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David Rubin's avatar

Great story, Bill! I have to say, you have a remarkable range of interests. But today I want address a different subject. I remind you of your introduction of Cai Emmons on August 15, 2022 (If I could speak again...) Having been introduced to her in the remarkable way that you do so well, in the intervening months I developed a passing but loving relationship with her. I was fascinated by her courage, her intensity, her devotion to her writing, yet knew that she would soon be dead. Well, today, January 2, 2023, she contacted all her friends to inform us that on this very day, she was to preserve her dignity by voluntarily and peacefully leaving this earth. Cai -- I will see you in the afterlife, for, being almost 95 years old,, I expect not all too many remaining years. myself. Thank you, Bill, for the introduction.

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Kathleen B. Shannon's avatar

My mother used an IBM Selectric for years as a paralegal (before there was an actual "title" of paralegal) in various law firms when I was growing up. She had an odd attachment to it, and often said that it felt more "real" than any other keyboard she had used since. She was known for carrying it home (or one time, someone brought it to her in the hospital) to finish work. She passed away this past May, and she had acquired another one somehow. It was in need of repair, and we sold it at the estate sale, along with ribbon and two "golf balls" which is how you could change the font with those. Those things are HEAVY (weighed in at 45 pounds). I remember hearing the hum and clunk and tap when she used it.

As you already know that the typing pool died out with the advent of the word processor because of how the people who marketed the word processor presented it. If you consider that the people who worked in typing pools enjoyed and stayed in that field because of the "sameness" of it all (go in, put in paper, prop other paper up on stand, or plug in Dictaphone, and type, day after day) were presented with "this is a whole new thing" and its "vast differences," these people who loved the familiar and comfort of "sameness" headed for the hills.

I love the fact that Apple did testing within before they brought it to the market. That was a brilliant strategy. Basically, they wanted to sell to people who were similar to themselves. I once heard some marketing person say that "your best customer is who you used to be."

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