Tom Hanks is a noted vintage typewriter fanatic who often bangs out thank-you notes on one of the machines in his collection. When he released the Hanx Writer—an iPad app that simulates old-school typing with sound and visuals, includes one free "model" and allows the user to purchase additional virtual models and ribbon colors—last month, many probably scoffed... but in four days it had shot to the top of the App Store with effusive reviews.

"Hanx Writer is beautiful, aesthetically pleasing app that fulfills its mission of bringing a certain level of pleasure back to the writing experience," wrote one reviewer. "I've been sitting here typing in the new Hanx app wondering why I find this so delightful," wrote another. "I can't help it, I just do."

It may sound silly, until you see it in action and understand the allure:

The idea was not only to provide a fun way to type, but to keep these otherwise unused machines out of the garbage. "USB Typewriter has been in business since June 2010, and since then has helped to rescue almost 1,000 typewriters," Zylkin writes. And I love that the iPad moves along with the carriage:

More recently, California-based game developer Brian Min successfully Kickstarted the Qwerkywriter.

The mechanical keyboard can link up via either USB or Bluetooth, and the appeal was strong: By the end of the funding period in July, Min had scored $129,164 over a $90,000 goal. Min's Qwerkywriter is slated to begin shipping in 2015. Here's the original pitch vid...

...and here's the personal project Min embarked on back in 2013, which then planted the seed of Kickstarting the Qwerkywriter in his head:

So far these are all examples of the retro experience of typewriters mated to modern-day technology. But next we'll check out some surprisingly modern, computer-free places where typewriters are still a valid object—and even seeing a sales boost.