metamerist

Friday, April 07, 2006

Longing for a Typewriter

Last night we watched half of All the President's Men before the desire for sleep prevailed. Released in 1976, the story of Woodward, Bernstein and Deep Throat won 4 of the 8 Oscars for which it was nominated. Good Night and Good Luck was the impetus; as much as I liked it, I couldn't help measuring it on a yardstick from zero to All the President's Men, but it's been a while, so... there we go.

Strangely enough, one of my strongest impressions from the old Hoffman / Redford film was an unintended one: the typewriter. The Washington Post newsroom scenes filled with a chorus of typewriter rat-a-tat rekindled memories. As I meandered sleepily up the stairs to bed, I found myself longing for the old typewriter my parents used to own.

In terms of the "High Tech / High Touch" calculus, I think something was lost in translation with the demise of the typewriter, some sort of haptic connection with words, the force of the hammers striking one's thoughts on a page, the snapping sound, the connection of metal with paper, the stark contrast of the stamped ink left behind...

I wonder if my children will ever experience it.

Update: One more impression. An amazing thing you can learn from seventies films is that everyone in the 70s was anorexic. :)

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