This is some seriously high quality filming/editing for a KZfaq channel with 60 subscribers. I’m very confused but I love it😂👍

As a young man I had a temp job delivering these monsters - boy they were HEAVY! I would pick up the broken ones, take them to the repair shop, and return them to the customers (fixed). Good times!

Horace was my great grandfather, heard so much about these growing up, so it's cool to see a video about them.

Interesting KZfaq. My mother really wanted one and we eventually got her one. It is still at my father’s home. Thanks for the trip down memory lane

In 1982, as a young middle schooler, I took an elective class called "Typing." Ms. Barker taught us how to type on the IBM Selectric I. They were heavy, durable and fast. The humming of approximately 25 Selectric motors running simultaneously was an intoxicating sound.

These things are so iconic that they still had one at the huge corporation I worked for in 2005. I learned to type these in the 90s and they were so smooth.

My mom was a pro typist in the 70s and this thing was how she put food on the table. What an incredible machine. Thank you engineers for all you do.

Trained on Selectric in 1972, I worked 37 years for IBM as a tech, they were definitely a great machine. It looks like you have an escapement problem, it could also be a problem with the correcting mechanism as it inhibited forward motion of the carrier during a correcting operation, bottom line it's fixable if you can find a place with the expertise and access to parts. Good luck.

Dude! In 1961 my sister was working as a secretary and got the first Selectric in Town and was the envy of the other staff. It was as sophisticated as our going to the moon! Thanks for sharing and the best of luck!

How come a video with such good production has less than 700 views after two months? At least the algorithm seems to be promoting it now.

Wish I could remember the name of the comedian back in the IBM Selectric days, doing his impression of the machine. He would do a moonwalk sideways to mimic the carriage return, and bob and spin his head to mimic the print ball while moving slowly to the side, with all the right sounds coming from his mouth.

Extremely underrated.You got the ingredients for a successful and interesting channel on youtube. Keep it going man. Subscribed!

I’m a writer and I really would love to have one of these. Saw a “distraction free” digital writing tool selling for $$$ and I thought “for all that why don’t I just get an electric typewriter?”

Took a typing class in high school many years ago, where we started on a manual typewriter. After we mastered the basics of the keyboard, we were then switched to the electric typewriter---an IBM Selectric. It was like graduating from a worn-out Ford Pinto to a smooth-running Porsche 911. All us kids in the class were laughing as we marveled at the speed of those Selectrics the first time we got to play with them!

My mum had one to do my dad's accounts and her own correspondence - I recall the sound of the keys throughout the 70's and 80's on that thing from the next room and when you started typing it was a trip down memory lane!

The IBM is iconic and my favorite typewriter. When I was in college this machine was everywhere.

The predecessor to the IBM Selectric II was the IBM Typewriter Wheelwriter III which came out in 1986 and the wheelwriter was a game changer as well. It was awesome. I started with those old school 1940's mechanical typewriters (made your fingers sore as heck as a child) then the Select II and finally the the wheelwriter III. Those 7 years of typing classes really paid off to this day. I see college kids today on a PC keyboards and they are not as proficient, nor fast, nor as accurate typers as we are who got a proper typing skills development. Typing classes went away like cursive writing. It's not taught anymore, but if you have those skills it's a HUGE plus on a resume.

Good Video ! I was trained on these in 1979, took years to master the Selectric Flash forward 42 years - - - - - > right now I am overwhelmed with work repairing and restoring Selectrics

My mother was a secretary in high school (mine in fact) and when I see this typewriter I think of her typing 80 + words per minute . Just the sound of it brings back memories.

This video is only 401 views.. its should be MORE than that!

How on earth is this Channel not viral? This feels like some famous KZfaq pulling an “undercover millionaire” to see if he can become successful again either just his skills.

Yeah. IBM used to do engineering wonders. Their butterfly keyboard for Thinkpad still blows my mind away.

I had one of these. Cant believe I let it go. It had the balls. Incredible machine so smooth to use.

My Dad worked for IBM for thirty some years. We always had the latest model typewriters and then computers. I typed many term papers on the Selectric.

My father and the company he and his brother founded, A-1 Professional Business Machines Corporation, serviced these typewriters. He trained young men who worked for him and helped them become great typewriter repairmen. It's interesting that its design was partly influenced by Olivetti typewriters. It was working in Cuba at Olivetti that my father began his journey as a mechanic of these unique machines. I obviously grew surrounded by IBM Selectric typewriters, but A-1 Professional Business Machines Corporation closed a little after the September 11th attacks.

brings back memories from high school. used one all 4 years back in the 80's, actually preferred it over the IBM PC 2 we used in my data processing/accounting classes.

I'm calling it!! My dude here is going to go HUGE!! I was here before it was popular xD

Awesome video, pretty nice housewarming gift from the previous owner of your home! Intentional or not haha

Selectric II was the finest typewriter I ever used. I miss them.

I used to love using it at my job years ago

Great video! The Blickensderfer no. 5 and other Blicks have a very similar typing unit. Made in the 1800s. Not interchangeable but very similar in style, although not a ball, more like a skate wheel or a stout cylinder. A very wonderful idea indeed.

Hunter S. Thompson was a huge fan. He wrote all of his books on one, and had one at his desk in his home in Woody Creek. IIRC he took one along when he was covering stories. It was in his contract that he was provided with one.

I guess I'm old but I remember when these were state of the art

My grandad was an engineer on the team that designed the carriage system for the ball at IBM.

I had wanted one of the Selectric IIs for years. Was finally able to afford one after I graduated from college. Your Selectric should also have a half space ratchet do you can slide letters (like the A and e in Aesop) or squeeze in one more character without having to retype the whole line. The Selectric II is probably the best modern typewriter IBM ever made. The III wasn't better than the II.

People forget what a powerhouse IBM was back in the day . We purchased a Selectric II in the late 1970s for our small office, as these typewriters had a rep for being true workhorses. We were on an annual maintenance contract which I believe was pretty standard for IBM. One day I was standing next to our typist's desk when for no good reason a small flame shot out the back of the typewriter, accompanied by a "snap" sound and a shriek from our typist! And our Selectric was dead. Of course we promptly called service and I was more than surprised when, the next day, not only a technician showed up, but two suits from corporate! Apparently this was a really big deal- this sort of thing just didn't happen in the world of IBM.

I spent 20 years fixing them, I really respected the engineering. The multiple functions through common parts kept most homegrown mechanics away. From the video I’d guess the rotate tape adjustment needs tweaking

dude what high quality content is this ????????????????

The Selectric was also proeminently featured on Dallas (the 80s TV series)👍

Dude nice find!!!!!! You're showing up in recommended. Prepare for an onslaught of subs. Great work man and again what a kind gift from the previous home owner

Subbing just because of the effort man, I randomly just came across this after being recommended a video about large tab buttons. It featured a few type writers. Impressed by the quality and format. Keep up the hard work and effort you put into your videos and you will surely succeed. :)

Started my writing career on a Selectric. If I ever see one out in the Thrift Store Wild, I'm grabbing it.

Something interesting, because of the DAC converter, the Selectric typewriter was attached to IBM mainframe computers as printers. I used a programming language in the early years called APL which had many characters specific to the language and IBM even produced a typing ball (we called them gold balls) with these characters so that program listings could be printed.

I miss my red IBM Selectric I. Thanks for the video.

Wow those slow motion clips were so cool to watch

Ah, wiffle tree, also part of a horse drawn carriage set up!

My heart literally broke after looking at the subscriber count. You deserve more. Keep it up! You WILL get more subscribers.

This was great. On caliber with actual t.v. documentaries.

Yup this will explode

You just gained a subscriber. Great job on the video!

I started my career at IBM in the mid-70's as a "Customer Engineer", repairing Selectric typewriters along with a plethora of other IBM Office Product equipment. They were and still are marvels of mechanical design and function. I still have a parts and repair manual, and would bet good money that I could still fix most problems assuming that no parts were broken. There is an entire mechanism on the right side of the machine which controls the motion of the carrier (the unit the ball or element sits on.) The most likely issue with this machine is old oil and grease deposits, and could be easily repaired with a good cleaning and proper lubrication, along with some probable specific adjustments. (I actually still have a soft copy of the adjustment and parts manual for the Selectric). One last point: When you remove the element, hold the body of the ball with one hand and lift the lever with the other. When you fail to do this, there is a great amount of torque placed on the base of the lever which can cause it to break. This is especially true given the probable age of the elements, as the plastic they are made from tend to grow brittle with age.

Thoroughly enjoyed this. Thank you

I have a Selectric I and use it pretty regularly. I;m a total nerd so I service it myself but yeah, it's really complex. By leaps and bounds my favorite machine.

This is mini-documentary is worth more than 977 subs.

I learned on one of these in my high school typing class around 1980. Looking back, this was probably one of the most important skills I developed. Being able to type quickly made using a computer possible. (Apple personal computers were set up in my Nebraska high school in my junior year.) My college courses all required being able to crank out papers at an unrelenting pace. My career, which went digital just as I was getting into it, was totally based on being able to use a computer -- which resulted in the many of the previous generation retiring rather than face having to use a QWERTY keyboard.

I learned on the Selectric in the 70's .... 95 WPM No errors..... I'm begging for someone to build me a mechanical keyboard with the Sound and Heavy Touch!!!!

I'm a guy who first started using these machines in the early 70's, as I put myself through a decade of college professionally typing. I've worked on many, many Selectric-based word processors and I still own the IBM Personal Selectric (the rare short carriage Selectric II Correcting) and a few 'golf ball' elements. You're a young guy and it's hard to describe the impression that the Selectric made on the office world in the sixties when I was growing up. Sadly, the original Noyes-designated space-age look wasn't continued past the early seventies.

Absolutely incredible video! 😊

I agree. I had someone give me a red one for my birthday and I am so thrilled!!!

Yeah this earned a sub from me. Well done, to the point without feeling likes it’s rushed. Perfect.

Excellent, concise presentation! thank you:)

Totally agree that these typewriters are a mechanical masterpiece. We still use them here in our accounting office and if maintained, they can have amazing productive lives. Glad someone else appreciates these as much as I do. I still have my Selectric III and use it for a variety of tasks. We still have someone nearby who can repair and bestow some TLC when needed, but he's getting up there and I've tried to glean as much knowledge as I can from him in the meantime.

I’ve used these, they’re really nice

I just received one of these (nonworking) from my grandparents, and I'm trying my best to learn everything I can about them so I can try fixing it

Even the famous/Infamous Bob Dylan used one to bang out lyrics!

We had these in high school. Even with the magic ball, we were stuck with querty. Now there are no mechanical heads, and we still use querty. Hey, did you ever see a Teletype Model 37? That was some serious mechanical magic.

Wonderfull machine ....IBM SELECTRIC 🙂

I learned to type on one. Now it’s called keyboarding. Best typewriter ever.

I learned how to type in classroom full of Selectric ii's in 7th grade, in the early 90s, and I just learned that was a full 5-6 years after they were discontinued! Of course, the other half of my class learned to type in a computer lab on Apple iie's. I was jealous then, but kind of glad now I got the experience.

Bless the algorithm. This is great

Oh man I have heard a great many things about the Selectric. This video makes me want to find one and do my writing on it instead of my PC, honestly.

Love this

I know someone who claims to have met the inventor, here in Boulder, Colorado, where we have a HUGE IBM research plant just out of town. Anyway, I'd like to know just exactly who thought- what if we put all the characters on a ball...

2:00 This wasn’t actually the first time that a typewriter had a single type element with all of the characters, Blickensderfer made a manual version of this typewriter, and they made an electric version all 60-70 years before the IBM Selectric I debuted

Please make other videos about typewriters!

Typing in the 20th C would never be the same

This was very much the iPhone of typewriters.And how could you have overlooked the amazing, revolutionary correcting feature - which introduced the, today underappreciated, concept of "undo" to the human race?

I have a Selectric I! I just need to have it serviced...

I love me my Selectric ❤

I have the same one that I bought in 1982. Doesn’t work so I have to get into it and try and figure out what’s wrong. Still looks like new.

proud owner of one here... maybe gonna buy another for parts soon. Not he programming version though. If II is a Porche the interfacemachine is more like Cessna...

The best typewriter ever made - the best keyboard also. Better than the pancake keyboards of today.

Which came first, Selectric or TTY 33?

I also have an IBM selectric II but it needs repairs.

NO HACKING EITHER!

I'm surprised IBM didn't make a portable version that used batteries.

What song is that at the beginning?

I've really gotta fix my Selectrics, lol.

i got a Selectric III from my grandpa in PERFECT condition fully functional with setup date (1985) and no scratchs and foam is slighty damages but fully intact how much is it worth?

Even as a mechanical typewriter snob, selectrics get the stamp of approval from me.

Hst figured that out a while ago

If you want to learn more about the engineering about this @Chyrosran22 does deep keyboard reviews (how it works, tech under the hood) one of which is the selectric. That, and he has a majestic beautiful voice. Here is the link to the selectric review: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/eLB5h858xrWUoXU.html

I'm not sure if you have tried this. Lift the cover as if you were going to change the type face. Take out the ribbon and the correcting tape. Inside the cover on each side you will find a lever and if you flip both of them you will be able to remove the upper cover. This will expose the internal workings of the machine. Now remove the platinum and all the rubber rollers. Remove the screws which hold the bottom on but DO NOT LIFT THE TYPEWRITER OFF THE BOTTOM PIECE. With the bottom loose, tilt the guts back and place a number of layers of paper towels and set the guts of the typewriter back on the bottom plate. With a can of WD40 with a spray tube start at the top and spray anything which might move. CAUTION: TAKE CARE NOT TO SPRAY WD40 IN THE MOTOR OR ON THE DRIVE BELT (thus the use of the spray tube). Plug the machine in and make sure to lift the guts so that your paper towels do not get caught in the moving parts and start striking every key at least 5 or more times. Change your paper towels and allow it to sit for at least 24 hours or more. FIND SOME SEWING MACHINE OIL. PLEASE WHAT EVER YOU DO - DO NOT USE 3 IN 1 OIL. YOU WANT A LIGHT WEIGHT OIL THAT HAS NO PARATHION IN IT. A GOOD GRADE OF SEWING MACHINE OIL ESPECIALLY IF IT IS SINGER WILL BE JUST WHAT YOU NEED. Now comes the hard part. Oiling every moving part. I have a bottle of sewing machine oil that has a tube that you are able to bend and reach with - IDEAL FOR THIS JOB. You generally will find these items at any place which sells sewing supplies. Reassemble your typewriter and it should work as good as new. I have an old Selectric 1 made in 1963 and it works as good now as it did the day it was made. Yes, I still am well able to keyboard 60 to 70 wpm. Selectric's were know for throwing a hyphen if you were typing at just the right speed. I was so thankful when the IBM Mag Card and IBM Memory machines hit the market. That put to an end to the problem. In the day I could keyboard over 90 wpm and I would end up with a page filled with dashes. I served for a number of years in Southeast Asia and typewriter repair guys were few and far between. Since I had seen the service guys work on the equipment in the states I picked up all the tricks. I averaged at least 2 hours a day working on someones typewriter. Thank God the military had ALL IBM'S. Oh yea, I worked on the carriage models as well.

Good video. And I'm not buying that previous owners left that behind.

Algorithm go!

It looks like a commodore 64

I learned how to type in high school on one of these. It was blue. I sat right next to the hottest girl in school. Last period. GOOD TIMES!!!

Claim your ticket for being here before he blew up here.

I thought it could erase mistakes.

And it weighed as much as a Buick.