Comments on: Titans of the Typosphere

By: Jacob

Jacob — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 09:07:30 +0000

In reply to tlamke. I just bought an Ambassador. I love the Paper Injector. It doesn't seem very loud to me (lots of jute padding inside). I was surprised that the printed page was no better than my Hermes 3000. The biggest difference seemed to be that the Standard stayed put. What differences do you notice between that and the SG1?

By: Angie Wu

Angie Wu — Mon, 01 Nov 2021 14:55:11 +0000

As a user of fountain pens as well as typewriters, I was a little hurt when you mentioned that pens run out of ink. Yes, but fountain pens require the nurture and continual care and can be temperamental just as typewriters are, except they get much messier when it comes to ink burping!

By: Daniel Marleau

Daniel Marleau — Fri, 30 Apr 2021 15:04:50 +0000

In reply to Daniel Burgoyne. Welcome to the joys of typewriters! I got my Lettera 32 with me at all times. Great choice.

By: Daniel Burgoyne

Daniel Burgoyne — Wed, 28 Apr 2021 11:52:21 +0000

Illuminating essay.

As far as typewriters go, I had only ever used dad’s portable before I bought my electric Coronamatic 2500 on April 16, 2021.

My dad was a self-employed electronician who needed a typewriter iin the late 1950’s to type a few things from time to time for his business and personal needs.

So he found an affordable portable cause he was careful about spending.

It typed ok, had all the basic features one needs and fixed tabs, I suppose because I don’t remember having to set tabs. It’s biggest flaw was the typed letters were not level. It left me unsatisfied with its kind.

All this to say my 2500 electric typewriter changed all of that. Flawless. Easiest typing feeling ever in my life. Fast and… super loud! It worked right out of its case after years of idleness. Just needed to clean up the dried up Liquid Paper (!) on the Perspex line indicator, rollers and the platen.

My 2500 has the same innards as the twice heavy, all steel desk model 8000. The 2500 was marketed as a portable for students or the family, but its 20 lbs feel to me like I have a desk model.

Enter the Lettera 32 in my life on April 25, 2021. A pure luck finding on Facebook Marketplace 15 minutes after it was posted.

Two hours later I bought it. I was giggling when I held its small case. It’s so easy to take outbof its case and put it just about anywhere. Just as easy to put it away from my desk when I am done.

I never thought I would use a typewriter in the last 35 years. I am smitten.

By: tlamke

tlamke — Fri, 22 Jan 2021 21:31:53 +0000

Great article!

For standards my current stalwarts are the Olympia SG1 and the Hermes Ambassador. Fantastic machines.

I also have a Royal KMG that is very nice to type on.

By: Olivetti Studio 45 – Typewriter Review

Olivetti Studio 45 – Typewriter Review — Thu, 03 Dec 2020 23:43:14 +0000

[…] And they succeeded! But don’t be fooled, the big office standards, as I’ve noted in another post, are no slugs. There’s never a more demanding customer than an over-worked, under-paid […]

By: Daniel Marleau

Daniel Marleau — Fri, 11 Sep 2020 14:34:09 +0000

In reply to Sandro.

Smart man, your father! Better to mute our typed confessions lest they cause unwanted household disturbances. And that Studio 44 of yours, a grand machine, nothing like a solid typewriter to boost the confidence.

And that Studio 44 would be perfect for writing some pages and submitting to One Typed Page! Consider sending a page to the effort. We’d love to hear the story of your father and the typewriters in your life.

https://onetypedpage.wordpress.com/

By: Sandro

Sandro — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 22:29:05 +0000

Well, interesting. My father worked with standards all his life; I can clearly remember him towering in the office, pulling one typed multicopy form after the other like there was no tomorrow. Standards were basic tools: mechanical calculators and Audits were much, much more difficult to master and use quickly at the time, yet these were also mercilessly exploited for long hours every day.
At home, he used an Olivetti Lettera 35 for decades (and he still does): like everybody else, he couldn’t afford the divorce that would have followed a standard typewriter in the house. I recognize the value of the standard typewriter, queens of office desks while their dynasties still reigned, in the past millennium; I still remind the sudden recoil of the desk in the library at school when we fired up the old electric Olivetti behemoth there, and the fantastic feedback of the old keyboard. But I content myself with my Studio 44 and my Quiet-Riter, still portables, but massive and reassuring (despite far from standards..standard) in their metal bulk.

By: Doug

Doug — Sun, 17 Nov 2019 19:10:30 +0000

Last week I found myself looking for a project and found a true titan of a typewriter in a IBM Model B electric typewriter made in l954. After a thorough cleaning (I spent 6 hours on it) I had it up and running. I put it on a scale this morning and it weighed in at 42.5 pounds. It is a beast and a ton of fun to use; however, extremely loud, even after I glued in some foam in the voids between the shell and the mechanism. At this point it is too soon to tell if this monster of a typewriter will be something I use, or if it will gather dust. But I must say, it types remarkably well and is very easy to use. This typewriter sold new in l954 for $395 (which equates to $3,770 in today’s dollars), I paid $5 for it. I know standards and electric typewriters don’t get a lot of love; but I am glad I have added this one to my collection. If for no other reason it is historically significant. The Model B apparently was used as the keyboard for IBM’s earliest computers. Maybe not to everyone’s taste; but I have been enjoying it immensely!

By: The Muse Within – Typewriter Review

The Muse Within – Typewriter Review — Tue, 15 Oct 2019 14:06:57 +0000

[…] Craig commented on the post Titans of the Typosphere, where the merits of the larger office standard were […]