Have you ever used a typewriter?

[Novice]

^^ Yeah, no drunk-typing allowed *scowls are posters....*

Took typing in high school. My first and only F. Got caught "cheating" on a speed test. I looked at my hands. Was sent by the spinster teacher to the principal's office to explain my crime. He fixed the grade for me.

Saw him a few years ago and he admitted that the typing teacher desperately needed laid.

Worst class ever. She would turn the lights out and have a flashlight on the keyboard chart.

Having flashbacks of typing aaaa ssss dddd ffff.

He cheated for you? Excellent!

I'm pretty sure that somewhere, typing teachers and catholic school nuns gather to drink, laugh and share torture techniques.

LOL! Please add piano teachers to that! A ruler across the knuckles really hurt!

I learned to type on old computers.. probably circa mid 90s.. and that was weird enough, I can't imagine learning to type on something you have to continually feed ink ribbons and stuff into. I do recall finding a really old one in my great-grandma's attic.. but this was a really old one, circa the turn of the century. I wonder where it ended up.

I had a Mac Powerbook attached to the internet by then! With a total of 16k memory! Heck things were much simpler then.....

I thought that I was such a whizz when I could used "basis" to print out a xmas tree shape in 1983.....

I ended up putting my beautiful typewriter in the trash can. My feelings are still hurt.

Ebay! Someone will collect them somewhere! Make sure its an international listing (if you do it next time!)

OH! and I found this for you....

[Grimmlok]

yeah, see.. my father always had a computer, even as far back as 84.. i was typing and printing my school work up on a mac classic when i hit grade 1.

By the time I got to high school, i had already learned to type improperly with 3 fingers on each hand. I couldn't deprogram myself and do the home row shit.

I'm still faster than most other people even with my gimpy way of typing, so i didn't get the big deal.

[sputnik]

By the time I got to high school, i had already learned to type improperly with 3 fingers on each hand. I couldn't deprogram myself and do the home row shit.

I'm still faster than most other people even with my gimpy way of typing, so i didn't get the big deal.

that reminds me of my father. he used to type using only his index fingers and thumbs. he was really quick too. i used to call it crab typing.

[Sweetie]

The keys appear to be in the same place as our keyboards,so I don't think we would have much of a problem. Never have used one & wonder why would anyone now?

What did you type papers on when you were in school?

[kingcap72]

I had this typewriter. Feels like the Stone Age now.

[A*O]

^^^^ Oh wow - that's my IBM golfball typewriter! I'd use one again (checks eBay). Really handy for envelopes and tricky labels, etc.

[Algernon]

Started out on a regular typewriter. Upgraded to the electric, which ang described so well...the smell, the sounds. I loved that thing. Then my uncle gave us a word processer, I don't know what kind, but it had a tiny brown screen on it and the ink cartridges were ridiculously expensive and never printed very well anyway. I used that thing a lot, however, because it was soooo nice to be able to go back and fix mistakes before printing.

We got a computer when I was 16 (1993...we were a little behind the times)and I remember being completely amazed by it. Different fonts, spellcheck, auto tabs...I was in pure heaven. Guess I've never looked back, lol.

I do miss that old electric typewriter, have some good memories with it...I may have to dig it out next time I go to my parents' house.

[Chalet]

I remember "the ding" too!

I've never tried the really vintage one's with the tall keys where you really have to press all the way down. Lob - you really described that scenario so well, just like in the movies.

[A*O]

Having learned to type "properly" (with all my fingers) I have to say it's one of the more useful lifeskillz I have acquired. I can touch type pretty fast although my kids can do it too using 2-3 fingers. With modern lightweight keyboards it doesn't really matter how you do it.

[HWBL]

I remember "the ding" too!

I've never tried the really vintage one's with the tall keys where you really have to press all the way down. Lob - you really described that scenario so well, just like in the movies.

Oh yes, I practiced on one of those. We didn't have a typewriter but our
neighbors did. So, I borrowed it during my course to practice at home, all
the homework things like cards and envelopes etc. The thing weighed a ton!
and was very noisy. It also didn't have ribbon cassettes like the newer ones
had, but actual spools of ribbon. It looked almost exactly like this one:

[Just Kill Me]

This is my baby that I got on eBay. I had always wanted an olive green one in my mind and I never even thought to look on eBay; this purchase began my love of all things eBay. This was about a year ago; please ignore the pants, box and gloves.

[Grimmlok]

ooo i lurv the ergo design.. it's almost art deco..

[McJag]

What did you type papers on when you were in school?

One of my soroity sisters did them for me in exchange for various stuff. We bartered heavily! I had a mental block about typing then. Had to learn on the job later & that was fun because of computers-just never typed on a typewriter.

[travelbug]

We sold our house in 2001 and had to pare down our stuff severely. I had a beautiful IBM Selectric with all the bells and whistles. It had a cast iron casing and weighed, I'd say, about 60 lbs. A beast, but a beauty, the highest end typewriter of its time with the whirling lettered type ball.

I called the Salvation Army to come pick up about an acre of possessions we were parting with in the move. When the guy came he refused to take the Selectric away. I couldn't believe my ears. He said that the Salvation Army would never get rid of the thing and he wasn't taking it.

I ended up putting my beautiful typewriter in the trash can. My feelings are still hurt.

Ahh....that kills me to hear. I am huge into recycling. You could've sold that typewriter to a scrap metal dealer and gotten $$ for it!

[msdeb]

i remember when we learned to type in high school, doing the repetitive keys, aaa bbb ccc, and then typing FDS space FDS space, and giggling because we all knew it meant douche.