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Subject:Re: History of TW before the PC and the Internet From:"Dick Margulis" <margulis -at- mail -dot- fiam -dot- net> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com, mgr -at- mediasys -dot- nl Date:Fri, 11 Feb 100 12:05:17 -0500
Maaike Groenewege wrote:
Can you imagine a computer that didn't allow you to see what you type??
And Uncle Dick replies:
I don't have to imagine. I've used them, and I would venture many other techwrlers have, as well. Keypunches and paper tape punches come to mind (well, okay, you could "read" the holes), as do Linotypes (well, you could read the slug--backwards--after it cooled enough to handle).
But more recently than that, when the Penta composition system was introduced in the late 70s or early 80s, you could read your keystrokes on a character terminal (green "generated" characters on a black screen), but you had no idea what the typeset galley was going to look like until you processed the file through a hyphenation and justification program, sent the output to a filmsetter, and processed the exposed RC paper through a film processor--not what I'd call an interactive experience.
