Posted by Julie Greenbaum on Oct 10, 2019
Talking with an expert in the typewriter industry, like Typewriters.com founder Jim Riegert, can lead to some interesting and surprising things.Like learning how many different industries still use typewriters — evenin today's digital world.
From government agencies to banks and more, typewriters still play a crucial role in getting the job done.
In this week’s blog,we’ll take a look at some of those industries and what they use theirtypewriters for.
Let’s dive in.
Funeral Parlors
When you think of funeralparlors, typewriters may not typically come to mind, but these trusted machines are used to type official death certificates. This is because some states still require that death certificates be typed out.
Federal Prisons
In correctional facilities today, not only do their administrative offices use typewriters but surprisingly, prisoners can as well. It iscommon for inmates who are not allowed to use computers to use typewriters —offering a form of communication while also eliminating thelikelihood of contraband.
A Market forTypewriters in Prison
For some prisoners, having a typewriter has made all the difference in providing a medium and an outlet for them. In an article in The New Yorker, several inmates were interviewed and shared what they use their typewriters for. One inmate used a typewriter as a way ofcapturing his feelings and events that he witnessed while in prison, while another inmate becamea journalist while in prison, taking a writer’s workshop that was offered to prisoners. This led to him having his article published in The Atlantic. Another prisoner wrote a book andhad articles published in Vice and the Daily Beast while he wasstill incarcerated. Click here to read their stories.
Senior Citizens
Typewriters are still a common tool amongst senior citizens who don’t want to use a computer. They may use theirtypewriters for typingroutine letters, writing their congressmen, and for creative writing. I had the pleasure of recently speaking to a playwright who told me that he still uses a typewriter to crank out his stories.
Attorneys
Typewriters can still be found in many law firms across the county. According to Lawyerist.com, any law firm more than 5 years oldprobably has at least one typewriter in the office. Typewriters are still usedamong lawyers and come in particularly handy when thingsneed to be filled out in triplicate using carbon forms, filling outpre-printed forms, or for smaller jobs likeaddressing envelopes.
Government - Local and Federal
Typewriters are asafe way to protect sensitive information since digital data has the potential to be hacked. According to The Routledge Companion to Media Technology and Obsolescence publishedin 2018, "intelligence agencies and other sensitive governmental organizationsuse typewriters today for top-secret documents because typewritten text cannotbe hacked as long as it exists purely as ink on paper."
Another interesting find from The Routledge Companion was that the New York Police Departmentand 17 other New York City agencies still have over a thousand typewriters in use today!
Typewriters are also widely used amongbanks (used for producing certified checks), CPAs, the military,and infactories. According to Jim Riegert, these segments mainly use typewriters forfilling out forms, typing envelopes, and completing checks.
Many typewriters.com customers like the fact that they don't need to have WiFi and that they don't have to worry about being hacked and losing valuable data. They also like that they can complete their forms much faster, and can create content — all without distractions (since there are no virus updates or reminders).
It's easy to see whytypewriters are the machine of choice for many businesses. We think we'll continue to see even more marketsturn to them in the future, especially as more people look to limitdistractions and increase defense against hackers.
If one thing is clear, typewriters are not disappearing any time soon.
Just ask Tom Hanks, who has successfully made using typewriters cool again among the younger generation.
FAQs
Despite being erased from many offices by the rise of computers, the typewriter has remained a beloved design icon which is still in use today.
How has the typewriter impacted society today? ›
Overall, the invention of the typewriter changed the world by shifting the dependency on handwriting to the act of typing which spiked an evolution that led all the way to the creation of the modern day computer that we still use and depend on today.
How did the typewriter impact the Industrial Revolution? ›
The typewriter, by reducing the time and expense involved in creating documents, encouraged the spread of systematic management. It allowed a system of communications that shaped the business world.
Do courts still use typewriters? ›
Rather than paying a highly trained stenographer to work a complex stenotype machine, courtroom proceedings are simply recorded as digital audio, then after the proceeding, a less trained (and less expensive) typist transcribes the record at a slower pace.
What industries still use typewriters? ›
Typewriters are also widely used among banks (used for producing certified checks), CPAs, the military, and in factories. According to Jim Riegert, these segments mainly use typewriters for filling out forms, typing envelopes, and completing checks.
Are typewriters still worth it? ›
They Appreciate In Value
Typewriters aren't just a great way to avoid technology – they're also a pretty smart investment. Lots of people are getting into collecting typewriters, and perhaps surprisingly, it's quickly turning into a lucrative industry.
How did typewriters help people? ›
The ease and speed of communication on paper increased dramatically when typewriters became available in the late 1800s. Typewriting was efficient, created clear and legible documents, and easily produced multiple copies using carbon paper.
How did the typewriter help the economy? ›
This inquiry has sought to establish that indeed the invention of the typewriter influenced the American economy by increasing productivity, enhancing communication, and providing improvements in management.
What are the benefits of a typewriter? ›
Typewriting was efficient, created clear and legible documents, and easily produced multiple copies using carbon paper. During the early 1900s, offices staffed by typists, bookkeepers, and clerks made the desktop typewriter indispensable.
Did the typewriter solve a problem? ›
The typewriter solved time-efficacy problems in businesses worldwide, bringing a new writing culture that no longer needed handwriting. Typing machines developed throughout the 19th century. The first commercially successful typewriter was the “Sholes and Glidden Type-Writer”.
Invented in the early 19th century, typewriters offered speed, efficiency and legibility, paving the way for subsequent technological advancements, such as word processors and the QWERTY keyboard.
What replaced the typewriter? ›
Typewriters have been around since the late 1800s, and they revolutionized the way people wrote and produced documents. While they have largely been replaced by computers, typewriters still hold a special place in the hearts of many writers and historians as well as business professionals.
Do we still use typewriters today? ›
Typewriters were a standard fixture in most offices up to the 1980s. After that, they began to be largely supplanted by personal computers running word processing software. Nevertheless, typewriters remain common in some parts of the world.
Do police still use typewriters? ›
Once a fixture in every police station, typewriters mostly disappeared with computerization. But some are still in use, says the repairman hired to keep them working.
Did they use typewriters in school? ›
Yes, but: Even after decades of use, typewriters were controversial. "Many people who hear about the increased use of typewriters in the elementary school consider this another example of the 'frills' which ought to be eliminated," columnist Dr. Ernest G. Osborne wrote in 1961.
Can typewriters still be used? ›
Typewriters were a standard fixture in most offices up to the 1980s. After that, they began to be largely supplanted by personal computers running word processing software. Nevertheless, typewriters remain common in some parts of the world.
Should I write with a typewriter? ›
Typewriters are great for writing. Write, edit, publish: Those are the steps you must repeat to be a writer, and they have to be done in order. You can take a step backward, but you can't skip a step forward. No device does the first step better than a typewriter.
Are typewriters coming back? ›
The clickety-clack of typewriters is coming from many teens and 20-somethings these days. They are using the antiquated machines as a creative escape from computers and the internet.
Is typewriter obsolete? ›
This once ubiquitous device has been made obsolete by computers. The typewriter usually had keys arranged in the QWERTY layout that is still seen on computer keyboards and mobile devices today.
