• Stupidmanager@lemmy.world
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      9 days ago

      80s kid here, we learned on typewriters and the shared apple ii in the library. I was good at it because I knew piano and it just settled easy in my mind.

      I made it mandatory for my kids to learn because I just knew this shit would be needed. Also didn’t allow for short words like LOL until they could type it out. Daughter got to a point where her “laugh out loud” was amazingly fast and she begged me to let her “be normal” lmfao.

  • Boomer Humor Doomergod@lemmy.world
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    9 days ago

    The best typing training I ever got was IRC. You had to learn to type fast or some idiot wouldn’t know how wrong he was.

    This definitely prepared me for a career where 90% of my interaction with coworkers is via chat.

    • FinishingDutch@lemmy.world
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      9 days ago

      I took typing lessons back in the mid ‘90’s, which was VERY uncommon for teens to do. When we got the first online multiplayer games, they only had text chat. I certainly had the fastest, foulest mouth in chat 😂

      • MonkeMischief@lemmy.today
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        9 days ago

        There we go!

        I spent more time socializing on World of Warcraft than actually leveling. Had lots of friends, and since been happily married to my best one!

        Touch typing skills were essential, especially mid-combat.

        …Or being the undiagnosed ADHD socialite I was, keeping like 8 running whisper and guild chats going in the game’s single chat window at once… 😂

    • Gumus@lemmy.world
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      9 days ago

      it took me quite some time to learn not to automatically append “:D” at the end of messages in business chat

    • webhead@lemmy.world
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      8 days ago

      IRC and Diablo 2 for me. You had to type fucking quick if you wanted to say something while your character was running to the spot you clicked on because you couldn’t click again until you finished and hit enter on that message lol.

    • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
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      9 days ago

      Also a great way to learn Dvorak. Memorize the key combo to switch between the two depending on how detailed you need to be in telling them they are wrong, but as long as you keep making yourself spend a little more time on the less familiar layout, you’ll eventually become fluent and won’t have to contort your fingers as much regularly to type quickly.

      Though typing games can help, too.

    • BlindPenguin@lemmy.world
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      9 days ago

      I was too late for IRC, but i was just in time for chat websites. Never was interested in 10-finger-typing, until i discovered online chats. After that, i was one of the fastest in my class.

  • early_riser@lemmy.world
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    9 days ago

    As a blind computer user I’m shocked at how many people forget touch typing exists. I learned earlier than most, by necessity, and didn’t have to take the then-mandatory keyboarding classes in middle school.

      • cobysev@lemmy.world
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        9 days ago

        Blind doesn’t mean they can’t see anything. Just that they have impaired vision.

        My mother used to work for the Minnesota State Services for the Blind, so I grew up around a bunch of blind people. Most of them could partially see. They were considered “legally blind.” But they still needed tools to help them “see” better.

        That’s what my mother’s job did; they provided access to equipment to assist blind people in their day-to-day lives. Converting books into braille or audio recordings, supplying walking canes, tape decks, and access to other resources to help them out.

        They also gave out radios tuned to their own station, and they had a broadcasting studio in the office where employees or volunteers would just read newspapers or magazines for blind people to listen to over the radio.

        Granted, my memory of all this was back before the Internet was a thing. I’m sure there are more advanced tools for this modern day and age that help with computer access.

        • SorryQuick@lemmy.ca
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          9 days ago

          Why call them blind then? The definition of blind says 1/10 or less of normal vision. There’s no way you can read text on a phone or computer with that.

          I always assumed blind people just used TTS and voice reading.

          • cobysev@lemmy.world
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            9 days ago

            Blindness comes in many different forms. It’s not about your vision being blurred or completely dark. Some blind people can only see clearly through tiny slits or pinholes in their vision.

            Imagine a sheet of paper that you poke maybe 2 or 3 small holes in, then hold up a few inches from your face. Those holes are all you can see through in your field of vision; the rest is obscured.

            And then there are people who need bottle-lensed glasses just to be able to barely read large 100-pt text in front of their face. They’re considered blind, even though they have some vision.

            My mother had a Polish friend from her work who was like this. He had insanely thick glasses and walked mostly without a cane in familiar areas, but would have to touch your face to gauge your reaction while talking with you. Or practically press his face up against yours to look you in the eye. He had a laptop that would scan documents and display them in massive font so he could read them on the go.

            Also, one of my best friends in high school woke up blind one day. His corneas detached from his eyeballs; a genetic defect from his family. He didn’t wake up in a dark room, he could still see shapes and colors. But he couldn’t focus on any of them.

            I was tasked with walking him to each of his classes in school, because I had experience leading the blind. His greatest annoyance was when people waved their hand in front of his face and asked if he could see it. When he flinched (because a large blurry object came at his head), they accused him of faking blindness because he saw them. But he couldn’t make out what was coming at him, he was just reacting to sudden movements near his face.

            My friend eventually got corneal transplants, which restored most of his vision. But he can never drive a car because his vision isn’t good enough to read road signs, even with corrective lenses. He’s considered legally blind.

            When you need to split hairs, blind folks will call themselves “legally blind” if they have some limited sight, or “totally/completely blind” if they have no vision whatsoever. But if your optometrist claims you qualify for legally blind, you’re generally considered blind amongst their community and qualify for any associated disability benefits that come with blindness.

      • titanicx@lemmy.zip
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        9 days ago

        I worked with a guy doing tech support that was blind. It was fascinating. He couldn’t of course see images. He would often ask me what was on the screen so he could help the caller. He used a Braille keyboard. It was awesome. Basically scroll line by line and the keyboard pops up the line enabling him to read it.

          • titanicx@lemmy.zip
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            9 days ago

            Yeah he was a really crazy interesting guy. At one point in time I actually let him drive my car in the parking lot because he said he had never driven a car before and he was always curious about it. Scariest 10 minutes of my life but it was an awesome blast to do that. He actually did pretty good at taking direction except for when we hit a curb because I told him to turn two sharp going around some of the berms.

      • JcbAzPx@lemmy.world
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        9 days ago

        Screen readers have gotten pretty good. They can use OCR to read text on an image if it’s not too jpeg’d and there’s even some that can describe the image a bit.

      • phlegmy@sh.itjust.works
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        9 days ago

        Being blind is a spectrum, but even ‘fully’ blind people can use phones and computers with a screen reader.

        Alt-text allows people to describe images, OCR can recognise text in images, and now AI can also describe images.

        Blind people aren’t helpless, incapable or dependent, like some stereotypes might lead you to believe. Many are able to live relatively normal, independent lives.
        Some even play videogames and stream on twitch.

        But some find constantly being asked the same questions and needing to inform others that they aren’t incapable to be quite annoying. Especially when this sort of info is readily available online.

        • tobebannedbygaymods@lemmy.zip
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          8 days ago

          I looked it up , didn’t find that much I didn’t call him incapable , I didn’t put any thing negative towards him , I was just curious !

          • phlegmy@sh.itjust.works
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            8 days ago

            I never said you did, and it’s perfectly normal to be curious.
            It’s just that blind people have to answer these same uninformed questions all the time, and it can be tiring.

            Saying you did look it up seems worse to me than saying you didn’t.
            One acknowledges a lack of effort, the other implies notable effort and failure at a relatively simple task.
            No judgement intended, I’m just trying to instill some introspection. I’ll leave you be now.

  • 5in1K@lemmy.zip
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    9 days ago

    They don’t teach much of anything anymore. Schools are babysitters that give grades.

    • Smoogs@lemmy.world
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      9 days ago

      “just ask AI”

      tbf i loved computers when they first became common cuz i could do tutorials on them and tutorials arent emotional and grow impatient and say it doesnt have time for all my questions.

      which just goes to show just how there is lots of bad teachers out there.

      so i get it. especially for neuro divergent peeps who are legitimately curious and are trying but scared to take up anyone’s time, i really get it. Personally i think its good OP brings a question and people who do have time do answer.

      this is the way.

    • kamenlady@lemmy.world
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      9 days ago

      I read something yesterday about influencers posting about history and inserting themselves in historical locations/events using ai.

      They place themselves in-between survivors on a boat, while the Titanic sinks, for example. Making themselves look as miserable as the others.

      Their motivation is that they think that teaching using textbooks is incompatible with many students and just plain boring.

      • Meron35@lemmy.world
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        Not just influencers. EdTech, including Khan Academy, is pushing AI to make virtual versions of historical figures to engage students.

      • 5in1K@lemmy.zip
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        9 days ago

        I mean history shows always have done reenactments. It’s just the current iteration of that.

    • CH3DD4R_G0B-L1N@sh.itjust.works
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      9 days ago

      I came in here ready to say home keys. Then I thought that might be confusing without an explanation given the actual “home” key. Then no one was calling them that even though the lemmy demographic skews older.

  • daannii@lemmy.world
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    9 days ago

    They don’t teach typing anymore. Which is like. Makes zero sense.

    I see college kids typing out essays with two index fingers.

    No one learns typing unless forced. It’s super boring.

    They need to make it mandatory in public schools. Or future generations will be unable to type properly.

    I learned it back in like 8th grade or something.

    • explodicle@sh.itjust.works
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      9 days ago

      When I was a kid they taught us how to type in school. But they taught everybody how to type wrong: with your hands parallel to each other, instead of wrists straight. I nearly got carpal tunnel syndrome and had to learn how to type a second time!

      • amgine@lemmy.world
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        9 days ago

        We were taught the same. With a paper over our hands so we couldn’t cheat. My hands naturally moved off home row because it felt awkward to have my wrists bent. I hate the “natural” keyboards but my hands rest like they’re designed

      • ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world
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        9 days ago

        I learned to keep my hands like that thanks to a really weird looking A4Tech ergonomic keyboard, then I realized I could just keep my wrists like that on any keyboard.

        • daannii@lemmy.world
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          9 days ago

          I used to have one of those ergonomic keyboards at my last job. Took a week probably to get fully used to (I typed all day). But I recall liking it.

          I have small hands but even I feel like most keyboards are cramped. Especially laptop ones.

          the egonomic one felt more open and relaxed. But it was wonky to use at first.

          Was something like this one.

      • ReluctantMuskrat@lemmy.world
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        9 days ago

        Split keyboards for the win! Mine and my wife’s Microsoft Natural Keyboard 4000 is the epitome of “perfect keyboard”. We both dread the day they die since they’re no longer available.

      • garbagebagel@lemmy.world
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        9 days ago

        Really depends on your age. I self-taught with my mom’s typewriter when I was like 8 or 9 and then wasn’t officially taught until 8th grade when computers became more commonplace in schools. Then I had to relearn when I went to school for transcription in my 20s because apparently my 8th grade teacher did a bad job.

        Love typing though, my first video game was a typing game on a floppy disk on our windows 97.

        • NιƙƙιDιɱҽʂ@lemmy.world
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          9 days ago

          That’s actually so cool. I’m just a bit too young to have done so, but I would have loved to have learned on a typewriter. I’ve only ever touched one as a fun relic of the past, never for actual use.

  • TipRing@lemmy.world
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    9 days ago

    I grew up with a computer in the 80s and for years i would stare at the keyboard while mentally keeping track of what I was typing.

    I took keyboarding in middle school and learned to touch type but it took years of practice to break the habits I formed as a child.

    Now I’ll be typing something and my husband will walk in so I’ll pause and look over to see what he needs. One time he said “don’t stop on my account” so I started typing again while staring at him.

    I can hold a full conversation while doing this but have to slow down to around 60wpm to avoid transcribing the conversation.

  • TrackinDaKraken@lemmy.world
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    9 days ago

    I took typing (on a typewriter) in eighth grade for the same reason I took Home Ec--that’s where the girls were. I didn’t know I’d actually be using the skill just a couple of years later.

    My kid grew up in front of a computer, before such things were rightfully frowned upon. He taught himself to type, I’ve watched him do it. He uses the first two fingers of each hand and a thumb for the space bar. He types as fast as I do, which is to say, I’ve never been a particularly fast typist, but I get by okay.

    What I never learned to do, because I don’t do it much, is type with two thumbs on a phone.

      • TrackinDaKraken@lemmy.world
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        9 days ago

        I remember we cooked an omelette, but instead of flipping the egg, the teacher told us to just lift the edge and let the uncooked egg run underneath. I already knew how to cook an omelette, my dad taught me, so I flipped the egg by tossing the pan. The teacher didn’t like that because then other kids tried it, and… I’m sure you can guess what happened.

  • drath@lemmy.drath.ru
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    9 days ago

    While we’re at it: Fuck those ASUS designers that decided to put those nubbins on W key. Republic of gamers my ass, ⇥a21` you.

  • Widdershins@lemmy.world
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    9 days ago

    People look at me like I’m taking crazy pills when I bring up The Typing of the Dead. Literally House of the Dead with a keyboard. You type or you die. It brings that Dark Souls energy to Mavis Beacon’s doorstep.

    • __hetz@sh.itjust.works
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      9 days ago

      First played it on my Sega Dreamcast. Probably the only way I could still play now since I don’t have a CRT anymore for light guns.

  • sleepmode@lemmy.world
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    9 days ago

    Seemed to become a rarer skill in the late 80s early 90s. It’s now at the point where I’m surprised if a co-op or younger coworker knows how to touch type. So strange with how “everything is computer” for so many jobs. How it is not a prerequisite for computer science courses blows my mind. I don’t think I could manage it.

    • JayDee@lemmy.world
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      9 days ago

      They’re referring to touch typing, which is a formal skill. The lines signify where your index fingers should rest when not used. All fingers are supposed to live in the middle row, and only go for their immediate neighbors up and down. It is not quite the same as just learning to type on your own.

      • nomy@lemmy.zip
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        9 days ago

        We learned 10-key (number pad/big calculators) in the same “keyboarding” class. It’s definitely a formal skill and there are specific methods used.

      • Shadowedcross@sh.itjust.works
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        9 days ago

        I know what they’re referring to. And I’m saying that if you use keyboards enough, you will naturally develop the muscle memory required for touch typing.

        • JayDee@lemmy.world
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          9 days ago

          As someone who developed muscle memory on keyboards from 4-6, and then had to unlearn that muscle memory when I was doing touch typing classes, it is just not true that you naturally acquire the muscle memory for touch typing through typing practice.

          It’s a formal skill that has to be practiced deliberately to develop.

        • nomy@lemmy.zip
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          9 days ago

          Hybrid typists can definitely hit high WPM but unless they’re learning to type using the 8 horizontal homerow keys it’s not touch typing. It really is a specific technique.

          (I did not downvote you, just adding to the conversation.)

          • Shadowedcross@sh.itjust.works
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            9 days ago

            There is no significant difference in WPM or accuracy between people who were self-taught, and those who had formal education. Refusing to call it touch typing, simply because it isn’t using a specific technique, is pedantic at best.

            • DarkAngelofMusic@lemmy.sdf.org
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              The term “touch typing” is not a generic term for typing at any particular speed, or for typing with or without looking at the keys. It refers to a specific typing technique in which specific fingers are used for specific keys. Referring to the term correctly is not pedantry or elitism. I don’t think anyone is arguing that another technique is inferior, or that it is in any way not typing, only that it is, in fact, different from the specific typing technique referred to as “touch typing”.

              In a similar vein, a self-taught fighter could potentially be more skilled than one with some training in Taekwondo. That doesn’t mean that the self-taught fighter is using Taekwondo, and pointing out that difference is not “pedantic at best”; it’s simply correct.

              • Shadowedcross@sh.itjust.works
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                Language doesn’t work like that. In professional and educational contexts? Yeah, it’ll likely refer to a specific technique. But in general? Absolutely not. I’m calling it pedantic because the technique is just that - a technique. I’m not claiming that it has anything to do with skill, WPM, or accuracy, just that they’re the same in those regards. On that point, your analogy doesn’t really work for me, since we have very different views on the topic. You think touch typing is only a specific technique, whereas I think it has a less restrictive definition, certainly in everyday use. To use the same analogy, for me it’s like you’re saying only it’s only Taekwondo if it’s a specific style of Taekwondo.

                • DarkAngelofMusic@lemmy.sdf.org
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                  9 days ago

                  So, if I’m understanding you correctly, you’re coming upon others who agree with my assertion that the term “touch typing” refers to a specific technique for typing, and using the term to refer to that specific technique, and your response is to call them pedantic because you think the term should be defined more broadly than they (or I) understand it to be defined. Is that correct?

                  As for the issue you point out with my analogy, I think one of us is confused, and I’m not attempting to imply that I know which one. I used the analogy because touch typing is a specific technique for typing, just as Taekwondo is a specific type of martial arts. A self-taught fighter would be analogous to a self-taught typist. If you believe the term “touch typing” absolutely cannot refer to a specific typing technique, then I would ask for the term you believe is correct to refer to that specific technique to which the rest of us are referring. I’m fine with using a different term to refer to the technique to which I am attempting to refer, but “touch typing” is the only one I know. If you know another, please provide it, and I’ll use that.

            • fizzle@quokk.au
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              9 days ago

              LOL

              Your typing is inferior.

              How does that make you feel?

        • fizzle@quokk.au
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          I dont think thats necessarily true.

          If you type enough you will certainly be able to do so without looking, but its surely undeniable that someone who has practiced a specific technique will be faster, and more accurate, particularly with punctuation and special characters.

          • Shadowedcross@sh.itjust.works
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            No, they won’t. The specific technique is just a standardised way of educating people. It isn’t inherently better than a technique that an individual has developed on their own. Might the specific technique be more efficient in terms of movement? Perhaps. But if someone has found a technique that works for them, it might also be what’s most efficient for them. But in terms of speed and accuracy? They’re the same.

            • cybervegan@lemmy.world
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              9 days ago

              I learnt to “type” when I was at school, programming a Commodore Vic-20. I thought I was quite fast, but what I had really learnt was just the key combos for common words. It’s what most people who have never learnt properly before do, and it’s called “point and poke”. You don’t realise the extra effort you’re putting in, and the mistakes you’re making (overuse of the backspace key) and so on.

              When I went to college at 16 (UK) to study computer science, we had the option of learning touch typing. We all thought we were pretty good at typing, but afterwards, we’d all doubled our typing speed (or more) and increased our accuracy by 10x. We learnt on proper electric golfball typewriters, and as we got better, we all noticed that code entry got a lot faster. The thing that is affected most, though, is typing up from notes or printed copy - because you don’t have to keep looking away from the source, back to the keyboard and screen, you can be much quicker. Also, typing your thoughts is much faster as you are not having to split your attention between the thoughts and the keyboard - what you think just appears on the screen without having to spend mental effort on typing.

              • Shadowedcross@sh.itjust.works
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                9 days ago

                I feel like we’re talking about two different things. Touch typing, regardless of the technique used, only implies looking away from the keyboard. If you’ve got the muscle memory, and instinctively know where keys are, whether that’s through technique or reinforced familarity, you can look wherever you want.

                • whatiswrongwithyou@lemmy.ml
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                  9 days ago

                  Yeah, you and all the people you’re responding to are talking about different things.

                  They’re talking about touch typing, a noun with a specific definition and meaning referring to a technique, instructional method and practice and you’re talking about what you think words should mean.

    • Dicska@lemmy.world
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      I used to go to this secondary school where there were four classes (4x~35 students) each year: two for economics, one for marketing and one for IT. I chose the IT one. They taught basic typing for all four, but speed typing was only required in three. Guess where it wasn’t…

  • rosco385@lemmy.wtf
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    10 days ago

    I had a typing class in early high school on a regular old typewriter. We had computers, but not enough for a whole class to learn typing.

    • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
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      9 days ago

      In the early 90s, we had little keyboard trainers with a row of LED lines at the top (like calculator screen) that would be carted into the classroom and we’d do lessons as a class.

  • Airfried@piefed.social
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    9 days ago

    Having a booth for a PC game at conventions used to be difficult because people were not familiar with keyboard and mouse controls. If you weren’t prepared for this you basically had to quickly add controller support somehow and send someone from your team to the next electric store and to buy a bunch of controllers.

    Nowadays, though? Game convention visitors these days barely know how to hold a controller. They keep poking at the screens, hoping something happens. It’s a frustrating experience for indie devs sometimes.

    So yeah I’m not surprised when people look at keyboards like they’re some kind of ancient slate.

    • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      8 days ago

      Reminds me of the video game reviewer who couldn’t get past the Cuphead tutorial.

      Who the fuck are these people??