1045 Brands 3073 Models 19953 Galleries 12239 Typefaces 6273 Patents
Home » Canon » Typestar 220 » 199x #SB2015673
199x Canon Typestar 220 Serial # SB2015673 199x Canon Typestar 220 typewriter, Serial # SB2015673 Michael Hoehne's 199x Canon Typestar 220 typewriter. 2017-07-23 From the Virtual Typewriter Collection of Michael Hoehne: 199x Canon Typestar 220 Serial # SB2015673 I do not think this is a typewriter. I submit it to the database as an edge case, to help clarify what is and what isnā€™t. The keyboard and the portability make it look somewhat like a typewriter but it is really a computer with built-in printer.

There is a continuum from electric-assisted-mechanical typewriters through electricity-required machines (e.g., Selectrics, which could not work with finger pressure) through the wedges with their electronics-controlled mechanical hammer (and which could be computer-driven) to this, which is computer-driven and has finally eliminated impact altogether. The last vestige of mechanical parts are the cables and pulleys that move the thermal printhead; although the keys do move, they could just as well be capacitance sensors so that possible link doesnā€™t count. It does use an ā€œinkā€ source and plain paper, but so does ā€˜most every other computer printer. This looks like a wedge, so we might be tempted to call it a typewriter just by extending the (questionable?) courtesy by which we call the wedges typewriters ... nah.

This might not even be able to place one character at a time, a universal hallmark of a typewriter. Maybe it can, but I donā€™t know how without an instruction manual---another difference from a real typewriter.

If you all want to delete this from the database, fine with me.

199x Canon Typestar 220 #SB2015673

Status: My Collection
Hunter: Michael Hoehne (mhoehne)
Created: 08-16-2014 at 10:12PM
Last Edit: 07-23-2017 at 04:51PM


Description:

I do not think this is a typewriter. I submit it to the database as an edge case, to help clarify what is and what isnā€™t. The keyboard and the portability make it look somewhat like a typewriter but it is really a computer with built-in printer.

There is a continuum from electric-assisted-mechanical typewriters through electricity-required machines (e.g., Selectrics, which could not work with finger pressure) through the wedges with their electronics-controlled mechanical hammer (and which could be computer-driven) to this, which is computer-driven and has finally eliminated impact altogether. The last vestige of mechanical parts are the cables and pulleys that move the thermal printhead; although the keys do move, they could just as well be capacitance sensors so that possible link doesnā€™t count. It does use an ā€œinkā€ source and plain paper, but so does ā€˜most every other computer printer. This looks like a wedge, so we might be tempted to call it a typewriter just by extending the (questionable?) courtesy by which we call the wedges typewriters ... nah.

This might not even be able to place one character at a time, a universal hallmark of a typewriter. Maybe it can, but I donā€™t know how without an instruction manual---another difference from a real typewriter.

If you all want to delete this from the database, fine with me.

Typeface Specimen:

Photos:

Good Luck using this without a manual and managing to write faster than longhand.
Good Luck using this without a manual and managing to write faster than longhand.

Hunter: Michael Hoehne (mhoehne)

Michael Hoehne's Typewriter Galleries [ My Collection ] [ My Sightings ]

Status: Typewriter Hunter
Points: 5631

While I find all of mankind's inventions interesting, I am most enchanted by the human-scale arts and devices, the ones that can be created (and repaired) in a home workshop or studio; the ones that can be understood by looking at them; the ones that do something useful or stir admiration. Typewriters work for me.



RESEARCH NOTE: When researching the Canon Typestar 220 on a computer with lots of screen real estate, you may find that launching the Canon Serial Number page and the Canon Typestar 220 By Model/Year/Serial page in new browser windows can give you interesting perspectives on changes throughout the model series.