In 1977, Selectric Composer cost $4,610 and was available for monthly rent from IBM for $170/month, minimum six months. The Electronic Selectric Composer cost $8,835 and the monthly rent cost was $265/month, minimum six months.
(data from: How To Produce A Small Newspaper, the Harvard Common Press, 1978).
I guess there were companies (not IBM itself) that rented them out per hour, but I didn't find a quote for that. Operator time on Composers (operators typing up and typesetting your text) seems to have been priced at about $10-$15/hour at the time, so I imagine renting one should have been cheaper than that.
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In 1977, Selectric Composer cost $4,610
and was available for monthly rent from IBM for $170/month, minimum six months.
The Electronic Selectric Composer cost $8,835 and the monthly rent cost was $265/month, minimum six months.
(data from: How To Produce A Small Newspaper, the Harvard Common Press, 1978).
I guess there were companies (not IBM itself) that rented them out per hour, but I didn't find a quote for that. Operator time on Composers (operators typing up and typesetting your text) seems to have been priced at about $10-$15/hour at the time, so I imagine renting one should have been cheaper than that.
Thanks, that's very helpful!
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