Michael Whitehouse

Before I begin, you may vent all of your feelings of anger at hipster culture. That crowd now easily blamed for all the world's evils. The people we judge most guilty of affectations. The person who collects vinyl but doesn't have a record player. The person who just does and says things to either be a contrarian, or, to appear cool (whatever the hell that means).

Now that you've got that out of your system, this animosity for hipster culture brings me onto the topic of typewriters (the writing tool of choice for any self respecting hipster), and as a writer I feel it is my right, nay my duty, to talk about this subject. I've seen videos of a guy using a typewriter in a lecture hall, someone typing in a library where people are studying, and a fellow enthusiast harmlessly using a typewriter in a coffee shop while the woman next to him is just trying to have a quiet lunch break before heading back to the daily grind.

Three things are apparent here:

1. People should be able to do whatever they want if they aren't hurting anyone. That includes what you wear, the music you listen to, wearing sunglasses indoors, and telling everyone that Shakespeare is overrated (he isn't). You should be able to do whatever you want without reproach, as long as it makes you happy and it isn't detrimental, then go ahead, knock yourself out.
2. That being said, typing in places where people are trying to get some quiet - or even need said quiet - is thoughtless. The equivalent of going to watch a film at the cinema only to constantly be on your phone talking to Samantha about how boring the movie is (you know who you are).
3. Who the hell uses a typewriter anyway?

I'll deal with the last point first, and as for the first two... Well... It's late and I have some much needed sleep to catch up on, so I'll leave you to discuss those topics amongst yourselves.

Yes, who uses a typewriter? In the 21rst century where we can edit all of our documents in the cloud, use tablets, smartphones, ultrabooks to get the words down on the electronic page without any hassle; even use voice recognition for a first draft with no ink smudges, no noisy clunking of keys. Portable,  easy and contemporary.

In light of all of this, only a fool would use a typewriter... So who uses a typewriter? Well, as of today, I do!