electric typewriter

writing technology

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Last updated

July 19, 2026

Quick Summary

An electric typewriter is a mechanical writing machine that uses an electric motor to power the typing stroke. The typist initiates actions by touching keys, and the motor drives the mechanisms. This system offers advantages such as a lighter touch, faster and more consistent typing, clearer and more numerous carbon copies, and reduced operator fatigue. The first electrically operated typewriter was invented by Thomas Edison in 1872, and it was later developed into the ticker-tape printer. The electric typewriter as an office machine was pioneered by James Smathers in 1920.1

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typewriter
Electric typewriters
A significant advance in the typewriter field was the development of the electric typewriter, basically a mechanical typewriter with the typing stroke powered by an electric-motor drive. The typist initiates the key stroke, the carriage motion, and other controls by touching the proper…
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A significant advance in the typewriter field was the development of the electric typewriter, basically a mechanical typewriter with the typing stroke powered by an electric-motor drive. The typist initiates the key stroke, the carriage motion, and other controls by touching the proper…
Read More

IBM
…thereby entered the field of electric typewriters, in which it eventually became an industry leader. During World War II, IBM helped construct several high-speed electromechanical calculators that were the precursors of electronic computers. But the firm refrained from producing these electronic data-processing systems until Watson’s son, Thomas Watson, Jr., became…
Read More
…thereby entered the field of electric typewriters, in which it eventually became an industry leader. During World War II, IBM helped construct several high-speed electromechanical calculators that were the precursors of electronic computers. But the firm refrained from producing these electronic data-processing systems until Watson’s son, Thomas Watson, Jr., became…
Read More