Where have all the Selectrics gone?

From: Jon Titus <jontitus_at_attbi.com>
Date: Tue Jun 3 08:09:18 2003

My Selectric III went in the local metal-recycle bin quite a few years ago.
It was getting sticky and needed a thorough cleaning. The local IBM service
center wanted $125 just to take a look at it, so enough was enough. I have
not used a typewriter in the last 8 or so years, and don't miss it.

I had a second Selectric my brother gave me, but during a move, one of the
cast-metal parts gave up the ghost. It seemed too expensive to get it
replaced, so it, too, went to the metal recycle bin. I suspect many other
typewriters, Selectrics et al., met the same fate.

My mother, 89, still uses a manual typewriter, but her sight is failing and
she has a hard time getting the right roy of keys. Sometimes we have to sit
at the keyboard and "decipher" her notes. She recently found a typewriter
repair shop on Long Island (NY) that would repair and clean her manual unit.
She got new type and a cleaned unit for about $85. That's a deal.

Jon
Jon Titus

36 Sunset Drive

Milford, MA 01757-1362 USA

Phone: +1-508-478-8040

E-mail: jontitus_at_attbi.com

Member, National Association of Science Writers
Received on Tue Jun 03 2003 - 08:09:18 BST