I generally agree with the principles here and long drop downs are problematic. But the author misses an important point; on most modern browsers you CAN start

I generally agree with the principles here and long drop downs are problematic. But the author misses an important point; on most modern browsers you CAN start typing when you have a Dropdown open and it will jump you to the selection that matches what you're typing (if anything does), and I believe ALL browsers support at least jumping to the first letter.