This Question-Answering Typewriter Is Like if We Had Siri in the ’70s

The typewriter’s ability to both send and receive messages and commands through telephony is what Coward used to turn the Silent 700 into a retro smart assistant. This build is actually an update of an older attempt to make this typewriter smart, which used a script running on a Raspberry Pi Zero W to send questions to the Wolfram Alpha “answer engine.” But that approach suffered from a handful of complications, including long boot times, an unavoidable login to a Linux terminal, and requiring very specific formatting for the questions.

This time around, as Cameron has thoroughly documented on Instructables, a cheaper and more streamlined ESP32 was used, which communicates with Wolfram Alpha over wifi, but interfaces with the Silent 700 typewriter through its serial port (think of it as the USB port’s great-great-grandparent) instead of the acoustic coupler (which would send beeps and boops over a phone line). The new and improved version of this smart typewriter boots up in seconds and can answer questions without the need for special commands or phrasing, just like today’s modern smart assistants.