I guess only a few readers will have guessed today’s post is about the…

Typewriter

The typewriter allowed for the writing and dissemination of more words faster than anything invented for that purpose in the previous 4.65 billion years.

Printing press

Invented 429 years before the invention of the typewriter, the printing press, invented 584 years ago, had been a fast distributor of words, but only 8% of the then-400 million world-wide population of word-users (that number is now 9 billion and counting) could write and read.

Typewriter, part 2

Invented 155 years ago, the typewriter made everyone with the ability to recognise letters on a keyboard a writer overnight.
It also spelled the end of the labor-intensive writing with quill pens made from bird-feathers, inkwells, wax tablets, and inks made from gall nuts, charcoal, plant extracts, and iron gall.
The typewriter wasn’t used only for the original purpose of words, which is storytelling, but also for the writing and subsequent production of reference works such as encyclopedias, thesauruses, and dictionaries.

Internet

The typewriter doesn’t even begin to compare to the internet — previously known as the world wide web — invented 34 years ago, that meanwhile not only gobbles up and spits out more words faster than anything invented for that purpose before, but also more words faster than any word-user can cope with.

Typewriter, part 3

On day 1, 155 years ago, only 1 typewriter was sold, the first.
Over the next 109 years, over 100 million were sold
46 years ago, when the first wordprocessor was invented, typewriter sales declined.
But now the typewriter is making a comeback

The proof is in the pudding

“The Typewriter” is an excellent short movie I highly recommend.

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