Both Leszek and Robert have a point, and I too think we all need to take the results of this poll with a pinch of salt. When you look at the results (from the time I wrote this - 9:23 am AEST August 30) there were 15 people with a typing speed of greater that 150 WPM!
I too learnt to type on a clunky old "Imperial" back in the '80s, as a kid. My mother was a professional Secretary, who started her career in the 1950s, with a tested speed of 55 CWPM on the same typewriter, 85 CWPM on electric, and then with the advent of PC's her speed shot up to over 135 CWPM! (The Apple ][e used to start 'beeping' at her at times when on a roll after the input buffer couldn't handle any more keystrokes and she had to wait for the computer to catch up...lol) - Just for the record, I took a quick typing test on one of those online ones, and after doing 3 different tests over 3 minutes each, my average speed came back as 45 CWPM (or 46WPM)
The point being, this poll shouldn't be taken seriously. I don't doubt that there are people out there with a CWPM typing speed of over 150, but I highly doubt that 6% of us can...
...Unless they were quicker than the rest of us average Joe's at only 45 ;-)
Robert Martin - 13 years ago
Leszek has a point. I'm not sure what you mean by composing vs. transcribing. There is also WPM (Words per Minute) and CWPM (Correct Words Per Minute). WPM is always higher than CWPM unless you are perfect.
One of the best things I ever did in high school was to take a Touch Typing course (about 1960 - on manual typewriters!). I got up to about 45 CWPM back then, but I may be faster now as I've had such a long time to practice. Of course now we don't worry to much about CWPM, just WPM, because now we can correct errors so easily (we had to use White Out back in the old days).
Being able to touch type at a pretty good speed has helped me out immensely, not only in my career but also in everyday life. In that typing course, we also learned how to format personal and business letters and how to properly fold them and put them in an envelope (yes, there is a proper way). We also learned how to format resumes and other helpful documents. So many people today have no clue how to do these things. I have been in management for about 30 years or more and I have tossed out many a job application just because they had poor writing skills and made a mess of the letter and resume. They may have been geniuses, but they had trouble communicating.
Leszek Cyfer - 13 years ago
Once again imprecise poll. Try to be more specific. Define composing vs transcribing. If composing then what - an email to friend or a doctorate? It's obvious that the harder the subject the slower you write because you have to make the words up. Then the best comparison is of transcription speed which, is maximum possible. You ask for WPM which I assume is Words Per Minute. Of what length? - Yet another vagueness. There should be Characters Per Minute used as it is more precise
Then again you give ridiculusly precise speeds but don't give a common denominator - why don't you give a link to some free online typing course with a test to take and give the result here? Everyone would use the same test and that would be a benchmark.
But no, you gave yet another poll which is simply useless - an opinion gathering.
Remake it and I'll gladly take the test and you'll have results that mean something and I'll have something to compare too.
Both Leszek and Robert have a point, and I too think we all need to take the results of this poll with a pinch of salt. When you look at the results (from the time I wrote this - 9:23 am AEST August 30) there were 15 people with a typing speed of greater that 150 WPM!
I too learnt to type on a clunky old "Imperial" back in the '80s, as a kid. My mother was a professional Secretary, who started her career in the 1950s, with a tested speed of 55 CWPM on the same typewriter, 85 CWPM on electric, and then with the advent of PC's her speed shot up to over 135 CWPM! (The Apple ][e used to start 'beeping' at her at times when on a roll after the input buffer couldn't handle any more keystrokes and she had to wait for the computer to catch up...lol) - Just for the record, I took a quick typing test on one of those online ones, and after doing 3 different tests over 3 minutes each, my average speed came back as 45 CWPM (or 46WPM)
The point being, this poll shouldn't be taken seriously. I don't doubt that there are people out there with a CWPM typing speed of over 150, but I highly doubt that 6% of us can...
...Unless they were quicker than the rest of us average Joe's at only 45 ;-)
Leszek has a point. I'm not sure what you mean by composing vs. transcribing. There is also WPM (Words per Minute) and CWPM (Correct Words Per Minute). WPM is always higher than CWPM unless you are perfect.
One of the best things I ever did in high school was to take a Touch Typing course (about 1960 - on manual typewriters!). I got up to about 45 CWPM back then, but I may be faster now as I've had such a long time to practice. Of course now we don't worry to much about CWPM, just WPM, because now we can correct errors so easily (we had to use White Out back in the old days).
Being able to touch type at a pretty good speed has helped me out immensely, not only in my career but also in everyday life. In that typing course, we also learned how to format personal and business letters and how to properly fold them and put them in an envelope (yes, there is a proper way). We also learned how to format resumes and other helpful documents. So many people today have no clue how to do these things. I have been in management for about 30 years or more and I have tossed out many a job application just because they had poor writing skills and made a mess of the letter and resume. They may have been geniuses, but they had trouble communicating.
Once again imprecise poll. Try to be more specific. Define composing vs transcribing. If composing then what - an email to friend or a doctorate? It's obvious that the harder the subject the slower you write because you have to make the words up. Then the best comparison is of transcription speed which, is maximum possible. You ask for WPM which I assume is Words Per Minute. Of what length? - Yet another vagueness. There should be Characters Per Minute used as it is more precise
Then again you give ridiculusly precise speeds but don't give a common denominator - why don't you give a link to some free online typing course with a test to take and give the result here? Everyone would use the same test and that would be a benchmark.
But no, you gave yet another poll which is simply useless - an opinion gathering.
Remake it and I'll gladly take the test and you'll have results that mean something and I'll have something to compare too.