Tag: technology

A (Very) Short Retrospective of One Year of Typewritten

March 26th, 2024

It’s been a minute since I wrote anything for Typewritten. I’ve had some other writing and non-writing related work that I was doing that sort of took the wind out of the sails for this little project. That and a series of basement improvements meant that my typewriter space had been upended in the name of progress. It’s back now, though.

This isn’t much of a retrospective, though there are some interesting things in there that I’d like to get back to and write up more fully, later. I really, really just wanted to produce something and start this habit back up.

Anyway, the thing that I didn’t anticipate, and the thing that I suspect might be the most important, is how much having the real thing mattered to me versus the abstract version of the thing saved as a representation of a document on a computer somewhere. I can’t articulate just why (yet), but I would encourage anyone reading to try something similar – even if it’s just the ol’ pen and paper combination.

I think, maybe, I’ve had my fill of abstractions for now. Maybe there are enough.
Some Slightly Structured Thoughts on Recommendation Algorithms

August 22nd, 2023

I’ll admit that it’s a weird feeling to be producing work on a typewriter that discusses some pretty modern deployments of technology. But it’s been on my mind especially because I use a typewriter. I distinctly remember being pretty disgusted with the idea that you might write with a machine in mind. It seemed preposterous to do that!

That was borne out of a brief stint I had where I almost did some contract writing. I applied for and was accepted to a company that acted as a go-between for writers and people (businesses, really) that needed some targeted writing done. The stipulations around SEO and keyword use and whatnot ground at me in just the wrong way. Ultimately, I never accepted any jobs and I think I’ve long since been purged from their system.

That’s not to say I wouldn’t do that kind of work. It pays bills, after all.

It is to say that I wonder about those kinds of weird incentives and what kind of ecosystem they’re creating.

Anyway, you can sidestep a lot of that if you write on a typewriter and just absolutely do not care! I don’t know that I can recommend that to everyone in every position, though.

On a technical note, I’m not pleased by how the top page scanned in. But I’m satisfied enough that I’m not going to fight with it and try it twice. If people accept spelling and spacing errors, I bet they’ll accept a slightly off-kilter scan of a page.
Tech Thoughts

August 1st, 2023

I will admit that this one is half-baked but that just means that I have fertile ground to improve this idea later. I just really didn’t want to get back in the habit of not writing and posting something with a degree of regularity.
Permanence

April 6th, 2023

This one wasn’t just tilted (I’m working on it, still), but in a grand stroke of comedy the scanner ate up the left side of the document. Nothing like suggesting that this stuff is weirdly durable and then passing it through a gentle machine that somehow wrecks part of it.

Anyway, it’s still easily human-readable. There is a gulf of difference between “machine-digestible” and “human-readable” and this, presuming it doesn’t further rip apart over time, will persist pretty well.

Sure wish I could fix the tilting issue, though. Nothing like having your work represented through time with a hard slope.
Abstraction versus The Thing

April 2nd, 2023

Today I discovered that the tilted text isn’t an artifact of the scanner, which is great! Unfortunately, it’s a byproduct of how I’m loading paper into the typewriter. I’m a little biased towards my left hand since I crank the platen around with my right. I can probably fix that more easily than trying to correct all these documents after the fact. At least it’s an interesting problem.

I wouldn’t have noticed it if it weren’t for scanning it in and looking at it devoid of the context of the physical thing itself. I feel like that is, again, strangely appropriate given the subject matter of the post itself.
Temperamental

March 29th, 2023

I can’t believe that the Olivetti decided to pitch a fit while I was writing about how I perceived printers to be temperamental. I know I made some errors in spelling up there but the star of the show is really how egregiously bad the ribbon messed up (it didn’t switch feed direction as intended, the little eyelet that’s supposed to swap it over got stuck) and how it inserted an extra space a few times.

It was still more fun to use, though.

I think it might be time to clear up one of the goals of this little “post typewritten documents online!” project. Aside from knowing that I can’t really play the SEO game, so I’m trying my level best to produce something maybe you’d want to read, the goal is to get used to producing work and publishing it.

This one, in particular, would’ve been something that I would’ve preferred to refine and keep back for a while. From experience, I know that means the article would’ve died a slow death lingering among files on my PC somewhere. It’s definitely not the most valuable article I’ve ever produced, but getting over the trepidation with regard to publishing work is valuable along a different axis.

I’ll probably discuss that more in some upcoming typewritten page or two.
Choosing Your Technology

March 28th, 2023

I feel like this one is slightly less slanted? I’m making progress with this weird little workflow.

For those interested, this was produced on a Royal Quiet DeLuxe from, near as I can tell, sometime in the late 40s. I might be wrong about that!

Anyway, we’re beginning to wander away from using the typewriter to discuss the typewriter, which will be ideal. I’m not into the idea of endlessly navel-gazing about the tool that produces the work. I’m working from some procession of ideas that make sense to me, though, and I just have to get some of this out of the way, first.
Old Tech in Modern Times

March 27th, 2023

At least one mistake sneaked through on this one, but such is life. I’m not terribly interested in going through another sheet of paper to correct it, so just imagine the missing “o” in the word “philosophy” above.

Also, my scanner seems to want to put a bit of a tilt on these things but I imagine that’s just because it’s my first day using it and the alignment is my problem. The rest of them won’t be tilted that way, even if I end up having to manipulate them post-scan.

In accordance with the topic of the post itself? It sure is strange to have computer-formatted text on a webpage hanging out below a typewritten page. This feels nice and modern. Up there? It feels weirdly antiquated even though I know the words are mine from just a bit ago. It’s kind of neat!

Anyway, next up is indeed the topic hinted at in the last sentence!