Royal 240: The Beginning of the End for the Typewriter

It’s 2026. You can put on VR goggles, consume content all day that was generated by artificial intelligence, and never have to care about the physical world at all. So to combat this, let’s look at something totally physical. Something that doesn’t even have a power cord. We’re looking at a typewriter. And because this is Nicole Express, it’s from 1970 and has fake wood paneling. Let’s get classy. It’s in a box We’ll start with the typewriter still in its case. The Royal 240 is an “ultraportable” typewriter– as far as I can tell, there are three main form factors: “Standard” typewriters. Everything from the Underwood No. 5 to the IBM Selectric. Big, heavy, serviceable, but designed to spend their whole lives stationary. “Portable” typewriters. Despite the name, these are the “desktop replacements”, they can be moved but still not that light. Most home and small business typewriters. “Ultraportable” typewriters. Anything designed to be carried around. In this era, expect a lot more…

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