selectric consoles

From: Paul Koning <pkoning_at_equallogic.com>
Date: Tue Jun 1 09:21:24 2004

>>>>> "Andrew" == Andrew K Bressen <akb+lists.cctech_at_imap1.mirror.to> writes:

 Andrew> I think Selectrics are pretty cool; I'd kinda like one I
 Andrew> could use as a printer, and if it could be a full serial tty
 Andrew> that would be even cooler.

 Andrew> So far, I've found that IBM made the 1050 and the 2741
 Andrew> selectric-based console terminals, both of which were large,
 Andrew> heavy, and not very reliable.

I would describe them as modest in size, fairly heavy but not
outrageously so, and extremely reliable. They were also quite a lot
faster than teletypes.

I don't think I ever saw a selectric console fail, while Model 33s
died regularly. (Then again, that made sense, because 33s are rated
"intermittent use", they aren't supposed to be used 24 hours a day as
so often happened in timesharing shops.)

If you want sturdy, there's the Flexowriter, or (perhaps -- I have no
real experience with these) the Teletype model 35. Both of those are
bigger and heavier than a Selectric, and the 35 certainly is slower.

   paul
Received on Tue Jun 01 2004 - 09:21:24 BST