Technology · 2
How many keys does a stenotype machine typically have, letting court reporters chord multiple letters at once to exceed 300 words per minute?
Answer
22
Stenotype machines use just 22 keys, but reporters press several simultaneously to represent whole syllables or phonetic sounds phonetically, allowing far faster output than a standard keyboard.
💡 Did you know?
Stenotype court reporters use 22-key keyboards hitting multiple keys simultaneously to reach 300+ words per minute—faster than any traditional typist.
Other options people guess
- 26
- 42
- 101
Topics
- keyboards
- stenotype
- court-reporting
- nostalgia
Know your technology trivia?
Play a free Technology quiz and see how many you get right — no signup needed to start.
More Technology facts
Technology
Apple marketed the screenless 2005 iPod Shuffle as being roughly the size of which everyday item?
The 2004 iPod Shuffle deliberately omitted a screen entirely, making it the first major music player sold blind—users couldn't see what they were playing.
Technology
When Apple's original iPod debuted in October 2001, which operating system was it built to work with exclusively?
Apple's first iPod required a Mac to function and couldn't work with Windows PCs, limiting its market to just 2% of computer users at launch.
Technology
In what year was the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard first patented, decades after QWERTY had already become the industry standard?
Dvorak Simplified Keyboard reduces finger travel by 80% versus QWERTY, yet never gained mainstream adoption despite superior ergonomics.
Technology
Despite early hype that it would revolutionize urban transportation, how many total Segway personal transporters had been sold when the company halted production in 2020?
Segway, hyped as a city-transportation revolution, sold fewer than 140,000 units total. Its inventor died riding one off a cliff—the company itself was sold for less than initial estimates.
Technology
Which 1990s search engine, once so dominant it processed 80 million queries a day by 1998, turned down an acquisition offer from Google for under $1 million in 1997?
Altavista, the 1990s search giant, rejected an acquisition offer from Google for under $1 million in 1997, choosing to remain independent before eventual irrelevance.
Technology
What was the name of the first artificial satellite, launched by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957, that triggered the Space Age and the Space Race?
Sputnik 1 was only the size of a beach ball — 58 cm in diameter — yet its faint radio beeps were detectable by amateur radio operators worldwide.