Zacky 🏰 Ma
Marcin WicharyThere finally is a site for my book about the history of keyboards.
I think you’ll enjoy it. There are quite a few fun/interactive things in there, and you can sign up to be notified when the Kickstarter is ready! https://shifthappens.site
I also wrote a bit more about making the site (and monkeys and typewriters) here: https://newsletter.shifthappens.site/archive/the-monkey-lives/
jm3 • John Manoogian III
Phillygirl@mwichary Congratulations!!
Roberto@mwichary count me in!
Pamela Barroway – Biz Editor@mwichary Neat! Just signed up for the Kickstarter notification.
@PamelaBarroway Thank you!!!
@mwichary YVW! How far along with is your manuscript?
@PamelaBarroway It’s ready! A tiny round of proofreading the last batch of updates, and indexing is what remains.
@mwichary Nice! As a related aside, I was helping my 86yo mom clean out her locker recently and found something I’d been looking for years for: my dad’s (z”l) manual typewriter, in its original case, still in great shape. I think it must date from the late 1940s. I brought it home to show my teen that not every keyboard requires a plug or recharge!
Scott Jenson@mwichary I'll be travelling in February but I'm going to be watching for your kickstarter. I worry (in a good way) that it will sell out quite quickly.
What's nice about kickstarter is that if demand is crazy high, you hopefully can adjust your order.
@scottjenson Yes! There will be a minimum that makes this economically viable, but no maximum!
@mwichary I have very little doubt you will meet your minimum order...
@mwichary BTW, after playing your key drop game(fun), I noticed the 'Kickstarter announcement email' signup so - I can relax a bit now
@scottjenson oh my god, I would not leave you hanging!
Karen McGrane@mwichary @scottjenson Imma Kickstarter this book so hard
Ken McConnell 📘@mwichary
Fantastic title!
Fantastic title!
Henno van Arkel@mwichary Just checked the site for the book - it looks incredible! Looking forward to the launch of the kickstarter.
Nick Santos@mwichary yay yay yay congratulations!! The site teases the book so well. Are you sure you don't want this to become a Caro/LBJ multi-decade ambition and add 3 more volumes??
scott f@mwichary I guess you and this bike book can share the title :) https://www.sfcriticalmass.org/shift-happens-critical-mass-at-20/
Hugh Young-Bish@mwichary I've loved typewriters since I was small. Teaching myself to touchtype at 15 was one of the smartest things I did. I loved Bliven's "Wonderful Writing Machine" (1954) and "Shift Happens" sounds like a worthy successor.
@hugh That book is great and something of an inspiration! Mr. Stapenell is making an appearance in my book also.
@mwichary
I don't know why you mention him, but a search found this review, and reminded me after umpteen years of of the wonderful nonsentence "Amaranath sasesusos Oronoco initiation secedes Uruguay Philadelphia.”
I'm disappointed that sasesusos exists for no other reason: I imagined sasesusos to be an epiphyte of trees in the bayous of Florida, prized as a[n] herb, or some such.
"Another mint julep, please, and not so much sasesusos this time."
https://typewriterreview.com/2015/11/09/book-review-the-wonderful-writing-machine/
char (#4|2
Practise@mwichary “4 photos of keyboards using Comic Sans”? Sold!
@practise At least one of them is *not* what you would expect!
BonkersA probably cool addendum would be a typing sound library for all those keyboards
Jakub Matraszek@mwichary Can't wait! Looks totally awesome. Congrats!
Joey Banks@mwichary Can't wait for this!
Kashmir Hill@mwichary Shift Happens is a glorious title.
@kashhill Thanks! It actually has more layers of meaning if you read the book!
Saustrup@mwichary That looks amazing! Can't wait! 😍
Matt Innes@mwichary It looks beautiful, really looking forward to it.
Keen@mwichary The website looks amazing! oh, and so does the book 😜. Subscribed!
@keenphantom Thank you, Commander.
Cooper@mwichary The site is absolutely _stunning_! I've been following along with the newsletter since the first issue and the project before that. Can't wait for the Kickstarter!!
Jan Deppisch@mwichary Lovely - can't wait for the Kickstarter campaign. Also really enjoyed your btconf talk 2018 https://beyondtellerrand.com/events/berlin-2018/speakers/marcin-wichary 😍 #shifthappens
Marcin Wichary was speaking at beyond tellerrand 2018 in Berlin
Marcin Wichary is a designer, writer, and typographer. He worked at Medium, Google, and Code for America. Currently he’s working at Figma and typing in a book about the history of typing, on one of the many keyboards he owns. He cares a lot about storytelling, the meaning of details, and things we can learn from technology’s and design’s past.
adamrice@mwichary This is relevant to my interests. I've got a book titled The Chinese Typewriter and I was never able to get into it. This looks more accessible.
@adamrice The goal was to make it nerdy and deep, but accessible and a fun read.
Jordan Wirfs-Brock@mwichary This looks amazing... and the title is absolute 🔥
CautionWIP 🎃+🇨🇦+🏳️🌈= 
@mwichary Hey @pluralistic , see upthread. definitely relevant to your interests. :)
Peter Sterne@mwichary How much will the books cost?
@petersterne I am still fine-tuning this, but roughly something in the vicinity of $125 early bird and $150 later price?
@mwichary Wow, that’s pretty steep (though not unreasonable considering it’s two full hardcover volumes). Would you consider doing a lower tier for just a digital version?
Bob SomeAle@mwichary This looks fantastic. But TBH, I think you missed an opportunity to name a chapter "Stuck on the Sholes" or something like that. ;)
This is why I'll never publish a book BTW.
@bob_some_ale I wrote about how I chose chapter titles if you are interested! https://newsletter.shifthappens.site/archive/some-good-news/
Kyle R. Conway@mwichary I am unreasonably excited about this and wish you sincere congratulations. It looks incredible.
Ellis Pratt@ellispratt I appreciate you spreading the word!
@ellispratt (I got the Open Steno kit and used it for a while! Still have that modified keyboard somewhere. The community is mentioned in the book!)