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paulzolo
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:27 pm
Posts: 12251
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That’s it - another technology bites the dust. The humble typewriter, a device to which we all owe a debt of gratitude, is no more. The last factory to make them stopped making them a while back, and it has around 500 remaining in stock. Once they’re gone, they’re gone. So, while we sit here, tapping away on our various keyboards from the likes of Apple, Dell, Microsoft, Cherry or whoever’s name yours has stamped on it, remember that the arrangement of keys - the QWERTY (or AZERTY) is a direct hang over from a machine that used mechanical levers to stamp letters on paper. It may not surprise you that I have a few - six to be precise - some couple of nice old black portables, and a few more modern ones. No more typewriters being made. I feel a little sad. http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/366988/no-c ... anufactuer
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| Tue Apr 26, 2011 12:17 pm |
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Spreadie
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 6:06 pm
Posts: 6355
Location: IoW
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I remember learning to type on mechanical Typewriters. They made us use them at school, despite having BBC model Bs in the next room.
I frikkin hated them. You couldn't type fast on them, because the levers would catch each other.
I understand your sentiment Paul, but I don't share it.
_________________
Before you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes; after that, who cares?! He's a mile away and you've got his shoes!
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| Tue Apr 26, 2011 12:40 pm |
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ProfessorF
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:56 pm
Posts: 12030
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 Uhm, this isn't true though. http://uk.gawker.com/5795649/relax-theyre-still-making-typewriters | | | | Quote: Relax, They're Still Making Typewriters
Relax, They're Still Making TypewritersSo everyone is saying that the last typewriters have left the assembly line, and no new typewriters will ever be produced. It's not true.
The story being picked up is one that originated in India's Business Standard, in which a representative for Godrej & Boyce, who have produced typewriters in India since the 1950s, said that the company had ceased production on the machines back in 2009.
In the retelling, however, this somehow came to mean that Godrej & Boyce was the last existing typewriter manufacturer in the world, and that this therefore marked the final, wheezing gasps for the antiquated word-processing machines. From the fake typewriter ashes, a million nostalgic personal essays bloomed.
But rest easy, annoyingly hirsute hipster Luddites loitering at local cafes: The typewriter is alive and well. How do I know? Well, because I looked on Staples' website. But don't take my word for it. Let's check in with a typewriter manufacturing expert:
The typewriter is "far from dead," [says] Ed Michael, General Manager of Sales at Moonachie, NJ-based Swintec.
"We have manufacturers making typewriters for us in China, Japan, Indonesia," Michael says. "We have contracts with correctional facilities in 43 states to supply clear typewriters for inmates so they can't hide contraband inside them," Michael explained.
There you have it: So long as you can smuggle a nail file inside a MacBook, the typewriter will live to jam another day. | | | | |
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| Tue Apr 26, 2011 12:57 pm |
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Amnesia10
Legend
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 2:02 am
Posts: 29240
Location: Guantanamo Bay (thanks bobbdobbs)
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There will be a few who still want an old type writer. One huge advantage as long as you have light you can type. Otherwise you need power for every other device.
_________________Do concentrate, 007... "You are gifted. Mine is bordering on seven seconds." https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTg5MzczNTkhttp://astore.amazon.co.uk/wwwx404couk-21
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| Tue Apr 26, 2011 1:27 pm |
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JJW009
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:58 pm
Posts: 8767
Location: behind the sofa
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My pencil works OK without power  _________________jonbwfc's law: "In any forum thread someone will, no matter what the subject, mention Firefly." When you're feeling too silly for x404, youRwired.net
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| Tue Apr 26, 2011 1:28 pm |
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jonbwfc
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:26 pm
Posts: 17040
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And fingers, obviously. Jon
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| Tue Apr 26, 2011 1:29 pm |
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belchingmatt
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Fri May 15, 2009 3:16 am
Posts: 6146
Location: Middle Earth
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Dive like a fish, drink like a fish!
><(((º>`•.¸¸.•´¯`•.¸><(((º>
•.¸¸.•´¯`•.¸><(((º>`•.¸¸.•´¯`•.¸><(((º>
If one is diving so close to the limits that +/- 1% will make a difference then the error has already been made.
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| Tue Apr 26, 2011 1:40 pm |
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Amnesia10
Legend
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 2:02 am
Posts: 29240
Location: Guantanamo Bay (thanks bobbdobbs)
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Yes but they are a universal requirement unless you use voice recognition software (needs power). _________________Do concentrate, 007... "You are gifted. Mine is bordering on seven seconds." https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTg5MzczNTkhttp://astore.amazon.co.uk/wwwx404couk-21
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| Tue Apr 26, 2011 1:48 pm |
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Amnesia10
Legend
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 2:02 am
Posts: 29240
Location: Guantanamo Bay (thanks bobbdobbs)
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But can others read it? _________________Do concentrate, 007... "You are gifted. Mine is bordering on seven seconds." https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTg5MzczNTkhttp://astore.amazon.co.uk/wwwx404couk-21
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| Tue Apr 26, 2011 1:48 pm |
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forquare1
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:36 pm
Posts: 5161
Location: /dev/tty0
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It is a bugbear of mine that offices use computers for little more than word processing. Great beasts that just sit there idly printing the next character onto the screen.
the typewriter would be sufficient to most office workers IMO, though I'd agree the lack of email on a typewriter would be somewhat annoying.
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| Tue Apr 26, 2011 2:11 pm |
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dogbert10
Doesn't have much of a life
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 8:23 pm
Posts: 638
Location: 3959 miles from the centre of the Earth - give or take a bit
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Can you imagine how some people would cope without the spellchecking facility?
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i7 860 @ 3.5GHz, GTX275, 4GB DDR3
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| Tue Apr 26, 2011 3:32 pm |
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jonbwfc
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:26 pm
Posts: 17040
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I thinc I'd manadj alryt.
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| Tue Apr 26, 2011 5:31 pm |
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ProfessorF
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:56 pm
Posts: 12030
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Excel'd be a complete bitch. A production office I worked in many, many years ago kept an electric typewriter on hand, because if you can't use a computer for any reason, you can at least use the carbon flimsy order forms to organise the [LIFTED] you need to organise so things don't grind to a halt.
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| Tue Apr 26, 2011 6:04 pm |
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forquare1
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:36 pm
Posts: 5161
Location: /dev/tty0
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Excel'd be a complete bitch. But until Excel came along (pretty much), few people had the need to use spreadsheets...
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| Tue Apr 26, 2011 7:03 pm |
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ProfessorF
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:56 pm
Posts: 12030
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Only because we lacked the tools. Until the space race came along, we didn't need to use integrated circuits either.
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| Tue Apr 26, 2011 7:29 pm |
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