Manual Typewriter vs. The Computer

[@vanneistat]

NEW OLIVE DRAB SWEATSHIRTS & T-SHIRTS: spiritedman.com

[@tipsythefedora]

Hey Van, Are you a Beatles guy? If so are you a John guy? Or Paul guy? Also, talk about being left handed please. thanks.

[@coltonkerbs7466]

Are you a Pink Floyd guy? Are... On second thought I'll end it there. Thanks

[@BackwardsScrewdriver]

Get tall sizes, I'll buy one of each! Thanks for the content, Van!

[@TimothySielbeck]

Are ribbons a problem to find?

[@stevezytveld6585]

One Gen X-er to another - where does a body find a replacement typewriter ribbon these days? Please, and thank you. - Cathy (&, accidently, Steve), Ottawa/Bytown/Pimisi

[@HyrumSpendlove]

I never knew how to type. Now, with this new knowledge, I will the next jjane austin

[@bzboii]

The irony in this typo

[@theironemald8779]

I think u a word there

[@WildSatoriForest]

Did Jane Austin write?

[@StudioSamSmith]

Absolute comedy gold.

[@reverie_song]

This could get a thousand likes and still be an underrated comment.

[@anhudy]

As I'm watching this video I'm realizing that I've never used a typewriter. I'm 24 and my parents have one laying around their house. I'd thought about trying it in the past but, as you said in your opening remarks, it has become a symbol for pretentious hipsters. Anyways, I'll fire it up and see how it goes.

[@brad3201]

How’d it go?

[@ianshepard5568]

How did it go?

[@Metroid545454]

RIP anhudy was never seen again after using the typewriter

[@RabbiSteve]

@@Metroid545454😂

[@dirtpatcheaven]

I always appreciate your depth of thought. I hate writing at a computer, it never occurred to me that part of that is the distractions found on my computer.

[@TomHamRomero]

we are too used to being distracted

[@vessagroker98]

You are so right

[@NathanielSalzman]

As you were trying to describe what is meaningful in regards to your typewriter not needing electricity, I couldn’t help but guess that perhaps what you were trying to say is how you appreciate the independent, self-sufficient nature of a machine that doesn’t need any additional infrastructure. You just feed it paper and ink ribbons and it will just keep working. That’s spectacularly elegant. It’s not about the electricity, as though there’s something wrong with electricity. It’s about the elegance of an independent machine. Bicycles are like this. Skateboards. A chef’s knife. Most hand tools. They need nothing but for us to use them. No batteries to charge. No Wi-Fi required. It’s an interesting contrast to NFTs. Right now an NFT is a potentially expensive “asset” that ceases to exist without electricity and servers and internet infrastructure. Super interesting tech, but it makes me appreciate that typewriter that will still work a hundred years from now if it’s taken care of.

[@glacialblueberry]

This right here 👆🏼

[@cameronscottmccabe]

Striking! I agree with your observation. It’s in a similar autonomous design that human beings are built as well. Capable of so much, and all we need is a little taking care of (food, etc. hah!)

[@rob_white]

The ultimate comment❤

[@nogooglenwww.o8238]

There is something wrong with electricity. How it arrives and how it doesn't is out of ones control.

[@diwanthegreat]

Also it prints by itself, your words exist in the physical world instead of some binary code inside a digital space.

[@ryanfwood]

Gun-makers like Remington had an advantage getting into typewriter manufacturing as they came to prevalence. Makes sense that the same mechanical feel translates. Similar part sizes and levels of precision. The "Smith" of Smith-Corona started as a gun-maker.

[@TonyisToking]

There's a funny joke there about the pen being mightier than the sword... but I can't think of it. Maybe I need a typewriter!

[@zee9731]

type writers and guns what a great connection firing off ideas and bullets

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

Ahhhhh the Smith of Smith & Wesson, huh? :)

[@Bacon__SteezBurger]

I can’t put into words the way your content makes me feel, and makes me think. There’s something about the detail, angle of attack, and depth of even your most “simple” thoughts, paired with your ability to teach and turn those thoughts into something tactile through video. You truly are a brilliant, spirited man who has taught me to look at life the same way, and have an appreciation for what most people would view passively, and as insignificant linear things. You’ve inspired projects for me that I would have otherwise never even attempted, or wanted to take the time to learn. As an addict in a life long battle with recovery, you have to have outlets. You have to have things to put your entire mind into, and be fully involved in. I can honestly say you’ve had a major hand in helping me explore and experience these new outlets of mine. I’m very, VERY grateful for your channel, and your mind because of it. For that, Van, I truly deeply thank you 🙏🏼

[@outtellect]

Wish i knew of channels in the same genre! I like sneako for thought provoking content myself, but i like to know other channels too!

[@Smeakum]

Sneako? Really....@@outtellect

[@CharlieLamdin]

I fucking love this level of attention to detail, and what it results in, namely the way Van’s voice comes across. #1 is everything. Imagine how that philosophy must affect your entire outlook on life.

[@captainkeyboard1007]

😄🤣

[@RachaelPadilla]

An excellent way to usher in the gift giving season! I'm proud to support you in your journey!

[@bea4394]

I use a typewriter or I hand write everything. I do a lot of writing and that’s always my first draft. The biggest upside is that my mistakes are captured. It allows me to clarify my thoughts and there are no distractions, which have often arisen as a need for me to find more information about something. Instead I’m forced to make a permanent, written note of it and have no cognitive dissonance ability in denying my previous thought. It literally helps me to analyze my critical thinking and thought “errors.” I also took some speed writing classes years ago. It’s a lost “art.” I recommend it to everyone. It completely changed how my brain intakes/translates information, and forever changed my handwriting.

[@thenexthobby]

One of my earliest memories is the sound of a typewriter every week. It could often be heard in the evenings while going to sleep. Dad was a minister, and each week meant a new sermon.

[@BrianSiskind]

Yes! - Certainty of thought and commitment to ideas. I grew up writing papers on a typewriter before computers. I went back to college in my 30's and took a class called "Writing About Art". I had not written a paper in nearly 20 years. I waited until the morning it was due to write it. I sat down and wrote the entire paper from beginning to end (in a word processor) and turned it in with no revisions or editing. The professor said it was the best paper she had ever received and wanted to use it as an example of the perfect paper for that particular assignment, and asked me to talk about my writing process with the class. I told her I had no process - I just wrote with certainty because my formative writing years were before computers, handing in last minute papers, and they just had to be right the first time - with fully formed ideas, organized in proper sequence. The permanence and commitment to the word that typing gave me I will always value, above any editing or revision possibilities. Say what you have to say, and don't say what you don't - and no matter what - buy what you are selling.

[@SlenderGamer56]

I believe what makes an analog machine so appealing is the fact that it only serves ONE function. Be it, play records, type words on a paper, etc. while a computer is the swiss army knife of everything creative. Got yourself a typewriter, record player, camera, everything on one machine, in one location. More humanity I suppose? Not sure

[@backtoids]

i kind of like this stream of cosciousness type cadence of video, just as much as the deliberate way your spirited man stuff is delivered

[@JanneWolterbeek]

Talking about a typewriter seems dull, until the spirited man elevates it to something that triggers intellectual curiosity. Thank you, Van!

[@DavidMacchiaW]

#5 The impact typesetting. I keep a modern impact printer for this exact reason. A "typed" letter has a certain feel to it and has a tendency not to hit the waste bucket quickly.

[@JavierdePascual]

I'm in a big creative rut and fuck me, yesterday I was just considering buying a typewriter. Then I thought it was pretentious hipster bullshit. Today I thought "did Van talk about this? Why am I seeking for external validation?". And then I got to the end of your video and saw "fuck it" on the front of your typewriter. Fuck it, I'm in.

[@Warclimb64]

Nice! I have at home a fully functional Underwood No. 5 from my great grandmother, I've never done any maintenance apart from cleaning and it works flawlesly

[@iosdeals]

may I offer you an idea of a mechanical keyboard, in these trying times? Van assembling a custom keyboard would be a fun video to watch

[@xboxswitch9457]

I relate to the anger. I got this Remington “quiet riter” to help process some trauma through writing. The intimacy alone with this typewriter and the solid foundation. When I get to memories that anger me I just go. My keyboard can’t handle that lol. But it also humbles me. Makes me slow down. Think on the spot.

[@EagleEyeNZ]

Five reason why living in the past doesn't move you on. It's nice owning and using an antique occasionally but modern technology is best in most cases, such as using a computer instead of a typewriter.

[@ierdna69]

Nothing beats simplicity, reliability and versatility of a simple pen & paper. Hemingway first wrote by hand and then transcribed it using typewriter, giving him an extra chance to edit. I love the final point of capturing your true voice, but if your writings are published online, unfortunately there is just no place for a typewriter. If Hemingway would've lived in today's age, I bet he would've used pen & paper for writing and laptop for editing and publishing.

[@LASHMAR]

I think you're missing the point. The process here is the point. Not the end product. It's the process which is the end product. People don't listen to vinyl because it sounds better despite what they like to tell you. They are attributing (projecting) a kind of magic on the record player which in turn informs their experience.

[@4xdblack]

What I gathered from this is not that I should buy a typewriter, but that I should delete, remove my backspace button.

[@stephenrioles7554]

The finish is most likely japanning. It’s also found on hand tools made between 1850ish and mid 1900s ish. Super durable.

[@jonathandspike]

Reminds me of Greg Kinnear's character in the 1998 movie You've Got Mail, who devoted an entire newspaper column to how much he loves his typewriter (although, in the movie, the typewriter was electric). Don't know if that character was a Spirited Man, but he could have been.

[@MotoGiant]

Explaining your way OUT of Hipsterdom - good job!!

[@suioganwilliam]

Van, can you tell us how you "fix" computers?

[@SandraPokorneyCmonDude]

I used an old typewriter for all my college papers, this was ...maybe 10, 11 years ago. Instructors were not happy, but they could not deny the work either. LOVED this video.

[@digdrivediy]

I try to write and the computer takes my mind elsewhere. This makes sense but I just don't know if I could do it. I'm in love with the backspace key. Guess I'll keep my eye out. Thanks for these "workshop" style videos. You are helping me to think more about the creative process and perhaps I can learn something, rather make my own videos more compelling. Appreciate it very much. Neil

[@ryanbarene4718]

Your videos are so human. It’s so hard to find these days and it’s appreciated

[@logandavies6981]

I agree. We need more of it.

[@girtisholland]

Something a lot of people won’t think of is a type writer, much like writing a letter, forces your grammar and spelling to be better. We are so accustomed to texting and writing on computers that will auto correct everything. Sometimes, I personally will get lazy knowing I can type something spelled incorrectly and it’ll be fixed for me. I majored in English and have found myself slacking since texting became so prevalent.

[@canadude6401]

This Spirited man looked up the Corona typewriter when Van's series started, but then realized it was just my "acquiring" mindset speaking. You know...the thrill of the hunt? I really love the style and function of that typewriter, but I really can do without it for a good number of years. I would love to continue writing my books, but I have ear marked that for later in life. Until now, I will use my ergonomic keyboard complete with a wonderful backspace key.

[@oldschoolnaturalbodybuildi4301]

Why is Van sitting on 422K subscribers for so long he is absolutely FANTASTIC he should be over a million by now! Now as for the typewriter i hope i kept mine from back in the 80's when i was a teenager

[@ethanos0973]

I LOVE the idea of starting an idea on a type writer and using a computer to expanding on it, forcing you to focus purely on the idea and nothing else

[@mgsPWlover]

Smokey Yunick is a very apt example of a spirited man.

[@movemorenowjames]

The old typewriter captures your thoughts, whereas the new computers steal them. “Voice”

[@OreVsWorld]

wow

[@ThelmaThrift]

The pencil does the “voice” thing for me- I wrote my best essays with a fresh Ticonderoga. ✔️Great video.

[@AlasdairGR]

I’ve had an Olympia SM4 for about two years now. The thing I like about writing by hand or with my typewriter is that it’s way too easy to edit what you’re writing on computer. It’s a simple click or highlight away with your mouse, and that means you are more likely to go back and change what you barely just wrote and constantly second guess yourself. And that constant premature editing kills any chance of you making progress with what you’re writing. You’ll never make it past just a few pages despite spending hours and hours working. Writing by hand or typewriting forces you to be more accepting of your voice and your first draft. Your first draft is always going to suck, accept that. You can always go back later and highlight things you want to edit or completely rewrite. But now you’re going to actually be pumping out pages and be much more efficient with your time and energy. Once you’ve gotten to a place you’re happy with, then you can break out the computer to transcribe everything so you can have a digital copy to send to people and make quick changes during your final editing passes.

[@Gg_gg9098]

I just got a 60s portable type writer this past summer and love it for all the reasons you said. My friends and I built this huge fort in a park by our house, and it’s always great to bike down there and type out anything.

[@KelvinMedinathezarkman]

Back in the 90s my family owned a typewriter and I always had fun pressing the keys since the weight of the keys and the force it gives when it hits the carbon film and paper felt like pebbles dropping. The nostalgia it brings back makes this fulfilled man happy about the old days, thank you for such the nostalgia trip Van, this spirited man has amused this fulfilled man!

[@talfacprez]

The thing about "No Electricity" as a benefit is you can take your manual typewriter our anywhere to type. Outside on a rock, or by a small creek, or anywhere to type.

[@theaidanator]

like a laptop perhaps

[@RocketDog73]

Van is catching up with Jamie O’Brien in his blatant merch plugging during his videos 👍😂

[@ivipop_]

Amazing, here in Europe, in Spain, where I live, italian Olivetti's were the populars ones. I have an old "Lettera 22" Es preciosa! I agree most of you say. As a musician recording in old 4 track cassette machines I'm one of your tribe. Another great video Van. Regards from Valencia amigo :)

[@headwerkn]

Typewriters are to writers what analog tape is to musicians and songwriters. There’s a physicality to what’s recorded, that’s more permanent, and isn’t so easily dismissed as mere digital data. It also takes more effort, so each idea is more carefully considered.

[@ivipop_]

@@headwerkn Yes Ben! analog film vs digital cameras are the same as well :)

[@Uvray]

Ah, I had to make the exact same single/double space repair on my Imperial 70. I hadn't thought of using a spring though - that I am going to do. The Imperial 70 is a big old iron horse - a Gatling gun of a British machine made circa 1960. A wonderful piece of engineering.

[@aloneinthechronosphere8942]

Incredible video. You made me remember joys of analog technology I had long forgotten. Not many people could make such profound and concise cases for the advantages of a typewriter.

[@thetroothhurtz]

Awesome content. Top Notch 10/10

[@joelhafner2989]

The way this is edited (or not edited) is brilliant! Makes the video feel so alive and well rounded! Like the typewriter! 🤯

[@dannyatt]

love the work you're doing, this is going to inspire many people, including myself, to write more authentically

[@CarlCunningham360]

Back in the day typewriter sales people didn't necessarily know how to type...or spell. That is why T-Y-P-E-W-R-I-T-E-R is in the top row keys. That way, when the sales person arrived at their appointment, the salesperson could insert paper, type TYPEWRITER, look sophisticated, cool, and make an easier sale than if TYPEWRITER was not easily found on the top row. (The more you know)...

[@GregJoughin]

The irony of Tom Hanks-TOM HANKS!-dissing a typewriter by holding up a pencil....

[@EnriqueSonora]

This brought back memories back about my first Macintosh. A 128k one program at a time computer. MacWrite force you to do the same thing. What to write? why did I spend 5 minutes swapping floppy disks loading this program? Heh

[@Agent-pv]

This is like watching a VHS of your Grandpa.......... Probably the reason why I like it........... You want modern? Go watch the Brother, Casey.

[@themouselessdev8655]

Customization is the best way to eliminate distraction on a computer. It needs motivation however. On my side I've a dull terminal and Vim when I write. That's all. "Capturing your voice" is a fantastic point. What about an editor without a delete functionality?

[@jamesfestini]

I have had a gorgeous old typewriter for 0 years. It must be like yours but more recent because of the box. It works great. I have never used it but I keep it at my home desk. I have the beautiful iPad Pro with the magic keyboard. I have kept a journal for the last 30 years and about 8 years ago went from paper and pen to digital pen and screen. It is not the same. BUT I can add cool images and colors on the journal like never before. But somehow it is not the same. Your insight makes sense. My poetry is far better when it is with ink than pixels. Not sure I will give it up.

[@americanpancakelive]

Holy fuck maaan!! That looks exactly, EXACTLY, like the Corona typewriter (a dark sort of wine burgundy color and with the same case) that I acquired from a Hollywood pawnshop in the 80's and think it was from the 40's. Do I still have it? No, but I visit it from time to time, I gave it to my sister about a year ago. Amazing.

[@eanava]

I learned to type on a typewriter, but when word processors were invented, that's when my ideas really, truly flowed... that invention allowed me to compose with ease. Then, in the 90's I bought my first pc, which has been exponentially better than the word processor. You don't have to delete something, you can capture all of your thought bullets, type "TB" there, and continue on. Later, you can then search for "TB" and in nanoseconds the pc will serve and display all of those hits, in order. And while the distractions of being on a connected platform might hinder some, for me, it has been helpful, even inspiring. I can alt-tab to my browser, research an idea, then alt-tab back to my work and continue unimpeded.

[@bhavukchaudhary]

Amazing self-control!

[@marliodasilva]

I'm 64 years old. My mother was a typewriter at a Brazilian Government institution. I used to go to her office and have my first experience with this machine. Later I got myself a typewriter certificate. It is the only diploma I had in my who fucking life. When I started writing for theater, all was done in a type writer. I needed to literally cut the paper and paste in the pages when changes were done and the photocopy the whole thing. When computers came, it was a wonderful thing. But Van is right. Computers are so distracting. What I do, I keep and old computer with no connecting to do the writing. But sometimes, you really need a connection to research and stuff. So, I turned myself into a spirited man and don't let my spirit get distracted with all the BS that the connection offers. Loved the video and the idea of bringing this topic to life.

[@bradclifford295]

I remember learning how to type on a typewriter. Also remember filling out my first job application on a typewriter when I was 16. Even though I sound 80 years old when I tell my kids this I’m only 40. Seems crazy to think how fast and far computers have come in my lifetime.

[@craighembree3101]

LC Smith (the Smith of Smith-Corona) made wonderful SxS shotguns, highly coveted today and, when compared to modern, highly technological autoloading shotguns, completely analogous to the typewriter. LC's (pronounced Elsies) are lovely to hold and look at, delightful to carry. Sitting on a log, studying the lines, the finish, the fit and tolerances, feeling glad just to own the thing, is a wonderful break during the hunting day. Most of us shoot better with them too.

[@GiancarloBenzina]

You’re just plainly making an argument for hand-writing. Simple, reliable, speed of thought, autosave, zero distraction, zero cancellation of thoughts, but furthermore pocketable, artsy if you wish, drawing, painting optional at hand. #trydyingandfailatit #travellight swisschamp, fountainpen, paper, ink, map, socks, underwear, toothpaste, toothbrush, t-shirt, woolsweater, wax-jacket, washpaste, shampoo-soap, razor, skin-creme, trekking boots, cash, mechanical film camera (rollei35), petzl emergency light, BIC lighter, passport, water filter, small mirror, sewing needle (bend) and thread, emergency whistle, rope, small rol of black duct tape, medic/emergency-kit, a backpack to pack it all. No phone, no computer, no typewriter.

This is easily your best video. Simply because you are giving us your real point of view, your unperfect and incomplete metaphors of what a material experience becomes meaningful to you. Thank you.

[@trustisraw]

U need a podcast

[@ryanellis4474]

I paused watching Carson reruns to watch this This had better be good By the way, before I watch this, I would like to extol the values of the IBM Selectric typewriters I hope to buy a couple before I die One for my best friend and one for me Neistat Van, you are not my type of politico Van, you are not my type of character in that I think you think too much about things that require less thinking while you think too little about the most important things (often) That said, would you be my penpal? I just mailed a penpal in LA today You are a different person than I am by a lot, but that’s why interestingness might connect with such a committed exchange

[@thedannijuhl]

I love my typewriter because simplicity, and quite simply limitations of choice, are hard to come by now. I'm often paralyzed by choice, and I enjoy being forced to commit. To know I can't go back, to be satisfied with the imperfections of my thought process. to show my work, in a sense.

[@maeve615]

For me the tactile sensation creates an effect almost like a synchronizers in a transmission, making my thoughts flow smoothly rather than jamming like up like debris in a pump line might. I learned to type on an Olivette Plat 45. At my last job I frequently used a SMC Glaxii 2 for typing certain reports since it also had a de-stressing effect when I'd be bordering on an overload.

[@ScottHebert604]

the word "essayer" in french means to try

[@piccalillipit9211]

*I just bought a typewriter* about a week ago - I have found that my mind works completely differently when writing on a typewriter v a computer. I mean COMPLETELY differently, its as if a different person wrote the work.

[@captainkeyboard1007]

I learned to typewrite when I was 12 years old. I may as well be torn between two lovers. I had my first student portable typewriter which was an Underwood Olivetti Lettera 32, until it was stolen out of my first apartment in 1977. Today [in 2023], I have a microcomputer on which I keyboard since 2002. I could write numerous advantages, but you know them like a typewriter buff. The one time the microcomputer captures your voice is if you concentrate on the shows as shown on KZbin. Happy Keyboarding!

[@TentoesMe]

Typewriter? No, I begin with a pen. My creativity flows from my pen onto the paper. Then I type it into a computer and edit it. Takes lots of editing because while I write very beautifully, it is probably wrong.

[@Sakurapedaler]

Your typewriter is a Corona 1C Series. Serial numbers between 1C 76,123 and 1C 160,323 were manufactured in 1937.

[@someonespadre]

My mechanical calculators (1922 & 1935) still work, have outlived generations of computers and the calculating experience is more pure. Requires concentration and organization to do it accurately. Log table books are even more pure, just pencil on paper. Typing on my iPad is an exercise in frustration, it constantly interrupts with “fixes.”

[@deancummings586]

Writing with a typewriter "Captures your voice" I love that analogy! It put how I feel about this into language...thank you!

[@anthonylatham8384]

I'm sold on typewriters. Always have been. My prewar Remington 5 is a cherished possession. Can we talk about Van's paper choice though? Unruled, with margins. Perfection. Where does this stuff come from? Where can I buy some? Who makes it?

[@Pytte]

I used to go to my parents typewriter and smash all the keys at once to interlock the arms, and then untangle it all again. Little did I know I would be typing 160 wpm at my adult age ;) Probably not more than 100 on a typewriter, because if you type to fast.. your letter arms will interlock ;) When my parents got an intel 286 Olivetti PC I never looked back and have been on the PC ever since. There are programs/ways to have no distractions on a PC as well, take fx. the Game of Thrones Author George R. R. Martin, he uses a PC with dos and wordstar 4.0 :)

[@ExilesGate]

I think the word you were looking for was Serendipity ....when you allow for happy accidents & accidentally find something good. Like finding a twenty dollar bill in the pocket of a coat you haven't worn in long while.

[@tmunk]

1C121024 would be a Corona Standard (later called "Clipper") from 1937. (:

[@michelecrescenzo6547]

Hi, I don't know how to put this, but I just want to say a big thank you, because before I started following this channel I never realised that actually, phones and computers are indeed full of distractions, and ever since I've realised this I've been putting my effort into avoiding them especially when I study, and thsi channel helps me throughout this "trip" by always teaching me something new, so all I want to say is thank you, a very big special thank you 😊

[@mimisaiko]

The #1 reason reminds me of the music album 《Abbey Road》. It turned out that the hidden song ＜Her Majesty＞ was originally sandwiched in the B-side suite. but later they thought it was not suitable and cut it out. As a result, when it was played back, it suddenly appeared after "The End" on the tape, which was quite the finishing touch, so they left this pearl intact. Listening to the song sequence of the first edition here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/l2W4m5iun56MfdU And you will understand why this song has a very abrupt beginning and end, because it's originally connecting two songs before and after. Such creative results are hard to imagine in the digital age. Also, Kurt Vonnegut's Lecture at Case Western Reserve University talked about this topic is amazing.

[@zooedca]

No autocorrect...... or spelling correction.. whiteout. Or like Tom Hanks... Pencil is next level!

[@Scoots1994]

I always love finding someone who appreciates Smokey. I got an A in high school typing class (gives you an idea how long ago it was) by fixing typewriters. I didn't learn to type until years later using Mavis Beacon.

[@FrenchingAround]

"It captures your voice", brilliant. Thats also probably why all literature sound the same today, everyone is typing on a computer, so everyone is deleting their voice.

[@jordanweimer788]

I’m just seeing this after call the typewriter a “no going back machine” on a comment on a different video. I love that aspect of the typewriter. It makes you press onward past mistakes and keeps your thought coherent. It kills perfectionism and built my ability to value what is rather than what “should” be. Love my typewriter even though I let it collect dust too often.

[@cirelachlan]

I have a collection of typewriters. The first one I bought was for 6 dollar at a garage sale in 1986, I had to also buy a wagon from them to get it home, cause I was only six and I couldn't carry it. I have one with a cursive typeset for love letters, one that I make art with, one that I love the speed at which I can type, one because the color, one because the year, one because "I mean, just look at it" They are all the reasons you have stated and more.

[@medula]

The typewriter seems to make your writing voice more conversational, because you aren't going backwards and deleting lines, but adding to them, clarifying them.....the way we talk. Ok, I'm browsing ebay now.

[@marcel1372]

this is also the same typewriter that Teddy K used on the UNABOMBER MANIFESTO

[@essaysbyken]

- Knowing you're not going to have your work second-guessed by a red squiggly line or an obnoxious anthropomorphic paper clip.

[@troywayne8759]

I earn much of my living from writing... and #1 absolutely blew my mind. I will do much less deleting now in early drafts.

[@donyoshi6076]

Your exuberance for this bygone writing machine is to be admired.Most ppl. will never have reverance for this original letter pounding dinosaur.I GET IT.I have an electric typewriter in the crawlspace that hasn't seen the light of day for 20 plus years.Will not resurrect this machine because,you're right ,the violence of pounding the keys is a thing.The electric assist ruins it.Stay cool Van.

[@BokBarber]

This about sums up my thoughts on typewriters. Essentially, their limitations force good rough drafting etiquette. When you're drafting out thoughts, you want to just get your ideas out, warts and all. The name of the game is to keep your mind flowing and not get hung up on distractions, either from the world around you or the temptation to edit what you've already written. With a computer, that temptation is strong. The computer itself is a munti-purpose machine, the word processor is just an application on that machine. Switching out to do something else is very easy. Within the word processor itself, the editing process is also trivial (that's why typewriters got replaced in the first place.) You can easily go back and rewrite a sentence or paragraph even in the most basic text editor. The typewriter, being a purpose-built writing machine that can't delete mistakes, but at the same time still allow you to type fairly quickly, is basically perfect at drafting. It has limitations in all the right places to force you to keep writing and limit distraction. Given that it uses a QWERTY keyboard we're all familiar with, it's also not so foreign that most people can't learn to use one efficiently. Of course, the tradeoff is editing. Once you have your thoughts drawn out and want to revise them, the typewriter is no longer the best tool. Unless you're works are very short or meant to stay in a draft-like form (such as journaling) you'll want some kind of scanner and OCR software to get those thoughts into the computer for editing.

[@dzejkej0]

If you however need to write anything on a computer, there is this beautiful app called iA Writer. It’s expensive, but I got it and never looked back. I love it and use it every single day. It has really simple interface, that gets out of the way. When writing, you literally get blank screen with your text nice, big and vertically centered on the screen, with previous paragraphs faded away (when using Focus Mode). It uses custom made, monospace font that somehow feels so rhythmic to type. Can’t recommend it enough if you need calm, thoughtful writing app.

[@Nate_The_Great69]

When I was young kid I was enamoured by typewriters but every time I typed a mistake I’d want to start over. Didn’t take long for me to give up. Started journaling on my iPad and free flow of thought and words. This video finishes my conclusion. This is the way.

[@klipstick3108]

The typewriter demands your honesty Van. I was getting the sense of the typewriter giving me the opportunity to be truthful with my words. I feel a computer makes the ego or self moderator kick in! Takes away the moment and replaces it with, what will people think it's online forever rather than what I want to really say.

[@TheJirish]

It's funny. The spots where you pause to collect your thoughts I actually thought the video got stuck or paused. Normally your scripted work doesn't have what I would call undeliberate pauses. It's interesting. I find myself wanting to pick up a non-electric mechanical typwriter.

[@indicharlie]

Always watch your videos in their entirety because they are so thought provoking. Even if I don't always agree with all of them you always make some damn good points. Keep them coming.

[@jatinsaini0417]

The way you take pause, because you can’t put your feelings/experience/thoughts into words, I respect that, I go through it a-lot I have words in my head that can solve the issues or arguments i have politely but I just can’t express them in words.

[@sudarkoff]

The distractions on the computer and no editing (my gosh, no editing!!!!) are two big reasons I'd buy a typewriter. But they don't make them with the Dvorak layout.

[@wallyang]

It's funny you make this, I just picked up a second typewriter to compliment my big standard desk model. You got a PO box, need a typewriter penpal?

[@kilobitti]

I still don’t have a typewriter, but would love to get one. ATM I’m most productive on my iPad with a proper attached keyboard, as it’s multitasking capabilities are limited. Thus, I’m a lot less distracted, and jumping to some other app seems to be a bigger leap. Also a dedicated writing app like Ulysses keeps things simple and tidy.

[@314jrock]

0:25 Anything that’s old is seen as a symbol of a pretentious hipster. Typewriters, Record Players, Vintage Guitars, and so on.

[@Fragspawn]

How do you square the dichotomy of the attraction to the permanence of the typewriter with the exclusive use of a pencil, which allows you to erase...