As the #febuaryinleo today's writing prompt asked about businesses that survived or died due to digital transformation, my mind traveled to something much deeper - an entire job that went into extinction. While businesses may transform and shift, there are certain jobs that simply do not survive when technology progresses. Today, I wish to share with you the story of one such job that died out entirely from our labor force.
Let me tell you about the typewriter job, a profession that was flourishing during the 90s and early 2000s. This wasn't just a standard job, it was a top-of-the-line job that people would go to school for. Think about that for a moment. There were specific school programs that taught people how to type professionally. These courses weren't weekend lectures, they were immersive programs that could last years, addressing everything from typing speed to document structure.
The journey to professional typewriter was a wild business. Students would spend hours working on typing speed, mastering the placement of fingers, and improving touch typing, all without looking at the keyboard. They had to reach certain words-per-minute targets and maintain outstandingly high accuracy levels. Mistakes were not allowed because correction fluid was not allowed in professional documents.
Then, to be a typist was to have a skill that was in great demand by organizations. These typists were the keepers of all formal documents. They were not just typists, their expertise was in typing, naturally, but also in organizing, precision, and maintaining professional standards in all communication. They could organize business letters, organize legal documents, and create properly aligned tables without the aid of software on the computer.
The pay matched the status. Typewriting positions were linked with competitive salaries since this was not something that anyone could do. Business organizations and office settings particularly created positions for such skilled people since they know how valuable they are in business practice. A highly skilled typewriter could command respect and great compensation, particularly from law firms, government offices, and large companies.
But then the digital revolution caught up. It began gradually, personal computers appeared in offices first as shared services, later on every desk as standard hardware. Next came laptops, and everyone could access the typing skill. The last nail in the coffins were the tablets and smartphones with which suddenly typing devices found space in every hand.
The democratization of typing skills happened overnight. A specialized skill, once upon a time, became a skill that anyone could learn through frequent use of digital technology. Word processing software made formatting easy, no longer did individuals need to perform calculations for margins or tab stops. Spell check eliminated the need for absolute precision. Auto-correct and predictive text made even the most basic typist appear competent.
The office scene today is unfamiliar compared to those days of typewriters. Typing fundamentals are taught in elementary school. Teenagers can type quicker on their phones than professional typewriters could on their machines. Document writing and editing are now collaborative processes, with several individuals working on the same document at the same time, something that was unimaginable during the days of typewriters.
The transformation was complete and permanent. Such typing schools disappeared or turned into computer training institutes. The special typewriter desks in offices completely disappeared. A highly sought-after line of a career simply ceased to exist. Even the physical machines themselves have turned into collector's items, inactive in museums or serving as vintage showpieces.
This is a classic illustration of the way digital change doesn't just change how we do things, it can render certain skills and occupations obsolete. Businesses will continue to evolve to adapt to digital change, but certain professions will simply become obsolete. The typewriter profession didn't cease to exist gradually, it was completely swept aside by a new way of working.
So the next time you are banging away at your device of choice with impunity, remember yesterday's professional typewriters. Their story is a reminder that technology moves fast not just on industries, but on whole professions. It's a reminder of how some invaluable skills that today are so integral to a career can tomorrow become useless.
Looking at this piece of history, one thing is clear, in our ever-evolving digital age, flexibility is not an attractive but a necessary skill. It's survival material. The question is not whether technology will continue to revolutionize careers, but what skills and careers will be next to undergo such revolutionary transformations.
To all of us in the Hive community, this is an engaging historical analogy and warning tale. It reminds us to be tough, to keep on learning, and to always look ahead to the next technology revolution that might reshuffle our work world.
Posted Using INLEO