Stenographers use a Stenotype machine, that is based on typing the *sounds* of words phonetically. I think they have lots of abbreviations too. It used to be all on the paper tape, but now they have an electronic tape drive or disc drive in addition to the paper. They just insert the disc into their computer, and software arranges their keystrokes into letter text to be looked over and corrected. The reason it is so fast to type on the Stenograph is the layout of the keys, the ability to combine keys in a single press, and practice. It does seem like an interesting idea for someone to supply a USB Stenograph-type keyboard that would plug into your Mac. Then you would only have the learning curve to contend with.