Typewriters you've had

[Scott5114]

I learned to type on a computer keyboard, and I remember that I had to slow down my typing a bit on the Selectric, lest I outrun it. (That, and be more careful, since it didn't have any self-correction tape, and White-Out is a bitch.)

[kphoger]

Yeah, Wite-Out never dried as quickly as I wanted, and I always got impatient.  Then I'd type over it before it had completely dried, which never looked good.

[kphoger]

By the way, I once heard someone counter the statement "gas is expensive right now" with "not compared to a gallon of Wite-Out".

[1995hoo]

Wite-Out! All y'all are getting fancy. I had to use Ko-Rec-Type paper. It was very obvious when I made a typing mistake. That stuff was horrible.

[bandit957]

I remember back when 'The Simpsons' first started, there was some show on right before it that always ended with a man pulling a sheet of paper out of a typewriter. Anyone else remember this? I think he wore a red polo shirt.

[index]

Never owned a typewriter but I do own several IBM Model Ms (and one model F). Supposedly they were designed to feel and sound like typewriters to give people who just switched to a PC from a typewriter a bit of familiarity. I've considered picking a typewriter up at Goodwill a few times (the stores near me still have at least a good number of them stocked for whatever reason, I have no idea why anyone would buy them in this day and age unless you're weird like me, or you're old and the world's biggest luddite) but I decided against it each time not wanting to waste money on something that I would likely get for the novelty then never use again.

Technology Connections also has a decent video on those late-era electric typewriters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-GdTvkLUFA

[kkt]

Wite-Out! All y'all are getting fancy. I had to use Ko-Rec-Type paper. It was very obvious when I made a typing mistake. That stuff was horrible.

But you didn't have to wait for Ko-Rec-Type to dry!  You could type over it again immediately!  And if you photocopied your sheet it was very hard to see that it had been corrected.

[briantroutman]

I remember back when 'The Simpsons' first started, there was some show on right before it that always ended with a man pulling a sheet of paper out of a typewriter. Anyone else remember this? I think he wore a red polo shirt.

Stephen J. Cannell–novelist and creator of numerous television dramas, including The Rockford Files, The A-Team, and 21 Jump Street. The logo below was re-shot multiple times (with the shelf of awards behind him getting more full with each successive version), the score was updated, and Cannell had a different outfit in each. If I'm not mistaken, each featured an IBM Selectric typewriter.

[Scott5114]

Yeah, Wite-Out never dried as quickly as I wanted, and I always got impatient.  Then I'd type over it before it had completely dried, which never looked good.

The problem that I always had was getting it to go on evenly enough that it didn't glob all up. The bristles on the little brush cap would always clump together and make it hard to get an even coat. Later on they made an improved cap that had a triangular sponge instead of a brush, which helped somewhat. And yes, I accidentally wrote or typed through a still-tacky coat of Wite-Out multiple times. I wanted to get my homework done, not wait on some overrated white paint. (I used it more for papers that were required to be handwritten in ink. Since I normally used the typewriter for my own personal use, I'd usually just backspace over the offending word and type slashes over each letter to cross it out, since I was the only one who was going to see the finished product and I didn't care enough to mess with it.)

The most frustrating thing was that I had to do all of this when it was not necessary. We had the technology to avoid it, in the form of the Gateway computer sitting just feet away from me while I was struggling with Wite-Out. But I wasn't allowed to use it.

Never owned a typewriter but I do own several IBM Model Ms (and one model F). Supposedly they were designed to feel and sound like typewriters to give people who just switched to a PC from a typewriter a bit of familiarity.

Pretty much every post I make on this forum was typed on a Model M keyboard. I don't think they were intentionally designed to emulate a typewriter, because the stuff responsible for the feel and sound is actually the mechanism that activates the switches. This mechanism is incredibly durable–the keyboard I'm typing on was built in 1987 and works perfectly.

[1995hoo]

Wite-Out! All y'all are getting fancy. I had to use Ko-Rec-Type paper. It was very obvious when I made a typing mistake. That stuff was horrible.

But you didn't have to wait for Ko-Rec-Type to dry!  You could type over it again immediately!  And if you photocopied your sheet it was very hard to see that it had been corrected.

A photocopier was a luxury even when I was in junior high. I remember the ditto machine in elementary school. The smell of that thing would get you high.

[index]

Never owned a typewriter but I do own several IBM Model Ms (and one model F). Supposedly they were designed to feel and sound like typewriters to give people who just switched to a PC from a typewriter a bit of familiarity.

Pretty much every post I make on this forum was typed on a Model M keyboard. I don't think they were intentionally designed to emulate a typewriter, because the stuff responsible for the feel and sound is actually the mechanism that activates the switches. This mechanism is incredibly durable—the keyboard I'm typing on was built in 1987 and works perfectly.

The buckling springs and tactility may be what emulates that to some degree. It has nothing on the IBM 5251 though which included a full-blown solenoid striking the inside of the case, that was definitely there to emulate a typewriter. If there is any switch better than these it's probably the beam springs found in that board.

Rejoice, another fellow Model M user. I type on a beautiful looking industrial model M, manufactured September 10 1993. Not my oldest, but my best sounding and rarest. I ordered a black and silver badge for it to try and emulate the look of the earlier industrial Ms, as well as reproductions, down to the exact color and font, of these cool-looking terminal keycaps present on some old industrial space savers (http://www.zwettler.net/typo3temp/_processed_/csm_IBM_Model_M_industrial_SSK_1395682_19930107_front_d9b2560b02.jpg), but both might not arrive until Spring 2021 or so. Right there is mine, and has typed probably most of the posts you've seen by me.





The oldest one I have is a white label, was manufactured some time in Spring 1987 and I have it hooked up to a PS/2 Model 30 286. Both still work like a charm although the 1987 one isn't as loud and pingy as I'd like it to be. I don't think the plastic rivets are coming off though, nor has it already been bolt modded by a previous owner.

[kphoger]

I finally had to stop using my old mechanical keyboard because computers stopped coming with the necessary port.  When my wife and I bought our most recent computer a year or two ago, the store didn't even sell adapters for them anymore.

[kkt]

Wite-Out! All y'all are getting fancy. I had to use Ko-Rec-Type paper. It was very obvious when I made a typing mistake. That stuff was horrible.

But you didn't have to wait for Ko-Rec-Type to dry!  You could type over it again immediately!  And if you photocopied your sheet it was very hard to see that it had been corrected.

A photocopier was a luxury even when I was in junior high. I remember the ditto machine in elementary school. The smell of that thing would get you high.

When I was in high school, the public library and the school library both had photocopiers.

I had one English teacher in high school who just hated handwritten papers.  He didn't actually announce it, but by the end of the second month the students figured out that the exact same paper would get a full grade higher if it was typed.  Even if we just slashed out our typos instead of using liquid paper etc.  This was before computers at home were available.

[Rothman]

My current keyboard is mechanical with the loud Cherry MX Blue switches. :>

[D-Dey65]

I still have a typewriter, but there was a time when I wanted a Brother Word Processor. Some guy was trying to sell off his old one on "Pawn Stars" a while back, and seeing it reminded me that I wanted one years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKcASlJf1XY

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/aKwAAOSw-u9ftHj8/s-l1600.jpg

Personally, I think Rick should've offered the guy a little more money because of the uniqueness of the product. Having said that, the guy should've taken his offer.