I learned to type on a manual typewriter.

By college, computers and word processors had taken over, but in grade school and high school it was still click click click ding.

Getting the letters to swing the 8- or -10 inch arc and strike the paper with a solid thwack took some force. A typist on one of these machines had to hit through the key and do a clean followthrough.

The IBM Selectric that came after was much easier to use. I recall it hummed menacingly when switched on. The keys felt more like switchgear – hard... More