Warning About Dealers And Their Pricing

[2manyrocks]

Mechanical adding machines and cash registers were marvels.

 

[rScotty]

Mechanical adding machines and cash registers were marvels.

When he got back from WWII, Dad used his GI bill to go to night school for typewriter repair.

Down home we call that, "A swing.... and a miss!"

rScotty

 

[2manyrocks]

Typewriters were still in use in offices largely until the IBM PC with the ability to edit out mistakes in word processing software started killing them them off in the early 1980s. There were some expensive intermediate word processing systems in place in the 1970s, but I think the PC is really what wrecked typewrite sales.

Used to see typewriters in the thrift stores, but now they are becoming collectibles.

 

[Cahaba Valley Farm]

Typewriters were still in use in offices largely until the IBM PC with the ability to edit out mistakes in word processing software started killing them them off in the early 1980s. There were some expensive intermediate word processing systems in place in the 1970s, but I think the PC is really what wrecked typewrite sales.

Used to see typewriters in the thrift stores, but now they are becoming collectibles.

It sounds like being able to edit out mistakes was where the need for word processing began which is where the personal computer became the solution to it.

 

[Jstpssng]

I had a simple Brothers word processor for doing invoices for a few years. I like it because they said that files were saved in ascii so that I would still be able to use the templates I'd made when I upgraded to a computer.

They were wrong.

I still find it a bit ironic, when I turned in my first ever invoice in 1987 they couldn't accept it because I'd done it on a blank sheet of paper, and they needed carbon copies so that accounting wouldn't think they were bogus. Try and find somebody who does that today.

 

[Torvy]

Not to get off subject, because I am learning as you post. Yet it's good mental exercise to do numbers in your head, even if you check with the calculator afterwards.

I get it. Accountants have to have a paper trail, even if it is a digital one.

Our oldest is an Engineer and one of those annoyingly smart people. He can do complex calculations in his head. Ever since he was a kid. I had only the minimum required math. My wife failed college calc the first time. Son's first college maths was differential equations. Not saying this to brag, more pointing out that some brains are better configured for mental math than others. (the kid has a stereotypically poor ability to read social queues)

 

[JethroB]

Typewriters were still in use in offices largely until the IBM PC with the ability to edit out mistakes in word processing software started killing them them off in the early 1980s. There were some expensive intermediate word processing systems in place in the 1970s, but I think the PC is really what wrecked typewrite sales.

Used to see typewriters in the thrift stores, but now they are becoming collectibles.

We kept a typewriter in the office until about 2012, usually on a table in a corner somewhere. Export certificates had to be completed on multi-part carbonless forms. Add the laser printer to what helped doom the typewriter,,, and Wite-Out.

 

[IndyJay]

It sounds like being able to edit out mistakes was where the need for word processing began which is where the personal computer became the solution to it.

Not just editing mistakes, but for editing in general. Like writing a story, or updating a resume. You don't have to start over, just add a section or expound on an idea. Also creating multiple documents from a template... "fill in the blanks".

 

[ultrarunner]

We still had IBM typewriters that were in excellent condition...

The former boss had them serviced when I asked about retiring them.

When I was off for a week noticed they were nowhere to be found.

The new Administrator put them all out for e-waste... some still in clear wrap from being serviced... sad to me because I would have just given them away rather than toss in e-waste drum.

Some had canned info with formating...

 

[Torvy]

My youngest likes to write. She uses an old-school manual typewriter. Something about a good mental state.