Speed typing competitions (Q from LinguistList)

[Lauren Squires]

In case people aren't on the regular LinguistList, this question came 
through today, and I myself would be interested to know the answer. 
 Thoughts?  All I know if is text messaging competitions that happen 
nowadays. - LS

Date: 11-Nov-2005
From: Andrew Joscelyne <ajoscelynebootstrap.fr>
Subject: Non-Latin Alphabet Speed Typing Competitions

A sociolinguistic question: I'm looking for any historical data on speed
typing competitions in non-Latin alphabet communities (especially Semitic,
Han, Japanese, Korean, Cyrillic, etc). In the U.S. and Western Europe,
speed typing was a minor social phenomenon in the late 10th/early 20th
century as the typewriter went mainstream. Did such competitions associated
with a 'language technology' occur elsewhere?

Thanks for any references or information on this topic.

----
Lauren Squires
Linguistics Program
University of Virginia
***
http://polyglotconspiracy.net
http://sociocmc.blogspot.com