The German-speaking typosphere seems to be gaining momentum. A new blog "Die Schreibmaschinisten" (approx.: "the writing machine operators") has been set up by Rodja Pavlik in Vienna, Austria. Have a peek at
https://dieschreibmaschinisten.wordpress.com (use google translate if needed). Welcome Rodja to the Typosphere!
It is a curious phenomenon that no sizeable typospherian community has formed until now in German speaking countries (at, least judging from the web presence in form of blogs), given the high affinity and technical tradition in these parts. It was more in the countries surrounding Germany that typospherian flowers blossomed. This is the case of the Netherlands, and of Switzerland, where three blogs were active in the early 2010s (although all of them, at least predominantly, in English language). As of now, only one of Swiss blogs (
Sommeregger's Sammelsurium) is active. Also, Shordzi recently
re-activated the blog running alongside typewriters.ch, and here most of the entries are in German. We may add the new webpage of the Swiss typewriter collectors' club (SHBS.ch), which is
blog-based. It is not a typical typospherian blog though, if such thing exists.
In times of google translate, language barriers matter less. It is perfectly feasible, and in my view commendable, to foster language diversity in the typosphere. The long-standing Spanish-speaking blogs give a perfect example and show the way. Passive knowledge of the other-than-English pages will allow you to practice this language, and at the same time for the author to write in his/her mother tongue. Google translate, which by now is, at least for the major languages, a reasonable tool, will help in case. So we have entered a period where cross-language understanding is possible, even without, or only little knowledge of the other language.
All the more we welcome Rodja's initiative. Looking forward to a Vienna type-in (maybe in July?)
