Some people don’t mind the touchscreen of the iPad. Others purchase a bluetooth keyboard or keyboard dock to suit their typing needs. And then there are those who like to mod an old-school typewriter, and invent the USBTypewriter.
One of the first lines on the USBTypewriter.com site is that the product is “a new and groundbreaking innovation in the field of obsolescence”. Somehow I think that nicely nails it.
Jack Zylkin is the designer who who came up with this collection of bits, a typewriter, sensor board, USB interface, reed switches. The picture above and the video below shows the USBTypewriter working on an iPad, but it does the same job for PCs and Macs. In fact getting it to work with the iPad requires the purchase of an adapter, readily available at the Apple Store.
And yes, even after to 21st century mod to the typewriter you can still pop in some paper and use the device as an actual typewriter.
It’s a slightly interesting talking point, but if you ever used a typewriter, it really wasn’t that much fun. I prefer these days of touchscreen and chiclet keyboards.
The price of the USBTypewriter is $US799. If it’s of interest to you head on over to the USB Typewriter Etsy site.