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I think the last time I used one was probably late 80s early 90s. I know that I used to work for a bank and we had a guy that repaired typewrites throughout the branches.. that job did not disappear before I left in 1993 or so. Obviously they are still in use in some places and I suspect many folks just can't convince themselves to throw them away, similar to cassette players or VCRs.
I learned to TYPE on a typewriter back in High School. At the time, typing didn't seem like a skill that I would ever need but I took the class because I thought I could get an easy A (or B)... as it turns out, that class was probably the most beneficial class I took in High School, at least the most beneficial elective class I took!
I took typing in college. At the time I was also taking programming and we had to type in our programs on cards. I'd spend twice as much time typing cards, sometimes more if they mis punched. I never got much of a grade in typing class, but then the keys were different on the keypunch and I got to be a whiz at that.
What I didn't like about the selectric was if as much as breathed hard on a key it typed it. But it think it was the first mostly flat keyboard on a typewriter.
Did most people own word processors in the late 80s/early 90s at home? Because computers were not in the majority of Western households until the late 90s/early 2000s.
I don't know when people quit using them. I don't think that I've even seen one in the past 10 years.
A few years ago I applied for a gov't job. One of the questions on their written test was 1) was it better to store the typewriter on the top shelf to get it out of the way or 2) should it be stored on the lowest shelf for easier access to it.
I still remember that idiot question and to this day I'm not sure what the correct answer is.
I still have an old typewriter around here. I use it once in a while when I want to type an envelope. It's probably an antique by now!
Yup. I've been doing most of my composition on computers since 1983, but we only got rid of our little portable typewriter last year, because there were so many things where it was easier to just type it. Envelopes. A single label on a sheet of labels. Many kinds of forms.
But we realized at one point that we hadn't used the typewriter in nearly a year, so off to Goodwill it went.
I remember in 1997 already thinking they were obsolete as we had a computer and printer at home, but I imagine many people still used them then as a lot of people still didn't have computers. Are there countries today where cheap PCs and printers haven't totally ousted them?
We have a typewriter and I still use it, not often but I do use it and hope to be using it more as I get the guest room divided into a guest room/small office/sewing room.
Did most people own word processors in the late 80s/early 90s at home? Because computers were not in the majority of Western households until the late 90s/early 2000s.
Some people owned typewriters at home, but it was never as common as the computer is now. Word Processors were common but never as common as the computer would be. For home use very little was required to be typewritten. If you were in College then papers and other assignments had to be typewritten.
In High School, only a few things I did were typed. In Grade School only one. Libraries had typewriters you could use if you needed one and you also could pay someone to type it for you. Typewriters were more office tools than things found at home. Maybe if the person was an college student at some time or did typing to the side or liked to write would a person own an typewriter. Today if you walked into somebodies house and they did not have a computer, you would think it strange. With the typewriter if you walked in and they didn't have one, you wouldn't.
I remember in 1997 already thinking they were obsolete as we had a computer and printer at home, but I imagine many people still used them then as a lot of people still didn't have computers. Are there countries today where cheap PCs and printers haven't totally ousted them?
The math department reception desk clerk back at my undergrad institution was still using one in 2005 and 2006 (U of Ark., Fayetteville, AR)
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