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Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Thank you, Jess Bruder and the New York Times

NY Times writeup: "The Digital Generation Rediscovers the Magic of Manual Typewriters" (An alternate link via Twitter link shortener)

What do literary stalwarts of the original typewriter era make of all this? “We old typists, it makes us feel young again to think there’s a new generation catching on,” said Gay Talese, 79. He still uses a typewriter, albeit electric, as does his friend, Robert A. Caro, 75, the Pulitzer-winning biographer of Robert Moses and President Lyndon B. Johnson. They discussed Mr. Caro’s Smith Corona while watching the Super Bowl.

“I’m actually not surprised,” Mr. Caro said, when told of the typewriter renaissance. The tangible pleasures of typewriters are something he’s known about for decades. “One reason I type is it simply makes me feel closer to my words,” Mr. Caro said. “It’s like being a cabinetmaker. It’s like laying down the planks. This is the way it’s supposed to feel.”

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12 comments:

  1. mpclemensMarch 30, 2011 at 4:10 PM

    Deja vu! I've snagged a PDF copy of the article once the original gets swallowed by the NY Times paywall. :-\

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  2. AnonymousMarch 30, 2011 at 4:34 PM

    Ah...I love that the typosphere gets so much love. We should start charging membership fees :D lol

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  3. Rob BowkerMarch 30, 2011 at 4:57 PM

    I've just taken the liberty of posting the NYT cutting on my blog - for the non-typospherian visitors! Thanks for sharing so quickly, Richard. Paywall? What's the world coming to?

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  4. TedMarch 30, 2011 at 5:51 PM

    Excellent article! Wow, NY Times Style section - I wonder how soon get get gentrified. :D

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  5. Ryan AdneyMarch 31, 2011 at 8:34 AM

    I saw the print version and it looks marvelous! Congrats to everyone who was quoted.

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  6. deekMarch 31, 2011 at 9:11 AM

    Awesome! I got to e-mail back and forth with Jessica a couple days ago, so I've been bursting with excitement to finally read it.

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  7. Richard PMarch 31, 2011 at 12:15 PM

    As of this writing, it's the 3rd most-emailed story on the Times site. People are interested in typewriters. Jessica told me she has a huge volume of notes for the story. I hope it will turn into a book someday.

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  8. UnknownMarch 31, 2011 at 1:54 PM

    I saw the Times article too! I thought it was awesome. I'm part of the typosphere, sortof, I guess.


    www.awkwardengineer.com

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  9. mpclemensMarch 31, 2011 at 2:20 PM

    @Sam, you are now! I've just added you to the blogroll, the index and map.

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  10. AnonymousApril 1, 2011 at 7:44 AM

    Weeks ago she told me she had a Quiet De Luxe in her parents' attic. I told her assignment (after writing the article, of course) was to start using the thing. The other day she told me she got it out and that she uses it to type To-Do lists in the morning and is really enjoying it. I figure that in itself is a win for the Typosphere.

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  11. MTCoalhopperApril 1, 2011 at 11:13 AM

    Just received the hard copy edition. Congratulations to everyone interviewed or mentioned. I'm not sure they really captured the magnitude of this "typosphere" thing, though. Maybe they were downplaying it so as not to scare anyone. :)

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  12. mpclemensApril 20, 2011 at 9:16 AM

    Just found a translation of the original article.

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