Malling-Hansen Writing Ball was invented by Hans Rasmus Johann Malling-Hansen, principal of the Royal Institute for the deaf-mute in Copenhagen. In 1882, it was delivered to the home of Friedrich Nietzsche. Only 37 at the time, Nietzsche was losing his vision.. The writing ball, invented only a few years earlier, gave him a second chance at writing.
“The writing ball is a thing like me: made of iron
Yet easily twisted on journeys.
Patience and tact are required in abundance,
As well as fine fingers, to use us.”
That was Nietzsche’s tribute to this ingenious apparatus that allowed a trained person to type as many as 800 characters per minute, the equivalent of 160 words per minute.. Holy smokes!
The device had a subtle effect on his writing, making it more compact.. more forceful. Nietzsche himself agreed with the fact, writing in a letter to a friend: “Our writing equipment takes part in the forming of our thoughts.”
Adapted from the book “What the internet is doing to our brains” by Nicholas Carr.
