Typewriters as the cure

I’m writing this blog post on a typewriter. Not my normal Macbook M1 Air. I’m also not using any LLM systems which while I don’t let it write for me, I do get help from it. But I sometimes wonder at the moral panic over AI. I think I have a solution, the typewriter. When I sit down at my typewriter, my thought prcsess is different I think slower. I make mistakes. I ffeel* what I’m writing.

This difference means that what I write is unmistakeable especially paired with the type written output. I’ve tried to make fonts that look like a typewriter, and believe me, it doesnt work. It’s always to random, or to predictable.

So a typewriter can prove authebticity. But why? partly because my wife made a joke about it. Partly because while I don’t worry about AI, I want people to know what was me. This was written on a Olivettie Lettera 32. It’s an amazing machine, that feels right. Which leads to the most important part, it feels good. Writing is for me, so I do it in a way thats fun.

So does this solve anthing, no, typewriters are to rare, to much of a pain, but… maybe… the idea is worth something. Any way off to my other hobby, some bourbon.

– Matt Marshall