Q: “What was the last generation that learned to type on a typewriter instead of a computer keyboard?” (via Quora)
A: In the developed world, the “boomer” generation — offspring of WW2-era parents — are almost surely the last.
I’m part of the tail end of the Boomer generation. In my own career, I started with manual typewriters, then simple electrics, then more complex electrics (eg multiple fonts); to very simple word processing on early PCs (I had to write my own text formatter/printer driver for an Atari 800), to now.
Younger readers may find this amusing: My first manual typewriter had a stiff mechanical linkage, and keys with over an inch (>25mm) of vertical travel. Finger movement alone was insufficient, so you’d need significant hand/wrist, and arm motion to type. You had to pound that sucker!
When I switched to computer keyboards with plastic keys and short travel, I retained my heavy touch and so brought many an early PC keyboard to ignominious ruin. 🙂
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