X-Nico

Canon Cat

The machine's hardware consisted of a 9 inch (229 mm) black-and-white monitor, a single 3½ inch 256 KB floppy disk drive and an IBM Selectric-compatible keyboard.

IBM 1620 Model II

The console typewriter was replaced with a modified Selectric typewriter, which could type at 15.5 cps — a 55% improvement over the Model I.

IBM Selectric typewriter

In the 1980 workplace comedy film Nine to Five, Selectric-based typewriters (made by Royal) are shown on many of the secretaries' desks: at one point, a shot appears of Dolly Parton typing a memo, which then zooms to highlight what she's typing, showing a closeup of the printball.

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Aaron Sorkin credits a Selectric typewriter with interesting him in becoming a writer (although he now writes his stories on Apple Macintosh laptops).

Séminaire de Géométrie Algébrique du Bois Marie

In the 1990s it became obvious that the lack of availability of the SGA was becoming more and more of a problem to researchers and graduate students in algebraic geometry: not only are the copies in book form too few for the growing number of researchers, but they are also difficult to read because of the way they are typeset (on an electric typewriter, with mathematical formulae written by hand).

Shift Out and Shift In characters

Later advancements in technology, such as the IBM Selectric typewriter, instigated use of this function for switching to a different font or character set and back.

see also