Diffusion of the Typewriter

It is no surprise that the typewriter has become a rather obsolete machine. With the rise of personal computers and phones, there ceases to be a need for typewriters for many people around the world. Of course, there are still a few people and places, laggards if you will, that continue to use the typewriter. However, there are not many of them. 

Nevertheless, the typewriter was still a major and widely-used invention prior to personal computers and phones. Even in its pioneering era, there were many different types of typewriters being created and used. The launching period of the typewriter could be traced by the 1500s in Italy as a man tried making a machine that impresses letters onto paper for his blind friend. From there, many got a similar idea to create machines that impress letters onto paper in the most efficient way. Not many everyday people had access to these typewriter-like machines as they did not have the money or resources, or ability to create one themselves. 

The uptake of the typewriter began in 1714. The patent that Henry Mill had been granted by Queen Anne of England in 1714 truly sparked the ability for early adopters of the typewriter to set in. Not many people had access to the typewriter quite yet due to its largest and inefficiency. It is in this uptaking stage that the typewriter is evolving to become a more widely-used machine. By the 19th century, more and more people were getting their hands on typewriters. Christopher Latham Sholes created the first practical typewriter in 1867, which was later patented in 1868. People like Thomas Edison and Mark Twain had gotten their hands on the typewriter by the 19th century and started setting a norm. Edison was the first to try to input electricity into the typewriter. Twain was the first to purchase a typewriter and submit a typewritten manuscript to a publisher. 

The typewriter was becoming a more normalized machine by the 1870s. At this point, major improvements were being made to the typewriter for the sake of making it a more widely used invention. The normalization of the typewriter almost forced improvements unto the typewriter. As writing became more visible, speed was increasing, size was decreasing, more people were prone to buy the device. The maturation of the typewriter came with the late majority of users during the beginning of the 1900s. By 1914, the first power operated machine of practical use was produced by James Fields Smathers. Afterwards, there was a continuing effort to make the power operated typewriter 

Sources:

Encyclopedia Britannica. “Typewriter.” Accessed April 3, 2022. https://www.britannica.com/technology/typewriter.   

 IBM Archives. “The History of IBM Electric Typewriters.” Accessed April 3, 2022. https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/modelb/modelb_history.html#:~:text=The%20first%20 practical%20 typewriter%20was,on%20a%20sewing%20machine%20stand. 

New World Encyclopedia. “Typewriter.” Accessed April 3, 2022. https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Typewriter#:~:text=In%20fact%2C%20historians%20have%20estimated,but%20nothing%20further%20is%20known. 

Polt, Richard. “A Brief History of Typewriters.” Accessed April 3, 2022. https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/tw-history.html.