Comments on Strikethru: Swintec typewriters and the NYPD

Well, the Word Processor 8500C they sell costs 1,6...

2010-06-01T01:18:41.036-07:00

Well, the Word Processor 8500C they sell costs 1,678.00$ in retail. It comes with a 15" CRT-Monitor [sic!] and a 3.5" Floppy Drive, which isn't produced anymore. So you tell me they don't rip off the city? Besides, the guy writing the letter was talking about selling high tech devies. Yeah, fuckin hightech 25ye
ears ago!!

Yes, I imagine most places have old Selectrics or ...

2009-07-23T12:29:33.947-07:00

Yes, I imagine most places have old Selectrics or something similar and can't afford the latest thing. That was certainly my experience. We maintained the old "spinning ball" machine right alongside the Dell computer.

well, last time i checked(approx 3hrs ago) the typ...

2009-07-23T09:01:30.292-07:00

well, last time i checked(approx 3hrs ago) the type writer in the complaint room did not have any word processing capabilities. And as for the whole quartermaster having ribbon, Good luck getting one from there when you are in a pinch...

Rich, interesting perspective. Clearly, there was ...

2009-07-23T07:03:22.995-07:00

Rich, interesting perspective. Clearly, there was a lot more to this story than that lazy reporter wanted to deal with.

Having previously worked for a number of years as ...

2009-07-22T20:16:16.411-07:00

Having previously worked for a number of years as chief of security for a college and with a local police department I can say that the use of typewriters in organizations such as law enforcement is necessary because of the need to use multi-part carbonless forms with different colored pages. You can't put these through a laser-jet.

The technology has been updated as described so that you're basically entering the info onto a computer screen and can spell check, etc., But the mechanical aspect of the acual printing is needed.

This is also the reason why numbering forms such as raffle tickets, dog licences, etc. is still done on platen presses even though the multi-part forms themselves are printed on offset presses. After the basic form is printed and assembled they are run through the platen press and numbered using mechanical numbering machines locked up in the chase.

The forms used by law enforcement and similar organizations require the neatness of typing, thus the procurement of typewriters. Dog licenses and such are usually filled out by hand.

Duffy Moon: you're right that Swintec is not impar...

2009-07-21T14:23:16.936-07:00

Duffy Moon: you're right that Swintec is not impartial here, but Strikethru still has a legit beef about the Post coverage. It could have quoted Swintec more fully, but I suspect it was more interested in pumping up a little outrage with the 'relics' headline (note that although the headline says NYPD 'wastes' money on 'relics', neither word appears anywhere in the copy). Same with the pic on the CNN version: it would have spoilt the fun to show an electronic typewriter (not relic-y enough). Much better to show a guy pounding a mechanical clunker with the top missing, never mind that he's a sports reporter on a different continent, not an NY cop.

Oh, forgot to answer the question about my initial...

2009-07-20T11:51:46.786-07:00

Oh, forgot to answer the question about my initial inquiry to Swintec. I just basically wrote them an e-mail asking about clear case typewriters, and their opinion on the Post article. I identified myself as a typewriter blogger, which is probably an anti-credential, wouldn't you agree?

Why yes, I have been expecting your call. :-) I'...

2009-07-20T11:47:59.163-07:00

Why yes, I have been expecting your call. :-)

I'm actually neutral on whether the technology is appropriate, or the NYPD should upgrade their technology. Those are actually good topics for a fact-based debate. My issue is only with the Post reporting facts incorrectly to enhance their story (on the assumption that Swintec is correctly representing its contract, which I believe it has no reason not to, esp. in a letter to me). In this sense, the Post is not doing its job-- it is a newspaper, and it is not supposed to print unverified facts. We all know that this is not exactly the way journalism works in the real world, but I think dishonest reporting is especially pernicious in the internet age, because countless other "news" outlets on the web continue to echo falsehoods as gospel (as happened in this case). It amounts to a bit of libel against Swintec, in my opinion, although I am no lawyer.

Oh, there's no mistaking the spin in the Swintec r...

2009-07-20T11:20:30.179-07:00

Oh, there's no mistaking the spin in the Swintec reply, but I can see how the Post skipped the less paper-selling details.

Excuse me: did one of you ring for In-Home Devil's...

2009-07-20T11:13:56.789-07:00

Excuse me: did one of you ring for In-Home Devil's Advocate service?

Just curious why the assumption is that the Post is getting it completely wrong (other than the fact that - you know -it's a newspaper). The Post is certainly (one would hope, in a Randian sort of way) in the business of making money by selling newspapers. Swintec is in the business (ditto) of making money selling typewriters and typewriter contracts (and in defending those contracts against what is likely now to be enormous pressure on the part of NYPD to cancel those contracts).

Maybe the truth is somewhere in the middle.

Besides: electronic typewriters are for stoopid.

(Except see-through ones, which are kinda cool.)

((And, seriously, cool for Swintec to go to all that trouble to respond. Did you have to represent yourself in some particularly offical-sounding way to get that response? Just curious.))

Thanks for posting this, Cheryl! :)

2009-07-18T09:28:11.896-07:00

Thanks for posting this, Cheryl! :)

Nice follow-up. I had seen a version of the story ...

2009-07-18T04:28:56.552-07:00

Nice follow-up. I had seen a version of the story which found its way to the Times via the New York Times from CNN. The illustration on the CNN story proves the old adage that a misleading picture is worth a thousand misleading words. It purports to show a NY cop using what looks like a Lettera 32. I thought it couldn't be true, and it isn't. Go to gettyimages.com, do a search for 'typewriter', then refine it with Location: Portugal. Far from being a cop in NY in 2009, the guy in the CNN picture is a sports reporter at a football match in Guimaraes in 2004. It's still a story: a sports reporter in 2004 still using a Lettera, with its CR lever missing so he has to advance the paper with the platen knob? My kinda guy. It would be great to find out who he is. The Getty caption doesn't name him, and a quick Google, sorry internet search, turned up nothing. I'll email Getty, but meantime anyone recognise him?

Word verif: volaten: voice-operated platen (extremely rare).

Interesting, defiantly a good follow through indee...

2009-07-17T17:14:44.163-07:00

Interesting, defiantly a good follow through indeed. I think the electronic typewriters though are, well, EH. It's to bad the manuals arn't taken more seriously. I think if there was a crisis a manual typewriter would be the one to count on.
Another thing is those carbon ribbons. If you were to take one apart, you could literally read everything someone previously wrote. Try doing that with a manuals ribbon! Also with the electronic memory there would be no mistakes and reading the ribbon would be easy as pie.

@Nup: I kind of want one of those clear prison typ...

2009-07-17T15:44:00.968-07:00

@Nup:
I kind of want one of those clear prison typewriters. I think it would be really cool to see the mechanisms working while you typed. Sort of like the original iMac that you could see through.

Yea, I was thinking the same thing, except I don't want to "do the time" in order to see the inside of the mechanism from the inside of a prison.:)

Good journalistic follow-through, Cheryl.

~Joe

Word Verification: "mireviat"; a diplomat who specialises in leaving situations worse than before he arrived.

This story annoys me to no end. One, with the Post...

2009-07-17T14:11:10.153-07:00

This story annoys me to no end. One, with the Post implying that this is some sort of boondoggle. Two, with BoingBoing taking the stance that newer technology is automatically better technology.

As the whole business of voting machines demonstrates, sometimes a paper trail is a very good thing. Duh.

Thanks for this followup, ST!

What do you expect? It's the New York Post. A tras...

2009-07-17T13:41:53.507-07:00

What do you expect? It's the New York Post. A trashy rag. We have an equivalent here in Boston - The Boston Herald. I think they're owned by the same company, actually.

The upside is that bird owners everywhere have plenty of cage liner.

Basically, the New York Post wrote an article abou...

2009-07-17T11:38:36.770-07:00

Basically, the New York Post wrote an article about the New York Police Department buying typewriters from Swintec (inference being, this was a waste of money for outdated technology). The author of the Post article described the deal between the Post and Swintec incorrectly, inflating and distorting some details to make the expenditures seem more costly and the technology more useless. I verified this by checking the facts about the deal with Swintec.

Am I the only one entirely confused by this whole ...

2009-07-17T11:24:07.354-07:00

Am I the only one entirely confused by this whole business?

"I'm sure that have typewriters on-hand for these ...

2009-07-17T09:26:53.381-07:00

"I'm sure that have typewriters on-hand for these forms does -- at least in the short term -- make more fiscal sense that an all-over automation project, with all the equipment, training, and inevitable debug time that entails."

Not to mention that a police department that has been through two major blackouts in the last few decades and one system-disrupting terrorist attack is no doubt acutely aware of the need for emergency backup systems.

Word verification: poodo: how a Unix admin's kid soils his diaper.

This was a far more reasoned response than the one...

2009-07-17T08:35:27.423-07:00

This was a far more reasoned response than the one I had, which was basically to snort derisively and then go "Oh, it's in the Post. No wonder." Somehow, it does not surprise me that that fish-wrap played fast and loose with the Actual Facts, being that the Actual Facts are rather dull reading.

And it does not surprise me in the least that the police department -- that any public service -- is not running the latest-greatest-gee-whizzery gadgets. As Mr. Michael pointed out, money doesn't exactly flow like water through these agencies, and I'm sure that have typewriters on-hand for these forms does -- at least in the short term -- make more fiscal sense that an all-over automation project, with all the equipment, training, and inevitable debug time that entails.

Verify word: slytopie: stealthily sneaking a fresh-baked dessert from the proverbial windowsill. "Man, I was totally sly-to-pie with those donuts in the breakroom."

The NY Post has a history of just making stuff up ...

2009-07-17T08:08:44.517-07:00

The NY Post has a history of just making stuff up when the facts don't agree with the angle they're looking for. (I realize that I sound a lot like a conservative talking about the NY Times, but as Speculator mentions, the Post is a tabloid disguised as a newspaper, one of Rupurt Murdoch's propaganda mouthpieces.)

Great followup, Cheryl! Now post a link to this in the article's comments.

I've been toying with buying one of their clear-case typewriters for my collection. Their mention of it only rekindles the flame.

Any northeasterner will tell you the NY Post is ha...

2009-07-17T07:31:31.696-07:00

Any northeasterner will tell you the NY Post is hardly the arbiter of carefully-researched news. It's about a tenth of a notch above the National Enquirer (they even look alike).
Your blog post, with the clarifying letter from the company does far more justice to the topic. Why not send the Swintec letter to the NY Times, instead?

I think the newspapers that fail are the ones that self-undermine, thus ruining their credentials.

If you haven't done so already you should send a c...

2009-07-17T06:58:30.187-07:00

If you haven't done so already you should send a copy of the letter to the Post (the author and his supervisors) and BoingBoing. Also a briefer post to the Comments sections of the articles.

So why are newspapers failing...?

Wow, that was quite the response! I guess they ar...

2009-07-17T00:54:16.169-07:00

Wow, that was quite the response! I guess they are in damage control mode after that article. But if what they say is correct, then that article definitely ignored some key facts about the contract that makes the whole article inaccurate. I am surprised they didn't have the headline "Swintec Swindles City".

I kind of want one of those clear prison typewriters. I think it would be really cool to see the mechanisms working while you typed. Sort of like the original iMac that you could see through.