Answer:
Never alive but practically extinct. How we miss the letters pressing the ribbon of ink. What is it?
This thing all things devours: Birds, beasts, trees, flowers; Gnaws iron, bites steel; Grinds hard stones to meal; Slays king, ruins town, And beats high mountains down.
It doesn't live within a house, nor does it live without. Most will use it when they come in, and again when they go out.
What letter comes next: O T T F F S S ?
What is it that makes tears without sorrow and takes its journey to heaven?
I am the fountain from which no one can drink. For many I am considered a necessary link. Like gold to all I am sought for, but my continued death brings wealth for all to want more.