Editing Typewriter (section)

== History ==
[[File:1864 Schreibmaschine Peter Mitterhofer.jpg|thumb|Peter Mitterhofer's typewriter prototype (1864)]]
Although many modern typewriters have one of several similar designs, their invention was incremental, developed by numerous inventors working independently or in competition with each other over a series of decades. As with the [[automobile]], the telephone, and [[Telegraphy|telegraph]], several people contributed insights and inventions that eventually resulted in ever more commercially successful instruments. Historians have estimated that some form of the typewriter was invented 52 times as thinkers and tinkerers tried to come up with a workable design.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Acocella |first=Joan |date=April 9, 2007 |title=The Typing Life: How writers used to write |url=https://newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2007/04/09/070409crbo_books_acocella?currentPage=1 |url-status=live |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203011413/http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2007/04/09/070409crbo_books_acocella?currentPage=1 |archive-date=December 3, 2013}}</ref>

Some early typing instruments include:

* In 1575, an Italian printmaker, [[Francesco Rampazetto]], invented the {{lang|it|scrittura tattile}}, a machine to impress letters in papers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Scrittura | publisher=Museo dinamico della tecnologia Adriano Olivetti |url=http://museocasertaolivetti.altervista.org/scrittura/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170621081930/http://museocasertaolivetti.altervista.org/scrittura/ |archive-date=2017-06-21 |access-date=2017-07-21 |website=museocasertaolivetti.altervista.org |language=it-IT}}</ref>
* In 1714, [[Henry Mill]] obtained a patent in [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Britain]] for a machine that, from the patent, appears to have been similar to a typewriter. The patent shows that this machine was created: "[he] hath by his great study and paines & expence invented and brought to perfection an artificial machine or method for impressing or transcribing of letters, one after another, as in writing, whereby all writing whatsoever may be engrossed in paper or parchment so neat and exact as not to be distinguished from print; that the said machine or method may be of great use in settlements and public records, the impression being deeper and more lasting than any other writing, and not to be erased or counterfeited without manifest discovery."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Henry Mill Patents |url=http://www.todayinsci.com/M/Mill_Henry/MillHenryPatents.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121128013806/http://www.todayinsci.com/M/Mill_Henry/MillHenryPatents.htm |archive-date=2012-11-28 |access-date=2012-03-30 |publisher=Todayinsci.com}}</ref>
* In 1802, Italian [[Agostino Fantoni]] developed a particular typewriter to enable his [[blindness|blind]] sister to write.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of Computers and Computing, Birth of the modern computer, The bases of digital computers, typewriter and computer keyboard |url=http://history-computer.com/ModernComputer/Basis/keyboard.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160905195941/http://history-computer.com/ModernComputer/Basis/keyboard.html |archive-date=2016-09-05 |access-date=2016-09-19 |website=history-computer.com}}</ref>
* Between 1801 and 1808, Italian [[Pellegrino Turri]] invented a typewriter for his blind friend Countess Carolina Fantoni da Fivizzano.<ref>{{Cite web |year=2010 |title=Italian Inventors and their Inventions |url=http://www.yourguidetoitaly.com/italian-inventors.html |access-date=2011-01-25 |publisher=YourGuideToItaly.com}}</ref>
* In 1823, Italian [[Pietro Conti da Cilavegna]] invented a new model of the typewriter, the {{lang|it|tachigrafo}}, also known as {{lang|it|tachitipo}}.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gianfrancesco Rambelli |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Om_KVDRCK8EC&pg=PA150 |title=Intorno invenzioni e scoperte italiane |date=1844 |publisher=Tipografia Vincenzi e Rossi |location=Modena |page=150 |language=it}}</ref>
* In 1829, American [[William Austin Burt]] patented a machine called the "[[Typographer (typewriter)|Typographer]]" which, in common with many other early machines, is listed as the "first typewriter". The London [[Science Museum, London|Science Museum]] describes it merely as "the first writing mechanism whose invention was documented", but even that claim may be excessive since Turri's invention pre-dates it.<ref>{{Cite book |title=William Austin Burt's Typographer |publisher=Science Museum |year=1829}}</ref>

By the mid-19th century, the increasing pace of business communication had created a need to mechanize the writing process. [[Stenographer]]s and [[telegraph]]ers could take down information at rates up to 130 words per minute, whereas a writer with a pen was limited to a maximum of 30 words per minute (the 1853 speed record).<ref name="Utterback">{{Cite book |last=Utterback |first=James M. Utterback |title=Mastering The Dynamics Of Innovation|edition=2nd|publisher=Harvard Business Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-87584-740-5}}</ref>

From 1829 to 1870, many printing or typing machines were patented by inventors in Europe and America, but none went into commercial production.<ref name="Early Office Museum">{{cite web |title=Typewriters |url=https://www.officemuseum.com/typewriters.htm |website=Early Office Museum |access-date=27 April 2022}}</ref>

* American [[Charles Thurber (inventor)|Charles Thurber]] developed multiple patents, of which his first in 1843 was created as an aid to blind people, such as the 1845 [[Charles Thurber (inventor)#Career|Chirographer]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Thurber's Chirographer – Scientific American |url=https://todayinsci.com/Events/Typewriter/Chirographer-SciAm.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150327043255/http://todayinsci.com/Events/Typewriter/Chirographer-SciAm.htm |archive-date=2015-03-27 |access-date=2017-01-20 |website=todayinsci.com}}</ref>
* In 1855, the Italian [[Giuseppe Ravizza]] created a prototype typewriter called ''Cembalo scrivano o macchina da scrivere a tasti'' ("Scribe [[harpsichord]], or machine for writing with keys"). It was an advanced machine that let the user see the writing as it was typed.<ref>{{cite web |title=Cembalo Scrivano – macchina per scrivere – Industria, manifattura, artigianato |url=https://www.lombardiabeniculturali.it/scienza-tecnologia/schede/ST120-00001/ |website=Lombardia Beni Culturali |access-date=27 April 2022 |language=IT}}</ref>
* In 1861, Father [[Francisco João de Azevedo]], a Brazilian priest, made his typewriter with basic materials and tools, such as wood and knives. In that same year, the Brazilian emperor [[Pedro II of Brazil|D. Pedro II]], presented a gold medal to Father Azevedo for this invention. Many Brazilian people, as well as the Brazilian federal government recognize Fr. Azevedo as the inventor of the typewriter, a claim that has been the subject of some controversy.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Adler |first=Michael |title=Antique typewriters: from Creed to QWERTY |publisher=Schiffer Pub. |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-7643-0132-2 |location=Atglen, Pa.}}</ref>
* In 1865, [[John Pratt (inventor)|John Pratt]], of [[Centre, Alabama]] (US), built a machine called the ''Pterotype'' which appeared in an 1867 ''[[Scientific American]]'' article<ref>{{Cite news |date=1867-07-06 |title=Type Writing Machine. |volume=17 |page=3 |work=[[Scientific American]] |issue=1 |location=New York |url=http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/moa/pageviewer?frames=1&coll=moa&view=50&root=%2Fmoa%2Fscia%2Fscia1017%2F&tif=00011.TIF&cite=http%3A%2F%2Fcdl.library.cornell.edu%2Fcgi-bin%2Fmoa%2Fmoa-cgi%3Fnotisid%3DABF2204-1017-3 |access-date=2009-01-14 |series=New}}</ref> and inspired other inventors.
* Between 1864 and 1867, {{Interlanguage link|Peter Mitterhofer|de}}, a carpenter from [[South Tyrol]] (then part of [[Austrian Empire|Austria]]) developed several models and a fully functioning prototype typewriter in 1867.<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wN4DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA751 |title=This is How Some of the World's Familiar Inventions Looked at the Time of Birth |magazine=Popular Mechanics |date=May 1929 |page=751}}</ref>

=== Hansen Writing Ball ===
{{Main|Hansen Writing Ball}}
[[File:Malling Hansen,1867, Dänemark.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Hansen Writing Ball]] was the first typewriter manufactured commercially (1870).]]

In 1865, Rev. [[Rasmus Malling-Hansen]] of [[Denmark]] invented the [[Hansen Writing Ball]], which went into commercial production in 1870 and was the first commercially sold typewriter. It was a success in Europe and was reported as being used in offices on the European continent as late as 1909.<ref name="Mares">{{Cite book |last=Mares |first=G. C. |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.201721 |title=The History of the Typewriter |year=1909 |publisher=Guilbert Pitman |location=London |page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.201721/page/n234 230]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Early Office Museum |url=http://www.officemuseum.com/typewriters.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102201621/http://www.officemuseum.com/typewriters.htm |archive-date=2 January 2014 |access-date=1 December 2013}}</ref>

Malling-Hansen used a [[solenoid]] escapement to return the carriage on some of his models, which makes him a candidate for the title of inventor of the first "electric" typewriter.<ref>{{cite web |title=Rasmus Malling-Hansen Invents the Hansen Writing Ball, the First Commercially Produced Typewriter |url=https://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?id=5383 |access-date=27 April 2022 |website=History of Information}}</ref>

The Hansen Writing Ball was produced with only upper-case characters. The Writing Ball was a template for inventor [[Frank Haven Hall]] to create a derivative that would produce letter prints cheaper and faster.<ref name="Devil">{{Cite book |last=Larson |first=Erik |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kJp22rZDOZQC |title=The Devil in the White City: A Saga of Magic and Murder at the Fair that Changed America |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-4000-7631-4 |page=291 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180626060339/https://books.google.com/books?id=kJp22rZDOZQC |archive-date=2018-06-26 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="3lives">{{Cite journal |last=Hendrickson, Walter B. |year=1956 |title=The Three Lives of Frank H. Hall |url=http://dig.lib.niu.edu/ISHS/ishs-1956autumn/ishs-1956autumn-271.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society |publisher=University of Illinois Press |volume=49 |issue=3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100806034158/http://dig.lib.niu.edu/ISHS/ishs-1956autumn/ishs-1956autumn-271.pdf |archive-date=2010-08-06}}</ref><ref name="Museum">{{Cite web |last=Anonymous |date=24 April 2011 |title=Hall Braille Writer |url=http://www.aph.org/museum/braillewriters/1.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120427203920/http://www.aph.org/museum/braillewriters/1.html |archive-date=27 April 2012 |access-date=29 February 2012 |publisher=American Printing House for the Blind, Inc.}}</ref>

Malling-Hansen developed his typewriter further through the 1870s and 1880s and made many improvements, but the writing head remained the same. On the first model of the writing ball from 1870, the paper was attached to a cylinder inside a wooden box. In 1874, the cylinder was replaced by a carriage, moving beneath the writing head. Then, in 1875, the well-known "tall model" was patented, which was the first of the writing balls that worked without electricity. Malling-Hansen attended the world exhibitions in [[Vienna]] in 1873 and Paris in 1878 and he received the first-prize for his invention at both exhibitions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Otto Burghagen |title=Die Schreibmaschine. Illustrierte Beschreibung aller gangbaren Schreibmaschinen nebst gründlicher Anleitung zum Arbeiten auf sämtlichen Systemen |year=1898}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Dieter Eberwein |title=Nietzsches Schreibkugel. Ein Blick auf Nietzsches Schreibmaschinenzeit durch die Restauration der Schreibkugel. Eberwein-Typoskriptverlag |publisher=Schauenburg 2005.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Johanne Agerskov |title=''Hvem er Skrivekuglens Opfinder?'' |year=1925}}</ref>

=== Sholes and Glidden typewriter ===
{{Main|Sholes and Glidden typewriter}}
[[File:Sholes typewriter.jpg|thumb|upright|Prototype of the first commercially successful typewriter, the ''Sholes and Glidden'' (1873) – with the first QWERTY keyboard]]

The first typewriter to be commercially successful was patented in 1868 by Americans [[Christopher Latham Sholes]], [[Frank Haven Hall]], [[Carlos Glidden]] and [[Samuel W. Soule]] in [[Milwaukee, Wisconsin]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 23, 1868 |title=Drawing for a Typewriter |url=https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/drawing-for-a-typewriter |website=docsteach.org |<!--original publisher-->publisher=Records of the Patent and Trademark Office, Record Group 241.}}</ref> although Sholes soon disowned the machine and refused to use or even recommend it.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jocher |first1=Katharine |last2=Bliven |first2=Bruce |year=1954 |title=Reviewed work: The Typewriter and the Men Who Made It., Richard N. Current; the Wonderful Writing Machine., Bruce Bliven, Jr |journal=Social Forces |volume=33 |issue=2 |pages=197–198 |doi=10.2307/2573562 |jstor=2573562}}</ref> The working prototype was made by clock-maker and machinist Matthias Schwalbach.<ref name=WCH>{{Cite web |title=First Practical Typewriter |date=March 22, 2007 |access-date=25 April 2021 |publisher=Wisconsin Historical Society |url=https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS2697}}</ref> Hall, Glidden and Soule sold their shares in the patent (US 79,265) to Sholes and [[James Densmore]],<ref name=Current /> who made an agreement with [[E. Remington and Sons]] (then famous as a manufacturer of [[sewing machine]]s) to commercialize the machine as the ''[[Sholes and Glidden typewriter|Sholes and Glidden Type-Writer]]''.<ref name=WCH /> This was the origin of the term ''typewriter''.

Remington began production of its first typewriter on March 1, 1873, in [[Ilion, New York]]. It had a [[QWERTY]] keyboard layout, which, because of the machine's success, was slowly adopted by other typewriter manufacturers.  <span class="anchor" id="Understrike"></span>As with most other early typewriters, because the typebars struck upwards, the typist could not see the characters as they were typed.<ref name=Current>{{cite journal | last=Current |first=Richard N. |title=The Original Typewriter Enterprise 1867–1873 |journal=The Wisconsin Magazine of History |volume= 32 |number= 4 | year= 1949 |pages= 391–407 |jstor=4632060 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4632060 | access-date=25 April 2021}}</ref> This arrangement, [[retronym]]ically known as ''understrike'' would eventually give way to so-called [[#Frontstriking|frontstrike]] mechanisms in later, competing machines.

=== Index typewriter ===
[[File:Hall 1 typewriter, 1881 (Martin Howard Collection).jpg|thumb|Hall 1 typewriter, 1881 – the first index typewriter]]
[[File:Mignon Mod.4,Bj.1924.jpg|thumb|right|Mignon Model 4 – a portable index typewriter still manufactured in 1934]]
The index typewriter came into the market in the early 1880s.<ref name="EOM">{{Cite web |title=Antique Index Typewriters |url=http://www.officemuseum.com/typewriters_index.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160702212611/http://www.officemuseum.com/typewriters_index.htm |archive-date=2 July 2016 |access-date=13 March 2017 |website=Early Office Museum}}</ref> The index typewriter uses a pointer or stylus to choose a letter from an index. The pointer is mechanically linked so that the letter chosen could then be printed, most often by the activation of a lever.<ref name="Early Office Museum" />

The index typewriter was briefly popular in niche markets. Although they were slower than keyboard type machines, they were mechanically simpler and lighter. They were therefore marketed as being suitable for travellers and, because they could be produced more cheaply than keyboard machines, as budget machines for users who needed to produce small quantities of typed correspondence.<ref name="EOM"/> For example, the Simplex Typewriter Company made index typewriters for 1/40 the price of a Remington typewriter.<ref name="PoltWeb">{{cite web |first=Richard |last=Polt |website=The Classic Typewriter Page |url=https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/simplex.html |title=Simplex |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606050123/https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/simplex.html |archive-date=6 June 2021 }}.</ref>

The index typewriter's niche appeal however soon disappeared as, on the one hand new keyboard typewriters became lighter and more portable, and on the other refurbished second-hand machines began to become available.<ref name="EOM"/> The last widely available western index machine was the Mignon typewriter produced by [[AEG (German company)|AEG]] which was produced until 1934. Considered one of the very best of the index typewriters, part of the Mignon's popularity was that it featured interchangeable indexes as well as [[Sort (typesetting)|type]],<ref name="Mignon2">{{Cite web |title=The Mignon 2 |url=http://www.typewritermuseum.org/collection/brands/index.php3?machine=indexmignon2&cat=is |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161003035122/http://www.typewritermuseum.org/collection/brands/index.php3?machine=indexmignon2&cat=is |archive-date=3 October 2016 |access-date=13 March 2017 |website=The Virtual Typewriter Museum}}</ref> [[font]]s and [[character set]]s. This is something very few keyboard machines were capable of—and only at considerable added cost.<ref name="Mignon2"/>

Although they were pushed out of the market in most of the world by keyboard machines, successful [[Japanese typewriter|Japanese]] and [[Chinese typewriter]]s are of the index type—albeit with a very much larger index and number of type elements.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mullaney |first=Thomas S. |date=2016 |title=Controlling the Kanjisphere: The Rise of the Sino-Japanese Typewriter and the Birth of CJK |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44166285 |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |volume=75 |issue=3 |pages=725–753 |doi=10.1017/S0021911816000577 |jstor=44166285 |issn=0021-9118|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

[[Embossing tape]] label makers are the most common index typewriters today, and perhaps the most common typewriters of any type still being manufactured.<ref name="PoltWeb"/>

The platen was mounted on a carriage that moved horizontally to the left, automatically advancing the typing position, after each character was typed. The carriage-return lever at the far left was then pressed to the right to return the carriage to its starting position and rotating the platen to advance the paper vertically. A small bell was struck a few characters before the right hand margin was reached to warn the operator to complete the word and then use the carriage-return lever.<ref name="The Remington Type-Writing Machine">{{Cite journal |year=1876 |title=The Remington Type-Writing Machine |journal=Nature |volume=14 |issue=342 |pages=43–44 |bibcode=1876Natur..14...43. |doi=10.1038/014043a0 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

=== Other typewriters ===
[[File:Fitch 1 typewriter, 1888 (Martin Howard Collection).jpg|thumb|Fitch 1 typewriter, 1888]]
[[File:Underwood 1 typewriter, 1896.jpg|thumb|Underwood 1 typewriter, 1896 – the typewriter that would set the design standard for the new century, with four rows of keys, front strike visible and a single shift key. It also had a light and fast typing action.]]
* 1884 – Hammond "Ideal" typewriter with case, by Hammond Typewriter Company Limited, United States. Despite an unusual, curved keyboard (see pictures in [[#Gallery|Gallery]] and citation), the Hammond became popular because of its superior print quality and changeable typeface. Invented by James Hammond of Boston, Massachusetts in 1880, and commercially released in 1884. The type is carried on a pair of interchangeable rotating sectors, one controlled by each half of the keyboard. A small hammer pushes the paper against the ribbon and type sector to print each character. The mechanism was later adapted to give a straight QWERTY keyboard and proportional spacing.<ref>{{cite web |title=Two Hammond 'Ideal' typewriters, one with case |url=https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co37725/two-hammond-ideal-typewriters-one-with-case-typewriter |website=Science Museum Group Collection |access-date=27 April 2022 |language=en}}</ref>
* 1888 – Fitch typewriter – made by the Fitch Typewriter Company, Brooklyn, N.Y. and later in the UK with a slightly different look. Operators of the early typewriters had to work "blind": the typed text emerged only after several lines had been completed or the carriage was lifted to look underneath at the page. The Fitch was one of the first machines to allow prompt correction of mistakes with its visible writing; it was said to be the second machine operating on the visible writing system. The typebars were positioned behind the paper and the writing area faced upwards so that the result could be seen instantly. A curved frame kept the emerging paper from obscuring the keyboard, but the Fitch was soon eclipsed by machines in which the paper could be fed more conveniently at the rear.<ref name="Science Museum">{{Cite web|title=Fitch typewriter, 1891 {{!}} Science Museum Group Collection|url=https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co38149/fitch-typewriter-1891-typewriters|access-date=2021-11-23|website=collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk|language=en}}</ref>
* 1893 – Gardner typewriter. This typewriter, patented by Mr J Gardner in 1893, was an attempt to reduce the size and cost. Although it prints 84 symbols, it has only 14 keys and two change-case keys. Several characters are indicated on each key and the character printed is determined by the position of the case keys, which choose one of six cases.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Gardner typewriter, c. 1893 |publisher=Science Museum Group Collection|url=https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co37730/gardner-typewriter-c-1893-typewriter|access-date=2021-11-23|website=collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk|language=en}}</ref>
* 1896 – the "Underwood 1 typewriter, 10" Pica, No. 990". This was the first typewriter with a typing area fully visible to the typist until a key is struck. These features, copied by all subsequent typewriters, allowed the typist to see and if necessary correct the typing as it proceeded. The mechanism was developed in the US by Franz X. Wagner from about 1892 and taken up, in 1895, by John T. Underwood (1857–1937), a producer of office supplies.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Underwood 1 Typewriter, 1897 {{!}} Science Museum Group Collection|url=https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co38171/underwood-1-typewriter-1897-typewriter|access-date=2021-11-22|website=collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk|language=en}}</ref>

=== Standardization ===
By about 1910, the "manual" or "mechanical" typewriter had reached a somewhat [[Standardization|standardized]] design.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mechanical Typewriter Explained: How Typewriters Work |url=https://www.gadgetexplained.com/2015/11/mechanical-typewriter-explained-how.html |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=Gadget Explained – Reviews Gadgets Electronics Tech}}</ref> There were minor variations from one manufacturer to another, but most typewriters followed the concept that each key was attached to a typebar that had the corresponding letter molded, in reverse, into its striking head.  When a key was struck briskly and firmly, the typebar hit a ribbon (usually made of [[ink]]ed [[Cloth|fabric]]), making a printed mark on the paper wrapped around a cylindrical [[platen]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=McCormack |first=Harry S. |date=2 May 1907 |title=Type-Writing Machine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4x1LAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA385 |journal=Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office |volume=134 |pages=385}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=A Brief History of Typewriters |url=https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/tw-history.html |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=The Classic Typewriter Page}}</ref>

The platen was mounted on a carriage that moved horizontally to the left, automatically advancing the typing position, after each character was typed. The carriage-return lever at the far left was then pressed to the right to return the carriage to its starting position and rotating the platen to advance the paper vertically. A small bell was struck a few characters before the right hand margin was reached to warn the operator to complete the word and then use the carriage-return lever.<ref name="The Remington Type-Writing Machine"/> Typewriters for languages written [[right-to-left]] operate in the opposite direction.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-01-23 |title=The typewriter: an informal history |url=https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/modelb/modelb_informal.html |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=IBM Archives |language=en-US}}</ref>

By 1900, notable typewriter manufacturers included [[E. Remington and Sons]], [[IBM]], [[Godrej Group|Godrej]],<ref>{{Cite news |title=The archives times – March – April 2013 – Lost and found, a 1984 photo revives those times |publisher=Godrej archives |url=http://www.archives.godrej.com/assets/pdf/The_Archives_Times_Mar_Apr_2013.pdf |access-date=18 March 2019}}</ref> [[Imperial Typewriter Company]], [[Oliver Typewriter Company]], [[Olivetti]], [[Royal Typewriter Company]], [[Smith Corona]], [[Underwood Typewriter Company]], [[Facit]], [[Adler (cars and motorcycle)|Adler]], and <!--{{Ill|de|Olympia Werke}}-->[[Olympia-Werke]].<ref>Silver Reed{{Cite web |title=From behind the scenes – Godrej Prima and the Stenographers handbook |url=http://www.archives.godrej.com/assets/pdf/Steno's_Handbook.pdf |access-date=18 March 2019 |website=www.archives.godrej.com |publisher=Godrej archives}}</ref>

After the market had matured under the market dominance of large companies from Britain, Europe and the United States—but before the advent of daisywheel and electronic machines—the typewriter market faced strong competition from less expensive typewriters from Asia, including [[Brother Industries]] and [[Silver Seiko Ltd.]] of Japan.

==== Frontstriking ====
[[File:Daugherty typewriter (Martin Howard Collection).jpg|thumb|Daugherty typewriter, 1893]]

In most of the early typewriters, the typebars struck upward against the paper and pressed against the bottom of the [[platen]] ([[#Understrike|understrike]]), so the typist could not see the text as it was typed.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Lyons |first1=Martyn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mhUwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA205 |title=Approaches to the History of Written Culture: A World Inscribed |last2=Marquilhas |first2=Rita |date=2017 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-319-54136-5 |language=en}}</ref> What was typed was not visible until a carriage return caused it to scroll into view.

The difficulty with any other arrangement was ensuring the typebars fell back into place reliably when the key was released. This was eventually achieved with various ingenious mechanical designs and so-called "visible typewriters" which used frontstriking, in which the typebars struck forward against the front side of the platen, which became standard. One of the first front-strike typewriters was the Daugherty Visible, introduced in 1893. 

==== Four-bank keyboard ====
The Daugherty Visible also introduced the four-bank keyboard, which also became standard, although the Underwood, which came out two years later, was the first ''major'' typewriter to support frontstriking and a four-bank keyboard.<ref name="Robert1">{{Cite web |last=Robert |first=Paul |title=Daugherty |url=http://www.typewritermuseum.org/collection/index.php3?machine=daugh&cat=kf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110729132951/http://www.typewritermuseum.org/collection/index.php3?machine=daugh&cat=kf |archive-date=July 29, 2011 |access-date=July 5, 2012 |website=Collection |publisher=The Virtual Typewriter Museum}}</ref><ref name="Seaver1">{{Cite web |last=Seaver |first=Alan |year=2011 |title=Daugherty Visible |url=http://machinesoflovinggrace.com/ptf/VisDaughertyPittsburg.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511211636/http://machinesoflovinggrace.com/ptf/VisDaughertyPittsburg.html |archive-date=May 11, 2013 |access-date=July 5, 2012 |website=Machines of Loving Grace website |publisher=Alan Seaver}}</ref>

==== Shift key ====
[[File:Remington 2 typewriter keyboard.jpg|thumb|Remington #2 typewriter keyboard. Note the shift keys bottom-left and top-right. 1878.]]
[[File:Comparison_of_Full-Keyboard,_Single-Shift,_and_Double-Shift_Typerwriters_in_1911.png|thumb|A 1911 comparison of then-current full-keyboard (left), single-shift (middle), and double-shift typewriters (right)]]

A significant innovation was the [[shift key]], introduced with the [[E. Remington and Sons|Remington]] No. 2 in 1878. This key physically "shifted" either the basket of typebars, in which case the typewriter is described as "basket shift", or the paper-holding carriage, in which case the typewriter is described as "carriage shift".<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Mark |first1= Adams on |date=October 24, 2013 |title=Remington Standard No. 2: 'Lower Case' vs. 'Shift Key'? |url=https://type-writer.org/?p=1765 |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=Type-Writer.org |language=en-US}}</ref> Either mechanism caused a different portion of the typebar to come in contact with the ribbon/platen.

The result is that each typebar could type two different characters, cutting the number of keys and typebars in half (and simplifying the internal mechanisms considerably). The obvious use for this was to allow letter keys to type both [[Letter case|upper and lower case]], but normally the number keys were also duplexed, allowing access to special symbols such as percent, {{char|%}}, and ampersand, {{char|&}}.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Typing Through Time: Keyboard History |url=https://www.daskeyboard.com/blog/typing-through-time-the-history-of-the-keyboard/ |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=Das Keyboard Mechanical Keyboard Blog |language=en-US}}</ref>

Before the shift key, typewriters had to have a separate key and typebar for upper-case letters; in essence, the typewriter had two full keyboards, one above the other. With the shift key, manufacturing costs (and therefore purchase price) were greatly reduced, and typist operation was simplified; both factors contributed greatly to mass adoption of the technology.

===== Three-bank typewriters =====
Certain models further reduced the number of keys and typebars by making each key perform three functions—each typebar could type three different characters. These little three-row machines were portable and could be used by journalists.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mosher |first=Charles Philo |date=10 April 1917 |title=Type-Writing Machine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DngbAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA537 |journal=Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office |page=537}}</ref>

Such three-row machines were popular with WWI journalists because they were lighter and more compact than four-bank typewriters, while they could type just as fast and use just as many symbols.<ref>Alan Seaver. [http://sevenels.net/typewriters/3banks.htm "Three-Bank Typewriters"]</ref> To include those symbols, three-row machines like the Bar-Let<ref>[https://www.typewriters101.com/collection.html "My Typewriter Collection: Bar-Let Model 2"].</ref> and the [[Smith Corona#Corona Typewriter Company|Corona]] No. 3 Typewriter<ref>Smithsonian National Museum of American History.
[https://www.si.edu/object/corona-typewriter%3Anmah_849921 "Corona No. 3 Typewriter"]</ref><ref>[https://www.typewriters101.com/store/p430/1921_Corona_Folding_No._3.html "1921 Corona Folding No. 3"].</ref> had two distinct shift keys performing different functions, a "CAP" shift (for uppercase) and a "FIG" shift (for numbers and symbols).<ref>Anthony Casillo. [https://books.google.com/books?id=emcqDwAAQBAJ ''Typewriters: Iconic Machines from the Golden Age of Mechanical Writing''].
2017. pp. 116; 197–198.</ref> They were thus also known as ''double-shift typewriters''.

[[Teletypewriter]]s also often used a three-row typewriter keyboard,<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=AuIOu97MduQC "Principles of Telegraphy, Teletypewriter"]. 1967. p. A-15.
"[Murray] used a 5-unit code with two shifts, [and] 
(...) use of a three-row typewriter-style keyboard, with the numerals assigned to the top row of keys. 
Therefore, the numeral 1 had to use the same combination as the letter Q, 2 the same combination as W, etc."</ref>
which looked superficially similar in that it also had two shift keys, "FIGS" (figures) and "LTRS" (letters). However, these [[Murray code]]-based machines generally did not allow each key to perform three functions and were a different technology from double-shift typewriters.{{efn|Unlike shift keys on double-shift typewriters, teletypewriter shift keys were stateful—like [[Shift Lock]]. Typing or transmitting FIGS once shifted all following characters to "figure shift", until LTRS shifted the code back to "letter shift". Hence those two shift keys did not allow teletypewriters to include lower- as well as upper-case characters. A further feature finally allowing that only arrived as a 1988 extension to the Murray-based [[Alphabet 2]] code,<ref>[http://archive.org/details/enf-ascii "The Evolution of Character Codes, 1874-1968"]. 2000. p. 8.</ref> close to that technology's obsolescence.}}

==== Tab key ====
{{Main|Tab key}}

To facilitate typewriter use in business settings, a tab (tabulator) key was added in the late 19th century. Before using the key, the operator had to set mechanical "tab stops" (pre-designated locations to which the carriage would advance when the tab key was pressed). This facilitated the typing of columns of numbers, freeing the operator from the need to manually position the carriage. The first models had one tab stop and one tab key; later ones allowed as many stops as desired, and sometimes had multiple tab keys, each of which moved the carriage a different number of spaces ahead of the decimal point (the tab stop), to facilitate the typing of columns with numbers of different length ($1.00, $10.00, $100.00, etc.) such that the decimal points were vertically aligned. Typically, tab stops could be set by a key-set tabulator control (either by a lever or keys on the keyboard—usually labelled with "+" or "-", or "set" and "clear") or moveable tab stops at the back of the machine, similar to margin stops.

==== Dead keys ====
{{Main|Dead key}}

Languages such as French, Spanish, and German required [[diacritic]]s, special signs attached to or on top of the base letter: for example, a combination of the [[acute accent]] {{char|´}} plus {{char|e}} produced {{char|é}}; {{char|~}} plus {{char|n}} produced {{char|ñ}}. In [[Typesetting#Movable type|metal typesetting]], {{angbr|é}}, {{angbr|ñ}}, and others were separate [[Sort (typesetting)|sorts]]. With mechanical typewriters, the number of whose characters (sorts) was constrained by the physical limits of the machine, the number of keys required was reduced by the use of [[dead keys]]. Diacritics such as {{char|´}} ([[acute accent]]) would be assigned to a [[dead key]], which did not move the [[platen]] forward, permitting another character to be imprinted at the same location; thus a single dead key such as the acute accent could be combined with {{char|a}},{{char|e}},{{char|i}},{{char|o}} and {{char|u}} to produce {{char|á}},{{char|é}},{{char|í}},{{char|ó}} and {{char|ú}}, reducing the number of sorts needed from 5 to 1. The typebars of "normal" characters struck a rod as they moved the metal character desired toward the ribbon and platen, and each rod depression moved the platen forward the width of one character. Dead keys had a typebar shaped so as not to strike the rod.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Smalley |first1=William A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MXM_RL4UWe0C&pg=PA115 |title=Mother of Writing: The Origin and Development of a Hmong Messianic Script |last2=Vang |first2=Chia Koua |last3=Yang |first3=Gnia Yee |date=1990|publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-76287-6 |language=en}}</ref>

==== Character sizes ====
{{further|Point (typography)|Pitch (typewriter)}}

In English-speaking countries, ordinary typewriters printing fixed-width characters were standardized to print six horizontal lines per vertical inch, and had either of two variants of character width, one called ''pica'' for ten characters per horizontal inch and the other ''elite'', for twelve. This differed from the use of these terms in printing, where [[Pica (typography)|pica]] is a linear unit (approximately {{frac|1|6}} of an inch) used for any measurement, the most common one being the height of a typeface.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Brief Chronology of the Typewriter |url=http://www.quadibloc.com/comp/pro05.htm |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=www.quadibloc.com}}</ref>

==== Color ====
Some ribbons were inked in black and red stripes, each being half the width and running the entire length of the ribbon. A lever on most machines allowed switching between colors, which was useful for bookkeeping entries where negative amounts were highlighted in red. The red color was also used on some selected characters in running text, for emphasis. When a typewriter had this facility, it could still be fitted with a solid black ribbon; the lever was then used to switch to fresh ribbon when the first stripe ran out of ink. Some typewriters also had a third position which stopped the ribbon being struck at all. This enabled the keys to hit the paper unobstructed, and was used for cutting stencils for [[Mimeograph|stencil duplicators]] (aka mimeograph machines).<ref name="MimeoTypewriter">{{Cite web |title=How to prepare a mimeograph stencil by using a typewriter |url=http://www.sil.org/lingualinks/literacy/implementaliteracyprogram/howtoprepareamimeographstencil2.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121016144524/http://www.sil.org/lingualinks/literacy/implementaliteracyprogram/howtoprepareamimeographstencil2.htm |archive-date=2012-10-16 |access-date=2011-05-10 |website=LinguaLinks Library |publisher=SIL International}}</ref> 

==== "Noiseless" designs ====
[[File:Rapid typewriter, 1890 (Martin Howard Collection).jpg|thumb|Rapid typewriter, 1890]]

The first typewriter to have the sliding type bars (laid out horizontally like a fan) that enable a typewriter to be "noiseless" was the American made Rapid which appeared briefly on the market in 1890. The Rapid also had the remarkable ability for the typist to have entire control of the carriage by manipulation of the keyboard alone. The two keys that achieve this are positioned at the top of the keyboard (seen in the detail image below). They are a "Lift" key that advances the paper, on the platen, to the next line and a "Return" key that causes the carriage to automatically swing back to the right, ready for one to type the new line. So an entire page could be typed without one's hands leaving the keyboard.

In the early part of the 20th century, a typewriter was marketed under the name Noiseless and advertised as "silent". It was developed by Wellington Parker Kidder and the first model was marketed by the Noiseless Typewriter Company in 1917.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Noiseless Portable |url=https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/noiselessportable.html |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=The Classic Typewriter Page}}</ref> Noiseless portables sold well in the 1930s and 1940s, and noiseless standards continued to be manufactured until the 1960s.<ref name="ja" />

In a conventional typewriter the type bar reaches the end of its travel simply by striking the ribbon and paper. The Noiseless, developed by Kidder, has a complex lever mechanism that decelerates the type bar mechanically before pressing it against the ribbon and paper in an attempt to dampen the noise.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gould |first=R. T. |title=The Modern Typewriter and ITS Probable Future Development |date=1928 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41357995 |journal=Journal of the Royal Society of Arts |volume=76 |issue=3940 |pages=717–738 |jstor=41357995 |issn=0035-9114}}</ref>

=== Electric designs ===
Although electric typewriters would not achieve widespread popularity until nearly a century later, the basic groundwork for the electric typewriter was laid by the [[Universal Stock Ticker]], invented by [[Thomas Edison]] in 1870. This device remotely printed letters and numbers on a stream of paper tape from input generated by a specially designed typewriter at the other end of a telegraph line.

==== Early electric models ====
Some electric typewriters were patented in the 19th century, but the first machine known to be produced in series is the Cahill of 1900.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bert Kerschbaumer, "The Cahill Electrical Typewriters," ETCetera No. 100 (December 2012) |url=http://etconline.org/backissues/ETC100.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160730133043/http://etconline.org/backissues/ETC100.pdf |archive-date=2016-07-30}}</ref>

Another electric typewriter was produced by the [[Blickensderfer typewriter|Blickensderfer Manufacturing Company]], of [[Stamford, Connecticut]], in 1902. Like the manual Blickensderfer typewriters, it used a cylindrical typewheel rather than individual typebars. The machine was produced in several variants but apparently not a commercial success,<ref>{{Cite web |title=P. Robert Aubert, "The Last Service Call," ETCetera No. 33(December 1995) |url=http://etconline.org/backissues/ETC033.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160730133642/http://etconline.org/backissues/ETC033.pdf |archive-date=2016-07-30}}</ref> having come to market ahead of its time, before ubiquitous [[electrification]].

The next step in the development of the electric typewriter came in 1910, when Charles and Howard Krum filed a patent for the first practical [[teleprinter|teletypewriter]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=U.S. Patent 1,286,351 filed in May, 1910, and issued in December, 1918 |url=http://patimg2.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid=01286351&homeurl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO1%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526d%3DPALL%2526p%3D1%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsrchnum.htm%2526r%3D1%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526s1%3D1286351.PN.%2526OS%3DPN%2F1286351%2526RS%3DPN%2F1286351&PageNum=&Rtype=&SectionNum=&idkey=NONE&Input=View+first+page |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161225235913/http://patimg2.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid=01286351&homeurl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO1%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526d%3DPALL%2526p%3D1%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsrchnum.htm%2526r%3D1%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526s1%3D1286351.PN.%2526OS%3DPN%2F1286351%2526RS%3DPN%2F1286351&PageNum=&Rtype=&SectionNum=&idkey=NONE&Input=View+first+page |archive-date=2016-12-25 |access-date=2011-09-16}}</ref> The Krums' machine, named the Morkrum Printing Telegraph, used a typewheel rather than individual typebars.  This machine was used for the first commercial teletypewriter system on Postal Telegraph Company lines between [[Boston]] and New York City in 1910.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Colin Hempstead, William E. Worthington |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0wkIlnNjDWcC&pg=PA605 |title=Encyclopedia of 20th Century Technology |publisher=Routledge |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-57958-464-1 |page=605}}</ref>

[[James Fields Smathers]] of Kansas City invented what is considered the first practical power-operated typewriter in 1914. In 1920, after returning from Army service, he produced a successful model and in 1923 turned it over to the Northeast Electric Company of Rochester for development. Northeast was interested in finding new markets for their electric motors and developed Smathers's design so that it could be marketed to typewriter manufacturers, and from 1925 Remington Electric typewriters were produced powered by Northeast's motors.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-01-23 |title=The history of IBM electric typewriters |url=https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/modelb/modelb_history.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120182250/https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/modelb/modelb_history.html |archive-date=2023-11-20 |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=IBM Archives |language=en-US}}</ref>

After some 2,500 electric typewriters had been produced, Northeast asked Remington for a firm contract for the next batch. However, Remington was engaged in merger talks, which would eventually result in the creation of [[Remington Rand]] and no executives were willing to commit to a firm order. Northeast instead decided to enter the typewriter business for itself, and in 1929 produced the first Electromatic Typewriter.<ref>{{Cite web |title=IBM Electromatic Typewriter |url=https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1155510 |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=National Museum of American History |language=en}}</ref>

In 1928, [[Delco Electronics|Delco]], a division of [[General Motors]], purchased Northeast Electric, and the typewriter business was spun off as Electromatic Typewriters, Inc. In 1933, Electromatic was acquired by [[IBM]], which then spent [[United States dollar|$]]1&nbsp;million on a redesign of the Electromatic Typewriter, launching the IBM Electric Typewriter Model 01.<ref>{{Cite web |date=23 January 2003 |title=IBM Electric Typewriter Model 01 |url=http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/vintage/vintage_4506VV2240.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130526135454/http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/vintage/vintage_4506VV2240.html |archive-date=2013-05-26 |access-date=2013-09-12 |publisher=03.ibm.com}}</ref>

In 1931, an electric typewriter was introduced by Varityper Corporation. It was called the [[Varityper]], because a narrow cylinder-like wheel could be replaced to change the [[typeface]].<ref>{{Cite journal |date=July 1931 |title=Changing the Type of Typewriter Made Easy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4OIDAAAAMBAJ&pg=-PA83 |url-status=live |journal=[[Popular Mechanics]] |page=83 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180626060339/https://books.google.com/books?id=4OIDAAAAMBAJ&pg=-PA83 |archive-date=2018-06-26}}</ref>

In 1941, IBM announced the Electromatic Model 04 electric typewriter, featuring the revolutionary concept of proportional spacing. By assigning varied rather than uniform spacing to different sized characters, the Type 4 recreated the appearance of a typeset page, an effect that was further enhanced by including the 1937 innovation of carbon-film ribbons that produced clearer, sharper words on the page.<ref>{{Cite web |date=23 January 2003 |title=IBM Typewriter Milestones |url=https://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/modelb/modelb_milestone.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170627172904/http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/modelb/modelb_milestone.html |archive-date=2017-06-27 |publisher=IBM Archives}}</ref>

==== IBM Selectric ====
{{Main|IBM Selectric}}
[[File:Selectric II.jpg|thumb|IBM Selectric II (dual Latin/Hebrew typeball and keyboard)]]
IBM introduced the [[IBM Selectric]] typewriter in 1961, which replaced the typebars with a spherical element (or '''typeball''') slightly smaller than a [[golf ball]], with reverse-image letters molded into its surface. The Selectric used a system of latches, metal tapes, and pulleys driven by an electric motor to rotate the ball into the correct position and then strike it against the ribbon and platen. The typeball moved laterally in front of the paper, instead of the previous designs using a platen-carrying carriage moving the paper across a stationary print position.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-01-20 |title=A different type of dance move |url=https://www.ibm.com/blogs/industries/selectric-typewriter-dancers/ |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=Industrious |language=en-US}}</ref>

Due to the physical similarity, the typeball was sometimes referred to as a "golfball".<ref name="ibm100">{{Cite web |last=IBM |date=7 March 2012 |title=The Selectric Typewriter |url=https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/ibm100/us/en/icons/selectric/ |access-date=20 January 2020 |website=Icons of Progress}}</ref> The typeball design had many advantages, especially the elimination of "jams" (when more than one key was struck at once and the typebars became entangled) and in the ability to change the typeball, allowing multiple typefaces to be used in a single document.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-03-07 |title=The Selectric Typewriter |url=http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/ibm100/us/en/icons/selectric/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120403015050/http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/ibm100/us/en/icons/selectric/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=3 April 2012 |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=IBM100}}</ref>

The IBM Selectric became a commercial success, dominating the office typewriter market for at least two decades.<ref name="ibm100" /> IBM also gained an advantage by marketing more heavily to schools than did Remington, with the idea that students who learned to type on a Selectric would later choose IBM typewriters over the competition in the workplace as businesses replaced their old manual models.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jackson |first=Nicholas |date=2011-07-27 |title=IBM Reinvented the Typewriter With the Selectric 50 Years Ago |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/07/ibm-reinvented-the-typewriter-with-the-selectric-50-years-ago/242624/ |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=The Atlantic |language=en-US}}</ref>

Later models of IBM Executives and Selectrics replaced inked fabric ribbons with "carbon film" ribbons that had a dry black or colored powder on a clear plastic tape. These could be used only once, but later models used a cartridge that was simple to replace. A side effect of this technology was that the text typed on the machine could be easily read from the used ribbon, raising issues where the machines were used for preparing classified documents (ribbons had to be accounted for to ensure that typists did not carry them from the facility).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ellen |first=David |title=Scientific Examination of Documents |publisher=CRC Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-8493-3925-7 |pages=106–107}}</ref>

{{anchor|Correcting typewriters}}
A variation known as "Correcting Selectrics" introduced a correction feature, later imitated by competing machines, where a sticky tape in front of the carbon film ribbon could remove the black-powdered image of a typed character, eliminating the need for little bottles of white dab-on correction fluid and for hard erasers that could tear the paper. These machines also introduced selectable "pitch" so that the typewriter could be switched between [[Pica (typography)|pica]] type (10 characters per inch) and elite type (12 per inch), even within one document. Even so, all Selectrics were [[Proportional fonts|monospaced]]—each character and letterspace was allotted the same width on the page, from a capital "W" to a period. IBM did produce a successful typebar-based machine with five levels of proportional spacing, called the [[IBM Executive series typewriter|IBM Executive]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wershler-Henry |first=Darren |url=https://archive.org/details/ironwhim00wers/page/254 |title=The Iron Whim: A Fragmented History of Typewriting |publisher=Cornell University Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-8014-4586-6 |location=Ithaca and London |page=[https://archive.org/details/ironwhim00wers/page/254 254] |url-access=registration}}</ref>

The only fully electromechanical Selectric Typewriter with fully proportional spacing and which used a Selectric type element was the expensive [[IBM Selectric Composer|Selectric Composer]], which was capable of right-margin justification (typing each line twice was required, once to calculate and again to print) and was considered a [[Typesetter|typesetting machine]] rather than a typewriter. Composer typeballs physically resembled those of the Selectric typewriter but were not interchangeable.<ref name="IBM Archives-2003">{{Cite web |date=2003-01-23 |title=IBM Office Products Division highlights |page= 2 |url=https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/modelb/modelb_office2.html |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=IBM Archives |language=en-US}}</ref> 
[[File:Sample of IBM Magnetic Card Composer Output.png|thumb|upright=2|Composer output showing [[Roman type|Roman]], [[Emphasis (typography)|Bold]], and [[Italic type]]faces were available by changing the type ball.]]
In addition to its electronic successors, the [[IBM Selectric typewriter#Selectric-based machines with data storage|Magnetic Tape Selectric Composer]] (MT/SC), the Mag Card Selectric Composer, and the Electronic Selectric Composer, IBM also made electronic typewriters with proportional spacing using the Selectric element that were considered typewriters or [[word processor]]s instead of typesetting machines.<ref name="IBM Archives-2003" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-07-19 |title=IBM MT/ST (1964 – late 1970s) |url=https://obsoletemedia.org/ibm-mtst/ |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=Museum of Obsolete Media}}</ref>

The first of these was the relatively obscure Mag Card Executive, which used 88-character elements. Later, some of the same typestyles used for it were used on the 96-character elements used on the IBM Electronic Typewriter 50 and the later models 65 and 85.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-01-23 |title=IBM typewriter milestones |url=https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/modelb/modelb_milestone2.html |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=IBM Archives |page=2}}</ref>

By 1970, as [[offset printing]] began to replace [[letterpress printing]], the Composer would be adapted as the output unit for a [[phototypesetting]] system. The system included a computer-driven input station to capture the key strokes on magnetic tape and insert the operator's format commands, and a Composer unit to read the tape and produce the formatted text for photo reproduction.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-01-18 |title=Quickprint closes after 72 years, presses roll elsewhere |url=https://www.superiortelegram.com/news/quickprint-closes-after-72-years-presses-roll-elsewhere |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=Superior Telegram}}</ref>

The [[IBM 2741]] terminal was a popular example of a Selectric-based computer terminal, and similar mechanisms were employed as the console devices for many [[IBM System/360]] computers. These mechanisms used "ruggedized" designs compared to those in standard office typewriters.<ref>{{Cite web |title=IBM Selectric Typewriter Resource Page |url=http://www.covingtoninnovations.com/selectric/ |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=www.covingtoninnovations.com}}</ref>

==== Later electric models ====
{{Listen
| filename = Smith-Corona Prestige Auto 12 typing.ogg
| title = Smith-Corona Prestige Auto 12 being tapped
| description = A recording of the sound of typing on a Smith-Corona electric typewriter.}}
Some of IBM's advances were later adopted in less expensive machines from competitors. For example, [[Smith Corona|Smith-Corona]] electric typewriters introduced in 1973 switched to interchangeable Coronamatic (SCM-patented) ribbon cartridges.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The History of Smith Corona &#124; Since 1877 to Present |url=http://www.smithcorona.com/history.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170322134218/http://www.smithcorona.com/history.html |archive-date=2017-03-22 |access-date=2017-03-12}}</ref>

==== Electronic typewriters ====
The final major development of the typewriter was the electronic typewriter. Most of these replaced the typeball with a plastic or metal [[daisy wheel]] mechanism (a disk with the letters molded on the outside edge of the "petals"), or a thermal print head. The daisy wheel concept first emerged in printers developed by [[Diablo Systems]] in the 1970s. The first electronic daisywheel typewriter marketed in the world (in 1976) is the Olivetti Tes 501, and subsequently in 1978, the Olivetti ET101 (with function display) and Olivetti TES 401 (with text display and floppy disk for memory storage). This has allowed Olivetti to maintain the world record in the design of electronic typewriters, proposing increasingly advanced and performing models in the following years.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Giuseppe Silmo |title=M.P.S. Macchine per scrivere Olivetti e non solo |publisher=Fondazione Natale Capellaro |year=2007 |page=74}}</ref>

Unlike the Selectrics and earlier models, these really were "electronic" and relied on integrated circuits and electromechanical components. These typewriters were sometimes called ''display typewriters'',<ref>{{US patent reference|number = 4620808| y = 1986| m = 11| d = 04| title = Display typewriter}}</ref> ''dedicated word processors'' or ''word-processing typewriters'', although the latter term was also frequently applied to less sophisticated machines that featured only a tiny, sometimes just single-row display. Sophisticated models were also called ''word processors'', although today that term almost always denotes a type of software program. Manufacturers of such machines included Olivetti (TES501, first totally electronic Olivetti word processor with daisywheel and floppy disk in 1976; TES621 in 1979, etc.), [[Brother Industries|Brother]] (Brother WP1 and WP500, etc., where WP stood for word processor), [[Canon Inc.|Canon]] ([[Canon Cat]]), [[Smith-Corona]] (PWP, i.e. Personal Word Processor line)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Smith-Corona |url=http://mindmachine.co.uk/products/04_Manuf_Smith-Corona_01.html#PWP-series |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130528120612/http://mindmachine.co.uk/products/04_Manuf_Smith-Corona_01.html#PWP-series |archive-date=2013-05-28 |access-date=2013-09-12 |publisher=Mindmachine.co.uk}}</ref> and [[Philips]]/[[Magnavox]] ([[VideoWriter]]).
<gallery class="center">
File:Type.jpg|Electronic typewriter – the final stage in typewriter development. A 1989 [[Canon Inc.|Canon]] Typestar 110.
File:Brother WP1-IMG 6991.jpg|The Brother WP1, an electronic typewriter complete with a small screen and a [[floppy disk]] reader
</gallery>

=== Decline ===
The pace of change was so rapid that it was common for clerical staff to have to learn several new systems, one after the other, in just a few years.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203221938-5/women-clerical-workers-typewriter-writing-machine-margery-davies|chapter=Women Clerical Workers and the Typwriter: The Writing Machine|date=2004-01-14|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-203-22193-8|language=en|doi=10.4324/9780203221938|title= Technology and Women's Voices|editor-first=Cheris|editor-last=Kramarae|first=Margery W.|last=Davies}}</ref> While such rapid change is commonplace today, and is taken for granted, this was not always so; in fact, typewriting technology changed very little in its first 80 or 90 years.<ref>{{Cite web|last=AO|date=2020-01-29|title=The Society-Changing Invention of Typewriters|url=https://historythings.com/life-changing-invention-typewriters/|access-date=2021-05-18|website=History Things|language=en-US}}</ref>

Due to falling sales, IBM sold its typewriter division in 1991 to the newly formed [[Lexmark]], completely exiting from a market it once dominated.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1991-01-12 |title=Company News; I.B.M. to Complete Unit Sale in March |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/12/business/company-news-ibm-to-complete-unit-sale-in-march.html |access-date=2022-04-27 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

The increasing dominance of personal computers, [[desktop publishing]], the introduction of low-cost, truly high-quality [[laser printer|laser]] and [[inkjet printer]] technologies, and the pervasive use of [[web publishing]], [[email]], [[text messaging]], and other electronic communication techniques have largely replaced typewriters in the United States. Still, {{as of|2009|lc=y}}, typewriters continued to be used by a number of government agencies and other institutions in the US, where they are primarily used to fill preprinted forms. According to a Boston typewriter repairman quoted by ''[[The Boston Globe]]'', "Every maternity ward has a typewriter, as well as funeral homes."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Keene |first=Cindy Atoji |date=2009-02-01 |title=Typewriters ring on in the fringes |work=The Boston Globe |url=https://www.boston.com/jobs/news/articles/2009/02/01/typewriters_ring_on_in_the_fringes/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130826014156/http://www.boston.com/jobs/news/articles/2009/02/01/typewriters_ring_on_in_the_fringes/ |archive-date=2013-08-26}}</ref>

A rather specialized market for typewriters exists due to the regulations of many correctional systems in the US, where prisoners are prohibited from having computers or telecommunication equipment, but are allowed to own typewriters. The Swintec corporation (headquartered in [[Moonachie, New Jersey]]), which, as of 2011, still produced typewriters at its overseas factories (in Japan, [[Indonesia]], and/or [[Malaysia]]), manufactures a variety of typewriters for use in prisons, made of clear plastic (to make it harder for prisoners to hide prohibited items inside it). As of 2011, the company had contracts with prisons in 43 US states.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-04-27 |title=The death of the typewriter? Don't write it off yet |url=http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/death-typewriter-dont-write-it-yet |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110503045910/http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/death-typewriter-dont-write-it-yet |archive-date=2011-05-03 |access-date=2012-03-30 |publisher=Radio Netherlands Worldwide}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-06-15 |title=Texas inmates have clear choice in typewriters |url=http://fixed-mobile-convergence.tmcnet.com/news/2011/06/15/5574540.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426011651/http://fixed-mobile-convergence.tmcnet.com/news/2011/06/15/5574540.htm |archive-date=2012-04-26 |access-date=2012-03-30 |publisher=Fixed-mobile-convergence.tmcnet.com}}</ref>

In April 2011, Godrej and Boyce, a [[Mumbai]]-based manufacturer of mechanical typewriters, closed its doors, leading to a flurry of  news reports that the "world's last typewriter factory" had shut down.<ref>{{Cite news |last=CBC News |date=April 26, 2011 |title=World's last typewriter plant stops production |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/world-s-last-typewriter-plant-stops-production-1.1090626 |url-status=live |access-date=April 27, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429015137/http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/04/26/typewriter-factory-closing.html |archive-date=April 29, 2011 |quote=A previous version of this story did not clearly state that Godrej & Boyce appears to be the world's last maker of mechanical typewriters, which operate solely on human power. Numerous other manufacturers continue to make several types of electric typewriters.}}</ref> The reports were quickly contested, with opinions settling to agree that it was indeed the world's last producer of manual typewriters.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-04-26 |title=Wite Out? World's 'last typewriter factory' apparently isn't |url=http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2011/04/worlds-last-typewriter-factory-offers-it-final-500-machines-for-sale/1 |first=Douglas |last=Stanglin |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120707111148/http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2011/04/worlds-last-typewriter-factory-offers-it-final-500-machines-for-sale/1 |archive-date=2012-07-07 |access-date=2012-03-30 |publisher=USA Today }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Romenesko |first=Jim |date=2011-04-26 |title=Reports of typewriter's death are premature |url=http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/romenesko/129512/reports-of-typewriters-death-are-premature/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110904024830/http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/romenesko/129512/reports-of-typewriters-death-are-premature/ |archive-date=2011-09-04 |access-date=2012-03-30 |publisher=Poynter. }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Memmott |first=Mark |date=2011-04-26 |title=Has The Last Typewriter Factory Closed? Not Really |url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/04/26/135740246/has-the-last-typewriter-factory-closed-not-really |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313204452/http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/04/26/135740246/has-the-last-typewriter-factory-closed-not-really |archive-date=2012-03-13 |access-date=2012-03-30 |publisher=NPR }}</ref><ref name="rohrlich">{{Cite web |last=Rohrlich |first=Justin |date=2011-04-25 |title=Contrary to Reports, Typewriter Industry "Far From Dead" |url=http://www.minyanville.com/mvpremium/2011/04/25/contrary-to-reports-typewriter-industry |url-status=dead  |website=Minyanville |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160224204135/http://www.minyanville.com/mvpremium/2011/04/25/contrary-to-reports-typewriter-industry/ |archive-date=2016-02-24}}</ref>

In November 2012, Brother's UK factory manufactured what it claimed to be the last typewriter ever made in the UK; the typewriter was donated to the [[London Science Museum]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-11-20 |title=UK's 'last typewriter' produced |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20391538 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219184806/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20391538 |archive-date=2013-12-19 |access-date=2013-09-12 |publisher=BBC}}</ref>

Russian typewriters use [[Cyrillic script|Cyrillic]], which has made the ongoing [[Azerbaijani language|Azerbaijani]] [[Azerbaijani alphabet|reconversion]] from [[Cyrillic alphabet|Cyrillic]] to [[Latin alphabet]] more difficult. In 1997, the government of [[Turkey]] offered to donate western typewriters to the [[Republic of Azerbaijan]] in exchange for more zealous and exclusive promotion of the Latin alphabet for the Azerbaijani language; this offer, however, was declined.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cornell |first=Svante |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G_qQAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA283 |title=Small Nations and Great Powers: A Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict in the Caucasus |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |year=2005 |isbn=978-1135796693 |page=283}}</ref>

In Latin America and Africa, mechanical typewriters are still common because they can be used without electrical power. In Latin America, the typewriters used are most often Brazilian models; Brazil continues to produce mechanical (Facit) and electronic (Olivetti) typewriters to the present day.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ainda se fabricam máquinas de escrever? (''Are typewriters still manufactured?'') |url=http://mundoestranho.abril.com.br/materia/ainda-se-fabricam-maquinas-de-escrever |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425025818/http://mundoestranho.abril.com.br/materia/ainda-se-fabricam-maquinas-de-escrever |archive-date=2012-04-25 |access-date=2012-03-30 |publisher=Mundoestranho.abril.com.br}}</ref>

The early 21st century saw revival of interest in typewriters among certain subcultures, including [[maker culture|makers]], [[steampunk]]s, [[hipster (contemporary subculture)|hipsters]], and street poets.<ref name="PoltBook"/>