I wouldn't claim that the Bliensderfer's "barrel" design is the same as the "golf ball" of IBMs, but as with all things nothing is created in a vacuum; the IBM

I wouldn't claim that the Bliensderfer's "barrel" design is the same as the "golf ball" of IBMs, but as with all things nothing is created in a vacuum; the IBM Selectric is an incremental improvement. It's like saying an Palm Pilot is the same as an iPhone.