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As modern scribes, I think we have it pretty easy. We have the option to move entire chunks of text around, delete asinine sentences, copy entire chunks, cut, paste... You name it.
That said, though, I remember as a kid typing on my mom's electric IBM and I have to admit, it was pretty rad. Sure, I made scores of mistakes, used White-Out like a champ and my tabs were an ungodly mess -- but as young as I was, I knew it was romantic.
Hell... On my college paper, we filed our pieces on electric typewriters and I felt energized doing it. That wouldn't last, however. The Commodore 64, OsCom PC, AT&T personal computer and the countless PCs to follow have changed the way I write. For better or worse.
Every time I take the 'delete' key for granted, I think of Papa H, Kerouac or even Buk, sitting in their lonely room, huddled over their old Remington. Every now and then I try to imagine their face if I showed them what my $99 HP inkjet could do.
Someone once said that Bukowski sent out hundreds of poems without carbons to scores of "little magazines" and then I think, "Jesus... The stuff he wrote that we've never even seen. Man..."
If only he had a PC to save them.
Given the hardware, would "The Masters" easily jump into our modern writing world? or would they stay safe, in their smoke-filled den of creativity... The clickity-clack of the keys solidifying their legacy... I wonder
Celebrating the legacy of these old machines, check out this cool link highlighting gorgeous shots of vintage typewriters. You can almost smell the ink...
