I knew typewriters would regain a resurgence down the road. Unfortunately, I only had access to manual ones in HS and college, I would really like to learn how to use an electric one.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RNsWP4gvNZk&pp=ygUfVGhlIHJlc3VyZ2dhbmNlICBvZiB0eXBld3JpdGVycw%3D%3D
Electric Typewriters were awesome for their time when compared to the standard typewriters
shareWhat really makes feel old digital wise , is when I was younger, I. recall dial up modems to access the Internet, using floppy disks, and thinking e-mailing someone was so cool. Remember fax machines and shorthand?
shareI doubt they will ever have an actual resurgence, but there will always be a relatively small group of enthusiasts for most any supplanted technology you can think of: old computers, old TVs, old telephones, old radios, old cars, old arcade machines and consoles, and so on. Consider this group of people who have built a working telephone network from old manual switchboards and old phones, some of which date back to the early 1900s:
https://youtu.be/AUuVC_lJJk8
But that doesn't indicate a resurgence of old phone technology and practices.
"Unfortunately, I only had access to manual ones in HS and college, I would really like to learn how to use an electric one."
There's nothing to learn if you already know how to type. Typing on one is the same as typing on a computer keyboard, except they are noisier. And the only differences compared to a manual typewriter are that the keys have an easier and shorter stroke, and the paper is always struck with the same force regardless of how lightly or forcefully you press the keys, which makes the letter quality more consistent.
My mother had one exactly like this (including the plastic carrying case) when I was growing up in the '80s (she got it in the late '60s or early '70s before I was born):
https://www.amazon.com/Smith-corona-Coronamatic-Portable-Electric-Typewriter/dp/B0112YFSFE
I never used it for anything serious but I thought it was fun to play with when I was a kid.
In the late '80s or early '90s she moved on to one of those Brother word processors, which can function as an ordinary electric typewriter or you can use it in word processor mode, which lets you type out what you want to a screen, and when everything is the way you want it, it will type it all out automatically. It was a combination of word processor software, a daisy wheel printer, and a keyboard interface. Some of them had a small built-in LCD screen that wasn't very good to use because it could only display a few lines at a time, but Mom's had a separate 12" CRT monochrome (amber phosphor) monitor, which was drastically better, like this one:
https://i.imgur.com/n84Qy48.jpeg
I have it now. I want her old Smith Corona electric typewriter too, but so far she hasn't been able to find it.
I imagine there are a few places that still repair typewriters and sell carbon paper, ribbons, etc.
shareYes, but "still" indicates something that's hanging on, not a resurgence.
A true resurgence of technology that's been largely supplanted by something newer is a rare thing. I can only think of one example of it happening in my lifetime: vinyl records. They were practically dead by the early 1990s, but recently they outsold CDs for the first time since 1987:
https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/26/24112369/riaa-2023-music-revenue-streaming-vinyl-cds-physical-media
That's a big resurgence for vinyl records, but they are not even close to being back to where they were during their peak years, nor to where CDs were during their peak years, and they almost certainly never will be, because the lowest common denominator will never trade in the convenience of music in the form of digital files for physical media that's expensive and takes up space.
Typewriters have two roadblocks to a resurgence. Unlike vinyl records, which contain music, which there will always be a huge market for in one form or another, most people don't even have a need to write things neatly down on paper anymore, due to the ubiquity of email and other forms of electronic communication. And for people who do have such a need, a PC and a printer (especially a laser printer) is drastically superior to a typewriter in terms of speed, functionality, and versatility (it being able to do everything a typewriter can do and much more, is the second roadblock).
I would only use A typewriter as a backup.
shareI still have and use a Sears electric typewriter.
It was quite dirty and I cleaned it one day and the left shift no longer works properly - moral is, leave things dirty.
One day I know I won't be able to find ribbon or correction tape for it - oh well.
Columbo is impressed by an IBM Selectric. I was, too, my dad had a friend who had a Correcting Selectric II. This would have been the mid 1970s. Fantastic machine, I was most impressed with the correcting feature. Probably cost a fortune.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46xoYXA3FDE