Keyboard > iPhone > Treo > Pen > Newton > Palm
If it’s not already clear, this isn’t a particularly scientific experiment. If you performed the same tests you’d probably come up with different results depending on your proficiency with the various devices. But here are my results [...]:
- Keyboard: 3′ 14″
- iPhone software keyboard: 4′ 56″
- Treo hardware keyboard: 5′ 23″
- Pen and paper: 5′ 33″
- Newton MessagePad: 9′ 17″
- Palm Graffiti: 12′ 16″
— from Pen v keyboard v Newton v Graffiti v Treo v iPhone by Phil Gyford
(via DaringFireball)
Interesting test. It’s a personal benchmark, not scientific at all, but still an interesting overview.
The most surprising part for me is seeing pen and paper so slow…
Cristiano de Nunno - Glorfind3l:
Yeah, the "traditional" handwriting time surprised me a lot too but at the end it's not so strange if you think. Let's take a practical example.
To write an "A" on a keyboard you just move one finger down to press the "A" key, while to write an "A" you have to do at least two draws, doing at least 3 movements with you hand.
In cursive handwriting you gain some minor speed increase, but the movements to draw different characters are always a lot more than pressing keys on a keyboard.
:)