See how hard it is to type on a typewriter with this online simulator

Get a feel for what typewriting was like with the website OverType. — dpa

Have you ever wondered what typing on a typewriter was like? Ever thought that it must have been nice to see the ink appear on a real piece of paper before your eyes, instead of only seeing it on a screen?

Although typewriters obviously still exist – somewhere – not everyone has access to one. But there is another way to get the feel for what typewriting was like with the website OverType.

"Welcome to OverType – the Over-The-Top Typewriter Simulator!" the website greets you when you arrive on the landing page.

From there you can click on "start" after reading the instructions, and you're presented with a blank page that looks like it has the texture of a real piece of paper.

When it comes to actually typing, it sounds like a real old-timey typewriter: the sound of the typing levers clacking onto the paper is pretty immersive, as well as the ringing when you jump to the next line.

You will soon notice a couple of things that may seem like bugs but are actually just the realities of this less convenient typing machine.

For one, if you don't adapt your typing speed, you're going to have some issues. The simulation acts like a real typewriter, which means you can only press one key at a time. This will drive touchtypers insane.

The same goes for typos: you can press the backspace, but there's no way to actually delete the mistake. You can merely choose to type over the wrong letter – which is ugly – or use the correction paper. But even with the correction paper, your mistakes will still be visible.

Another aspect that will either drive you crazy or take you back to the good old days are the three available fonts: you can choose from Courier (the default), Special Elite or GNUTypewriter, and you can adjust the "brokenness" of these fonts, which makes the letters appear crooked and uneven on the page.

And don't forget to put more ink on the ribbon – otherwise you'll end up with nothing more than a shadow of the words on that paper. – dpa