Tell HN: I'm a programmer who bought a typewriter
59 points ·
sasha_fishter
·
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.
brudgers ·24 days ago
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.
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taylodl ·25 days ago
Vinyl took a little longer to get off of as I had (and still have) a fairly significant vinyl collection.
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nottorp ·21 days ago
But the most important part is probably not the slowness but the distraction-free environment. Get a DOS machine with WordPerfect and it will work as well. But don't run DOS in an emulator that you can alt+tab away from and doomscroll...
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theogravity ·21 days ago
https://artvsentropy.wordpress.com/2023/08/12/retro-writing-...
We bought a Pomera DM250 a few months ago while in Japan. It's really sleek and feature-rich compared to western-built writing-only devices which are limited, more expensive, and bulky. It opens up directly to a word processor; runs Linux under the hood.
You can buy them via ebay as well if you're not in Japan.
mkovach ·21 days ago
So, for my major writing projects it is: * Outline, snippets, and drafts with a fountain pen. * Writing, re-writing, etc. on WordStar. * Typeset (i.e.: prepare digitally) on my regular systems. This is the only place I get distracted.
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