is known for its quirky products. Heck, that's why I've spent nearly four years of my life covering the in-flight catalog. It's a leader in innovation, from luggage scooters to portable saunas. Every week, as I prepare to feature a new SkyMall product, I dive into their New Arrivals section to see what's on the cutting edge of technology and design. It's 2012, so we should have flying cars and hoverboards by now. While we are lacking in personal levitation technology, SkyMall surely will be the source for our anti-gravity transportation needs when the time comes. With all of this in mind, you can imagine my amazement when I found this week's featured product online. Instead of looking into our glorious future, this week's SkyMall Tuesday is stuck in the past. If you're one of the few people who still longs for the days of ink ribbons and white out, it's your lucky day thanks to SkyMall and the Classic Manual Typewriter.
Who doesn't long for the days of click clack noises as they typed? Surely your co-workers wish you made more noise on the other side of the shared cubicle wall. And aren't we all moving toward a more paper-centric office? A typewriter is just the logical, eco-friendly technology.
Think that only hipsters and curmudgeonly Luddites still celebrate the typewriter? Believe that electronic communication is helping to bring a stronger voice to the disenfranchised and exploited? Well, while you boot up your 56kb modem, we'll be reading the product description:
This is the classic manual typewriter reminiscent of those used by Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, and Jack Kerouac to create their classic literary works. Though supplanted by electronic word processors decades ago, the mechanical typewriter still has its devotees (authors Larry McMurtry and David McCullough among them), many who claim the click-clacking of its keys inspires creative thinking.
This typewriter also proves invaluable for addressing envelopes, creating labels, or filling out forms--simple tasks that can be confounding with a computer printer. A newly manufactured machine--not refurbished--it provides the essential functions needed to type the great American novel (or just a heart-felt letter), including seven tab stops, adjustable line spacing, and a backspace key.
It's "reminiscent of those used by" great authors insomuch as the Pontiac Aztek is reminiscent of the Model T. And, unlike a computer or a pen, it provides the "essential functions" to write just about anything. With this baby, you're going places!
Perhaps we can't move into the future without our past. Thus, typewriters are the new computers. You can tweet on this thing, right?
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