Awesome Typewriters

Typewriters might be obsolete, but devices that can print on paper are still useful. One problem with typewriters is that they’re big and heavy. Attoparsec engineered a typewriter that fits in your pocket. He took the striker bars from a typewriter and linked them together in a machined metal case with a built-in ink pad.

This 83-key mechanical keyboard from KnewKey looks just like a vintage typewriter. It offers both wired (USB-C) and wireless (Bluetooth) connectivity and has a built-in tablet stand that mimics the design of a typewriter’s carriage. It also has blue LED backlighting, and its side knob can bye be used as a volume controller.

Jody Del Bianco’s award-winning design for a dedicated typing device pays homage to the cylindrical platens of vintage typewriters, while embracing modern technology. As you type on its round keys, words appear on a high-contrast, curved E-Ink display. To scroll backwards, turn the knob like on a classic typewriter.

If you’ve ever played with a vintage manual typewriter, you know how hard it can be just to hit those mechanical keys with enough force. JBV Creative built a custom robot that uses 3D-printed “fingers” and servo motors to type text and ASCII art on an old Remington Rand Office Riter. Money shot at 15:34.

This LEGO kit is based on a design submitted by LEGO fan Steve Guinness. The production version of the kit has 2,079 pieces with moving carriage and working keys. Its platen can hold paper and the set includes a typewritten letter signed by LEGO Group chairman Thomas Kirk Kristiansen. Drops 7.1.2021.

With just 26 letters in our alphabet, English speakers have it easy. When it comes to Japanese and Chinese, there are literally hundreds of characters. In this video from Typewriter Collector, they show off a rare Toshiba typewriter that can type in all three languages. It uses a spinning drum on a moving carriage to select letters.

From the 1960s to 1980s, the IBM Selectric was the typewriter to get if you wanted to type quickly and accurately. This slow-motion footage from the Hursley Museum and Chronos Cameras shows how the Selectric’s innovative ball rapidly rotated to the correct position, and could type at speeds up to 14.8 characters per second.

Typewriters may have gone the way of the dinosaur for most people, but they served their purpose well and provided the basis for today’s computer keyboards. Editor and film buff Ariel Avissar compiled this great supercut of movie and TV scenes where typewriters played a major role. The track is The Typewriter by Leroy Anderson.

William Sun Petrus took an old 1920s Remington Portable typewriter and modded it into an electronic drum machine. Basically, it works as a MIDI controller, so it can play whatever sounds he loads into Ableton. He had to remix the live audio so you could hear it over the mechanical clacking sounds though.

William Sun Petrus previously showed off a vintage manual typewriter that he converted into a drum machine. Since it’s really just working as a MIDI controller, the keyboard can be used to play any digital instrument, in this case, the fat synths from The Weeknd’s hit Blinding Lights. That’s a Novation Launchpad S to the right.

British artist James Cook specializes in what is basically a primitive version of ASCII art. Rather than digitizing an image and using a computer to print images, he types them out one key at a time using vintage manual typewriters.

Typewriters have gone the way of the dinosaur, rarely used by anyone but the most hipster of writers these days. But the Boston Typewriter Orchestra continues to get use out of these mechanical office relics, even when forced to work from home due to their in-person concerts being canceled.

Steve Guinness‘ concept for a typewriter made entirely from LEGO not only looks awesome, but it’s now achieved the 10,000 votes required to consider it for production. The design features a working mechanism, driven by a hand crank. Here’s hoping LEGO decides to make it.

Another retro keyboard from the makers of the Rymek has a design inspired by classic typewriters, with an art deco body, glossy finishes, and round keycaps. It also packs in a pair of JBL speakers, and has a built-in stand for holding a tablet. It’s still in the pre-pre-order stage, so we’re not sure when it will be available to purchase.

While SKM’s cardboard typewriter doesn’t actually work, it’s still an impressive build, with lots of neat details, a cantilevered keyboard, a turning roller, and a hidden compartment that lets it output a pre-typed page for fun.

Animator Lizzy Hobbs’ stop-motion short film pays tribute to the late Amy Johnson, a woman whose day job was working as a typist for a law firm, but whose real claim to fame was a record-breaking 9,500 mile solo flight from England to Australia in 1930.

Formerly known as Hemingwrite, this minimal device for writers offers a Cherry MX mechanical keyboard, a basic word processor, and displays your words on its front-lit E-ink display. It stores a million pages, or Wi-Fi syncs docs to email or the cloud. Ships 9/16.

The hipster’s favorite kitchen appliance. Chris Dimino turned a 60s Coronamatic typewriter into a waffle iron with a keyboard pattern. Chris made it back in 2001, but he said he’s going to sell a few functional units soon.

ThinkGeek’s fun QWERTY wallet is made of leather, has keyboard embossings on the outside, tons of pokets to hold all your cheese and a red interior lining reminiscent of typewriter ribbon.

Artist Keira Rathbone uses vintage typewriters as a medium to create her work. Typing out letters, numbers and symbols in place of brush strokes and pixels results in these fascinating images.

Ok, it isn’t new, and at best it’s still a prototype, but still we must give a tip of the hat to Chris Dimino and the way he repurposed a Corona typewriter into a jumbo waffle maker. Because it rules.

While not as awesome as The Typing of the Dead, Key Hero does a good job of making typing tests fun. It uses interesting quotes, gives concrete feedback of mistakes and even has rankings.