deskthority

My latest arrival, an IBM Electronic Typewriter model 50/60/75 keyboard assembly! I almost laughed when I picked it up - it’s a real dense brick at ~4.1kg. IBM Electronic Typewriters were a sort of intermediary between Selectrics and Wheelwriters, inheriting the golfball-style type element except it's operated by solenoids/electronics instead of a whiffletree-based mechanism. This 50/60/75 series (first introduced in 1978) was suceeded by the probably more well-known (in these circles) 65/85/95 series (introduced 1982) that used capacitive buckling spring keyboards.

My understanding of this keyboard is still fairly rudimentary, but I aim to ‘fix’ that and document this keyboard on my website. You may mistake it for an IBM keypunch, but those use contact bails for registering key presses; these use what appears to be magnetic reed switches (7 on the back). Presently, the keyboard is 'locked' and requires a solenoid to reset its internal mechanics. If anyone has anything to add, I'm all ears.

Anyway, I got it as a module on its own with no typewriter unfortunately. I do aim to get one eventually, but for now, this is at least some part of it I can study.

What a slab! You got your money’s worth from IBM.

Futura text on the inside. Intriguing! That epic font was more Micro Switch’s thing in the 70s. Can’t recall ever seeing it on or in an IBM before, but could well be wrong. Whatever would the Helvetica legends think!