The Halifax Examiner recently claimed “It’s OK to get rid of books.” Apart from being bothered by the use of OK instead of okay, which would be acceptable in a print headline but is hardly necessary for an online headline, I was troubled by some points in the article. The article begins with the problems… Continue reading Books and Clutter
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Tim’s Museum of Obsolete Tech 7.2
More than you ever wanted to know about LaserDisc players.
Tim’s Museum of Obsolete Tech 7.1
The ongoing saga of searching for new laserdisc player.
Tim’s Museum of Obsolete Tech 8
The Alphasmart Neo is a handy writing tool that looks back to the earliest laptops, and has inspired later high-end tools.
Tim’s Museum of Obsolete Tech 7
Laserdisc Player Well, this is awkward. Over the past two weeks, I drafted a post about my laserdisc player. I included the history of the format (dating back to the 1920s) and the unrecognized role these machines played in music, home video, videogames, and even karaoke bars during their three decades of manufacture. All that… Continue reading Tim’s Museum of Obsolete Tech 7
A Device at Last
A Somewhat Rambling Tale of Me and the SCA I attended my first Society for Creative Anachronism event in the spring of 1988. It was literally a life-changing event for me, and for the next decade the SCA was a big part of my life. I’ve recently become active again, and finally created a device… Continue reading A Device at Last
Tim’s Museum of Obsolete Tech 6
Olympia Traveller de Luxe While researching the history of my mid-size Olympia Regina de Luxe typewriter, I learned of the Traveller model, the last of the compact portables from Olympia. It looked vaguely familiar. I may have seen one when I purchased my no-frills Eaton’s typewriter in early 1980s. I remember eyeing a very cool… Continue reading Tim’s Museum of Obsolete Tech 6
Typewriters, Stencils, and Carbon Copies
More than you ever wanted to know about mid-1900s copying, plus the oldest typewritten letter. Full-size typewriters, and some compact versions, have a three position ribbon selector: Black, Stencil, and Red. In the stencil setting, the ribbon is not used. Older people (like me), or people who had early jobs using mid-1900s low volume printing… Continue reading Typewriters, Stencils, and Carbon Copies
Tim’s Museum of Obsolete Tech 5
Olympia Regina Deluxe Manual Typewriter It’s not often I try something and think “I never knew it could be like this.” It’s even less often I can share that discovery, but this typewriter gave me that feeling and I’m here to share it. Olympia, a German company, was late to the typewriter game. The German… Continue reading Tim’s Museum of Obsolete Tech 5
Tim’s Museum of Obsolete Tech 4
SCM Secretarial 250 Office Electric Of the various typewriters I own, my Smith-Corona has the brand history that most typically illustrates the rise and fall of American manufacturing. Once upon a time in the 1880s, four Smith brothers left the gun manufacturing business and established the Smith-Premier Typewriting Company. In those days, typewriters were often… Continue reading Tim’s Museum of Obsolete Tech 4
Tim Covell 
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