Changing Times

In one of my "Childish Things" posts, I talked about my old mechanical typewriter. So it was with a little nostalgic sadness that I read the story today that the last manufacturer of typewriters has ceased production.
Yes, typewriters are officially a thing of the past, consigned to the history books along with 78 rpm records (or even just records), quill pens and penny-farthing bicycles. No more will anyone have to dirty their fingers changing a ribbon, go back and paint over a mistake with correcting fluid, unjam the mechanical arms that have locked because two keys were accidentally hit at the same time. No more will anyone hear the click-clack of the keys, the ker-ching of the end-of-line bell, the whirring ratchet as the carrier is pushed back for the next line.

Apparently there are a few hundred typewriters still available in stock and then that's it. No more new ones to be had. It is a little sad, though I have to admit that I haven't used a typewriter for thirty years or more.

One slightly puzzling aspect of the story is that it says they ceased production in 2009. It seems rather a long interval between the event and the news of the event. Nevertheless another small portion of the present has now become the past.