I told a coworker that I was dismayed to learn that Mavis Beacon wasn't real. She had a good laugh at my expense.<p>her: "Really??? You thought she was a real person? JOHN. Come on."<p>me: "I thought she was a real person, like Orville Redenbacher. I didn't know she was made up like Betty Crocker."<p>her: "WAIT, BETTY CROCKER WASN'T REAL??"<p>oh, the laughs
Archive: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220313160742/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/mavis-beacon-teaches-typing-real-b2034472.html" rel="nofollow">https://web.archive.org/web/20220313160742/https://www.indep...</a><p>Mavis Beacon taught me to type. I don't really care if she's real or not, I'll always have a soft spot for that CD!
I had no idea there was a potential "real person" there any more than I thought Mario/Luigi were real. Maybe I'd never even seen an image or box to make that connection? I remember that the software was really useful early on -- and game modes even made it a bit competitive.<p>For a left-field alternative for super young kids (3? 4?) just being introduced to letters/keyboard try out Typatone (<a href="https://typatone.com/" rel="nofollow">https://typatone.com/</a>). Get a wireless keyboard and throw it up on a big screen. Something interesting happens when there's the added layer of reactive sound tied to what they've typed. It's a really good way of recognizing letters, and learning where to find them on a keyboard. And then common words take on a specific "song". There's probably something to this in an education space for someone to build on.
On a somewhat related note, if you’re teaching your kids typing the current Mavis Beacon software has broken DRM purchased straight from Amazon. I was told by their support to buy it again directly from their website. I recommend the much superior Typing.com
That site of people trying to find her has some great 90s internet vibes <a href="https://seekingmavisbeacon.com/" rel="nofollow">https://seekingmavisbeacon.com/</a>. No blinking sadly.
I guess now I know the story behind this flyer I saw in a Bay Area shop window a little over a year ago: <a href="https://files.catbox.moe/48giot.jpeg" rel="nofollow">https://files.catbox.moe/48giot.jpeg</a>
Next, we track down Waldo and ask him how it feels that people don't know he actually goes by Wally:<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where's_Wally%3F" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where's_Wally%3F</a>
"The Spectacle is not a collection of images but a social relation among people mediated by images." - Guy Debord<p>You could literally write a PhD thesis on this Mavis Beacon thing by running it through the lense of Debord's "Society of the Spectacle."
We had a copy of Mavis Beacon but I never really used it. What taught me typing:<p>1. Flirting with the girl I later married over ICQ<p>2. Getting rushed and begging for help in StarCraft 1<p>Both things require timely and efficient typed communication!
Mavis Beacon taught my how to type between 60-75 wpm. The dictate feature of Microsoft Word within Office 365 gets me roughly to 100 wpm after corrections.<p>Bottom line: Mavis Beacon helped me code faster, but Microsoft helped me write blogs faster.
I'm in my 30s and I grew up at a time in grade school when computers and internet access were just becoming more and more popular, but typing wasn't specifically a necessity for school.<p>As such I'm EXTREMELY GLAD that I had the choice to learn how to type on my own and made a conscious choice to learn Dvorak instead of QWERTY.<p>I feel that kids these days are forced into QWERTY as part of curriculum and I think that's a terrible forced propagation of a shitty standard.
Past appearances by Mavis:<p><i>Mavis Beacon</i> - <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28767251" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28767251</a> - Oct 2021 (4 comments)<p><i>What's Mavis Beacon Up to These Days? (2015)</i> - <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25530183" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25530183</a> - Dec 2020 (58 comments)
If anyone else is confused by some of the years in the article, I have submitted the following to The Independent:<p>Subject: Inaccuracy in article on Mavis Beacon<p>The article at <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/mavis-beacon-teaches-typing-real-b2034472.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/mavis-beac...</a> states that The Software Toolworks was "founded in 1990." I believe this to be a mistake; it does not make sense in the context of the article discussing things that they did in 1986 and 1987. Wikipedia tells me that The Software Toolworks was founded in 1980.
Real or not, I owe Mavis my touch typing ability.
It's kinda like the "are we in a simulation" argument - does it matter if we are, if we can touch type like Mavis Beacon?
I remember at some point in middle school in the early 90s we had typing instruction in the form of some sort of car drag racing video game. It was actually quite fun and motivated me to type correctly! The faster and more accurately you typed, the faster your car went. And you could use the money you won from winning to upgrade you car, or purchase faster ones.<p>Does anyone remember this?
Unfortunately, I never learned to touch type though I'm pretty fast so long as I'm not copying something. I don't think I ever touched a typewriter until senior year in high school and touch typing never seemed a sufficient priority to me to deliberately learn it. (Shorthand would probably have been useful too at various times.)
> Incarnating Mavis was a Haitian-born woman called Renee L’Esperance, spotted behind a cosmetics counter at Saks Fifth Avenue by one of the men behind the company that sold Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing.
an aside, I miss old Broderbund software.<p>I'm no longer of 'in-education' age so my opinion may be way off , but Broderbund seemed to fill an educational niche that is no longer as explored as it was.
Also featured in a Lazy Game Reviews video:
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-6d6X4E-3w" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-6d6X4E-3w</a>