IBM Selectric Typewriter

The IBM Selectric typewriter was a highly successful model line of electric typewriters introduced by IBM on July 31, 1961. Instead of the "basket" of individual typebars that swung up to strike the ribbon and page in a traditional typewriter, the Selectric had a type element (frequently called a "typeball") that rotated and pivoted to the correct position before striking. The type element could be easily changed so as to print different fonts in the same document, resurrecting a capacity that had been pioneered by the Blickensderfer typewriter sixty years before.