Why i like typewriters (5) : Longevity

In an age of planned obsolesence and our tools lasting not very long before breaking (and often not being repairable), typewriters are reassuring long-lived and resilient. Some of the machines in my collection date from the early 1960s and still work perfectly well, and other collectors have machines which are much older still. Some typewriters have had a hard life, millions of keys pounded, treated poorly in terrible conditions and yet are still working fine after a clean-up and a bit of oil.

The first typewriter in my collection was my Brother Deluxe 1350, a late 1960s or early 1970s machine, which i bought in 2013. I took it out of storage a few days ago and used it for the first time in a couple of years and it still works perfectly. 

Now of course this longevity really only applies to manual typewriters, electrics suffer from the same bit rot and electrical decay issues as other electrical items. However, it is reassuring that even in the event of a global nuclear armageddon we will still be able to use our typewriters in the smouldering ruins of civilisation. Though getting replacement ribbons may be tricky.

Why i like typewriters (4) : The sound

Typewriters are a feast for the senses, including hearing of course. The sound you can make as you are pounding away on your Olympia creating your magnificent octopus will be epic. Modern computer keyboards tend not to have much in the way of good sound, what does typing on a Macbook Air sound like? A butterfly fluttering it's wings.

It wasn't always like that of course, old skool computer keyboards like the keyboard on the Volker-Craig VC404 terminal were louder than God. My Mac mini has a loud-ish Tecknet mechanical keyboard which just about does the job. Though if you want to type as loudly as the Lord intended well you know the answer...

Why i like typewriters (3) : The smell

As well as the physical presence and appeals to the touch, a typewriter can win over another of your senses too, the sense of smell. Typewriters can smell amazing, well thats if you think the smell of ink and lubricant oil mixed with decades of dust smells amazing. I do of course, but then again i also like the smell of garlic and Deep Heat. My Macbook doesn't really smell of anything at all but to be honest that is a good thing. 

Not all typewriters smell good though, i've never found the smell of the Erika type that appealing, they must use a different kind of lubricant in East Germany.

Why i like typewriters (2) : The presence

Continuing the musings about why i like typewriters, there is a wonderful physical presence about them and of course their output. In a world in danger of slipping down the metaverse plughole, you can't beat the tactile feedback you get from typewriters. Everything has a purpose and interacts with the real world be it the scale to set your margins or the ribbon colour selector or any of the other controls and levers. It changes the typewriter and how it works and reacts.

Then you press a key to type a letter and it results in something you can hold and touch, a creation in the real world. Something to be treasured, or thrown away as it contains so many typos.

Why i like typewriters (1) : The physicality

A question some people ask me, especially my spouse, is why do i like typewriters? Well there are a number of reasons that i do and i shall list them in this new series.

The first reason is the fact that typewriters are very physical machines, unlike computers which are largely esoteric (well being a computing graduate and having had a 27 year plus career in IT i do know what happens inside the box but it isn't very visible!) 

However, with a typewriter everything is straight forward and understandable. You press a key, the lever and typekey it is connected to then impacts a piece of paper via the ribbon and prints a character. Who knows what goes on inside Microsoft Word? Literally no one.