Turbo typing

Keying, thumbing, scrawling, jabbing. Tracing, pushing, swiping, tapping. Turning thoughts into letters and words used to be simple.

You picked up a pen, grabbed a piece of paper and you wrote. But then some clever bod knocked up a keyboard, which went on not only to spawn generations of hapless handwriters but also a bewildering array of new ways to create text.

And in the age of emails marked "urgent" and texting at the traffic lights (even though it's illegal), seconds count. But whether you're a salami-thumbed button-basher or a lighting-fast digital demon, what's the fastest way to type?

To find out, I've built up an arsenal of devices with eight different ways to input words - from handwriting recognition to digital dictation - for the ultimate typing test. But first I need something to type. I put in a call to a secretarial school founded by the original speed texter, Sir Isaac Pitman. His system of shorthand, developed in 1837, is still in use today but these days Pitman Training also teaches typing.

Elly Hyde, its training manager, sends me some of the texts she uses to get students up to speed. I combine four sentences, each of which includes all the letters of the alphabet, into a 100-word (nonsensical) set text, below.

The next task is to memorise my passage - I don't want to lose time reading while testing less-familiar gadgets. Then, clock ticking, I'll take each device and enter the text three times, dividing the number on the watch by three to get an average time.

I will also divide the total number of mistakes by three, and add that number to the average time to adjust it for accuracy. Finally (stick with me) I'll convert that time into words per minute to establish the speed I can achieve using each method. Of course, this is a semi-scientific method at best.

My job involves a lot of typing, so I should have a head start on my keyboard. The same goes for my iPhone and the alpha-numeric keypad on my old Nokia.

For the other methods - and this includes pen and paper - I have spent as much time as possible practising to try to make the comparison fair.

Right then, I've flexed my fingers and clipped my nails. Let's do this. The text: "Joan Faith quickly jumped over the burning boxes and walked away from the scene of the disaster with dazed feelings.

If she makes a determined and real effort, we are quite sure she will very quickly be enjoying a high place with the experts and may win a valuable prize.

As the young musician, who wore a jacket of vivid colouring, strolled slowly round the piazza, the quaint sounds from his guitar and his relaxed manner reflected the evening calm. His extra blazer was made of the finely woven jet black cloth and a quaint colourful badge adorned the pocket."

Pen and paper
(Bic Cristal, Niceday notebook)

First up - the very much tried but increasingly untested pen and paper. I'm one of those left-handed scribblers who drags his hooked hand through the ink. Fountain pens are impossible. No two signatures are alike and my scrawly handwriting, with its closed "o"s and barely-there "i"s, is only getting worse. But I am quite fast and in my first attempt finish the passage in two minutes and 48 seconds. But, when I give it to my editor to read, she fails to make out 15 words. Slowing down improves things and I end up with a tired hand and a speed of 33 words per minute (wpm) - about average, I'm told. But surely I can do better.

Average time: 2m 59s
Average mistakes: 5
Adjusted time: 3m 04s
Speed: 33 wpm

Handwriting input
(Nokia 8500)

When touchpads made it possible to draw using a stylus, some observers believed handwriting recognition would rival the keyboard. British blogger Phil Gyford used two late-90s devices with the technology when he conducted his own speed typing test last month (see Gyford.com). But the devices were flawed and the input method fell out of fashion. Nokia's 8500 is one of few phones that gives the option (as well as a standard touch keypad). But drawing every letter with a red plectrum is painfully slow and the system is horribly prone to errors, making it the slowest way to write.

Average time: 6m 07s
Average mistakes: 34
Adjusted time: 6m 41s
Speed: 15 wpm

Touch keyboard
(iPhone 3GS)

I should be good at this - I'm a slave to my iPhone. The ubiquitous device's touchscreen keyboard enrages as many users as it pleases but after getting used to it, I've become quite good at tapping its virtual keys. One advantage of the iPhone's keyboard is that it takes into account wayward thumbs. Type "sxene" and it produces "scene". Of course sometimes it doesn't work - it fails to turn "Koan" into "Joan" for example - but the auto-correction and ultra-responsive screen means I finish with a speed of 43 wpm. Faster than my Nokia, though impossible if you're not looking at the screen.

Average time: 2m 12s
Average mistakes: 8
Adjusted time: 2m 20s Speed: 43 wpm

Mobile keyboard
(Blackberry Curve)

This is the first time I've used a Blackberry, the device that transformed business by unleashing our inboxes on the outside world (or by giving bosses the ability to virtually enslave their employees, depending on your point of view). Blackberry users tend to be people who really do need to fire off messages in a hurry. A physical "qwerty" keyboard has always been seen by the device's Canadian manufacturer to be the fastest way to type. But it means the keys, which have to be crammed below the screen, are minute and no match for my fat thumbs. I can see I could get better with more practice, but end, after this test, with a disappointing rate of 28 wpm.

Average time: 3m 08s
Average mistakes: 23
Adjusted time: 3m 31s
Speed: 28 wpm

Swype
(Google Nexus One)

The Nexus One has been billed as the device to finally knock the iPhone off its smug perch. It's not available here yet but I've been loaned one by a US firm that has developed a revolutionary new way to type. Swype uses a standard touchscreen qwerty keyboard but, rather than tap each letter, you simply trace your finger over words. It takes less than a second to "draw" a zig-zag between the letters in "quick". Instantly the word appears even if you veer off course. Swype is an ingenious system that requires practice. It performs more slowly than my iPhone test today but has the potential to be way faster.

Average time: 2m 41s
Average mistakes: 14
Adjusted time: 2m 55s
Speed: 34 wpm

Predictive text
(Nokia 3210)

This yellowing, six-year-old brick was my constant companion until last July, when I upgraded to the iPhone. I've dug it out of a drawer in the hope my thumbs can still work their magic using the T9 predictive text system. Last month, at the first LG Mobile World Cup in New York, two Korean teenagers won top prize by texting at a speed of 7.25 characters a second. I make that about 80 words per minute. Taking into account the time it takes to open and send new messages (my Nokia has a 459-character per text maximum) and lots of mistakes, I only manage 31 wpm, slower than writing.

Average time: 2m 58s
Average mistakes: 18
Adjusted time: 3m 16s
Speed: 31 wpm

Voice-to-text
(Google Nexus One)

Journalists and doctors long for devices that can transcribe recorded speech automatically. Google's new digital dictation service is, however, a work in progress. "Joan Faith quickly jumped over the burning boxes and walked away from the scene of the disaster" becomes "China safe cooking temperature the burning foxes on walks away from the symptoms of toothpaste". Hmm. I try speaking more slowly and even with an American accent but nothing works. The speed I achieve owes much to fast speaking rates, but it's meaningless when the text makes as much sense to me as a twice- translated Dutch PhD thesis.

Average time: 1m 42s
Average mistakes: 111
Adjusted time: 3m 33s
Speed: 28 wpm

PC Keyboard
(Dell L100)

I leave my trusty keyboard - the device to which I and legions of office workers are all but glued - until last because I guess it's going to be quickest, despite commentators predicting its death at the hands of touch-screen tablet computers. The qwerty keyboard, which has endured since it was devised by an American newspaperman in the 1870s, allows for typing speeds of well over 100 words per minute. I can touch-type, which means I'm limited only by the nimbleness of my brain and fingers. It's the only device that allows me to beat the one minute mark and the mistake rate is low, making the keyboard a clear winner with a speed of 91 wpm. If only I could bolt it to a screen and put it in my pocket.

Average time: 0m 56s
Average mistakes: 10
Adjusted time: 1m 06s
Speed: 91 wpm

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