I was in the small northern California town of Ferndale at an eclectic coffee house. There was an old Royal typewriter on a counter with a blank sheet of paper on the platen. The barista invited me to try my hand at it. Remembering the days when I wrote a novella (unpublished) and numerous short stories (unpublished) on a manual typewriter, I gave it a try.
The “action” was terrible and varied from key-to-key. I marvelled at how strong my fingers must have been in those days to touch-type more than 50 words per minutes on a manual typewriter. It was a very kinesthetic experience, flashing back to when accuracy was paramount and wasting “carbons” was expensive.
I told my cousin that he owned and was using the same model of Royal Standard that they had in the Museum. I didn’t tell him that it was an exhibit there.
ekke over 1 year ago
Yeah, real-time performance! Wow!
Ratkin Premium Member over 1 year ago
Oh Brother, that’s a Royal pain. What an Underwoodhanded trick to play on him.
rekam Premium Member over 1 year ago
His density never ceases to amaze me.
Sanspareil over 1 year ago
Better difference is the old typewriters are not connected to the internet!
The Reader Premium Member over 1 year ago
At least he has quit hitting ‘Send All’ on his e-mails!
Imagine over 1 year ago
Wait until he tries to hit “send”.
Slowly, he turned... over 1 year ago
And every sentence has a “ding” at the end… he probably thinks its incoming mail.
gantech over 1 year ago
He evidently hasn’t tried to plug in a thumb drive yet.
fencie over 1 year ago
Wish I had room for a typewriter if only for addressing envelopes. It’s a pain to do them on the computer.
preacherman Premium Member over 1 year ago
Typewriters did have their advantages in word processing.
Calvins Brother over 1 year ago
What’s old is new again.
mistercatworks over 1 year ago
I was in the small northern California town of Ferndale at an eclectic coffee house. There was an old Royal typewriter on a counter with a blank sheet of paper on the platen. The barista invited me to try my hand at it. Remembering the days when I wrote a novella (unpublished) and numerous short stories (unpublished) on a manual typewriter, I gave it a try.
The “action” was terrible and varied from key-to-key. I marvelled at how strong my fingers must have been in those days to touch-type more than 50 words per minutes on a manual typewriter. It was a very kinesthetic experience, flashing back to when accuracy was paramount and wasting “carbons” was expensive.
cuzinron47 over 1 year ago
I bet he has a landline at home to make sure he doesn’t lose it.
David Huie Green LoveJoyAndPeace over 1 year ago
My old Olivetti Underwood was enjoyable to type on.
bobr2 over 1 year ago
I’m still a bit heavy fingered on computer keyboard, because I learned to type on a manual typewriter.
Wilkins068 over 1 year ago
Give him an Etch A Sketch. They’re like a tablet, right?
Gent over 1 year ago
Offline keyboard eh.
eb110americana over 1 year ago
What WILL they think of next?! (Also, that explains why I saw Captain Kirk walk by with a clipboard, earlier.)
Dragoncat over 1 year ago
Oh, those were the days…
jimboylan over 1 year ago
I told my cousin that he owned and was using the same model of Royal Standard that they had in the Museum. I didn’t tell him that it was an exhibit there.