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

Posted by samzenpus on 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."'"

8 of 201 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Technophobia by d33tah · · Score: 5, Funny

    Or so it lets you think.

  2. ... and I don't want one to own me by Anonymous Coward · · 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

  3. Last repairman? by taleman · · 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 · · 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.
  4. Very sad by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 5, Funny

    R.I.{.

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  5. Re:Technophobia by tlambert · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Sergey Brin: 40
    Linus Torvalds: 43
    Kirk McKusick: 59
    Vint Cerf: 70

    It's not an age thing.

  6. Eh? by dtmos · · 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?

  7. Re:300,000 Machines? by jqpublic13 · · 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.