The Typewriter!

[Helendegenerate]

I was talking to family the other day and we were discussing back in the day as school leavers and our first jobs etc. I mentioned my training as a typist and how I've used several versions of the humble typewriter over the years. These days I doubt they even exist within offices but my young niece (14) pricked up her ears and asked "what's a typewriter" 😁
I told her to get googling which she did and this resulted in peals of laughter at her discovery.

Yes I am officially past it but used to actually enjoy preparing documents on my Olivettis and Adler's.

Anyone here got a machine?

In the loft I have an old IBM golfball !

I think I still have one in the attic but I never go up there

In my first proper job I got the manager to buy us a couple of word processor typewriters - they wouldn't spend on computers so these were a reasonable compromise and allowed us to store text we used repeatedly and was a big time saver.

'The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog'.
Iykyk.

We have one in the loft. It came down during lockdown to keep the kids entertained. The ribbon still just about worked in both red and black.

Space age technology!! The golfball yes! I remember a boss announcing he was up dating the office and would I like a new and better typewriter? I loved it and felt quite important using it. Yes electric and golfballs were very impressive. Seems hilarious now.

I have a lovely little Olivetti portable that my dc have all found intriguing. I learned to touch type quickly and accurately on bigger machines, but always struggled with the little Olivetti. I'm sure it's smaller than standard.

My favourite machines were the electric typewriters. Great big beasts, they were, but the perfect combination of raked keys and positive touch with no need to bash.

My dc tap away with two fingers faster than me, but they can't do what I can do, which is to transcribe a page of text without once looking up from the paper.

I left school at 16 and went to a technical college. We did computer studies, which incorporated learning to type on a golfball typewriter and programming a pretend atm cash machine on a computer with a black 51/4” floppy disc. They were actually floppy!

Yes touch typing ( hello QUERTY ) and shorthand (don't get me started) were taken seriously and I obtained the RSA levels I needed back then.

My children can never understand how anyone can type extensive text without looking at the keys. I tested myself once and I was far slower doing it the other way.

My mum can do shorthand. That must be a lost art now.

I was taught touch typing and Pitman shorthand at school. I've forgotten most of the shorthand but still work as a secretary. First job was in a typing pool using a manual typewriter but then progressed to electric, but I really liked using the telex machine (there's a blast from the past).

I still use my shorthand.
Especially useful for making notes you don't want anyone else to read 😀

Also learned to type on a state of the art electronic typewriter ... it was v fancy!

I had a sheltered upbringing, but was permitted to take an evening class in the mid-eighties. (It was what passed as a social life for me)

I did my RSA 1 on an old fashioned typewriter, failed it the first time due to rubbing a hole in the carbon copy…

I can still touch type and it has been a very useful skill over the years.

Does RSA still exist? I learnt on a manual, it was agony!
I can touch type, but can't read out where half the keys are, strange!