The only good thing about the article: the comments - hilarious! I too will eat eggplant before I do gesture typing and, really, nothing else to write about? How about an eggplant recipe that has to be paid for? I won't miss out...
8
The test stalled out on me and I think it was an ad for a typing course.
4
The headline is "Here’s How to Type Faster ..."
How?
The story told me to use my thumbs, but not HOW to use my thumbs to type what I want to say. i get double letters, the letter next to where i want to be, and sometimes just nonsense.
This is why I use two fingers -- I can poke the letter I want and get it.
Is there a way to use thumbs accurately? What is it?
63
This is ridiculous. Texting is individual to the text-er. I'm a fast typist with slim fingers but I have never liked two-thumbed texting and have instead found that I am the fastest text-er of anyone I know with just one index finger - but who cares! and who wants to speed text? I just happen to be able to text very quickly and very efficiently with one finger. Speed is hardly ever a consideration. I usually have to slow down and pace my texts to give the other person time to respond.
14
I hate reading on tiny screens, and typing on tiny virtual keyboards. But I'm surprised that predictive text gets a bad rap. Sometimes it can be wildly off-base, so then I type the entire word. But many times it offers good suggestions.
Perhaps the issue is I'm concerned less about speed, and more about not having to actually type on that tiny virtual keyboard.
16
I love some of those layouts in the linked article and I am going to try them. I've never thought much of QWERTY even on a typewriter and, like 6% commissions on real estate sales, I don't know how it has persisted into the 21st century. I'm also a swiper on my phone.
2
I just adopted two thumbs without every seeing anyone else text at all.
My typing went downhill when I had to code punch cards for computer programs w/o ink readout on top. One mistake, bad program.
Otherwise I typed regularly 30 page papers.
Dating myself, but still, thumbs seem to be way to go and I am faster and more accurate than typing on keyboard now, although I try to use all my fingers!
3
I wonder if most people are aware that they can, in a few seconds, connect a Bluetooth keyboard to pretty much any smartphone. Also if the keyboard has a built in trackpad and you are using an Android phone then you will also have a Windows-style pointer appear on the Android screen. Many phones can also utilize a standard USB keyboard/mouse when connected via a USB to MICRO USB adapter. Bluetooth keyboards (with trackpad) can be found on Amazon for around $20-$30 and I find it handy to carry a small, portable one with me because of the effort it saves when I need to do a lot of texting.
13
I still type in my words without auto-correct and will eat eggplant before I'll do gesture typing. I find the whole process dehumanizing. The inventor of gesture typing says, "Half of the words people text are the most frequently used 200 words in English." Well, maybe if we went through the process of this ancient art called 'writing,' rather than gesture typing and other fast typing gimmicks, we'd use far far more, even if (heaven forbid!) we misspelled some words.
23
As another comment noted, the graph on QWERTY is factually incorrect. Qwerty was designed for ergonomic facility and not for preventing jams in mechanical typewriters; this myth is easily debunked. But further, it was designed for telegraph operators’ altered character usage.
The article should at least mention the Dvorak keyboard layouts, and the decades of research that went into them.
12
I'm glad there are people out there doing research on how to be more efficient while wasting time.
84
This was clearly not written for those of us with the inherited gene for what is grotesquely called ‘clubbed thumbs,’ the shorter, wider thumbs that some liken to big toes (also brutish). Texting with my beloved chubby little thumbs would be like asking an overweight toddler to perform Swan Lake; it’s just not in their wheelhouse. Instead I type with one index finger, an efficient and graceful alternative that helps avoid sending messages that may look like I’ve had a stroke. As such, I found this piece rather digit-ist.
63
What's the risk for repetitive stress injuries to the thumbs? They were never designed for that kind of use.
40
I think predictive text is very useful once you get the hang of it. Speed is not the goal for me but it takes milliseconds to scan the suggested words and choose one.
4
Speed is NOT my goal. Those of us of a certain age learned to type with our fingertips, which is why we continue to do that. It was the way we learned that skill growing up, and continued it into adulthood long before the invention of the smart device keyboard. I tune out the derision of younger people at how I type and continue using my fingertips, a method of typing with which I am comfortable. If I have a lengthy text, I turn on voice-to-text. If I want to say more, I call the person. Why should it concern anyone how, or how fast, I type?
50
@Arthur
I’m with you. On all points.
15
The qwerty keyboard was not designed to avoid jams on a typewriter. It was designed to put the most-used letters under the fingers with the most dexterity
40
my rate was ridiculously slow -- in the bottom quintile -- but my accuracy was in the top 0.01 percent. I'm good with that.
27
If you have a text long enough and important enough, here's the fastest way of getting your message across: Call the person.
90
what's the hurry? communication doesn't have to be on the clock...
23
Oh yes, we really needed this. How helpful to be inattentive faster.
35
I'm not surprised that this article was written by a woman. But I am surprised that the study doesn't look at gender differences.
My hands are small for a man, yet my thumbs are twice the width of a typical woman's. On my small phone, thumb-typing is impossible.
34
I type full sentences not words; or acronyms that I don't understand, "yes" not Y. "ok Thank You", not K TY, etc
21
Why type? Voice to text is the way to go. I use it for texting and e-mailing on my phone and it's incredibly fast and accurate (I guess my phone "knows" me).
24
And Google speech to text is 1,000 times more accurate and predictive than the Samsung variety. I am amazed at how accurate and fast it is.
I often use it to write lengthy articles, texts, or emails in a fraction of the time it would take me to type them. it's a joy!
5
These input systems are for different purposes. One is deep and one swift.
4
All of the fast texters that I know are under 12 years old. Their thumbs are less than half the size of my fingers and about a third the size of my thumbs. I've tried texting with my thumbs. The gibberish that comes out is susceptible to neither auto-correct nor suggestions. I can't even tell what was written. Did the authors of this study only include pre-teens? Or are they texting on a tablet? This is how we end up with "covfefe" messages.
91
@Condelucanor Yes. And add to that people like me who have club thumbs (short and squatty) or arthritis in their thumbs (me too) or numerous other dificulties. This article definitely applies to only part of the population. Most of them will be old some day and suffer the same problems. But by then we won't be texting. Thought transfer probably!
16
@Condelucanor I am old and with fatty thumbs. I found I was more accurate with thumbs than fingers! A real surprise to me.
I typed a same long sentence with thumbs only and with my usual fingers. I always make mistakes with fingers by typing adjacent letter but not so with thumbs. Actually best ever typing with thick stubby senior thumbs! I am in shock :-)
12
@Condelucanor
What do we want??
Actual responsive, easy-to use touch screens!
When do we want it??
BOW!
27
Apple's new iPhones 11, allows "typing" by scrolling one finger across the screen to form whole words. Starting a next word automatically puts in a space between words. This is the fastest way to type on a phone. It is an incredible improvement on Apple's iOS.
3
it's by far the fastest way of typing once you get the hang of it. It's been standard on Android phones for several years, though.
14
@AR - Are you referring to "swyping"? I've been using the Swype keyboard on Android forever (or at least since Adndroid 3). Apple was way behind the curve with that. It is really fast.
19
@AR This is swiping. There's been a Google keyboard app that enables this on iPhones for a long time. I use it on my iPhone 7.
I'm sure Apple has added refinements, but the basic approach is available whether you have a shiny new iPhone or not.
8
That's why I use a laptop...95 wpm/two handed speedster. I don't like texting at all.
42
Type faster, type more, live more.
Happiness is around the corner.
12