Typewriters quickly became a necessary tool for almost all writing other than personal handwritten letters. They were used a lot by professional writers, in offices, and for business correspondence in private homes. Typewriters were common in most offices up to the 1980s. After that, computers often replaced them. Nevertheless, typewriters are still common in some parts of the world. They are needed for a few specific applications, and they are popular in certain subcultures. Early typewriters, and later cheap ones, were "manual" typewriters. This means they were powered completely by the user. After the mid-20th century, electric typewriters with a motor became most common. 