28 mei 2013

Rooy Portable typewriter

Here are some pictures and a typecast from the ultra flat Rooy Portable typewriter I bought today: sn 27446, produced in 1953. I should retype it so it makes more sense. But the sun is shining, so: sorry, can't be bothered. :)



Rooy portable in its lid

Rooy Portable sliding out of the lid...




Ready for typing!



Here are the links to information about the Rooy Portable typewriter:
Machines of loving grace
Retro Tech Geneva
ozTypewriter
Typed on Paper

And for information about the recent evolution of mobile phones see:
Hongkiat
op

9 opmerkingen:

  1. Spiderwebz28 mei, 2013 19:58

    It's sooo flat! It almost looks like an early laptop with it's lid closed.

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  2. shordzi28 mei, 2013 20:50

    Yours looks very nice, with the well preserved decals and the bright-coloured buttons. I have the same model, and must say am rather disappointed with the typing feel, action, and sound. Maybe mine is a "monday's typewriter".

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  3. schrijfmachine28 mei, 2013 21:04

    I don't type a lot, but I really liked using this machine. It had a very direct touch.

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  4. Richard P28 mei, 2013 21:20

    I would say that with 70K sold, the Rooy miniportable was fairly successful. And noiseless typewriters sold very well in the '30s and '40s. Still, it is true that in the end both kinds of design failed to change the mainstream concept of a desirable typewriter.

    20 euros was a steal!

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  5. Ted28 mei, 2013 22:21

    20 Euros is a smokin' deal for a Rooy like that. Congrats! (:

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  6. RobertG29 mei, 2013 16:26

    Impressively small.
    The benefit of size then probably wasn't big enough to justify the cost for the mainstream consumer (About 7k/yr is niche, isn't it?) Archetype of portable was perhaps already too firmly entrenched.

    In product development we still have that - we (consumers) have expectations what a product must look like; it is hard to deviate and still sell well. Also size is sometimes linked to consumer (our) perception of value (bigger=more).

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  7. Rob Bowker30 mei, 2013 14:39

    What a fantastic little machine. I know that noise reduction was of great importance - and a vital selling point - to users in commercial premises since it was proven that productivity increased when the noise levels went down. Portability must just have appealed to the smaller home-user market. At 20 Euros, it would have been wrong to leave it behind.

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  8. bigmark14 mei, 2014 12:45

    I've just bought one of these, same model and year, but it has no ribbon in it. Does anyone know where I could get a new ribbon and spools?

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  9. ontembaar07 maart, 2016 14:47

    Ik heb net dezelfde machine staan kom hem maar halen als je een correcte prijs geeft

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