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26-2-2017 16:37:49  #41


Re: Why do electronic typewriters get short shrift?

pdxtypewriter wrote:

Anybody ever used a 1960 SC Electra 12? There's one in my neighborhood and I thought I'd take a look.

To be fair, it's not an electronic typewriter, so it doesn't really compare to those being discussed in this thread. On it's own those 6-series Smith-Corona models that use standard ribbon spools are worth grabbing when working and inexpensive. I love using them, but rarely do because I get too easily distracted by the electric motor humming "get to work" over and over again.


The pronoun has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
 

26-2-2017 17:01:18  #42


Re: Why do electronic typewriters get short shrift?

Uwe wrote:

pdxtypewriter wrote:

Anybody ever used a 1960 SC Electra 12? There's one in my neighborhood and I thought I'd take a look.

To be fair, it's not an electronic typewriter, so it doesn't really compare to those being discussed in this thread. On it's own those 6-series Smith-Corona models that use standard ribbon spools are worth grabbing when working and inexpensive. I love using them, but rarely do because I get too easily distracted by the electric motor humming "get to work" over and over again.

These are electro-mechanical, right? Are they easier to repair, or when they go south are they door stops?

 

26-2-2017 23:45:43  #43


Re: Why do electronic typewriters get short shrift?


I LOVE using this as well. What a nice diversion from regular machines. Very fun indeed. I'm glad I bought it, and wouldn't have even considered it without your comment above, so thank you, Uwe..

 

27-2-2017 15:53:59  #44


Re: Why do electronic typewriters get short shrift?

I had forgotten which model the Electra 12 was, so I should correct my previous comment by mentioning that it's actually a Super-5 model based on the Electric Portable, and not a 6-series model. Regardless, I have an even greater enthusiasm for the Super-5 electric models and wish the one I owned looked as good as yours. 


The pronoun has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
 

27-7-2018 09:23:17  #45


Re: Why do electronic typewriters get short shrift?

Hi,
​As with anything else, we have purists.  When Porsche introduced the 924 in 1976 with the first liquid cooled engine in the company's history, purists were outraged.  Now Porsche makes a sedan.  Wedges, but in particular word processors, filled a brief need--from about 1982 to 1994--for those who didn't want a standard typewriter but could not afford a computer ($2500-$3000 was quite a sum in 1988).  Swintec and Nakajima/Royal still make wedges.   I have a Royal (Nakajima) Scriptor, purchased new last April.  I use it for typing on 11X17" paper.  I also use it when I need crisp, virtually flawless type.  When I want an impression with more character (no pun intended), I switch to my Brother Challenger 11.  I like the Royal Scriptor because it's loud, and it has a mechanical IBM PS2 style keyboard, so typing on it is a very tactile and auditory experience.  Plus, the outer lip at the base of the keyboard is breadbasket style, resembling a Commodore 64 housing--nice.

​I prefer a manual, but have problem using the wedge when the situation calls for it.

 

28-7-2018 18:44:21  #46


Re: Why do electronic typewriters get short shrift?

I like typewriters for two reasons: 1) They are simple and retro and I am a nerd, 2) When wanting to get good prose written, they encourage you to slow down and think and commit to print something you are happy with first time, since it's hard to edit.

For me, electric typewriters satisfy 2) as much as mechanicals do. Many of them even satisfy 1).

I find electrics harder to fix so far. One I bought advertised as dead, and it was still dead when I binned it. The other had badly vertically-misaligned type between upper and lower case, and I managed to fix that (shattered washers, just managed to get a screwdriver where it was needed underneath the transformer so didn't need to disassemble it all, but if I had needed to, I might not have bothered).

The latter I still have and I love. It's a great hybrid between mechanical and electrical. It's not electronic, nor especially clever. For example, you can get the slugs to jam if you press two keys at exactly the same time, just like with a pure mechanical. And I don't like the noise it makes with the motor running constantly, but an old felt mat helps hugely with that, so again it's a nice blend of old and new (/less old). Even the printed characters are not consistent - they vary less than with a mechanical, but they still vary. Personally I like that. I can type very fast on it, but someone reading the output is likely to enjoy the novelty that it looks like it was hammered out on an old fashioned mechanical.

 

03-12-2022 00:35:37  #47


Re: Why do electronic typewriters get short shrift?

Uwe wrote:

I can't speak for other enthusiasts, but for me electronic typewriters (not to be confused with electro-mechanical models) are far too similar to using a computer. They consume hydro (and in that regard cost money to run), most of them require proprietary ribbons, and none of them provide any of the tactile pleasures that make mechanical typewriters a joy to use. I own quite a number of electro-mechanical typewriters, mostly out of curiosity and interest in specific models, but not one electronic typewriter. If I was to go down that path I would rather just fire up the computer and have a far greater variety of typefaces to choose from and incomparable better control over any document that I wanted to produce. 

I seem to be into resurrecting old posts today.  I must be procrastinating about something...

Anyway, like Uwe says, electronic typewriters are too close to using a computer.  You have a bunch of distractions, like line editing, special character combinations, spell check, auto correct, blah blah blah.

They are also made with disposable design in mind.  The silicon chips have a limited lifetime.  Even more, the electrolytic capacitors dry out and invariably need replacement at some point.  Gears are plastic.  Key switches wear and become mushy.  Carbon film ribbon cartridges are proprietary. These machines are not designed to last a lifetime.  They are not overbuilt as in the past.  In fact, they are designed to fail within a few years so that you will buy the next model.  And the next.  Just like computers.

That said, I do have a couple myself.   Then again, I also have an old Kaypro II CP/M computer with Wordstar, so nostalgia sometimes wins over practicality.    Anyway, I like playing with a variety of printwheels with different typefaces now and then.  I've managed to collect a dozen or so NOS ribbon cartridges to keep them going for a while longer.  I've already replaced the electrolytic caps, so there's little danger of seeing a puff of smoke while I type.  However, they don't get names like my beloved mechanical marvels, or even the electro-mechanical ones.  These electronic jobs are treated as toys to play with until they're worn out, and then thrown away.  Like they were designed to be.  Some of my mechanical machines, on the other hand, are already older than I'll ever be (unless I live to be 108 - doubtful), and they'll ALL outlast me.  Like they were designed to.  

 

04-12-2022 13:01:30  #48


Re: Why do electronic typewriters get short shrift?

Woo! Kaypro! I still have my Kaypro 2X and IV, and Juki daisywheel printer. They're in boxes still. Been too frightened to try booting up a Kaypro; worried the floppies would erased by the movement of the disks in the casing wiping off the oxide... 

 

04-12-2022 16:35:54  #49


Re: Why do electronic typewriters get short shrift?

robmck wrote:

Woo! Kaypro! I still have my Kaypro 2X and IV, and Juki daisywheel printer. They're in boxes still. Been too frightened to try booting up a Kaypro; worried the floppies would erased by the movement of the disks in the casing wiping off the oxide... 

Sadly, I tossed out the daisywheel printer a few years ago.  It was 40+ pounds and I got tired of moving it around.  Also had a total of 5 Kaypro machines - two ||s, a 2X, a IV and a 10.  Sold them all for peanuts, but kept one.  I've done some mods to it, such as a turbo mode and separate video output.  Also a custom ROM.  I have an old PC with floppy drives and imaging software to make boot disks when necessary.  Otherwise, I just transfer files via kermit or zmodem with a serial to USB adapter...

 

06-12-2022 11:16:38  #50


Re: Why do electronic typewriters get short shrift?

OregonJim wrote:

Sadly, I tossed out the daisywheel printer a few years ago.  It was 40+ pounds and I got tired of moving it around.  Also had a total of 5 Kaypro machines - two ||s, a 2X, a IV and a 10.  Sold them all for peanuts, but kept one.  I've done some mods to it, such as a turbo mode and separate video output.  Also a custom ROM.  I have an old PC with floppy drives and imaging software to make boot disks when necessary.  Otherwise, I just transfer files via kermit or zmodem with a serial to USB adapter...

What software do you use on the PC? If I remember right, PC drives are constant linear velocity and Kaypro drives are constant radial velocity (or the other way around), so you'd need to get the PC drive to work differently. I've got a 5.25" in a box somewhere, but I'm not sure what state it is in.

Once upon a time, I dreamed of using an Arduino or Raspberry PI to build an emulation of the Kaypro 10 hard disk controller to plug into my 2X (which has the port, but no controller), then build a little hard-drive library manager on the RPI so I could keep all files on there. (Would have to remember how to get ZCPR onto it...) Come to think of it, I think I have a pile of Micro Cornucopia magazines in another box if I can find it...

So many projects, so little time...

 

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