Typewriter Vs. Computer Printer - Selectic Typewriter Balls

[itlnstln]

Knowing what you typed using the Symbol font, kinda makes it readable. That is, the symbols (Greek letters) almost look like the Roman characters used to write the sentence. Weird.
 
On the Windows print out, that is.  The IBM symbols look a little more random.

[itlnstln]

It looks like the Selectric type is a little bolder than the print outs.  That probably adds to the readability.

[lowpoly]

Not sure why Prestige Pica 10 is larger, may be the GP vs IBM thing.

10 and 12 are the font sizes in characters per inch (cpi). 10 means less characters, thus larger font. 10, 12, 15 and 17 cpi were common with non-proportional printers.

[lowpoly]

cpi was also used by wheel and matrix printers. Proportional fonts were not common in the DOS days.

[xsphat]

12 point Courier is all I use.

[xsphat]

Man, I tried to write the company name, model and year with four of my typewriters on consecutive lines of a single sheet of paper to show you cats the difference in print quality and fonts, but I have to say that is easy as pie to line up text with manual typewriters but nearly impossible to do with my electrics. Needless to say, I got so mad on the 20th attempt that my cats are now hiding from me.

But what this experiment taught me is that the print quality is all over the place. The Hermes Rocket from 1950 has the worst quality but is great to type on. The winner is a tie between the Olympia SM9 and the Nakajima AE-710 (modern electric). Both print dark and sharp, but the manual is going to have fluctuation in darkness because, well, it's a manual.

And for font, the 1971 SM9 and 1950 Hermes Rocket have nearly the same font, and so do the Brother EP43 from 1984 and the Nakajima which is still in production today. The fonts are all a variant of courier, even the 1950 model, and the earlier ones are a thicker more bold font. The modern ones use a very thin and modern version (whodathunkit?).

So yeah, though I love the Nakajima as my current daily driver (5-10 pages a day), I have to say that the manual typewriters are much much much easier to use and way more accurate.

[xsphat]

Good catch. It was between Captain Katherine Janeway of Voyager and Lt. Nyota Uhura from TOS, but in light of the new movie, Janeway feels more retro. The typewriter looks like something pulled from the bridge of the original Enterprise, which is what gave me the idea.

[xsphat]

And historically, writers name the devices they use to compose on much like musicians name their instruments. While the HHKB Pro2 is the winner of the keyboard battle (for me at least) it does not have a name. I don't think I have written any stories on it either.

[o2dazone]

you've been writing on a board with no name

[bhtooefr]

If you can't line up on a Selectric, you're doing it wrong.

Think about it. The Selectric was designed specifically for office work. Typing letters, and filling out forms.

[xsphat]

If you can't line up on a Selectric, you're doing it wrong.

Think about it. The Selectric was designed specifically for office work. Typing letters, and filling out forms.

When is the last time you typed anything on a Selectric? I haven't so I don't claim to know about them, but of all the electric typewriters I now own, 5 or 6 I think, two of them are $400 current office models and they are not nearly as accurate as the manual Olympia SM9. I'm not talking left to right either, I mean vertically on the page, adding to existing lines of text.

[bhtooefr]

Probably a month or two ago? I've got a Correcting Selectric II.

[xsphat]

Probably a month or two ago? I've got a Correcting Selectric II.

What do you use it for? And does the Selectric have a Reloc(ate) feature that returns the paper to the last typed character? I can't use an electric without that feature, especially one with a huge return key. This is the reason I have not looked into buying a Selectric — I don't think that feature was on anything IBM built before the WheelWriter of the mid-80s.

[bhtooefr]

I mainly just fire it up every now and then to play with it.

It doesn't have a true relocate feature, but it does have an index feature that I forget how to use - it involves pulling a lever, then the platen does "remember" where it was last. But, I visually line it up when moving around, the card holder has well-marked lines.

[xsphat]

God on my Brother EP43 it has a screen that acts as a buffer and if I hit return there is really no way to get it back up to the right spot without an act of some god. That is why I don't use them anymore (I have 2).

Usually, the index feature moves the platen up one line space. If you hold it it will keep moving the paper up, and reverse index is the same but opposite.

My Nakajima AE-710 actually has an Eject button that shoots the paper out all the way. It is in current production (Nakajima makes all Swintec's typewriters, btw), goes for $300 to $400 and is the nicest electric I've ever used.

[xsphat]

I wonder if an HHKB roof would fit over that Selectric keyboard ...

[bhtooefr]

Ah, my bad, I was thinking of the line finder function.

Here's what the manual says about that:

Line Finder
The line finder allows you to temporarily leave the original typing line to type a superscript, subscript, double underscore, form with irregular spacing, etc., or to draw lines.
* Pull the line finder lever towards you.
* Turn the platen knob to move to the temporary typing line and type.
* Push the lever away from you. The platen can then be rolled back to the original typing line.

[xsphat]

OK, now that is cool, but it wouldn't help me much. I think the Selectric is a cool riter, but I don't think I'd buy one for anything other than Mad Men fantasies.

[bhtooefr]

Click for huge image.

And, I think I need to clean the type balls on this thing.

Fonts used: IBM Prestige Elite 72 (12,) IBM Script (12,) IBM Courier 72 (10,) GP Orator (10.)

Oh, and the correction example... I hit most things I'm correcting multiple times, because my lift-off tape is rather old and ineffective. I should probably get a new one. You can actually see correction artifacts elsewhere better.

Ribbon is a carbon film ribbon, none of this fabric or Tech-3 stuff.

And, my machine is a 13" carriage Correcting Selectric II, in that tan color they all came in. No fancy options.

[bhtooefr]

Oh, and the correction example... I hit most things I'm correcting multiple times, because my lift-off tape is rather old and ineffective. I should probably get a new one. You can actually see correction artifacts elsewhere better.

Ribbon is a carbon film ribbon, none of this fabric or Tech-3 stuff.

And, my machine is a 13" carriage Correcting Selectric II, in that tan color they all came in. No fancy options.

[bhtooefr]

I've got an original hard-copy of the owner's manual that came with mine.