To all the whiners, this is sm

Posted By: Food for thought on 2008-10-24
In Reply to: I don't know what everybody has to complain about. sm - Tracey

I have been in this donkey's years now. Here is the truth of falling money...how soon ye have forgotten!

In the beginning of computers, I worked in WP5.1 for DOS. I was paid by the BYTE line! I made 6.5 and later 7 cents per BYTE line. Guess what? You'd get 1500 *characters* for opening up a document, um like every time you opened one up. You didn't work for that, it just happened. Long document, you really didn't make out as well versus a character count. Short document, you really made out like a bandit. So, if you put one pt in one file in WP5.1, you made BIG BUCKS and you didn't type all of that, it was from merely OPENING UP THE DOCUMENT AND CLOSING IT.

Lots of us were paid by the byte. With the loss of Wp5.1 and the use of platforms and/or Word, we all went to strict character/keystroke count. YES we took a hit!!!! YES it was hard. YES it seems like stuff has gone down the toilet.

I can tell you, when I worked in DOS 10 years ago, I got 7 cents per BYTE line. I was working 5-6 hours a day, doing clinic, bored to tears. I would get about $1200 every 2 weeks. I was not that fast, nor was I anywhere near as accurate or good as I am today. Today, I am fantastic...both for speed and accuracy. Even I can't believe how much I know and use on a daily basis. I am a phenomenon and I know it.

Today, I work probably 8 or 9 hours actually at the keyboard. I am ultra fast (300 and better lph) in a Word client platform. I get a whopping 9.3 cents a line on average. I am making $3500 TO $4000 a month. That is AT LEAST $1100 more than I made when I was working a BYTE LINE.

Now...if I were being paid by the byte still, I'd make half again the amount of money I make now, even if I was still getting 7 cents. Why? Cuz like so many of you, I didn't work actually typing for all of that.

Lets be more honest about it, shall we?

Complete Discussion Below:

marks the location of current message within thread

I don't know what everybody has to complain about. sm - Tracey
- bless your heart for thinking $10-12/hour is good money - nm - Deb
  - My thoughts exactly... - nm
  - pay - tryinghard
  - did you ever notice - I need to get one of those (husband)
    - I'm the "bread winner" in my family - Not necessarily
- I just would like sm - CrispyCritterMT
- How on earth do you make $10-$12 - Tellme
- To all the whiners, this is sm - Food for thought
  - But we're not paid by bytes anymore..sm - mt
  - about themselves? Help the rest of us - Sombody feels good
    - take Amanda's challenge. it's down a lot of posts with a fire tag.NM - mt2
      - I'd gladly take the challenge if there was any freaking WORK to do..! - Idle MT looking for more work nm
  - I'm sorry, but am I the only one... - MT
    - lol--no. I didn't get it either. Thought my brain was fried.. - mt
      - I thought it might have been - MT
  - do you know how rare 9.3 cpl is? - moon1010
- I guess if I was married - Jodi
  - You ask anybody in any profession - mtmt
    - couldnt agree with you more - MT55
- REALLY? - still typing
  - May be so but don't forget they don't work all year - Backwards typist
  - Let's all ditch our keyboards and go pave some roads?..nm - HeidiHo
- Ask yourself this.... - mt
  - My DH is a programmer and was making $200k in the 90s, now at $85k. sm - NeutralObserver
    - That was my whole point! I was not trying to offend anyone. nm - Tracey
  - I kind of have to agree here. - Love working from home, but there are no
  - Mine is less than it was 10 years ago nm - True
    - ok, I apologize. I do sympathize with and understand with you seansoned MTs but...sm - Tracey
      - You're right, i spend way too much time on this board when should be working, I am just so burned - just chilling
      - The construction workers are not all - uneducated either. Not to be unkind.

The messages you are viewing are archived/old.
To view latest messages and participate in discussions, select the boards given in left menu

Other related messages found in our database

Whiners take it to a blog
I am not advocating to just quit, move or walk away. If you have read my posts, I have offered suggestions that don't require brash action, just common sense and ambition. Public boards should be for differing view points on different subjects. They should not be about pity parties. It would be much easier for the whiners to have their own blog, where maybe between them they could come up with one good idea as to how to improve their situation. Leave the public boards for the general public, not a few whiners who only rehash the same thoughts.

Nice - that put these whiners in their place
*applause*