IÂ’m not saying that my typewriter is better than my pc in every regard (the OS is all firmware & doesnÂ’t support x86 code in any way, so my favourite Quake 2 is not on), but in one important regard, it is.

One of the real hassles of being unemployed is application forms. Quite why a lot of companies wonÂ’t take a cv (resume) or give out an editable electronic copy of their standard form is beyond me Â… how many jobs to you actually _need_ to have good handwriting for nowadays ? And how does squeezing the required information into a tiny box a third of the necessary size actually _prove_ how good your writing is, anyway?

Enter the typewriter Â… slip the form in, give it a few twirls & start banging away. Easy, instantly impressive application form.
Although I do get through nearly as many correction tapes as ribbons.

Envelopes too – if I want to print an address out with my PC, first I’ve got to boot up, fire up W*rd, type in the address (& stop that damn paperclip before it cheerfully asks me if I want some help in typing my letter), use the “help” option to work how to set the envelope size, _measure_ the envelope, keep my fingers crossed that the printer is going to work & I won’t have to reboot (it’s up to its old tricks again), then watch in horror as the printer decides it’s not happy with its lot in life, and that it would rather have been born a cross-cut shredder & so makes an unholy mess of my last envelope.

This is why I don’t fly anywhere – when I see how well _basic_ domestic items work (like a toaster for example – how often do you actually get decent toast? It’s just a heating element and a timer, nothing to go wrong, and yet, 90% of the time, your toast comes out underdone, hard as a rock, burnt, soggy, and sometimes, all four), not to mention the PC (which is at least an order of magnitude less complicated than a fly-by-wire 737) I think you’re taking too much of a chance.
I wonder what OS Boeing’s use anyway? Something by M*cr*s*ft? It would give a new meaning to “blue screen of death” anyway.

Having appeased the ghost of Ned Ludd, back to the typewriterÂ…

As any true modder would, I have of course evaluated its potential Â… once itÂ’s out of warranty, a strip down & paint job is a must Â… possibly silver (but _NOT_ Plastikote!), definitely with flames up the sides. IÂ’ve also worked out that if I sacrifice the cable storage area, thereÂ’s room for a small transformer to power 12v devices Â… so a neon string/EL cable KB mod is a goer, as is CCs in the interior & several small (40-50mm) blowholes behind the platen. This is all money/time permitting of course. I just canÂ’t leave anything alone.

Ahh the true modders creed:
"This is all money/time permitting of course. I just canÂ’t leave anything alone. "
I live by this short statement myself. Although I usually just mod it anyway and then worry about the money later Ol' Lady just loves that!!

Jon...I do not own a typewritter, we have one at work that I have to use maybe 4 times a year. I used to be able to type fast on them, however I'm so used to a Keyboard that a type writter is hard to use.