The benefits and fun of 'Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing'

By Zatni Arbi

JAKARTA (JP): First of all, if you buy a new branded notebook or desktop computer, don't forget to check the list of goodies that should be included in the shipping box. You can usually find it in the manual. Make sure that you have all of them, including the CDs and diskettes of bundled programs.

My friend Billy bought a Toshiba 430 CDT notebook a couple of months ago. The dealership, which was located in what was once the venerable Computer City, delivered the notebook to his home in Rawamangun. There was nothing wrong with the notebook until one day he found out that he had forgotten the password he had entered when he first set up Windows 95.

I told him that the easiest solution would be to use the Recovery CD -- an installation CD-ROM that would erase everything on the hard disk and copy the original, factory-installed operating systems onto it. Since Billy had not been using the notebook very much, there wouldn't be much data to back up, and this would be the most convenient way to start over.

The problem was that the Recovery CD was not in the box. In fact, the dealer had not given Billy any CD or diskette when he bought the notebook. Since Billy and his wife had never bought a branded notebook before, they were not aware that actually they should also get the Recovery CD and the startup diskettes for the notebook.

When Billy contacted me, it was already too late to call the dealer and ask for the CD-ROM, as the store went up in flames on May 14. On my suggestion, Billy took the notebook to Toshiba's main distributor on Jl. A. M. Sangaji, Central Jakarta. Needless to say, they had no problem restoring the hard disk back to the factory condition. The only problem was that Billy had to cough up Rp 100,000 for the 30 minutes work. Worse, he would have to do the same thing again if a virus strikes or the hard disk becomes too jumbled with additional software.

The same story also befell another friend of mine who bought herself a 'jangkrik' PC. She was not given the software drivers for the PC. I have not been able to properly reinstall her PC's operating system because the guy who assembled the PC for her did not use a market standard mouse, video card and CD-ROM drive. I do not have the software drivers for the brands and types of components that he put in it.

When I told her to contact the guy and ask for the appropriate software drivers, she said it wouldn't be easy to get them from him. So, she's stuck with standard VGA display, a Logitech mouse that I lent her, and a CD-ROM drive that cannot read MPEG files, and there's nothing I can do for her except make sure that she can at least work with the PC.

So, remember that when you buy a new PC, you should also ask for all the necessary software drivers for the mouse, the video card, the sound card, and perhaps even the CD-ROM drive. Consult friends who have bought PCs in the past and write down the list of what you should be getting in addition to the hardware.

Typing

I've also noticed that many people are hesitant about learning to use a PC simply because they are not familiar with the keyboard. When I first learned to use a computer, I was lucky because I had already completed a course in typing back in the early 1970s. Migrating from a typewriter to a computer was thus fairly easy.

Today it is actually much easier for people to learn touch typing, as the skill is usually called nowadays. Several different computer software programs allow you to learn to master the keyboard on your own PC without the help of others. The high- resolution graphics of today's computers also make learning a lot more fun than it used to be. One of the best software packages for those who want to be able to type without looking for the individual keys is Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing from Mindscape.

This multimedia software comes on a CD-ROM, therefore you'll need a PC with a CD-ROM drive and sound capabilities to really get the maximum benefits. Installing is easy. You just pop the CD-ROM into the drive, push the tray in and the Autorun program will load automatically. All you have to do is click on the "Install" button. You could also copy the entire contents of the CD-ROM onto your hard disk and install it from there, but I wouldn't recommend it since it will take up a lot of hard disk space.

Once the program is installed, you'll have to sign in. Then you can proceed to Beacon's classroom. You can choose to sit a test to determine your current level of typing proficiency or you can directly plunge into the water and follow Lesson #1. If you go for the lessons, you'll see a keyboard with eight transparent fingers resting on the home row. To know which finger you have to use to type the letter that Beacon tells you to type, you can look at this keyboard at the bottom of the screen. The appropriate key -- or keys, if you need to press and hold down the Shift key at the same time -- will be highlighted in green. This method of providing examples is really intuitive.

Practice

With typing it is undoubtedly true that practice makes perfect. For your children, this program includes seven games to make learning really exciting. The graphics are great and will be captivating for children, especially if your PC has a true color display.

If you play music, you can choose the game called "RagTime". A metronome will keep ticking as you type in the characters that appear on the screen, and you learn to type rhythmically as true professional typists do.

Or, if the games are too childish for you, you can go to the section containing customized lessons. You can go to the English department, where your assignment will be to type in some parts of a dictionary. This lesson is very interesting, as you can practice increasing your speed and accuracy while at the same time also enrich your vocabulary.

By the way, while you learn, play the games or take the tests, a rich background music will also play continuously. You have a selection of blues, classical, country, reggae and many other beats to type to, which you can set if you go to the Setting section.

Other members of the family can also sign in individually, and they can specify their own password if they like. This way, you can always monitor your own progress. If you want to have more interesting and challenging games and materials to type, you can even log on to Mavis Beacon's Internet site.

The ability to type is the first requirement in computer literacy. If you have children at home, you can use this program to teach them how to use the keyboard as early as possible. With this excellent software, they will learn not only the location of each key but also which finger they should use to press that key. By the time they enter college, they'll be able to type at least as fast as most of the secretaries in our offices today.

And for yourself, if you still have to search for the letter "x" and the character "@" before you can type them, you are still ineffective in using your computer. You should also grab this program and spend some hours on it. It's highly recommended.