The good thing about them is, if I may say, that you can really bang them. ;) You can pour out all your stress while hitting the keys. And it's definitely faster and cleaner than handwriting. Another good thing is, since it's kind of painstaking to correct mistakes, that you have to really think twice before typing. I miss mine in any case.

Olivetti still does mechanical typewriters. A quick google search shows that
ebay has it, but only ships to the US. But maybe you can find another retailer in Europe or someone willing to sell you their old olivetti one through Ebay UK.

We used to have an old antique one when I was a kid. My grandpa was in the newspaper business. I must say that there was no touch typing with it, it was single finger typing the whole way. You really had to bang the key down to get it to go. :)

Wow! There seem to be hardly any new typewriters on the market these days. I suppose that is technology for you. I would have thought that there would be a slight demand from people who like the physicality of marking a page with a typewriter, but apparently not. I can definitely get my hands on a Brother AX100 typewriter. However, all of the other Brother typewriter models are marked as being discontinued on one of their store web sites, which might indicate that the AX100 is not long for this world.

Perhaps it is silly looking for a typewriter? What do you think? I just have a curious hunch that I would enjoy typing away, scoring things out, winding new pages in, punctuating the music on my stereo with the thwack thwack thwack of my typing.

*sigh*

You can find old IBM selectrics on eBay for a pretty good price. Just be aware that these are very loud typewriters. If you don't like writing to machine gun sounds, look for something with a daisy wheel. For me though, I learned to type on a Selectric, and I still remember the "feel" of them.

Would there be an advantage to use a typewriter over using a computer? Creativity would be the only reason to use one right?

Yes, it is a creativity thing, or something along those lines. I can type up reports and policy documents on the computer but I find that I cannot let my mind go at a computer keyboard, probably because I have associated computers with work for the past ten years. Beyond that, I like the idea of commiting words to paper by pen or by typewriter: word processing feels too ephemeral. I like getting everything out and onto paper, mistakes and all. I would happily scribble away with a pen, but my handwriting is terrible and my wrist hurts after a page or so.

I understand the impulse, but when I think back to having to format a thesis or report on a typewriter, and compare that to word processing on a computer, it just doesn't compute. Trying to get pages to come out right with space for footnotes at the bottom of the page, finding a misspelled word when you think you've already got it done and ready to turn in, realizing you want to add a point or a word or sentence and that will throw off all the following pages and their footnotes, no spell checker, it really was the dark ages.

The only thing a typewriter is good for nowadays is labels and filling out forms. I have one and use it occasionally for those purposes. But when I start sweating with formatting or misspell something, I really appreciate my computer. Really, I don't know how we managed before computers. I think the people back then were smarter, or better, or more dedicated.

Anyway, here in the States I've seen electric typewriters with some correction features and minor formatting features for a couple of hundred dollars. Maybe there is someone in Edinburgh who wants to get rid of one, if you're patient enough. If you get a manual your hands will get a workout. I really think that using a computer is a purer experience, because you can let your mind fly and not worry about formatting or spelling and come back later and neaten it up, without having to retype everything.

There should be one of those reality tv shows about office work, where people have to cope with life as it was back when, without computers or adding machines or copiers or ballpoint pens. Maybe writing with quill pens, etc.

Anyway, good luck, and I hope you go where your muse takes you, and it all works out great for you.

There's a free download somewhere of typewriter sounds for the Mac. When you type, it sounds like a typewriter. You even get the ratchety-ratchety-ping! when you hit return!

All the versatility of a computer/word processor with the sound of a typewriter.