| Field | Office/Communication |
| Went Obsolete | Mid-1980s; probably late 1980s to mid-1990s in developing countries |
| Made Obsolete By | Inexpensive recording devices |
| Knowledge Assumed | Special training. |
| When useful | This is a useful skill that is, unfortunately, on the brink of extinction. |
Shorthand is a way of quickly capturing the spoken word. It involves the use of symbols that represent sounds. In the past, it was an important tool used by court reporters, journalists, and secretaries, who had to capture the spoken word verbatim.
There are several different methods of shorthand, the two most well-known forms being Pittman and Gregg. Both of these methods are strictly symbolic; i.e., there are no standard letter formations used. There are other methods that use alphasymbolic systems that combine letterlike forms and symbols to capture sound.
Learning shorthand isn't as easy as learning to write longhand. The aspiring shorthand writer must first learn the symbols of the system being studied, and then must train his or her mind to automatically write in symbols what he or she hears.
EXCEPTIONS: in courts and legislatures all over the world, shorthand writers log the proceedings instead of mechanized tachygraphs.
Journalists continue to use shorthand for taking notes, especially in places where recording devices are not allowed, such as courtrooms.
However, many journalists today do not learn a formal shorthand style but rather use one of their own devising. Such homemade systems often use standard alphanumeric characters but incorporate techniques such as using abbreviations or leaving out letters.
Example: “Jn sd h wld brg th doc 2 m 2dy” for “John said he would bring the document to me today.”
Nowadays shorthand has found a new use in SMS (cell phone text messages) due to the 160 character limit. This kind of shorthand is extremely popular within the younger cell phone user. Its form is rapidly evolving. It underwent another partial transition after the advent of dictionary based predictive typing technologies, such as T9.
Another form of shorthand that uses standard alphanumeric characters is Dutton Speedwords. Speedwords aim to have the most common words use the fewest letters – somewhat like Huffman encoding for the written word.