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Typewriter As Keyboard Mod

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the because-you-can dept.

ummit writes "Erik Fitzpatrick did a nice job turning an old Smith-Corona manual typeriter into a functional keyboard, and composed a nice writeup about it, with pictures."

14 of 202 comments (clear)

  1. surprised by smoondog · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I'm surprised that computer mods/case mods aren't more popular. They hit the /. community regularly, but I'm surprised we don't see them on TV or on other websites more often.

    1. Re:surprised by null+etc. · · Score: 2, Interesting
      How nice! I just bought a 1920's Royal typewriter on ebay for $35, for the explicit purpose of turning it into a PC case. The insides are huge, have glass windows on the side (take that, PC!) and will be a perfect housing for a micro-atx motherboard.

      My final mod will consist of sticking a 19" LCD monitor out of the back, ala Animatrix "Detective Story".

  2. doot do do, doot doot do do do dooo by jmb-d · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Anyone else thinking of Brazil and the computers they used?

    --
    In walking, just walk. In sitting, just sit. Above all, don't wobble.
    -- Yun-Men
    1. Re:doot do do, doot doot do do do dooo by silentbozo · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Let me head this off at the pass:
       
        Slashdot article on the ElectriClerk
       
      Enjoy.

  3. How very... by AtariDatacenter · · Score: 2, Interesting

    How very Max Headroom of them. Theora would be proud!

  4. Re:Wanted: New Manual Typewriter by Halfbaked+Plan · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I got a nice IBM Selectric at auction for $3 last month. Unless you're using it where there is no electricity (I got a hand-cranked portable gramaphone today at auction, BTW) you just turn it off when you step away and turn it back on.

    The beauty of writing on a typewriter for those who've never done it, is the indelible immediacy of it. Writing on any kind of a word processor means any power outage can wipe it out, and that you can cursor all the heck over the place and spend a lot more time futzing around. Writing directly to paper means there's a permanent durable revision history. And it's refreshing to be able to just walk up to the typewriter table and type some more on the page. No distractions of a computer/internet terminal, etc.

    --
    resigned
  5. Re:finally... by Limburgher · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Still I prefer the IBM Model M. Now that sucker's awesome. It's not just the most robust, sturdy keyboard I've ever used, I've also a weapon :)

    --

    You are not the customer.

  6. I've always wanted the opposite by G4from128k · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I've always wanted to make a computer into a typewriter. By sending characters and control commands to an old dot matrix printer, one should be able to make a passable typewriter application that outputs dot matrix characters in real time. It would use carriage control logic such as that used in the old DecWriter dumb terminal to scoot the print head away from the active printing area to show the user what's being typed and then reposition the print head when they start typing again.

    Sometimes you just need to type words into some odious government form and a hacked typewriter made from some leftover computer junk would be just the thing. I've got an old Mac LC II and an Imagewriter that would be just perfect for this hack, but any old computer and dot matrix printer should work. With a custom application that autoruns during boot, the thing wouldn't even need a monitor.

    --
    Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
    1. Re:I've always wanted the opposite by localroger · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The Coleco Adam did this out of the box. Back when most computers booted into BASIC the Adam booted into this kind of typewriter mode, and was one keystroke away from a pretty good little word processor (for its time). To get BASIC or any other program you loaded it from a high-speed random access tape (what the Adam had instead of disk drives).

      --
      Brackets contain world's first nanosig, highly magnified:[.]
    2. Re:I've always wanted the opposite by DK · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I wrote a program 14 years ago that does exactly what you describe. Back then, I was filling out college applications, and I didn't have a typewriter, but I had a dot-matrix printer hooked up to my 286. The program was written in GW-BASIC, which had a command (lprint ??) that sent characters to a parallel port. The program was able to type either a single character or a full line at a time. My programming skills were pretty poor back then, which goes to show how easy this was to do.

      It's too bad that modern printers aren't quite so easy to hack.

  7. IBM Selectric by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I ran into one of these a few years ago. I think had better feedback than modern keyboards. Wikipedia's got a write up it. Looks like some models had an RS-232 port for use as a terminal.

  8. Re:finally... by bhtooefr · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Try a Model F...

    The Model M is a buckling-spring/membrane hybrid (as in, the BS mechanism hits a membrane). The Model F uses a buckling-spring, but it uses capacitive switching rather than a membrane.

    That said, if I'm not using the keyboard on this lappy, I'm on a Model M. The best 101-key keyboard evar!

  9. Re:Nestalgia by tverbeek · · Score: 2, Interesting
    all work and no play makes jack a dull boy

    Reminds me of an assignment I did for typography class.

    --
    http://alternatives.rzero.com/
  10. Re:finally... by retinaburn · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I was thinking the same thing. I recently liberated two (one for my brother and one for myself) and pulled out an old ps2-usb converted I got with a keyboard, which let me use it on my new pcs.

    On the downside of the Model M, my brothers old roommates gf had a nervous breakdown because of the late night coding/IRC he used to do causing a significant lack of sleep for her.

    For most /.'rs this won't be a problem ;)