Q. What are the advantages of using a word processor over using a typewriter? (Via Quora)
A. The answer varies somewhat, depending on exactly what you mean by “word processor.”
The most common meaning is a piece of software that can capture your keystrokes on a personal computer of some type, including smartphones, tablets, and so on.
Word processing software lets you cut, paste, and move words, sentences, and paragraphs around effortlessly; without the actual physical cutting and pasting that is involved with typewritten manuscripts on paper. (Yes, in the old days, cutting and pasting actually involved scissors and glue with paper.)
Word processing software also makes it easy to save files, including interim versions of a single document. Relatedly, functions like undo and spell check make it extremely easy to correct simple errors.
Less commonly, a ‘word processor’ means a self-contained, single purpose device consisting of simple hardware (keyboard, screen, minimal internal electronics) with dedicated word processing software.
You can think of a word processing hardware as a computer running only word processing software — in essence, a single-purpose computer.
Word processing hardware can sometimes be smaller and less expensive than a full-blown computer, but of course, it lacks many of the computer’s general functions.
In deciding between the two, some people who have trouble concentrating or focusing prefer the hardware type of word processor, because it can do nothing else. When you’re seated at its keyboard, you can only write.
But if you’re that kind of person, your issue really isn’t one of which writing tools. Your issue is with your ability to focus and concentrate.
For the overwhelming majority of writers and aspiring writers, a normal computer, smartphone, tablet, or similar device, coupled with ordinary word processing software, is by far the best and most flexible choice.
The disadvantages of a mechanical typewriter are many. A mechanical typewriter is noisy, hard to use, and makes corrections, edits, and document management difficult. Cutting and pasting is a pain in the butt. Your old versions and writing scraps end up on pieces of paper that must be filed and managed. Making copies is difficult.
And since almost all publishers require manuscripts in electronic form, everything done on a mechanical typewriter will ultimately have to be retyped into a word processor anyway. It’s really kind of silly.
I do not know a single professional writer who has switched back from electronic typing to mechanical typing. Such writers may exist, but they are in a tiny, tiny minority.
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