Brother Produces UK's Last Typewriter
Off to its final resting place.
These days, the majority of us do our typing on our laptop or PC keyboards with a dash of touchscreen typing thrown in for good measure. Computers have long since replaced less efficient ways of producing documents, such as by hand or via typewriter. In fact, the UK just produced its last typewriter ever and it's headed for a museum.
According to the BBC, the typewriter in question was manufactured by Brother. The company says demand for the mechanical device has fallen to the point where it's no longer financially viable to produce. It was made by Edward Bryan who has worked at Brother since 1989. He told the BBC that in the past he's successfully built a typewriter with his eyes closed.
The UK's last typewriter is headed for the London Science Museum where it will join the museum's collection of more than 200 typewriters.
"This object represents the end of typewriter manufacture in the UK, a technology which has developed over the last 130 years and has been important to so many lives," assistant curator of technologies and engineering, Rachel Boon, told the BBC. "This model will enable us to tell the story of how technology has evolved in accordance with our communication needs."
Brother told the BBC that its factory in Wales has produced 5.9 million typewriters since it opened in 1985. Going forward, the factory will be used to recycle printer cartridges as well as for the production of other office technology.

There's one at serveral offices around here still. They're used a couple times a year to type documents in triplicate because we don't have any matrix printers.
And what would be that "around here"?
It's right next to the insert key
If I do recall, there was a typewriter that had white-out capability. Backspace, then turn on the white-out and then backspace again to resume typing over the blotted out mistake.
Its carriage return can knock over a lamp if it is to close or not heavy enough!!!!
jer
On a mostly unrelated note, people have no idea how fucked we'd be if we lost access to reliable power in a large area for a few months. Most of us are completely unable to fend for ourselves these days. Very little reserve food and fuel. Yet most people don't even give it a moment's thought.
I don't thing that typing would be the greatest of our problems in an energy shortage. If someone really had to write something under such conditions they would be better off handwriting.
all electric type writers had a backspace key
And yet records still exist...
Remember learning to type on one of those things...The clanking sound of the keys still stuck in my head along with the tones of dial up modems. Curse you technologies that helped get us to where we are today!!!