If you are a technology native (i.e. computers were part of the fabric of society when you were growing up and video games ruled the land, then you are a technology ‘native’), then this won’t resonate with you. If, however, like me, you are a technology immigrant, then this might hit home.
I don’t know about you, but many a moon ago, I was forced by my parents to take typing because it would be ‘useful’ later in life. I was 18. I knew “everything”. Typing would play NO ROLE in my life, of that, I was certain. I went kicking and screaming to class, but you know what? I became a very proficient typist despite myself. Kids today are almost born knowing how to type, but back in the ‘dark ages’, we had to LEARN how to type…and we didn’t learn on a computer keyboard…we learned on a TYPEWRITER. Some may even have learned on a MANUAL typewriter (the strength of your fingers ruled how hard the keys struck the paper). I was lucky enough to learn on an IBM Selectric – the most “sophisticated” of electric typewriters.
Alas, the last typewriter that I owned probably left my closet or desk about 25 years ago, but sometimes, I just miss typing on a typewriter. I don’t know why…keyboards just all feel the same. Typewriters each had their own “personality”.
I do like being able to go back and edit later…without having to retype an entire document…but sometimes, I just want to type the “old fashioned way” – on an actual typewriter.
Imagine my delight and surprise when none other than Tom Hanks (yes, THAT Tom Hanks) developed a typewriter app for the iPad. It really and truly simulates the old feeling of a typewriter.
I realized that I wasn’t the only one who missed that old time feeling when I read that this app, ‘Hanx Writer’, shot to #1 in the Apple store upon its release.
Yes, it REALLY feels like a typewriter – even on a virtual keyboard. Yes, ‘Return’ does return the virtual carriage. Yes, the sounds are there. Yes, the keys ‘move’. Yes, the bell rings when you hit the end of the row.
…and yes, it is FREE!!!!
For those of you who miss the old-time feeling of a “real” typewriter, head over to the Apple Store IMMEDIATELY and download ‘Hanx Writer’.
For a terrific review/write-up, please check out this article by TechCrunch:
http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/18/tom-hanks-typewriter-app-shoots-to-the-top-of-the-app-store
Perhaps some of your grandparents can introduce your kids to a slice of life “before computers”.
Have fun!
