Ha ha, you're wrong Brian, the linotype could produce up to 8 or 9 lines per minute if the operator were quick. The Linotype Elektron (a tts tape operated machine) had a top speed of 15 lines per minute.
the letters that come out of the machine are whole lines of type cast to order by the typist. They are melted down and the metal is reused once they are finished with. The letter moulds that the lines of type are cast from stay in the machine and are mechanically sorted back into place I think.
I still think that Margenthawler Linotype was the first computer. It typed out numerial numbers and typeface at a rate of 100 lines per minute. In the early 1900's the racing forms where one of its best customers. Wedding Invitations, Business Cards where its greatest form.
