When the typewriter was introduced to the Chinese, it was received with mixed emotions. It made communication advance miraculously faster, but it was incompatible with a non-alphabet, logographic based language. The Chinese typewriter became an invention to be wrestled with for many years. It never got small enough to fit comfortably on a school desk. It never got easy enough to learn quickly. Low frequency characters had to be found or assembled, and then affixed on the key. After it has been used in the correct context, it had to be removed and replaced with a high frequency character. The Chinese versions of the typewriter worked more like a small print shop, than like the English typewriter, in an efficient, rhythmic piano playing movement. In short, typing in Chinese never became as easy as typing in English. In fact, many Chinese typists employed by World War II American bases could speedily type up a copy of a document or a form, but may not speak or understand a lick of English. This is how the typewriter revolution skipped the entire Chinese population. For more read The Chinese Typewriter by Thomas S. Mullaney.
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