The meme was inspired by an article I read by Iklim Arsiya*

Can you tell us about the arrival of typewriters in Turkey? When did it begin to be widely used and how did it lose its practicality?

Nope. I know somebody with Armenian roots who owns a Hermes 3000 and all but handed it to me free. I declined because I wouldn't have felt right.

In the past, it was a merit to use a typewriter but now it has lost this feature. What are the typewriters that come to your shop to be repaired used for? Are they still used as a way of typing texts, or do they serve more as decoration?

Nonsense. The only reason I don't own more than one is because I couldn't think of a bigger sin for a typewriter lover to commit than to have a typewriter sitting alone in a corner without getting much use.

How do you maintain and repair a typewriter? Do you have trouble finding spare parts for this instrument that has now lost its practicality?

Fortunately, I am easy to please, and the way my typewriter produces my written words is more than sufficient. I take my typewriter to the professional machinists and the day I exhaust my list of typewriter repair shops who might just remark that the part I need can't be found, that is the day I will buy a second typewriter.

You said: "The typewriter is a device that creates a bond between itself and its user." What is the bond between you and your typewriter? What does it mean to you, and what kind of emotions does it arouse?

I'm not sure I remember saying that, but I will gladly have used it if I had thought of it. The bond I have with my typewriter is indeed personal in that we go way back. I held a grudge when I entered the administration world and had to slightly adjust my typing speed to retrain myself on the computer qwerty board. I don't care what anybody says, I believe my generation of the administration colleagues were shortchanged in that aspect of intricacy.

With technology developing rapidly, it's hard to continue with the obsolete. In this context, do you have a typewriter you still use and cannot give up on?

Yes. I once broke down my computer and the only means of emailing work related messages was by cell phone. I was able to produce my correspondence on hard copy, photograph it with the cell phone camera, and attach it to my email with an explanation of why I was going thru the trouble. As I sit here now, I question myself why I am answering these lame questions here on the laptop.