I could never do a hundred letters per minute on a typewriter. Doubt I could do so on a computer either. But at least on a computer I wouldn’t have to deal with the letters jamming as I tried it. And I do know what it’s like to have the letters jamming considering my folks did have a typewriter when I was a kid. If I typed slowly they were fine, but the faster I went the more likely they were to jam. And then you had to manually undo them before you could start typing again. I’ll stick with a computer.
And most of the time the letter that jammed the keys was not the letter you wanted. Then you had to use the correction paper before you could continue!
When I was 11, my sister gave me her electric typewriter. I taught myself the basics, while sitting cross-legged on the floor. When I got to high school, I took a typing class. The chairs were so high for my short legs that I would sit cross-legged in the chair. My teacher would yell at me, “You should sit with your feet flat on the floor!” My response was always, “They can’t reach!!!” The teacher couldn’t deny that I was the best typist in class, so eventually she let me sit how I wished.
I could never understand that on the ‘qwerty’ keyboard setup – WHY is the most used letter in the English language [e] under your LEFT hand and why not under the index finger instead of one of the other less used digits?.I can understand left hand – your right had to be available to flip/turn page of your notes..It has always bugged me!!
100 letters a minute is about 20 words a minute, which is REALLY slow. You couldn’t get a job as a secretary typing that slow, even if your typing was totally accurate.
Always a ‘hunt & peck’ typist. Loved my parents’ 1930 Royal portable type writer I used through K-12 to type reports.However my cursive was classic legible, but in High School wasn’t accepted on long reports. Yes, certain words caused keys to tangle, & without spell check it took gallons of white out, & quickly hours looking up words in a dictionary…which I could never find since I didn’t know how to spell them in the first place.
I taught myself how to touch type while trying to get a university paper done before a hard deadline. Normally hunt and peck was good enough but this needed speed so I gradually increased the number of fingers I used until I had all eight working, with the thumbs on the space key. Worked too, even if my technique is a bit idiosyncratic. Just this past year I rehabbed a .Remington Quiet-Riter that I use occasionally.
Templo S.U.D. over 9 years ago
Must be because the letters on the keyboard are all jumbled up.
Miny Boy over 9 years ago
sfdjvsnjvkmvdskmsdvkmsdvkmsksvkn
like that?
knight1192a over 9 years ago
I could never do a hundred letters per minute on a typewriter. Doubt I could do so on a computer either. But at least on a computer I wouldn’t have to deal with the letters jamming as I tried it. And I do know what it’s like to have the letters jamming considering my folks did have a typewriter when I was a kid. If I typed slowly they were fine, but the faster I went the more likely they were to jam. And then you had to manually undo them before you could start typing again. I’ll stick with a computer.
MJKesquire over 9 years ago
And most of the time the letter that jammed the keys was not the letter you wanted. Then you had to use the correction paper before you could continue!
tripwire45 over 9 years ago
Ah, typewriters.
Wren Fahel over 9 years ago
When I was 11, my sister gave me her electric typewriter. I taught myself the basics, while sitting cross-legged on the floor. When I got to high school, I took a typing class. The chairs were so high for my short legs that I would sit cross-legged in the chair. My teacher would yell at me, “You should sit with your feet flat on the floor!” My response was always, “They can’t reach!!!” The teacher couldn’t deny that I was the best typist in class, so eventually she let me sit how I wished.
Darryl Heine over 9 years ago
And this was before computers.
Rose Madder Premium Member over 9 years ago
I could never understand that on the ‘qwerty’ keyboard setup – WHY is the most used letter in the English language [e] under your LEFT hand and why not under the index finger instead of one of the other less used digits?.I can understand left hand – your right had to be available to flip/turn page of your notes..It has always bugged me!!
neverenoughgold over 9 years ago
Never could type very well; I think my method is called “hunt, peck, and curse”! Then I got an IBM Selectric and I thought I died and went to heaven!
Still can’t type very well…
OldestandWisest over 9 years ago
100 letters a minute is about 20 words a minute, which is REALLY slow. You couldn’t get a job as a secretary typing that slow, even if your typing was totally accurate.
Banjo Gordy Premium Member over 9 years ago
Always a ‘hunt & peck’ typist. Loved my parents’ 1930 Royal portable type writer I used through K-12 to type reports.However my cursive was classic legible, but in High School wasn’t accepted on long reports. Yes, certain words caused keys to tangle, & without spell check it took gallons of white out, & quickly hours looking up words in a dictionary…which I could never find since I didn’t know how to spell them in the first place.
Stellagal over 9 years ago
What are these strange things called typewriters?
bmckee over 9 years ago
I taught myself how to touch type while trying to get a university paper done before a hard deadline. Normally hunt and peck was good enough but this needed speed so I gradually increased the number of fingers I used until I had all eight working, with the thumbs on the space key. Worked too, even if my technique is a bit idiosyncratic. Just this past year I rehabbed a .Remington Quiet-Riter that I use occasionally.