Typewriters cannot proportionately space their fonts. Only a computer does that.
“Typewriters cannot proportionately space their fonts. Only a computer does that.”
Actually, no.
Early typewriter proportional spacing, while not as exotic as computer word processors of today, could do proportional spacing. For example, the earliest proportional spacing was a mechanical advance on the print carriage advance mechanism that adjusted the carriage advance based on the letter being typed.
An “i” or “1” would get one unit of advance, a “w” or “m” three units, and most other letters two units.
By the way - there actually was one typewriter in the Texas Air National Guard in Bush’s era that could do a simple proportional spacing. But it was located at headquarters in Austin, not in Houston.
It was used to make full lines for awards certificates so the text would look pretty in the certificate often used for framing by the receiving awardee. Or his mom.
Dan Rather should have said that when Jerry Killian wanted to write memos to himself, he got in the car and drove 336 miles round trip to Austin to use the headquarters typewriter.
Oh, that Robert Strong guy Rather used on his 60 minutes show claiming he was a buddy of Killian and could verify the memos? He was also 168 miles away in Austin, as a ground pounding little lieutenant. I’m sure Lieutenant Colonel Jerry Killian was a confidant of that pipsqueak.