Larry shares my disagreement with one of Iggy's posts about text entry speed being an issue at all on tablets. Iggy thinks that faster typing doesn't really promote good content creation, since you're just spewing out junk that you'll have to massively correct later anyway. Frankly, maybe this is one of those "there are two kinds of people" things, but here's my take.
I have used fast typing (well, as fast as my crappy keyboarding is) in two situations: while writing papers in college and while coding. In both cases, I either have an existing reference document or I'm just doing straight "mind to screen translation" (when having an inspired coding streak, perhaps). Either way, I know what I'm typing, and I generally know how to type (I'm literate enough or know the development language), so there really is no advantage in entering the information more slowly. In both cases, the tool (word processor or development IDE) offers some sort of immediate indication of simple errors, and I later go over the whole thing to correct anything more serious, or to pretty things up. I have definitely typed at least half a dozen pages of pretty good work in one fluid go, during last minute college assignments (you know how it is). And things like OCR and speech recognition are not always an option either, especially when coding or working in public spaces.
Again, it's probably a personal preference, but when Iggy says:
"For knowledge work (writing, correspondence,coding etc), 'faster text entry is better' is like saying 'good drivers drive fast'"
I have to instead agree with Larry:
"it’s really unacceptable to take 30 seconds to get 'io.Ink.Strokes.ToString()' into the machine"
After all, good drivers certainly don't do 20 MPH on the highway. But...(yes, there's always a but, isn't there)...I do agree with Iggy when he isn't exactly thrilled with the "alternate" input systems described in James Kendrick's exhaustive overview of text input methods (a fantastic article that every tablet user should check out). I will just flat out state right now that I will either type away on a keyboard (physical or possibly on-screen) or use regular handwriting on my own terms (and deal with the resulting recognition issues), but I will not use some proprietary jumbled, misshapen, or made-up text input method.
I have tried things like AlphaTap, MessageEase, even briefly considered IBM's SHARK, but it all ends up being too gimmicky for me. If I want speed, I'll type. If I can't do that, I'll handwrite. After all, the tablet is supposed to be about natural interaction, and both writing and typing have been around for while, are natural to me, and will stick around in the future (unlike some of these "alternatives"). The only exception is T9, but that's partly based on a standard hardware phone keypad, and has been standardized across many phones and manufacturers for years.
Is this just me being old fashioned? Do you really value speed of text entry? And if so, did it drive you to a proprietary text entry system that some software company forces on you?