Manuals blow electrics away... for me 

Electrics and electronics just seem too... too much like computers. They have no elegance like the manuals. I mean, you even have to plug em in half the time. Manuals seem like a peice of art to me. Think of how they had to put 2000+ parts together in a factory. How much time it took for just ONE machine.

Last edited by TypewriterGuy (21-5-2015 17:23:45)

I would have to say manuals beat electric/electronics. Even though electricity is an wonderful thing and it has greatly benefited us, I have to say how a manual manages to pull off a complicated task all on its own without being plugged in, it's just almost magical. Sure I would like to get my hands on a nice early Royal electic standard, and the SC electric portables are pretty cool too, but manuals just have a certain charm that nothing can replicate. The electronics are just plain boring to me. They do their job, then just blend back into the background. It's like the computers that out school has (which are still running on Windows Vista ), they're just there. Cheap 80's/90's tech that was never meant to last. Which is also why I like the manuals more, they last lifetimes. So manuals are just better in my opinion.

ztyper wrote:

I would have to say manuals beat electric/electronics. Even though electricity is an wonderful thing and it has greatly benefited us, I have to say how a manual manages to pull off a complicated task all on its own without being plugged in, it's just almost magical. Sure I would like to get my hands on a nice early Royal electic standard, and the SC electric portables are pretty cool too, but manuals just have a certain charm that nothing can replicate. The electronics are just plain boring to me. They do their job, then just blend back into the background. It's like the computers that out school has (which are still running on Windows Vista ), they're just there. Cheap 80's/90's tech that was never meant to last. Which is also why I like the manuals more, they last lifetimes. So manuals are just better in my opinion.

Early Royal electric? Likethis one? 
Like thetypewriterman said, the office electrics (like the Royal Electrics) are getting hard to find. Good luck finding one... I have two Royal Electrics, an Olympia SGE (electric SG3!) and an IBM Model C. They are so worth having, it's a shame they're disappearing. Electric typewriters, especially office electrics, were built with the same quality of  the manuals from the same period and with the same complexity. Electronics, not so much...

Oh, and until last year my school still ran computers with WIndows XP. Near the end, they were getting viruses every other day, it was quite amusing.

To Z-Typer:  a solution to the "drab typewriter":  a can of gool ol' Krylon spray paint in the right places will do wonders.  Oh yes, Rustoleum works good too!  I once painted a 1959 Royal electric RE fire engine red.  I've even painted a few IBM Executive models--including a model D I three-toned Black, White, and Blue.  Oh, I wish I still had that one!!  Oh yes, to the main subject:  I guess all have their advantages and drawbacks--six of one, half a dozen of another, though I prefer the manuals and vintage electrics.  Electronics have too much plastic in 'em.