Street Find: Electric Typewriter

Walked my son to Aikido. He's ten. Usual route.

Old computer on the curb. Heavy. Clean.

"Dad, come on, we'll be late."

"You know me. Let's take it home and take it apart."

I opened the case. It was a typewriter! Full keyboard, LCD display, of all things. Print head on a rail. Not a mechanical typewriter. Something else.

He knows me. I put it in the reusable shopping bag, below the Gi. He volunteered to help carry it, each holding a handle. We still made it to Aikido on time.

Got home. Plugged it in. Expected nothing.

It turned on.

The kids took turns typing gibberish.

Did a quick search for "Smith Corona SD 250". I didn't even know electric typewriters existed. Turns out there was a whole era between manual typewriters and computers.

Forty years old. Street find. Works.

Sticker on the front: "I am a smart typewriter! SEE WHAT I CAN DO... INSERT PAPER, HOLD DOWN CODE KEY WHILE DEPRESSING THE 'Q' KEY."

I pressed Code+Q.

It started printing. On its own.

Hello, I'd like to demonstrate some of my most popular features for you. Please type in your name followed by the RETURN key.

I ignored the question and pressed RETURN.

It typed back. Offered to show its spell-check. Its auto-spell.
A conversation. With a machine someone threw away.

"Dad, it's talking to you."

Yeah.

Connector on the back. DB-9. A serial port? Can this thing talk to a computer?

Ordered a USB to RS-232 Adapter from Amazon, arrives tomorrow. Will report back.