Words change continually, both in spelling and in meaning, sometimes quite drastically. What is seen today as an obscenity, the etymology of the word 'cunt', suggests that it and its variants were regarded as perfectly normal up to at least the 13th and possibly even the 17th Century.

There are, of course, thousands of other examples, some providing a difference in nuance and some a complete or almost complete reversal of meaning.

In addition to that, of course, in English we have the North American dislike for other than the simplest parallel between sound and spelling and so the obnoxious 'Grammarly' which is almost entirely unsuitable for advising on, let alone correcting, the English language.

What is even worse today is the limited vocabulary of probably most of the population, the increasing use of capitalisms, SMS language, and puerile slang. Worst of all is that so many whose very occupation revolves around words and the command of language, such as journalists, authors, reviewers, editors, influencers and commentators, often display significant ignorance of both word meaning and appropriate syntax.

So, although as did you, I revelled in using my first typewriter, though somewhat earlier than did you, by the sound of it, I am not convinced that the increased speed is necessarily a good thing.

I do, however, agree that there are many advantages to computer use for authorship or writing in many forms, though I believe that it can also lead to many errors, not least because of the false confidence it can give to those whose ignorance prevents them from identifying errors.

An indirect issue which, I accept, can apply as readily to typewritten, computer generated or hand-written product is what seems to be an increased absence of proof-reading. This could, of course, be actually a case of proof-reading by someone as ignorant as the author. However, my view is that it probably results from the speed and apparent perfection or, at least, neat and imposing look of the product which, again, leads to false confidence in the worth of the work.

I have been an admirer of Hemingway's work since before his death, though I can accept some of more modern criticisms that arises from the significant changes in cultural attitudes over the last hundred years. So many 'norms' that existed in the 1920's when he was in Paris with Hadley and lost a suitcase of his manuscripts, something which had a continuing affect on his psyche. Today, almost certainly he would have had a computer backup of that precious material ...

Take care. Stay safe. ☮️