Typing Electric

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We read with great interest "Remember This?" (October 1982). Contrary to the thrust of the article, Selectric dominance in the office-typewriter market is anything but on the wane. With some 850,000 new office typewriter sales annually, the Selectric continues to enjoy an 80% share of the market. If that dominance in the stand-alone market is to decline anytime soon, it is more likely to be by virtue of a more cost-effective electro-mechanical and not electronics.

The IBM Selectric is dominant as the basic office typewriter, and this is where the real volume market is. This is also a difficult market for clectronics to penetrate. Each electronics maker enters paper differently, sets margins differently codes corrections differently, uses different ribbons and print wheels Considering that there are no uniform standards and that the makers have gone in diverse directions, costs to train operators are enormous.

Your article virtually dismissed this point as well as the other substantial costs of operating electronics The extra cost of ribbons alone for an electronic is enough to buy a new Juki Sierra in one year or an IBM Selectric every two years. The cost per character of print is many times higher than that of a Selectric, and daisy ribbons and print wheels are single source and very costly.

Electronics have a valid role in today's office and will have a widening function in the future. As quality improves and costs come down, sales will accelerate. But to suggest the imminent demise of the Selectric and others of the genre is misleading and contrary to the facts.