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A typewriter is a mechanical device to produce printed characters on a piece of paper by typing individual keys.
Many of the developments in typewriter design have left their legacy on present data input techniques in
computer systems.

What Is a Typewriter
Consider for a moment your life without a computer. For a college course, you need to write a 3,000-
word essay. Doing background research requires going to the library and looking up some books or
articles on the shelves. You take notes by writing them down on a notepad. Once you have your
notes organized you need to sit down and actually write the paper. How? Using a typewriter.

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11/4/2016 Typewriters: History & Types ­ Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

A typewriter is a mechanical device to produce printed characters on a piece of paper by typing

individual keys. If you've grown up in the computer age you may never have seen a typewriter, let
alone used one. Yet, 30 years ago they were everywhere. They were as ubiquitous as, well,
computers are today - one for every desk. While typewriters are no longer in widespread use, much
of today's keyboard functionality is derived from typewriters.

History
In the mid-19th century, business communications were increasing at a rapid pace and created the
need for the mechanization of the writing process. Quite a number of di됐erent designs were
developed and tested by various inventors. By 1873, the 󥈈rst commercially successful typewriter was
introduced: the Sholes and Glidden Type-Writer. This device is also the origin of the term typewriter.

The basic mechanical typewriter became relatively standardized. Each key was attached to a typebar
with the corresponding letter molded into its head (in reverse). By 󥈈rmly striking a key, a typebar
was brought into motion in order for the head to hit a ribbon, making a printed mark on a piece of
paper. The paper was rolled around a cylinder, and this cylinder was mounted on a carriage. With
every keystroke the carriage would advance horizontally to the next character on the same line. A
carriage-return lever was used to move the carriage all the way back to the beginning of the line and
roll up the paper one line vertically.

One important innovation was the use of a shift key, which made it possible to use one of two
characters on a single typebar. For letters, these logically represented lower and uppercase versions
of the same letter. For other characters, it simply created more options for special symbols.

If any of these terms sound familiar - even if you have never used a typewriter - that should not
come as a great surprise. Just look at your computer keyboard. There is an enter or return key,
which is just like the original carriage-return lever. There is the shift key, which works just like its
mechanical equivalent. Modern computer keyboards have a lot in common with the old-fashioned
typewriter.

There is another very important legacy of typewriter design on modern computers. Read the 󥈈rst six
letters on your keyboard from the top-left. They read QWERTY. This is the exact same layout of keys
used in the very 󥈈rst commercial typewriter back in 1873. Why this particular sequence? In testing
di됐erent designs, it was discovered that users could type faster than the mechanical typebars could
move back and forth, resulting in jams when the typebars got entangled. By analyzing common
character sequences, a keyboard layout was developed that slowed down users, so they could type
at a steady pace without jamming the typebars.

Di됐erent Types
The early typewriters were completely mechanical. Every moving part was mechanical, moved either
by a typist or a built-in mechanism using levers and springs. These typewriters were also quite noisy.
Keys had to be struck quite 󥈈rmly and made a signi󥈈cant noise when striking the metal cylinder

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11/4/2016 Typewriters: History & Types ­ Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

around which the paper was rolled. Consider a skilled typist banging away at a single typewriter at a
brisk pace of several hundred characters per minute. Add a bell every time the end of a line is
reached and the rattling noise of the carriage being moved back to the beginning. Now image a
room full of them, typing away at their desks… and you thought your o塎�ce was loud!

In addition to the noise, mechanical typewriters were also physically demanding on the typists.
Electric typewriters were developed to reduce the noise and the physical strain of mechanical

Support
typewriters. Electric typewriters removed the direct mechanical connection between the keys and
the elements striking the paper, replacing it with a motor to move the typebar mechanically. By the
1930s, electric typewriters were in widespread use. One of the leading manufacturers at this time
was IBM - yes, the same IBM that played a major role in the development and commercialization of
computer systems. While IBM is now known a computer industry giant, it started out in the
typewriter business.

By the 1960s, the typeball was introduced. Rather than a set of typebars, each one with two
characters on it, a single metal ball contained all the necessary characters. The typeball eliminated
all mechanical jams. They could also be swapped out to use a completely di됐erent character set.
IBM dominated the typewriter market in the 1960s and 1970s with its typeball electric typewriters.

A 󥈈nal development in typewriters was the emergence of electronic typewriters. Introduced in the
1980s, these were like a hybrid between an electric typewriter and a modern computer. These
electronic typewriters had a small amount of memory, a small display showing one or more lines of
characters, spell-checking, and other functions. Users could enter and edit text before committing
them to paper. These typewriters are considered electronic because they relied on integrated
circuits and electromechanical components.

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