Typewriters are helping to understand what innovation is

The most interesting feature of typewriters is, that his technology is obsolete. This makes it much easier to analyze it's past from an objective standpoint. According to different sources, mechanical and electric typewriters were popular until the late 1980s. This was the time in which the first users switched over to IBM PC together with dot matrix and laser printers. Up to the early 1990s a typewriting machine was a common tool used by individual and companies as well.

The reason why the typewriter was a success was because it was wore more advanced than using the alternative which is a manual pen. Writing a letter with a typewriter is more comfortable than using a pencil and the typing speed is higher. Additionally, the typeface is easier to read which makes the typewrite to the perfect choice for journalists and writers.

Surprisingly the typewriter was replaced by the computer for the same reason. Creating a letter in a wordprocessing software is much easier then typing it with a typewriter. So the typewrite was a transition process between a pen and a desktop pc. It was used in a certain period and it's possible to tell this story for a wider audience.

The reason why the history of typewriters is attractive for many people is because it has a long history. The first commercial models of mechanical typewriters were built around 1890 and the last typewriters were sold on the market around 1990. This is equal to a timespan of 100 years. In that time, the typewriter was produced unchanged, with some minor modification in the 1970s with the advent of the first electric typewriters. This sort of long duration is a luxury which is uncommon for modern computing industry. The lifespan of recent technology is lower than hundred years. Even the famous Commodore 64 was sold only for less than 10 years.

The interesting aspect of ttypewriters was, that in that area the inventors were not in hurry. One typewriter was produced in 1890 and then 10 years happend nothing and smaller improvements were made in 1900. That means, the typewriting machines were easy to understand and there was no need to go forward and discover which is completely new. This has changed drastically in the computer industry. The normal behavior of computer evolution is, that every 4 years a new technology is introduced into the market which is working different from any product known before. A machine like the Commodore 64, the 286 IBM PC and a more 4 core PC have nothing in common. They are used for different purposes and the internal working has evolved a lot.