Last night I was at a friend's house. I saw that he had an old mechanical typewriter in a hard case. I opened it, and the ribbon was plenty dark. I typed a full page of typing. It took forever. Every single line had a typing mistake. My hands truly ached when I was done. I did it to see what it would be like if I didn't have electricity. I think I could get used to it, though. The mistake thing came because I can type with cavalier abandon on a computer, and quickly back up and correct it. With ink I would have had to use correction tape or correction fluid. Once, in mid word, I struck the wrong letter, and was able to simply CHANGE THE WORD I HAD IN MIND TO A DIFFERENT WORD, using the incorrect letter. I also had to type more slowly, because the mechanical parts kept sticking together, especially on often-typed combinations like "the" or "and."
I've got an Underwood typewriter in my living room. It is old, black, heavy and fully-functional. I bought it at an antique store some 15 years ago. I don't use it, but young children who are visiting seem to enjoy tapping on the keys. The last big project I remember typing was my final project in my final undergraduate class, "Computer Technical Writing". I normally used a PC (even back then) but for a reason that escapes me now, I found it better to use a typewriter (I think I was using copies of manuals and adding things, etc.). Anyway, it was a nightmare. SOOO slow. I must have used gallons of correction fluid. It is just an inelegant way to doing things.
Giving handwriting a try has been interesting in many ways. Most of the issues I face with handwriting are not technical, they are psychological. It is actually oppressive to me to have to process data so slowly. Things bubble up in my head and need to come out NOW. If I wait, they will certainly be gone. The pencil forces me to slow down and think before I write. It forces me to do things differently. And that, of course, is what I had in mind. I just didn't think it would piss me off so much.
In the event of a hurricane or tropical storm, my Underwood typewriter can be used as an anchor point.
2 comments:
Last night I was at a friend's house. I saw that he had an old mechanical typewriter in a hard case. I opened it, and the ribbon was plenty dark. I typed a full page of typing. It took forever. Every single line had a typing mistake. My hands truly ached when I was done. I did it to see what it would be like if I didn't have electricity. I think I could get used to it, though. The mistake thing came because I can type with cavalier abandon on a computer, and quickly back up and correct it. With ink I would have had to use correction tape or correction fluid. Once, in mid word, I struck the wrong letter, and was able to simply CHANGE THE WORD I HAD IN MIND TO A DIFFERENT WORD, using the incorrect letter. I also had to type more slowly, because the mechanical parts kept sticking together, especially on often-typed combinations like "the" or "and."
I've got an Underwood typewriter in my living room. It is old, black, heavy and fully-functional. I bought it at an antique store some 15 years ago. I don't use it, but young children who are visiting seem to enjoy tapping on the keys. The last big project I remember typing was my final project in my final undergraduate class, "Computer Technical Writing". I normally used a PC (even back then) but for a reason that escapes me now, I found it better to use a typewriter (I think I was using copies of manuals and adding things, etc.). Anyway, it was a nightmare. SOOO slow. I must have used gallons of correction fluid. It is just an inelegant way to doing things.
Giving handwriting a try has been interesting in many ways. Most of the issues I face with handwriting are not technical, they are psychological. It is actually oppressive to me to have to process data so slowly. Things bubble up in my head and need to come out NOW. If I wait, they will certainly be gone. The pencil forces me to slow down and think before I write. It forces me to do things differently. And that, of course, is what I had in mind. I just didn't think it would piss me off so much.
In the event of a hurricane or tropical storm, my Underwood typewriter can be used as an anchor point.
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