FW: Obsolete term: touch typing

[Frank Abate]

David and Bethany had the following exchange:

>>
On Thu, 5 Dec 2002, David Bowie wrote:

>Incidentally, typewriters are still a serious necessity, even for those of
>us raised with dedicated word processors and then later PCs--if you have to
>fill out a pre-printed form, nothing beats a typewriter. For this reason,
>all through college i found that i could guarantee a supply of devoted
>friends simply by letting it be known that i owned a typewriter.

Interesting. I gave my last typewriter away so that it would no longer
be possible for me to fill out a paper pre-printed form.
<<


I would add that typewriters are in use fairly widely, but in special
settings.  An office I work at, and other business places I've seen, use
them for forms that require carbon copies (yes, they are still used, and not
just for credit card receipts), and for address labels.  Recently I heard
one in use at a public library nearby (here in Conn.).  And one can still
buy a NEW typewriter, I believe, not just replacement ribbons.

Still, I see old manual typewriters in antique shops and such.

On a related note, dot-matrix and impact printers (the noisy ones), once
common in offices, are still in use, but only in certain places, again when
carbons are required.  One common use is in hotels, when they print out the
check-out bills for the guests -- the front desk keeps the carbon, the guest
gets the original (the top sheet).

Frank