quote from Martin <br /> https://forum.zettelkasten.de/discussion/comment/19435#Comment_19435 on 2024-01-28

From Typewriters to Futuristic Office Machines, Adapting with the Times Helped One Family Run Company Stay in Business for over a Century by Brandon Villalovos on 2017-03-15

Need typewriter repairs? This Pasadena business has been fixing them for a century by Kevin Smith

Anderson Business Technology celebrates 100 years by Jim McConnell, Staff Writer

writing on a manual typewriter – (non)material text by Keith Tam on 2020-05-01

Typewriter Talk<br /> https://typewriter.boardhost.com

https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/tw-repair.html

https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/tw-lists.html<br /> Online Typewriter Groups

https://www.typewriters.ch/wissen/pangramme-fuer-schreibmaschinentests/

https://farbbanddosen.typewriters.ch/index.php?title=Home

https://amsterdamassassin.wordpress.com/2018/12/16/typecast-my-royal-fp-steampunk/

https://oztypewriter.blogspot.com/2022/06/searing-cutlass-typewriter-in-taylor.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf1DfAXFpGE how to identify a typewriter

Red Typewriter at 8:28

Related: Holiday Ornament in Swift store: https://store.taylorswift.com/collections/holiday-collection/products/all-too-well-typewriter-ornament

Easter eggs: https://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanschocket2/taylor-swift-all-too-well-typewriter-easter-egg

Typewriter identity: https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/17utzze/identity_of_the_red_typewriter_from_taylor_swifts/

reply to u/atomicnotes at https://www.reddit.com/r/Zettelkasten/comments/16njtfx/comment/k1tuc9c/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

u/atomicnotes, this is an excellent question. (Though I'd still like to come to terms with people who don't think it acts as a knowledge management system, there's obviously something I'm missing.)

Some of your distinction comes down to how one is using their zettelkasten and what sorts of questions are being asked of it. One of the earliest descriptions I've seen that begins to get at the difference is the description by Beatrice Webb of her notes (appendix C) in My Apprenticeship. As she describes what she's doing, I get the feeling that she's taking the same broad sort of notes we're all used to, but it's obvious from her discussion that she's also using her slips as a traditional database, but is lacking modern vocabulary to describe it as such.

Early efforts like the OED, TLL, the Wb, and even Gertrud Bauer's Coptic linguistic zettelkasten of the late 1970s were narrow enough in scope and data collected to make them almost dead simple to define, organize and use as databases on paper. Of course how they were used to compile their ultimate reference books was a bit more complex in form than the basic data from which they stemmed.

The Mundaneum had a much more complex flavor because it required a standardized system for everyone to work in concert against much more freeform as well as more complex forms of collected data and still be able to search for the answers to specific questions. While still somewhat database flavored, it was dramatically different from the others because of it scope and the much broader sorts of questions one could ask of it. I think that if you ask yourself what sorts of affordances you get from the two different groups (databases and word processors (or even their typewriter precursors) you find even more answers.

Typewriters and word processors allowed one to get words down on paper quicker by a magnitude of order or two faster, and in combination with reproduction equipment, made it easier to spin off copies of the document for small scale and local mass distribution a lot easier. They do allow a few affordances like higher readability (compared with less standardized and slower handwriting), quick search (at least in the digital era), and moving pieces of text around (also in digital). Much beyond this, they aren't tremendously helpful as a composition tool. As a thinking tool, typewriters and word processors aren't significantly better than their analog predecessors, so you don't gain a huge amount of leverage by using them.

On the other hand, databases and their spreadsheet brethren offer a lot more, particularly in digital realms. Data collection and collation become much easier. One can also form a massive variety of queries on such collected data, not to mention making calculations on those data or subjecting them to statistical analyses. Searching, sorting, and making direct comparisons also become far easier and quicker to do once you've amassed the data you need. Here again, Beatrice Webb's early experience and descriptions are very helpful as are Hollerinth's early work with punch cards and census data and the speed with which the results could be used.

Now if you compare the affordances by each of these in the digital era and plot their shifts against increasing computer processing power, you'll see that the value of the word processor stays relatively flat while the database shows much more significant movement.

Surely there is a lot more at play, particularly at scale and when taking network effects into account, but perhaps this quick sketch may explain to you a bit of the difference you've described.

Another difference you may be seeing/feeling is that of contextualization. Databases usually have much smaller and more discrete amounts of data cross-indexed (for example: a subject's name versus weight with a value in pounds or kilograms.) As a result the amount of context required to use them is dramatically lower compared to the sorts of data you might keep in an average atomic/evergreen note, which may need to be more heavily recontextualized for you when you need to use it in conjunction with other similar notes which may also need you to recontextualize them and then use them against or with one another.

Some of this is why the cards in the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae are easier to use and understand out of the box (presuming you know Latin) than those you might find in the Mundaneum. They'll also be far easier to use than a stranger's notes which will require even larger contextualization for you, especially when you haven't spent the time scaffolding the related and often unstated knowledge around them. This is why others' zettelkasten will be more difficult (but not wholly impossible) for a stranger to use. You might apply the analogy of context gaps between children and adults for a typical Disney animated movie to the situation. If you're using someone else's zettelkasten, you'll potentially be able to follow a base level story the way a child would view a Disney cartoon. Compare this to the zettelkasten's creator who will not only see that same story, but will have a much higher level of associative memory at play to see and understand a huge level of in-jokes, cultural references, and other associations that an adult watching the Disney movie will understand that the child would completely miss.

I'm curious to hear your thoughts on how this all plays out for your way of conceptualizing it.

In the documentary California Typewriter (Gravitas Pictures, 2016) musician John Mayer mentions that he's never lost a typed version of his notes, while digital versions of his work essentially remain out of sight and thus out of mind or else they risk digital erasure by means of either data loss, formatting changes, or other damage.

Mayer also mentions that he loves typewriters for their ability to easily get out stream of consciousness thinking which is a mode of creativity he prefers for writing lyrics.

Historian and author David McCullough prefers a manual typewriter over computers with keyboards specifically because it forces him to slow down and take his time.

Ref: @Nichol2016 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5966990/

reply to u/Efficient_Earth_8773 at https://www.reddit.com/r/Zettelkasten/comments/15fjb97/does_anyone_has_its_zettelkasten_in_google_docs/

Experimenting can be interesting. I've tried using spreadsheet software like Google Sheets or Excel which can be simple and useful methods that don't lose significant functionality. I did separate sheets for zettels, sources, and the index. Each zettel had it's own row with with a number, title, contents, and a link to a source as well as the index.

Google Docs might be reasonably doable, but the linking portion may be one of the more difficult affordances to accomplish easily or in a very user-centric fashion. It is doable though: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/45893?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop, and one might even mix Google Docs with Google Sheets? I could see Sheets being useful for creating an index and or sources while Docs could be used for individual notes as well. It's all about affordances and ease of use. Text is a major portion of having and maintaining a zettelkasten, so by this logic anything that will allow that could potentially be used as a zettelkasten. However, it helps to think about how one will use it in practice on a day-to-day basis. How hard will it be to create links? Search it? How hard will it be when you've got thousands of "slips"? How much time will these things take as it scales up in size?

A paper-based example: One of the reasons that many pen and paper users only write on one side of their index cards is that it saves the time of needing to take cards out and check if they do or don't have writing on the back or remembering where something is when it was written on the back of a card. It's a lot easier to tip through your collection if they're written only on the front. If you use an alternate application/software what will all these daily functions look like compounded over time? Does the software make things simpler and easier or will it make them be more difficult or take more time? And is that difficulty and time useful or not to your particular practice? Historian and author David McCullough prefers a manual typewriter over computers with keyboards specifically because it forces him to slow down and take his time. Another affordance to consider is how much or little work one may need to put into using it from a linking (or not) perspective. Using paper forces one to create a minimum of at least one link (made by the simple fact of filing it next to another) while other methods like Obsidian allow you to too easily take notes and place them into an infinitely growing pile of orphaned notes. Is it then more work to create discrete links later when you've lost the context and threads of potential arguments you might make? Will your specific method help you to regularly review through old notes? How hard will it be to mix things up for creativity's sake? How easy/difficult will it be to use your notes for writing/creating new material, if you intend to use it for that?

Think about how and why you'd want to use it and which affordances you really want/need. Then the only way to tell is to try it out for a bit and see how one likes/doesn't like a particular method and whether or not it helps to motivate you in your work. If you don't like the look of an application and it makes you not want to use it regularly, that obviously is a deal breaker. One might also think about how difficult/easy import/export might be if they intend to hop from one application to another. Finally, switching applications every few months can be self-defeating, so beware of this potential downfall as you make what will eventually need to be your ultimate choice. Beware of shiny object syndrome or software that ceases updating in just a few years without easy export.

https://www.thetypewriterman.co.uk/index.html

https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/

http://writingball.blogspot.com/2014/09/mystery-machine-specialized-lc-smith.html

Commonly known was that using an apostrophe, the back space key and a period would allow one to type an exclamation point on a typewriter. Less common were some of these additional special characters:

• Division (÷): colon and hyphen
• Pound Sterling (£): Hyphen and small f
• Equation (=): Hyphens turning the variable slightly (unlocking the platen and moving it up)
• Cedilla (ç): small c, backspace and comma
• Paragraph mark )( parentheses

p. 16

Typewriters had switches to allow the typewriter to use different portions of the typewriter ribbon. Some were utilized to differentiate between colors on multi-colored ribbons (typically between black and red) while others allowed the use of the top or bottom of a ribbon to get more use (economy) out of them. Many also made the ribbon inoperative so that the type struck directly against a sheet to allow for stencil cutting.

p. 12

“The Remington Noiseless Way.” Remington Rand Inc., ca 1940. From the Peter Weil Typewriter Archives. https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/RemingtonNoiseless10.pdf.

AB Dick Model 217G Spirit Duplicator "Ditto Machine" In Action!

Typewriters, Stencils, and Carbon Copies by Tim Covell

What Was the Purpose of the Stencil Setting on a Vintage Manual Typewriter?

Typewriter Stencil as Check Protector

https://www.ribbonsunlimited.com/

It's got some serious Austin Powers 60s/70s swagger, but obviously will need some TLC and a new ribbon. Is it worth hundreds, even in good shape? Probably not, but I'll bet it could be cleaned up/repaired and bring someone lots of joy (either fixing it or using it regularly). YouTube has lots of starter videos of people cleaning/fixing older machines that will give you some ideas. If it's not your sort of hobby, pass it along to someone who might enjoy it, or sell it to your local repair shop or maybe on eBay for a few dollars. Someone could bring it back to life.

The replacement typewriter ribbon for my Smith-Corona Clipper is 1/2" nylon ribbon with eyelets on 2" diameter spools.

https://www.ribbonsunlimited.com/category-s/5415.htm

Some cheap typewriter ribbon spools don't have grommets on them to force auto-reverse of the spool. Without grommets, some machines may sense ribbon tension for reversal, otherwise one needs to switch direction manually.

There are grommet installation tools that one can use, but this often requires getting one's hands dirty to install them.

Ribbons Unlimited has a good reputation in the r/typewriters community for providing good sales and service.

I don't have any affiliation with the book (other than ordering a copy for myself), but thought I'd share the pre-order details for the forthcoming book Shift Happens: A book about keyboards by Marcin Wichary: https://shifthappens.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders The book, shipping in October 2023, was originally funded on Kickstarter at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mwichary/shift-happens. Even more details available at https://shifthappens.site/. The author Marcin Wichary compiled a huge list of typewriter/keyboard resources, books, and manuals at https://archive.org/details/wicharytypewriter which the hard core historians and type enthusiasts many may also appreciate. (h/t u/amidfallenleaves @ r/typewriters/#)

https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/2rru4x/where_can_i_buy_the_key_to_the_case_of_a_smith/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbGUVjOF2uw

He still seems iffy about the value of using WD-40 on crinkle cut finish, primarily because of the smell.

Others use brass bristle brushes for applying the WD-40 instead of nylon brushes.

Hermes Rocket Typewriter Case Cleaning — Crazy Results, Simple Tools

A few hours with some mild soap and water and a toothbrush will clean up most of a plastic typewriter case.

A mild solvent like isopropyl alcohol can generally get the remainder of any tough spots or gummy spills.

WD-40 for Crinkle Finish Typewriters — Does it work??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nz1t6QtARyI

WD-40, which has paraffin wax as an ingredient, can be brushed onto the crinkle finish of a typewriter to clean it up and give it some shine. Use a rag to wipe off excess and take care not to get any in the segment comb. The difference on a generally clean typewriter appears to be negligible and primarily results in a WD-40 smell.

Would something like Armor All work better? Car wax might also work as well. Powder coating polish could work, but it may act as a gentle abrasive as it is also meant to lift stains.

Typewriter Cleaning and Repair Basics #3 Bell Fixed

Keep in mind that some typewriters don't have hard mechanical margin stops, but rely on the user to hear the bell to know the margin is approaching and return the line manually.

Bell hammer mechanisms may simply need to be cleaned to get them into functioning order. Dirt and grime may prevent the hammer mechanism from having enough force to strike the bell. Beyond this replacing the spring may be necessary.

Typewriter Cleaning and Repair Basics #2 Type Bars, Case, and Crinkle Finish

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82O_iUAI5og

Segment comb cleaning - isopropyl alcohol (gentler solvent) - odorless mineral spirits - Lacquer thinner (maybe a bit too aggressive) - naphtha (lighter fluid) take care for flammability and ventilation

Work solvent into bearing between type bar and segment comb. To dry things out one can used compressed air when done or just air dry.

If sticking keys not due to being gummed up, bend portions slightly for better alighment.

Do not lubricate the segment comb.

Only lubricate the carriage rails when necessary.

Exterior cleaning

Brass bristle or nylon bristle brushes (toothbrushes) can be used to clean the exterior of the typewriter and/or cases with mild detergents or other solvents. Depending on the finish, try the brush and solvent on a small portion to determine colorfastness and potential scratching first.

Typewriter Cleaning and Repair Basics #1 Assessment and Testing

Recommends against any lubrication on the key mechanism, just keep it clean. Lubrication in some cases may actually gum up the works and cause the keys to return slowly.

He suggests Krud Kutter as a cleaner/degreaser.

https://www.reddit.com/user/Dangerous-Ratio6448/

From 2012: A typewriter renaissance

In using a typewriter, "shadowed" letters can be remedied by using quicker, short keystrokes. Or as William Forrester said, "Punch the keys for God's sake!"

Of course it also goes without saying that one should also use a backing sheet which will also help the longevity of the platen.

Typewriter mystery game

Typewriter Tips: Budgeting (AKA How to get cheap typewriters!)

• antique malls (look in unconventional places (like luggage))
• estate sales (everything must go)
• yard sales
• auctions
• facebook marketplace (negotiating)

Hunting tips - look for cases, folks they often don't know what's in them or think they're luggage - look under things - negotiate<br /> - bundle items as a group to negotiate<br /> - Tell friends and you'll get an army looking for you

TYPEWRITER TOUR: How I ended up with 17 typewriters (story time)

California Typewriter got Sara into collecting.

She names her typewriters.

She likes the consistency of the Corona Pacemaker, the IBM Selectric II, and the Olympia Electric.

• Smith-Corona Corsair Deluxe Aqua/Blue Travel
• Royal Futura 800

How to Write Using a Typewriter

Interesting example of an individual writer's process which includes a typewriter.

https://typewriterdatabase.com/smithcorona.86.typewriter-serial-number-database

How to Clean a Typewriter

Rubbing alcohol or WD-40 for cleaning out light rust, oil, dirt and grime.

Use Rem-Oil for oiling typewriters

Toothpaste and toothbrush is great for cleaning crinkle paint on typewriters.

Why Tom Hanks Loves Typewriters—And You Should Too<br /> by Barbie Latza Nadeau

“Tom Hanks, Typewriter Enthusiast.” CBS News Sunday Morning. CBS, October 15, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTtDb73NkNM.

https://youtu.be/UTtDb73NkNM?t=49

CBS has a card index with an index card indicating that Morley Safer brought an Olivetti typewriter to the office.

Whose card index was this? What other purpose did it serve?

Friday<br /> 7 July <br /> 2017

Lee,

You are a wise and brave man. This 1930's era Smith- corona Clipper will last you for the ages..

Happy to have served you...<br /> /s<br /> Tom Hanks

Hanks wrote this letter to an interviewer who purchased one. Lost here on the viewer is the fact that the Clipper wasn't manufactured until 1946...

This is what I would suggest: if you wanted the perfect typewriter that will last forever that would be a great conversation piece, I'd say get the Smith-Corona Clipper. That will be as satisfying a typing experience as you will ever have. —Tom Hanks on CBS Sunday Morning: "Tom Hanks, Typewriter Enthusiast" at 07:30

—Tom Hanks in TribLive 2020-05-22 at https://web.archive.org/web/20200522085215/https://archive.triblive.com/aande/books/tom-hanks-on-his-love-of-typewriters-and-the-free-press/

I've seen several sites and listings for Smith-Corona typewriters which mention this interview quote.

https://typewriterdatabase.com/1947-smith-corona-clipper.15249.typewriter

Apparently Cole Steel manufactured typewriters in the 1960s.

Gunn Desks and filing cabinets

Example advertisement of a wooden office desk with pigeonholes and a small card index box on the desktop as well as a drawer pull with a typewriter sitting on it.

Much like earlier scribal errors, there are textual errors inserted into digitization projects which may have gone from documentary originals, into handwritten (translated) copies, which then were copied manually via typewriter, and then copied again into some digital form, and then changed again into other digital forms as digital formats changed.

As a result it is often fruitful to be able to compare the various versions to see the sorts of errors which each level of copying can introduce. One might suppose that textual errors were only common when done by scribes using manual techniques, but it is just as likely for errors to be inserted between digital copies as well.

A bit tongue-in-cheek, the New York Times describes for the technically inadept what a typewriter and a card catalog are.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awce_j2myQw

Francis Ford Coppola talks about his notes and notebook on The Godfather.

He went to the Cafe Trieste to work.

Coppola had an Olivetti typewriter. (4:20)

Sections on pitfalls

I didn't need a script cause I could have made the movie just from this notebook.

Anecdotal evidence of contemplation of suicide based on over-collection of notes without creating a clear thesis or use for them.

I'm curious who the colleague was and what or how their note taking system wasn't working for them. Most likely the inability to link ideas to each other, lack of clear examples of others doing the practice to help guide them?

For Luhmann's time, the librarian recommendation for substrate was either cardboard or strong paper as the carrier for information, but he eschewed this recommendation in favor of plain typewriter paper because it took up less space. This came at the cost of deterioration of many of his cards through regular use however.

Saving the entire story for context, but primarily for this Marshall McLuhan-esque quote:

“You are right,” Nietzsche replied, “our writing equipment takes part in the forming of our thoughts.”

I want to know the source of the quote.

We should also take into account his age, his failing eyesight, his mental state, etc. It may not have just been his typewriter.

A list of all the questions that Vannevar Bush poses in the piece:

• What are the scientists to do next?
• Of what lasting benefit has been man's use of science and of the new instruments which his research brought into existence?
• Is this all fantastic?
• Will there be dry photography?
• What would it cost to print a million copies?
• The preparation of the original copy?
• To consider the first stage of the procedure, will the author of the future cease writing by hand or typewriter and talk directly to the record?
• Is it not possible that some day the path may be established more directly?
• Might not these currents be intercepted, either in the original form in which information is conveyed to the brain, or in the marvelously metamorphosed form in which they then proceed to the hand?
• Is it not possible that we may learn to introduce them without the present cumbersomeness of first transforming electrical vibrations to mechanical ones, which the human mechanism promptly transforms back to the electrical form?
• True, the record is unintelligible, except as it points out certain gross misfunctioning of the cerebral mechanism; but who would now place bounds on where such a thing may lead?
• Must we always transform to mechanical movements in order to proceed from one electrical phenomenon to another?

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2132003782/pomera-pocket-typewriter-with-e-ink

Probably overbearing, but this is also the exact sort of thing a writer faced with a blank page is apt to focus on as they stare at the type ball in front of them. Their focus isn't on the work its on the thing immediately in front of them that isn't working for them.

For Joan Rivers scraps of paper, receipts, laundry lists, and matchbooks served the function as waste books. She would eventually transfer them to 3x5" index cards using a typewriter.

An example of technological progress subsuming broader things and abstracting them into something larger.

Most good mathematical and physical theories exhibit this sort of behaviour. Cross reference Simon Singh's The Big Bang.

I like the thought of not only the history of thoughts and ideas, but also the history of the tools that may have helped to make them.

I'm curious to delve into Pietist autobiographical writing as a concept.

I've always wondered why there wasn't a digital edition available after all this time.

You're definitely not owning your own data.

This also sounds like a great way to cook!