A keyboard is just as optional as a typewriter. When I first learned to program the device I learned on did not have a keyboard in the sense described; many people have learned to program by, e.g. Flipping switches on a panel.
The first computer-like things (e.g. Jacquard looms) were programmed by physical objects — indeed one of the first gadgets I learned to program used punchcards you punched manually with a pencil.
The digression into keyboards exemplifies the "self indulgent brain dump" issue I am complaining about. It reminds me of "Mathematics made difficult" except that the book in question was humorous and not pretending to make its subject more accessible.
The first computer-like things (e.g. Jacquard looms) were programmed by physical objects — indeed one of the first gadgets I learned to program used punchcards you punched manually with a pencil.
The digression into keyboards exemplifies the "self indulgent brain dump" issue I am complaining about. It reminds me of "Mathematics made difficult" except that the book in question was humorous and not pretending to make its subject more accessible.