Yes, I KNOW when computers came along because I had to be convinced to get one. I actually said to my smart spouse, "A computer?! Why do we need a fancy typewriter and who wants to talk to MORE people?" Yeah, I didn't have a Steve Jobs or Bill Gates mentality, okay?
But here' s my question? How many of you Gatherers out there typed most of your papers on an actual typewriter? Some famous writers still do, by the way, convinced it gives them good luck or just "feels better" than a computer. Go figure.
Anyway, I'm curious. For those who have always used computers, do typewriters, especially nonelectric ones, seem old-fashioned? Does anyone miss typewritiers?
I sure remember using typewriters, white-out, having to back and erase mistakes, not having an electric typewriter, etc. I remember when an electric typewriter seemed a major improvement! And now look...the computer age!
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Comments: 59
Lol. I remember those slow printers. I could practically go out to eat and come back to find it printing away....
:)
Kids have it easy these days, really!
I know. I sound like someone I swore I'd never turn into.
And doesn't Stephen King still use a typewriter? Or is it Dean Koontz?
But my thoughts come out in the wrong order and it's so much easier to switch sentences and paragraphs around now. I would like to try the feel of an electric typewriter again. I never had the strength for the shift keys on the heavy old manuals, but they were cool. If I were a real writer, I'd love to be the kind who use a real typewriter. Like at the end of the Steven J. Cannell TV shows.
Maybe it causes one to type more slowly, not wanting to make typos, which can be a pain to correct on SOME typewriters.
Less than 20 years ago. Amazing, isn't it?
I used to have a small collection of vintage and non-vintage typewriters. Some I kept in my classroom (4 year-olds) for the children to see and use, along with a record player and an old black rotary dial phone.
After college, I've almost always had a computer, first with a dot matrix printer than with inkjets and lasers. Once I had a viable printer, my typewriter was completely neglected. Maybe ten years ago, we gave it away and haven't used one since. I can't remember when I last saw a typewriter on a secretary's desk!
I did make my oldest son last year type on a typewritter..he has a new appreciation for MSWORD.
Just thinking about having to erase rather than backspace gives me the willies.
Now that I'm in college again, I can't imagine writing papers, or organizing my study materials, or doing research without my computer.
I resisted the PC trend for years though - didn't finally get one till 1999. Now it's more essential than the TV, stereo and typewriter combined.
Anyway, he got into "the zone", beyond anxiety and into rhythm, pace and enthusiasm.
As with much of life, it was fun for him and so he thrived. THe competition did not scare him, wasn't on his radar screen.
But the ribbon died eventually and I had trouble getting a new one...
That was right around the time we moved and got on old 3.1 computer (which was outdated even then). It was good for gaming, though, and I had a blast with it.
I've got a couple typewriters still. Antiques, but every once in a while I pull them out and type something. I hate having to start over or write over it if I do something wrong, since I usually do things wrong, but I like the antique feel of using it. ^_^ Reminds me of my grandparents and since they're so far away now it's a bit of a comfort.
Now that I'm using a computer (which I refused for a year) I prefer it.
A new ad I've heard: "Writers should use typewriters so they have time to think." At 5wpm, I have lots of time.
When I got my first typewriter at 13, I wrote a nearly-complete young adult novel on it, and several short stories, and a few more attempts at other young adult novels. I miss the particular clack of the keys; John has told me you can get a computer program that will mimic that sound when you type on the keyboard, which sounds supercool.
Nippy is right. I used my mom's old manual typewriter, left over from her secretarial days, and you have bionic hands when you type on those suckers.
I thought I was cool in college since I had an actual electric/correcting typewriter! I used to make pretty good cash typing papers for my friends. About a year ago I keyed a manuscript for a publisher, since the writer had done it on a typewriter. It's still not bad money! You'd have to pry my computer from my cold dead fingers--would be the appropriate description. I still prefer to compose poetry with paper and pen, though. I guess so I can play with the layout--who knows. I have a very hard time sustaining an long-time writing with a pen because of some carpal tunnel in my right hand.
Now I write my articles in Word on my computer, since that's the easiest way to get everything in one place and allows me to type right into the story while I ask questions in phone interviews.
I still write in pen and ink for a number of things, however. I have a leather-bound notebook for song writing (which I keep in my purse/bag), a leather-bound notebook for journaling (ala "Dear Diary", which I keep by my bed) and a mens-suiting-fabric-bound notebook for future plans and to-do items (which I keep at my desk). This system works out very well for getting down thoughts when and where they strike.
in 1996, and can't picture life without it. I do have to say, that Billy found me an old professional IBM keyboard that has keys that can be replaced and have the same clicky sound and feel as an old typewrite about six months ago, and I really like it, I can type very fast on it, and it keeps my fingers in good shape, I mean gives them more of a work out. And I like the sound of the clickyclick as I type. I have done papers for others on the computer, and it is the mainstay of my life now. I used to take a lot of papers in high school in long hand though, and during my lifetime, have owned several typewriters of my own for home use, I think I like all methods of writing, as long as I get my thoughts down,, backs of envelopes are often filled.
Lol, I like the back of envelope method myself. You should have seen the garbage collector's face as he stood there, reading one I'd accidentally thrown away. I ran outside, grabbed it from him, only to read ," She wanted him so badly..."
Try explaining THAT one!
I had an electric typewriter that was as close to a keyboard as you can get. It had an LCD screen and the typing was delayed for several keystrokes so you could make corrections if needed before it printed.
The first computer I used for papers was the Apple 2c (I think). It used a program called Bank Street Writer and was somewhat limited in its capacity. I used an IBM compatible computer at work and started using it to type material around the last year or so I was in school.
I'm SO glad you commented because I have wondered if typewriters somehow got people to focus on quality. I think it did for me. Sometimes when I'm typing on a computer, I can type so quickly that I often go back and think..."Wait! Did I actually type that?!" My fingers often move more quickly than I can process what I am writing. Typewriters somehow lessened the errors, gave me time to reflect and plenty more time to reflect as I was correcting errors.
I learned to type on a manual, not electric, typewriter at my Catholic high school. When I transferred to a public school for my senior year, I started using an electric typewriter. That seemed so rich!
So, yes, I used an electric typewriter to write my college papers. I still have some of them, but I'd have all of them if they were on a computer disk.
When I took a year off and then went back to finish my degree, I thought I was being high-tech because I got an electronic (as opposed to electric) typewriter. It was like an electric typewriter except the keys were more sensitive and I could save things to a disk (which I couldn't use with a computer when I got one).
By the time I went to school for my master's degree, I had a laptop with Windows 95.
My typewriters must not be antiques yet. Or else I am just out of the loop. Either is a possibility :)