3 ms·

For someone who "float" types, that's an impressive speed. I tried out the typing website that 's mentioned on the post, and it reminds me/makes me realise the

For someone who "float" types, that's an impressive speed. I tried out the typing website that 's mentioned on the post, and it reminds me/makes me realise the potential flaw in these types of typing tests. After trying it out for about 10 minutes, I get an average 40 WPM; but I see that it's because I pause for a few seconds after each round of words (probably my brain adjusting from the garbage that it just digested). Typing, and fast typing, is a function of the brain being able to process either an auditory, mental or visual data source, and the hands converting it to keystrokes. If one thinks of the brain as a data buffer, the brain receives info and interprets it, and sends it to the hands. There's almost always some lag, and that lag is mainly how fast one types (my opinion of course). When you're given a test that's got words that don't have much meaning, it takes some adjusting to process them, because I had to rely on reading them word-by-word (I learnt some speed-reading when I was younger, so I tend to process a lot more words at a time). I noticed that I typed better when the words made sense, because the brain could buffer words, which I'd rely on not reading completely, but using my previous knowledge of how to spell them. The test also doesn't account for the human mind self-correcting. It was only after about 3 minutes where I reduced the habit of backspacing to correct what I noticed to be a typo, but don't know if I get penalised for it. Going back to the author's views on touch typing. I think if he/she spends more time on it, they could improve their speed. The micro/milliseconds that your 4 fingers spend moving would make a difference.

Mirioron 8y ago
I completely agree with the criticism you raise towards the website. The nonsensical words make typing them much more difficult, but the real crux of the issue is that you can't issue corrections. I prefer 10fastfingers as a typing test, because it's a list of actual easy words without silly capitalization and symbols. In my opinion, it's more representative of the way I would type most of the time than most of the other tests I've seen. I will say though, that 40 WPM blows my mind. What kind of a result do you get on 10fastfingers.com? Because I can do 30-40 WPM on my phone with Swype. EDIT: I used keybr for a longer period of time now and I think the start of the website gives a bad impression. The lessons don't feel quite normal, but once you finish them it ends up much similar to regular typing tests, where most of the words are actual English words.
- nevi-me 8y ago
  I get 70 - 75 with around 90% accuracy The word disappearing after a space was throwing me off at first, but I guess there's no one universal interface/UX that would accommodate everyone.
  - Mirioron 8y ago
    Yeah, 70-75 seems reasonable enough. I'm sure if you did it more the numbers would creep up since you'd get used to the interface.
- ragona 8y ago
  Yeah, I don't love the nonsense misspelled words that is the default. However, it does provide some texts you can type against -- some little short story about a man who is left alone on the planet. I get pretty different results on the two texts: English story (capitalization and punctuation enabled): 109 avg wpm, 124 wpm top speed. Weird nonsense words: 81 avg wpm, 112 wpm top speed. But I totally agree -- the part that particularly bugs me is the BACKSPACE key. Being an effective typist requires being able to feel it when you hit the wrong key, delete the error, and continue. In general I just ctrl+backspace and delete the entire word, since that's way faster than just issuing a targeted correction. I get really stuck when the backspace key does nothing, then I have to figure out exactly which character it was and start mid-word, and it's super awkward.
- coldtea 8y ago
  >I prefer 10fastfingers as a typing test, because it's a list of actual easy words without silly capitalization and symbols. Well, if you write novels, sure. But programming is all about typing silly capitalization and symbols.
  - horsawlarway 8y ago
    eh, I disagree. More symbols? sure. But most everything is still an English language word. Admittedly, sometimes smashed together in the thisVarIsHere way, or this_var_is_there way, but mostly still just normal words where having a "typing vocabulary" of words you can type from muscle memory is hugely important.
mattnewport 8y ago
I definitely think the author is underestimating the speeds he could reach with more practice touch typing. My average speed on that site as a touch typist at 83 WPM easily exceeds his maximum 'float' typing and I only consider myself an average touch typist. A total of 10 hours of practice compared to a lifetime with his current style is probably not enough to reach his maximum potential.

Mirioron 8y ago

I completely agree with the criticism you raise towards the website. The nonsensical words make typing them much more difficult, but the real crux of the issue is that you can't issue corrections. I prefer 10fastfingers as a typing test, because it's a list of actual easy words without silly capitalization and symbols. In my opinion, it's more representative of the way I would type most of the time than most of the other tests I've seen. I will say though, that 40 WPM blows my mind. What kind of a result do you get on 10fastfingers.com? Because I can do 30-40 WPM on my phone with Swype. EDIT: I used keybr for a longer period of time now and I think the start of the website gives a bad impression. The lessons don't feel quite normal, but once you finish them it ends up much similar to regular typing tests, where most of the words are actual English words.

nevi-me 8y ago
I get 70 - 75 with around 90% accuracy The word disappearing after a space was throwing me off at first, but I guess there's no one universal interface/UX that would accommodate everyone.
- Mirioron 8y ago
  Yeah, 70-75 seems reasonable enough. I'm sure if you did it more the numbers would creep up since you'd get used to the interface.
ragona 8y ago
Yeah, I don't love the nonsense misspelled words that is the default. However, it does provide some texts you can type against -- some little short story about a man who is left alone on the planet. I get pretty different results on the two texts: English story (capitalization and punctuation enabled): 109 avg wpm, 124 wpm top speed. Weird nonsense words: 81 avg wpm, 112 wpm top speed. But I totally agree -- the part that particularly bugs me is the BACKSPACE key. Being an effective typist requires being able to feel it when you hit the wrong key, delete the error, and continue. In general I just ctrl+backspace and delete the entire word, since that's way faster than just issuing a targeted correction. I get really stuck when the backspace key does nothing, then I have to figure out exactly which character it was and start mid-word, and it's super awkward.
coldtea 8y ago
>I prefer 10fastfingers as a typing test, because it's a list of actual easy words without silly capitalization and symbols. Well, if you write novels, sure. But programming is all about typing silly capitalization and symbols.
- horsawlarway 8y ago
  eh, I disagree. More symbols? sure. But most everything is still an English language word. Admittedly, sometimes smashed together in the thisVarIsHere way, or this_var_is_there way, but mostly still just normal words where having a "typing vocabulary" of words you can type from muscle memory is hugely important.

mattnewport 8y ago

I definitely think the author is underestimating the speeds he could reach with more practice touch typing. My average speed on that site as a touch typist at 83 WPM easily exceeds his maximum 'float' typing and I only consider myself an average touch typist. A total of 10 hours of practice compared to a lifetime with his current style is probably not enough to reach his maximum potential.