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Monday 8 March 2021

While My IBM 'Action Writer' Gently Types

With apologies to George Harrison and his Sweet Lord (typed in what felt like a cross-fire hurricane, and this thing is as slow as a wet week! It's also a throwback to the days [1874-1894] of blind typing.).

3 comments:

David Lawrence said...

"Oh, how the Mighty have fallen!"

In this case, the mighty have left.

I suspect that machine is a TA with appropriated mask and iBee Em badge.


A long, long, long way from the original IBM daisy-wheel machines.

For "Action" writing, one really needs an IBM Selectric. Nothing even comes close to the M16/Uzzi staccato crack of a 'Golf Ball' typewriter on song!

It is sad to watch wonderful machines slip slowly down, down, down, to a languid and ignominious squalor of bean-counter reductions and 'focus-group' cheap embellishments.

Rolex mechanical watches are the only case that springs to mind, of something still made to the original ethic, honed over the decades, with real improvements very carefully evaluated before being introduced, and no sign of making them cheaper to extend the profit margin.

Bill M said...

I've used a few pres the button(key) and wait for the imprint modern typewriters. Perhaps the only typewriters I never truly liked. I still prefer manuals over electrics even though I really liked using the IBM Selectric.

Unknown said...

This is the Adler/Royal Satellite rebadged. I owned on in the 80's as a backup to my Wheelwriter 5. I did a fair amount of production typing at well over 100wpm with this. True, the printwheel is fairly slow--but the machine (unlike many other small electronics) never got so far behind me that I had to slow down. As a pro typist back then, one certainly had to get used to the slower printing, but once one realized that there wasn't any way to out-type the machine it was actually quite pleasant. All these decades later, I wouldn't bet this one is in top shape; IBM maintained mine as a business expense.