He Fixed 300,000+ Machines - America's Oldest Typewriter Repairman Dies At 96

An anonymous reader writes "The New York Times reports, 'For eight decades, Manson Whitlock kept the 20th century's ambient music going: the ffft of the roller, the ding of the bell, the decisive zhoop ... bang of the carriage return, the companionable clack of the keys. From the early 1930s until shortly before his death last month at 96, Mr. Whitlock, at his shop in New Haven, cared for the instruments, acoustic and electric, on which that music was played. Mr. Whitlock was often described as America's oldest typewriter repairman. He was inarguably one of the country's longest-serving. Over time he fixed more than 300,000 machines, tending manuals lovingly, electrics grudgingly and computers never. "I don't even know what a computer is," Mr. Whitlock told The Yale Daily News, the student paper, in 2010. "I've heard about them a lot, but I don't own one, and I don't want one to own me."'"

Re:Technophobia

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

What is better, to fear what you don't know or to completely embrace it and know its weaknesses inside out? I'll opt for the latter anytime.

I use computers extensively and they don't own me.

Depending on the magnitude of 'what you don't know', and how optional it is, fear is a perfectly reasonable strategy(especially if you are already expert elsewhere and judge that you'll die before all your legacy customers do).

Re:Last repairman?

[SirGarlon]

I think the dwindling number of repairmen is due to increase factory automation. Today, the amount of human labor that goes into making a device is very low (still decreasing) and unskilled. Repair is labor-intensive and requires skill. Therefore, for an increasing range of products, it's cheaper to make a new one than to repair it. The exceptions are when the items are very costly, like cars and houses, and/or difficult to replace, like HVAC systems.

Re:300,000 Machines?

[EvilIdler]

Some repairs are pretty easy (replacing one simple part). Typewriters used to be pretty sturdy too, so many repairs would be of the simple kind. Somebody who's good can probably replace a cylinder in 5 minutes and a key in 15 (or less).

Re:Technophobia

[rolfwind]

It's not an age thing.

I never said it was. Hence, saying that even some 40-50s year old (vs this 96 yo) don't use computers.

But there is definitely several generational gaps or cutoffs at play, from where computers were a luxury/novelty to something optional to something necessary.

I don't count the average American person today being able to use a manual transmission for much the same reason.

Re:Eh?

[Jason Levine]

Forget 2050. There are times when I feel like I'm struggling to keep up with technology and I'm only 38! I'll likely be that old guy who shakes my fist as "those kids" and says "In my day when we wanted to look up information we did it the old fashioned way: We googled it! We didn't have any of these fancy brain-chips to tell us the information as soon as we think of it. Now get off my lawn!"

Re:Last repairman?

[dywolf]

yup. this mentality of throwing money at a problem til it goes away, while bad for society as a whole, is great if you know how to profit from it.

for ex: friend gave me his mower free bcause it was broken and he went out and bought a 56" riding mower to replace it (granted he has a bit of acrage now, so its not a total waste on his part), and didnt want to bother trying to fix it.

what was broken on the mower i got for free?
recoil spring on the starter (cut off the bent/deformed end, abotu 8" worth, bent a new hook into it, reattached, pulls like a champ)
dirty carberator (dunked in a bucket of carb cleaner for half an hour, cleaned off and reattached)

Now it starts like a brand new mower, like a horny teenager in a whorehouse, even with a half hearted lazy pull.
So for the cost $10 of cleaner, and a couple hours repair, I got me a $350 mower.