Type vs Text

Between the summer of Grade 8 and Grade 9 it was quite common for a lot of us to take a summer school class in order to earn an early high school credit. It wasn't so bad because collectively a whack of us did it together so it was basically like hanging out with your friends. And because a lot of us were heading off to different high schools, it was one last chance for us to be together.

For a month of mornings in a consistently humid July, we hopped on our bikes and whipped down to take Grade 9 “Introduction to Typing” taught on… get this, TYPEWRITERS. Fun fact, white out was not invented for pens, it was for typewriters because, THERE WAS NO BACKSPACING (as I write this I have already backspaced at least fifty times…)

During typing class we learned to not only type quickly, but we had to learn to do it without looking down at the keys. During tests and exams we had to cover our hands. I wish I could say it was a skill I managed to keep but, I am currently STARING DOWN AT MY KEYBOARD.

Now, truth be told I still cannot believe that I am old enough to have taken a typewriting class – but I am a writer, so it wasn’t a complete waste (on that note no education is a waste, no matter how much I gripe about calculus in an arts career I am grateful for it.)

Curiously, I wonder what a typing class would be like now...?

DEVICES LEARNED ON:
1990s: Typewriter
2020: Mac, PC, Smartphone, Keyboard, Tablet

AVERAGE WORDS PER MINUTE:
1990s: 40-60 words (what’s an 'emoji'?)
2020: 190-200 Characters per minute (what’s a 'word'?)

POSSIBLE OCCUPATIONS:
1990s: Secretary, Court Reporter, Medical Transcription...
2020: Um, EVERYTHING!

SUBJECTS FOR TESTS AND EXAMS:
1990s: Speed, Errors, Accuracy (what’s an 'auto correct'?)
2020: “You expect me to type a WHOLE word? Like, ALL the letters?”

Now, I suppose the words “typing” could easily be swapped today for “texting”, and something we in the 1990s had a class for is now second nature to the current generation; typing fast and often.

Also worth noting, we did not have auto-correct, spellcheck, grammar check, resume assistant and all the other things I, along with the rest of the planet, rely on. I continue to be exceedingly grateful for these advancements and tools at our busy fingertips - but, much like film before digital there was something about typing on a typewriter that felt… honest?

There was no red squiggly line that popped up under misspelled words, or blue lines to indicate awkward grammar - you only had a handful of chances to get it right before the letter key could no longer break through the globs of white out. You had to think carefully, be confident.

Can you imagine if you only had ONE CRACK at an especially important text? I know, right?

And maybe I’m romanticizing typing for more than what it is, but again back to the film versus digital analogy - when you only have a handful of times to “get the shot” versus the unlimited capacity of digital - everything is heightened, the stakes are higher and the room for error lessened.

Because something often happens when things come less easy...

They mean more.

Love,
Grace

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