I thought I had hit the jackpot when I got my first one of these! RIP, Friend. You were a faithful companion for many, many years. *SNIF*
I thought I had hit the jackpot when I got my first one of these! RIP, Friend. You were a faithful companion for many, many years. *SNIF*
Wayback Machine.
Darn. I really like my Selectric 251.
Don’t worry, one decent EMP and they’ll be worth their weight in gold.
High tech,man!
Actually, I think there was a Selectric and a Correcting Selectric. Also there was a Selectric III.
I have a Correcting Selectric II, bought from a former employer for $80 when the employer wanted to dump its machines. Alas, there are problems with it, but I can’t find anyone to repair it (I doubt repair places could even get parts for it).
I loved those machines. When I first started out as a secretary, I used a manual typewriter, then a Royal Electric, then gradually moved into the IBM Selectric/Correcting Selectric lines. To this day, I still think I can type an envelope faster on a typewriter than I can type and print an envelope on a computer. They were also good for forms you can’t fill in with a computer.
Wow you had one of those ? You must be really old ....(Ducking for cover)
We had a lady in out unit that could jam that thing she typed so fast. She was the CO’s clerk of course.
Time goes on......
I’m sure Dan Rather will miss his.
I loved mine!
You can still get them. I just found a “professionally reconditioned” Selectric 111 on Ebay.
Found it with mah trusty macbook.
In its day, the most stolen office machine. That’s quite a tribute to the Selectric.
Not that I'm looking.
I learned to type on a selectric. I was one of a handful of guys in high school who took typing (Thanks Mom!).
I think it’s no coincidence that I’m in IT. Being able to type has been invaluable.
Sure wish I could find a keyboard that had the same touch as a Selectric...
I was at Smith Corona (software engineering contractor) when they went under. Desperate to satisfy shareholders, they lost sight of the fact that there was a market for typewriters, and foolishly tried competing with computers, and failed.
I’ve still got a working Selectric, a Sperry-made clone, a couple Smith Coronas (1 electric, one manual), and a modern Olivetti. It is still easier to use the Olivetti for a couple envelopes.
My typing teacher gave me a C-, as long as I promised to NEVER come back again...
Is that the one that typed George Bush’s service records?/sarc
When I graduated highschool, I coveted one of those beasts but being of poor means, I drug a used Sears electric typewriter off to college.
5 years later I owned my first computer and a daisywheel printer. The typewriter was left somewhere during the many moves of youth.
I honestly do not miss whiteout, and throwing away whole sheets of typed pages when a better way of phrasing presented itself.
But the selectric was one sexy beast when your life revolved around pounding out ideas on paper in the days of bell bottoms.
Me too! I used mine to send snotty notes to bureaucrats in small communities that thought they might just be the Ben Nelson of their time. So long old pal!
Oh, that brings back memories! Only thing was that I went through too many of the correction tapes.
OMGosh, I typed reams of farm news stories on my Selectric. I so enjoyed that thing. This was in the 1990s. My boss still used a manual at that time, kept in ribbons and repair by some Amish guy.
BTW, the Amish now have available PCs — “made for plain people by plain people.” Strictly business. No sound, no games, no internet ;-)