Tchooka tchooka tchooka. Kerchunk

I just read that the last typewriter factory shutdown. It was in India. It's been many years, probably more than a decade since I'd last used a typewriter, manual or electric. I even had an electric typewriter in the 80's. There was a point in the 90's when I'd gone completely over to computers for all my typing needs and wanted to give a typewriter a try again. For old time's sake.

The first thing I noticed wasn't the speed. It was slower, but the hard return. You are typing along and then you reach the end of the line and you have to hit the return. There is a noticeable delay. It wasn't anything I'd noticed before. With computers you just keep on typing and it wraps automatically. No delay. On my first Macintosh I installed Underwood typewriter sounds so the keystrokes sounded like a typewriter. It was amusing for a few minutes.

My mother had a manual typewriter and if you typed too fast, the keys would bunch up and you'd have to pry them loose one by one until the clump fell apart and the remaining keys fell back. 

Like so many other eras that have ended few will mourn it's passing or noticed that had even come to an end.