If money were no object, I’d be manufacturing those heirloom typewriters, never mind ordering one! If there’s one thing I would love to see, it would be a quality manual typewriter back on the production line.  I’d be looking at a customisable design,  the difficult-to-find typefaces and sizes, key tops impossible to convert into jewellery…  Probably a super-portable - and I mean actually portable, not something that requires a sherpa to carry it for you.  But also a desktop sibling.

Basic Features I would be keen on for personal use would be:
Basket shift.
Easy to access, on-off variable line-spacing on both left and right.
Ribbon shield to avoid smudges from new ribbons.
On-Off carriage release mechanism.
Decent sized return lever.
Decent sized platen knobs with pleasant texture.
Ribbon cover that opens regardless of carriage position. (Yes, Corona Silent, I’m glaring at you!)
Interchangeable carriage, for those wide-carriage moments.
Travel system (case) which gives proper protection from drops and bumps, adventures on bicycles, and inconsiderate handlers (Not that you’d want to send this machine through any postal system! I’m thinking trains and planes.) at no extra cost.
If there is a substance in fantasy land that would make a good durable platen and feed-rollers that would last 100 years use without degrading then I’ll include that as standard.

The amount of money we spend on computers, knowing we are going to be spending that again in four to five years when it konks out is nuts. Yet we still do it. So I suppose a typewriter costing 10 grand (pounds Sterling) while seeming crazy,  would not be so crazy if you knew it was going to last 100 years.  


Not so sure about  USB connections because I am assuming that in fantasy land, as in the real world, computer ports will change rapidly, so a USB connection will almost immediately become obsolete.
This is the thing about the typewriter for me, while computers change and require you to constantly upgrade and convert and learn new tricks, the typewriter simply asks for a piece of paper and an inky ribbon.  And the thing it produces needs no third party stuff to access the information. So I’d keep the heirloom typewriter as a self-contained machine, ready to be the alternative respite to whatever other technology the future might bestow upon us. May there always be a typewriter insurgency!

Cork! That sounds great. 

You know that thing about not buying any new typewriters? I got hold of a Royal QDL the other week and the platen is so hard it's typing holes in the paper that you could hail a cab through. 

I'd love to see something on the market that anybody could buy - forget the top-end Leica lenses, the really serious photographers aren't buying those. I think something elegant and wonderful to type on, that you culd give to kids and get them turned on to something other than a computer, would be great. Something practical. And small. The SM9 is wonderful but something like the Hermes Baby... also, the Silent-Super...