i recently had to complete a persuasive composition essay. my topic: the typewriter vs. the computer. personally, i have always prefered the typewriter. when i was seven i received my first typewriter (which i promptly named ernest, after my favorite author ernest hemmingway) and fell in love with it. Two years later, my household aquired its first computer. To be, it didn't offer the imaginative process that the typewriter did. Once you deleted something (versus crossing it out) it was hopelessly lost in cyberspace. but i still like to write with a good old pen whenever i get the chance so i thought it would be interesting to view some of this site's feedback on the issue. which one do you prefer? is there a difference between the two when it comes to writing?
Computer for me I'm afraid.. Actually - neither is the right answer for me. I don't like the typewriter because of all the messy fiddling about. I really like writing with a pen though. I feel a greater connection to the words when I do that. You can see why some monks hated the idea of the bible being printed when you feel that type of spirituality. For day-to-day usage though, the computer is my tool of choice. I can't use a typewriter because the operation of the machine distracts me too much. The computer I use in my 'proper' job and could do it with my eyes closed.
I learned to type on the old big black underwood typewriter that is now on display in most museums. I eventually in high school moved to the electric. I prefer computers because I am very unorganized. where did I put that last story, is it in my room or the bookcase. with the computer it is always in the same place. click on a file and there it is. I even have a lap top. It is nice and I can take it outside and write in my garden But the stories don't flow right. If I am in my little room the stories sort of flow from my head to my fingers then the computer. They just sound better to me. So computers for me all the way.
No contest. I backspace over typos, I jump around in the text, I edit on a moment's whim. Typewriters are merely quaint, and I grew up before personal computers existed.
Cog I was in grade 11 when I first used computers but it wasn't computers at your desk. You had to fill out a card or lots of cards to write the program and then we had to wait a week or two until the cards came back to class. Simply to find out that you didn't do it right. I hated computer class and computers. Now I couldn't keep my sanity without one. I know you are a couple years older than me but did you have to deal with that type of class or computer?
Our high school did have a "desktop computer." It was a Wang 500, basically a very limited programmable calculator the size of a small suitcase. It wasn't until college that I had access to real computers, room-sized monsters with thimeshare terminals and card deck submission desks for batch jobs. Heaven help you if you dropped the stack of punched cards and had to put them back in order! If I really start reminiscing about the old days of computers, though, it will consume the thread.
thanks. our first computer was a timex. bought at the grocery store and needed cassette tapes for programs. but a lot of fun to play on. end of reminiscing.
I'm going to play the devil's advocate and say typewriters are much better than computers! I mean, after all, if you wanted to submit a manuscript you'd probably need a printed copy. No problems with a typewriter, but with a computer? Suddenly you need a whole extra machine just to perform the most basic functionality! Is a typewriter going to starting beeping and distracting you when a friend sends an email? No, you have the leisure of focus. How long does it take to put a piece of paper in vs. waiting for your hunk of electronic junk to turn on? Think of the money you'll save on your power bill using a typewriter! Think how easy security and privacy are, just take the paper with you when you're done. And when was the last time your typewriter suddenly spat out a blue page, hmm?
It's say it was more like a case of Rifle vs Spear. Computers have just taken over as they are the new thing, and they can do so much more.
I LOVE typewriters, there's this real cool place adjoining my Dad's department offices, okay well it's the subarea of a murder trial court, where we have lots of typists. I really like working on typewriters, it's fun!! But, unfortunately for me, I have this tendency of doing work without paying special attention, I sort of type the same way, so when it comes to official work? Computers, no contest. If we are looking within computer category I prefer laptops, they um, don't have the tendency to spurt parts like my personal computer did..does rather.
It would have to be computer for me, but I do all my writing by hand though. Besides, I like to have what I write on files in case my notebooks or wherever I write gets burned or lost or whatever. Have to type everything though, thats a bummer
I find typewriters clunky to use....but i still appreciate them as historical pieces if you get me. However, computer vs handwritten.....then i'm stuck
Computer all the way. My handwriting is awful. I can't even understand it just after I write it. Typerwriters just strike me as an odd choice. I'd waste a lot of paper on things I wanted to erase, wouldn't be able to do instant research, wouldn't have my grammar helper, wouldn't have my dictionary/thesaurus combo app, wouldn't be able to count words... It's just practical to have a computer.
I'm a little too young to have any real experience with typewriters. When I was about 6, before the family got its first PC, my uncle gave me his old typewriter. He'd just upgraded to an early Windows 95 PC, and I got my first experience of typing on a good, old-fashioned typewriter. I'd probably still be on typewriters now if they had half the features of a word processor. As much as I love my iMac and MacBook, there are too many distractions, and if I could just backspace and copy and paste on a typewriter I'd be using one now. As it happens, typewriters don't have those features, so Word 2008 has to do.
lol. i tend to handwrite all my work first. my problem: i keep loosing my notebooks, and when i clean my room every month i have a stack of about 30 of them! i had a rather unpleasant experience with my computer once. typed and saved a 15 page short story only to have my computer freeze. ended up doing a gateway go-back and loosing all of my work. luckily my typewriter doesn't do that
THere really is nothing quite like typing away on a typewriter. I remember our old typewriter, the keys would sometimes get jammed and you'd have to pluck them off the page, sometimes the page wouldn't move over and you'd end up with the n on top of the a in the word and, but it was when I really felt like a true writer. I really mniss using a typewriter, but the computer really is more convienient. It does spell checks and it is much easier to format and space correctly. (I had a very old typewriter mind you) But typewriters really are a wonderful thing to write with. I wrote my very first story on a typewriter when I was 7. It was a sad day when my mother threw the typewriter away, but you couldn't get the ink strips for it anymore so she didn't want to have it clutterring up her house. sigh! I miss Bob. (that was my typewriters name. hehehe!)
I really really want a typewriter. There's something about them that just makes me smile. Mind you, I've never actually typed on one.
I can understand the emotional appeal of using a typewriter. The nostalgia. The encouraging sound it makes as you pound away at the keys. But practically speaking? The computer wins hands down.
I find that the computer has a smoother keyboard, I don't have to press as hard to my hands don't get tired as quickly. I love to write by hand, but my thoughts flow faster than I can write, so again, I need the computer. Also, as someone else mentioned, it's an organization issue; I like to have all my files in one place, where I know I can find them. Computer FTW!
There's absolutely no contest - computers win. Typewriter: 1) Nice talking point 2) good decor for the house 3) Nice piece of original kit, but otherwise pretty useless 4) extremely heavy Pc: Light, takes up hardly any space Laptops are easily portable Keys easier to type on easy to edit,copy, cut, paste, arrange, review mistakes are reversable quick doesn't wast paper on typo mistakes doesn't require ink to type Saves work saves copies auto-saves built in spellchecker, dictionary, thesarus, formatting tools, internet gives internet research at the click of a button, can access online dictionarys, encyclopedia's, CD rom enyclopedias... ..wow, this list could go on forever. I liked NaCI's example - it really is like a squirtgun vs a pistol - there's just no conest I think typewriters are just quirky objects that people like to have because it makes them feel like a genuine writer. But, lets face it - most publishers would get annoyed if they had to wait around for you to get copies, or have to re-type pages because of one tiny mistake - and in the end, it'll all end up on a PC anyway! Nah - computers all the way for me.
I used to do most of my writing on the computer, but then my dad reformatted it and deleted EVERYTHING I had saved on there...there were probably 70-80 stories, ideas, sketches, poems, etc on there, all gone. So now I write everything out on paper. And then I type it on the computer. And then I save it to a USB drive. And then I print it out and put it in a binder.
being what some would term "romantic", others "foolhardy", i bought an oldish Brother typewriter at a second hand sale on holidays a few years ago. i liked its connoctations really. once i arrived back home, it fell to the wayside, as i got frustrated with it's disfunctionability and cumbersome frame, and it was abandoned to a dark and dusty niche in my room. two full years later, after reading some author's works which were new to me at the time, the likes of hunter s. thompson and william s. burroughs, i became infatuated with the damn things. so i dug out my old investment and really let loose on it, with all my writings for the school magazine. the editor cursed me, but i loved it, and do feel it enhanced the writing experience....i amn't sure why, it just did. so that's me. typewriter.
Cool though typewriters may be, I make plenty of mistakes. I don't much like the idea of redoing a whole page because of one or two typos. Plus, they're somewhat slower than computers, MUCH more cumbersome than a laptop, and a little too loud for my lifestyle (especially since I'm frequently writing at night, and the walls in my home are quite thin... unless there are quieter typewriters?). Besides all that, not everything I write is something that I want on paper. PC gets the win for me by landslide.
