I have been programming for the last 7 years professionally. I like computers from my early age. My father bought me Sinclair ZX Spectrum+ when I was in the first grade. Since then, computers were part of my life, significantly. I stare at my screen almost whole day. One day there was some voice in me saying "Buy a typewriter". I listened to the voice and bought Smith Corona Silent from 1946. It was the most profound experience I ever had with some kind of machine. I was not so happy when I got my first cell phone, and later smartphone nor computer. This is something different, probably because the basics are the same, I'm still typing.
Suddenly I found myself writing a diary, and a novel. I never wrote anything other than blog posts (many of them since I had website similar to The Verge) - which I sold later.
I now have 3 typewriters, 2x Smith Corona Silent (1946 and 1956), and Olympia Monica (I think it's from '70).
What I found very interesting is that writing on a typewriter is perfectly synchronized with how fast my mind is working. Time slows down! I read that on the web somewhere, and it is slowing the time when you type on a typewriter! I can confess that!
My fingers are too fast on computer keyboard, and I even don't want to talk about distractions like auto correct and other stuff that always pops up. This is something what really makes me feel good. I can write a story, poem, diary, or a letter to a friend.
It's truly something we should have on our desk somewhere in the room, and just put our thoughts on a paper.
Thinking about efficiency is a reliable way to buzz-kill creative inspiration.
Editing is only more work with my typewriter (Olympia Traveler Deluxe with British layout) if I write something worth editing and am willing to do the work of editing it.
When it comes to self-expression (a somewhat better term than creativity) the writing is important. Not having the mental burden of possible OS updates, battery, cable and file management, etc. makes a typewriter workflow efficient for some of my work.
Sure, I wouldn't use a typewriter for ordinary business transactions or surfing the web or commenting on HN. Instead I use it when I don't want to deal with those habits.
For clarity, I only have one typewriter, not a collection. It is the fourth in the last five years bought at a thrift shop. The first was a 6 CPI SCM 12. [1] It was replace by a Spanish Keyboard Hermes Baby I bought on eBay. Then an Olympia Deluxe with Script font given to my beloved.
If you are looking for a typewriter:
+ maybe think about the case. Does it stack well? Can you stack stuff on top of it? Because at some point you will probably want to free up the space where your typewriter sits or transport it or store it.
+ check the typeface. The Olympia with script typeface was a bargain, but it is script. The 6CPI SCM was a surprise. Can you live with the typeface?
+ are you handy? Typewriter service is basic millwrighting. You will want decent flathead screwdrivers and some time on Youtube.
[1] If I come across another SCM with 6CPI for the right price I will have two typewriters. 6CPI changes the way I write and matches well with images...I got the Hermes Baby because I wanted a small font. It was too small and the way the text looked on the page turned me off. The Olympia is good enough, which is good enough.
My handwriting sucks and nothing's better for filling out forms and such. It still has practical use cases.
Having grown up at a time where I was forced to use typewriters and listen to vinyl LP records, I don't wax so nostalgic over those old technologies. As soon as I got my Commodore 64 and my Star Gemini 10x dot matrix printer, I never used a typewriter again!
Vinyl took a little longer to get off of as I had (and still have) a fairly significant vinyl collection.
Really nice post. In my final SW engineering job, I bought a ton of drafting supplies and artist paper and forced myself to architect my algorithms. It forced me to slow down and I fell much closer to my objective. I’m going to try your idea.
Great idea. It is magical, makes more room for thinking, less of distractions.
reminds me of when I used a film camera. Looking back a the shots I took... I would just take ONE photo. Group photo with 30 people? One picture.
Nowadays I take a ton and pick the best, because they are "free", but suspect I might think less about composing.
I think there is something to be said for the need to get it right. Maybe it makes you more mindful.
In June I "accidentally" (I certainly never saw it coming...) got back into film photography. I bought a Lomography Konstruktor for fun and ended up having way more fun taking photos with it than I thought I would.
It's going to be a personal, subjective thing, but not having the option to take unlimited photos, as I tend to do with my phone when on holiday, say, but having to try to at least give each exposure a chance of being worth the expensive cost of film, made me rediscover the fun of photography.
I know what you mean, its the same reason I do not have a kindle or buy e-books in general: With a physical book I take the time to sit down and read what is written, but on a screen I find myself skimming through to get the key points.
Sometimes, efficiency is the least important thing.
I love my kobo for the fact that I can carry it with me everywhere, but navigation is so slow that I'm not tempted to switch books or even quick scan them. I only have to charge it every 3-4 days (heavy readings sessions). I only use it for fiction and text heavy books.
It has my whole library on it and I open it everytime I'm waiting for something.