Hugo DiMascolo has been repairing and selling typewriters since 1974, but these days the ink on the front of his work shirt is from repairing printers and fax machines, and he’s thinking about changing the name of his business, Cranston Typewriter, to something more in tune with the digital age.

DiMascolo had service contracts with about 500 clients to repair typewriters when he opened the business with his wife and son 30 years ago. But now that the typewriter is bordering on extinction, he is lucky if he sells one per month, so most of his business comes from repairing office equipment.

Businesses constantly upgrade equipment and change the way they operate in the name of technology. Typists see their work on a computer screen before it hits a piece of paper. Answering machines that scream messages into a room are disruptive compared to voice mail; palm pilots have taken the place of day planners; and mailing a handwritten letter seems archaic compared to the ease and speed of e-mail.

Perspective Communications, a media production company in Middletown, invested about $50,000 in new technology this year alone – an investment that saves the company time and keeps clients satisfied.

“We invest in technology that will improve productivity because in our business, time is a cost multiplier. If we can produce something faster, better and more cost-effective, it benefits us and our customers,” said Perspective spokeswoman Kathy O’Connell. “We have grown significantly in the past few years and we have upgraded our technology in order to increase capacity. Faster computers enable us to render and compress files more quickly and keep projects ahead of deadlines.”

Though keeping up on the newest and best technology is a great selling point for some companies, being the first to buy into a new product isn’t always a good investment, O’Connell said.

“We never want or need to be the first to buy a new technology because it’s the latest and greatest or because it offers more ‘bells and whistles.’ The technology has to meet the criteria of being either a customer-driven need or a proven productivity enhancement,” she said. “In the video production business, the cost of technology has come down significantly. We now have software that costs a few hundred dollars that performs at the same level of analog equipment that we purchased for several thousand dollars just a few years ago.”

Garrett Hunter, president of the Business Development Company, a non-bank lender that lends to various companies including Heartlab Cardiac Imaging in Westerly, said “at any given time, four or five companies in our portfolio are passing from one technology to another.”

Jeffrey Deckman, president and CEO of Synet Inc. and Rhode Island Technology Council board president, said his telecommunications installation company has to stay focused on new technology that could lower the demand for what his company does.

“Right now, we have to stay focused on wireless networks. We do wired networks, so if we don’t embrace wireless – which we are doing – we’d lose,” Deckman said.

Following the need for wired network installation in untapped markets has also kept Synet alive.

“What we sell is the same, but who we sell to is different. Architects are now putting wires into buildings. We anticipated the trend two years ago, and in the last nine months general contractors have really started taking to it,” he said.

Businesses that don’t keep up with technological changes die off with their equipment, Hunter said.

“If a business doesn’t keep up with technology, they will not survive. It’s been true of manufacturers that have moved offshore. It’s awful that we lose those jobs, but we have to keep up with the times to stay in business.”