It doesn’t take a genius to cook up this marketing plan for Das
Keyboard. You make high-end keyboards, you hold the Ultimate Typing
Championship. This year at SXSW, Das
Keyboard brought the two finalists–Nate Bowen of NYC and Sean Wrona of
Ithaca, NY–to Austin Texas, and crowned a winner. Both typists have
been clocked at 150 words per minute, but this contest wasn’t even
close.
The championship had two rounds, and Sean Wrona won the
first round easily, hitting an unbelievable163 words per minute. The
current world record is for typing 158 words per minute, according to
the Guinness Book of
World Records.
The second test included a mix of
unintelligible phrases and code that required multiple keyboard
commands. Despite the complex material, Wrona beat his opponent 125 to
72 words per minute. That is the round I captured on video below.
After
Wrona collected his $2,000 prize, I asked him if his fingers hurt. He
shrugged and said: “My fingers are fine, although it is kind of
uncomfortable on the wrists.”
You can test your typing skills at ultimatetypingchampionship.com,
but don’t expect to see my name on the finalist list. I still look at
the keys when I type.
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