Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Technology…

01-manual-typewriter

Several technical sites published the news about closure of Godrej & Boyce, apparently the last factory in the world that was still manufacturing manual typewriters. I was surprised that it closed down in 2011 and not earlier. Curiosity made me look into my stack of old documents to find one typed using a manual typewriter. Guess what! I found only one. My court issued marriage certificate appears to be prepared using a typewriter; however I am not sure if it was mechanical or electrical typewriter. Do you have a document typed using a manual typewriter?

Imagine framing a document, a letter, a note or a blog post with a manual typewriter, without first writing with hand. Can you guess how it will look like? Misspelled words, grammatical errors, crossed out, unfinished & disconnected sentences and no pictures. One could suggest preparing the text before typing but how many of us can actually think without a keyboard and a computer screen. I cannot. Can you? Is technology helping or hurting us?

(Picture from Google. I do not have a typewriter)

28 comments:

kiran sawhney said...

Hmm. I think I should quickly buy a typewriter. Soon it will become an antique, a show piece.
Though we are a very computer persons now, but I have personally used a typewriter long long time back.

Amrit said...

@Kiran,

Per news items, the company still has around 500. I am not sure it is really an antique item though...it is not like painting or an artwork.

Insignia said...

I did go for 5 days of typing classes when the computers were already around :)

Its a nice experience when you have to forcefully hit the key each time.

chitra said...

A,
I was on tour and could visit or comment posts of my blogger friends.

I have many documents type written using manual typewriter. But I feel comp. is definitely better.Computer -we have options of rewriting , editing without losing paper whereas it gets wasted while using t.writer.

baili said...

i would love to have one in home ,but only will use it as a hobby,

i used to see one of my uncle use it in his home ,and some how it attracts me.

god bless A.

Rachna said...

Ah! there are still some at these quaint notary offices in Bangalore. And,the other day I saw one at a lawyer's office though his PA was using an outdated PC :). Currently, I doubt if I have any document printed on a typewriter. Perhaps, my marriage certificate was typed on one too, but I am not sure :)>

Rià said...

I have never really used a typewriter...who needs a typewriter these days anyways!?

Mangala said...

Oh I can imagine how my blog would be....too messed up to read even for me myself....there's one thing what I dont like abt computers and the present generation is that, 90% does not know to type the right way! More often I see ppl "typing" with "only one finger on each hand".

Alka Gurha said...

Its a two way street...cuts both ways.

Destination Infinity said...

I have worked previously in that department of G&B which was manufacturing Typewriters (But we were involved with other office automation products). But this closing down of the manufacturing of T/w is news to me! Back then, our department (in Chennai alone) was selling some 10-20 T/w per month. I have met some of the T/w dealers and most of them had other businesses too, already. But they were making some money with the maintenance of the T/w already sold to various customers. And (very) few new orders. We even used to receive some orders from Sri Lanka and I remember that the Typewriters were available in most of the major languages.

Destination Infinity

Renu said...

I learned typing for some time:)..technology is progress too, but in some ways making us too mechanised.

Rajlakshmi said...

now that you have mentioned, i seriously dnt have any thing typed in a typewriter.

Tanvi said...

Everything has its positive and negative. So does technology. I do like the old world charm, when things were simpler. I could definitely do without a mobile phone. Really!

♡ from © tanvii.com

sm said...

good to know.
now a days its difficult to find typewriters but still they are used in India.

Jyothi said...

What? Your marriage certificate was typed? Mine was Handwritten. :) Boy, do I feel old now!

Actually I have no idea whether it was typed or printed. Its colorful, so I presume its printed!

Nope, I am sure I don't have any documents typed on a manual typewriter. Maybe my mom has kept copies of my attempts to learn typing while I was in School. :)

shuchita said...

I have a training certificate typed by manual typewriter, i think technology like everything else has it's pros and cons

R. Ramesh said...

vallah u reminded me of the typewriter...u can imagine ya...those days esp for journalists there was no life without typewriters..it's like barber without a knife..gr8 post boss..and sorry ya..i wass not regular for sometime..too many domestic compulsions..but thankfully ok now...cheers n wishes

hamaarethoughts.com said...

..Technology makes a great difference.. its like ...two sides of the coin!
I cannot think life without a keyboard..and yes,,,I had seen a type writer..when I waz teaching in a college..most of the ladies in the administration block had those..and all official letters were typed by that!
Computer was a hifi thing...and used by GURUS only..lol
\times have changed...and so are we!
Nice post!

NRIGirl said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
NRIGirl said...

One thing I was not very fond of was the manual type writer - because I could not get past my first day at a typing institute typing ASDF;GHJK a thousand times... That was the end of it!

But I was fond of looking at others type on it though...

Nirvana said...

Such a thoughtful post, A!! My father had a manual typewriter at home, and I used to type stories in it for fun - when in school. And it used to be a matter of pride when Dad would check the spellings and grammar and tell us how much we had improved! And the challenge was exactly what you wrote about ..... loved the post, and the nostalagia it created!

Sebab said...

Very thoughtful. In fact I started with a typewriter and upgraded to a computer years back and you just reminded me about the olden days. I think I forget the past very soon :)

Bikram said...

I have one , before i came to UK, I had a typewriter in india and it still is in my room , I use to type then and some of my project work was done on that type writer.

Bikram's

Matangi Mawley said...

I love the sound it makes when we type it... the 'chik-chak's and the 'chleeks'... :) i sure love to use it... we do have one back at my granny's place... a real antique! :)

Technology sure is a boon... but yes... boons and banes comes hand-in-hand.... duality persists!

ZEAL said...

.

Five years back i didn't even know how to start and shut down my PC. But he taught me that. Learnt a lot since then. He teases me and calls me Hi-tech now .

I believe people with progressive mind will always welcome the advancement , be it in any sphere .

I don't see any life without science and technology.

.

Sh@s said...

It has become a piece for the museums. Technology has made our life easy and enslaved us, too.

Anjuli said...

ugh...I just had a taste of 'technology' or the lack there of when I typed an entire comment and only had it disappear to lack of connection to the internet :(....so to sum it up, I do remember the manual typewriters and I do have a document which was typed on a manual typewriter.

Haddock said...

Oh yes I remember reading about this, and was suddennly reminded about the small typewriter we had at home.
But don't worry, you just walk into any of the courts in India, and there are N number of Vakils running after you asking what is to be done. Affidavit? Court Order? Mortgag? Anything.
And finally when they type out your matter, it will be on one of those old typewriters.
Belive it or not I got an Affidavit done last month which was typed on one of them by an equally old man!!