I Love Typewriter

Hello, world. I’m on Hanx Writer app now.

This is my very first typewritten passage on an Apple iPad. It feels strange but it’s fun!

In 1999, I saved CNY 50 and bought a used typewriter from the school. It was a decent one even it was quite old. In the days without a computer, that typewriter was a very handy tool to print my thoughts out to paper.

You know it’s not easy to type with a genuine typewriter because there is no way not to make typos. Fortunately, we had an optional class of typewriting back in my high school years. That course really helped me. I learned so many tricks to make typos less annoying. But these tricks would have no luck to be shared with my friends. How time flies. We’re in the 21st century and everyone has a computer or smartphone.

I am a person with feeling of nostalgia. Every other few weeks I will try to search vintage typewriters on the Internet. I hope I could own yet another one if possible. These sophistic machines always make me happy. Even I know I won’t type so much with them. Typewriters are harder to use than computers, or even iPads. Therefore I have to thank Hanx Writer app, which gives me a brand new way to type. The best part? This app is free!

Hanx Writer also offers several in-app purchases. There’re two extra typewriters to choose and more handy features like different typefaces, auto aligning and ribbon (extra colors).

This app is more than a mimic. It is a great tool too. I have no idea if I will write more or less. But the clean layout and concentrated writing space will definitely be very helpful. Some day I will write my own book in English and get it published. This app will be a very good place to start.

Hope this passage helps.

-Typed with Hanx Writer

——中文翻译分界线——

我觉得还是有必要用中文再写一遍，英文不一定能看得懂。而且英文不是我的母语，我写出来的东西很有可能狗屁不通……

前几天我下载了一个叫做 Hanx Writer 的 iPad 应用，简单地说就是一个模拟打字机的玩意儿。如果有蓝牙键盘的话（我恰好有），用它来写点东西还是蛮带感的。于是，笔者（键人？）想起了那遥远的 1999年。

那个时候学校图书馆在处理一批二手打字机，售价人民币 50 元整。那个时候 50 块还是挺大一笔钱的，我每月生活费只有 700 块而已。这台打字机虽然老，但用起来还是不错的。在未能拥有自己的电脑的岁月里，打字机是输出思想和价值观的好帮手。

跟电脑比起来，打字机不太好用。打错字基本上没办法改，而且有时候非常容易就打错了。非常幸运的是，当年读高中的时候学校开设了一门英文打字的选修课，学的就是如何使用打字机。那个时候我就学会了很多解决错别字的窍门，老师当然会管这些东西叫做歪门邪道啦。但时光飞逝，我自己现在拥有至少四台电脑，两支智能电话，一部平板。21世纪谁还关心如何修改打错的字啊，按下 Delete 键就能优雅地删除所犯的错误。

我觉得我是一个怀旧的人，每个月总有那么一两次我会跑到网路上去搜索老实打字机。如果不是家中空间太小，没准我早就买了一台。看着精巧的打字机叮叮当当地把一行行字印刷到白纸上，怎么看都觉得开心。我也知道，即便是买了新的打字机也不会经常用。相对于电脑和智能电话来说，打字机实在是太难用了。所以我得感谢 Hanx Writer，它能带给我打字机的感觉，删除错别字的时候也不含糊。最棒的是，这货是免费的！

当然，Hanx Writer 提供了内购功能，你可以花一笔小钱解锁一些高级功能。比如更多的字型，自动两端对齐，以及多一条色带。

在我看来，这款应用不仅仅是模拟打字机那么简单，实际上也是一个不错的创作工具。我也不知道未来我会不会频繁地用它，但这应用界面整洁，简单可靠的样子，写起东西来感觉还不错。不要说带感的叮叮当当声了，每按下一次都想继续按下第二次啊。有朝一日我会用英文写一本书，这个应用就用来练手吧。

-本文英文版本使用 Hanx Writer 写作与编辑