Why were type bar designs so popular compared to type ball/wheel designs for manual typewriters?
score:5
As @jamesqf comments above, what appears to be the case is that manual type wheel and similar designs require more effort to operate, which translates into slower typing. When you think about it that makes sense, the wheel or ball head is much heavier than a single type bar, and it needs to both move forward and rotate by the press of a single finger. The travel distance is smaller than with a type bar but I would guess from the sizes involved that this doesn't compensate for the heavier weight.
Apart from jamesqf's comment I found another source that make the same claim. In The Last Service Call (ETCetera 33, dec. 1995) P. Robert Aubert mentions that "by the turn of the century, it became obvious that the Blickenderfer could not compete with the faster type bar designs. The basic problem all type wheel machines have is that a key must be bottomed to print a character." While that's not exactly the same description, it's pretty close. In a type bar depressing the key accelerates the type bar and as long as it has enough momentum the impression is made. In the type wheel there are two mechanisms, to rotate and to imprint the character, that don't in all typewriters engage at the same time, so the writer needs to depress the key all the way. Well that's my interpretation at least. But the common theme is that a manual type wheel typewriter is slower than a type bar design. For electric typewriters this doesn't matter, as the motor provides all the needed force.
I also found a source somewhere else that mentioned that the owner of one of the early type wheel typewriter brands at some point was convinced that type bars were better, which at least supports that there was indeed a technical reason for type bars to win out. Unfortunately I can't find the source anymore.
A different reason mentioned here is that most type wheel typewriters ended in the same period that visible typewriters became popular. Before, type bars would hit the roller from below, which meant the written text wasn't visible without rolling the paper forward. In the new front-strike typewriters the type bars hit the paper from the front, allowing the operator to read what was typed. The written text on the existing type wheel designs was not as easy to read due to the type wheel being in the way, giving them a disadvantage. The Selectric solved this, but that would require more travel for the type wheel/ball to move out of the way, thus requiring even more force in a manual typewriter.
Upvote:3
One big reason was - IBM held the patents on the Selectric design. Yes, ball heads in general had been in use before then, but it took IBM to come up with a ball head that was both consistent and reliable, and allowed for multiple balls with different typefaces and spacing. IBM didn't even patent all of the design, so they wouldn't give away some of their secrets.
The Selectric debuted in 1961, and was the typewriter to have by the end of the decade. When the patents expired in 1978, various copies began to appear, but by the mid 1980's, the personal computer and printer had replaced the typewriter in most businesses.
So, at about the time other companies had perfected their own ball head typewriters, there was no one to buy them.
There were one or two attempts to build a computer printer that used the ball head, but this was at about the time the laser printer came out, which obsoleted all print quality impact printers.
Upvote:5
As your typing speed increases, you require a typewriter that does not jam as you type. The IBM Selectric met this need, and thus was widely adopted by any business or government agency which could afford it. The IBM Selectric was introduced in 1961; also see here.
For everything you ever wanted to know about the IBM Selectric typewriter, such as how it came to be, the mechanical design, etc, see IBM Typewriter Innovation.
Even my high school typing class, from 1965, had half of the typewriters were electric.
However, if you could not afford the better typewriter, or if you were slow and clumsy, like most untrained people, then a manual typewriter, even an old one, was still useful. My mother-in-law used to by old manual typewriters at garage sales in the 1980s and 1990s, recondition them, and resell them at a profit to local college students. Eventually, improvements in word processing drove these remaining typewriters out of business.
It is all economics and technological change. You can still find a variety of typewriters for sale, for example, on eBay.
But what about type wheel designs? Why were they not pursued? Well, they were ... but early versions had registration issues. Today they are the cheapest, and best typewriters available. Why are they better today? Technological advancements.
The IBM Selectric solved the registration problem, leading to nice, clean typed copy. This drove competitors with less effective solutions out of the premium market.
More post
- 📝 Did the people who jumped from the World Trade Center during 9/11 lose their life insurance policy due to committing suicide?
- 📝 What can we deduce about the expected career of a US Navy "lifer" in 1972?
- 📝 Could besieged medieval cities develop a micro-economy during wars to endure the siege for long time?
- 📝 Statistics on pre-revolutionary Russian education
- 📝 In medieval India, was there a distinction between the army and the police?
- 📝 Was there an official name for the bomb detonated in the Manhattan Project
- 📝 Did the Germans fuel the general's purge?
- 📝 How does the "conspiracy theory" work in China and for what purpose?
- 📝 Did Heinrich Schliemann discover Troy?
- 📝 When did the Babylonian king Amel-Marduk reign?
- 📝 Nazi Germany - Income of low-wage workers, and prices of food and other items?
- 📝 Before the Land Bridge Theory, how was human presence in the Americas explained?
- 📝 Has any U.S. Vice President cast a tie-breaking vote against their own administration?
- 📝 Sieges: Average Attacker to Defender Ratio in Middle Ages
- 📝 Is there any documentation on the creation of Article 1 Section II of the US Constitution?
- 📝 When was Susa first mentioned in written documents?
- 📝 What determined the duration of preliminary bombardment at Omaha beach?
- 📝 What was the largest strike, by % of a country's population, in history?
- 📝 What killed Ferdinand Magellan?
- 📝 Why didn't Mao Zedong order to kill locusts initially in the 4 pests campaign?
- 📝 To what extent were religious groups persecuted in the Soviet Union?
- 📝 What effect did the execution of Louis XVI have on French foreign policy?
- 📝 How to explain the Khalkhin Gol outcome in view of Soviet weakness and Japanese strength at that time?
- 📝 How could wells back in the day work?
- 📝 Is the use of flamethrower style naval weapons depicted in this game accurate?
- 📝 Where and how did scientists of the 18th and 19th century learn foreign languages?
- 📝 When was the last time that the U.S. as a country, state, or city was occupied by foreign troops?
- 📝 How many Reichsmarks would a piano lesson have cost in Germany during 1930 - 39?
- 📝 In WWI, which countries used prisoners as soldiers?
- 📝 Why only in the last few hundred year has science and technology progressed like it has
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Why were type bar designs so popular compared to type ball/wheel designs for manual typewriters?
- 📝 Why were there no internment camps for German-American citizens in USA during WW2?
- 📝 Did anyone warn about the potential for stock market crashes in 1929, and if so why were their warnings ignored?
- 📝 Why are Vikings singled out for raids in Britain and Ireland when records may indicate most raids were by local rulers?
- 📝 Why were China and India able to peacefully co-exist for so long?
- 📝 What were the most common reasons why draft-age men were not conscripted for the Union Army?
- 📝 What were the rejected designs for the Euro symbol?
- 📝 Why were rockets not popular as part of artillery until 20th century?
- 📝 Given that there were there larger, more organised civilisations in South America compared to NA, why did they not colonise North America themselves?
- 📝 Why were eighteenth century financial inventions only patentable under French law for 21 months?
- 📝 Why were Red Army Officers and soldiers not prosecuted for War Crimes in WWII?
- 📝 Why were Norwegian crews flying for Bomber Command paid more than other RAF crews?
- 📝 Why were eastern European states larger than western European states for much of history?
- 📝 Why were the British Union of Fascist outfits so bad compared to the Nazis?
- 📝 Why were old fortifications shaped like stars and not like circles?
- 📝 Why were ships-of-the line not supposed to open fire on frigates during fleet actions?
- 📝 Why Were Madagascar and New Zealand Discovered So Late?
- 📝 Why were Navajo code talkers used during WW2?
- 📝 What were the reasons for the Renaissance / scientific revolution in Europe?
- 📝 Why does Japan use the same type of AC power outlet as the US?
- 📝 Why were the Romans unable to conquer Germania?
- 📝 Why were so many more Jewish men than Jewish women killed during the Holocaust?
- 📝 Was murdering a slave illegal in American slavery, and if so, what punishments were given for it?
- 📝 Why did Britain not purchase Alaska when Russia had it up for sale?
- 📝 Why were Spain and Portugal neutral / not invaded in WWII?
- 📝 Why was it "acceptable" for Prince Charles to marry a divorced woman, when Edward VIII had to abdicate for marrying divorcee Wallis Simpson?
- 📝 Why were there no nuclear detonations in 1959?
- 📝 Why is Christopher Columbus credited for "discovering" America?
- 📝 Why were the Allies so much better cryptanalysts?
- 📝 Why were there no religious wars in Poland?