Really old tech comes back to life with a new high tech use.
December 11, 2010 
The pop-up Wired Store at 4th Street & Broadway, NYC (open until 12/26/10) has a lot of fun gadgets, gizmos, demos and displays. One of the most unique is the USB Typewriter. It’s a mash-up of new innovation and way old technology. Are you old enough to have owned an old fashioned manual typewriter? Or do you currently own one because you can’t stand to part with it? Guess what? You can now use old typewriter as a keyboard for any USB-capable computer, such as a PC, Mac, or even iPad! At the Wired Store I typed on an iPad using an old manual Royal typewriter keyboard! The USB Keyboard is available three ways. There’s a kit to convert your own manual typewriter into a USB-ready keyboard. It comes with two blank PCBs and all electronic parts (unassembled), so you can have the knowledge and satisfaction that come with wiring up this fun electronics project by yourself. It should take an experienced solderer roughly 3 or 4 hrs to assemble the electronics, and another 3 hrs to install them on the typewriter. That’s NOT for me, but it only costs $59.00. If you already have your own favorite old typewriter it can be made into a USB typewriter for $399. (It takes about a month for the conversion, so it can't be a Holiday gift.) Or, for $699 you can pick out one of their old manual typewriters and have the whole thing delivered to you, ready to type!
Dick De, USB Keyboard Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We1dt0zNU8A
Info on the Wired Store: http://www.wiredstore.net/
Hear or SEE this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1239.
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