http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/keyword/typewriters
A Typewriter May Be Just What You Need Simplicity Appeals To People Put Off By Personal Computers
So all you really need to do is write a letter.
You want to do it neatly and easily. You don't want to log on; you don't want to create a file just to start composing; and you don't want to have to pore over a user's manual to figure out how to set your margins.
You don't, in short, want a personal computer, particularly the expense of it. Take heart. For all the hype about the computer revolution, the world is still using typewriters.
Typewriters remain popular with students, people who work at home and other consumers who like to write but who are put off by the cost and complexity of personal computers, said Harry Thruston, sales associate at George Stuart Inc., an office equipment supply company in Orlando.
''If you are buying a computer for word processing, it's overkill,'' Thruston said.
A personal computer, including software, terminal and printer, costs at least $1,500 today and can cost as much as several thousand dollars. A good electric typewriter can be had for $150 or less.
That's not to say that all typewriters are inexpensive. Typewriters can be purchased for prices ranging from roughly $100 to $1,800, but dealers say few consumers are willing to pay more than $700, and the majority pay less than $200.
Typewriters fall into three main categories: manual, electric and electronic. The most advanced versions of electronic typewriters, those incorporating tiny integrated circuits, are sometimes referred to as text- editing typewriters or word processors. Consumers can expect to pay $425 to $700 for typewriters in this category.
They have memories that allow a letter or report to be printed again and again without retyping, dictionaries for checking spelling, word counters and screens that display as many as 25 lines of copy for editing.
The microchip, it seems, has spawned as many changes in the 120-year-old typewriter as it has in computers.
''There is a fine line between personal computing and typewriting,'' said Paul Leitz, owner of Howell's Typewriters Inc. in Orlando.
Manual typewriters are nearly obsolete. In the United States, in fact, it is easier to find a used manual typewriter than a new one. Office supply dealers and discount stores in Central Florida do not carry the manuals. Office equipment dealers sometimes take used manuals as trade-ins and then sell them. Prices, however, are $100 or more -- no less than for electrics.
Some portable electronic typewriters come with battery packs for people who may need to use machines where there is no electric power. The price is $400 to $500.
A basic electric typewriter today includes such features as automatic correction, automatic centering, a bold face option, underlining capability and the option of selecting elite or pica typefaces. The electric typically costs less than $200.
Electronic typewriters have been stealing increasingly more market share, according to the Computer and Business Equipment Manufacturers Association, a Washington-based trade organization.
In 1984, the association estimates, electronic typewriters outsold electric typewriters for the first time. In 1987, 1.2 million electronic typewriters were sold, compared with only 26,000 electric typewriters. In 1980, 950,000 electrics were sold, compared with 110,000 electronic typewriters.
The price of technology has fallen enough to make gee-whiz features affordable for consumers, said Tony Cannizzaro, general manager of Protech Business Machines Inc. in Altamonte Springs. His most popular consumer typewriter remains a $169 electric, but for $100 to $200 more the customer can get a plethora of high-tech features.
In the $250-and-up range, consumers will be making choices about the machine's memory and display screen. These electronic typewriters include 50,000- to 100,000-word dictionaries that beep when a word is misspelled.
What features you get vary with the price you pay. At George Stuart, for example, Thruston says $250 to $300 will buy a typewriter with a 7,000- character memory and a 16-character display screen. For $469, the consumer will get 16,000-character memory and a 40-character display, plus additional features such as a thesaurus and a word counter. The thesaurus will display synonyms for the word the writer wants to replace in a sentence. Some models include a ''word alert,'' which tells writers they have selected often- confused words: principal instead of principle, for example.
A typical typewritten page will have 1,500 to 2,000 characters. Forty characters is equal to roughly half a typewritten line.
Word-processing or text-editing machines have up to 50,000-character memories, a display for eight or more lines and a removable disk that stores up to 100,000 characters.
Typewriters are also available that can be connected to personal computers. They are, after all, ''letter-quality'' printers, and many are less expensive than the laser printers with the same integrity of type.
Old Clickety-clack Strikes Back Metallic Keys Pounding Out Letters Say Typewriters Are Here To Stay
Business and real estate
EUSTIS — No sounding taps, please, to mark the death of the Underwoods, nor muffling drums for the Remingtons.
No elegies for the Royals or informal wakes for the Smith Coronas.
To paraphrase Mark Twain: The reports of the death of the typewriter are greatly exaggerated.
Sure, the typewriter has seen better days. But, still, in this the dawning of the computer age, it's obvious the typewriter will live into the 2lst century.
''Without typewriters, I'd be out of business,'' said James Nelson, owner of Triangle Business Machines, l3l4 S. Bay St., Eustis.
Nelson sells or services fax machines, printers, copy machines and calculators but says servicing typewriters - mostly electric and electronic - is 80 percent of his business.
As for the classic manual typewriter, fast becoming a relic, it simply refuses to die.
''Would you believe, I sold five manual typewriters in a one-week period last month,'' Nelson said. ''They're secondhand, of course. As fast as they come in, I recondition them and move them off the shelf.''
One that won't move off the shelf is a l9l2 Corona that Nelson has on display. A collector's item, it was a gift from a friend and is not for sale.
A 1913 Oliver typewriter is a museum piece that catches the eye upon entering the shop at Terry Williams Business Machines, 4l7 N. Palmetto St., Leesburg. He received it from the Simons family with whom he worked when they owned Simons Office Equipment on Main Street.
He began working on a part-time basis with the former downtown Leesburg office machine firm in l970 while a sophomore at Leesburg High School. He opened his own business in 1991.
Nor is Williams' vintage typewriter for sale. But his other used typewriters are.
''We get many of the manual and electric typewriters from people who want to upgrade to new electronic ones,'' Williams said. ''Rather than pay $40 to $50 to fix and clean up their old typewriter, they frequently opt to buy a new (electronic) one.''
On the other hand, Williams points out that many seniors have neither the patience nor perseverance to adapt to electronic machines.
''Too much on the keyboard - the buttons, the bells, the codes. They're more comfortable with their old (manual) typewriter,'' he said.
David Todd, a Williams technician, notes that another reason old-time typists are ''more comfortable'' with their vintage machines is the touch is less sensitive.
The clickety-clacking keys and carriage-return bells are music to the ears of many seniors who cut their teeth on manual typewriters.
''Those keys must be struck with authority, no gentle touch like the electrics,'' said Todd, an NCR (National Cash Register) retiree.
In fact, Nelson notes that some seniors told him they prefer the old manuals because they're therapeutic - keeping their arthritic fingers active.
''The reasons vary, of course. Some people have a sentimental attachment to their typewriter and won't part with it,'' Nelson said.
Todd tells of reconditioning a Hermes portable manufactured in Switzerland.
''A local woman had inherited it and just wanted it cleaned up. She planned to keep it for sentimental value,'' Todd said.
One problem confronting both business establishments is the availability of parts for the manual typewriters.
''Sometimes I have to make a replacement part,'' Nelson said. ''That drives up the price. But more often than not it's not a major concern for customers as long as they get their typewriter back in good workable condition.''
But there's more than home-use for the classic manual machine.
As Nelson indicated, there's a place in present-day offices for a typewriter because computer operators find it difficult or impossible to master such tasks as typing nonstandard forms producing mailing labels, index and business cards, writing postcards or producing odd-sized memos.
Nelson, by the way, began repairing typewriters in his stepfather's shop in Seymour, Ind., in l972. Two years ago, he became a partner in Business Machines, Eustis, and more recently opened his present shop at l3l4 S. Bay St.
He says his typewriter business has never been better.
No comments:
Post a Comment