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> computers lost half spaces and overstriking And gained option and option+shift, which is even better (and many programs will auto-convert multiple hyphens to
by perilunar 3y ago
> computers lost half spaces and overstriking
And gained option and option+shift, which is even better (and many programs will auto-convert multiple hyphens to an en- or em-dash anyway).
How common was half spaces and overstriking anyway? I don't recall seeing it much, but it's been years since I've seen a typewritten letter.
- renox 3y agoIt depends on the users and the typewriter but it could be quite frequent: I remember an old typewriter which didn't have é so you had to use e and ' to make it, same for ê, etc.
- perilunar 3y agoProbably only used by the same sort of people that now use en- and em-dashes!
- toast0 3y agoHalf spaces were pretty useful for centering text, or squeezing in corrections. And overstriking was how you underlined things. Filling forms with a typewriter is kind of overstriking, and was pretty common (typewriters were great for filling out forms with carbon or carbonless duplicates).