He Fixed 300,000+ Machines - America's Oldest Typewriter Repairman Dies At 96

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He Fixed 300,000+ Machines - America's Oldest Typewriter Repairman Dies At 96

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday September 11, 2013 @09:35PM from the ribbons-in-the-sky dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The New York Times reports, 'For eight decades, Manson Whitlock kept the 20th century's ambient music going: the ffft of the roller, the ding of the bell, the decisive zhoop ... bang of the carriage return, the companionable clack of the keys. From the early 1930s until shortly before his death last month at 96, Mr. Whitlock, at his shop in New Haven, cared for the instruments, acoustic and electric, on which that music was played. Mr. Whitlock was often described as America's oldest typewriter repairman. He was inarguably one of the country's longest-serving. Over time he fixed more than 300,000 machines, tending manuals lovingly, electrics grudgingly and computers never. "I don't even know what a computer is," Mr. Whitlock told The Yale Daily News, the student paper, in 2010. "I've heard about them a lot, but I don't own one, and I don't want one to own me."'"

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Technophobia by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-11 21:53 · Score: 3, Insightful

What is better, to fear what you don't know or to completely embrace it and know its weaknesses inside out? I'll opt for the latter anytime.
I use computers extensively and they don't own me.
1. Re:Technophobia by d33tah · 2013-09-11 21:55 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Or so it lets you think.
2. Re:Technophobia by rolfwind · 2013-09-11 22:03 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  To be fair, I know people in their 40s and 50s that don't even know how to email. Computers and their connections can be a daunting things, especially if you just didn't grow up with it or have a kid around to teach you and fix things. If tech competence were common, all those overpriced computer repair shops wouldn't be around.
  Plus if the guy was running a business sucessfully, there probably wasn't all that much personal incentive for him to learn although Computers benefit the elderly greatly.
3. Re:Technophobia by idji · 2013-09-11 22:23 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  This guy was a specialist, who specialised on his expertise and lived a happy life. I will live a happy life having nothing to do with sport nor fashion.
4. Re:Technophobia by Joining+Yet+Again · 2013-09-11 22:42 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  To "completely embrace" something is to let it own you.
  And any single human who thinks they understand the "weaknesses inside out" of anything sufficiently complex is merely a dullard with an unwarranted sense of intelligence.
  Life was much easier for the average Western worker before computers came along. And the signal-to-noise ratio he was presented with in daily life might have been occasionally irksome, but today it's so small that we spend most of our time busy doing absolutely nothing.
5. Re:Technophobia by Spudley · 2013-09-11 23:01 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  This guy was a specialist, who specialised on his expertise and lived a happy life.
  
  This guy was a specialist, who capitalized on his expertise and lived a happy life.
  There, fixed that for you
  
  Are you implying people can't enjoy doing their job? (most don't, but doesn't mean it can't happen...)
  No, I think he's just making a typography pun.
  A weakly-typed one, if you ask me though.
  
  --
  (Spudley Strikes Again!)
6. Re:Technophobia by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · 2013-09-11 23:15 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  What is better, to fear what you don't know or to completely embrace it and know its weaknesses inside out? I'll opt for the latter anytime.
  I use computers extensively and they don't own me.
  Depending on the magnitude of 'what you don't know', and how optional it is, fear is a perfectly reasonable strategy(especially if you are already expert elsewhere and judge that you'll die before all your legacy customers do).
7. Re:Technophobia by tlambert · 2013-09-11 23:24 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Sergey Brin: 40
  Linus Torvalds: 43
  Kirk McKusick: 59
  Vint Cerf: 70
  It's not an age thing.
8. Re:Technophobia by gmack · 2013-09-11 23:38 · Score: 2
  
  And my grandmother started learning how to use a computer in her 60s and that was twenty years ago and I still get facebook birthday messages from her. Also during a slow period work wise, I made extra pocket money teaching retirees how to use the Internet.
  It's really not an age thing.
9. Re:Technophobia by rolfwind · 2013-09-11 23:48 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  It's not an age thing.
  I never said it was. Hence, saying that even some 40-50s year old (vs this 96 yo) don't use computers.
  But there is definitely several generational gaps or cutoffs at play, from where computers were a luxury/novelty to something optional to something necessary.
  I don't count the average American person today being able to use a manual transmission for much the same reason.
10. Re:Technophobia by 0100010001010011 · 2013-09-12 00:10 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  To be fair, I know people in their 20s and 30s that don't even know how to email.
  20 years ago how many people could fix everything in their car? How about everything in their house? Technology is no different. There will always be polymaths but aside from that most people specialize to be good at something.
  Farming, Beekeeping, plumbing, etc.
  I'd be willing to bet there are almost as many tech saavy people over 50 than there are under (ratio wise). I know plenty of 20-30 year olds that have the same toolbar problem. They get viruses constantly. They never copy their photos from their camera and when the SD card eats itself they ask me to recover it.
  The guy that invented C would have been 72 this year. The SR71 Blackbird made its first flight 49 years ago. Presumably the guys who designed it were in their late 20s-40s. So the oldest of them would be near 90 now. Fortran, Ethernet, GPS, GSM were all designed by people well over 50 by now and without them your tech savvy life would be pretty boring.
  There are plenty of old people that know nothing about computers but could fix your car blindfolded. And there are plenty of young people that know nothing about computers but are the same way with cars.
  There are plenty of people who run successful car repair shops because people don't want to learn cars. There are plumbers, electricians, welders, etc because people don't want to learn each of those skills. And there are people that run businesses that serve the tech illiterate.
  How many 20 year olds could fix their registry if it ate itself? How about creating a boot USB with GRUB2 installed on it and mounting an Ubuntu ISO in loopback so they could copy off all their files? I'm in my 30s, people I looked up to technology wise are in their 40s-50s. If anything I'd say it's the 20 year olds that know less than nothing about their computers. If their phone doesn't boot they just replace it. Look at clients at the Genius bar or Geek Squad counter sometime. It's not always a bunch of 50 year olds
11. Re:Technophobia by Jason+Levine · 2013-09-12 00:51 · Score: 2
  
  There are plenty of people who run successful car repair shops because people don't want to learn cars. There are plumbers, electricians, welders, etc because people don't want to learn each of those skills. And there are people that run businesses that serve the tech illiterate.
  I agree with almost everything you wrote. My one quibble would be with "don't want to learn." For most people, it's a matter of time. After working all day and spending time with my wife and kids, I have precious little free time left. Even if I wanted to learn how to fix my own car, run my own electrical wiring, fix my own plumbing, etc, there's no time to learn it all. I might be able to learn the basics (i.e. how to use it), but not the in-depth stuff (how to repair it). In computer terms, it's the difference between being able to use a computer to read e-mail/play games/write documents/etc and being able to open a computer up to replace a damaged power supply. Most people can be taught the former but the latter takes a greater time commitment that many people just can't meet.
  
  --
  My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
... and I don't want one to own me by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-11 22:14 · Score: 5, Insightful

"I've heard about them a lot, but I don't own one, and I don't want one to own me."
He claims that he does not know what a computer is but he appears to understand very well what it does.
Humanity needs more of him and less FB-Fanboys. /RIP
1. Re:... and I don't want one to own me by dcw3 · 2013-09-11 22:31 · Score: 2
  
  Bravo! First insightful AC post I've seen in months.
  
  --
  Just another day in Paradise
2. Re:... and I don't want one to own me by drinkypoo · 2013-09-12 00:00 · Score: 2
  
  "I've heard about them a lot, but I don't own one, and I don't want one to own me."
  He claims that he does not know what a computer is but he appears to understand very well what it does.
  Humanity needs more of him and less FB-Fanboys. /RIP
  The man spent his whole life serving machines, repairing them when they broke. And then he was concerned about machines controlling his life. Tell me again how this makes sense.
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
3. Re:... and I don't want one to own me by drinkypoo · 2013-09-12 00:44 · Score: 2
  
  My typewriter is broken. Please come fix it and I'll pay you. VS Ding IM/You've got mail/Twitter post I'll be right back, gotta check gotta respond, gotta forward.
  It sounds like you're suffering from OCD. I sympathize with you, I have many compulsive tendencies myself. Checking to see what just came in isn't one of them. My phone makes nice soft little noises when stuff happens, and I just ignore it most of the time. If I'm feeling like engaging, then I pick it up. I may not even bother to pick it up if it actually rings, I've got service.
  On the other hand, this compulsion to post to Slashdot is a superbitch.
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
With apologies to Monty Python by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-11 22:15 · Score: 4, Funny

Voiceover: This man is no ordinary man. This is Mr. M W Superman. To all appearances, he looks like any other law-abiding citizen. But Mr M W Superman has a secret identity. When trouble strikes at any time, at any place, he is ready to become... TYPEWRITER REPAIR MAN!
Boy: Hey, there's a typewriter broken, up the office.
Typewriter Repair Man: Hmmmmm. This sounds like a job for... Typewriter Repair Man. But how to change without revealig my secret identity?
Superman 1: If only Typewriter Repair Man were here!
Typewriter Repair Man: Yes, wait, I think I know where I can find him. Look over there!
Caption: FLASH!
Supermen 1-3: Typewriter Repair Man, but how?
Superman 1: Oh look... is it a stockbroker?
Superman 2: Is it a quantity Surveyor?
Superman 3: Is it a church warden?
Supermen 1-3: NO! It's Typewriter Repair Man!
Superman In Need: MY! Typewriter Repair Man! Thank goodness you've come! Look!
Caption:
Clink!
Screw!
Bend!
Inflate!
Alter roller!
Superman 2: Why, he's mending it with his own hands!
Superman 1: Se how he uses a spanner to tighten that nut!
Superman In Need: Oh, Oh Typewriter Repair Man, how can I ever repay you?
Typewriter Repair Man: Oh, you don't need to guv. It's all in a days work for... Typewriter Repair Man!
Supermen 1-3: Our Hero!
Voiceover: Yes! whenever typewriters are broken, or menaced by Al Qaida Typewriter Repair Man is ready!
Populaire by dargaud · 2013-09-11 22:47 · Score: 2

On topic, I can recommend the movie Populaire which I saw a few days ago, about a fast typist.

--
Non-Linux Penguins ?
Last repairman? by taleman · 2013-09-11 22:48 · Score: 5, Insightful

Are there repair persons anymore? Seems stuff is so shoddy nowadays it is not expected to last more than one or two years. Even if I want to have my machines repaired, they are either impossible to repair or it is cheaper to purchase a new one.
1. Re:Last repairman? by SirGarlon · 2013-09-11 23:17 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  I think the dwindling number of repairmen is due to increase factory automation. Today, the amount of human labor that goes into making a device is very low (still decreasing) and unskilled. Repair is labor-intensive and requires skill. Therefore, for an increasing range of products, it's cheaper to make a new one than to repair it. The exceptions are when the items are very costly, like cars and houses, and/or difficult to replace, like HVAC systems.
  
  --
  [Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
2. Re:Last repairman? by ledow · 2013-09-12 00:25 · Score: 2
  
  Everything is going the same way.
  My father was a mechanic for lorry fleets for decades. He's moved onto delivery driver because there's just not enough "mechanic" work for lorry fleets any more and what there is is centrally managed. Most things are modular and just swapping out kit for a new one.
  I work in IT, it's pretty much the same. I was shocked the other day to find a laptop keyboard of a particular model for only Â£10 on Amazon to repair someone's laptop for them. Every other time I've checked, it's cheaper to buy either an entire second-hand laptop of the same model or a new laptop than to faff about with components. And the other components that are modular (drives, RAM, etc.) are just rip-them-out-and-try-another. Mostly the things that break are plastics that are unique to each model and things like that. By the time you find the right part, or could even 3D print a replacement, and find someone to fit it, it's cheaper to throw it in the bin.
  Phones are the same. I wouldn't even bother to take my phone apart, or my sat-nav, or just about anything electrical any more. Throw it away, buy a new one. If I was REALLY desperate for money, I'd pop it open and bodge something temporarily but still be on the lookout for a new one rather than trying to formalise the repair.
  Repairs are going the way of the dodo. In a way, it's a loss of the craftsmenship in many industries, but additionally it's the logical choice. It's often cheaper to buy another example of a mass-produced item than to try to apply anything beyond the most simple of repairs to a broken one. I doubt even those companies that take back broken laptops on warranty etc. even bother to recondition them any more. There was a time when that would be profitable but it's a long while since I've seen reconditioned machines as prevalent as they used to be.
  Go walk through your house. If your window glass breaks, yeah, you might call a glazier to JUST change the glass. But with double-glazing, anything specialist, films, leading, anything out-of-the-ordinary, you're probably better off just buying a new one. Your car. Your kitchen appliances (ever tried to repair a fridge?). Just about everything.
  Back when this stuff was new technology and ridiculously expensive, you *would* get amateurs crack open a TV set and have a go because it was so god-damn expensive and the technology quite understandable that you stood a good chance of making things right. Nowadays, the tech is cheap, the warranties are long, the repairs are hard and the parts are impossible to come by. Even the companies that sell the machines and are called out on warranty repairs don't try to fix them half the time. It's just too wasteful.
  I'm an IT Manager. I can't remember the last time I had to actually open a machine and play with expansion cards. Upgrading RAM is a once-in-a-PC's-lifetime event, if at all (with a 2-year replacement cycle, I haven't done it in nearly 8 years, I think). Drives and other components are modular and there's rarely a need to change them (the average "gamer" probably does 10 times more tinkering in the inside of a machine than myself with dozens of machines running a business).
  It's all cheap commodity hardware now and is far beyond expansion or tinkering. Hell, I have at least five devices that have ARM chipsets at 800MHz+ running Linux on them, just in the pile of junk that I don't use any more (satnavs, old phones, old handheld consoles, old ebook readers etc.).
  The time to cable a telephone isn't even worth it anymore. Stick some Cat6 in and get a VOIP phone.
  It's an emotional loss, yes, but it's a completely, utterly, logical one. Nobody NEEDS to know how to repair this stuff. We just need to know how to make it, and make it cheap enough that it doesn't matter.
3. Re:Last repairman? by drinkypoo · 2013-09-12 00:26 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Well you can always take the "get off my lawn" approach and complain about the low quality of everything, but most of it is simply refined mass production.
  You have got this completely wrong. It's not about mass production, it's about cost reduction. It's about using cheap plastic cases that snap together and have to be spudged apart because it's cheaper than a nice metal case that's screwed together. It's about using a rivet when you could use a screw or bolt. It's about producing a product which will last just long enough to outlive the warranty.
  
  Take a look at all the techniques for mending clothes for example, why are they disappearing? Is it because clothes are much weaker now or harder to repair than in the past? No, mostly it's because when they're so worn and torn they start needing it we'd rather throw them away and buy new ones because a pack of socks is cheap and spending hours darning is so extremely poor value for our time.
  Clothes ARE weaker and harder to repair than in the past. This trend is exemplified by shoes; even most leather shoes are effectively unrepairable because they don't have enough leather to actually stitch together, and they were only glued to begin with. Army issue combat boots can be resoled maybe once now before disposal and the fabric tore out of the side of my Belleville desert boots on the second wearing. (This is the kind of gear they're selling our GIs? Traitors.) Natural fabrics have been waning due, believe it or not, to climate change. Cotton did poorly last year and failed horribly this year.
  
  Same with shoes, they still last years but now when they're almost worn out it doesn't pay off to try eeking out the last shreds of life anymore.
  I'm hard on shoes. I'm lucky if they last me a year. They used to last me two, when I was even harder on shoes. Shoes have gone straight to fucking hell.
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
4. Re:Last repairman? by dywolf · 2013-09-12 01:27 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  yup. this mentality of throwing money at a problem til it goes away, while bad for society as a whole, is great if you know how to profit from it.
  for ex: friend gave me his mower free bcause it was broken and he went out and bought a 56" riding mower to replace it (granted he has a bit of acrage now, so its not a total waste on his part), and didnt want to bother trying to fix it.
  what was broken on the mower i got for free?
  recoil spring on the starter (cut off the bent/deformed end, abotu 8" worth, bent a new hook into it, reattached, pulls like a champ)
  dirty carberator (dunked in a bucket of carb cleaner for half an hour, cleaned off and reattached)
  Now it starts like a brand new mower, like a horny teenager in a whorehouse, even with a half hearted lazy pull.
  So for the cost $10 of cleaner, and a couple hours repair, I got me a $350 mower.
  
  --
  The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
5. Re:Last repairman? by dywolf · 2013-09-12 01:33 · Score: 2
  
  Nope. Not even close. That isnt a better future, its a nightmare future.
  building and recycling takes energy and time, and always requires some amount of new material. Recycling is never 100% recovery, and many things cannot be recycled at allonce created. Why spend 3x the amount of production energy (building it first time, recycling it, building it again) when you can jsut repair it, and only spend the production energy once? your concept of the future is fundamentally inefficient. there will always be a need for repair, and in fact becoming a fixit society again will be fundamental in getting a handle on everything, from the envirnment, to using resources efficiently, even to the economy.
  
  --
  The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
6. Re:Last repairman? by dj245 · 2013-09-12 05:12 · Score: 2
  
  Well you can always take the "get off my lawn" approach and complain about the low quality of everything, but most of it is simply refined mass production.
  You have got this completely wrong. It's not about mass production, it's about cost reduction. It's about using cheap plastic cases that snap together and have to be spudged apart because it's cheaper than a nice metal case that's screwed together. It's about using a rivet when you could use a screw or bolt. It's about producing a product which will last just long enough to outlive the warranty.
  
  Take a look at all the techniques for mending clothes for example, why are they disappearing? Is it because clothes are much weaker now or harder to repair than in the past? No, mostly it's because when they're so worn and torn they start needing it we'd rather throw them away and buy new ones because a pack of socks is cheap and spending hours darning is so extremely poor value for our time.
  Clothes ARE weaker and harder to repair than in the past. This trend is exemplified by shoes; even most leather shoes are effectively unrepairable because they don't have enough leather to actually stitch together, and they were only glued to begin with. Army issue combat boots can be resoled maybe once now before disposal and the fabric tore out of the side of my Belleville desert boots on the second wearing. (This is the kind of gear they're selling our GIs? Traitors.) Natural fabrics have been waning due, believe it or not, to climate change. Cotton did poorly last year and failed horribly this year.
  
  Same with shoes, they still last years but now when they're almost worn out it doesn't pay off to try eeking out the last shreds of life anymore.
  I'm hard on shoes. I'm lucky if they last me a year. They used to last me two, when I was even harder on shoes. Shoes have gone straight to fucking hell.
  I don't disagree with you, but a significant portion of this could be attributed to weight reduction and size reduction. Each traditional fastener (screw, bolt, etc) might weigh only a gram or two, but adding enough material to support a fastener starts to add significant bulk and weight. For mobile electronics, this absolutely matters.
  
  You could make a strong case for footwear as well, especially performance footwear where the difference between a soldier running at 18mph and a soldier running at 18.1mph could literally be the difference between life and death. Repairability and modularity aren't really considerations if you are making something like that.
  
  For consumer goods, however, it is really irritating how far cost-cutting has gone. I am restoring a John Deere pedal tractor (for reference only, I do not endorse this website) and it is refreshing how old things were built with repairability in mind. Absolutely everything on the this toy can be replaced.
  
  --
  Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
Re: At last by smitty97 · 2013-09-11 22:57 · Score: 4, Funny

I hope they set his obit in Courier

--
mod me funny
300,000 Machines? by ericpi · 2013-09-11 23:12 · Score: 4, Insightful

There have been about 30,000 days since he started working in 1930. If the 300,000 number is accurate, he would have had to fix an average of 10 typewriters, every day, for the past 80 years. That's without any weekends or holidays.
I guess I have no direct experience repairing typewriters. However, I would have certainly guessed that it takes longer than ~1 hour to "fix" a typewriter. In addition to that, I would think it's hard to find a stream of that many typewriters to repair. (I.e., a rather successful business.) If these numbers are true, the guy was pretty impressive.
1. Re:300,000 Machines? by EvilIdler · 2013-09-11 23:32 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Some repairs are pretty easy (replacing one simple part). Typewriters used to be pretty sturdy too, so many repairs would be of the simple kind. Somebody who's good can probably replace a cylinder in 5 minutes and a key in 15 (or less).
2. Re:300,000 Machines? by wisnoskij · 2013-09-12 00:11 · Score: 2
  
  I imagine that most repairs would take far far less than an hour. And that when you are hired by a company with a million typewriters, always haveing work to do when you come in in the morning is not a major problem.
  
  --
  Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
3. Re:300,000 Machines? by jqpublic13 · 2013-09-12 00:22 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Not only are some repairs quicker than others, but TFA noted that he had a staff as large as six people at one point assisting him in his shop... I don't doubt that a man of his abilities could repair 300,000 machines (depending on the complexity of the repair), but it could be a reference to those repairs he supervised, and not just those he actually performed with his own two hands.
  
  --
  Non calor sed umor est qui nobis incommodat.
4. Re:300,000 Machines? by dywolf · 2013-09-12 01:34 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  plus theres the factor of once you become THE guy to do it (low supply, high demand), your shop starts getting typewriters shipped in from beyond the local area.
  
  --
  The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
Very sad by wonkey_monkey · 2013-09-11 23:15 · Score: 5, Funny

R.I.{.

--
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
Did he have apprentices? by RevWaldo · 2013-09-11 23:24 · Score: 2

It would seem a shame for all his experience not be passed on to another generation, even if it is for an archaic technology.

.

--
Prisencolinensinainciusol. Ol Rait!
Re:I wonder how many computers I've fixed? by camperdave · 2013-09-11 23:27 · Score: 2

To be fair, did you dump the computers because they actually ceased functioning, or simply because they could no longer keep up with your expectations?

--
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
Mechanical engineering at its best by gweihir · 2013-09-11 23:43 · Score: 2

Typewriters are at the pinnacle of mechanical engineering before electronic control systems made it possible to compensate for inaccuracies and faults in the mechanics. They demonstrate what can be achieved when it _must_ be perfect in order to work.
I do very well understood why this guy thought he had found his calling, because indeed he hat. Impressive.

--
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
1. Re:Mechanical engineering at its best by locofungus · 2013-09-12 01:36 · Score: 2
  
  The una corda pedal moves the entire mechanism relative to the strings. The sostenuto pedal holds the dampers off the strings of the keys that were depressed at the time it was pressed while allowing the other dampers to operate normally.
  There's no way I would describe the piano escapement as simple. Just the fact that the hammer has to bounce away from the string while the damper stays raised when the key is held down but the mechanism has to allow very rapid repeats is a non-trivial problem to solve.
  
  --
  God said, "div D = rho, div B = 0, curl E = -@B/@t, curl H = J + @D/@t," and there was light.
2. Re:Mechanical engineering at its best by QilessQi · 2013-09-12 01:44 · Score: 2
  
  Don't forget antique pocket watches. I've owned a couple, and watching the movement is mesmerizing. Springs, gears, and sundry bits, all working together to convert linear time into circular motion, and all it takes is one simple winding to set it in motion. And you can carry it with you. Beautiful technology.
  
  --
  Koans and fables for the software engineer
Eh? by dtmos · 2013-09-11 23:44 · Score: 5, Insightful

It's not an age thing.
Why do you say that? Everyone on your list is young.
Let me put it this way: Mr. Whitlock became an expert in a technology he learned in his teens, and rejected a technology that developed around him in his sixties. How receptive will you be to the state-of-the-art, game-changing technology of say, the year 2050, that makes the computer technology you have worked with your whole life, obsolete?
1. Re:Eh? by Jason+Levine · 2013-09-12 00:45 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Forget 2050. There are times when I feel like I'm struggling to keep up with technology and I'm only 38! I'll likely be that old guy who shakes my fist as "those kids" and says "In my day when we wanted to look up information we did it the old fashioned way: We googled it! We didn't have any of these fancy brain-chips to tell us the information as soon as we think of it. Now get off my lawn!"
  
  --
  My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
Re:tech fright by dtmos · 2013-09-11 23:58 · Score: 2

till his dyeing day.
What color is he now?
The master mechanic by westlake · 2013-09-11 23:59 · Score: 2

So he'd rather be owned by typewriters than by computers.
The master mechanic is in control of his machines
Re:tech fright by deimtee · 2013-09-12 00:29 · Score: 3, Funny

Red or black, depending on where he set the ribbon.

--
I'm guessing that wasn't on their radar screen...
Re: At last by operagost · 2013-09-12 02:38 · Score: 2

Nope, Comic Sans. MUHAHAHAHA

--

Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
Another piece of living history lost. by Virtucon · 2013-09-12 04:47 · Score: 2

While I make a living with technology I still love old mechanical things and look back at how they were made and used. It's fascinating to see clockwork mechanisms with gears that had teeth that were hand-filed and laid out using a compass. The typewriter was a product of the industrial revolution and the complexity and the nuances of some of those design decisions, like the QWERTY keyboard we all know and love were products of that era.
It's sad when we lose a living link to that kind slide rule and french curve technology. Mr. Whitlock was probably so adept at what he did that he could identify a problem just from the description. I can also imagine a back room where there are boxes and boxes of spare parts gathering dust, just waiting for a broken Smith Corona or Olivetti to come through the door.
Sure, it's faster and easier now with modern technology but we all need to remember that technology and progress builds upon the prior innovations and in 20 years I'm sure people will probably laugh and these bulky tablets and cell phones we all cling to much like Smegle and his precious ring. I learned to type on typewriters, old clunky things that could jam your fingers and rip paper just by looking at it. I also remember the story of the neighbor's cat getting it's tail caught in the carriage. They wound up cutting it's tail off because they couldn't get it freed. Ahh the halcyon days of correcting fluid and carbon paper, a bygone era now replaced by MS Word.
As I tell my kids, when we lose a piece of our history we lose a little of ourselves.

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Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"