If you ever watch someone (for example, at the county clerk's office) using an IBM electronic typewriter to fill out a form, you'll see constant manual adjustment of the platen, using the clutch which is built into the platen and is actuated by the knob of the platen.
But common dot-matrix and daisy-wheel printers have no platen clutch. While they may have a "micro" up and down adjustment buttons, they are too slow and cumbersome for constant repeated use. While the IBM Selectric (and particularly, the Correcting Selectric II) also does a fine job and is easy to use with forms, the problem is that the Selectric needs periodic adjustment (by a skilled technician), including replacement of certain parts. Such maintenance appears no longer to be available commercially. Without periodic maintenance, the Selectric slowly degrades into an almost unusable state. Also, with only occasion use, ribbons and correcting tapes dry out and become unusable. Regrettably, in the present day, it appears impractical to keep the machine running. All things considered, it is difficult to improve upon an old type-bar machine for occasional use in filling out forms. A type-bar machine which is in good repair needs only an occasional ribbon; and so long as there are dot-matrix printers, ribbons can be had readily and cheaply. RLH -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
