Monday, August 11, 2003

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Today in a meeting someone mumbled "I take so many notes, I should have taken shorthand", which prompted me to think about this subject for the first time in a while. Shorthand can be very fast, much faster even than typing: the world record for shorthand is 350 wpm, versus a world record of 212 wpm for typing (with a Dvorak keyboard, BTW). But it is clearly a dying skill. I can't even recall having met someone under the age of 50 who ever learned any shorthand. I have become an advocate of dropping cursive from the school curriculum, since keyboarding is so much better. For those who differ, I would counter that, if anything, we should teach shorthand (admittedly at a much higher grade level). 12:42:55 PM    comment []