tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5248447883714712696.post1314903671985750225..comments2024-03-25T15:02:25.695+11:00Comments on oz.Typewriter: Give the Man His Dues: Thomas McCall and the Hooven Automatic TypewriterRobert Messengerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04366507489948676594noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5248447883714712696.post-58323324480155620972013-07-18T00:57:45.618+10:002013-07-18T00:57:45.618+10:00Expensive, indeed. That Hooven machine with the pe...Expensive, indeed. That Hooven machine with the perforator cost an equivalent of $ 9,626.46 of today's dollars! That´s a lot of money, to be sure. Almost eleven times the cost of a Remington portable of the era. I wonder if that kind of thought played a role in the Department of Commerce thinking on this machine as "too expensive".<br /><br />More on the subject: "The makers claimed said that a typist with four Hoovens could do the work of 12 to 16 typists..." <br /><br />If one Hooven was worth the same as 11 very good portables, four of them would equal the cost of buying 44 typewriters. So the money they saved by not paying the other 11 to 15 typists they had to spend it buying the equivalent of 44 typewriters... that doesn't quite make much financial sense to me, at least not in the short-term scenario. Of course, this calculation is made based on the price of a concurrent Remington portable ($60.00 USD). I'd love to know how a good desktop cost back then to make this comparison more accurate, using its current-day value. But you get the idea... <br /><br />I can also imagine that storing those perforated forms would be rather space-consuming, and that this invention would be practical and financially viable only when you made lots of copies of one single document. I think you could use it to type "pre-printed" contracts and forms, for example; but even if you sent the same basic letter to all your customers, you'd still have to personalize them with their name and address in another machine... <br /><br />Don't get me wrong. I'm amazed by this early example of device programming. It is very ingenious, but it was too ahead of its time. Maybe that, and the inherent costs of buying and operating such a complex machine in a time where the only "programmable" things, like Rob said, were pianolas and looms, were the reasons why this invention didn't catch on. <br /><br /><br /><br />Miguel Chávezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09411154570699775904noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5248447883714712696.post-5746409310241267222013-07-18T00:50:32.568+10:002013-07-18T00:50:32.568+10:00Now that printing multiple documents is a matter o...Now that printing multiple documents is a matter of typing a number into a box and clicking the "print" button, it is a bit of a stretch to imagine the world of the Hooven. We have come a long way in generating print materials. Actually, most of my clients now prefer documents delivered electronically as PDF files. We read our newspapers and magazines - and blogs - online. We correspond via texting and email. Through all of this change, the typewritten letter stands out as more and more unique as a tangible connection with the writer. As my granddaughter has said with penetrating clarity, "Nothing was erased, nothing was edited, it's just raw and so very beautiful".TonysVisionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12004608151032301174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5248447883714712696.post-20637597020582061582013-07-17T22:36:44.097+10:002013-07-17T22:36:44.097+10:00Well actually, Rob, some of those thoughts crossed...Well actually, Rob, some of those thoughts crossed my mind too, but I was more concerned with some guy putting his heart and soul into this creation and getting almost no credit. Almost as bad as being laid off because they think they can get by with four hands when the job actually demands 14. Frankly, I'd still rather get a letter written on one typewriter by one person.Robert Messengerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04366507489948676594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5248447883714712696.post-60320191384274102092013-07-17T20:20:45.980+10:002013-07-17T20:20:45.980+10:00So this looks like a close relative to the century...So this looks like a close relative to the century-old jacquard weaving loom and, more pertinently, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monotype_System" rel="nofollow">Monotype typesetting system</a> which must have been only 20 years old by the time the Hooven came along and possibly both played within earshot of their second cousin, the pianola. I'm just getting towards the end of Robert Tressell's <i>The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists</i> and the proto-socialist dream of labour being eased by automatic machines is really brought to life in these inventions or 'discoveries' as Tressell would have it. And I suppose the art installations you read about involving typewriters hooked up to motors - or even usb devices - are an echo of the excitement which must have surrounded them. The line below this commentary box which says "Please prove you're not a robot" still gives pause for thought...Rob Bowkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12065940710708289511noreply@blogger.com