Reports were hand-written by executives and staff and given to a secretary to "type-up" and then returned to the writer for review and revisions. If new sections were added/deleted then the entire document/report would need to be retyped. This cycle could be repeated many times.

In 1961, IBM introducted the IBM Electric Selective Typewriter. Rather than the keys causing a level arm to strike the paper with a specific key, the Selective using a "golf ball" typing head. The "golf ball" allowed easy exchange of a ball that used a specific type font. One such ball had mathematical symbols as well as normal letters.

    

In the late 1960s, Columbia Gas System Service Corporation installed a much larger IBM main frame computer. This computer could be accessed by multipe consoles and multiple employees at the same time. The Research Engineer's offices were equiped with with a hard wired keyboard and monitor.

In the early 1970s, through my work involving using the IBM Main Frame I learned that there was a word processing program available for use through the remote consoles. Documents could be written and then printed in the main computer room on a "chain printer". Today, everyting is printed in the main frame room using laser printers. The printed sheets could be delivered to your office. Simple to remove the excess edges and end up with a printed document.

When a report, or any such printed document, was finalized it could be sent to the department's graphic group for final printing and colating.

Using the IBM Main Frame it was easy to modify the report, either by correcting grammatical or spelling errors. In additon, the Main Frame word processor allowed for insertion of graphics, something that that vast majority of documents needed. This allowed for additions/deletions sections with extremely fast turn around.

My report, DEVELOPMENT OF DIAGNOSTICS PROCEDURES AND PERFORMANCE TRENDING FOR COMPRESSOR SETS (May, 1973), was the first Research Department report that was totally developed on the IBM 360 main frame computer and I did all the typing, not a secretary.

In the comming years secretaries were given word processing computer which, again, greatly sped up the writing of reports.

Prior to this report, all such documents were typed by the secretaries. By using the computer we were able to easily and quickly make modification to the report, something that was difficult and time consuming for the secretaries.

I used this method until, with the advent of personal computers, all engineers in the Research Department were given personal computers to aid in their work and research.