The second was based around the double keyboard and involved using two or four fingers while still looking at the keys. A double keyboard has twice the amount of keys, with the capitals above and lowercase below. Both claimed to be the fastest way to type. This dispute was finally resolved when a Mr. McGurrin (an advocater of touch-typing) and a Mr. Tubb, had a competition using the two methods.

The challenge took place in Cincinnati in July 1888 and attracted worldwide attention. The winner was Mr. Gurin who beat Mr. Tubb with ease and at the same time introduced the method that would be used by typists in various forms from then on.

Though this argument had been settled it did not stop the competitions. Many typewriter manufacturers saw the potential of selling their products by creating typing challenges and the craze continued. However, one person and one type of machine prevailed. Charles. E. Smith continually won the speed-typing competition on an Underwood machine until the public lost interest and the contests stopped.

It was in America that the idea of employing women to type was first formed. In 1881 the Young Women’s Christian Association bought six typewriters and began a typing class for eight women. Within five years 60,000 were working throughout the United States.

As typing classes began to develop, some typewriting manufacturers' including Remington, began to set up their own schools. It was within these schools that the skill of shorthand began to be taught alongside the all-finger touch-typing technique. In some cases companies would train up women and then offer their skills when selling their machines to an office.

The evolution of women in the office has had impact on the development of women's rights in all areas of professional life. Before the advent of the typist most women were working in shops, factories or domestic service. Only if they had received a high level of education could women improve their prospects by pursuing nursing or teaching. With the development of the typist and typing-pools, women could take up a 'respectable’ job which did not demand such high levels of education.

The increasing number of women in the workplace cannot just be explained by the development of the typewriter. What the machine did do was establish a role that allowed further opportunities to grow. However, there was also a drawback to the rise of the typist. Many women began to be sterotyped as only able to carry out this level of work and had to struggle to improve their position.

It has been argued that Sholes' intention in creating such a keyboard was not to produce a more efficient machine but to slow down the typist deliberately so that the flaws in his typewriter were never seen! Either way the QWERTY keyboard is still with us today. Attempts have been made to alter the design but none has been successful at winning over public opinion. Other designs have included one by Dr. August Dvorak, who attempted to simplify the keyboardand increase speed typing by 35%. However, like others before him, his ideas were not well received. He claimed changing the keyboard format was like proposing to "reverse the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule, discard every moral principle, and ridicule motherhood"!

Those machines which adopted the accepted design, such as the Underwood,proved successful; those who tried to break with tradition, such as the Hammond typewriter, generally failed.

1. One of the first times a typewriter was mentioned in a fictional book was in the Sherlock Holmes detective story 'A case of Identity' written in 1892. Holmes solved the mystery by identifying the impostor's typewriter.

2. Mark Twain, the American novelist, was the first known author to submit a typed manuscript. He was supposed to have typed his most famous story, 'Tom Sawyer', but it is more likely to have been 'Life on the Mississippi'. Twain’s typewriter was a Remington No.1, invented by Christopher Sholes and Carlos Glidden.

3. During World War One, secret writing machines were developed which wrote unintelligible text. This information could then be deciphered on the same type of machine. Many attempts were made to break the codes written by the secret writing machines.

4. During World War Two, the Japanese thought that they had created the perfect secret writing machines, thinking their codes were unbreakable. However, the Americans did manage to break them, and Japanese war secrets were discovered.

5. The Science Museum's collection includes a Japanese typewriter ca. 1930, which has to accommodate thousands of characters. These characters are called ideograms, which are used instead of letters. One example within the collection includes several trays of ideograms, with each tray containing 2,380 separate ones. Each ideogram is placed within the typewriter and a print is made onto the paper.

You can check your typing speed online Typing Test.

RSIs are caused by repeating the same task over and over again, such as constantly clicking your mouse or striking your keys too hard. These tasks can cause wear and tear on your body's soft tissues (tendons, nerves, etc). If care isn't taken to rest these parts, permanent damage can result.

Some of the more common RSIs are:

• Tenosynovitis – inflammation of the tendon sheath
• Tendonitis – inflammation of a tendon
• Epicondylitis – an inflamed tendon that attaches itself to the bones at the elbow
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome – the compression of the median nerve within the carpal tunnel
• Cubital Tunnel Syndrome – compression of the ulnar nerve where it passes the elbow near the "funny bone."
• Thoracic Outlet Syndrome – affectation of the nerves and blood vessels of the neck and shoulder

• Keep frequently-used items within arm's reach so that you needn't stretch uncomfortably to get them
• Adjust your chair so that your feet lie flat and your thighs are parallel to the floor
• Be sure to have proper support for your hands and forearms when you use your keyboard (either on a tabletop, wrist rest or the arms of your chair)
• Avoid bending your wrists for any lengthy period of time
• Adjust your typing style and keyboard position to avoid striking the keys too hard
• Get up from your desk at regular intervals and move around for a few minutes
• Knowing the risk factors and symptoms of RSIs can go a long way toward preventing them. For more information on this topic, consult your physician.

• Tightness or soreness
• Throbbing or sharp pain
• Numbness / tingling / burning sensation
• Loss of strength in the hands, arms, shoulders or neck

Some of these symptoms may not reveal themselves while you're at work. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, for instance, sometimes manifests as hand numbness or tingling while you are trying to sleep. Usually, however, your first symptom of an RSI will be localized fatigue (aches, pains, loss of strength or trembling) in the affected limb. These sensations will increase if you continue the damaging activity, but usually decrease after stopping the task. If you begin to experience any of these symptoms, contact your doctor immediately. A day or two could make a significant difference.

Factors known to contribute to RSIs:

• Monotonous or Repetitive Tasks – performing the same action with the same body part
• Posture – placing a joint toward its extreme end of movement in any direction away from its neutral or centered position
• Force – performing a task with excessive muscular exertion
• Static Exertion – holding an object or part of the body in the same position for an extended period of time
• Contact Stress – direct pressure on nerves or tendons from resting a body part on a hard or angled surface
• Exhaustion – infrequent or inflexible breaks while performing repetitive tasks