Farewell to the typewriter, as Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Co in India, the sole maker of manual typewriters, is selling its final 500 typewriters and will make no more.
The first commercial typewriter was produced in the US in 1867, and the click-clack-clicking machine has had the notable distinction in recording some of mankind's greatest milestones.
Modern man's need for the manual typewriter has diminished, no longer being the first among equals, although Christopher Sholes' 1870 typewriter keyboard arrangement still lives on through the modern computer keyboard.
Ironically, the death of the typewriter comes at a time when our boisterous cyber space is flushed with opinionated views on the Myemail project.
The Myemail venture is to be undertaken by Tricubes Bhd, a financially distressed company. Under the plan, government agencies will fork out up to 50 sen per email to communicate with Malaysians via the world wide web.
Some have suggested, we should use the existing free email service from yahoo mail, gmail or even hotmail, as banks have been communicating this way with Malaysians who have free email accounts.
Others suggest more respectable companies such as Pos Malaysia Bhd or MYEG Bhd should be tasked with the job.
Whichever way it is, it is obvious, Tricubes has become the easiest punching bag in town.
Thus, I was disappointed with the Tricubes media briefing early this week. I left the briefing with almost the same understanding as I had earlier.
The sole consolation being Tricubes' assurance on the safety features of Myemail.
That unshakeable belief lasted for a couple of days, thanks to reports on one of the greatest Internet security breaches in history - the hacking of the Sony Playstation that affected some 77 million credit card user details.
Maybe a public listed company here should give the manual typewriter a kiss of life, resurrect the now ancient mechanical writing machine.
Surely it has a few good keystrokes left, and it could be the next big money-making machine, with the proper gloss - "unhackable".
Who knows, it might work out well, just as Bob Dylan wrote some 47 years ago: the first one now will later be the last, for the times are a changin!!
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