How fast are you on the keys?

I still feel quite fast on a proper keyboard and it's lovely to have a machine which automatically corrects my favourite error of teh instead of the.

Not so fast on the iPad though where I can't touch type.

Thinking about it, I do much prefer typing to writing. It's faster and flows better.

I'm pretty fast I taught myself to type years ago from a Pitman book and although its not touch typing its pretty fast. In the early 1990s in the NHS middle managers where I languished secretarys were taken away and computers plonked on our desks with no training (we were expected to access on line videos) so with a mountain of reports to write you juts got on with it.

Grannyknot I, too, loved typing. I worked for a time as secretary to the Chief Chemist in the Research and Development lab of a company which made sealants etc.

I had to do the typing for all the chemists in the lab and prided myself on correcting all their mistakes - even when they mis-spelled chemical terms of which I knew nothing!
They each had to produce a monthly report which had to be typed by me. Many of them had charts and graphs which had to be done by counting spaces and setting it out manually, unlike the word processors and computers that came later, which did it all for you.

I was a very quick typist, but now I just use one hand to tap on the iPad.
DD3 uses her two thumbs when messaging on her phone and goes at a phenomenal speed, though I am sure she will have thumb problems in later life

I think I've mentioned this before on another thread : I learnt to type to the tune of the William Tell Overture and very fast it was too. Diddlepom,diddlepom da da da da, diddlepom, diddlepom,dada da da da,
repeat and then Ting as the carriage moved to the next line . On the computer/iPad everything seems to be in a different place but I can still whizz along with the best of them!

I too learnt the Pitman method and consider myself to have quite a competent speed,things go out of the water when using the tablet "one finger" method then comes into play

Bellasnana you are right, you learn a lot about the various subjects that you type up, don't you. Suffice to say that at one time I worked for an addictions psychiatrist in private practice - my lips are sealed - but I used to love typing up those reports.

glamma I hate the one finger thing, that's why I was thrilled to discover with my Kindle I can be a "swipist" - one finger swiping is much better than one finger typing!

Ahh the good old 'William Tell' tune rows of us sitting in class all typing to the same rhythm. With teacher patrolling up and down making sure you hit the keys with the correct finger.
DC are self taught, they don't use all fingers but more than the two finger method and can type as quick as me.
I'm pretty good with the one thumb phone method too. Which is how I typed this.

I trained as a typist in the sixties and thought it a lost art until I got a computer. Now I can impress youngsters with my typing speed. I remember William Tell too. Happy days!

I was also trained to the strains of William Tell. I'm still a touch typist and was the fastest in the class. Don't know whether I could hold my own now or not.

It isn't so easy on an iPad, is it? Don't know why not!

I've tried texting using both thumbs but just cannot do it. I always hit the wrong keys.

When I worked I often had very complex and ultimately legal reports to compile. I found it much easier to collect my thoughts on a computer as I could lay out my thoughts as they came to me and re-arrange later.
I was taught to type on on old fashioned upright typewriter with carriage returns and inky ribbons and keys you has to press for miles. Seemed to do a lot of typing "a quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" but you knew where every key was.
On a laptop I touch type but on the iPad I use one or two fingers .

I worked as a typist for over 40 years. I also learned to William Tell. My granddaughter, who is a whizz on computers, phones etc says 'gosh nan you're quick on those keys'. I can't text for toffee though and am useless on a laptop and tablet for some reason.

I taught myself on an old fashioned type writer when the children were small with the intention of being a typist when I was able but that job never occured but I'm so glad I can touch type nowadays it makes for much quicker computing and my grandchildren are in awe of me typing without looking even though they are probably as quick using eyes and two fingers lol... I do like swiping on the ipad I must admit.

I was taught to type on on old fashioned upright typewriter with carriage returns and inky ribbons and keys you has to press for miles. Seemed to do a lot of typing "a quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" but you knew where every key was.

Same here. Do you remember 'now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the party'? I also remember the repetitious: asdfghjklm over and over again and then on to the upper and lower keys but it worked, it turned out a lot of very competent touch typists.

You had to have seriously strong little and ring fingers on those old typewriters!

I'm not sure of my speeds now (I make a lot more mistakes than I used to but that's probably because I don't really care so much anymore) but I do have RSA III (Dist) and Pitman III (1st Class) so I was a very fast typist and could take dictation straight to the typewriter very often.

My children and granddaughters find it very impressive that I can type without looking at the keys which amuses me. Not so much on this laptop as the keyboard if off-centre and some keys stick!

Knowing shorthand was good as well - the children would go looking for the Christmas shopping list to see if they could get hints of what was in store but it was all written in Pitman

I learnt on a wordprocessor about 25 years ago. I am too fast for computer keyboards and it's really annoying! Surely some of you must suffer from that?

Yes, I do! It seems to skid off somewhere and occasionally I lose the post altogether - must admit I'm still a very fast typist and, HollyDaze, I got 100wpm Pitman's shorthand although I never actually got to use it afterwards...

When working, I typed at 90 wpm but tested myself recently and this has gone down to about 60.

I too have Pitmans shorthand 100 wpm and found it very useful during my working life (taking verbatim notes at meetings, conferences, etc.), particulary when I did agency work, as not many younger people have shorthand skills. I still use it to take notes.

My problem is that my brain runs away and my fingers have to catch up

I was never trained as a typist, so am just a one finger typist, but not too slow though!

Also learned to William Tell and on an old manual upright. I can type quite quickly still but have recently got a new keyboard and it is horrid. More mistakes than ever. It is a wireless one and I think the shape of it and the keys are the problem. It is all so plasticky somehow!

I enjoy touch typing too but agree that it's not so easy on an iPad. I'm pretty fast and can still tell when I've hit the wrong key - well most of the time!

I taught myself at 16 with a book, my dad having promised me my own typewriter if I learned to type. He kept to his word and I had a few proper lessons to get up to speed. I find it so useful and I get a bit frustrated when I see people just using a couple of fingers - if only they knew how quick and accurate they could be!!! It looks so awkward too.

I was never taught to type but when I was training as a nurse I used to type all my notes so that I could read what I had written. I use my laptop every day and am quite fast.

Was taught to type at school, with accompanying music and a guard over the keys so we had to touch-type. Was only able to manage 40 wpm, (but my shorthand was a bit better at 80wpm). On taking dictation (must be 50 years ago now!) the 'Chancellor's Budget' was part of the sentence, but unfortunately my shorthand read back as the 'Chancellor's Budgie'.

Typing - v. fast. I can still do shorthand 'in my head' - but am much slower now when writing it - which I still do sometimes. Some skills never leave you....