That is precisely the one I have. It’s at my parents’ house. The neat thing about the screen is that even if you could only see (X) characters, you could type as much as you wanted. Then when you hit return, it would start typing full speed, like transitioning from a walk to a hand gallop. Erasing a character meant that the the machine typed over the original character with a white ribbon. That sounded like a jackhammer. It was a pleasure to use. I’d like to get an older one or maybe one of “modern old” ones just to enjoy the sounds you describe.
I’m still thinking about the twist in your tale, which I’ve seen play out in all sorts of contexts.
I love this post. The twist is delicious. My first “big” purchase with my own hard-earned money was a typewriter. It’s a Smith Corona that has -- and I use the present tense because I can still plug it in 34 years later -- a small digital one-line screen that fits five words at most. But one can type a sentence and delete and correct on the screen before hitting return. When I bought it, that was as magical as turning on our Apple 2e. A few years later, I typed my college applications using it and went through several ink cartridges, which were terribly expensive. I can’t imagine that I could even find one today, So on those rare occasions when I turn it on for fun, I don’t dare press return. What could be worse than leaving it alone without ink?
A digital screen on a TYPEWRITER? I don't recall seeing one, so am about to enter a Google rabbit hole..... And you sound just as sentimental as me about typewriters :)
https://www.aroundtheoffice.com/Smith-Corona-Typewriter-DeVille-750-Refurbished-with-New-Machine-Warranty/productinfo/TW-SCM-DEVILLE750/
That is precisely the one I have. It’s at my parents’ house. The neat thing about the screen is that even if you could only see (X) characters, you could type as much as you wanted. Then when you hit return, it would start typing full speed, like transitioning from a walk to a hand gallop. Erasing a character meant that the the machine typed over the original character with a white ribbon. That sounded like a jackhammer. It was a pleasure to use. I’d like to get an older one or maybe one of “modern old” ones just to enjoy the sounds you describe.
I’m still thinking about the twist in your tale, which I’ve seen play out in all sorts of contexts.
I love this post. The twist is delicious. My first “big” purchase with my own hard-earned money was a typewriter. It’s a Smith Corona that has -- and I use the present tense because I can still plug it in 34 years later -- a small digital one-line screen that fits five words at most. But one can type a sentence and delete and correct on the screen before hitting return. When I bought it, that was as magical as turning on our Apple 2e. A few years later, I typed my college applications using it and went through several ink cartridges, which were terribly expensive. I can’t imagine that I could even find one today, So on those rare occasions when I turn it on for fun, I don’t dare press return. What could be worse than leaving it alone without ink?
A digital screen on a TYPEWRITER? I don't recall seeing one, so am about to enter a Google rabbit hole..... And you sound just as sentimental as me about typewriters :)