Reading MT/ST Tapes

[Chuck Guzis]

On 7/31/21 10:40 AM, Paul Berger via cctalk wrote:

> I have never seen either of these machines but looking at pictures of
> them it looks like the first version of 1620 had a type bar typewriter
> as a console.  These type bar machine would have a common heritage with
> the Flexowriters both are descendants of the  Electromatic company that
> IBM purchased in 1932 but later sold off what became Flexowriter due to
> anti-trust concerns.

There were a *lot* more Model I 1620s in the wild (CADET) than Model IIs
(which apparently could add and subtract without being instructed how to
do it).

There's a photo of a Model II typewriter on PDF page 92 here:

http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/1620/A26-5781-2_IBM_1620_CPU_Model_2_Nov65.pdf

Shame that the Model II wasn't more popular--IBM did a lot of things
right, including goodies like index registers.  I think I may have seen
only one Model II in the flesh--and I've never seen a 1620 with 729-II
tape drives attached, much less a tape written by a 1620.

The model I appeared to use a modified for use Model B electric:

https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/modelb/modelb_intro.html

For a couple of years, I used a Model B Executive with the split space
bar.  I had the best-looking memos in the department.

--Chuck