Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Typewriters to Dodo-land

by Raelene Gorlinsky

It's official - manual typewriters are about to become extinct. The last manufacturer of them is closing their plant. The world of documents is now officially all-electronic.

http://newstonight.net/content/godrej-and-boyce-shut-down-world-s-last-typewriter-factory
Godrej and Boyce has announced that it is shutting down its plant in Mumbai, India, which is the last typewriter manufacturing facility in the world.

Milind Dukle, Godrej and Boyce's general manager said, "We are not getting many orders now. Till 2009, we used to produce 10,000 to 12,000 machines a year. But this might be the last chance for typewriter lovers.”

He also said that the main market for the machine include defence agencies, courts and government offices. Godrej and Boyce, which has been in operations since last six decades, has been producing and selling tens of thousands of units annually. However, it was struggling with sales and managed to sell only about 800 in the year 2010.

Godrej and Boyce has about 200 machines in inventory of mostly Arabic language. Anyone one wishing to buy the machine will probably have to look for a used on or in antique shops.

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