CrosswordNewsletters
DAILY BEAST
ALL
  • Cheat Sheet
  • Obsessed
  • Politics
  • Crime
  • Entertainment
  • Media
  • Innovation
  • Opinion
  • World
  • U.S. News
  • Scouted
CHEAT SHEET
    POLITICS
    • Fever Dreams
    • Biden World
    • Elections
    • Opinion
    • National Security
    • Congress
    • Pay Dirt
    • The New Abnormal
    • Trumpland
    MEDIA
    • Confider
    • Daytime Talk
    • Late-Night
    • Fox News
    U.S. NEWS
    • Identities
    • Crime
    • Race
    • LGBT
    • Extremism
    • Coronavirus
    WORLD
    • Russia
    • Europe
    • China
    • Middle East
    INNOVATION
    • Science
    TRAVEL
      ENTERTAINMENT
      • TV
      • Movies
      • Music
      • Comedy
      • Sports
      • Sex
      • TDB's Obsessed
      • Awards Shows
      • The Last Laugh
      CULTURE
      • Power Trip
      • Fashion
      • Books
      • Royalist
      TECH
      • Disinformation
      SCOUTED
      • Clothing
      • Technology
      • Beauty
      • Home
      • Pets
      • Kitchen
      • Fitness
      • I'm Looking For
      BEST PICKS
      • Best VPNs
      • Best Gaming PCs
      • Best Air Fryers
      COUPONS
      • Vistaprint Coupons
      • Ulta Coupons
      • Office Depot Coupons
      • Adidas Promo Codes
      • Walmart Promo Codes
      • H&M Coupons
      • Spanx Promo Codes
      • StubHub Promo Codes
      Products
      NewslettersPodcastsCrosswordsSubscription
      FOLLOW US
      GOT A TIP?

      SEARCH

      HOMEPAGE
      0

      IBM Selectric Typewriter Turns 50

      IBM's Selectric typewriter turns 50 today. Blake Gopnik on the real beauty behind the agile machine.

      Blake Gopnik

      Updated Jul. 13, 2017 7:53PM ET / Published Jul. 31, 2011 8:04PM ET 

      IBM

      It’s on a stamp. It’s a fixture (literally) on the TV show Mad Men. IBM’s Selectric typewriter hasn’t been made for 25 years, but it seems to be getting a second wind in our culture. Today marks the machine’s 50th anniversary, in IBM’s 100th year.

      Now that typewriters have all but disappeared, it’s hard to remember how special the Selectric seemed, compared to its traditional rivals. Instead of clunky strips of metal that rose up to hit your paper, the Selectric offered you a little aluminum “golf ball” that spun to the correct character when you hit a key and flew across the page as you typed. It was so agile, it seemed alive. On a Selectric, good typists could reach 90 words a minute, where before it they’d be lucky to manage 50.

      The Selectric’s look came care of the great industrial designer Eliot Noyesr—that stamp is in his honor—and “iconic” is the word being bandied about. I think that gets the issue subtly wrong. It’s not the look of the Selectric that matters; without its mechanism, it wouldn’t mean a thing. What Noyes achieved was a casing that seems basic and industrial, even a touch heavy, as though anything fancier could only get in the way. It was plain enough to endure for a full quarter-century, never being notably in fashion or out of it. I think of it as a brilliantly good-enough frame for a leaping ball that was the real work of art.

      View a full archive by visiting Blake Gopnik's Daily Pic.

      READ THIS LIST

      DAILY BEAST
      • Cheat Sheet
      • Politics
      • Entertainment
      • Media
      • World
      • Innovation
      • U.S. News
      • Scouted
      • Travel
      • Subscription
      • Crossword
      • Newsletters
      • Podcasts
      • About
      • Contact
      • Tips
      • Jobs
      • Advertise
      • Help
      • Privacy
      • Code of Ethics & Standards
      • Diversity
      • Terms & Conditions
      • Copyright & Trademark
      • Sitemap
      • Best Picks
      • Coupons
      • Coupons:
      • Dick's Sporting Goods Coupons
      • HP Coupon Codes
      • Chewy Promo Codes
      • Nordstrom Rack Coupons
      • NordVPN Coupons
      • JCPenny Coupons
      • Nordstrom Coupons
      • Samsung Promo Coupons
      • Home Depot Coupons
      • Hotwire Promo Codes
      • eBay Coupons
      • Ashley Furniture Promo Codes
      © 2023 The Daily Beast Company LLC