Hello, stranger. I’m glad you decided to join me on this impromptu tour of a somewhat forgotten era of computing: the time when Screens Were Expensive – and so computers had no choice but to use smaller screens, small screens, and even ridiculously tiny screens. Shall we…?
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In the early 1980s, if you couldn’t afford a (ridiculously expensive) Xerox 860 word processor will a “full page” display, you could save some money by buying a Xerox 850, with a “half page” display. (The 850 was still ridiculously expensive.)pic.twitter.com/twKBOeENab
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Magnavox Plasma display from 1978! Great name, really impressive, and probably very expensive… and yet still with a very thick bezel taking half of the responsibility of making it look awesome.pic.twitter.com/j0mvacI8y0
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IBM 2260 was an earlier Master Of Bezels. I believe you could buy a more expensive model with More Screen, or a cheaper one with fewer lines… but the same form factor (just more plastic).pic.twitter.com/KMvxVxESle
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This is a Hell Digiset typesetting machine. The landscape screen looks impressive only without the keyboard – otherwise you realize this is not today’s typical screen made wider, but rather a normal screen made *shorter*.pic.twitter.com/vstOantmiD
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The situation was similar in the case of this “human-engineered” HP 250 – this terminal might not have had that many characters, but at least had so much *character*!pic.twitter.com/E1z2bBH1Q3
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Replying to @mwichary @pookleblinky
The CDC 6600 had my FAVORITE terminal: TWO big round CRT's with an inset desk keyboard. Absolutely iconic. I never personally saw one, but I got to use a CDC mainframe in college and I LOVED it!
@joltdude1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
They have one on display at the @ComputerHistory in California, and an operational one (and also a 6500) on display at @LivingComputers in Seattle, if you’re ever nearby!
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