The Typewriter
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- Date Submitted: 12/13/2010 10:37 AM
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The typewriter
Christopher Latham Sholes was the inventor of the first practical modern typewriter; he was a U.S. mechanical engineer. He invented the typewriter with partners, S.W. Soule and G .Glidden which was manufactured by Remington Arms Company in 1873. Sholes was born in February 14, 1819 in Mooresburg, Pennsylvania, and died on February 17, 1890 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was a local publisher, politician, and philosopher.
Before the computer, the typewriter was the most significant business type tool used. The machine was called the "Sholes and Glidden typewriter." The idea began in Keinsteuber's Machine Shop in Milwaukee. Wisconsin, not more than 5,000 were sold. Sholes wanted to make a machine automatically number the pages in a book. So, he thought of a simple device with a piece of printer's type mounted on a little rod mounted to strike upward to a flat plate which would load a piece of carbon paper, and then was sandwiched with a piece of paper. Sholes and his colleagues, Samuel Soule and Carlos Glidden first invented the machine in 1866. It took five years, and dozens of experiments before they came up with the typewriter similar to todays.
The type-bar system and the universal keyboard were the machine's novelty, but the problem was that the keys jammed very easily. So, to solve the problem, James Densmore another business associate, suggested to split up the keys for letters commonly used together to slow the typing pace down. And that was what became today's standard "QWERTY" on the keyboard. Sholes had lacked patience into requiring marketing the new product, so he sold it under Densmore's rights. Then, in turn, he convinced Philo Remington to market the device. The first "Sholes and Glidden typewriter was offered for sale in 1874, but wasn't instantly successful. A few years later, improvements made by Remington's engineers finally gave the machine its market appeal, and that's when sales skyrocketed.
Christopher Latham Sholes was the inventor of the first practical modern typewriter; he was a U.S. mechanical engineer. He invented the typewriter with partners, S.W. Soule and G .Glidden which was manufactured by Remington Arms Company in 1873. Sholes was born in February 14, 1819 in Mooresburg, Pennsylvania, and died on February 17, 1890 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was a local publisher, politician, and philosopher.
Before the computer, the typewriter was the most significant business type tool used. The machine was called the "Sholes and Glidden typewriter." The idea began in Keinsteuber's Machine Shop in Milwaukee. Wisconsin, not more than 5,000 were sold. Sholes wanted to make a machine automatically number the pages in a book. So, he thought of a simple device with a piece of printer's type mounted on a little rod mounted to strike upward to a flat plate which would load a piece of carbon paper, and then was sandwiched with a piece of paper. Sholes and his colleagues, Samuel Soule and Carlos Glidden first invented the machine in 1866. It took five years, and dozens of experiments before they came up with the typewriter similar to todays.
The type-bar system and the universal keyboard were the machine's novelty, but the problem was that the keys jammed very easily. So, to solve the problem, James Densmore another business associate, suggested to split up the keys for letters commonly used together to slow the typing pace down. And that was what became today's standard "QWERTY" on the keyboard. Sholes had lacked patience into requiring marketing the new product, so he sold it under Densmore's rights. Then, in turn, he convinced Philo Remington to market the device. The first "Sholes and Glidden typewriter was offered for sale in 1874, but wasn't instantly successful. A few years later, improvements made by Remington's engineers finally gave the machine its market appeal, and that's when sales skyrocketed.