History and Evolution of the Typewriter

We all use computers, right? Nowadays, humans rely on online technology to communicate with each other, watch and edit media, and post online blogs. But how long have humans actually had computers for and what did it start out as? That is where this blog post comes in handy. In the year 1828, a man by the name of William Austin Burt from Detroit, Michigan was given a patent to create a device that could create "perfect" English characters on a piece of paper without worry of human error that comes with a pen and ink. This device was called a "typographer" and was destroyed in the Patent Office fire of 1836. A few years later in 1867, a man named Christopher Latham Sholes from Milwaukee, Wisconsin was responsible for the invention of the first practical typewriter. This device was mounted on a sewing machine stand and was very large to carry around. However, this device was not issued a patent until a year after in 1868, and was also not manufactured until 1873. Using a foot pedal, one would push down on this pedal with his or her foot, which would move the carriage to the left of the page, similar to a sewing machine treadle. The first model of the typewriter could only write in capitals; no lowercase.

Interestingly enough, after the invention of the original typewriter, Sholes invited Thomas Edison (invented the first lightbulb) to see his newly created piece of technology. He told Sholes that someday, this "miracle machine" would be operated solely on electricity. After this, Edison began his own mission of making his own typewriter that operated electrically, by a series of magnets. However, because of the extensive size, cumbersome, and expensive, this model of the typewriter was never marketed.

The first power-operated typewriter of practical value was invented by James Fields Smathers from Kansas City, Missouri in 1914. After Smathers served his dues in World War I, he went home to focus on what really matters to him, which was a power-driven typewriter machine that was more portable, affordable, and easy to use than the previous version. In 1920, Smathers created an advanced model of the typewriter and in 1923 handed that creation over to the Northeast Electric Company in Rochester for further development. One of the major faults with early models was that they were designed to operate on a power-driven line shaft, which was planned to be replaced by an electric motor to be contained in the power base of the device.

After several more years of production and million of dollars put into research and development, the Northeast Electric Company was bought by the General Motors Corporation, which organized a new company called Electromatic Typewriters Inc. Electromatic's newly modified machine was completed on March 4, 1930 and in 1933, became a division of IBM, and with their skills in marketing, engineering, and educational departments, were able to continue the steady growth of the Electric Typewriter Division. Today, the typewriter is the most used piece of office equipment. IBM went a step further in production in 1941 by revolutionizing the past models of the typewriter and created was is known as the IBM Executive Electric Typewriter. Three mandatory dimensions of IBM were ensured to always be maximized in the production of any new typewriter; ease, speed, and quality. Today, a new quality has been added to this list; quiet.