17 Comments

I will show my age of 50 and Gen X status and tell you that when I studied office administration in college back in the early 1990s, we took both keyboarding and word processing courses. Typewriters were still in use, but personal computers were becoming increasingly popular, rightfully so for the time they saved. At one of my first jobs out of college, the secretary I would fill in for did not even have a computer at her desk, gasp! I would escape to the inspector's office to use his computer. I simply could not bear typing a letter on a typewriter when I could do it on a word processor. Yes, offices were not run very efficiently. The inspector barely used the computer. It would have made much more sense to bring that computer up to the front desk, but I digress!

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Another great story Bill, thank you!

Wishing you, your team and family a 2023 full of success and abundance and most importantly, happiness! Thank you for all you do!

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My mother used an IBM Selectric for years as a paralegal (before there was an actual "title" of paralegal) in various law firms when I was growing up. She had an odd attachment to it, and often said that it felt more "real" than any other keyboard she had used since. She was known for carrying it home (or one time, someone brought it to her in the hospital) to finish work. She passed away this past May, and she had acquired another one somehow. It was in need of repair, and we sold it at the estate sale, along with ribbon and two "golf balls" which is how you could change the font with those. Those things are HEAVY (weighed in at 45 pounds). I remember hearing the hum and clunk and tap when she used it.

As you already know that the typing pool died out with the advent of the word processor because of how the people who marketed the word processor presented it. If you consider that the people who worked in typing pools enjoyed and stayed in that field because of the "sameness" of it all (go in, put in paper, prop other paper up on stand, or plug in Dictaphone, and type, day after day) were presented with "this is a whole new thing" and its "vast differences," these people who loved the familiar and comfort of "sameness" headed for the hills.

I love the fact that Apple did testing within before they brought it to the market. That was a brilliant strategy. Basically, they wanted to sell to people who were similar to themselves. I once heard some marketing person say that "your best customer is who you used to be."

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This feels like a setup for something to come. Can’t wait to see what you do with it.

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A typing class was offered in high school; interestingly, it was not offered to those of us who were college bound (???) Immediately after I graduated from high school, my dad had me enroll in a secretarial school specifically for me to learn typing. I got up to 40 words/ min. just in time for me to start my college years with that most important skill - this was in the 70’s.

I still own an electric typewriter (it’s in a box 📦 somewhere up in the garage loft) along with numerous little boxes of font changes, I think. It should still work- I’ll have to get it now and try it out!!

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I was in software development in the 80’s. I’ll never forget the day they delivered Apple Lisa to our group to determine if our software could run there. I’ve had apple computers ever since…

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I had typing class in the 70's, and most of the typewriters were manual - we only had 2 or 3 electric typewriters at my small rural school.

I had to type a term paper with footnotes in my senior year of high school, so I spent a weekend at my brother's house using the electric typewriter he brought home from his office.

We bought our first home computer in 1987 - a Leading Edge Model D with a 20 MB hard drive. At the time, Apple Computers were more than twice the price of the IBM-compatible Leading Edge, and I have never bought anything Apple since then..

Using the word processing program that came with the Leading Edge was amazing and I never used a typewriter again if I could help it.

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Great article and comments from everyone. My dad brought home one of those original Apple II’s in the early 80s. Along with 2 very large floppy disk drives. It was my fist computer and I have been an Apple person ever since. Well other than the Brother word processor I had in college in 1991. I love hearing the early dedication to the product.

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Hey Bill. Just joined substack. Congrats on your platform!!

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back in 1975 I was using a HP9830 desktop computer connected to a FACIT typewriter later replaced by n IBM wheel writer

Total cost was 35.000,00 USD

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Love your stuff as always Bill, but "eat my own dog food"? Really? How about "eat my own cooking"? Woof!

Happy New Year

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I was one of the 132,000 in 1981...never typed a term paper in my entire life. ever.

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Great article Bill! Still the most creative and futuristic person in our lifetime. Interesting, and very huge leadership, that Scott put out the memo. And very smart too!

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Jan 2, 2023Liked by Bill Murphy Jr.

Great story, Bill! I have to say, you have a remarkable range of interests. But today I want address a different subject. I remind you of your introduction of Cai Emmons on August 15, 2022 (If I could speak again...) Having been introduced to her in the remarkable way that you do so well, in the intervening months I developed a passing but loving relationship with her. I was fascinated by her courage, her intensity, her devotion to her writing, yet knew that she would soon be dead. Well, today, January 2, 2023, she contacted all her friends to inform us that on this very day, she was to preserve her dignity by voluntarily and peacefully leaving this earth. Cai -- I will see you in the afterlife, for, being almost 95 years old,, I expect not all too many remaining years. myself. Thank you, Bill, for the introduction.

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