The History of the Typewriter

There are many tablet PCs, portable electronics and variety of technologies to help people to communicate and share opinions or thoughts now. How about the past? People drew, scratched, painted, engraved and finally typed their stories or thoughts. The typewriter was the first machine to write in history. Among many typewriters, IBM Selectric I typewriter was the most revolutionary one. Selectric typewriter was not only a step stone for the next typewriter generations, but it also was a big part of historical event in feminism and the speed and the convenience of the model helped the work-force in the history. There could not be computers, iPads, or many other electronic items without the history of typewriters, especially the breakthrough technology of IBM Selectric typewriter.

The beginning of typewriter is unknown, but the ‘official’ first invention was in 1714, which patent granted to Henry Mill. The first letter typed was by William Burt who typed letter to his wife in 1830. Typewriter was originated from the search for a method to enable blind people to read and write by using the embossed letters. It is a mechanical interface that shares a fundamental connection between the act of tactile impression and the ideal of evocative expression. It was also the role of ‘digital’ transmission in the literal sense which operated by fingers. The most common keyboard arrangement of typewriter is the ‘QWERTY’, and the word ‘typewriter’ could be typed on the top line of the machine and was helpful for those who could not type. There are different types of typewriters such as portable, electronic and standard models invented. IBM, one of the best typewriter companies of U.S.A., introduced the revolutionary and the most notable electronic...

... middle of paper ...

...ndation of computer inventions.

By 1975, the Selectric accounted for about 75 percent of the US electric typewriter market. The first Selectric model to hit the typewriter market offered breakthrough functionality to office workers around the world. This revolutionary machine saved time and reduced errors. The influence of the typewriter has been significant. Most notably, typewriters brought women into the workforce, contributing to liberation. Great works of literature have been composed by typewriters and also it has had important roles in film, art and popular culture, elevating it to iconic status. Throughout the 1960s and ’70s, the Selectric served as the iconic machine of secretaries. The famed relationship between Selectric typewriters and secretaries is still celebrated in movies and TV series depicting the era, including the current hit TV series Mad Men.