on typewriters and clickiness
march 18, 1996

Here I am, sitting in the computer lab listening to the click-clack of the keyboards. Ah, IBM has always made the best keyboards, with that satisfying click everytime you hit a key. Really makes you feel like you're getting something accomplished. Like typing on a typewriter. I always felt like I was making a difference, snapping words onto a piece of paper. Even if it didn't amount to anything in the end.

I remember typing up my college applications and realizing that I had absolutely no idea what was going on. I felt for certain that I was doing everything wrong, and that I was never going to get into college, that no school would want anyone like me, et cetera, et cetera. (I've never actually spelled that before. Funky.) So I pulled out a sheet of paper, rolled it into the typwriter, and started pounding out every word that came to mind. And it helped to clear my mind. That pounding really made me focus all of my energy into the paper, and soon everything was good again.

And that's what these IBM keyboards do for me. Pounding away at them, having to make a definite effort to have the words come up on the screen. Granted, there's nothing like a typewriter. Nothing. But this comes pretty damn close.

Without the messy ribbon either.

jcn@brown.edu

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