On Wed, 17 Oct 2012, Steve Rickaby wrote: > At 20:32 -0500 16/10/12, Jeremy H. Griffith wrote: > >> ...because it was invented by IBM for the MTST (Magnetic Tape Selectric >> Typewriter)... > > You mean there was an *automatic* Selectric? Why didn't I know about > this?? Why didn't I have one??? ;-)
"Automatic" in one sense that the machine had been designed to be an output device -- a printer -- with the correct hardware added inside. In the mid-70s I purchased an interface kit from a third party that installed inside the Seletric. Selonoids and linkages; wires snaking through the guts. (7 selonoids could select any character on the type ball.) Took many months to get it adjusted just right, but it was glorious to have the results of work done with the primitive word processor (hosted in a 60 pound S-100 system with a whopping 32K of memory) spit out text at nearly twice the rate I could type. Interesting times. :) Frank Stearns Associates | makers of IXgen(tm) for FrameMaker(r) *** IXGEN 7-10 for FRAMEMAKER 10 IS HERE! *** franks at fsatools.com <mailto:franks at fsatools.com> TOLL FREE Voice (USA and Canada): 800-567-6421 USA Voice: 360-892-3970 http://www.fsatools.com
