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Hardware Hacking

Typewriter As Keyboard Mod 202

Posted by CmdrTaco from the because-you-can dept.
ummit writes "Erik Fitzpatrick did a nice job turning an old Smith-Corona manual typeriter into a functional keyboard, and composed a nice writeup about it, with pictures."
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Typewriter As Keyboard Mod More

Typewriter As Keyboard Mod

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  • finally... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Marscity9 ( 737103 ) on Saturday August 13, 2005 @08:48PM (#13313653)
    A good keyboard that clicks with tactile feedback when you use it

    • Re:finally... (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Limburgher ( 523006 ) on Saturday August 13, 2005 @09:14PM (#13313758) Homepage Journal
      Still I prefer the IBM Model M [wikipedia.org]. Now that sucker's awesome. It's not just the most robust, sturdy keyboard I've ever used, I've also a weapon :)

      • Re:finally... (Score:4, Interesting)

        by bhtooefr ( 649901 ) <bhtooefr@NoSPaM.bhtooefr.org> on Saturday August 13, 2005 @09:58PM (#13313876) Homepage Journal
        Try a Model F...

        The Model M is a buckling-spring/membrane hybrid (as in, the BS mechanism hits a membrane). The Model F uses a buckling-spring, but it uses capacitive switching rather than a membrane.

        That said, if I'm not using the keyboard on this lappy, I'm on a Model M. The best 101-key keyboard evar!
      • For people who loved the M and northgate keyboards check this [cvtinc.com] out.....

      • Re:finally... (Score:5, Interesting)

        by retinaburn ( 218226 ) on Sunday August 14, 2005 @01:10AM (#13314717)
        I was thinking the same thing. I recently liberated two (one for my brother and one for myself) and pulled out an old ps2-usb converted I got with a keyboard, which let me use it on my new pcs.

        On the downside of the Model M, my brothers old roommates gf had a nervous breakdown because of the late night coding/IRC he used to do causing a significant lack of sleep for her.

        For most /.'rs this won't be a problem ;)
      • Still I prefer the IBM Model M.

        AAAAAAAAARGH!!!!!!!

        It's like Chinese water torture. The knowledge that whenever there's a story that mentions computer keyboards *somewhere*, someone will very quickly mention the IBM Model M.

        It seems to have a cult following amongst a particular group of users, and it's inevitable that they'll reply to each other, saying how well-built it was, and how crappy modern membrane keyboards are.

        And the thing is, it probably was well-built, but so what? I've used one, and
        • The big complaint I had with them is that they're loud, as in get rude comments from your co-workers loud. You can't use them in dorm rooms because it would limit you to daytime coding only.

          On the other hand, I'm one of those guys who just loves his MS Natural v.1 keyboard, so maybe I shouldn't be commenting about keyboard elitists.

    • Re:finally... (Score:4, Funny)

      by uncoveror ( 570620 ) on Saturday August 13, 2005 @10:14PM (#13313947) Homepage
      Turning a typewriter into a computer keyboard might even give you an "any" key if you can get an old Typewriters International of Toledo [uncoveror.com] model.
    • Yes, but does it have a key debounce issue and has it been solved. With the old TRS-80 Model I machines I used to work with, I think there used to be a program you could get that would solve this issue for you. It is probably still under copyright though and they probably never GPLed it so we may have to start again from scratch!

      all the best,

      drew

      http://www.ourmedia.org/node/41879 [ourmedia.org]

  • surprised (Score:3, Interesting)

    by smoondog ( 85133 ) on Saturday August 13, 2005 @08:53PM (#13313668)
    I'm surprised that computer mods/case mods aren't more popular. They hit the /. community regularly, but I'm surprised we don't see them on TV or on other websites more often.

    • Re:surprised (Score:2, Interesting)

      by null etc. ( 524767 )
      How nice! I just bought a 1920's Royal typewriter on ebay for $35, for the explicit purpose of turning it into a PC case. The insides are huge, have glass windows on the side (take that, PC!) and will be a perfect housing for a micro-atx motherboard.

      My final mod will consist of sticking a 19" LCD monitor out of the back, ala Animatrix "Detective Story".

    • Re:surprised (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Nasarius ( 593729 ) on Saturday August 13, 2005 @09:45PM (#13313846)
      I'm surprised that computer mods/case mods aren't more popular. They hit the /. community regularly, but I'm surprised we don't see them on TV or on other websites more often.

      Perhaps because most people, myself included, don't really give a crap what their computer looks like. Smaller and quieter is nice. But case windows and, neon lights and a pewter gargoyle on top? It's useless.

      • I agree but I do think it is important a laptop looks good. Obvious functionality must exist of course, but it's something you take with you and are, ahem, seen with. Sounds lame indeed, but it sells more laptops. Stylized desktop cases are not as popular however for the same reason stylized toilet seats are not.
      • I was with you up to the pewter gargoyle. I don't know, there's something about the mental image of a gothic-styled full tower that appeals...
    • Well, the one mentioned in the article has been around since 2003 - at least, that's the last time that /. ran a story about it.

      -h-

  • Nestalgia (Score:4, Funny)

    by Tablizer ( 95088 ) on Saturday August 13, 2005 @08:54PM (#13313669) Journal
    *click* *click* *click* "It was a dark and stormy night" *click* *click* *click*

  • doot do do, doot doot do do do dooo (Score:5, Interesting)

    by jmb-d ( 322230 ) on Saturday August 13, 2005 @08:54PM (#13313672) Homepage Journal
    Anyone else thinking of Brazil [imdb.com] and the computers [trond.com] they used?
  • I think a better idea would be finding a new manual typewriter that isn't outrageously expensive. The electronic typewriters that still sell today for $90 USD isn't worth it. I want a manual typewriter that doesn't need to be tied to the wall so I can come back to it at any time without worrying if the ding-dang-thing overheated to death.

  • Ooh... man... (Score:5, Funny)

    by gardyloo ( 512791 ) on Saturday August 13, 2005 @08:55PM (#13313676)
    Emacs is gonna be a bitch with that thing.

  • How very... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by AtariDatacenter ( 31657 ) on Saturday August 13, 2005 @09:00PM (#13313705)
    How very Max Headroom of them. Theora would be proud!

  • Not actually useful? (Score:4, Informative)

    by NotQuiteReal ( 608241 ) on Saturday August 13, 2005 @09:02PM (#13313707) Journal
    Seems to be missing a lot of keys, like "Ctrl", "Alt", "~", etc.

    Even from the article... "never got the backspace to work"...

    Seems like some old typewriters didn't even have a "1" key - you just used lower case L.

    • Re:Not actually useful? (Score:4, Funny)

      by gardyloo ( 512791 ) on Saturday August 13, 2005 @09:08PM (#13313732)
      Yeah, people never actually got any work done with typewriters. They were just playing around for about a hundred years until real keyboards came along.
    • Yeah--and tabs--it was an actual tab that you physically moved to set tab stops where the carriage would "fall" stop at.

      I got a typewriter from my grandfather that he had gotten in the 1930's I believe. Incredibly heavy, built like a tank, he used it for literally 60 years, several times a week.

      amazing piece of technology, really.
    • At a sucky temp job I had this spring, I took to using the lower case L instead of the 1 key part of the time while entering data. I mean, they had us spending half the day typing the data into Fricking Excel, instead of doing real testing.

      It was a nice diversion to throw a little bit of an 'old school' wrench into that particular works.

  • Oh boy (Score:2, Funny)

    by Trip Ericson ( 864747 )
    I can almost picture one of my relatives using a computer with a type-writer keyboard. I'll get a call about the typewriter not working. I'll show up to find the monitor covered in White-Out. And smashed on the floor after they pushed it left and off the desk at the end of the line.
    • I can almost picture one of my relatives using a computer with a type-writer keyboard.

      One of my first computer programs was one to turn my computer (with a daisywheel printer) into a typewriter. It did make filling out paper forms easier. No editing capability, though.

  • No review? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Solder Fumes ( 797270 ) on Saturday August 13, 2005 @09:06PM (#13313723)
    There's no review from the wife. Funny, with millions upon millions of people using computers, you never hear the complaint about "flying through air and hitting wall" effect of computer keyboards. I've used manual typewriters, and my fingers were MUCH more tired after only an hour of typing. On a computer I can type for a full day and feel no fatigue.

    I suspect that his wife was merely using this as an excuse for computer incompetence. I've heard worse excuses from the luddites; evil rays coming from the LCD monitor, an anthropomorphic hatred emanating from the computer, and faking pressing the power button so they can pretend the computer's dead. I doubt this guy's wife actually liked this present, or will used it.
    • It is actually well known that repetetive actions by themself are hardly the cause for the physical problems mentioned.BR> It is the repetitivenes combined with not using your muscles that often causes the syndrome.
      An other problem with the present keyboards is the extremely small movement you need to make to get a character on the screen, this is why some older keyboards with a (much) longer travel were hardly ever causing the dreaded pain.

  • Some people will do anything (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 13, 2005 @09:07PM (#13313729)
    .. to avoid having a Windows key.
  • I want to see how to mod a REAL mechanical typewriter. With open CRT. as in Brazil(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088846/ [imdb.com])

  • PC in a typewriter (Score:2, Informative)

    by StonedRat ( 837378 )
    I think this mini-itx PC in a typewriter is much cooler.

    http://www.mini-itx.com/projects/underwood/ [mini-itx.com]

  • You're not done yet. (Score:3, Funny)

    by neo ( 4625 ) on Saturday August 13, 2005 @09:34PM (#13313807)
    There's still space in that thing for a whole computer.

  • I've always wanted the opposite (Score:5, Interesting)

    by G4from128k ( 686170 ) on Saturday August 13, 2005 @09:38PM (#13313822)
    I've always wanted to make a computer into a typewriter. By sending characters and control commands to an old dot matrix printer, one should be able to make a passable typewriter application that outputs dot matrix characters in real time. It would use carriage control logic such as that used in the old DecWriter dumb terminal [columbia.edu] to scoot the print head away from the active printing area to show the user what's being typed and then reposition the print head when they start typing again.

    Sometimes you just need to type words into some odious government form and a hacked typewriter made from some leftover computer junk would be just the thing. I've got an old Mac LC II and an Imagewriter that would be just perfect for this hack, but any old computer and dot matrix printer should work. With a custom application that autoruns during boot, the thing wouldn't even need a monitor.
    • The Coleco Adam did this out of the box. Back when most computers booted into BASIC the Adam booted into this kind of typewriter mode, and was one keystroke away from a pretty good little word processor (for its time). To get BASIC or any other program you loaded it from a high-speed random access tape (what the Adam had instead of disk drives).
      • The Coleco Adam did this out of the box. Back when most computers booted into BASIC the Adam booted into this kind of typewriter mode, and was one keystroke away from a pretty good little word processor (for its time). To get BASIC or any other program you loaded it from a high-speed random access tape (what the Adam had instead of disk drives).

        Tape drives were not unique during that time period. Just most home computers employed the use of a portable cassette recorder which you manual cued where the Adam
    • The DECwriter was a wondrous piece of machinery. A bit of nuisance for entering new programs (compared to the Teleray terminal next to it in our "computer lab", but a lot more convenient than submitting a print job when you wanted a program listing to take home and debug.

    • Re:I've always wanted the opposite (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      What would be really bitchin is if you used the typewriter mod from TFA, and hooked that shit up to your pc and dot matrix printer!

      Then, you could have the look and feel of a typewriter, but it would work (well, almost) like a real typewriter! Which would solve the problem, of ... well aw hell.
    • If all you need is character-at-a-time output, why not just use a typewriter? What's the point of emulating one with a computer?

      The whole point of writing with a computer instead of a typewriter (or by hand) is being able to modify what you write before deliver it. If that's something you specifically do not want, you don't need a computer at all.

    • I wrote a program 14 years ago that does exactly what you describe. Back then, I was filling out college applications, and I didn't have a typewriter, but I had a dot-matrix printer hooked up to my 286. The program was written in GW-BASIC, which had a command (lprint ??) that sent characters to a parallel port. The program was able to type either a single character or a full line at a time. My programming skills were pretty poor back then, which goes to show how easy this was to do.

      It's too bad that mo
    • For filling out forms, I've always made several copies of the form, printed an alignment pattern on one, and then just use that to determine the vertical and horizontal positions to put text into the blanks on the form.

  • heads up, please? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Graymalkn ( 115421 ) on Saturday August 13, 2005 @10:07PM (#13313905) Homepage
    Why do you hate me so? This is going to kill my alotted bandwidth. Could I get a heads up before getting slashdotted?

    • Did you think that your part of teh web was private?
    • Why do you hate me so? This is going to kill my alotted bandwidth.

      The images aren't being served now. Doesn't matter, as I remember this from the last time Slashdot ran it a couple of years ago. Anyway, how about an update -- does it still work?

  • not that great (Score:5, Informative)

    by Graymalkn ( 115421 ) on Saturday August 13, 2005 @10:14PM (#13313945) Homepage
    My wife liked it, but it isn't in use at the moment because of a few drawbacks: no 1 key, no backspace, and no Escape. I'm working on a second version that should fix these things. In fact, I think the second version will be a complete "laptop" with the screen inside the case.

    -Erik Fitzpatrick
    (the creator)
    • no 1 key
      Should have used a newer typewriter.
      no backspace
      Huh? All typewriters have backspace! It's the only function key that dates back to the pre-teletype keyboard.
      no Escape
      Very curious to know how you're going to get around that!
    • My wife liked it, but it isn't in use at the moment because of a few drawbacks: no 1 key, no backspace, and no Escape

      I have to admit I rather like the idea of converting the manual style to the modern pc... still I wonder whether or not there is an easier way to meet the desired application of typing that doesn't involve hitting a wall. I often wondered about installing a soft foam layer under the the contact membrain of a normal keyboard to create a softer impact. I find my self tending to slam my finge
  • I would imagin that key logging would be as simple as placing a piece of paper in the typewriter
  • I really like that. It's the kind of thing I've thought of doing myself but, lacking either motivation or the basic knowledge needed, I've never got anywhere further then the daydream stage. Good job.

    There are two things that could be done to make it a bit more enjoyable. The first is to keep the initial type hammers (if that's what they're called--the things which have the actual letter carved into the end that physically rises up and strikes the ribbon and paper) in tact. The circuit isn't completed u
  • Here is even a typewriter faced laptop [ironwork.jp].
  • 2 seconds with the search feature
    you dont even use your own search functionality ? [slashdot.org]
  • That's just because you haven't seen this:

    The ElectriClerc
    Fully functional retrofitted prop computer

    Built for a game of Cthulhu Lives! that has yet to be played, this piece was inspired by the retro-futuristic machines in the movie Brazil by Terry Gilliam.
    http://www.ahleman.com/Props/ElectriClerk.html [ahleman.com]
  • Old news for Nerds. Stuff that doesn't matter.

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