The 21st Century Typewriter
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- Опубліковано 7 сер 2024
- #typewriter #writingtools
In Episode 371, Joe describes what he calls the 21st Century Typewriter, a system comprising customized mechanical keyboard, efficient tablet-based screen device, and printer output to support a paper-based creative workflow.
Items mentioned in this video (I have no relationship with these sellers):
HPRT MT800 Thermal Transfer Printer: shorturl.ac/7bfc8
Polono Thermal Transfer Ribbon: shorturl.ac/7bfc9
KB Paradise 60% Mechanical Keyboards: www.kbparadise.com/60-series
WASD Key Switch Tester: www.wasdkeyboards.com/wasd-9-...
Apple iPad: www.apple.com/ipad-select/
00:00 Introduction
05:10 A typewriter-like keyboard
05:50 Tablet-based display, storage and I/O
06:10 Paper-based output
07:00 One Option: Freewrite Device
07:30 Another Option: AlphaSmart Device
08:20 Joe's 21st Century Typewriter Solution
08:30 Mechanical, 60% Keyboard
09:40 Cherry MX Key Switch Tester
11:10 Bluetooth VS Wired Keyboards
12:25 iPad Display Device
14:20 iPad Writing Apps
16:20 Printing from Apps
17:00 Portable Printers
18:30 Paper-Based Workflow
19:10 The Case for Buying New
20:21 Cost of System Components
22:10 Concluding Thoughts
There are Danish scientists who are working on 3D printing metal for the space program... Imagine how we could be able to merely print mechanical parts for our antique mechanical typewriters. I imagine open source databases where we can get, create, and share blueprints for the various makes and models. In ten years, maybe? That would be a dream 🤗
You're a thinker, and I appreciate that 😊
Great video Joe. Typewriter enthusiasts might want to know about buckling spring keyboards. The IBM model M was designed to be an easier transition for typists that were accustomed to typewriters in the beginning of the computer era. They are still made in Kentucky USA by Unicomp. They have extremely intense tactile feedback the exact moment when a character registers. The downside(for people who aren't the one typing) is the glorious auditory feedback. Nothing that typewriter users will be afraid of. I use a Unicomp PC122 with my PC running libreoffice and my old school setup consists of fountain pens and mechanical pencils. I watch this channel to window shop typwriters because I loved them as a kid I'm gathering knowledge until I possibly/eventually pick one and give it a go. :) -ANDREW
Unicomps do have a great typing feel. I'm typing this comment on mine, :) I bought it about two years ago and still love the typing feel. It's a 101 key example with pebble and white keys that I swapped onto it with a black cover instead of the classic off white.
I got a Keychron mechanical keyboard and while back and I love it. Provides the tactile feel that I loved from the typewriter days. Great vid!
Great idea! I often use my iPad for writing and like your suggestion of using a mechanical keyboard. I create a distraction free environment when I write by turning on do not disturb so that I am not interrupted by messages and other notifications. It’s a great way for me to focus on writing.
I have a 13 year old wireless Apple keyboard that can link to my iPod Touch of the same vintage.
I've typed on that while travelling for work, taking notes during meetings (almost quietly) in an app that does just the basic formatting. It is still quite useable, even though I am no longer travelling internationally for a living.
I bought a logitech k480 for $20 easily over 10 years ago and it's still been working along, it's like my modern day typewriter, the keys are big and clacky, it feels like a typewriter with the knob and the phone slot sorta feels like it's a digital paper slot
idk I quite like this thing and for all the beating around I've done to it, it's done me well the few times I bring it out and want to use it.
What i really would appretiate could be a hybrid, your described keyboard with an e-ink device such as a kindle or other e-book. Thank you for the video, Joe.
I've used an iPad and an Apple Bluetooth keyboard. Works great, although I understand your preference for wired devices. I didn't have any trouble with battery life. The keyboard will run for several weeks and the iPad still seemed to be an all-day writer.
I kept a short length of paracord in my laptop bag. Each end of the paracord ended in a loop and it was just the right length to hitch to the top of the steering wheel in my truck. If you're into knots, I used a lark's head hitch.
That way I could slide the seat back and adjust the steering wheel for the right tilt and the iPad would sit nicely on the wheel. I didn't mind touch typing on the keyboard sitting on my lap.
Naturally, one only does that while parked. If you try that while driving the distractions will lead to mixed metaphors, comma errors, and no end to grammatical malfunctions. Never write while distracted.
Great subject, Joe! The biggest problem with your solution, and that the Freewrite addresses is the distraction of the tablet. You can, of course get thousands upon thousands of different apps and other distracting elements that will be calling to you while you are typing on your tablet. You might as well be using a Laptop with a mechanical keyboard. I do this quite often. The Freewrite is great because there are no distractions and it automatically uploads to the cloud, plus saves a copy on the Freewrite itself. When you are ready you can print off your writing, and/or Open it with a regular word processor for editing. I really think the Freewrite is much closer to the true 21st-century typewriter. Also, I’m surprised you didn’t use the Qwerkywriter keyboard, as it has a much more typewriter like appearance, and is also uses cherry MX switches. Thank you for a fascinating topic!
This was great! I’d love to see what others’ version of the 21st c typewriter might look like.
I'm doing something similar with an Onyx Boox Note2. It's basically an Android eink tablet, the screen is nice and the fastest I've seen so far. The display surface gives a paper like feeling, which makes drawing or scribbling hand written notes nice. I even do some Zentangling on it every once in a while. ;)
Since it's Android I installed Emacs on it, right now I'm trying to get org-roam to work as a 2nd brain.
I'm using an Note2, too, with Obsidian for writing and PKM. Do you have a solution for carrying the mechanical keyboard? It's relativ bulkiness is the main reason I stick to a laptop when traveling. I tried foldable keyboards, but they lack the writing comfort.
I've been doing a very similar thing for the past several years, good stuff!
Joe's a thinker and a magician - he loves to make them ultra portables levitate... 😉
Nice proof of concept.
My wife and I bought a Smith Corona daisywheel electric typewriter and some extra ribbons around the turn of the millennium at a TV and appliance store that was going out of business. We figured we might need it for the occasional carbon copy or NCR paper form. But we never saw carbon paper or NCR paper after that. It's still sitting in my garage in the bag we bought it in.
I just got a new M1 MacBook Air and it's encouraged me to relearn how to touch type. I originally learned on manual typewriters. There were electric typewriters in they were for the use of advanced students.
The only problem with typing directly onto paper is that paper is extremely unforgiving of mistakes.
I was getting pretty good at it but then I lost it all over Christmas break. After that, I just tried to keep up my speed any way I could. It's a rather advanced "hunt-and-peck" method except there's very little "hunting" involved and I use most of my fingers, but I absolutely have to be able to see the keyboard. I still get around 45-60 wpm.
I have a nice Bluetooth keyboard I can use and I want to use that to relearn touch typing, but it's very much like the keyboard already on my MacBook. It's comfortable enough, with a bit more texture to the keys, but it's not something I can rest my fingers on while I stop to think.
I'm considering a keyboard like you got, though I want the full-width computer keyboard with numeric keypad. I learned to "touch type" a numeric keypad when I worked for the U.S. Census.
I really like the iPad mini. It's not too big and not too small.
I used IAWriter for a while in the past when I was looking for a simple text editor I could use on my iPad or phone. I like it a lot. I was frustrated that iOS doesn't have anything quite like TextEdit on the Mac, which is my usual word processor/text editor.
Portable printers really haven't improved much since I was first looking for one in the early '90s.
As a former desktop publisher, I prefer to be able to change and edit text before committing it to paper.
I'm all about my laser printer and choosing the proper font for the intended purpose.
I really do like Hanx Writer. It really does bring the look and sound of a manual typewriter to iOS.
But that makes me think your solution still won't quite satisfy the person looking for a real classic typewriter experience. Hanx Writer will surely make it a lot easier to pretend.
Clever, and inspiring as usual. I have dedicated some time to think to a similar 'solution' and in the end I ditched the multi-units concept and neglected to buy keyboards for my tablets. I sourced a used Lenovo Thinkpad decent laptop, gutted out the OS it came equipped with, installed Linux and, voila, all editors I need. Central to my decision the fact that really portable printers were never a good-enough solution for me, saving and emailing documents on tablet/phones has always been frustrating, and laser printers are everywhere I go, so to obtain a paper copy or pdf attachment of any text become trivial. If I really want a typewriter-like experience (satisfying mechanical banging on keys and everything) I have some vintage real typewriters options to choose from. New generations, to avoid being distracted by ancillary endless options and functions, will have to resort to something different. The problem is : do they? Being put out-of-focus by scores of functions, by an incoming endless drove of fresh stupid messages is no longer a problem, mankind now thinks this is the status of things, they do not consider being interrupted fifteen times in two minutes a distraction, or an interruption, this is it , this is how they live. I frankly think that typewriters are becoming attractive for their terrific steampunk/dieselpunk design, not as practical useful objects, the same way as obsolete impractical Harley-Davidson motorbikes are appreciated and actively sought after. Rangefinder cameras. Vinyl LPs. Analogic tube audio amplifiers. Jewelry. Examples are everywhere. Nothing wrong to appreciate something beautiful and difficult to source, but.. oportet ut malia deficiant, it is necessary for (bad)things to happen.
An elastic cloth band along the short side will do the trick to hold the paper in the slot and at the same time hold the writing paper. All keeping the minimalist look.
Super interesting! I’m
Considering getting my first typewriter!
I recommend a 1950s Smith Corona Sterling or Silent for your first machine.
thank you ! @@essequamvideri17
I own several typewriters including electronic ones. But I mostly write on 1930s Olivetti, because it has the feel of the typewriter and it is ultra portable. For me the 21st century typewriter should have the following features:
- it should look like mechanical typewriter, not electronic one;
- mechanical but NOT computer-like or electric typewriter keyboard, with regulated pressing force;
- printing element enabled to print in multiple languages (maybe something like high-resolution dot matrix printer);
- multiple typefaces defined;
- small (even one-line) electronic paper screen for limited edit options, delayed print when working at night, make automatic copies, and ecology;
- option to save text to USB drive (no need of a scanner and OCR)
- ultra portable
It should be a typewriter, not computer, not tablet, and NO internet connection.
I'm picky about my computer keyboard as well. I use the original "Clicky keyboard" IBM Model M, with the buckling springs, model 1391401. It needs a PS/2 to USB adaptor and it is good to go. Similar in feel to a cherry blue, but I'd say vastly superior. Not good for this concept as they are big and heavy, but for everyday desktop use, well, for me it is the only way. Note that there is limited "rollover" on these, which approximately allows you two keys + space + shift. This means in a shooter you can strafe, and jump at the same time. No windows key, but you can use Ctrl-Esc as a substitute often. Mine is from 1986, and will outlive me. If you've never tried one, you don't know what you are missing.
I've got the Unicomp version. It's still one of my favorite purchases ever. :) It's the 101 key with black plastic surround and I swapped some pebble and white color keys onto it get get rid of all the grey ones. I think Unicomp does make a smaller sized keyboard though. I think they call it the space saver or something like that.
@@timsimpson5129 The Unicomp boards are the real deal, made by ex IBM folk who worked on the original keyboard. So, you know exactly what I am talking about!
I've got a Ryobi inverter for their 18V drill batteries which would power a small laser printer. That thermal printer looks very pricey , both in itself and per page. It also looks subject to disappearing from the market yesterday.
You can get round keycaps that look like old style typewriter ones for the antique look. I've done that and really like the look.
I find I press on the keys too hard due to muscle memory from mechanical typewriters. My typewriter has a 65 gram force at the beginning of key travel increasing to 900 gf (~2 lb) when pressed all the way down. That is more comfortable because there isn't a hard stop at the end of key travel. The hard stop is called bottoming out.
The Cherry MX Clear, Halo Clear, and Halo True switches are supposed to reduce bottoming out.
The twenty-first century typewriter may not be a dad idea, but is may suitable for typists, keyboard specialists and end users of computers who still want to put their typewriter-like prowess into practical use. The iPad tablet is probably the most expensive part of this twenty-one Century keyboarding. It is still a typing system that is really portable.
I use my mom's 1st gen Macbook Air. The MS Word can be on full screen view where all you see is just the text and the top ribbon. Basically paper look alike. It's super portable, though the battery doesn't last as much anymore.
I tried thise mechanical keyboards. I still miss typing on a typewriter. The type action feels more substantial.
As a software developer, the main problem I have with typewriters is they lack modern day punctuation marks.
There simply is no good solution. Boring as this may sound, I find that the most durable, most ubiquitous, least error-prone, most always-available, most instant-on, most software compatible, least distracting, most portable, most flexible, best able to mix type and mixed media, least vulnerable to obsolescence, and most font selectable device for writing is a pad of paper and a pen.
Yep! Pen and paper are a timeless elegant solution.
Very interesting!
This is very similar to my setup. Different iPad, different mechanical keyboard (I prefer bluetooth) with different keys (I like reds for travelling and blues for home) and a different writing program. But the concept is the same. I do like iA writer too, but recently I've been using an app called Obsidian. It's made for note taking, however, I've found its lack of formatting a positive. I do prefer the minimalist approach of iA and Obsidian, rather than the full featured editors like Pages. I just need a good printer. I have a clunky, old Brother which is not long for this world if I can't locate a new print drum.
After considering the freewrite, I settled for a similar setup, but using a Onyx Boox Note2 eink-device instead of the iPad. What I still struggle with is the bulkiness of the keyboard, which limits portability. And so I more often than not fall back on taking my MacBook Air with me instead... Any good ideas for that?
Interesting video.
Soon typewriters by diesel and gasoline.
Films only from KODAK.
Is it really out of the question for someone to make a real 21st century typewriter? Niche makers are making lots of retro tech. People are making buckling spring and beam spring keyboards; retro computers like the Commander x16, and I know a guy who's making a retro-styled monitor. There's lots of things like this now. Couldn't someone somehow combine a mechanical keyboard with an attached compact printer like you described. It doesn't seem out of reach. But why? The two main arguments I can make for a real 21st century typewriter are: 1) Modern keyboard layout and punctuation marks, and 2) The fluidity and immediacy of mixed typed print with other analog media. Put a page in, type something, remove the paper, highlight some stuff, glue something to it, put it back in the typewriter and type more stuff on it, etc, etc. You cannot get that kind of fluid analog workflow with ink jet printers.
I agree, I think the tech is out there, as is the market, but someone needs the vision to implement it.
Thank you for your ideas. I really find it interesting. I would prefer a real typewriter though. It would have be like an E-Bike. Your system NEEDS electricity at one point, sooner or later. My dream (and I know it's a dream) would be an electric typewriter in the size of an Olympia Splendid or SF de Luxe. For those used to a computer keyboard you can switch to electricity so they don't get too exhausted typing on a mechanical keyboard. But if you are off civilization you can still type on it. (Like an E-Bike. With electricity you can ride - and without, but only harder).
I have heard of one who tried to make a new typewriter - something with a nordic god's name (forgot the name), but I can't find it anymore. Maybe he has given up.
I fortunately have a macbook from 2010 with an old word-programme. I like it because I need no software-abo. For typing I use a Razer Huntsman mini keyboard.
I tried the Freewrite. I was a supporter then when it was on Kickstarter and still Hemingwrite. After video clips appeared I withdrew the support because I didn't like the delayed reaction between typing and seeing the typed words. And they wouldn't make it QWERTZ either (you could by QWERTZ-keycaps extra later). Also the oversea business in case something was wrong/didn't function seemed to be a logistical nightmare.
A typewriter is a typewriter, and a computer is a computer.
A horse is a horse, and a motorcycle is a motorcycle.
Don't mix it up.
Why, oh why does, every typewriter, up to and including the newest and most modern typewriters have the 1/2 and 1/4 key? Who really uses that? If it's true that I'm writing content that requires frequent use of fractions, won't I also need 1/3, 1/5, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32 and every other fraction as a dedicated key also? Why single out two specific fractions? It's dumb but I guess it became some quasi standard and people just kept copying it without thinking about it. I'd much rather have the punctuation marks I use all the time like less than, greater than, square brackets, and curly braces.
The appearance of fractions on typewriter keyboards is interesting. Older British keyboards had additional fractions (I think) because prior to the British Pound switching to decimalization, fractions of pounds were commonly used. But why 1/4 and 1/2 on American keyboards? That’s a good question!
Long story short: buy a Typestar 10II for 10 USD