Bill Simmons' typing skills

[John Drama]

I know there's plenty of hate for the Sports Guy around these parts but I generally appreciate what he's accomplished. That being said, he revealed during his live-blog of game 1 of the NBA finals that he uses the two-finger typing method. Does anyone find that as shocking as I do?

I have a hard time believing that any professional writer under the age of 50, let alone one that writes overly lengthy pieces and a few books, types with only two fingers. I'm shocked that he's put out the volume of work that he has while using such an inefficient method. This is 2010 and he's supposed to be Mr. Online guy and he types with two fingers? Maybe it's a generational thing but that seems unfathomable to me.

 

[Den1983]

I type with just two fingers and I do just fine. Better words/minute than people who type normally. Just the way I've always typed and never bothered to change it because it's never been an issue.

 

[HanSenSE]

And it matters how he types because?

 

[slappy4428]

And it matters how he types because?

It's impressive to hunt and peck with two fingers while your head is up your ass.

 

[93Devil]

I type with my index fingers and my right thumb, and my speed is just fine, I think. Probably about 60-70 wpm. What I cannot do is look away from my keyboard and type.

I even took typing in high school, but the home row does not work with the way my brain is wired.

 

[cwilson3]

There's a guy in my office younger than simmons who does and he's really fast too. Loud as hell when he types but it works.

 

[Kato]

There's a guy in my office younger than simmons who does and he's really fast too. Loud as hell when he types but it works.

We have two guys in our office who type that way. One is in his 40s and the other is 30, maybe younger. It's stunning to watch, but they're both fast. They got that muscle memory down

 

[OnTheRiver]

I type like this. I can bang out 60-70 a minute doing it, too.

Two index fingers and the right thumb to hit the space bar.

 

[smithsonryan]

I honestly thought i was the only person to do two index fingers and a thumb to type. Bad habit though. Admittedly, I make a lot of mistakes.

/had to correct two just there
/no carpal tho

 

[Ace]

One of the fastest writers I knew (an old timer) was a two-fingerer.

I wonder if we will see more of this as I assume most kids grow up just going at it on a keyboard instead of taking typing classes in school.

 

[93Devil]

The Blackberry don't no know home row.

 

[MidwestSportsGuy]

Quick question about Bill Simmons:

Why does he live and work in LA? Didn't ESPN have him move out there? Which makes me think it was work-related. But in reality, he writes about the Boston-area sports scene from 3,000 miles away.

Perhaps the initial thought was that Simmons would be a sort of general columnist for the West Coast?

Just curious. You'd think he could crank out mailbags and running diaries from Boston, no?

 

[93Devil]

He was writing for the Jimmy Kimmel Show.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

Quick question about Bill Simmons:

Why does he live and work in LA? Didn't ESPN have him move out there? Which makes me think it was work-related. But in reality, he writes about the Boston-area sports scene from 3,000 miles away.

Perhaps the initial thought was that Simmons would be a sort of general columnist for the West Coast?

Just curious. You'd think he could crank out mailbags and running diaries from Boston, no?

I think he moved out there because he was working on the Jimmy Kimmel show.

Back to typing, my handwriting was so bad, I had to take a typing course on an electric typewriter in eighth grade, even though the rest of the class was juniors and seniors. I didn't type that well, primarily because the teacher said my age. My hands weren't as big as the older kids.

Now, I still type with all the fingers, and can do about 70 words per minute.

 

[SixToe]

My first editor typed with two fingers, smoked cigarettes and drank coffee while peering over his old Royal through an office window into our tiny newsroom.

When he typed it sounded like a machine gun with a little bell attached. It was wonderful to be part of that.

I don't care if someone types with their big toe while standing on their head in pudding. Be a good journalist and write a good story. That's it.

 

[Small Town Guy]

I know a lot of reporters who use two fingers. And a lot of guys online type fast with one hand.

 

[friend of the friendless]

Sirs, Madames,

Until I was forty I was one-fingered and just spaced-and-capped with my left hand. But I got a manual typewriter for my sixth birthday and was as fast as you could be with a single digit. And because I learned on a manual I pounded the keys. I drew a crowd for the typing test in J school, passed with over 40 words pretty easily. It was like watching Ali work the speed bag. I've mellowed. With soft-touch computer keyboards I tried typing with both index fingers. What I could do with two fingers that I couldn't do with one (I think) is touch type--not terribly accurately but pretty close, good enough to type in the dark or look away.

o-<

 

[93Devil]

"But I got a manual typewriter
for my sixth birthday..."

WTF

I have to ask...

Is this the gift you requested, and if so, why?

 

[goalmouth]

Sirs, Madames,

Until I was forty I was one-fingered and just spaced-and-capped with my left hand. But I got a manual typewriter for my sixth birthday and was as fast as you could be with a single digit. And because I learned on a manual I pounded the keys. I drew a crowd for the typing test in J school, passed with over 40 words pretty easily. It was like watching Ali work the speed bag. I've mellowed. With soft-touch computer keyboards I tried typing with both index fingers. What I could do with two fingers that I couldn't do with one (I think) is touch type--not terribly accurately but pretty close, good enough to type in the dark or look away.

o-<

Knowing your prodigious output, this ranks as the single most-shocking revelation I've read here.

Oh, and I learned on a manual so I hunt and peck. Loudly. I broke two electronic typewriters writing my senior finals papers, and have trashed keyboards uncountable since then. However, chronic split fingertips in winter have led to an increased use of the middle fingers.

 

[friend of the friendless]

Sirs, Madames,

"But I got a manual typewriter
for my sixth birthday..."

WTF

I have to ask...

Is this the gift you requested, and if so, why?

Yeah, it was a request. I worked my way onto the grade 2 reader in kindergarten. In Grade 1 I started handing in typewritten assignments. As a result of typing almost exclusively I can't actually write script ... had to try it up to Grade 8 but I packed it after that. Just typing or printing. (Some here might have seen my micro scrawl, it's smaller than the type on the screen and was a real headache to those marking my exams).

o-<