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[Unison]

So, there's a new Mavis Beacon title releasing on Steam today:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/243890/

You might notice something... Mavis is looking fit and young as ever:

How does she remain so ageless!???

After all, I remember when I had this program as a kid, she looked like this on the box art:

20 years, and still a looker!

This demanded some research... as it turns out, Mavis Beacon is not a real person, but is instead a fictional character designed to help humanize the typing process. I don't think this is common knowledge at all, so I did a little digging.

From a 1998 NY Times Article:

In a techie world traditionally dominated by white males, an African-American woman on the front of a software box tends to get one's attention. ''The whole concept was this idea of trying to anthropomorphize computer software and to put a person on the cover,'' Mr. Abrams said, ''so people would think it was a person trying to teach them how to type, as opposed to a computer.''

So the ''Mavis'' creators decided they needed a strong character to present the lessons, and Mr. Crane was put in charge of finding a model to photograph for the box cover.

''One day he walked into Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills to buy some cologne, and there behind the cosmetics counter was a beautiful black woman named Renee L'Esperance,'' said Mr. Bilofsky, reading from a file that was put together to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Software Toolworks. ''Born into a well-to-do Haitian family, she fled the Duvalier regime and wound up at Saks. She had never modeled, and her extremely long fingernails made her an unlikely typist, but when Les looked at her, he saw Mavis.''

It just so happened that Mavis was black.
''It wasn't intentional that the role model would be African-American,'' Ms. Hankin said. ''Les was just looking for who the right person would be to play Mavis.''

Mr. Crane was a former disk jockey and host of television's ''The Les Crane Show'' (known as ''ABC's Nightlife'' during the last few months of its one-year run opposite NBC's ''Tonight Show'' in 1964-65). He was also a huge fan of the rhythm and blues sound. So he named his creation after the singer Mavis Staples. The character's last name refers to a beacon of light in the keyboard hunt-and-peck darkness.

''It was pretty much an instant success,'' Mr. Abrams said. ''But believe it or not, even though it was 1987, we had some initial reluctance to carry the product because there was a black woman on the box. People did not believe it would sell.''

Mr. Abrams, who concentrated on marketing the software, said that some stores in the South and Southwest had been reluctant to display the product at first because there was a black woman on the package. But reluctance to carry the product was not confined to those regions of the country. Mr. Abrams said he had also been turned down by 47th Street Photo in Manhattan, a large electronics store (which has since filed for bankruptcy) which was, at the time, a valuable outlet for software developers. (A lawyer for 47th Street Photo's former owners declined to comment.)

Kind of crazy for those of us who learned using the program, I'm sure... Next they'll tell us the zombies in Typing of the Dead aren't real!

 

[Steffen]

Maybe she's supposed to represent her daughter.

 

[Nemesis_]

I feel so betrayed

 

[AkuMifune]

I sense a new Tyler Perry movie.

 

[snoopeasystreet]

Mavis Beacon is the James Bond of educational software.

 

[Takao]

theyzf donut want canadiens to lrn type stream paige nowhere

 

[lucebuce12]

Sooo.. Kinda like Betty Crocker then?

 

[sploatee]

Mind blown. We need a campaign!

Uncle Ben's real right?

 

[hbkajshdvfbkjhvgkahsgdfka]

This is a pester campaign I can get behind.

 

[FunkyPajamas]

From a 1998 NY Times Article:

''One day he walked into Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills to buy some cologne, and there behind the cosmetics counter was a beautiful black woman named Renee L'Esperance,'' said Mr. Bilofsky, reading from a file that was put together to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Software Toolworks. ''Born into a well-to-do Haitian family, she fled the Duvalier regime and wound up at Saks. She had never modeled, and her extremely long fingernails made her an unlikely typist, but when Les looked at her, he saw Mavis.''

#YOULIED

 

[breakfuss]

I sense a new Tyler Perry movie.

LOLOL.

No, for real, though. I always thought she was a an actual person ya'll ...Or that it was some institution she founded years ago.

 

[SwiftDeath]

Clearly Mavis Beacon is just suffering from Benjamin Buttons disease

 

[Graphics Horse]

They chose the name 'Mavis Beacon' because it only uses the letters found on the 3rd row of a keyboard.

 

[The Lamp]

If you're attempting to parody the Dark Souls 2 and Watch_Dogs community, you're not doing a very good job at it.

 

[Red Liquorice]

Black don't crack?

 

[Unison]

Sooo.. Kinda like Betty Crocker then?

More like Aunt Jemima.

 

[kittens]

Ughhh and the lighting! And the resolution! and the [insert newest nerd rage fad here]!!!

 

[cws]

Steam Achievements... ?

 

[SwiftDeath]

They chose the name 'Mavis Beacon' because it only uses the letters found on the 3rd row of a keyboard.

M A V I S B E A C O N

Not true #YOULIED

 

[sploatee]

Ughhh and the lighting! And the resolution! and the [insert newest nerd rage fad here]!!!

60fps/ SVGA, holmes!

 

[SniperHunter]

i remember using this program back in the day, i liked it a lot! I think i still have the cd ^_^

 

[EBE]

i typed this entire sentence using only my right hand index finger to search for keys.

 

[Cave Johnson]

She's.... not.... real??? I know I am an atheist but this is just so hard to not believe! I'm telling you there must be a mistake!

Mavis is real! Don't believe the heathens for they strike doubt into your heart.

 

[PaulExcellent]

wel u jst mad mai dey wors
fuck u mavis becon dint lern shiet

 

[DoctorZ]

Would've been funny years ago maybe, but this has been known since...well a while ago.

 

[daveo42]

Not at all surprising. No real betrayal because she helped me learn how to type well enough in my younger years.

 

[Haunted]

Not even the best typing game that came out today!

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=780833

 

[jim-jam bongs]

Would've been funny years ago maybe, but this has been known since...well a while ago.

Psst... It's a parody.

 

[TheGrue]

Guys, making threads that are making fun of issues out there where real people are suffering real world, intense issues is kind of tasteless. These people are truly suffering eye-debilitating travesties with this Dark Souls 2 #YOULIED thing. Please have some respect.

 

[FStop7]

I always assumed Mavis Beacon was a real person. My life is so hollow now.

 

[SpacePirate Ridley]

This reminds me of that thread in the OT where someone said Mavis Beacon fucked him in some woods and was into some kinky shit. Can't remember the thread but #YOULIED

 

[Azure J]

This is seriously one of the coolest stories ever for me.

 

[TheGrue]

Oh, and for some reason I never thought her name was Mavis Beacon. I always saw the box and thought Mavis Beacon was the name of the company that made the software.

 

[chicagocubsfan]

Now if I could just find the thread where that dude was claiming he had sex with Mavis Beacon.

 

[Katana_Strikes]

First Sandy Clause, then the tooth Fairy, now Mavis Beacon

#whenwillitend

 

[LowerLevel]

Black don't crack?

took too long...

 

[Haunted]

I always assumed Mavis Beacon was a real person. My life is so hollow now.

Next you're going to tell me that Rosetta Stone isn't a prominent female linguistic researcher!?

Spoiler

I actually believed this.

 

[Bailers]

How many people on this board would be too young to even know who Mavis Bacon is if not for original box art?

Now I feel old.

 

[creid]

Are you guys trying to say that Mavis was CG? No way #TeamReal

 

[wildfire]

Mr. Abrams, who concentrated on marketing the software, said that some stores in the South and Southwest had been reluctant to display the product at first because there was a black woman on the package. But reluctance to carry the product was not confined to those regions of the country. Mr. Abrams said he had also been turned down by 47th Street Photo in Manhattan, a large electronics store (which has since filed for bankruptcy) which was, at the time, a valuable outlet for software developers. (A lawyer for 47th Street Photo's former owners declined to comment.)

Sad that was 1998.

 

[LTWood12]

TOTY

Thread of the Year.

 

[HUELEN10]

I thought it was pretty common knowledge that Mavis Beacon wasn't real.

 

[Graphics Horse]

M A V I S B E A C O N

Not true #YOULIED

#ILIED
I just wanted to make you look

 

[Senor Kami]

Sad that was 1998.

Not surprising in the least though.

 

[sploatee]

Mavis Bacon

My favourite type of bacon.

 

[breakfuss]

I thought it was pretty common knowledge that Mavis Beacon wasn't real.

It's been so long since I used it I don't think I ever considered the possibility she wasn't. Idk, I think it may have been the voice. Very convincing.

 

[notworksafe]

If you're attempting to parody the Dark Souls 2 and Watch_Dogs community, you're not doing a very good job at it.

Not enough autism?

 

[Mass Effect]

Only thing I can think of when I see that #YOULIED is this.

Anyway, this is heartbreaking I remember using this program in school all the time. And it's all been a lie.

 

[WhupTroy]

There is definetly no way this is 60 wpm, probably more like 30 wpm, if that... =P

 

[spindashing]

New Mavis can get it

old Mavis look like she'll beat your ass if you don't keep at home row I wasn't feelin that