Timeline of Typewriter

Diffusion of Innovations- Typewriter Timeline

Innovators- 1868, This is the first model of the typewriter. Christopher L. Sholes was the main inventor for the typewriter but had help from his associate Glidden which resulted in the name Sholes & Glidden Typewriter. This typewriter introduced the QWERTY that we use today, but when it first came out it only typed in capital letters. The keyboard was designed this way to separate frequently used pairs of letters so the keys would not get jammed together.

Early Adopters- 1874, This is when the Sholes and Glidden typewriter first came out on the market. Although this model was slow and inefficient, they sold about 5,000 typewriters for $125 each. This typewriter had a floral design on it because typing back then was considered women's work. This opened up many jobs for women in the workplace where there weren't many before.

Early Majority- 1881, This was a new model of the typewriter called The Hall, invented by Thomas Hall. This was the first index model and most popular typewriter from this time. For this typewriter, letters would be selected by using an index card under the frame with holes.

Late Majority- 1882, The Caligraph 2 was a modified version of The Caligraph 1. This model weighed less and was less noisy compared to past typewriters. It was also exponentially more popular and easier to use.

Laggards- 2011, Although computers are widely more popular, people still use typewriters for specific tasks. They are useful for filling out forms where the paper can be aligned to produce type in a particular spot or in areas where electricity is not available.