Who Still Uses Typewriters?

[mbarrick]

Swintec clear typewriter

Oh, the things you find out when looking for something else entirely.

Remember typewriters? I remember spending hours hammering out nonsense on my sister's portable typewriter just because it was fun to mash the keys and have the satisfying thunk of the hammer magically imprint a letter. When using it to actually write something, one was inclined to spell  things correctly the first time because backspacing and jamming in the correction ribbon was a huge pain in the ass. You were frugal with exclamation points because it took four keystrokes to make one (shift-8 for an apostrophe, then backspace, then a period underneath it). There was no numeral one key, because a lower case "L" was the same shape. "Bold" was backing up and typing over the same text again. Underlining was backing up and hammering shift-6 to put an underscore under every letter one by one. There was a "¢" key ...and all those other nostalgic things.

Want to relive that nostalgia? Well guess what? Commit a crime where being forbidden to access a computer is part of your punishment and you're there.

Turns out there is a company called "Swintec" that produces a whole line of typewriters specifically for this prison niche market. Even more interesting is that these prison specific models are all made of clear plastic, some models right down to the ribbon cartridges, to prevent anyone from sneaking in the proverbial "nail file."

Comments

All great pieces of technology

[mbarrick.livejournal.com]

A totally agree. I have a 1930's model Underwood typewriter. I have and use (and Elaine sells (http://www.artofadornment.ca/catalog/index.php/cPath/1_49)) spring-powered pocket watches. And I have functioning two rotary phones, one of which is a candlestick phone, in service in the apartment.

[dream-king.livejournal.com]

We still have 3 typewriters in the office, which are still in regular usage. Some court documents, specifically small claims court documents can't be fed through the laser printer.

[mbarrick.livejournal.com]

Yup, that is definitely another niche market. When I was working for Port Moody city hall there was one in the clerks department for the same reason. I've also seen dot-matrix and daisy-wheel printers used for that kind of thing as well.

[cheekydevil.livejournal.com]

I used to crumple paper up and then type poetry onto it for a more arty look to my typed word projects. Remember a trend towards good spelling in GENERAL? /tears hair out One of my all-time pet peeves is bad spelling ...

[mbarrick.livejournal.com]

dnt no wat u meen... wat iz this "speling" that u speek ov? havnt seen it 4 yrs.

[magiknat.livejournal.com]

I love my typewriter :) It's blue and portable :)