Old Technology Discovery

[Chuck Nessa]

For years a Selectric II was my daily work machine. Still have it and it needs a re-hab to work smoothly. No inclination to do that now but I can't get rid of it for some reason.

Sometime in the late '80s/early '90s our fine town had a citywide garage sale. The county's largest employer (Howmet Corp - now Alcoa/Howmet) was changing their tech and donated some office supplies to the sale. Long story short, Ann came home with 2 cases of supplies. Remaining from that haul are (as far as I can tell) 167 "High Yield Correctable Film Ribbon" cassettes and 115 "Lift-Off Tapes". They are packaged 6 to a carton.

I'd hate to send these to a landfill. Any suggestions?

[JSngry]

If it's truly fixable, you can donate it to Goodwill.

Or even better, find some local electronic wonkgeek who would get a kick out of taking it apart and fixing it up. Such people do exist.

Or even still, sell it on eBay to somebody who wants it for parts.

No matter, looks as if there's still a market: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=ibm%20selectric%20ii&clk_rvr_id=345301947191&adpos=1t1&MT_ID=70&crlp=10900957604_2416792&tt_encode=raw&keyword=ibm+selectric+ii&geo_id=9932&adgroup_id=3262492484

[Chuck Nessa]

Sorry if I wasn't clear - I will keep the machine and am looking for answers about the supplies.

[Pete C]

Find somebody who doesn't know what year it is.

[GA Russell]

Advertise in AARP's magazine!

[Pete C]

Actually, I realize there is a potential audience for the supplies. A number of older writers refused to switch from typewriter to computer, so maybe through the author's guild or something you could offer the stuff.

[JSngry]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-Selectric-typewriter-supplies-/160801862166?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item257089b216