Mark S. Holden wrote:
Frank Dresser wrote:

"Sir Cumference" wrote in message
...

The Selectric Composer could do proportional font spacing, but it was a
high-quality, high-end, expensive unit used mostly by commercial
printing firms for producing camera ready type or firms needing
high-quality printing. And they were not easy to use or repair.



Even so, I'd think someone would have retyped the documents on such a
typewriter by now, just to prove that it they didn't have to have been
done
MS Word.

Frank Dresser



They have.

http://shapeofdays.typepad.com/the_shape_of_days/2004/09/the_ibm_selectr.html



And the author says, "Typing "IBM Selectric Composer" into that search
site took me to the aptly named ibmcomposer.org, which describes itself
as "the only site on the Internet completely dedicated to the IBM
'Selectric' Composer line of typesetting machines." The site, which is
run by Gerry Kaplan, includes information, scanned user manuals, and
photographs of the only working IBM Selectric Composer I've been able to
find."

Notice that last sentence, "only working IBM Selectric Composer I've
been able to find."
Being high-end, high-dollor, machines designed mostly for the commercial
printing industry, these units were not found in abudance, especially in
clerical offices for cranking out memos and general correspondance. I
spent 27 years with IBM and never saw one of these units while
Selectrics were everywhere. My wife was a secretary at IBM, and she
never saw a Composer unit.
So what are the chances of a small Texas ANG unit having a Composer
unit?... slim to none with the emphasis on none.