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Tim P. Ryan's Blog
Topic: On manual typewriters
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fiogf49gjkf0d Okay, in Live Journal I was asked about my manual typewriter experience:
I was one of few guys who took typing class in high school. Not only manual, but ones with no letters on the keys--all blank. About half-way through the class we got to move to the other room with IBM selectrics. Other than speed and accuracy, the class also taught business typing and styles, so I know what the cc: means. I was given a new portable while still in high school by my parents, this one included a clap-on metal tray so you could be typing at the proper height. In college I wanted a real, big manual typewritter, and I went big--I got the one with an 18 inch carriage, so I could type on greenbar computer paper, a full 132 characters wide. A couple of years later, I worked at a radio station and used a manual that was big in a different way, large font, to make it easier to read the news stories typed up on it. But in 1977 I was working for The Phone Company and was using one of those Model 33 Teletypes as a terminal to a mainframe in another state. It got me into a program where I tracked all the modems in Michigan--amount and breakdown rates determined the number of spares a service garage could have on hand.
Now about 20 years ago, I gave up the manual for an electric that had a new interface on it; you could hook it up to your computer as a printer. By the time I got a home computer, I got a printer dedicated to the computer. The typewriter was still usefull to type labels to attach to cassette tapes.
-Tim
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Member Comments:
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fiogf49gjkf0d I still have a couple of old manuals around, never liked electrics much even though I used them in HS.
I have always wanted to take one and make it into the keyboard for one of the old Macintoshes I have kinda like the computers in Brazil.
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fiogf49gjkf0d So you connect the ketboard directly to the printer and eliminate the middle man..... Interesting concept.
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