First Device I Typed On Was...
By Janey1966
@Janey1966 (24170)
Carlisle, England
April 11, 2013 7:25pm CST
...a clapped out manual typewriter at school! Was I excited when the class were 'introduced' to electric typewriters or what. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven lol. I remember the Brother Daisy Wheel typewriters and the IBM Golf Ball versions, the latter were the noisiest of the two. I used those in my first real job, starting way back in 1982.
The company at that time invested in new equipment, both in the factory part and in the offices. One Brother Daisy Wheel typewriter we fought over as it had a little display on it showing about two sentences at a time. The downward arrow would be used to scroll through, say, a letter, so it could be checked before it typed it all itself, usually with me sitting there with my arms folded watching it. A few letters could be stored in its memory, but, obviously, the memory on a typewriter is nothing compared to what's in a computer these days.
Computers in the early 80s tended to have just the green print on a black background, that was it. In my diaries from the time I would mention the fact that the green type would hurt my eyes if I was on the computer for more than a few hours at a time..so I'd go on an electric typewriter to type something else.
How about you? What was the first device you typed on? How recent or way back in time was it?
The company at that time invested in new equipment, both in the factory part and in the offices. One Brother Daisy Wheel typewriter we fought over as it had a little display on it showing about two sentences at a time. The downward arrow would be used to scroll through, say, a letter, so it could be checked before it typed it all itself, usually with me sitting there with my arms folded watching it. A few letters could be stored in its memory, but, obviously, the memory on a typewriter is nothing compared to what's in a computer these days.
Computers in the early 80s tended to have just the green print on a black background, that was it. In my diaries from the time I would mention the fact that the green type would hurt my eyes if I was on the computer for more than a few hours at a time..so I'd go on an electric typewriter to type something else.
How about you? What was the first device you typed on? How recent or way back in time was it?4 people like this
20 responses
@ElicBxn (63594)
• United States
12 Apr 13
I remember pounding on my parents OLD manual typewriter when I was a kid. And a bit on their electric one later.
I took a semester of typing in high school, by taking it in high school I wouldn't have to take it in college.
I really liked my typing teacher - can't remember her name though.
Now, she said that all new people had to start on the manual typewriters... I couldn't hit the keys hard enough to get the letters to the paper. So, she moved me to an electric one, still couldn't hit it hard enough. I got the privilege of using one of the two BRAND NEW IBM Selectric typewriters!
AHHH!!! the joys of REALLY SHORT FINGERS!
That would've been 1971.
2 people like this
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
12 Apr 13
Wow, we were a bit behind the times here with new technology (still are in fact) but at least the inventor of Hawkeye is British.
1 person likes this
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
12 Apr 13
You bring back memories. When I learned to touch type I was in the 9th grade. We used Remington. The next year we used IBM mostly. I was so glad to get on electric typewriters. I hated those manual typewriters. There's a big difference in the force your fingers use between manual and electric. My hands would cramp with the manuals when I was trying to increase my speed and accuracy.
1 person likes this
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
12 Apr 13
Not forgetting missing the key slightly and getting the finger caught inbetween the keys.
OUCH!
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
12 Apr 13
I was thinking that when I typed my response! 
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (160702)
• United States
12 Apr 13
I would say 1970 and it was a manual. Unless of course you count the one mom had at home from her first job in about 1940. I was not considered good enough to do the electric type writers. I did not get really busy with computers until about 1998. I had one. The first one we bought was used and it was a Tandy, with the green and black no instructions or commands. We bought a used Commodore 64 as well and it had a manual with commands to use. My then husband (deceased now) used the Commodore commands on the Tandy and made it make musical tones. That was in 1995. When he was ill with ALS (motor neuron disease in the UK) a person from the ALS foundation sent him an adapted computer that could say what he typed. Unfortunately by the time he got it he was too weak to sit up or to type much.
1 person likes this
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
12 Apr 13
What a shame.
I remember Commodore 64s! I think they have a bit of a cult following!
I remember Commodore 64s! I think they have a bit of a cult following!1 person likes this
@jenny1015 (13366)
• Philippines
12 Apr 13
My dad wrote a lot because of his field of work which is Marine Biology. So he gets to do a lot of researching. We had this brother typewriter, too. But I really do not know what model it was, but I think it was a modern version since it was very light and portable. Then we also got those electric typewriter but we never had used it that much. We still used the old typewriter until such time was computer was already much in use.
1 person likes this
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
12 Apr 13
Brother made its last electronic typewriter in Wrexham a few months back, and it went straight into a museum.
Sign of the times.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
12 Apr 13
Hello! Did you ever get your fingers stuck inbetween the keys? It wrecked didn't it? I knew someone who would type on a manual typewriter using two fingers. She was really quick!
@jrjohn (49)
• Kazakhstan
12 Apr 13
I actually haven't been around that long.. The first device I ever typed on was this old, old desktop computer. The keys were hard and stiff, the screen resolution terrible, etc. Technology has come a long way since then. I can still remember teh joy that I had when I typed on the computer though. Since it was when I was quite a bit younger, I felt kinda proud and like a man (I wasn't quite so, then). Anyway, it was a great experience. My computers have come a long way since then!
1 person likes this
@wolfie34 (26771)
• United Kingdom
12 Apr 13
I remember fondly my mum and my aunt, her sister in law going out to buy me a brand new manual typewriter! Back then I couldn't touch type, I went to college to learn. I remember having to bash down hard on the keys which left me with sore fingers, but I loved it. When I went to college I was trained on an electronic typewriter, I passed my RSA Stage 1 typing exam with distinction no less. Then I got myself a job as a secretary and had an electronic typewriter. I used to write a lot of novels and I would type them up using the typewriter I had at home, and I was even allowed to use my aunt's typewriter, she lived just north of Manchester when I visited, she NEVER let anyone else use it only me, because I was a typist. I am now typing this on my laptop. What a jump eh? From manual typewriter to laptop.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
12 Apr 13
I'm glad I lived through that era though as we now appreciate computers more as it's a lot easier to type on these keyboards (and to correct, of course) than on a manual typewriter, especially. I'm always amazed at seeing important documents from the war era..how beautifully typed they were. No Tippex in sight lol.
@scarlet_woman (23463)
• United States
29 Apr 13
manual typewriter for me too.
tho if it hadn't been for that,i probably wouldn't type as fast as i do on computer now.i sure don't miss key jams tho.
@whittby (3072)
• United States
13 Apr 13
You've brought back memories. Haven't thought of a manual typewriter in years. I had pretty good speed on one, but correcting errors was the biggest irritation. I think the one I learned on was a Remington. Then in maybe early 70's got an IBM selectric I think I also remember what we called the memory typewriters, where it would show a sentence or two at a time and you were able to correct at least a sentence or two at a time. I used those in 1983 I think.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
13 Apr 13
Electronic typewriters with a display were a revelation weren't they? I used to hate using all that Tippex, whether it be the fluid or tape. I wonder if it's still made?
@MandaLee (3764)
• United States
13 Apr 13
Hi Janey,
The first typewriter I typed on was an IBM Selectric typewriter. This was around 1984 or 1985. I was in elementary school. The letters were on a ball on top of the carriage. The ball spun around to make the letters.
I had a diary also. I eventually got the same typewriter to use at home. For the most part, my diary entries were written using my typewriter.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
13 Apr 13
What a cool idea, to type diary entries. I only do that on my blog now (from my written diaries, which I have carried on with manually) and the IBM you describe sounds a bit like the Golf Ball version I was on at my first place of work. They didn't half make a racket, especially if the plastic lid at the front was missing for whatever reason. Also, if the Golf Balls weren't on properly they would fly off, nearly causing injury.
I've just remembered that now lol.
@bounce58 (17387)
• Canada
16 Apr 13
I do remember using a typewriter when I was in high school as I attempted to write my first thesis. Or was it just a very long report?
But the equipment I had extensive experience was early computers. It was the green characters on a black background. I remember carrying floppy disks and booking time at the school computer room to finish reports.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
16 Apr 13
I remember the green characters on a black screen very well and I had to put up with it longer than most as I used a word processing programme at the Council called OfficePower. It took years for the Council to phase it out but at least I could get jobs there because of my knowledge of using it.
Unfortunately, during a spell of unemployment in the late 90s spreadsheets were the in thing and I hadn't a clue so didn't get in many jobs I went for. I wonder what the trends are now? Probably Facebook and Twitter.
Haha!
@inertia4 (27960)
• United States
22 Apr 13
I remember those daisy wheel typewriters. Wow, that was many years ago. Yes those computers form the 80's were really word processors. They were hard to work with. I love computers today and wish they had this technology way back then. I did a lot of work on my jobs back then on paper. Then I started working with computers. The first computer I ever used on a ob was a PC. Not at all user friendly either. Bulky and clumsy. Now that I have been using Apple computers for years now, I can never use anything else. I love the ease and I love the windows. Thanks to Xerox for that technology.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
22 Apr 13
If it weren't for my diary that I still write in at bedtime I don't think I'd be writing anything anymore! I used to write letters but if I have a gripe with a company now (for example) I tend to email instead.
@Pegasus72 (1898)
•
12 Apr 13
I used to type on a antique type writer and then my mother got an old electric dinosaur that someone sold her that never worked, then we were back to a blue manual type writer, and then in my teen years I got a brand new brother electric type writer for my birthday. I loved it and it gave me many years of use. Once I went to college I was introduced to a computer and that is where it all ended in pure bliss with a split board key board just for me.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
12 Apr 13
Very nice too! I get very angry (even now) when numbers aren't included on a keyboard and have to be purchased separately. Apple are known for doing that. Mind you, no such problems with my Microsoft. Even now I love having numbers to the right of me as that's what I've been used to in the workplace for number-crunching purposes!
@Pegasus72 (1898)
•
12 Apr 13
I have a split board from Microsoft with the number where they need to be and an extra set to the right.
@RandomnessPrincessx3 (280)
• United States
12 Apr 13
Well, i'm only 22. My first computer class was in fourth grade so i learned how to type on a desktop computer.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
12 Apr 13
No ripped fingers from using manual typewriters for you then. Good for you!
@dawnald (85146)
• Shingle Springs, California
12 Apr 13
I took typing in high school, and I'm pretty sure they had IBM electrics, or some equivalent. My mom also had an electric typewriter. My first office job had typewriters still, and one computer (dumb terminal) per department. We would look things up on it, but if we wanted to change anything, we had to fill out a form, attach a batch header, and send it to keypunch. It would come back the next morning, and if there were errors we'd get an error form to work. Later, we got a standalone PC where we could do work on Lotus, Symphony and some word processing software that is long since obsolete. It wasn't until the early 90's that our pcs were put on networks, and sometime after that that they all got windows operating systems. Those were the days when we thought a 14,400 modem was fast, and 8 MB of RAM was a lot. lol
@GreenMoo (11834)
•
12 Apr 13
You know, I don't even remember!
Although I'm not a trained typist, I type pretty well. However, I'm completely scuppered by using a different keyboard. My own laptop is a widescreen which means the keys are just a fraction wider than my partner's, which is a normal width. And the kids have one of those mini things. I make so many mistakes on those keyboards as the keys aren't where my fingers expect them to be that it's really not worth my even opening them up if I know I've lots of typing to do.n
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
12 Apr 13
I agree. Keyboards vary wildly. This one is a wireless Microsoft and it has a reassuring 'clunk' but one upstairs is a flat, grey thing. Virtually silent, in operation, in actual fact. However, the wired keyboard that came with this Compaq is clunkier still, which is why I bought the Microsoft.
I tried selling the silver and wired keyboards on Ebay but without success. It's annoying they're stored away gathering dust.
@vidhyaprakash_2 (7116)
• India
12 Apr 13
Good to hear about your typing story. I learned type writing during my school days. I don't remember about the machine as well as its history. I saw the picture uploaded by you and its great.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
12 Apr 13
I typed on one of those in the workplace at the time. I remember the grey, shiny keys on it AND the lettering never wore out either, not like the keyboards we get today.
@rocketking (189)
• Singapore
12 Apr 13
My father used to have a typewriter over 20 years ago when he was running his own business. It was a clunky monstrosity that did not even align the letters well, and I remember how much trouble it was to type, because with a typewriter the output goes straight to paper and you do not have the luxury to review and correct, every mistake means you have to throw the paper and start all over! Every typing assignment was an exercise in patience and determination. Am I glad for computers now!
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
12 Apr 13
It amazes me when they show old documents on television related to WW2 (or something) and they were impeccably typed, but there again, no-one knew any different. This is why it annoys me when I see glaring errors in forums and the like, as there is no excuse for bad typing now.
@ihopper (97)
• Philippines
12 Apr 13
The first device I typed on was a typewriter too. As a kid, I loved going to my grandpa's house and play with all the things he had. There he had three different typewriters. I always played with the smallest one. It was a manual typewriter. I remember how funny it would be when I could not press the keys hard enough because my tiny body at the time did not have enough strength. There were already computers around this time. But I did not learn to use them until I was in kindergarten. So while I was still in nursery, I played with my grandpa's typewriter all the time.
