The betterness of things

[desperance]

The first novel I ever wrote on a computer, way back, mid-eighties (my second proper novel, that would be, "The Refuge"): it took me, very literally, all night to print it out. Daisywheel printer, without a paper feed: I stood over it from dusk till dawn, feeding in one sheet of paper at a time and watching the wheel scutter back and forth.

I just printed out a novel of a similar length in, what, fifteen minutes? Maybe twenty, allowing for one refilling of the feed drawer and its own occasional pauses to recalibrate.

Sometimes technology does make things better.

[The daisywheel was also the most expensive printer I've ever bought, which was why I couldn't afford the extra couple of hundred pounds for a paper feed; this current monster is the cheapest. Also the sexiest by a distance, being big and shiny and charcoal-grey. Definitely, tech gets better...]

Comments

[matociquala.livejournal.com]

The future is a nice place to live, for all its drawbacks.

What was not in your empty box?

[desperance.livejournal.com]

What was not in my empty box is Mr Stross's brilliant recommendation for the calamitous electricals in this room: a socket converter, to stretch the single power outlet into four switched sockets, Safely. Seemed like a really good idea, and I'm just in the mood for some DIY, what with two three manuscripts sitting here needed redrafting. Urgently. Oh, and an immediate proofreading job arriving this afternoon.

[matociquala.livejournal.com]

Here, lemme come hand you tools.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

I knew you knew.