Cormac McCarthy's Olivetti Lettera 32

Post by lqet » Sun, Jan 29, 2023, 12:02 PM UTC

biztos wrote: post #29

lqet wrote: post #15

I will never replace my trusted ORGA Modell 9 [0] as my doomsday writing machine. This thing served in the office of a painter's business for 3 generations until the mid-90ies, is nearly 100 years old and is still working perfectly . Just imagine a desktop computer, or a laptop, serving 3 generations for more than 60 years. [0] https://ireland.apollo.olxcdn.com/v1/files/h5jm4s38hndf3-PL/...

That's a beautiful machine. What language is it designed for? And how fast can you type on it? You might need to hurry on doomsday but this looks more suited to poetry than urgent communiqués in the AI Wars.

I don't own the exact machine on the picture, but the same model in the same condition (including the cracked residual glue on the front which I think held some kind of paper decoration originally). Mine is in German. Typing speed is (for me) considerably slower than on a modern keyboard, but I have never measured it nor am I a professional typewriter.

Post by intrasight » Sun, Jan 29, 2023, 5:54 PM UTC

wantoncl wrote: post #19

intrasight wrote: post #17

I too learned to type on a typewriter. The idea to take typing in high school was suggested by another hacker/geek friend. It turned out the be a very valuable skill. But the skill is the only thing that I took with me. I never laid hands on a typewriter after that class. Other than the retro, steampunk-like vibe, is there any practical reason to use a typewriter?

For various definitions of "practical", I remember a quote from Frederick Forsyth, to wit: "No one has ever hacked my typewriter, nor will they." I think he was using some manual thing as well, and possibly from back in the day when he was a correspondent working in Africa in the '60s. (his quote is maybe 10 years old) I'm old enough to appreciate a device that does one thing and does it really well, has almost no de…

Also worth pointing out, good or bad, that your writing cannot be anonymous with a mechanical typewriter.

Re: Cormac McCarthy's Olivetti Lettera 32

Re: Cormac McCarthy's Olivetti Lettera 32