The History of Typing: From Typewriters to Touchscreens

The history of typing is the history of how humans have chosen to communicate through machines. It spans nearly two centuries, from the clunking lever arms of the first typewriters to the silent glass surfaces of modern smartphones. Understanding this history illuminates why we type the way we do today — and why some of our habits, including the QWERTY layout, persist despite having been designed for a world that no longer exists.

The First Typewriter: 1868

Christopher Latham Sholes, a newspaper editor and politician from Wisconsin, patented the first practical typewriter in 1868, working with colleagues Carlos Glidden and Samuel Soule. The machine was crude by modern standards — it could only type in uppercase — but it established the fundamental concept of pressing a key to imprint a character on paper.

Sholes sold his patent to the Remington Arms Company in 1873. Remington refined the design and brought it to market as the Remington No. 1 in 1874. It was the first commercially produced typewriter, and it introduced the QWERTY keyboard layout — a design Sholes developed to reduce jamming of the mechanical type bars by separating commonly paired letters.

The Rise of the Professional Typist

Typewriters created an entirely new profession: the typist. By the late 19th century, businesses were hiring dedicated typists to handle correspondence, legal documents, and records. The role was initially filled predominantly by women, representing one of the first widespread professional opportunities for women in office environments. Typing speed became a measurable, marketable skill for the first time, and typing schools proliferated across major cities.

The Electric Typewriter: 1900s to 1960s

Electric typewriters emerged in the early 20th century and reached mainstream adoption with the IBM Selectric in 1961. The Selectric replaced the traditional type bars with a rotating typeball, eliminating jamming entirely and allowing typists to work at significantly higher speeds. It dominated the office market for twenty years and is considered one of the most successful office machines ever made.

The Personal Computer Revolution: 1980s

The IBM PC (1981) and Apple Macintosh (1984) brought the keyboard into homes and transformed it from a professional tool into a universal interface. The mechanical keyboards of this era — particularly the IBM Model M (1984), with its legendary buckling spring switches — are still revered by enthusiasts for their typing feel. QWERTY survived the transition from typewriter to computer keyboard unchanged, cementing its global dominance despite the mechanical reasons for its design being completely obsolete.

The Internet Age and the Rise of Typing Speed Culture

The explosion of email, instant messaging, and online publishing in the 1990s and 2000s made fast typing a universal advantage rather than a specialist skill. Online typing tests emerged as a way for individuals to benchmark their speed. Communities of competitive typists formed online, sharing techniques, testing platforms, and leaderboards. The mechanical keyboard hobby was reborn as enthusiasts sought better typing experiences than the membrane keyboards bundled with consumer computers.

Touchscreens and Beyond: 2007 to Today

The iPhone’s 2007 launch introduced the glass touchscreen as a typing surface to a mass audience. Touchscreen typing is fundamentally different from physical keyboard typing: there is no tactile feedback, no key travel, and the error rate is substantially higher. Autocorrect and predictive text emerged as solutions to the accuracy problem. Voice typing has matured rapidly and now offers a viable alternative for many use cases.

Yet physical keyboards have not disappeared. The mechanical keyboard hobby has exploded into a multi-billion dollar market. Typists who spend their days at a computer still overwhelmingly prefer physical keys, and typing speed tests remain as popular as ever as a benchmark of keyboard skill. The story of typing is far from over. While you reflect on it, challenge your reflexes with Unblocked Tunnel Rush or test your precision with Coreball — two games that represent the cutting edge of browser-based skill training today.

What the History of Typing Tells Us About the Future

Every major transition in the history of typing — from mechanical typewriter to electric, from electric to personal computer, from desktop to mobile — has been driven by the same forces: a desire for faster, more accurate, more comfortable input. The tools change; the underlying human need does not. Voice input, neural interfaces, and AI-assisted writing are already reshaping what typing means. But for the foreseeable future, the physical keyboard remains the fastest and most precise input device for sustained professional text production. Take our free typing speed test to see where you stand in that history, and the skill of touch typing remains as valuable as it has ever been. Learn it now. Future you will be grateful.

Experience the Evolution Yourself

The story of typing has come a long way from the Sholes typewriter. Today you can measure your own place in that history with a free typing speed test, challenge your reaction speed with Unblocked Tunnel Rush, test your precision with Coreball, or benchmark your raw click speed with the CPS Test. The tools change across centuries — the human drive to go faster and more accurately never does.