Fred Woolworth has it right. There's something about the din of a typewriter. When my girlfriend and I do our Direct Action Flaneurs public typewriter events, people are pulled in by the thump and thwack and ding of the machines. A brutal noise, but wholesome as well. Then, once they confront a machine in their lap, they realize that typewriters offer raw, tactile, open, immediate communication. Everything's there--typos, misspellings, grammatical shortcomings, your emotions while you type (do you pound or simply press the keys?)---published the second you pull the paper from the platen.
I've taken to lending my..... infectiously growing.... collection of typewriters out to people of late.
While some lament the days that they spent being tortured by these machines for their lack of flexibility - in a time where precision and accuracy was desired, now they take on a totally different role to what they once did, and people seem to be excited about borrowing these machines.
Good read, glad you shared it with us. I've never read (or heard of) "The Mystery & Adventure Series," I remember you mentioning it to me when I was in Cincy. I'll have to look it up.
Thanks for sharing. More to add to my reading list. Truth is that 50 years from now a typewriter will still work while the newest electronic gadget or computer that was just released for sale today will be totally useless. We are lucky if the junk electronics things being produced today will even work 10 years from now, including the over priced Apple products.
@ Bill M, sadly, most people won't care about these typewriters that we revere. I don't mean to generalise (but it's gonna sound like it), but most 22 year-olds that I meet seem to think that the world began in 1990. I agree that a typewriter built in the 1940s will outlast a laptop computer built in 2012, but folks (besides us) won't want to use a typewriter because it's too labour-intensive and requires too much concentration in a world where a dog-walker can actually make a living.
@Richard, thanks for the excerpt. Very thought-provoking.
Fred Woolworth has it right. There's something about the din of a typewriter. When my girlfriend and I do our Direct Action Flaneurs public typewriter events, people are pulled in by the thump and thwack and ding of the machines. A brutal noise, but wholesome as well. Then, once they confront a machine in their lap, they realize that typewriters offer raw, tactile, open, immediate communication. Everything's there--typos, misspellings, grammatical shortcomings, your emotions while you type (do you pound or simply press the keys?)---published the second you pull the paper from the platen.
ReplyDeleteThat's an interesting excerpt. I may have to read more of it. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI've taken to lending my..... infectiously growing.... collection of typewriters out to people of late.
ReplyDeleteWhile some lament the days that they spent being tortured by these machines for their lack of flexibility - in a time where precision and accuracy was desired, now they take on a totally different role to what they once did, and people seem to be excited about borrowing these machines.
Good read, glad you shared it with us. I've never read (or heard of) "The Mystery & Adventure Series," I remember you mentioning it to me when I was in Cincy. I'll have to look it up.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. More to add to my reading list. Truth is that 50 years from now a typewriter will still work while the newest electronic gadget or computer that was just released for sale today will be totally useless. We are lucky if the junk electronics things being produced today will even work 10 years from now, including the over priced Apple products.
ReplyDelete@ Bill M, sadly, most people won't care about these typewriters that we revere. I don't mean to generalise (but it's gonna sound like it), but most 22 year-olds that I meet seem to think that the world began in 1990.
DeleteI agree that a typewriter built in the 1940s will outlast a laptop computer built in 2012, but folks (besides us) won't want to use a typewriter because it's too labour-intensive and requires too much concentration in a world where a dog-walker can actually make a living.
@Richard, thanks for the excerpt. Very thought-provoking.