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IBM Celebrates 50th Anniversary of Selectric Typewriter

*Design Icon Honored in New “Pioneers of American Industrial Design” Stamp Series from U.S. Postal Service*

Armonk, NY, USA – 27 Jul 2011: The IBM Selectric typewriter turns 50 on July 31, commemorating a design icon that revolutionized the day-to-day lives of office workers around the world. The Selectric’s half-century birthday coincides with IBM’s Centennial year and the release of a new U.S. postage stamp honoring the Selectric as an icon of design.

The IBM Selectric became an instant sensation upon its debut on July 31, 1961, and remained the typewriter found on most office desks until the brand was retired 25 years later, in 1986. With 2,800 parts, many designed from scratch, it was a major undertaking even for IBM, which had been in the typewriter business since the 1930s and was already a market leader.  The Selectric marked a radical change from previous typewriter designs, and it took IBM seven years to work out the manufacturing and design challenges before it went on sale. (more…)

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