Typing

clickity-clack, ding!

hammering words, carefully.

Satisfaction.

I simply adore typewriters. It is immensely satisfying to write with an analog machine. I learned to type on a typewriter when I was in high school. I think my grade nine class was one of the last in my school to have the opportunity to take the typing class as an option. The classroom was FILLED with the glorious noise of the keyboards, and the ding-ding-ding sounds could be heard throughout the halls. Learning to type has been a life-long skill that has proved so useful and when I see other people type, I feel grateful for my grade nine typing class. I can move along at a pretty good tempo!!

Since about September I started writing a semi-regular journal with a typewriter (perhaps I could share some of them on the blog, sometime – what do you think?). I find the process of sitting down and in one shot putting thought to paper is immensely gratifying. It’s an intimate relationship with the written word – and one that cannot be overthought, or corrected, or erased. More recently a friend of mine sold me a beautiful typewriter called an “Olympia” – these are German engineered, and the model I have is maroon coloured (lovely!) and has a tab-function (rare for the time!). It’s also silky smooth, and (haha) “portable”. This means you can carry it around in a case, but by today’s standards, it is not really all that portable. Although, in fairness, if you wanted a workout when walking to work, carrying the typewriter would do it.

ChatGPT has, for me, raised questions about originality and creativity, and it has actually reinforced my love for typewriters. It’s an antidote to machine learning, and while I do very much appreciate AI tools for some of what they can do, and they are game-changers in a lot of areas in society, they cannot replace the deep and authentic connection between the human brain, the muscles in the arms, hands, and fingers, and the typewriter. Playing around with ChatGPT, however, has been fun in its own right, and I did ask it to produce a Haiku about typewriters, and here is the end result (very impressive):

Clacking of the keys,

Ink on paper, timeless sound,

Typewriters still sing.

Which do you like better? My Haiku, or the one generated by Artificial Intelligence? What image do you like better? The watercolour, or the photo of the Olympia’s keyboards? To each their own, of course. But for me, clickity-clack all the way.