The Mac is not a typewriter

What Hacker News says

1. tzsJul 2026
   All it takes to get accused of being AI nowadays is to remember and use (1) what you were taught about composition in your high school English class, and (2) what you learned from "The Mac is Not a Typewriter" [1].

   [1] https://www.amazon.com/dp/0201782634

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2. edbaskervilleMay 2026
   If you read The Mac is Not a Typewriter in 1992—thus burning Option-Shift-hyphen into your typing patterns for life, along with a dogmatic love for serif body fonts—you're the real victim here.
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3. FarmerPotatoFeb 2026
   Include the Gen Xers who read The Mac Is Not A Typewriter in the 90s or were merely into fonts.

   Heck, anyone used to a word processor that automatically changes dash dash into em-dash.

   There’s a lot of us that knew how to use em-dash.

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4. projektfuJan 2026
   I have only said it as part of an apology.

   "We have been waiting 20 minutes!"

   "You're absolutely right, and I apologize. We will try to schedule better in the future."

   I have never said it to someone with whom I was having a regular discussion.

   OTOH, I used to overuse em dashes because the Mac made proper typesetting possible. It used to be the sign that someone had read the very useful The Mac is not a Typewriter by Robin Williams.

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5. FarmerPotatoDec 2025
   I learned em-dash from The Mac Is Not A Typewriter. From now on I'll keep the -- plain ASCII to hopefully avoid the backlash.
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6. davidmurphyDec 2024
   Anyone who read "The Mac is not a typewriter" — a fantastic book of the early computer age — likely uses em dashes.
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