"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en♪Mavis Beacon.Now there's an unforgetable name.And that is of course due toMavis Beacon Teaches Typing,developed and published byThe Software Toolworks in 1987for popular personal computers of its day.And a big shout-out to Jim, aka cityside75,who gave me this Apple II GS copy of it,one which appears to havebeen in a library at some point.And that makes sense, seeingas this program was omnipresentin educational institutions well into the '90s.Not just because it was an award-winning typing tutorbut because of Mavis Beacon herself.Just look at her smiling, friendly face.She looks like the personificationof patience and understanding.Too bad she isn't real.Yes, that's right.Mavis Beacon, arguably themost memorable typist of all time,is no more real than Uncle Sam, Betty Crocker,or Stan and Jan BerenSTEIN,However, Mavis Beacon being fictionalseems to be particularly tough to accept for some,to the point where there have beenreports of people swearing they saw herinterviewed on talk shows,witnessed her winning a typing competition,or riding the Loch Ness Monster with Bigfoot.But NOPE! Ms. Beacon was a marketing ploy,inspired in part by The Software Toolworks'recent game Chessmaster 2000which had box art to make playersfeel like they were competingagainst a magical chess wizard,instead of just a piece of software.So for their idea of a typing program,why not make up the idea ofthe world's best typing teacher?Anthropomorphizing a typing programinto something more personable.The company chairman,former talk show host Les Crane,chose the name \"Mavis\" becausehe was a fan of singer Mavis Staples,and \"Beacon\" was chosen becauseof the inference of a beacon of lightto guide your way,something warm and inviting.Of course, if you were my childhood friend,you just called her \"Mavis Bacon.\"Kinda has a better ring to it, actually.Mavis Beacon, Mavis Bacon. Bacon, yeah, bacon.I like bacon.So, okay, we know how they came up with the name,but who is the lady on the cover?Allow me to introduce you to Renee L'Esperance,a Haitian immigrant that two ofThe Software Toolworks guys metwhile she was working the counterat a Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills.She instantly struck them as theperfect model for Mavis Beacon,even though she'd never modeled and hadthree-inch fingernails that made no sense for typing.They got her some professional-lookingclothes and took the photos in an afternoon,paid her a flat fee for her time and that was that.While Renee effectively disappeared by1990 after moving back to the Caribbean,her character Mavis Beacon went on tobecome an internationally-known star of sorts,as they reused those original photos for yearsbefore switching to other models.Inside this version of the program,you got two copy-protected 3½-inch floppy disks,as well as a delightful 62-page manualwith a classy typewriter on the front.And this thing is absolutely awesome,being packed to the brim witheverything from how to use the programto an extensive history of typing,to the concept behind the program's teaching methodsand even a section about alternatekeyboard layouts the program supports.There's even a section of recommended keyboardupgrades, complete with pricing and brief reviews.There's a $250 Keytronic Dvorakkeyboard recommended here.Mavis Beacon did not screw around!On to the program itself, and in this reviewwe'll be looking at the IBM PC version,since that is what it was originally developed forand I haven't met my CGA quota for the week.After that delightful beeper renditionof Leroy Anderson's \"The Typewriter,\"you can type in your nameand start the tutoring process,beginning with a few questionsregarding your age and typing experience.Even if you're not entirely surewhat to pick, it's no big dealbecause the beauty of Mavis Beacon–well, other than the obvious–is that the program is surprisinglydynamic in how it teaches you.You can start with the most basic of typingknow-how or with decades of practice,and the program will still find ways tochallenge you the more you interact with it.\"Mavis Bacon Taches Taping\" isdivided up into three main parts:the Chalkboard, the Classroom, and the Arcade.The chalkboard screen is where you'll beaddressed directly by your teacher, Mavis Beacon,kind of.In later releases, she plays a much more prominent role,where you can hear voice and see herface making eye contact and all that, butin this first version, it's just a bunch of text.A logical choice, seeing as it's meant to runon PCs specced as low a 4.77 MHz 8088 CPUand 256K of RAM.Regardless, it still communicatesthe idea that you're being taught,rather than commanded, to do a bunch of crap.In the classroom mode, you're showntwo ghost hands that gently remind youwhere your fingers are supposed to beand a screen above that shows you where to type.After this, you're given aquick summary of how you did,but it doesn't stop at displaying yourwords per minute and number of errors.After every session, it re-evaluates how you're doing,and the faceless Mavis provides encouragementand constructive criticism as needed.It will then adjust the difficulty andpresent challenges it thinks you could use,and that's where things start to get interesting.It singles out areas you're strong with andincreases the challenge to try and make you stronger,using things like accuracy testsand a metronome to let you knowhow many key presses should be between each beat.And it'll highlight the areas you'reweak and slowly build you upso that you can improve at a decent pace.It almost immediately foundthings that slowed me down,like typing in number row symbolsand words that use the letter \"X\" a lot,without me ever telling it this was the case.Lastly, there is the arcade mode,which is a simple yet deceptivelyanxiety-inducing racing mini-game.Type the words scrolling across the top ofthe screen as fast and quickly as possibleto increase your speed and outrun your opponent.When you mess up, you slow down and abug splats on the windshield and that's about it.Seems kind of fun, but my problem is thefont that it uses for the text which is just...I don't know, it's ugly and hard to read sometimes.I understand that it's meant to be a challengebut white on cyan is just hard to look at.And the characters themselves are sometimesstretched in ways that make it too easy to mess up.It's not a big deal, but even though it'sthe most game-like mode of Mavis Beacon,it's my least favorite part of the program.My favorite aspect is just thestraight up typing challengeswhere you're pushed to enhanceyour speed and accuracyby typing in increasingly odd andunpredictable works of fiction.So much of the stuff it has youtype in is total nonsense and I love it.I also like how if you just gocrazy and pound on the keysit asks you if you're okay and recommendstaking a break if you're frustrated.Yeah, it's pretty awesome howalive this little program feelsby way of an algorithmic tutorwith a few clever lines of dialogue.And it also provides a great sense of achievementby way of graphs and assorted infographicsshowing how much you've improvedand how much further you still have to go.It's totally user-driven.You can start and stop any time you likeand even customize it with yourown text files and lesson plans.But just the basic program is still super effective.I can't help but be charmed by how much this doeswith such a straightforwardDOS application and four colors.And it's impressive how well it holds up todayin terms of still being an effective typing tutor.Even if there's no Mavis Beacon in reality,she nonetheless lives on in thehearts and minds of millions of usthat had our typing skills challenged and improvedby her non-existent persona.♪And if you enjoyed this LGREdutainment Month episode,then I hope you stick around.There's more to come.And there's plenty more that I've done in the past.So check out the channel if you like this kind of stuff.And as always, thank you very much for watching.\n"