Techno Love

A couple of months ago, reports of the manual typewriter's death were, as Mark Twain would have said, premature. A news story moved on the wire services reporting that the last manual typewriter factory had closed.

The story was later corrected, but not before dozens of writers wrote pieces waxing nostalgic about their favorite old manual typewriter. I read a couple and was moved.

That is to say, I was moved to gag. You really have warm memories of using a manual? (Back in the day, if you talked about manuals versus electrics, everyone knew you were talking typewriters.) I learned to type on a big, bulky Royal manual. I used an identical big, bulky Royal manual at my first paid writing job. I don't wax nostalgic about those days.

Instead, I remember changing ribbons on those things. I remember using carbon paper when I needed a duplicate on those things. I remember my hands cramping from pounding the keys on those things.

And I remember one more thing. I remember the day that a friend who sold Radio Shack computers stopped by the newspaper office where I worked and plopped a TRS-80 Model 100 on my desk. This was the first true laptop computer, and as I shifted my cramped, curled fingers from the keys of the Royal and dropped them onto the Model 100 keyboard, I fell in love.

I have preferred word processors over manual typewriters ever since.

Now, I know that technology ain't Nirvana. Computers fail. Software fails--I proved that today by spending a chunk of my work time trying to get Adobe Acrobat Professional to act like a professional. It refused.

But compared to banging away on a Royal manual typewriter, time spent writing on a computer is a little slice of heaven.

One day, the story of the last manual computer factory closing down will be true. When that day comes, I won't feel sad or wax nostalgic. I may write a brief post about it using my MacBook Pro. Or I may drag out my Model 100 for a spin.