When is the last time you used a typewriter?

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   wayne barrettposted 10 years ago

   When is the last time you used a typewriter?
   
   Depending on how young you are, I suppose there may be some who have never used one. The last time for me was the year 2000. at the time I thought the new software programs were the greatest thing. They are very convenient, but I have begun to miss the sounds and the feel of the old typewriter!
   
   

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   Theater girlposted 10 years ago

   1989, high school papers. Then Dad got this new program called Word perfect for our computer! The words were blue on a black screen. Memories!

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      wayne barrettposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      You were one of the original word users.

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   bizarrett81posted 10 years ago

   I remember that.  I miss typewriters.  I would love to find one that works well to have, just in case = )

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      wayne barrettposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      You could probably find one at an antique shop, or the flea market.

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   bravewarriorposted 10 years ago

   I used an IBM Selectric about a year ago.  The place where I used to work still has one for certain documents that can't be fed into a printer.  Boy, that back space correcting button is nothing like the 'undo' icon on a computer!

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      wayne barrettposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      The, "undo", among many other features. Yes, we have become quite spoiled!

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   Tinskyposted 10 years ago

   Hi Wayne,
   
   I last used a manual type writer in 1983 while at school in a typing class. I hated them, which is why after grade 8, I didn't continue with any typing subjects.  My fingers would often slip between the keys and get stuck. In the mid 80's my father purchased a Tandy TRS80 (without programs) and told me to learn how to code it to print using a dot matrix computer. In the 1990's I began using electronic typewriters and by the end of the 1990's I had my first real computer and have never really looked back.  I don't miss the sound at all. My current keyboard has its own clackety clack sound which can sometimes wake my daughter up at night!

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      wayne barrettposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I'm sure in the not to far future, even our modern keyboards will be considered outdated.

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   Joanne M Olivieriposted 10 years ago

   I used a manual and electric probably up until around 1995 or so.  I am a writer and I used to use it to send out my poetry to magazines.  I always complain about my computer being slow but now that you've reminded me of these old relics I'll never complain again, at least for a little while

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      wayne barrettposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Lol. I'm sure if we were forced to use one again we would quickly begin to despise the inconvenience.

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   Becky Katzposted 10 years ago

   I have worked in data entry for most of my adult life. Back in 1996, after just moving and while looking for work, I worked for a temp agency. They sent me to a place that used typewriters. That was the last time I used a typewriter. I have never missed using them. They are so much more limited than a computer word program. They also have one big problem that I did not think I had until that time. I really cannot type. I make too many typos. I usually proof my work just before I print and that doesn't work with a typewriter. LOL

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      wayne barrettposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, Spellcheck is a blessing for people like me with happy fingers. It's not that I don't know how to spell, but I hit wrong keys without realizing it.

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      Becky Katzposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I have long nails, and hit two keys at once. I also get to typing too fast and miss spacing. Or I get to typing too soft and the letter doesn't even get pressed down. I do a lot of proofing.

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   tsmogposted 10 years ago

   I used one yesterday. Sharing, my dad's MO in the Marine Corp after a bit and a byte was as a office machine repairman. He specialized with Remington models and manufacturer. The one I used was a brother yesterday. I typed out a check for the boss awaiting a signature.
   
   Mitch

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      wayne barrettposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Die hard typewriter fan!  : )

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   travmajposted 10 years ago

   It's so long ago I can't recall - your question sent me scurrying to look for the last electric one (when new I thought nothing would ever compete with it) Clearly it's gone where all unwanted typewriters go! - Now you mention it, I miss mine also.

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      wayne barrettposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I probably trashed mine without a thought. Now I wish I would have kept it.

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    Lady Guinevereposted 10 years ago

    It was about 1995 when I was in school to learn how to be a Medical Secretary after my divorce and subsequent firing from a Wal-Mart.  I had hit rock bottom was out of a job, had a 17 year old to raise.  I asked God what the heck am I going to do now and I looked in the phone book and I opened it up and the schools and colleges page opened up and that was the first thing that I saw.  Funny how I have never used a typewriter since.  I do have one though, just in case.

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       wayne barrettposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       I guess thinking about some things such as this makes you realize how fast time has slipped by.

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       Lady Guinevereposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Yes and we knew each other many years before that.  Time does fly by.  Things have really changed lots too since then.  BBS was just a small spark in the night sky.

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    FatFreddysCatposted 10 years ago

    Probably sometime in the early 90s when I was in college, I had a big clunky IBM electric typewriter that weighed a ton, which I used to type up reports and term papers. I don't miss lugging that thing back and forth to campus!!!

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       wayne barrettposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       I can imagine it would be a pain if you had to tote that thing around.

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    lupineposted 10 years ago

    The last time I used a typewriter, IBM Selectric, was in 2002.

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       wayne barrettposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks for the feedback.

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    okopposted 10 years ago

    I used it when I was 13, my mom is a book-keeper and we have such gear at home

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       wayne barrettposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Even though they are not commonly used anymore, I think it is a valuable tool to understand.

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    Seeker7posted 10 years ago

    Oh way back in the 1980's - I was so chuffed when the lovely new electronic typewriters came out instead of those awful manuals or electrics - they were a nightmare. But then we had Amstrad etc with the word processors - this was magic to me!!

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       wayne barrettposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Magic is right!

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    ChitrangadaSharanposted 10 years ago

    Last time I used it, was may be in mid 90's, but  I still have it. Feels nostalgic to see it. Some things are kept as sweet memories of the past. It is one of them.

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       wayne barrettposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       I can still hear it in my mind.

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    Larry Wallposted 10 years ago

    I last used an electric typewriter in 1974, the year after I finished in college. During college, I used cheap manual typewriters that you could by for about $30 at discount stores. I wore one out every year, typing up all my notes from all my lecture classes and doing term papers, plus writing my stories for the school paper.
    I never did like electric typewriters, because pushing the keys did not produce any unique response. On a manual typewriter, someone could tell how busy you were, not by your speed, but by how hard you hit the keys.
    I then used an office size manual typewriter from 1975 to about 1981, when the newspaper, I worked for switched over to one of the early computer systems.
    
    I was once using a manual typewriter and when I hit the carriage return lever, the top part of the typewriter flew onto the floor. The repairman said I was typing too fast.

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       wayne barrettposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       I know what you mean by, how hard you hot the keys. I remember realizing that I was getting too tired to continue because my letters were not standing put like they normally would.

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       cintakesteeth1posted 8 years agoin reply to this

       I have a Remington Quiet Model 1 from the 1940s and I also have a Corona Smith antique from around the same era. I am interested in finding out their value as well as selling them. Please contact Cindy @ 302-333-2124 with any answers or questions.
       Th

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    Lor's Storiesposted 10 years ago

    Junior year in college.
    A twenty page final with foot notes and a bibliography.
    I wanted to throw the typewriter out the window.
    Then we had to make a double copy.
    I used more white out .
    I think it was 1983
    You guys are lucky now.
    I must have typed that paper 3 times.
    Sorry for the typewriter. But I hated it,

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       wayne barrettposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       It's like the memory of cooking pinto beans...some people love it, some people hate it!

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    ViolinByCourtneyposted 10 years ago

    I've never used a manual like the one in the picture. However, I last used an electric typewriter in the mid 90s.

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       wayne barrettposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Thank you Courtney!

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    Darren Owensposted 10 years ago

    My freshman year in high school back in 1994. That's when I first learned how to type using home row on a typewriter. I was typing about 35 wpm by the end of the course, and that's about how fast I type now. Nothing to brag about!

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       wayne barrettposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks, Darren!

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    fitmagposted 10 years ago

    My mother used to use a typewriter at work. It was my favorite toy. I wanted to take it with me to school, because I was just learning to write and with the typewriter it seemed so much easier.

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    Li Galoposted 10 years ago

    We had a manual typewriter at home.  That was what I used when I was in grade school.  I didn't like that the keys would get stuck.  Using white out was a pain.  Those were the 70's.
    
    I used an electric one in high school typing class.  They said I should take a class like that because it would be handy to know how to type "for a girl like me."  Lol!  I was really happy about getting my own at home because of the correction tape!  Those were the 80's.
    
    I won a laptop from an Apple contest in college.  What a difference.  I never looked back.  Those were the 90's.

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    Thief12posted 10 years ago

    For some reason, we always had typewriters at home. Mom had an old one with the typing hammers and all, and I used to type stuff from time to time. I always thought it was cool. She then bought a digital one and I used it for school and other stuff. I think the last time was probably in the late 90s.

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    sunflowerforestsposted 10 years ago

    The year was 1991 for me.  Oh the hassle of the hand held strips of correction tape and calculating margins and centering by hand.  I don't miss it one little bit.  We still have an antique typewriter exactly like the one in your picture though...

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    jellohelloposted 10 years ago

    I think the last time I used one was 2001!

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    nanderson500posted 10 years ago

    I would estimate fifteen years. I always hated typewriters, if you made a mistake you had to start all over again. I remember my mom being driven completely crazy by our typewriter.

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    allihassanposted 10 years ago

    i used 20 years ago "Almustafai",a Sindhi Typewriter

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    Diana Leeposted 10 years ago

    I used a typewriter in the late 80s and did a correspondence course with it through the mail. My, how times have changed with easy access to study courses done online. I used a word processor until the late 90s and my first computer was a hand me down my son had.

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    sriramapriyaposted 10 years ago

    I used  typewriter late time In year 2005

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    uNicQueposted 10 years ago

    I use one now occasionally. My boyfriend found one for me in a small family thrift shop, and knowing how much I appreciate any and every form of writing, he bought it for me for Christmas. I don't use it for school assignments, but I do use it to free-write. As cheesy as it is, it makes me feel like more of a writer.

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