In a tech-strained world,no last word for typewriters

Typewriters,which found a place of pride at newspaper offices,corporate sector,government offices and houses till a few years ago,are on the verge of facing extinction.

Typewriters,which found a place of pride at newspaper offices,corporate sector,government offices and houses till a few years ago,are on the verge of facing extinction.Computers had sounded a death knell for typewriters two decades ago,but it was the final shut down ordered by the last manufacturing of typewriters in the world,Godrej,and Boice in India which ultimately silenced the click ding of the iconic typewriter.

Today,it is difficult to find private institutions that provide training in typewriting and short-hand. Only a few government schools and some colleges run such courses by the name Office Management and Secretarial Practice and that too as a part of Bachelor of Arts Curriculum.

Jatinder Kumar Gupta,Principal of Sarvotam,type,shorthand and computer college in Sector 20,told the Chandigarh Newsline,These days only those people who want to carve a niche for themselves in the government sector seek admission in our college. Since new typewriters are not being manufactured,it is extremely difficult for us to arrange for spare parts in case a non-functional part need to be replaced.

These days no one takes stenography seriously,but I am learning typewriting because I wish to enter the government sector in the near future. It will be possible for me to make a mark for myself in the sector only if a get proficient in stenography and type-writing, said Chetna Saini,student of Khalsa College for Women,who learns typewriting from Sarvotam Institute.

Ironically,while personal computers (PC) meant death knell for typewriters,PCs too are facing heat from the growing popularity of laptops. A cross-section of retail dealers of popular computers and laptop brands stated that the change in preference from a PC to a laptop had been witnessed more prominently during the last two years.

Nidhi of HP World said,On an average,HP sells 30 to 35 PCs as against 150-160 laptops in a month. Anil Gupta,Regional Distributor of HCL informed,Creative sales outlet sells both,laptops and personal computers,but the ratio of sales is 80:20.

Dhruv Pande who owns a software company said,For a workforce of fifty-plus software professionals,I will require lesser space by providing them laptops in comparison to the space needed for PCs.

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