Wikipedia says that the word "typewriter" is the longest [English] word that can be typed using only one row of keys.
This is the Olivetti Valentine typewriter. It is a true pop art icon designed by Ettore Sottsass, a typewriter that's made it to The Museum of Modern Art in New York along with Alvar Aalto's chairs etc.
Current price for the Valentine varies from $100 to $795, and as it's been out of production since a long time, the only places to find them are auctions and some collector stores. Some are lucky to find them from recycling centres for 3 euros.
I don't know how much it would be for this one with Scandinavian layout, as I think it would be rarer... No intention to sell this, no. Mom got this from her parents when she was a bit younger than me, and it is important to her, and also important to me. I've written on this typewriter until I got my first computer in I don't even remember when, 2003, maybe.
This is the Olivetti Valentine typewriter. It is a true pop art icon designed by Ettore Sottsass, a typewriter that's made it to The Museum of Modern Art in New York along with Alvar Aalto's chairs etc.
Current price for the Valentine varies from $100 to $795, and as it's been out of production since a long time, the only places to find them are auctions and some collector stores. Some are lucky to find them from recycling centres for 3 euros.
I don't know how much it would be for this one with Scandinavian layout, as I think it would be rarer... No intention to sell this, no. Mom got this from her parents when she was a bit younger than me, and it is important to her, and also important to me. I've written on this typewriter until I got my first computer in I don't even remember when, 2003, maybe.
I was surprised that I could still write fast and properly on Valentine, although the keyboard layout is different. I've been using the typewriter for a few days and I haven't mixed up the . and , with ä and ö once. Also the question mark comes quite naturally. There is only one thing bothering me, though: There is no exclamation mark!
Comparison.
Typewriters were self-evident when I was a kid. Every family had one. I remember my neigbours having a yellow one that was smaller and lighter than Valentine, and I was jealous because I thought Valentine was bulky and huge, and I wanted a tiny and compact one.
I wrote the first 80something pages of my first "novel" (which still isn't finished [because I at some point realised that it's mostly shit]) on the typewriter.
Nowadays, typing with a typewriter is of course sort of an experience for all the senses. You have to use more force, you hear the keys, and you can feel the letters being pressed into the paper. Oh how I missed that! Having the text right there, staying there for sure, so that I can't delete what I just wrote, and with that I may think what actually is bad about it, write some corrections here and there. With computers it's just too easy to delete everything you've written. I also can't see my own mistakes on the screen.
Also, there must be this weird artistic feel to typewriters, their association as the tool used to create classics. It's the thing that is and is supposed to be between handwriting -- can get difficult to read afterwards -- and typing on the computer -- feels impersonal and unreal.
And yeah, as I am infamously known as a collector/lover of electronics of certain colour... Well, this does not even need electricity to be awesome.
The different keyboard layouts amuse me.
QWERTZ.
AZERTY.
QZERTY.
QWERTY (standard).
Macbook much? I was so surprised to find out they came in white/gray too! Apparently very rare.
Oh no, they came in blue as well! The internets rumour that this was a special edition for Mexico. Apparently rarer than the white.
Oh oh, green? According to the internet the green's for South Africa. Apparently rarer than the blue.
They look weird. I've been staring at the red one for such a long time I though it would be the only colour there was for these.
A futuristic view. If they ever make this, I want. More info.
Meanwhile... I just ordered a new ink ribbon.
Comparison.
Typewriters were self-evident when I was a kid. Every family had one. I remember my neigbours having a yellow one that was smaller and lighter than Valentine, and I was jealous because I thought Valentine was bulky and huge, and I wanted a tiny and compact one.
I wrote the first 80something pages of my first "novel" (which still isn't finished [because I at some point realised that it's mostly shit]) on the typewriter.
Nowadays, typing with a typewriter is of course sort of an experience for all the senses. You have to use more force, you hear the keys, and you can feel the letters being pressed into the paper. Oh how I missed that! Having the text right there, staying there for sure, so that I can't delete what I just wrote, and with that I may think what actually is bad about it, write some corrections here and there. With computers it's just too easy to delete everything you've written. I also can't see my own mistakes on the screen.
Also, there must be this weird artistic feel to typewriters, their association as the tool used to create classics. It's the thing that is and is supposed to be between handwriting -- can get difficult to read afterwards -- and typing on the computer -- feels impersonal and unreal.
And yeah, as I am infamously known as a collector/lover of electronics of certain colour... Well, this does not even need electricity to be awesome.
The different keyboard layouts amuse me.
QWERTZ.
AZERTY.
QZERTY.
QWERTY (standard).
Macbook much? I was so surprised to find out they came in white/gray too! Apparently very rare.
Oh no, they came in blue as well! The internets rumour that this was a special edition for Mexico. Apparently rarer than the white.
Oh oh, green? According to the internet the green's for South Africa. Apparently rarer than the blue.
They look weird. I've been staring at the red one for such a long time I though it would be the only colour there was for these.
A futuristic view. If they ever make this, I want. More info.
Meanwhile... I just ordered a new ink ribbon.
I got curious and went to the nearby flea market yesterday. They had two typewriters for sale. 15 euros each.
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