The IBM Selectric changed typewriters as we knew them. Their distinctive ball element replaced the clunky row of typebars and made most people faster typists. When [Steve Malikoff] thought about 3 ...

Introduced in 1961 by IBM, the Selectric was the first typewriter to use a ... Allowing different fonts to be used by easily switching balls, the Selectric became extremely popular.

This NSA memo from 2012 explains how several IBM ... the Selectric’s type element ball has its own signature. The sensing part of the keylogging mechanism was buried in part of the typewriter ...