Dear Dr. Boli: I have been considering replacing my aging and unsatisfactory Windows computer with a typewriter. Do you have any specific recommendations? —Sincerely, A Young Journalist.
Dear Sir or Madam: Before you make your final decision, you must ask yourself whether you are ready to deal with the mechanical complexities of a writing machine. Dr. Boli himself prefers to write with a steel pen dipped in sepia writing fluid. The flexibility of a steel pen makes it a remarkably expressive instrument, while the mechanical simplicity of writing by hand is a refreshing contrast to the fast pace of mechanical writing.
If, however, you are set on your course, Dr. Boli’s secretary does make use of a typewriter for transcribing his employer’s dictation, and from him Dr. Boli has been able to glean a few words of advice. The most important consideration, he says, is that you should limit your choices to front-strike machines, commonly known as visible writers. Invisible typewriters rarely prove satisfactory. Dr. Boli’s secretary is partial to the Woodstock brand, which he considers superior in speed and construction.
Whether you choose a typewriter or a pen, Dr. Boli urges you not to give up on the computer entirely. You may not find it useful for writing, but a good computer has its place in the well-ordered household. The door to Dr. Boli’s library used to bang shut with the slightest draught, causing incalculable damage to his poor secretary’s nerves; but, since Dr. Boli received a Windows computer from an anonymous admirer, the problem has been entirely eliminated.