World's last typewriter plant stops production: is universal digitization safe?

The owners of the world's last remaining typewriter factory have shut the plant's doors because of declining orders.

Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Co. Ltd. has shuttered its facility in Mumbai, India, where as recently as 2009 the company was making 12,000 typewriters a year.

Typewriters had been experiencing a renaissance in India, where the devices are prized for their ease, efficiency and durability. As many as 400 million Indians lack reliable electricity, so the devices were widely used in the courts and government bureaucracy.

Western consumers are likely more familiar with names like Woodstock, Remington, Smith-Corona, Olivetti, Hermes and Underwood, but Godrej & Boyce was a major player in the Indian market. In the 1990s, the company made 50,000 machines a year, out of a total Indian output of 150,000 annually.

But after stopping production, Godrej & Boyce has only about 500 of its Prima brand units left in its inventory, general manager Milind Dukle told India's Business Standard newspaper.

"We are not getting many orders now," he said. "This might be the last chance for typewriter lovers." (read more)