Time Marches On (But I Don’t)

By Gordon Hopkins As time marches on, technology has finally advanced far enough to allow me to be that thing I most aspire to be: a technology-hating Luddite.Most of the writing I do for this newspaper happens at a computer terminal. (Yes, I am old enough to still call the computer on my desk a “terminal,” even though I know it is a self-contained unit and, as such, technically not a terminal.) I can’t do it on a typewriter. I have to use a computer because newswriting involves updating and editing and re-editing and moving paragraphs around as new information comes in. Plus, deadlines. Plus, one of my coworkers absolutely hates the loud, clackety-clack noise my typewriter makes, so I can only use it when she’s not here.For my columns, however, I prefer to use one of my typewriters, as I am doing right now. (I came to work early to get it done before she comes in.) In this case, I am using a grey, 1958 Olympia SM3 portable. I love this machine. I love the tactile experience of hitting the Bakelite and having the type bars instantly stamp the letters in fresh ink onto white paper. Yes, I even love the loud, clackety-clack noise.It makes me feel like a real, old-timey newspaper guy. Unfortunately, the problem with the typewriters is editing. Cut and paste on a typewriter means something very different then using a computer, involving scissors and glue. Also, the days of the Linotype machine are long gone. In order to get into the paper, anything I write has to be in digital form.This is why most of my life my writing was done first with a word processor (remember those?) and then with a computer. Typewriters were a pain. Anything I typed had to be literally retyped onto a computer in order to be digitized, so why not just use the computer? It is only since I have entered geezerdom that have become obstinate about using my typewriters. Fortunately, technology has finally caught up with my hatred of technology and provide a solution.Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is software that can convert an image into machine-encoded, editable text. In other words, I can scan anything I write on my typewriter and it is somehow magically transported into the computer. Just like Jeff bridges in that movie, “Tron.” As you can tell, my understanding of how this technology works is limited. Who cares? I don’t really understand how a car or a toilet works either but I’m fine with using those, too.Some contrarians out there who are familiar with my loathing of AI (Artificial Intelligence) will probably point out that OCR uses AI and call me a hypocrite. To them I say, “phooey.” I don’t object to using AI for some things. I object to using AI to write. As long as it isn’t doing the actually writing, I’m fine with it.

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