Tom Hanks on Typewriters
nytimes.com
Tom Hanks on Typewriters
1–10 of 93 posts
Re: Tom Hanks on Typewriters
#2In 2012, a podcast host who wanted to interview Tom Hanks sent a 1934 Smith Corona to the actor as a gift when requesting the interview. Within days, Hanks responded with this letter, typed on the Corona: http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/10/damn-you-all-to-hell.ht...
Re: Tom Hanks on Typewriters
#3I'm very interested in this phenomenon where people seem to idolize certain outdated, analog technology. It seems to be some reaction against, or coping mechanism for, the increasingly digital world. I have a lot of fuzzy thoughts on it, and I'd like to read a book or an article that unpacks the idea more thoroughly.
Re: Tom Hanks on Typewriters
#4I'm very interested in this phenomenon where people seem to idolize certain outdated, analog technology. It seems to be some reaction against, or coping mechanism for, the increasingly digital world. I have a lot of fuzzy thoughts on it, and I'd like to read a book or an article that unpacks the idea more thoroughly.
The article makes a very astute point: that people are attracted to the physicality, the tangibility of "analog" things. Whether out of nostalgia (because we've been there) or retro fascination (when we haven't lived it firsthand), we can develop an emotional connection with a single physical objects that succinctly and permanently hold an abstract concept in a physical package -- like a letter, a book, a music record, or a photograph.
In the digital world so much of what we produce, consume, and interact with has no physical manifestation what we can strongly identify with. The computer is an abstract filing cabinet which can display what you're looking for on its own screen, or plays abstract 'music files', or streams 'video' from subscription apps. We're essentially asking the computer to recall these things from its "memory", and luckily, they remember with exact accuracy much more than a human would. While we can experience these things, we can't hold them in our hand; we can't share them in a self-contained, self-describing form (like handing someone a book) -- if we can share them at all.
Re: Tom Hanks on Typewriters
#5> No one on the planet has yet to save an Evite.
Brilliant. Great little article. Doubt it will do much to overall typewriter usage (I also don't think that is his point, really) but you have to admire his passion.
Re: Tom Hanks on Typewriters
#6I like the romance of the typewriter as much as the next person, but does anyone miss the terrific amount of labor that went into those things?
I mean your hands really had to work hard at typing. These days, I am trying to keep even keyboard typing as low stress as possible.
Re: Tom Hanks on Typewriters
#7>Computer keyboards make a mousy tappy tap tappy tap like ones you hear in a Starbucks — work may be getting done but it sounds cozy and small, like knitting needles creating a pair of socks.
I wonder if he's tried a mechanical keyboard? He might like it quite a bit better, even if just for the fact that you can choose your personality of keyboard with your computer, just like he does with typewriters.
Re: Tom Hanks on Typewriters
#8As a typewriter collector and huge nerd this is great. If you want to learn more about the recent revolution in typewriter ownership, etc. check out Richard Polt's book: The Typewriter Revolution. Really nicely done. I keep a 1958 Hermes Rocket in my office and it bemuses the younger staff, and visitors, most of whom have never seen one up close.
Re: Tom Hanks on Typewriters
#9In 2012, a podcast host who wanted to interview Tom Hanks sent a 1934 Smith Corona to the actor as a gift when requesting the interview. Within days, Hanks responded with this letter, typed on the Corona: http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/10/damn-you-all-to-hell.ht...
His response was awesome! That was a nice typewriter too.
Re: Tom Hanks on Typewriters
#10I'm very interested in this phenomenon where people seem to idolize certain outdated, analog technology. It seems to be some reaction against, or coping mechanism for, the increasingly digital world. I have a lot of fuzzy thoughts on it, and I'd like to read a book or an article that unpacks the idea more thoroughly.
The article makes a very astute point: that people are attracted to the physicality, the tangibility of "analog" things. Whether out of nostalgia (because we've been there) or retro fascination (when we haven't lived it firsthand), we can develop an emotional connection with a single physical objects that succinctly and permanently hold an abstract concept in a physical package -- like a letter, a book, a music recor…
You've just made a very astute point. I've been thinking for some time now that we are reaching a critical mass of technology. An era when people will start to become bored and detached from technology, and yearn for something tangible, and able to wrap their heads around. For me the allure of a typewriter is the fact that I can see how it works, I can fix it myself, and I can tinker with it.