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How Much Is That Click, Clack Worth? (failuremag.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Most of us are now drowning in digital media, and the flood of information has robbed [us] of the ability to focus and concentrate—or do much of anything, uninterrupted, for an extended period of time. Perhaps this explains why a small but distinctive minority of people are now embracing decidedly old-fashioned technologies" like vinyl records, 35mm cameras, and the typewriter, the latter a strong "symbol of resistance against the over-digitization of our lives," as it was replaced by the personal computer. Of course, you're still not likely to see people committing public acts of typewriting, but you learn there's a surprising amount of fascinating things happening in the typewriting community if you consult The Typewriter Revolution, a new 'typist's companion' that covers everything from privacy issues (think: intelligence agencies using typewriters) to artistic endeavors (like the Boston Typewriter Orchestra) to the clever ways enthusiasts are bridging the typewritten and digital worlds (the USB Typewriter). In this interview with Richard Polt, the book's author answers the burning question: "Is it a Mad Max-ish world where people are scrounging for every [typewriter] ribbon they can get?
Don't type like my brother
I do something similar: I unplug the ethernet cord or disable the wireless connection except for those times when I actually need to use the internet. Old fashioned, I know, but then I was a BBS guy back in the 1980s and full-on connection is just silly-unnecessary for most people.
Everything in the Universe sucks: It's the law!
Your life will be over-digitized (or whatever the right verb) only you allow it so. Nobody is forcing you to post your stuff (which nobody is interested in anyway) on Facebook, or to ask your buddy what he or she is up to in WhatsApp, or otherwise waste your time in any of the myriad ways in which you can do so these days. If you are stupid enough to fall for this junk, you will surely find other ways to waste your time even when it is not available.
One of my girls asked for a typewriter and another one asked for an 8mm film camera.
If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
If privacy is that much of a concern, use something simple to understand and produce, while still reaping the benefits of digital word processing. Like a commodore 64. Very limited functionality compared to modern computers, but still more than adequate enough to do basic word processing. It's a giant step up from using a type writer, where you cannot even correct a simple typo without having to resort to physical correction.
You could even go one step further and use something simple like a device that doesn't have a general purpose processor, but is hardwired to only do 1 task. Older serial terminals from the 70's like the of-vi-fame ADM-3a were built using nothing but simple TTL logic chips. Try writing a virus for that.
Of course, the one thing this does not fix is social engineering.
I read constntly. As a child my mother would read to me. On the first day of school, I came home crying because they did not teach me how to read.
I have two piles of books. I pick a book from the first pile, read it, and put it in the second pile. After 3-4 years the first pile is empty, the second is full, and I switch piles. It's hard to find good English language in Thailand. Mostly I read Louis L'Amour ("Guns Of The Timberlands"), also science fiction ("The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress"), Perry Mason ("The Girl With The Lucky Legs"), and John Grisham ("The Pelican Brief"). If you want to understand me, read "Ender's Game" (Andy's Geme).
I bought a typewriter this year. I became interested in how they work and did research on what models were considered the best portable manual typewriters in their day. I found one (Smith Corona Silent Super) at a rummage sale just before summer. It was $35. The local typewriter repair shop (yes, there is a local typewriter repair shop around here) estimated $160 to go through it, clean it up and replace the ribbon. The shop had a backlog of job, so they had it for two months. When they were done, they found that my typewriter was in better shape than expected, so the repair cost was closer to $120. And I was able to get 5 ribbons for $10 on eBay.
Two side notes:
1. The plastic-cladding on later Smith Corona typewriters take so long to remove (to reach the guts of the typewriter to do the actual servicing) that it raises the repair costs to the point of making repair uneconomical these days.
2. The most common way that typewriters get damaged is by kids randomly hitting keys and bending the rods and levers inside the typewriters
As far as film ... I worked in a photographic darkroom for years. I have a bunch of B&W film in the bottom of my refrigerator and powder mix for developer and fixer. I taught my oldest kid how to develop film and I will do the same with my younger kids as they get old enough to appreciate it. To me, there is some cool about making pictures with chemicals.
As far as the Max Max future .. I am more concerned about film going away than typewriters (or typewriter ribbon) going away. Ribbons can be re-inked and many typewriter repairs are as simple as straightening a bent rod. Film photography, particularly color photography, require special chemicals that are hard to create without your own chemical factory.
Of course, you're still not likely to see people committing public acts of typewriting
Really? What's the point of being a hipster if people can't see you doing it?!
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
What is newsworthy is the lack of the Luddite/APPS poster in this thread. They'd actually be on topic.
Modern app appers use word-processing apps to app apps! Only Luddites use typewriters! Apps app typewriter apps!
APPS!
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
It has nothing to do with privacy issues, nothing to do with practicality. The "small and distinctive minority" is nothing but a bunch of sad hipsters for whom everything which is worse is actually "better". Their cultural references are limited, their outlook is stunted, they think that the 1950s and 1960s were the epitome of civilization. They are "flat white" as much as their coffee: no depth to their lives, and as white as a country music gig. Typewriters are toys for privileged adulescents.
The current in-vogue trend towards last (and older) generation technology represents a foolish nostalgia for "simpler, better" times that never existed.
Digital media came about because of limitations (and lifetime) of analog methods. A typewriter is great if you only want one (or two) copies, but if you need to publish something, then it is wholely inadequate. Of course, if you selectively ignore bias towards older methods, you can Xerox a manuscript. How is it that copy machines are OK, and word processors are not?
The same flavor of thing has been happening ever since technology became good enough to be a consumer item. Horses are popular today, not because they're convenient, good transportation, easy to take care of, don't drop dead at the most inconvenient times, but because they're a memory of an older, more romantic time. The important thing to understand is that that time _never existed_. Cities full of horses were knee-deep in horse excrement and smelled that way.
Renaissance Festival enthusiasts happly don chain mail and helmets and swords, and play at being Proud Knights. Somehow, they leave out things like fleas and lice, impetago, death by infected cut, plagues, and castles that smelled like latrines. Oh, What a Marvelous Age, Forsoothe.
What a load of crap.
Things have changed because they are -better- and conspiracy theories aside, it is tough to force something less good onto people for any length of time.
I live in South Texas, and I miss snow. Mostly, I miss it because I do not have to actually live in it. I remember those bad old days of trying to figure out which lump in a parking lot was -my- vehicle. I still miss snow, and I enjoy going places that have it, but only because I don't have to actually live there. People find it easy to eschew "modern" technology, but I'll bet that back home they have refrigeration.
I have no problem with someone wanting to use a typewriter -- I did, after all, for decades. I think that a lot of the resurgence in popularity comes a widely watched television show where the good guy uses an old underwood to write novels.
Personally, I think it's delusional behavior.
Don't take life too seriously; it isn't permanent.