Tom Hanks’s ‘Hanx Writer’ App Hits #1
Last week, actor Tom Hanks launched the Hanx Writer in the App Store, where’s it’s described as “a charming tribute to a time when the words on put on paper literally made lasting impressions.”
Now it’s #1 in the iTunes App store and was named Editor’s Choice.
The clicks and dings provide nostalgia, but the app is functional as well. Users can still cut, paste, email, and air-print documents created in the app. I downloaded the free app, and at first I felt like it was almost a throwback to specific time in my high school days, just before word processors hit the scene, when we had to type our papers without the assistance of correction tape.
And then I read this in the App Store description:
“For courageous scribes, quirky features such as the ability to switch off modern deleting (so typos leave permanent marks on the page) force you to focus even more on every letter you type.”
Yep. It’s 1985 all over again.
In an interview with USA Today, Hanks said:
“I suppose some people who get the app may just be looking for a different sound, but really, it’s for people searching for a more personalized experience when writing on an iPad. There’s also the opportunity here to take your iPad to a coffee house and be really obnoxious with all the clickety-clacking.”
Hanks isn’t opposed to the real thing either. In an opinion piece–“I Am TOM. I Like to TYPE. Hear that?”–which appeared in the New York Times just one year ago, Hanks confessed to owning hundreds of typewriters.
Here’s to lasting impressions.
