I wanted to post this earlier but had the page hang up in limbo.
You can’t always change the post with an edit even if you see it right away. Somtimes the page delay problems, will take you past the five minute edit cut off.
I like my typos. I’m not saying I’ll *never *use the edit function, but I’m used to my imperfections by now, and I can live with an error or two.
I haven’t used the edit/edti/eidt/deit/diet/tide/goat function on the live board, but I used it a hell of a lot back when some of us were farting round on the test board. And when I say farting, good Lord you’d better believe I mean farting.
If I vow never to use it again, can I still be in the cool club (it has to be cool because it includes Uncommon Sense).
If so, what about if I use the edit/idet/ietd/dtei/toga function, but I avoid actually changing my post? In my experience, the ability to add a snarky comment to the Reason field is far more useful than the ability to actually edit posts.
I’d like to be like you, but unfortunately my typos always seem to follow the form of one misplaced or wrong letter either completely reversing my argument or making some embarrassing scatological or sexual intrusion into my post. Or I will misspell a word that I know how to spell, but will do it in a way always used by hicks.
I will never mistype “pencil is” as “pencilis”. Never. But “pen is”, on the other hand…
Editing is GOOD.
But… but pen ensues just doesn’t really work.
Or maybe it does.
I think that folks are a little bit more thoughtful when they know that they cannot edit. I visit a few other message boards, but rarely post in them. The SDMB is a very intelligent, considerate board IMHO. I can get an answer to anything here.
I’m no wordsmith, but having to watch my spelling and phrasing is a good thing. And I think that the gaffs I do make are forgiven. No real need to repair small errors as long as I get my thoughts across.
Will I use the edit function? I might. I’ll have to find it first.
I’ll probably never use the edit function. I usualy feel when I make a typo, and I always preview when I put in a link or something to make sure I didn’t mess up the code.
I just happened upon a thread (which doesn’t matter) that had 28% of the posts edited. This is getting distracting - typo’s are less annoying than post after post containing “Last edited by whoever : Today at 09:86 PM.”
Oh dear heaven, this could render me a widow!!! No More Typo Knig (sob) 
I might use the edit function. But typos are never that big a deal for me. If I don’t catch ‘em on preview (and most times I do) then to go back and edit just seems that I’m all that worried about how the laundry looks on the line. Nice to have, tho’, for those early morning brain-farts. 
Not only do I think the EDIT button should be removed, but I would like to remove “preview” and also for us to be unable to view our posts as they are being written. If you can’t touch-type accurately, fuck you. Deal with the mockery for your sloppiness and uncoordination.
This would help me out a good deal, actually, because the expectations would be lowered and, amid the sea of typographical monstrocities, I would get fewer “Lookie, folks, the so-called professor put an extra lettter in a verb! He must therefore be wrong about everything!” posts (I think).
Oh, we’ll still get the splendid mistakes. It’s just that it’ll be evidence of a moment of true distraction/sensory overload, where even in preview the writer’s brain understood the typo as being “right” regardless of what photons were hitting his/her eyes, and it took a true fresh look, well after the 5-minute window passed, to really “get” that that word was not what you thought it was. Plus there will always be those who, in a rush to post before anyone else beats them to it, will do research AFTER the first post and then have to do the “…oh, wait, there was more…” thing. And really, there will always be Hamster Hijinks afoot, wherein you never see that first post show up and thus you double- or triple- post and the first one has a serious gem.
IMHO, it’s more annoying when the OP is also the SP (second poster), and changes some small spelling mistake, just because some asshole (I mean that in a loving sort of way) is going to pop in and say pseudotriton added an extra letter to a verb. If there weren’t nitpickers doing that, there’d be no reason for the second post in the first place.
Spelling mistakes aren’t a big deal to me. I read faster than a word a second, so often times I don’t even notice that a spelling mistake was made until the person who made said mistake comes in and lets everybody know they added an extra letter to the afforementioned verb. Who gives a shit?
You will pry the edit button from my cold, dead hands!
To be fair, that doesn’t happen all that often, unless the typo is funny and/or changes the meaning of the sentence, or if the OP was bitching about spelling or grammar and then made a mistake himself.
But you’re right, posting a second time in 2 minutes just to say “oops, I meant “the” not “teh”, silly me!” Is as annoying as seeing the new edit line.
People! Be secure in your imperfection!