History Main / RapidFireTyping

* Scotty in ''Film/{{Star Trek IV|The Voyage Home}}'', who probably has never seen, to say nothing of used, a keyboard before in his life, quickly adapts to one and cranks out the formula to [[AppliedPhlebotinum Transparent Aluminum]] in less than a minute using a computer whose OS has horrendous support for keyboard shortcuts.

** In ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact'', in an attempt to stop the Borg from hacking into the ''Enterprise'''s computer, Data uses Rapid Fire Typing to improvise a highly complex encryption code on the spot and encrypt all the ship's major systems in a matter of seconds. Data's an android, though, which means his typing speed is limited mostly by how fast his fingers can physically move. Also a subtle SpecialEffectFailure: you'll see the reflections of the "red alert" flashing lights speed up since they just sped up the film to get the effect.
* Elliot Carver, the evil media baron from the ''Film/JamesBond'' film ''Film/TomorrowNeverDies'', writes news stories, controls video conferences and basically runs his entire empire by flailing madly at a small, hand-held computer console. This is one of the few instances where you can actually see words coming up on the screen as Elliot types, though he is still typing far too fast. Could be explained logically, in that Carver's company is also partly an evil parody of Microsoft, meaning he may have his own special "evil villain" control software that interfaces entirely through rapid-fire typing.
* ''Film/GoldenEye'': Boris Grishenko, the hacker, performs a range of computer work with rapid typing, sometimes with one hand and other times having to type even faster due to threats from his boss.

* A particularly hilarious example shows up in the Creator/WhoopiGoldberg film ''Film/JumpinJackFlash''. Goldberg, who has just been contacted by a spy while putting in some overtime at her work terminal, engages in a friendly chat with the stranger. She rattles off a few seconds of RapidFireTyping and then [[SoundingItOut helpfully narrates]] her response: "Yo."
* Played straight in the Disney SciFi movie ''Earth Star Voyager''. A group of {{Space Cadet}}s control their space cruiser (steering, evading enemy fire, firing, etc.) only through frantic keyboard typing -- no mouse, joystick, steering wheel, or anything intuitive in the future, apparently...

* Dennis Nedry, in ''Film/JurassicPark'', is shown typing at a feverish place while he's setting up "White Rabbit Object" to launch. By the time the camera moves so we can see what's on the screen, it only focuses on one button that pops up on the screen: "Execute."

* The Flash has been shown doing this to actually hack a system. He can apparently try millions of password attempts by hand. This would be justified if there was a computer capable of keeping up with his natural typing speed.

* PlayedForLaughs when Creator/BrandonSanderson announced the release of ''Literature/TressOfTheEmeraldSea'' on his Website/YouTube channel. The video shows him on the computer typing so fast and furiously that the keyboard explodes. Sanderson simply wipes the tabletop clean and plugs in another keyboard, from a pile of them in the corner.

** In ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact'', in an attempt to stop the Borg from hacking into the ''Enterprise'''s computer, Data uses Rapid Fire Typing to improvise a highly complex encryption code on the spot and encrypt all the ship's major systems in a matter of seconds. Data's an android, though, which means his typing speed is limited mostly by how fast his fingers can physically move. Also a subtle SpecialEffectFailure: you'll see the reflections of the "red alert" flashing lights speed up since they just sped up the film to get the effect.

Occasionally this can be [[JustifiedTrope justified]] through TruthInTelevision as many computer users can indeed do things quicker by using the keyboard exclusively though shortcuts instead of a mouse, especially if using command line interfaces or macro keys. Even more occasionally, more fantastic setting may present this as something ''deliberately'' weird, to hint (or illustrate) that a character is an android, a wizard or otherwise abnormal. This trope is about JustForFun/{{egregious}} uses of speed typing to control what a computer does.

* Yuki the data entity humanoid interface from ''[[Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya]]'' is shown graduating from ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tETnhTH7CnA waving the mouse around in the air]]'' to this trope within the week she learns how to use a laptop computer. At top speed it's surprising she doesn't fill the keyboard buffer. Unlike other examples, what she does actually justifies her use. Windows are shown rapidly appearing and disappearing as she plays the game from a ''source code'' level (when you're just that good, who needs the GUI?). She also manages a method she uses when ''hacking reality'', namely to speak really, really fast. What's spoken is, for bonus marks, SQL queries, fast-forwarded and played backwards.

* In ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'', with the advent of [[BrainComputerInterface direct neural interfaces]], no one should even need a keyboard. Indeed, the main characters rarely use them. However, the android operators still dutifully punch keys on their consoles very fast. In [[Anime/GhostInTheShell1995 the 1995 movie]], some people have cybernetic hands designed to allow faster typing, a visually cool but creepy and inefficient device that splits one's fingers in two. The manga explains that some people are too paranoid about brainhacking to use a direct brain interface, and get the creepy hand operation to enable them to keep up with those who can just plug in directly.

* In ''Anime/{{Geneshaft}}'', Dolce and her hapless subordinates do this to fix the extremely buggy code of their starship's control system, and virtually go in overdrive mode when battling a computer virus.

* Early in the run of ''ComicBook/{{Invincible}}'' the title character's father, an expy of ComicBook/{{Superman}} whose civilian identity is a novelist, notes that he has deadline for a book coming up so he'll have to buy several keyboards to burn through over the weekend.

* Elliot Carver, the evil media baron from the ''Film/JamesBond'' film ''Film/TomorrowNeverDies'', writes news stories, controls video-conferences and basically runs his entire empire by flailing madly at a small, hand-held computer console. This is one of the few instances where you can actually see words coming up on the screen as Elliot types, though he is still typing far too fast. Could be explained logically, in that Carver's company is also partly an evil parody of Microsoft, meaning he may have his own special "evil villain" control software that interfaces entirely through rapid fire typing.

* Stanley Jobson in ''Film/{{Swordfish}}''. Mostly amazing in his first demonstration: he is ordered to hack into the Department of Defense in 60 seconds while at gun point, and ''receiving oral sex''. Amazingly, his typing in between buttons and in between rows means something to the computer he uses.

* Spoofed in ''Film/BruceAlmighty''. Bruce, while typing at inhuman speeds, drinks coffee and looks other way. But in this case, Bruce has {{God}}'s powers...

* Played straight in the Disney SciFi movie ''Earth Star Voyager''. A group of {{Space Cadet}}s control their space cruiser (steering, evading enemy fire, firing, etc.) only through frantic keyboard typing -- no mouse, joystick, steering wheel or anything intuitive in the future, apparently...

* Creator/NealStephenson's ''Literature/{{Cryptonomicon}}'': "Randy could hear a rattling sound in the background, computer keys impacting so rapidly it sounded like Avi was simply holding the keyboard between his pale, spindly hands and shaking it violently up and down." Given Avi's obsession with efficiency, however, it's entirely possible that he does in fact have a ridiculously fast typing speed. Later in the book, Randy is described as going on "a forty-eight-hour hacking binge", which may or may not involve ''rapid'' typing but certainly involves ''enough'' typing to require that his next email be written by poking the keyboard with the eraser on the end of a pencil, because his carpal tunnel syndrome is so bad that he can't type in the usual fashion.

* ''Series/TwentyFour'' is a particularly egregious example. No one ever seems to use a mouse. Considering that the people actually using the computers--Chloe, for instance--are extraordinarily skilled, this actually isn't too far off. Many experienced techies will prefer a keyboard for some applications, because it can be quicker if you're a good typist, and many of the advanced commands are only available via command line.

** A Dalek in the [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E6Dalek eponymous episode]] hammers through a billion password combinations on a keypad in one second, apparently using directed suction with its sucker hand. Either that, or it was putting electrons directly into the chip (making the entry of that many passwords more plausible than with button-clicking). Of course, the real question is why the high budget, high security facility doesn't require smartcards in addition to [=PINs=] on the doors... with that setup, there would be quadrillions (or more) of potential card/PIN combinations and even at the CPU's clock speed it would take a significant amount of time (hours or days) to go through them all.

** Several PC operating system support Alt-Tab to switch among open windows, and several applications recognize Ctrl-+ to zoom.

* PlayedForLaughs on ''Series/PowerRangersZeo''. Bulk and Skull go to a computer to look up information on somebody, and Skull's fingers are ready to fly. Once he sits down, he starts flailing nonsensically at the keyboard, and Bulk asks if he actually knows he's doing. Skull admits he doesn't know anything about computers but looks like someone who does, at which point Bulk kicks him off and starts browsing more realistically.

* In one of the ''Nick Burns: Your Company's Computer Guy'' sketches on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'', all the computer usage is done through typing. It gets particularly silly when Nick explains how to do something and the actions are all in terms of what to click on, then he does it by typing. Apparently Nick Burns is quite the command line purist.

** In ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact'', in an attempt to stop the Borg from hacking into the ''Enterprise'''s computer, Data uses Rapid Fire Typing to improvise a highly complex encryption code on the spot and encrypt all the ship's major systems in a matter of seconds. Data's an android, though, which means his typing speed is limited mostly by how fast his fingers can physically move. Also a subtle SpecialEffectFailure: you'll see the reflections of the "red alert" flashing lights speed up, since they just sped up the film to get the effect.

* All computers on ''Radio/AdventuresInOdyssey'' require RapidFireTyping (the ones that aren't run by voice command anyway)--not {{justified|Trope}} but understandable, given that it's a radio show and a keyboard generates more sound than a mouse. Later episodes use realistic mouse-clicks, although they're still [[BeepingComputers a little loud]].

* ''[[VideoGame/HouseOfTheDead The Typing of the Dead]]'', a version of ''The House of the Dead 2'' with the controls changed from light-gun to auto-aim with words and phrases that players need to type before the zombies and monsters attack, and the in-game characters reflect on this by them toting Dreamcast-powered keyboards. The slogan indeed says "Type or Die". It receives its own sequels too, a Japan exclusive sequel based on ''The House of the Dead III'' and the last version available globally is based on ''VideoGame/TheHouseOfTheDeadOverkill'' (as well as featuring the original Overkill as a mouse-controlled rail shooter)

* PlayedForLaughs when Creator/BrandonSanderson annouched the release of ''Literature/TressOfTheEmeraldSea'' on his Website/YouTube channel. The video shows him on the computer typing so fast and furiously that the keyboard explodes. Sanderson simply wipes the tabletop clean and plugs in another keyboard, from a pile of them in the corner.

* Parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHead'' episode "Temporary Insanity." The boys are confused for office temps by apathetic management, and put behind a desk. Beavis is put in charge of typing up documents, and Beavis spends his shift constantly clicking away at the keyboard. Except AxCrazy, BookDumb Beavis doesn't actually type ''words,'' exactly, so much as he just really loves pressing the buttons, so all he ever types is gibberish. By the end of his shift, he's just mashing the keyboard with his fists like a lunatic, and he winds up shorting out the computer.

* There are some operating system interfaces (like [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Openbox Openbox]]) that are meant to be controlled with little mouse operation. Additionally, the tab key can move you across fields, which most people don't know/use. Put the two together and you have a system that can be ran for rather more than average without lifting your hands from the keyboard, all the while typing in shortcuts and [=URLs=] and whatnot. To some people, this is a boon; to others, it's merely unusual.

* Clerks at airport check-in terminals still tend to use mostly keyboard-based software, and often have a lot of data to enter for each passenger's profile in a relatively short period of time. What exactly they are typing so much of and so fast has nevertheless long remained a common "did you ever wonder..." type mystery of daily life, and a common source of jokes.

* It is very common among translators working on very simple, standardized or well known texts (especially when translating ''into'' their native language) and writers or journalists who simply type the text they have composed earlier. In both cases such people can use a maximum writing speed for a prolonged amount of time.

While some people actually ''are'' this fast at typing, they usually have to either rely on autocomplete, which requires advanced editors that support this feature, or go back and delete spelling errors later, which is not an ideal state when programming. Not that anyone writes program code this fast anyway, because you always spend more time thinking about program logic and correcting minor errors. In fact, functions[[note]]the specific name may vary in each language, they may also be called "methods" or "subroutines"[[/note]] exist precisely to avoid the need to write walls of text or repetitive code, and doing so instead of taking advantage of functions is a clear sign of ''bad'' programming - to the extent that some programmers will look askance at code that doesn't take advantage of every possible way of reducing the number of characters used. Why write an If-Then-Else over several lines when you could use a Conditional Operator instead, and get it into one line?[[note]]...to which ''other'' people say, because If-Then-Else is easier to read and understand, and then there are Flame Wars, and let's leave it there.[[/note]]

* Played straight in the Disney SciFi movie ''Earth Star Voyager''. A group of {{Space Cadet}}s control their space cruiser (steering, evading enemy fire, firing, etc.) only through frantic keyboard typing - no mouse, joystick, steering wheel or anything intuitive in the future, apparently...

-->'''Ivan Vanko:''' Твой софт - говно.\\

* The sequel to ''VideoGame/TheSeventhGuest'' has Samantha Ford, explained in the manual to be a techno-psychic. She plays this trope ''really'' straight: Using rapid-fire commands to transmit camera views of the Stauf mansion and hints to Carl's Gamebook, and uses a mouse only in one shot - and rather awkwardly, at that. There's even a point where she seems to be [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall playing the 7th Guest game on one of her three computers]], while hammering away at the keyboard and never using the mouse.

* During Kazuma Kiryu's revelation sequences in ''VideoGame/Yakuza3'', he types whole blog posts in seconds using T9 on his cellphone.

* Over a six-year span starting in 1968, Mrs. Marva Drew of Waterloo, Iowa typed the numbers one to one million on a manual typewriter, a feat requiring 2,473 pages, because her young son came home from school and said that his teacher told the class that it was impossible to count to a million.

* is the equivalent of "take off and nuke the entire site from orbit"[[/note]] was eventually made impossible to perform by mistake, but it's still perfectly possible to destroy your entire document archive, or instead of copying some files jumbling them up into one huge indecipherable file, or rename things such that their content can no longer be distinguished without going through them one by one. Don't test your typing speed in the shell. And even if you were inclined to, the 'nixes almost all have Tab-autocomplete to save you typing it all out, so you ''should'' be thumping that rather than trying to type out a long file path both manually and at speed.

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'': This is what happens if you use Whirling Brush Method in conjunction with a {{Magitek}} typewriter/keyboard.
[[/folder]]

* Creator/NealStephenson's ''Literature/{{Cryptonomicon}}'': "Randy could hear a rattling sound in the background, computer keys impacting so rapidly it sounded like Avi was simply holding the keyboard between his pale, spindly hands and shaking it violently up and down." Given Avi's obsession with efficiency, however, it's entirely possible that he does in fact have a ridiculously fast typing speed. Later in the book, Randy is described as going on "a forty-eight-hour hacking binge", which may or may not involve ''rapid'' typing but certainly involves ''enough'' typing to require that his next email be written by poking the keyboard with the eraser on the end of a pencil, because his carpal tunnel syndrome is so bad that he can't type in the usual fashion. (The first word of said email is "carpal", which he knows is enough on its own to explain his situation to the recipients.)

* Over a six-year span starting in 1968, Mrs. Marva Drew of Waterloo, Iowa typed the numbers one to one million on a manual typewriter, a feat requiring 2,473 pages, because her young son came home from school and said that his teacher told the class that it was impossible to count to a million. [[http://www.cracked.com/article_18647_7-amazing-yet-uninspiring-feats-human-endurance.html#ixzz0v81pQbJz Now]] [[http://www.bigsiteofamazingfacts.com/history-of-typewriters that's]] [[http://books.google.com/books?id=PuP3nAi0YiQC&pg=PA163&lpg=PA163&dq=marva+drew+1968&source=bl&ots=5d-6Cilfui&sig=7ZZrV89x-VXPTvy4Oh76CUYg-4Y&hl=en&ei=gDVSTOPYEMKBlAen3-DXBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CCwQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=marva%20drew%201968&f=false dedication.]]

** It should be mentioned, however, that RapidFireTyping in this environment can be highly detrimental. While the shell is indeed an extremely powerful tool, WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility: the way Unix commands are structured, it's perfectly possible to do serious damage to your data, or even often to the entire system, by making silly typing mistakes that wouldn't even register if you were typing an essay. The old favourite of wiping out the whole drive by ''mistyping a space''[[note]]rm -rf foldername/* removes the contents of the folder, rm -rf foldername /* is the equivalent of "take off and nuke the entire site from orbit"[[/note]] was eventually made impossible to perform by mistake, but it's still perfectly possible to destroy your entire document archive, or instead of copying some files jumbling them up into one huge indecipherable file, or rename things such that their content can no longer be distinguished without going through them one by one. Don't test your typing speed in the shell. And even if you were inclined to, the 'nixes almost all have Tab-autocomplete to save you typing it all out, so you ''should'' be thumping that rather than trying to type out a long file path both manually and at speed.

* Crime shows do this. For example, in ''Series/CriminalMinds'', Garcia operates half a dozen computers at once, pulling up all manner of information, all by typing.
** On ''Series/{{CSI}}'' the lab folks routinely use the keyboard even when operating graphics and sound editing programs. Maybe the "enhance" command requires typing ''e-n-h-a-n-c-e''?
** Garcia is using multiple monitors, not separate computers. She is also explicitly using a custom version of Linux she designed herself as an OS, so it could just be optimized for this usage by her preference.

* In ''Film/GoldenEye'', the BigBad orders Boris Grishenko, the hacker, to perform some necessary computer work and instructs a soldier to kill him if he moves. Boris starts typing fast, then the soldier motions with his gun. Boris types faster. There was an especially grievous example earlier, when Boris performs rapid fire typing with only one hand, while spinning a (grenade) pen in the other. While doing so, he never stops to correct any mistakes -- because he is that good.
** Earlier in the film has a much more egregious example. When first introduced you can actually see the screen and you see him type and hear a ridiculous number of keystrokes over several seconds but only the short phrase 'Send spike' appears on the screen.

** In real life, the effect was achieved by Creator/JimCarrey typing normally, while slooowly lifting the coffee cup in his right, and then the footage was sped up.

** Other possibility is that they're playing ''[[http://somoe.org/typing Typingmania.]]'' Bonus points: Japanese songs on ''Typingmania'' don't use the space bar.

* Yuki the data entity humanoid interface from ''[[LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya]]'' is shown graduating from ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tETnhTH7CnA waving the mouse around in the air]]'' to this trope within the week she learns how to use a laptop computer. At top speed it's surprising she doesn't fill the keyboard buffer. Unlike other examples, what she does actually justifies her use. Windows are shown rapidly appearing and disappearing as she plays the game from a ''source code'' level (when you're just that good, who needs the GUI?). She also manages a method she uses when ''hacking reality'', namely to speak really, really fast. What's spoken is, for bonus marks, SQL queries, fast-forwarded and played backwards.

* Celty the [[HeadlessHorseman Dullahan]] in ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'' can do this with her PDA. We actually see her typing the same sequence spots over and over; but the keys that she really wants to be pushed light up. Because in actuality, she mainly uses her shadow-like substance to do most of the typing.

While some people actually ''are'' this fast at typing, they usually have to either rely on autocomplete, which requires advanced editors that supports this feature, or go back and delete spelling errors later, which is not an ideal state when programming. Not that anyone writes program code this fast anyway, because you always spend more time thinking about program logic and correcting minor errors. In fact, functions[[note]]the specific name may vary in each language, they may also be called "methods" or "subrutines"[[/note]] exist precisely to avoid the need to write walls of text or repetitive codes, and doing so instead of taking advantage of functions is a clear sign of ''bad'' programming.

* The power of the command line is a major reason why certain people ''love'' the various descendants of UNIX: all of them include very powerful command line tools and shells that let the user combine them in all kinds of ways [[note]]generally by sending the output of one command directly into the input of another, like ''ls -l | grep <some pattern> | more'' (detailed list of files -> filter it down to matching lines -> display results one screenful at a time)[[/note]] to automate basically any task. Using these, a skilled operator can do most of the things a normal person could do through a GUI, but significantly faster, not to mention some things that are ''not'' doable via GUI at all.
** It should be mentioned, however, that RapidFireTyping in this environment can be highly detrimental. While the shell is indeed an extremely powerful tool, WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility: the way Unix commands are structured, it's perfectly possible to do serious damage to your data, or even often to the entire system, by making silly typing mistakes that wouldn't even register if you were typing an essay. The old favourite of wiping out the whole drive by ''mistyping a space''[[note]]rm -rf foldername/* removes the contents of the folder, rm -rf foldername /* is the equivalent of "take off and nuke the entire site from orbit"[[/note]] was eventually made impossible to perform by mistake, but it's still perfectly possible to destroy your entire document archive, or instead of copying some files jumbling them up into one huge indecipherable file, or rename things such that their content can no longer be distinguished without going through them one by one. Don't test your typing skills in the shell.

* PLayedForLaughs on ''Series/PowerRangersZeo''. Bulk and Skull go to a computer to look up information on somebody, and Skull's fingers are ready to fly. Once he sits down, he starts flailing nonsensically at the keyboard, and Bulk asks if he actually knows he's doing. Skull admits he doesn't know anything about computers but looks like someone who does, at which point Bulk kicks him off and starts browsing more realistically.

* Creator/NealStephenson's ''Literature/{{Cryptonomicon}}'': "Randy could hear a rattling sound in the background, computer keys impacting so rapidly it sounded like Avi was simply holding the keyboard between his pale, spindly hands and shaking it violently up and down." Given Avi's obsession with efficiency, however, it's entirely possible that he does in fact have a ridiculously fast typing speed. Later in the book, Randy is described as going on "a forty-eight-hour hacking binge", which may or may not involve ''rapid'' typing but certainly involves enough ''typing'' to require his next email be written by poking the keyboard with the eraser on the end of a pencil because his carpal tunnel syndrome is so bad that he can't type in the usual fashion.

* In the 90s ''WesternAnimation/IronMan'' cartoon, Tony Stark occasionally typed like this... ''using only his index fingers''.

* In ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', Dr. Ritsuko defeats an Angel turned Computer Virus through this method. That same episode, we see a techie RapidFireTyping away, writing huge amounts of code -- and then Ritsuko comes over and does the same thing ten times as fast, ''[[UpToEleven with one hand.]]''

--> '''Socrates:''' ([[NoFourthWall to the audience]]) "I have [[UpToEleven 1,200 words per minute.]]"

* ''Anime/KillLaKill'' has [[EvilGenius Inumuta]] often doing this. Since his [[ClothesMakeTheSuperman Goku Uniform]] is covered in keyboards, this makes some sense.[[http://animationrevelation.com/readables/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/KillLaKill10.gif Even if the poses he makes while doing so don't]]

* In Creator/WilliamGibson's ''Literature/SprawlTrilogy'', even though cyberdecks use a neural interface as a display device, commands are still supposed to be input using a keyboard. Gibson also seemed to be under the impression that the ''timing'' of keystrokes would be an important means of identity verification: for example, the Dixie Flatline never replaced his heart because he didn't want to throw his timing off[[note]]In real life, Morse Code signalers in UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo were sometimes identifiable by their "fist", or, loosely, the timing of their signals[[/note]].

** Other possibility is that they're playing ''[[http://somoe.org/typing/ Typingmania]]''. Bonus points: Japanese songs on ''Typingmania'' don't use the space bar.

* Combine buckling-spring keyboards with people who type over 100 WPM (think 150-180 on QWERTY) with hard strikes. Not only do people hear a very amplified strike and--with a rapid finger lift--return click, they'll hear the springs resonating inside the keyboard as well. Now apply that to someone writing a paper. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxjTgfGTLDo Like this boy]].
* The fastest typing speed ever, 216 words per minute, was achieved by Stella Pajunas-Garnand from Chicago in 1946 in one minute on an IBM electric. [[http://www.bigsiteofamazingfacts.com/history-of-typewriters See]] [[http://www.owled.com/typing.html here]] [[http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/modelb/modelb_4509PH04.html for]] [[http://www.deskstore.com/INFORMATION-1/en/Plan-Your-Office/Believe-it-or-not details]].
* The longest time typing nonstop ever is 162 hours and one minute, done by California high school teacher Robin Heil in 1976. [[http://www.bigsiteofamazingfacts.com/history-of-typewriters See here]].
* Over a six-year span starting in 1968, Mrs. Marva Drew of Waterloo, Iowa typed the numbers one to one million on a manual typewriter, a feat requiring 2,473 pages, because her young son came home from school and said that his teacher told the class that it was impossible to count to a million. [[http://www.cracked.com/article_18647_7-amazing-yet-uninspiring-feats-human-endurance.html#ixzz0v81pQbJz Now]] [[http://www.bigsiteofamazingfacts.com/history-of-typewriters that's]] [[http://books.google.com/books?id=PuP3nAi0YiQC&pg=PA163&lpg=PA163&dq=marva+drew+1968&source=bl&ots=5d-6Cilfui&sig=7ZZrV89x-VXPTvy4Oh76CUYg-4Y&hl=en&ei=gDVSTOPYEMKBlAen3-DXBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CCwQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=marva%20drew%201968&f=false dedication]].
* Professional ''VideoGame/StarCraft'' players work at incredible levels of "action per minute", each action being an order to a unit, a macro put into action, [[ConstructAdditionalPylons additional pylons constructed]], or similar. The average home player will do about 30 APM. By hammering away at keyboard shortcuts, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbpCLqryN-Q championship players will do at least 200-300 APM]]. The all-time record hovers around ''800'' (held by world-class player Park Sung-Joon).

* Now you, too, can be a Hollywood hacker. Need the hero of your movie to infiltrate the Pentagon or disarm a nuclear bomb? Use professional tools, like [[https://hackertyper.com The Hacker Typer]]. Don't let the audience catch you [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMYypRb5smw inputting random gibberish into Microsoft Excel]]. [[spoiler:Hold F5 and press Alt. ACCESS GRANTED]]!
* Even in modern Windows, the old-school command prompt is still the quickest way around several tasks, including decent directory navigation (symbolic links get in the way most of the time). Do you want a list of all the files in a directory? You could manually copy each filename, one at a time, or you can use a command prompt or [=PowerShell=] window and just type ''dir /b /on > files.txt''[[note]]"Give me a list of all files in the current working directory, in "bare" format (just filenames and extensions), ordered by filename, and write that list into an ASCII text file called files.txt"[[/note]].

* Early in the run of ''ComicBook/{{Invincible}}'' the title character's father, an expy of {{Superman}} whose civilian identity is a novelist, notes that he has deadline for a book coming up so he'll have to buy several keyboards to burn through over the weekend.

** Similar to the ''Superman'' example above, a Dalek in the [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E6Dalek eponymous episode]] hammers through a billion password combinations on a keypad in one second, apparently using directed suction with its sucker hand. Either that, or it was putting electrons directly into the chip (making the entry of that many passwords more plausible than with button-clicking). Of course, the real question is why the high budget, high security facility doesn't require smartcards in addition to [=PINs=] on the doors... with that setup, there would be quadrillions (or more) of potential card/PIN combinations and even at the CPU's clock speed it would take a significant amount of time (hours or days) to go through them all.

* Similarly, in ''Series/LoisAndClark'', Franchise/{{Superman}} once speed-tried a bunch of different passwords, whether they're dictionary words or random alphanumerics, until finding the right one. The keyboard was smoking by the end of it.

While some people actually ''are'' this fast at typing, they usually have to either rely on autocomplete, which requires advanced editors that supports this feature, or go back and delete spelling errors later, which is not an ideal state when programming. Not that anyone writes program code this fast anyway, because you always spend more time thinking about program logic and correcting minor errors (or simply copy/pasting redundant code with minor alterations) than actually typing large chunks of text, except if the program is really really repetitive or inane... in which case it wouldn't be performing the magic that it is (or is about to).

[[AC:For the best reading experience, play [[https://youtu.be/l7UAvZ3jbY8 this video]] while reading on.]]

* In ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'', with the advent of direct neural interfaces, no one should even need a keyboard. Indeed, the main characters rarely use them. However, the android operators still dutifully punch keys on their consoles very fast. In the 1995 movie, some people have cybernetic hands designed to allow faster typing, a visually cool but creepy and inefficient device that splits one's fingers in two. The manga explains that some people are too paranoid about brainhacking to use a direct brain interface, and get the creepy hand operation to enable them to keep up with those who can just plug in directly.