Technology and An Old Woman!!

 11/18/2020

A long, long time ago, there were typewriters. And, if you don't remember typewriters, then yoi are clearly not as old as me!

I started taking typing classes while I was in junior high. Typewriters, at that time, were manual. And, that simply means you, the typist, had to do all the work. What margins you should use. How long is the written document. Watch those bottom margins!

My research, and because my brain is fuzzy, I found this description: "press and hold the margin-set lever on the right-hand side of the typewriter carriage. The margin-set lever is often located next to the larger carriage release lever--the lever you depress when you want the cylindrical carriage to move back to its starting position". (confused much?)

I went to the internet looking for a description on how to describe how to actually type. I found this: "You need to HIT the keys with a light, quick stroke, keeping your hands from resting on the keys. In order to type on a manual typewriter, your fingers, and especially your thumbs had to be strong. And, getting your fingers stronger, does take time.

The earliest "typewriter" came onto the scene in 1872, and it looked something like this:

 

I don't know about you, but I get the chills just looking at this behemoth piece of metal. I'm sure it worked. But, I, can't even begin to describe how. I do see the platen on the top and keys on the bottom. To me, it looks like a machine that you would need to stand up to use.

Looking back, the first typewriter was invented in 1714. 

The first commercial model was manufactured in 1873 and was mounted on a sewing machine stand.

However, there have been only four major and important improvements since the original machine in 1873. These improvements in the order in which they appeared are as follows:

Visible Writing. 

• The Capital Shift, which made possible the use of upper and lower case characters in a machine compact enough to be operated by touch.
  
• Power Operation, which brought for the first time to the typist's desk the speed and versatility of electricity.
• Proportional Spacing, which brought to the typist's work the beauty of the printed page.

The IBM was responsible for two of these four major changes in the typewriter industry, namely, Power Operation and Proportional Spacing.

Mark Twain, the American humorist, was among the first purchasers of a typewriter, and he was the first author to submit a typewritten manuscript to a publisher. I never knew that.

The rest of the typing history is just that - history.

I will tell you this. My Mother told me that I could type so fast because my fingers were small. She might have been right. I started working in 1968 and retired in 2013. Even up to the very end, I literally could type as fast as a person could talk. Not to brag. Ah, why not!

Now that I have bored you all to death, and I can just about see eyes rolling back, I'll bring this interesting, at least to me, bit of history to an end.

Stay save everyone. 

P