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Typewriter As Keyboard Mod
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."
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A good keyboard that clicks with tactile feedback when you use it
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.
*click* *click* *click* "It was a dark and stormy night" *click* *click* *click*
Table-ized A.I.
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
Emacs is gonna be a bitch with that thing.
Crying dupe's old and played out and just plain getting annoying. When you've seen the article before, you've seen it. Enjoy the new round of comments, or don't, and just move on. I didn't know this was a dupe. I hadn't seen the article before. Don't you dupe-catchers have much better to do with your time than go, "Oh I'm going to show my wealth of /. knowledge by catching a dupe and then wasting my time pulling up the old article and making a post, which I know at least five others will do."
It's really tired.
australian project gutenberg is better than the original.
How very Max Headroom of them. Theora would be proud!
Even from the article... "never got the backspace to work"...
Seems like some old typewriters didn't even have a "1" key - you just used lower case L.
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
I can almost picture one of my relatives using a computer with a type-writer keyboard. I'll get a call about the typewriter not working. I'll show up to find the monitor covered in White-Out. And smashed on the floor after they pushed it left and off the desk at the end of the line.
There's no review from the wife. Funny, with millions upon millions of people using computers, you never hear the complaint about "flying through air and hitting wall" effect of computer keyboards. I've used manual typewriters, and my fingers were MUCH more tired after only an hour of typing. On a computer I can type for a full day and feel no fatigue.
I suspect that his wife was merely using this as an excuse for computer incompetence. I've heard worse excuses from the luddites; evil rays coming from the LCD monitor, an anthropomorphic hatred emanating from the computer, and faking pressing the power button so they can pretend the computer's dead. I doubt this guy's wife actually liked this present, or will used it.
.. to avoid having a Windows key.
Here's some design hints:
http://www.mini-itx.com/projects/underwood/
The cool thing about Erik Fitzpatrick's one is it still functions as a typewriter.
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
I think this mini-itx PC in a typewriter is much cooler.
http://www.mini-itx.com/projects/underwood/
"Religion is the most malevolent of all mind viruses." - Arthur C. Clarke.
There's still space in that thing for a whole computer.
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.
Why do you hate me so? This is going to kill my alotted bandwidth. Could I get a heads up before getting slashdotted?
*******
"What good is science if no one gets hurt?!" - Professor Chromedome
My wife liked it, but it isn't in use at the moment because of a few drawbacks: no 1 key, no backspace, and no Escape. I'm working on a second version that should fix these things. In fact, I think the second version will be a complete "laptop" with the screen inside the case.
-Erik Fitzpatrick
(the creator)
*******
"What good is science if no one gets hurt?!" - Professor Chromedome
"So sorry, but RESEARCH your work first please?"
Oh brother. Not only was that 'dupe' from 2 years ago, you're the only one who remembers it.
Man I'm getting tired of the dupe gestapo.
"Derp de derp."
I would imagin that key logging would be as simple as placing a piece of paper in the typewriter
Nah, I remember it too... Even without the pics I thought there was something familiar about the article...
Anyway, since the dupe is 2 years old, doesn't that make it "not news anymore"? What the hell is 2 year old "news" doing on slashdot? Your argument stinks.
Install windows on my workstation? You crazy? Got any idea how much I paid for the damn thing?