Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing

*Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing*
	1987 box art
Original author(s)	Norm Worthington,; Walt Bilofsky,; Mike Duffy
Developer(s)	The Software Toolworks
Initial release	Late 1987; 37 years ago
Stable release	20[citation needed]
Operating system	macOS, Windows
Platform	cross-platform
License	Proprietary
Website	mavisbeacon.com

Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing is an application software program designed to teach touch typing. Released in late 1987 by The Software Toolworks, the program aimed to enhance users' typing skills through a series of interactive lessons and games.

Mavis Beacon is an entirely fictional character, created for marketing purposes.

History

Background

Founded by Les Crane, Walt Bilofsky, and Mike Duffy, The Software Toolworks^[2] was known for its Chessmaster 2000, a chess simulator. Norm Worthington and Mike Duffy also played a role in the program's development.^{[citation needed]}

The original photograph used to depict Mavis Beacon was that of Haitian-born model Renee L'Esperance. The name "Mavis" was derived from Mavis Staples, the lead vocalist for the Staple Singers, and the surname "Beacon" was chosen for its association with a guiding light.^[4]^[5] Les Crane, the former talk-show host who was a partner in The Software Toolworks during its early years, played a role in creating the persona of Mavis Beacon.^[4]

Development

The program's early versions supported both the traditional QWERTY keyboard layout and the alternative Dvorak Simplified Keyboard layout.^[6]^[7]

A typing game in Mavis Beacon featuring car racing (Windows version)

Since its initial release in 1987, Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing has undergone numerous iterations. The 2011 Ultimate Mac Edition by Software MacKiev introduced two-player competitive typing network games, integration with iTunes, Dvorak keyboard support, practice typing song lyrics, RSS news feeds, and classic novels.^[8] In 2021, Encore, Inc. released Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing 2020.^[2]

Sales

In 1999, the series had sold over six million copies.^[2] In 2000, two products from the franchise were on the Top Selling Educational Software list. Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing 10.0 is in the fourth position, while Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing 5.0 is ranked eighth.^[9]

Distributions of the software include MS-DOS, Apple II, Commodore 64, Apple IIGS, Atari ST, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows, Palm OS, and Amiga.^[10]

Controversy

In 2024, a documentary premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, which investigates who is Mavis Beacon. Turns out that the image of a corporately attired Black woman on the software packaging, was not of someone named Mavis Beacon, but rather a Haitian model named Renee L'Esperance. She was paid $500 for posing for the marketing photo, wasn't involved in the development or the sales of the software and did not share in any of the presumably significant profits generated by the product. Ms. L'Esperance herself neither appears in nor is directly quoted in the documentary.^[11]

Gameplay

Users can find themselves racing a virtual car by accurately typing words that appear on the screen.^[12] The program also includes typing drills that present users with passages of text to type out, which provides a comprehensive overview of their progress. Successful completion of lessons and tests can result in the achievement of certificates.^[13]

Reception

The New York Times technology writer Peter Lewis notes its potential to improve typing skills.^[14] Compute! magazine's review in 1989 supports the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard.^[15]

Sequels

Amiga Format's Paul Tyrrell praised its user-friendly design.^[16] Nick Veitch of CU Amiga noted that the program was more interesting than traditional educational packages.^[16] Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing Version 5 was described as a "well-polished program" by Superkids.

References

^ Norman Worthington: Executive Profile & Biography, Bloomberg, ...One of Mr. Worthington's earliest ventures was Software Toolworks, one of the first highly successful consumer software companies...
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Biersdorfer, J. D. (December 31, 1998). "Next They'll Say Betty Crocker Isn't Real, Either". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
^ Walt Bilofsky's Home Page - Software Publisher, ... I was one of three programmers who designed and created the perennial software hits The Chessmaster and Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing...
^ ^a ^b Michallon, Clémence (March 14, 2022). "Mavis Beacon was the top typing teacher in the US before she vanished. The twist? She wasn't real". The Independent. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
^ MACKLIN, William (November 19, 1995). "Supertypist Mavis Beacon Is A Creation Of Marketing". Seattle Times.
^ Take A Deep Dive Into Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing!, Rhett Jones, Kotaku Australia, April 10, 2017, access-date: August 18, 2023
^ Disk tutorial * £29.99 * Software Toolworks, Amiga Format, July 1993, access-date: August 18, 2023
^ Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing on Steam, access-date: August 18, 2023
^ "GET INFO". www.washingtonpost.com. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
^ Paul Tyrrell (June 1993). "Amiga Reviews: Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing". Amiga Format.
^ Lang, Brent (January 22, 2024). "'Seeking Mavis Beacon' Director Jazmin Jones Investigates the Story of the World's Most Famous and Fictitious Typing Teacher". Variety. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
^ "Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing on Steam". store.steampowered.com.
^ "SuperKids Software Review of Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing Version 5". www.superkids.com. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
^ Lewis, Peter H. (November 17, 1987). "PERSONAL COMPUTERS; Feedback In Typing Program". The New York Times.
^ Randall, Neil (January 1989). "Mavis Makes It Easy". Compute!. p. 70. Retrieved November 10, 2013.
^ ^a ^b "Amiga Reviews: Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing". www.amigareviews.leveluphost.com. Retrieved April 15, 2021.

External links

Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing by Encore (Windows and Mac editions)
Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing by Software MacKiev (Mac OS X edition)
Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing at MobyGames