In the early to mid '80s, every computer class or seminar I took, regardless of whether it lasted a day, week, or semester, began the same way.
"Everyone, go the cursor," the instructor would say. "Type in some random letters and numbers, and press Enter. What did you get? 'Syntax error.' That's because the computer needs to understand the commands you type."
I still think all of those instructors read from the same book.
