Any fans of the old IBM Electric typwriters?
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They were as touch sensitive as any modern day laptop, the typing was light and painless compared to the old clunky non electric Remington monstrosities, and the print was neat and delicate. And if you happened to have a pair of old IBM machines lying around, you could even get the IBM mechanic to cannibalize one machine to refit the other and bring it back to life again, like I did.
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@gwen-dragon said in Any fans of the old IBM Electric typwriters?:
@catnip Today i would be called a Maker
Do you mean in the Sandworm sense? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandworm_(Dune)
I never used an IBM electric, but they were used for me [& all the other engineers in that long-ago office]... as soon as i read this thread i flashed back to my very early working days, halfway through my degree & working in one of my employer's offices during the off-semester... that office was in 1980. I was young, knew nothing, & everything was new & strange. In keeping with those pre-pc [my first computing exposure was an analogue computer, linear programing, & mainframes with dumb green fluro terminals] sexist times, each office had a typist, who was invariably female, & Robyn was a whizz on that IBM [which seemed to be a magical beastie]. It seems sooooo long ago. Now, i am much older, much greyer, but comfortingly still know nothing.
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@catnip Heh. Used one on the regular from 1975-1980. Really liked them. Of course they were huge and weighed a ton, but they were easy to type on. And the interchangeable type balls - sort of ahead of their time...
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Yes! It was called the IBM "Selectric" and it came in different colors to match your office decor.
It had a ribbon that was much easier to change than the old fashion ones and also could erase with one key. See the little X key to the right of the spacebar? Press it once to erase the last letter you typed or hold it down to erase more. It was the hottest thing at the time and IBM made tons of money with them.
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@gwen-dragon Funnily enough, Gwen, these beautiful old machines still hold considerable charm. The IBM Electric was my first experience with feather-touch typing, and what a change it made from the old, clunky Remingtons with their white, heavy keyboards which gave me tension headaches starting from the base of my neck right down my spine. Not funny. Oh love, you're 50+? I'm 61. If YOU are a Maker, I don't want to know what the youngsters here would call me! - Cat.
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HAHAHAHA! You're so right!:
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*@catnip said in Any fans of the old IBM Electric typwriters?:
@gwen-dragon Funnily enough, Gwen, these beautiful old machines still hold considerable charm. The IBM Electric was my first experience with feather-touch typing, and what a change it made from the old, clunky Remingtons with their white, heavy keyboards which gave me tension headaches starting from the base of my neck right down my spine. Not funny. Oh love, you're 50+? I'm 61. If YOU are a Maker, I don't want to know what the youngsters here would call me! - Cat.
@gwen-dragon Surprisingly, Gwen, these lovely vintage computers still have a lot of appeal. My first encounter with feather-touch typing was on the IBM Electric, and what a difference it made from the old, clumsy Remingtons with their white, heavy keyboards, which gave me tension headaches from the base of my neck all the way down my spine. It's not amusing. Oh, you're over 50, right? I'm 61 years old. I don't want to know what the kids here would name me if you're a Maker! - The cat.* -
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@criverajc Was this the one with the golf ball typesetting mechanism?
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@a1simpleton Yes, that's the one. It came in a variety of colors, too.
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@criverajc This may be of interest to you: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mwichary/shift-happens?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=shift happens
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@a1simpleton Thanks. Looks like a great coffee table book.