Terrifying typewriter

This 1945 Royal Typewriter ad provides a glimpse into the horror of messing about with mechanical typewriters.

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

geech

Artzybasheffian typewriter
alfanovember

Ever wake up dreaming about your boss hammering you, with your panties at your knees?
Mister44

IIRC, there was a nightmare inducing typewriter in The Naked Lunch.
http://northierthanthou.com/ northierthanthou

Bosses don’t need hammers. They inflict fear by existing.
Ito Kagehisa

The Royal pictured at the end is my mother’s typewriter, that she still uses. I learned to type on that machine. It feels like the throw on the keys is about an inch, although I’m sure it’s just because I’m used to modern VT52s and suchlike ;)

My mom doesn’t use modern electric typewriters or computers, because she forgets to tone it down once she gets flying and the keys shatter.
http://www.facebook.com/lee.felsenstein Lee Felsenstein

The Teletype model 33 had a stroke of about an inch and a key force of one pound. RSI was unknown among its users. Only when low-force, low-travel keyboards were introduced did carpal tunnel and other syndromes show up.