Tuesday 20 November 2012

The Use of the Typewriter

I find an interesting article on the BBC regarding people who still love typewriters.

I love an old typewriter, me. There's something very Agatha Christie about a typewriter. A typewriter brings you into direct contact with the words you are creating. You press the key - the letter appears. It is a physical joy. A connective, co-ordinated experience. It is a righteous thing, the use of a typewriter. You are not remote from the final product, as with a laptop.

Obviously, I keep mine in the attic. It's wonderful to imagine it. But you wouldn't want actually to use it, would you?

3 comments :

  1. My old man had one which had cursive script - beautiful machine. He used it regularly.

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  2. My grandfather was a typewriter mechanic when they were the latest innovation in technology - the IT industry of its day. He worked on the iconic Underwood machine. I remember as a small child being entranced by words such as "tabulator" when he reminisced about his work. Wish I had one in my attic!

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  3. My father had a massive 'portable' model that I was allowed to use as a child if I was very careful with it. The portable I first acquired for myself was so light it would skitter across the table as I pounded on it. Then I got a much heavier electic one which I passed on to one of my sisters when I first got access to a primitive computer that stored information on cassette tapes and allowed me to delete my errors easily.

    None in the attic, alas. Actually, no attic either.

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