Hi, I'm old. I learned to type on this: My first reports were typed on this: My first attempts at fiction were typed on this: Know what technology fuckin' deserved to die? I say this, knowing a guy who made a fuckn documentary on typewriters. Fuck typewriters. But especially FUCK typewriters that can't even put ink on paper. (full disclosure - I occasionally toy with buying a Groma Kolibri off eBay, but that's only because they're East German, ridiculously tiny, and part of a key plot point in The Lives of Others. I would never attempt to use it, nor pretend that it would be anything other than a twee object of fetishism)
I have a mid-80s electronic typewriter from Epson, it's surprisingly robust but trying to find ribbon cartridges for it is a nightmare. One cool thing it does, other than offer basic word processing, is it lets you hook it up to a modern and use it as a terminal. One got a Raspberry Pi, I've got a ribbon, I think it's time I hack this thing on to the modern internet!
RIGHT?!? I know! There were a couple of different attempts at typewriter design early on, trying to figure out the best way to arrange the mechanisms to make them work well. This one is a real "winner" because it actually obscures what you are writing, as you write it. Check it out: People complain about only being able to see two or three lines... well about about only being able to see 6 or 8 characters of the line you are typing?!? You will rarely see an Oliver No 9 working. Ours you could type a word or two on, and then do another 20 minutes of service to get it working again....