don’t question or remember the work that was put into.

Every time I get a new laptop I have to adjust my muscle memory since their layouts vary so much :( still can't type the upper right letters consistently on my current laptop.
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