The A.B. Dick Company of Chicago, Illinois, was founded in 1884 by Albert Blake Dick, Sr. The company pioneered photocopier technology in 1957 and, along with its more well-known rival the Xerox Corporation, was an early pioneer of electronic typewriters and word processor systems.¹

Diablo-compatible ribbon cassettes and printwheels suggest that Magnum I and II series “word processing terminals” (alternatively referred to as electronic typewriters) are based on Qume “Sprint” daisywheel printer terminals (those models with an integral keyboard).

The Magnum I electronic typewriter was released in September 1976. The typewriter relied on an IBM-compatible magnetic card console for storage and was prohibitively expensive to buy. The magnetic card unit allowed the user to store one normal typed page per card. The finished copy could then be retyped automatically from card at a speed of 500 words per minute, 25% faster than the IBM Magnetic
Tape Selectric Typewriter, and 15% faster than the Xerox Electronic Typing System.

A communications module could also be added to talk to other Magnums or the Western Union TWX network.2

A follow-up model and several screen-based “Magna”word processing systems followed before the company was purchased by the General Electric Company of Great Britain (GEC) in 1979.

Office equipment products and supplies were developed under the A.B. Dick name through the 1980s and 1990s before the company filed for bankruptcy in 2004. The trademarks and assets of the company were then acquired by Presstek Inc., who continued to manufacture A.B. Dick products until 2013.

¹ A.B. Dick Company, Company Profile, Information, Business Description, History, http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/69/A-B-Dick-Company.html

² A new typist joins the pool by Richard Smith, San Antonio Express, 9 January 1977