Of course I still know how to use a word processor to just get something done. But I thought reporting on the result of this little experiment had some merit.
We can use the abstracted idea of the page to type a bunch of stuff out and get work done that way but it doesn’t mean that it’s the best fit for all situations. I think examining the manner in which we work has significant value.
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.
I feel like I’m getting the hang of making fewer errors. It requires more concentration than I’m used to bringing to bear to be able to pull that off. A few mistakes still aren’t preventing me from publishing! Mostly I don’t want to use a ton of paper to get something just right.
I’m thinking about maybe setting up to stream some typing work on Twitch, somehow or another. I envision it as kind of a place to hang out and maybe enjoy the (admittedly quaint) sound of a typewriter going to work on the page. I’m not fully sold on the idea yet, though.
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.
Update, months after I originally posted this:
That’s some awful readability on the text on that document, huh? If this is your first encounter with this work, don’t worry – it gets quite a bit better when I figured out that some of this didn’t come across super well on a computer screen.
Typewritten 