Blendeff

Scientific collections and art collections KU Leuven

IMB Selectric II

At first glance, the IBM word processor XYD, a model from the Selectric II series, looks like a normal keyboard. Beneath the plastic cover, something curious lurks. The typewriter enjoyed great success because of its interchangeable typeballs. These typeballs were metal spheres that could move horizontally and vertically. As a result, many combinations were possible. Besides the 'standard' typeball that had the same letters as the QWERTY keyboard, there were also typeballs with symbols, accents and other languages. For example, there was one typeball that allowed Hebrew texts to be typed. Typos could be corrected using a white piece of tape next to the typeball. This worked like a sort of Tipp-Ex.

The device in the Computer Science collection comes with 8 typeballs. The Computer Science campus had 6 typeballs for different fonts and 2 typeballs for symbols. As the typewriter offered different possibilities thanks to the fonts and symbols, it was also used at the Science campus. Because Computer Science textbooks contain many symbols, textbook authors needed the many different typeballs with symbols. In 1978, the textbook 'A Programming Methodology in Computer Construction, Part 1' featured a photo of the device. After the textbook was typed on the typewriter, it was copied by means of stencils.

Computer museum

Ads for the typewriter primarily highlighted the typeball and the Tipp-Ex tape. The typeball was claimed to render the device faster and more productive, and the Tipp-Ex function allowed users to erase mistakes. The device was aimed primarily at businesses and offices, where, for example, secretaries typed forms. That is why the person holding the typeballs in the ads has polished nails.

IBM sold about 13 million devices, one of which is at the Computer Science campus. The Selectric II was first released in 1971 and was in production until 1984. The device on the second floor was acquired around 1970 and was used until 1993. It was purchased for about 50,000 Belgian francs. This converts to about €1,239. The device weighs about 20 kg. It is 20 cm high, 55 cm wide and 38.8 cm deep.

This text was written by Eline Vranken. She worked as an intern at the Scientific Collections and Heritage Service in the spring of 2024. She inventoried the computer science collection (293 objects) and selected a few items for further research.