Blog #4

 The typewriter is an invention that we take for granted because of the technology that has surfaced today. I am currently typing on my computer keyboard which is a direct descendent of the typewriter. We use the keyboard for almost everything today because of how much technology has advanced. The typewriter was first invented in the 19th century where inventors laid the framework for the modern typewriter we see today. In the 19th century the typewriters were almost the size of a piano and were slower than writing by hand and proved that they were not necessary at the time. The thought and end goal was there for the original prototypes of the typewriter, but at the time it was hard to build because of the lack of technology. 

In 1867, Christopher Latham Sholes created one of the first modern prototypes of the typewriter. After trial and error, his second model in 1868 wrote faster than somebody writing with a pen which proved that the typewriter would have an impact on everyday life in the 1800’s. Sholes added improvements over the years and in 1873 he signed a contract with Remington to manufacture his second model which first hit the market in 1874. The typewriter changed the game for printing, newspapers, authors, and more. 

The only problem with the typewriter in 1874 was that it had no shift key, which was a problem at the time. Eventually in 1878, the first shift key typewriter was put out on the market. 

The typewriter changed the business world forever as it cut down the time to create documents and encouraged the workplace to have a better system in order. It also was cheaper because it didn’t take as many people to write stuff down because of the speed of the typewriter.  The typewriter not only changed the business world but also the world of journalism. With the typewriter being traversal, reporters could type articles faster. It also changed the way authors wrote. The invention of the typewriter made it faster than pen and paper. Authors like Mark Twain could write books faster. Mark Twain was the first author to write a book via the typewriter. 

It also added a lot more jobs in the workplace, especially for women. With the Civil War just wrapping up and with a men and labor shortage. Women were encouraged to get into the workplace. None of them wanted a factory job and a typist job was more appealing to them. Thanks to the typewriter, 45,000 jobs of typists were filled in the 1870’s after the Civil War. 

The typewriter's impact was a lot bigger than we think. I am currently typing on a keyboard which is based off of the typewriters set up. The typewriter laid the foreground for what we type on today. The keyboard on our laptops and even the digital ones on our phone are all thanks to the typewriter. The typewriter's original goal was to write faster than pen and paper, we have evolved past that as the laptop and phone can type faster than the typewriter.