I can type that fast on a phone. I'll assume for the sake of discussion that this number is accurate across a general population. If you sit at a keyboard long enough, how can you not get faster than 12.2 wpm? So much for "kids growing up with computers". All that time in front of a keyboard since kindergarten, and you're output is still restricted by your abysmal typing speed?
OTOH, do typing classes even exist anymore, are are we to assume that kids will just learn it by osmosis? When I was in high school I took typing class. On a real typewriter. And it was a manual typewriter...that we could only use in a blinding snow storm while walking uphill. Anyway, I type around 100 wpm now which I attribute to that typing class. Had I just been left to my own devices to hunt-and-peck my way around, I doubt I'd be anywhere near that speed.
We all can probably stand to use more remedial training at typing, even if we think that we're already pretty fast. Every once in a while I'll dust off [GNU Typist][0] and bash it at for ten-minutes. Unfortunately, its been nearly impossible to change kinetic memory for alternative layouts like [Workman][1], there hasn't been enough time to unlearn and learn it without suffering a huge productivity hit.
All that time in front of a keyboard since kindergarten, and you're output is still restricted by your abysmal typing speed?
You mean, "all that time in front of a keyboard - and mouse." GUIs and mouses (and now, touch screens) have made computer interaction largely keyboardless - most people would rather push the rodent around or touch the screen than make use of keyboard shortcuts, and interfaces are designed in that direction so it's not so surprising that people aren't learning how to type faster despite increased computer use.
"which I attribute to that typing class. Had I just been left to my own devices to hunt-and-peck my way around"
I learned on a manual as well. But by using a book. It took about 3 weeks. I actually stopped at the part where you practice numbers (and regret it to this day).
"that we could only use in a blinding snow storm while walking uphill"
I was lucky to be able to convince a college instructor to allow me to bring in the manual typewriter so I could type the answer to an essay instead of using one of the blue books. Same blinding snow storm that day!
> I actually stopped at the part where you practice numbers (and regret it to this day).
We learned that in typing class, but I never did "get" the number row. Bane of my existence to this day. I mean, mostly hit what I want but it's not thoughtless tapping like the rest of the keyboard. Don't know if it's my dainty little fingers or what the deal is.
> Same blinding snow storm that day!
Nah, probably not the same storm. Blinding snow storms were so common back then, it just seemed like it we shared the same weather pattern. Not like the constantly pleasant weather these kids today grow up with.
The statistic about typing classes is indeed a sad one. You make an excellent point: "All that time in front of a keyboard since kindergarten, and you're output is still restricted by your abysmal typing speed?"
Unfortunately, in my experience, yes. I spent years using a computer doing virtually everything with it including programming before I finally got fed up with not being able to touch type. I forced myself to not look at the keys and type. It worked. (How could it not?) Later on, I had a typing class as well, but by that time I was already an excellent typist. For the kids that are less motivated however, I think they'd be stuck where I was before I decided to force myself to learn it. Since typing classes are so rare, this means that they won't even be forced to learn it (a good thing).
I don't think anyone is truly computer literate unless they can touch type. It's an essential skill, really, and while one can get by without it, the experience is hardly equivalent. So I wonder, with all the focus on CS classes in high schools, where is the focus on typing? After all, call me prejudiced, but I would never work with a programmer or writer who couldn't touch type. To me, that shows disdain or lack of interest for the profession.
In contrast, I was given typing classes from first grade, for at least one semester per year, every year up until graduation (2007), and I still managed to avoid learning how to touch type for all that time. When I was 18 I decided I wanted to be a coder and found that my typing speed was a lousy 19-25wpm, and decided to get better. It took about a month of active practice to get up to my current plateau of about 60-70wpm. And it was entirely my own choice to learn - the years of classes didn't seem to have any effect.
Edit for vanity: 60-70wpm tested. I'm pretty sure I can type faster than that sometimes.
Hey, I'm another person whose only class was on a manual typewriter. 7th grade, 1992ish. I'm at 85 wpm 100% accuracy, 130 wpm if I omit capitalization and punctuation. (and let the word processor pick it up)
1992?! Holy smokes, and here I thought I went to a backwater school (and I did) because we were still using manual typewriters in 1980. :-) They upgraded to electrics a year or two later.
OTOH, do typing classes even exist anymore, are are we to assume that kids will just learn it by osmosis? When I was in high school I took typing class. On a real typewriter. And it was a manual typewriter...that we could only use in a blinding snow storm while walking uphill. Anyway, I type around 100 wpm now which I attribute to that typing class. Had I just been left to my own devices to hunt-and-peck my way around, I doubt I'd be anywhere near that speed.