History of the Electric Typewriter

Origins

• At the turn of the twentieth century, several companies attempted but failed to build and market electric typewriters. Blickensderfer Electric made an electric version of the type-wheel machine in 1902. It was not successful because it typed too slow.

Failure

• Remington introduced a machine in1925 that became the forerunner of the modern electric typewriter, but only 2,500 units were made due to contract problems. The people who owned the patent split from Remington and created the Electromatic Typewriter Company in Rochester, New York.

Success

• International Business Machines (IBM) purchased the Electromatic Typewriter Company and began producing the first successful electric typewriter. IBM marketed the Electromatic to government offices first, and these became the company's primary customers. Other companies soon began manufacturing their own versions of the electric typewriter.

Significance

• The electric typewriter was so powerful, it could easily strike through several layers of carbon paper. In an age before copying machines, the electric typewriter greatly reduced the workload of the average office worker.

Modernization

• The Exxon Corporation added the first computer chip to the electric typewriter in 1977, allowing the machine to perform more complicated word processing. The standard evolved from individual type bars into a daisy-wheel format.

Future

• The modern office is not likely to use an electric typewriter, except for typing labels or filling out forms that are difficult to format on a laser or ink jet printer. In some areas of the world where computers are cost-prohibitive, the electric typewriter is still popular.