IBM Magnetic Tape Selectric Typewriter
IBM MT/ST - 1964
The IBM MT/ST (Magnetic Tape/Selectric Typewriter, and known in Europe as MT72[1]) was a model of the IBM Selectric typewriter, built into its own desk, integrated with magnetic tape recording and playback facilities, located in an attached enclosure, with controls and a bank of relays.[2] It was released by IBM in 1964.[3][4] It recorded text typed on 1/2" magnetic tape, approximately 25 kilobytes per tape cassette,[2] and allowed editing and re-recording during playback. It was the first system marketed as a word processor.[4] Most models had two tape drives, which greatly facilitated revision and enabled features such as mail merge.[4] An add-on module added a third tape station, to record the combined output of playback from the two stations.
The MT/ST automated word wrap, but it had no screen, automated hyphenation (soft hyphens were available), or concept of the page; pages had to be divided and numbered by the human operator during playback. Instruction manuals taught the operator the importance of listening to the sounds of the machine during playback. The backspace key backed up the tape so a character could be recorded over; there was also a true backspace code, which allowed overstruck characters, like á. Insertion capabilities were limited: one could insert while copying from one tape station to the other; on a single tape one null character per line was reserved for insertions. A "switch code" instructed the playback to switch to the other tape drive. In a cumbersome way, points on the tape could be marked and jumped to.
The MT/ST was not electronic; it implemented its functions through a bank of electromechanical relays.
In 1967 IBM hired Jim Henson to produce and direct a short film on the MT/ST; the film, called Paperwork Explosion,[5] was scored by Raymond Scott.[4]
The first novel to be written on a word processor, Len Deighton's 1970 Second World War historical novel Bomber, about an RAF Bomber Command raid over Germany, was written on the MT/ST.[1]
The MT/ST was also used as a data entry device for early issues of the RILM Abstracts scholarly publication at the City University of New York Graduate Center. Cartridges created on the MT/ST were read by an IBM 2495 Tape Cartridge Reader onto an IBM 360 mainframe for further processing before being sent to be printed.
The MT/ST became obsolete in the 1970s, when it was displaced by floppy disk-based systems.[3] IBM discontinued support in 1983.
The front of the MT/ST. The black boxes are the magnet tape cartridges.
The fourth version of the MT/ST
Tape Control Panel
The back side of the control panel
It is surprising to see that some if the parts in the MT/ST are used, not new.
The Selectric Typewriter is incredibly complicated. The grease on the rotating components is old and dried out, so everything is seized up. It will be a big job to get everything working again.
The left side of the MT/ST. The large square box holds the magnetic tape from the tape cartridge.
A top view of the MT/ST. The tape cartridges are at the top and bottom left. The motor at the right drives the mechanism to the left and the cooling blower to the right. There are lots of microswitches and solonoids in the mechanism that will need cleaning and adjusting.
The magnetic tape looks like 16mm film coated with magnetic material.
The magnetic tape path in the MT/ST. The white solonoid lifts the magnetic tape against the tape head. The tape head moves side-to-side to record the bits from a Selectric key press onto the tape. The tape then goes over the drive sprocket, and down into the tape bin.
There are 19 circuit boards at the top that contain resistors, capacitors, and transistors. The MT/ST was made before microprocessors were invented, so all of the logic is implemented with relays, 79 of them. The contacts in each of the relays will need to be cleaned.