qwerty

Dear You,

I caught myself typing really fast today, and I paused because I remember the first time I learned how to type. It was with a typewriter. My typewriting teacher taught us how to place our fingers on the keyboard to ensure all the keys were within reach. I remember her making us type a s d f ; l k j [space] repeatedly in that order. 

I remember deepening this knowledge with Mavis Beacon. It was a gamified version of what my teacher had taught me, with practical ways. It had distinct music [if you know, you know] and had different levels to improve your typing. Getting better at typing felt like a game because there was a reward. If you did it well, you qualified for the next level. Mavis Beacon is not a real person. However, "Mavis Beacon teaches Typing", a tool founded by a software and video game developer in 1980 with a beautiful model [L'Esperance] whom they made us believe was Mavis Beacon, ended up selling 6 million copies. If you don't remember Mavis Beacon, watch this video or the video below [also for our GenZs who have probably never heard of it].

My teacher was smart and impactful but couldn't scale her typewriting knowledge and lessons like Mavis Beacon. She probably didn't even dream to.

I guess this is the power of tech. It fuels scale. It gives you room to figure out how to turn your ideas into processes, systems, services, or products in a way that makes them accessible and even outlives you. It also speaks to the power of gamification. When you make something so serious and fun, more people will be willing to pay to play. To them, it might just be what brings the fun in functional. It might even be more. That may be why Duolingo is so remarkable.

In the end, life is a game. The only difference is that we have one life. How can you make your service or product outlive you? How can you get your customers to play in a way that they are willing to pay without hesitation? How can you be a Mavis Beacon and not my typewriter teacher?

With Love,

Blessing Abeng

Sidebar: I named this qwerty, because that's the word the first six alphabets on your keyboard forms. It was fitting since we were talking about keyboards and typewriters. It denotes the standard layout on English-language typewriters and keyboards. If you look at your keyboard, you'll see it! It's an actual word. I once googled why the keyboard alphabets are arranged the way they are not in alphabetical order. If you've wondered too, here's your answer:

Do you remember Mavis Beacon? Share your memories with me.