Gregory's Server@MLE_online @zcopley @settinger I remember these from when I used them at work, back in the 1980s! I used to break the teeth on golfballs far too often, and a friend who'd worked for IBM told me they were only rated for typing speeds of up to 90 wpm... so I was typing faster than that. (She did too!)
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@settinger @MLE_online @zcopley Ohhhhh, yes. The clip fastening at the top would sometimes go if you were too heavy-handed unfastening it to change balls, but usually it was the teeth. I was almost a regular at the IBM shop! (It was only a bus ride away, so it was easier for me to go in my lunch break and get a new golfball immediately, rather than having to order one & wait.) @settinger @Knitronomicon @MLE_online I have never heard of this! I don't really understand how that would happen (not doubting it did). Was it just due to accumulated stress from repeatedly striking the same letter too quickly? @zcopley @settinger @MLE_online As I understand it, it was from the tilt/spin/strike mechanism below the ball - it was controlled by the teeth on the ball fitting into the mechanism, so if you pushed it to go too fast, it put pressure on the teeth. @Knitronomicon @settinger @MLE_online Fascinating. I have a few elements that are missing the levers from their caps like that. I've been trying to collect the 1st generation ones that just have "rabbit ears" (wires) that you press together to take them on and off with. Hard to find. |
@Knitronomicon @MLE_online @zcopley the teeth can break if you type too fast?? My goodness, I need to learn a lot more about selectrics!