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The Rise and Fall of the Typewriter

• Technology
• / Innovation

April 13, 2017 | Author: Svetlana Lyapina

The rise and fall of the typewriter
number 3

The typewriter can rightly be considered a symbol of the 20th century – a device that replaced the manual labor of clerks and made it possible to significantly improve the quality of documents. However, market success for this undoubtedly useful invention did not come immediately.

The first patent for a printing device was issued by the English Queen Anne in 1714 (in those days, the rights to intellectual property were confirmed by the first people of the state – monarchs and heads of government). Inventor Henry Mill patented not only the printing machine, but also the method of sequentially printing characters on paper. But neither the image nor the detailed description of this invention, alas, has survived. Also, information about the actual creation and use of this machine has not been preserved. At least one more attempt to create a typewriter was made in the USA: in 179In 6, a patent application was filed in the name of the first US President George Washington. However, Washington, at the request, personally brought out a resolution: “Refuse due to uselessness and hopelessness.” And it was not at all the short-sightedness of the American president – at that time there were very few literate people, and a small army of clerks quite coped with the tasks of ensuring the document flow.

An innovative idea may be promising, but the market for it may not yet be ripe. In this case, even the most experienced “salesmen” will not help. Rarely, but still, a situation arises when an innovation fails not at all due to the weakness of development or marketing miscalculations – the problem is that the idea was somewhat ahead of its time, its success is yet to come.

However, by the end of the 19th century, the situation changed dramatically. The growing industrial production required not only innovations in the field of technological equipment, but also the development of production management systems.

By the way, it was during this period that management arose both as a new field of science and as a separate type of professional activity. And the document became the basis of this activity. The quality of the document influenced both the business management processes and the results of the companies’ development. Realizing this need Christopher Latham Sholes of Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA designs a typewriter. And June 23, 1868 receives a patent for this invention. Interest in the development of Sholes is shown by the company Remington & Sons (founded in 1816), which by this time was already known as a very successful manufacturer of weapons and sewing machines. For five years, Remington & Sons engineers worked to improve the design and work out the technology its production, and finally, in 1873, the serial production of the world’s first serial typewriter “Remington No. 1” (Remington # 1) began.

It cannot be said that sales of this “miracle of technology” immediately skyrocketed – on the contrary, sales were very poor. The first typewriters were very expensive ($125 – almost half a year’s wages for a worker). In addition, they were heavy (about 40 kg), and working on them required a certain physical strength. Yes, and they were very noisy. For the first three years, Remington & Sons typewriters were selling only a few a month, and the owners were seriously considering liquidating the business.

At first, a new product is always sold in very small volumes, which is associated not only with the imperfection of design and technology, but also with the conservatism of consumers who experience internal distrust of the new. According to statistics, only 2-5% of the world’s inhabitants are “innovatively receptive” and show not only interest in new products, but are also ready to try them themselves. It is these people that innovative entrepreneurs should focus on at the very beginning of their path to success.

Remington & Sons is lucky. In Hartford (Connecticut, USA), where the production of the first typewriters was located, in 1876 the great American writer lived
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , who published his works under the pseudonym “Mark Twain” . He was the innovation-savvy customer that helped Remington & Sons break out of the circle of potential consumer distrust.

During one of his walks, Mark Twain saw a typewriter in the window. Intrigued, he entered the store, where the purpose of this device was explained to him and even demonstrated how it works. The writer was impressed and immediately bought himself a typewriter. Arriving home with a purchase, he immediately tried it out, printing the first typewritten lines in his life.

Fragment of a magazine advertisement depicting Mark Twain with his daughter. Mark Twain wrote: “From now on, I declare, until a refutation appears, that I became the first writer in the world to use a typewriter. My first typewriter was capricious, full of annoying flaws. This first model of a typewriter was as vicious as the current model has become “After a couple of years of use, I realized that the machine spoiled my character. Then I decided to give it to Howells (Twain’s friend, writer William Dean Howells). When he took this “gift” to his place in Boston, my morale soared. Poor Howells never recovered.”

But in spite of everything, since then – almost 25 years, until his death – the writer did not part with a typewriter and immediately printed all his works using this new device. And since during these years he wrote not only novels, but also short stories and satirical essays, collaborating with leading American newspapers and magazines of the time, this new habit of his quickly became known to a wide range of publishers. Approximately six months after Mark Twain bought a typewriter and “put it into active operation”, the editors of almost all major publications, appreciating the advantages of printed text over the handwritten scribbles of other authors, without saying a word, ordered “no longer accept manuscripts from the authors if those are not typewritten.” So the writer, without knowing it, promoted a new product on the market. Demand for typewriters skyrocketed, money came in to improve the design, and for a full 100 years, this device reigned in every office around the world.

Innovatively receptive consumers, as a rule, have non-standard thinking, they have undoubted creative (creative) abilities, which makes it easy to spot them among other people. Without them, innovation may reach the heart of the consumer, but this path can be long and winding.

The progress of typewriters went in several directions: the weight was reduced, the keyboard was changed, the location of the carriage relative to the printing elements was moved, new keys and registers were added … Typing on a typewriter became easier and easier, and after a few years a new specialty appeared – typist, contribution which none of the contemporary sociologists denies as emancipation. The typewriter not only brought about an office revolution, but also contributed to the equalization of the rights of women and men, contributing to social progress. The first electric typewriter was produced by the company Blickensderfer Manufacturing Company in Stamford (Connecticut, USA) in 1902, but it was not a commercial success, and these devices were soon discontinued. In part, this was due to insufficient electrification: electricity was only gaining its place both in production and in everyday life. Another reason is the lack of uniform rules for the arrangement of letters on the keyboard; typists had to retrain or remain “slaves” of one familiar typewriter.

Only in 1914 – after the introduction of a standard for keyboard layout (letter arrangement) – was the design and prototype of a full-fledged electric typewriter developed, which relieved typists from heavy physical effort during typing or carriage return. It was invented by James Fields Smathers from Kansas City, USA, but the outbreak of the First World War prevented the transition to mass production.

In 1923, the inventor sold the patent, along with a prototype, to Northeast Electric , which did not intend to produce typewriters themselves, but was ready to sell an electric drive to a fairly large community of their manufacturers. By this time, electricity had already arrived in almost every home and there were no more problems connecting typewriters to the mains. However, manufacturers of mechanical typewriters were slow to change established production. At 19In 29, Northeast Electric attempted to independently enter the market with an electric typewriter branded Electromatic Typewriter . 2.5 thousand cars were sold, but the Great American Depression (1930s) prevented success. As a result, in 1933, Electromatic Typewriter was bought by another company, while changing its name to International Business Machine (yes, the same IBM). IBM entered the market with a mass-produced electric typewriter and really became an international company known all over the world.

In order for a new product to be in demand for a long time, it must be constantly developed and improved. Directions of development “prompt” other industries, synchronization of progress with which also increases the chances of success of innovative updates. But ignoring progress always leads to the same sad ending – the business has to be curtailed.

For 40 years, until 1974, typewriter manufacturers rested on their laurels. Many of them have become large and successful, world famous and have no problems with sales. The 101st anniversary of the start of industrial production of typewriters was marked by an unremarkable event: in the garage of a stepfather Steve Jobs earned the first personal computer, designed by a friend of Jobs Steve Wozniak . However, no one paid attention to this event. On the contrary, the typewriter companies continued to invest in expanding production and further modernizing these devices. Paying tribute to the time, they added electronic components (for example, they built in a “memory” and a mini-display on which the typed line was displayed for possible correction of typos before printing). However, the appearance on the market of a “personal computer for ordinary people”, as Jobs and Wozniak called their new product, led to the fact that by 19In the 1980s, most typewriter companies suffered significant losses and were forced to close. The history of this amazing invention is over.

Tags:

innovation technology entrepreneurship mark twainremington

History of the typewriter – reference information

The typewriter was one of the greatest turning points in history. Writing, a previously time-consuming task, has become much easier. The typewriter has benefited countless businessmen, researchers, and professionals who have been “forced to undergo hard pen work.” It has brought convenience and productivity to people all over the world. Even more important, however, was its impact on business and society. Companies have grown and expanded in unprecedented ways because of this new speed of writing. Because of the speed at which the Sholes-Glidden typewriter was put on the table, it became the driving force behind the growth of virtually every company. The Sholes-Glidden typewriter, however, was not the first typewriter, nor the first to be faster than handwriting—it was just a commercially successful typewriter. To trace the roots of the typewriter, one must go back several centuries.

Hard work

Since the advent of writing, the process of writing has been long and labor-intensive. Words and symbols had to be carefully and carefully copied by hand, verbatim, over and over again, to make one copy or write down one record. In fact, the process of writing was so difficult that there were human scribes whose lives were dedicated only to writing and copying. They, too, were revered and glorified only because of how difficult it was to write. Despite the difficulties, however, writing has been an integral part of human progress. By the 1400s, people were already tired of the difficulties of writing and were looking for new ways to reduce this work. The result was the printing press, the first invention that revolutionized the world of writing.

After this success, people started looking for even more ways to improve writing and make it easier. The next major revolution in writing came in the mid-1600s in the form of William Petty’s typewriter. In a machine patent, Charles I described it as a machine that “Perhaps in an hour will learn, and it will be of great benefit to lawyers, scribes, merchants, scientists, registrars, clerks and so on; it saves the labor of examination, detection or prevention of falsifications, as well as doing business with ease and speed, and therefore with personal life.” Basically, Petty’s invention was really just a machine that wrote with two pens at the same time. However, the description of Charles I can also be ideally applied to a typewriter.

60 years later

In 1714, almost sixty years later, Henry Mill created the next notable typewriter. In a patent granted to him by the Queen, Mill’s typewriter was described as “an artificial mechanism or method for impressing or transcribing letters, one at a time or gradually, one after the other, as in writing, whereby all entries may be so neat and precise as to they were indistinguishable from print “an impression deeper and more lasting than any other writing. ..” Unlike Petty’s two-handle typewriter, Mill’s was much more like a 20th-century typewriter. In just sixty years since the first known typewriter appeared, tremendous progress has been made towards the creation of the most revolutionary invention in writing.

First writing machine

William Austin Burt’s printer, invented in 1829, was the first American writing machine. The man typed on Bert’s Typograph, spinning a large wheel of many characters until the desired character was in front of the typing point. The hammer would then transfer the type to the surface of the paper, creating an imprint on it. This, however, was a very slow process—slower even than handwriting. This method was also very prone to spelling errors, as shown in a letter he wrote to his wife. Despite its shortcomings, many people saw potential in the car. One such person was John Sheldon, editor of the Michigan Gazette. In fact, he was so impressed with the typewriter that he even went so far as to write to Andrew Jackson, the president of the day. However, Sheldon was unable to find enough funds to produce the “Typographer” and the typographer was brought to a premature end. Much like Charles I and descriptions of the queen of previous typewriters, Sheldon’s letter was supposed to predict the influence of the typographer Bert, but instead it managed to better predict the end result of the typewriter. In his letter, Sheldon wrote that the typewriter “would be appreciated with the newest, most useful, and agreeable inventions of this century.” After Burt, many inventors tried to create their own printing presses, but none of them were as progressive as Burt. These later typewriters could not really impact the world or attract as much attention as Bert, and as a result, the names and faces of their inventors were lost in the depths of history.

First commercially successful machine

In 1831, the next famous typewriter appeared, born during the great conflict within America itself. Originally created as a hobby by John Pratt, the Pterotype eventually became the inspiration for the first commercially successful typewriter. Since obtaining a patent was very difficult during the Civil War, Pratt decided to have his machine finished in London, where he was able to obtain a British patent in 1864. His Pterotype aroused great interest and speculation among many English citizens. In fact, the writing instrument was so interesting that when Pratt returned to America at the end of the Civil War, he found an editorial “Type Writing Machine” written in Scientific American, which described his product as “A machine which is supposed to that a man can type his thoughts twice as fast as he can write them, and with the advantage of being legible, compact and accurate in print, was recently exhibited before the London Society of Arts by the inventor, Mr. Pratt… The subject of typewriting is one of the interesting aspects of the near future. Its sheer feasibility and advantage indicate that the painstaking and unsatisfactory performance of the pen must sooner or later become obsolete for general purposes.

This description, applicable to both typewriters and newer models, describes many of the important advantages of the typewriter. Unfortunately for Pratt, by the time he received the American patent for his “pterotype”, Charles Latham Scholes had already been granted a patent for his printing press. Because of this time difference, Scholes’ model became much more famous in America and eclipsed the Pterotype. Charles Latham Scholes is generally known to most as the inventor of the first typewriter. Although not true, the Sholes-Glidden typewriter that Sholes later invented was indeed the first truly successful typewriter. Scholes lived near the local machine shop, Kleinsteuber, and frequented it with his friends Samuel W. Soule and Carlos Glidden. In July 1867, Scholes came across an article in Scientific America describing Pratt’s “pterotype”. Inspired by this “printing machine”, Scholes decided to create his own writing instrument, arguing that Pratt’s machine was too complicated. Through a lot of experimentation and invention, Scholes and his friends were finally able to create a machine capable of printing a single letter: W. For Scholes and his friends, this was a tremendous achievement that really pushed them to continue working. With one letter below the metaphorical belts, Scholes, Soule, and Glidden continued to develop their typewriter until it could type the entire English alphabet. The first prototype of this typewriter was almost piano-shaped, with white and black ivory and ebony keys respectively. They named their new typewriter the Type-Writer, after the title of the article that originally inspired them.

Scholes knew that without money, their new car wouldn’t go anywhere, no matter how revolutionary it was. Scholes decided to reach out to people for support, so he started writing to investors (with his new Type-Writer, of course). One of the investors, James Densmore, was very interested in Scholes’ typewriter. To secure his position, James readily paid them the six hundred dollars they asked for in exchange for part of the company. He also stayed on the project, constantly pushing Soles to build the perfect car.

Keyboard layout that has survived to this day

While Densmore had absolute confidence in the typewriter, speaking of the “typewriter” (the name he created), “I believe in this invention from the very top corner of my hat to the very bottom of the nails of my heel…” Scholes did not was so confident in the machine he had invented that he decided to sell it to Densmore. In 1872, his friend Yost visited him in Milwaukee and recommended to him E. Remington & Son, a gun and sewing machine factory until the end of the Civil War. In 1873 a deal was struck to convert the machine to production and the factory set about building 1000 typewriters and 1000 typewriters which revolutionized the world of writing and started the typewriter industry. The biggest feature of the Sholes-Glidden typewriter was that it was finally possible to type faster on it than to write with a pen. The first production appearance of the Sholes-Glidden typewriter was very different from that of more modern typewriters – it was shaped like a sewing machine (Remington Arms made sewing machines and pistols during the war). However, Sholes’ real legacy, the Gldden typewriter, left us not with its sewing machine-like appearance, but rather with its unique keyboard layout. When Scholes was building his typewriter, he discovered a very annoying problem: when the keys were pressed too quickly in succession, the hammers on which the characters were typed would get stuck, binding to each other. Scholes decided that the best way to solve this problem was to change the keyboard format to a more complex one, with the keys normally used together spaced farther apart. Instead of the usual AZ keyboard layout of its time.

As the popularity and success of the Sholes typewriter grew and people began to adapt to its new keyboard layout, other companies saw the success of QWERTY and followed suit. Almost every keyboard today is built in the QWERTY layout, a perfect demonstration of the Sholes-Glidden typewriter’s lasting impact. Created by James B. Hammond, the Hammond model typewriter appeared shortly after the release of the Sholes typewriter. Seeing the terrible setback that Pratt experienced while obtaining the patent, Hammond offered Pratt a large sum of money and a percentage of the profits if Pratt agreed to retire from the typewriter industry.

Then, taking Pratt’s plans and patents, Hammond “created” a typewriter that used the revolutionary change-type idea or “shift” button on modern keyboards. This new mechanism allowed for two sets of keys on each hammer that could be changed at the touch of a button, allowing printers to print with a much larger range of characters and letters despite having fewer visible keys on the surface.

Promotion of typewriters

Due to a general misunderstanding of what a typewriter is, the Sholes-Glidden typewriter did not sell well when it was first released. People often confused the typewriter with the old typewriter, not realizing that the typewriter was a brand new revolutionary invention. When people began to understand the benefits of the typewriter, society changed for the better in an incredible way. The unrivaled speed of typewriters became a necessity for priests and clergy alike, who could now type sermons and record purchases half the time. Despite the need to learn how to use a typewriter, everyone understood that typewriters had great potential.

The aforementioned article in Scientific American wrote that “copying and the writing and distribution of sermons and lectures, not to mention letters and editorials, will undergo a revolution as remarkable as the revolution that occurred in books with the invention of printing.” Every person, regardless of profession or hobby, could take advantage of this invention in one form or another. New amenities never thought of before were also a reality, as evidenced by letters that could now be typed and printed for less than a dollar.

However, even with these improvements that typewriters brought to life, many still objected to the ubiquitous use of the typewriter. When the typewriter was first released to the public, people were often offended if they received a typed letter, thinking that the sender was not attentive enough to them to write the letter by hand. But even so, it simply could not go unnoticed that the typewriter began to penetrate into every part of people’s lives and generally improve the life of each person.

New opportunities for women

Not only have they improved everyday life and increased workflow, typewriters have created many new opportunities for women. Due to the growing popularity of the typewriter in the late 1800s, women were given a new opportunity to enter the business. While women used to work in factories and sweatshops, in factories with appalling and inhumane conditions, typewriters gave them new opportunities for clerical work, which usually provided higher pay under better working conditions. Scholes himself soon realized that his typewriter gave women new freedoms, saying, “I feel like I did something for the women who always had to work so hard. This will make it easier for them to earn a living – whatever I felt in the early days of the value of the typewriter, this is obviously a blessing for humanity, and especially for a woman. Sholes very accurately felt the colossal changes that his typewriter brought. Regardless of who his original target demographic was, his writing machine gave thousands of women new lives and new conditions, while also providing them with a springboard on which they could subsequently rise to even higher positions in society.

The typewriter is one of the most revolutionary inventions in history. This accelerated the work of writers, productivity in offices and increased convenience for workers. It provided jobs for women, made it easier to write to friends, and ultimately prepared society for the advent of computers. Although the journey to build the typewriter was long and arduous, it was very necessary. It was created over centuries of work by countless people: the inventors who perfected the typewriter, the investors who poured their heart and money into these machines. From writers who brought typewriters to public attention, to hobbyists whose inventions led to a more versatile machine.