ted nelson computer lib dream machines - 1st edition 1974

8/12/2019 Ted Nelson Computer Lib Dream Machines - 1st Edition 1974

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Thi s U the fl ip Bide of Compu te r L ib .

(Peel free to beg-in her e. Th e oiher aidel a Jus t If you wa n t t o kno w mor e abou t c omp u te r s ,wh ich a re changeab le dev ices for tw idd l ing s ymbo l s . O the rwi se sk ip I t .)

(Bu t if you c hang e your min d I t m igh tbe fun to b rowse . )

In s ense , t he o the r s ide has been acome -on for t h is s ide . Bu t i t' s an hones t com e-on : I f i gu re t he more you kn ow , t he r ead ie ryou 'l l be for wha t I 'm say ing he re . No t necessari ly to agree or be "sold," but to think aboutit in the non-s impl e te rms that are goin g to ben e c e s s a r y.

Th e ma te r ia l he re has been chose n l a rge lyfor i ts exhilarating an d inspirational char act er.

No ma t t e r wha t your background o r t echn ica lkno wle dge , you 'l l be ab l e t o unde r s t and som e o fthis, and no t be ab l e t o unde r s t and so me o f t here s t . That 's part ly from the hasty pr eparat ionof this bo ok , and partly f rom the variety of interests I 'm trying to com pri se her e. I ws nt top re sen t va r ious d ream s and the i r r e su l t i ng d re ammach ine s , a ll l eg i t ima te .

If t he compu t e r i s a p ro j ec t ive sys t em , o rRorsc hach Inkb lo t , a s a l l eged on the o the r s ide ,t he r ea l p ro j ec t ive sys t ems- - t he ones w i th p rojectors in them -- are all the mor e so. Th e thi ngspeop le t ry to do wi th mov i es , TV and the m oreg l a m o r o u s u s e s o f t h e c o m p u t e r , w h e r e b y it m a k e sp ic tu re s on sc reen s - - a r e s t r ange inve r s ionsand fold overs of the rest of the min d an d he art .That 's the peculiar origami of the self .

Ve r y w e l l . Th i s book- - t hi s s ide , Dre amMach i nes - - i s mean t t o le t you see the cho iceo f d r e a m s . N o t i n g t h at e v e r y c o m p a n y a n d u n iversity seems to insist that i ts system is thewa ve of the future, I think i t is mo re impor tantthan ever to ha ve the alternatives spre ad outclearly.

Bu t t he "expe r t s " a r c no t go ing to be mu chhe lp ; t hey a re pa r t o f t he p ro b le m. On bo ths ides , t he academ ic an d the indus t r i a l , t hey a rebeing painfully pontifical and bombastic in thej a r r ing new j a rgons ( s ee "Babe l s i n Toy land , ' 1

p . Lf ) . Litt le clarity is spr ead by this . Fe wthings are funnier than the pretensions of thosewh o p ro fe s s to d ign i ty, sob r i ety and p ro fe s s ionalism of their expe rt predic tions - es peciallywh en th ey, t oo a re pour ing ou t the i r ow n pe r sona lv i ews un de r t he gu i se o f t echn ica l i t y. Mos t p eople don't dr ea m of what 's go ing to hit the fan .An d the compu te r and e l ec t ron ic s peop le a r e l ikegene ra l s p repa r i ng fo r t he l as t wa r.

F ran k ly . I t h ink i t' s an ou t r age m ak i ng i tlook as if there 's an y k ind of scientific basis tothese things; there is an und erle vel of technicali ty,but l ike the foundation of a cathedral , i t serveson ly to suppor t wha t r i s e s f rom i t. T HE T E CHN I C A L I T I E S M A T T E R A L O T, B U T T H E U N I F Y I N GV I S IO N M A T T E R S M O R E .

Techno logy f s an exp res s ion o f man ' s d ream s . I f man d idno t Indu lge Ms f an t a s i e s , h i s t hough t s a lone wou ld inh ib i t t hedeve lopmen t o f t echno logy I t s e l f . Anc ien t v i s iona r i e s spoke o fd i s t an t t imes and p l a ces , whe re men f l ew a round and abo u t , andsome cou ld see each o the r a t g r ea t d i s t ance . The t echno log ica lreali t ies of today are already obsolete and the future oftechnolo gy is bound only by the l imits of our dre ams . Moder ncommunica t ions med ia and in pa r t i cu l a r e l ec t ron ic med ia a r eou tg rowths and ex tens ions o f t hose senses wh ich have becomedominan t 1n ou r soc i a l deve lo pmen t .

Hon Vachaprcea, HHyper~Fa,(t) Auditaa Ltd. IV}}.

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Ladies and gentlemen, the age ofpmti dif talrre presentation an d pu blishing U abo ut to begin. Palpitatingpresentation*, screenncribbled. willdance to your desire, making manifest the ma ny mysteries o( windingwisd om But if we are to rehumanizean increasingly brutal and disagreeable world, we must step up ourefforts. An d we must hurry. Hurry.Step right up.

rneodbr" H. Helaon,"Bornum-TronicB."Suarthmore 'allega

"Wh en you'redolin g with me dia you're in ibow rtuiincu. yoo

kno w, whether yo u like it or not.""Show brnincn.' he takl. "Absolutely. We' ve fo Mahe in ihnw bi mne n We've gotta put together a teamthat will crt us there."

I made n mental note to m e the *how bnslnrn metaphor aq.itn. anil onli nuid. "IMM'i real MIMIVC tal-nit pri.lultlv I M in other sirrsw .. ."

Alumni Bulletin,Deo 19?0, 12-15.

Ileywood Gould, CorporationFreak (Tower), 23.

The Great Robert Crumb.I From Z a ComKx t). )

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Thi s book has s eve ra l s imu l t aneous In t en

t ions : t o o r i en t t he beg inne r In f i e ld s morecomplex and t i ed toge the r t han a lmos t anybodyrea l i ze s ; neve r the l e s s , t o pa r t i a l l y debun kseve ra l r ea lms o f expe r t i s e wh ich I t h ink dese rve s l i gh t ly l e s s a t t en t ion than they ge t ;and to cha r t t he r i gh t way, wh ich I t h ink un ique lycon t inue s t he Wes te rn t r ad i t i ons o f l i t e r a tu re ,s cho la r sh ip and f r eedom. In t h i s r e spec t t hebook i s much more o ld - f a sho ned than i t may seema t t he gee - wh lz , ve ry -no w l eve l .

The main ideas of this book I present nota s my own , bu t a s a cu r ious spec i e s o f r evea l edt ru th . I t ha s a l l been obv ious to me for somet ime , and I be l i eve I t shou ld be obv ious a s we l lt o anyone who has no t been b l inded by ed uca t io n .I f you unde r s t and the p rob lems o f c r ea t ive t h inking and o rgan iz ing Ideas , I f you have seen thebad th ings s choo l so o f t en does t o peop le . I fyou unde r s t and the soc io logy o f t he i n t e l l ec tua lwor l d , and have eve r l oved a mach in e , t hen th i sbook says no th ing you do no t know a l r eady.

For eve ry d re am , man y de t a il s and in t r icacies have to be whitt led and Inter locked. Thei rjoint ramifications must be deepl y under stoo d b ythe pe r son wh o i s t ry ing to c r ea t e wha teve r- i t - i s .Each confabulation of possibil i t ies turns out tohave the most intricate and exactly detailed results .(This is wh y I am so irri tated by thos e wh o think"electronic media" are all al ike.)

An d each poss ib le combina t ion you choosehas different precise structures implicit in i t .a r r a ngem en t s a nd un i ts wh ich f low f rom theseramified details . Implicit in Radio lurk theTim e S lo t and the P ro g ra m. Bu t many o f t hesepossibil i t ies rem ain un notice d or un se en , for ava r i e ty o f soc ia l o r econo mic r ea so ns .

Wh y do es it ma t t e r?

It ma t t e r s beca use we l i ve In med ia , a tf i sh li ve i n wa te r. (Ma ny peop le a r e p r i sone r so f t h e m e d i a , m a n y a r e m a n i p u l a t o r s , a n d m a n ywan t t o u se t h em to communi ca t e a rt is t ic v i s ions , )

Bu t t oday , a t t h is mom en t , we can and mud tdes ign the med ia , des ign the mo lecu le s o f ou rne w wat er, an d I believe the details of this designmat t e r ve ry de ep ly . Th ey wi ll be w i th u s fo r ave ry long t ime , pe rha ps s s l ong a s ma n has l ef t;pe rh aps i f t hey a re a s good a s t hey can be , ma nm a y e v e n b u y m o r e t i m e - - or t he o p e n - e n d e df u t ur e m o s t s u p p o s e r e m a i n s . ( S e e " E n d g a m e , "p . WT )

So In t hese pages I hop e to o r i en t you so mewha t to va r ious o f t he p rop osed d re am s . Th i s I smea nt also to rec ord the efforts of a few B rew ste rM c C l o u d s , e a c h t i n k e r in g t o w a r d s o m e n e w f li gh to f f ancy in h i s ow n sens oa r i um.

Bu t bea r i n min d that ha rd -ed ged f an t a syi s t he co rn e r o f t om or r ow. Th e g rea t Amer i candre am o f t en bec ome s the g rea t Amer i can nove l ty.After which i t 's a choice of style, size and fina n c i n g p l a n .

Th e mos t exc i t i ng th ings he re a r e t hoset h at in v o l v e c o m p u t e r s : n o t a b l y, b e c a u s e c o m p ute r s w i l l emb rac ed in eve ry p re sen ta t iona l m ed iu ma n d t h o ug h t f u l m e d i u m v e r y s o o n .

Tha t ' s w h y th is s ide is wedd ed to t he o ther :i f you w an t t o unde r s t an d com pu t e r s , you can t akethe first step by tu rnin g the boo k ove r. I f iguretha t t he mor e you kn ow abo u t compu te r s - - e spec i a lly abou t min ico mpu te r s and the wa y on - l ine s y stem s can re sp ond to our sl ightest acts-- the betteryour imag ina t ion can f low be tween the t echn ica l it ies, can sl ide the parts toget her, can dis cern thes h a p e s o f w h a t y o u w o u l d h a v e t h e s e t h in g s d o .Th e co mp ut er is not a l imitless par tne r, but it isdeep l y ve r sa ti l e ; to wo rk wi th i t we m us t und e rs t and w ha t it c an d o , t he op t ions and the cos t s .

My spec i a l conce rn , a l l t oo ti gh tly f r amedhe re , i s t he u se o f compu te r s t o he lp peop lewr i t e , t h ink and sh ow . Bu t I t h ink p re sen ta t ionby com pu t e r i s a b ra nch o f sh ow b iz and wr i t i ng ,n o t o f p s y c h o l o g y, e n g i n e e r i n g o r p e d a g o g y.Thi s wo ul d be idle disputation if i t did not h av efa r- r each ing consequences fo r t he des igns o f t hesys t ems w e a re a ll go ing to have to li ve w i th .A t wor s t , I fea r t hese may lock us i n ; a t be s t ,1 hop e they can f urther the individualist ic tradit ions of l i terature, f i lm an d schola rsh ip. Butwe m us t c r ea t e ou r b ra ve new wo r ld s w i th a r t ,ze s t , i n t e l l i gence, and the h ighes t poss ib l e i dea l s .

I h a v e n o t m e n t i o n e d t h e e m o t i o n s . M o v i e sa n d b o o k s , m u s i c a n d e v e n a r c h i te c t u re h a v e f o ra ll o f u s been pa r t o f impor t an t emot iona l mo me n t s .Th e sam e i s go ing to hap pen wi th t he ne w med ia .To wo rk a t a h igh ly r e spons ive comp u te r d i sp l aysc re en , for i n s t ance , can be deep ly exc i t i ng ,l i ke f l y ing an a i rp l ane th rough a canyon , o rtalking to so me bo dy bril l iant . Thi s is as itshou ld be . ( "The r eason i s , and by r igh t s ough tlo be , s l ave to the emot ions . " - - Be r t r an d Russe l l . )

In t he des ign o f ou r fu tu re med ia a nd s y st em s , we sho u ld no t sh r ink f rom th i s emot iona laspect a s a legit imate part of ou r fan ic (see p .

Dr \4? ) des ign . Th e subs t r a t um o f t echn ical i t ie sa n d t h e m i n d - b e n d i n g , g u t - s l a m m i n g e f fe ct s t h e ypro duc e , a r e two s ides o f t he s ame co in ; and tounde r s t and the one i s no t neces sa r i l y t o bea l i ena t ed f rom the o the r.

Th us it i s fo r t he Whol ines s o f t he h um ansp i r i t , t ha t we mus t de s ig n .

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A U T H O R ' S C O U N T E R C U L T U R E C R E D E N T I A L S

Wr i t e r , s h o w m a n , g e n e r a li s t . G e m i n i , m o o n i n L i b r a , G e m i n i r is in g.

One ' i me seve n th -g rade d rop ou t . I have r e l a t i ve ly li tt le in t e re s t in improv ing the educa t ional sys t em wi th in t he ex i s t i ng f r ame wor k .Au th o r of wha t ma y have been wor ld ' s f ir st r ock mus ica l , "Any th in g * Eve ry th ing . " Sw ar t hmo re Co l l e ge . No ve mb er 1957 (wi th R icha rd L . C a p l a n ) .Pho to g raph e r fo r a yea r a t Dr . Li l ly ' s do lph in l ab (Com munic a t ion Rese a rch Ins ti t u te . Mi am i . F l o r i d a ) . A t t endee o f t he Grea t Woods tock Fes t iva l

( li ke ma ny o t h e r s ) , and it cha nge d m y l if e (a s o the r s have r e p o r t e d ) . Wh at we are all lookin g for is not wh er e we thoug ht it wa sL i fe long med ia nu t . Maga z ine co l lec tor ; hung a r ound T V s tud ios a s a ch i ld . Comp ul s i ve exp la ine r. G immic i s t by d i spos i t i on , compu te r-m an by acc ides t lny.


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T o w T H I K J ) rumm,

G e e h i z , f o l k . , h e r e e . r e a t a n o t h e r p r i nt i n g . n d a l r e a d y t h e b i g c l o c k o n t h e . a l l t e l l ,u s t h a t a n o t b e r y e a r h a . g o n e b y .

T h i . s u p p l e m e n t 1 . m a i n l y t i l i ng , t h a t h a d t ob e m e n t i o n e d , b u t i t k i n d o f a . e u m e . y o u ' v e r e a da b o o k l t e e l f o r a r e g e n e r a l l y f a m i l i a r w i t hc o m p u t e r . . B O O K S T O R E B R O W S E R S : a v o i d t h e a e f o u rp a g e . . N E W O W N E R O F T H E B O O K : C h e c k t h a t t h ep a g e , a r e r i g h t , " " ^ >

S O R R Y T H E T Y P E S T I L L I S N ' T B I G G E R , b u t t h a t. i l l r e q u i r e t h o u s a n d s o f b u c k s i n n e w n e g a t i v e s -m e a n i n g a l o t m o r e h a v e t o b e . o l d a s i a .

A l o t o f c o p i e s o f t h i s b o o k h a v e n o t b e e n p u t t o g e t h e r c o r r e c t l y .We h o p e t h a t ' s e l l o v e r n o w , b u t i f t h i s b o o k b e l o n g s t o y o u

p l e a s e c h e c k i t . I n c o r r e c t l y - m a d e b o o k s w i l l b e e x c h a n g e d .w i t h i n t w o w e e k s o f p u r c h a s e ( a d d r e s s o n p . 2 ) . O t h e r w i s ey o u h a v e a C o l l e c t o r ' s

A L L Y O U N E E D D O I S C H E C K T H E N U M B E R S O N T H E ' C O M P U T E R L I B ' S I D E .T h e y r u n s t r a i g h t t h r o u g h f r o m c o v e r t o c o v e r , e v e n t h o u q ht h e c o n t e n t s f l i p c a p r i c i o u s l y . I f t h e l e t t e r s " D M " a p p e a ra n y w h e r e a m o n g s t t h e s e p l a i n n u m b e r s , y o u g o t a l e m o n .

T h e r e d o u b t a b l e P C C i s n o w s i x i s s u e s a n d s i xd o l l a r s a y e a r . P e o p l e ' s C o m p u t e r C o m p a n y ,P. O . B o x 3 1 0 , M e n l o P a r k C A 9 4 0 2 5 .

B Y T E M a g a z i n e , S l O / y e a r i f y o u h u r r y , $ 1 2 l a t e r ,f r o m G r e e n P u b l is h i n g C o . , P e t e r b o r o u g h , N H .E d i t o r i a l : C a r l H e l m e r s , B o x 3 7 8 , B e l m o n tH A 0 2 1 7 8 . H a r d w a r e - o r i e n t e d .

C r e a t i v e C o m p u t i n g : T h e M a g a z i n e o f R e c r e a t i o n a la n d E d u c a t i o n a l C o m p u t i n g . X d e a m e t r i c s ,P. O . B o x 7 8 9 - M , M o r r i s t o w n , N J ) 7 9 6 0 . We i r dv a r i e t y o f s u b s c r i p t i o n r a t e s : s t u d e n t $ 6 ," i n d i v i d u a l " $ 8 , " i n s t i t u t i o n a l " $ 1 5 .

T h e C o m p u t e r H o b b y i s t , $ 6 / y e a r . B o x 2 9 5 , C a r y N C2 7 5 1 1 . H a r d w a r e - o r i e n t e d .

C o m p u t e r N o t e s ( f o r A l t a i r u s e r s ; f r o m M I T S ) .M l c r o - 8 N e w s l e t t e r , f o r p e o p l e r e a l l y i n t o t h e

I n t e l . H a l S i n g e r , C a b r i l l o H i g h S c h o o l ,4 3 5 0 C o n s t e l l a t i o n , L o m p o c C A 9 3 4 3 6 .

a n d a l e oS i m u l a t i o n a n d G a m i n g N e w s , B o x 3 0 39 U n i v e r s i t y

S t a t i o n , M o s c o w, I d a h o 8 3 8 4 3 .E l e c t r o n o t e s i s t h e m a g a z i n e f o r m u s i c s y n t h e s i z e r

f r e a k s . B e r n l e H u t c h l n s , 6 0 S h e r a t o n D r i v e ,I t h a c a N Y 1 4 8 5 0 .

n d s o m e t h i n g e l s e e n t i r e l y .r i v a c y J o u r n a l , a m o n t h l y n e w s l e t t e r o n p r o b l e m s

o f p r i v a c y , m a n y o r m o s t o f w h i c h I n v o l v ec o m p u t e r s . P . O . B o x 8 8 4 4 , W a s h i n g t o n , D . C .2 0 0 0 3 ; $ 1 5 a y e a r .

N o t e : i t i s o f i n t e r e s t t h a t a b i l l o n c o m p u t e rp r i v a c y i n t h i s y e a r ' s H o u s e o f R e p r e s e nt a t i v e s J u s t h a p p e n e d t o b e H R 1 9 8 4 . )

O n e i n d i v i d u a l I k n o w , w h o r e l i s h e s h i so u n t e r c u l t u r e i m a g e , t o l d m e w i t h a n g r y a n dh a k i n g v o i c e t h a t h e d o e s n ' t b e l i e v e i n c o p yi g h t a n d t h a t a n y t h i n g t h a t g e t s n e a r h i so m p u t e r b e l o n g s t o h i m . W e l l , d o n ' t l e a v eo u r m a n u s c r i p t s n e a r s u c h a p e r s o n . ( W h y i st a l w a y s t h e g u y s w i t h c u s h y a n d s e c u r e j o b sh o t e l l y o u t w e e d l e d e d e e , i d e a s s h o u l d b e

r e e , a n d p a t e n t s a n d c o p y r i g h t s a r e s e l f i s h ? )

A c t u a l l y , f o r t h e i n d i v i d u a l , o n e o f t h et r o n g e s t f o r m s o f p r o t e c t i o n a v a i l a b l e i so p y r i g h t . F a r f r o m o b s o l e t e , t h e c o p y r i g h t

m a k e s p u b l i s h i n g , a n d t h e b e t t e r c o m p u t e ro f t w a r e , p o s s i b l e . ( I t i s n o t g e n e r a l l yn o w n t h a t c o p y r i g h t v i o l a t i o n i s a f e l o n y . )A n d r i p p i n g o f f a p r o g r a m y o u ' r e s u p p o s e d t oa y f o r i s n o t a b r a v e g u e r r i l l a a f f i r m a t i o n ,i k e h i t t i n g H a r o l d G e n e e n w i t h a p i e , b u tr a n d l a r c e n y . )

N o w t h a t A l t a i r s a n d L S I - l l s h a v e g o t ao t o f y o u g u y s d r e a m i n g a b o u t s e l l i n g s o f t

w a r e , a n i m p o r t a n t q u e s t i o n i s h o w to p r o t e c to u r w o r k . W e l l , y o u h a v e a c h a m p i o n .

C a l v i n M o o e r s ( s e e p p . 1 8- 2 1 ) i s n o t o n l y g e n u i n e C o m p u t e r P i o n e e r F r o m T h e F o r t i e s ,u t , a l o n g w i t h H e r b G r o s c h , p i o n e e r e d t h e

C o m p u t e r C o u n t e r c u l t u r e . G r o s c h f l a u n t e d ab e a r d i n f r o n t o f o l d m a n Wa t s o n , M o o e r s

t r o v e t o m a k e c o m p u t e r s e a s y t o u s e b a c kw h e n t h a t w a s u n h e a r d o f .

O n e o f h i s c u r r e n t i n t e r e s t s i s i n w a y sh a t s m a ll i n d e p e n d e n t u n d e r g r o u n d - t y p e p r o

g r a m m e r s c a n p r o t e c t t h e i r d e v e l o p m e n t s . H ea n d s o m e a s s o c i a t e s a r e e x p l o r i n g t h e p o s s ib l e f o r m a t i o n o f a g r o u p f o r t h e l e g a l p r oe c t i o n o f s m a l l s o f t w a r e p r o d u c e r s a n d o w n e r s .

I n c i d e n t a l l y , w h e n y o u t h i n k s o m e t h i n gy o u ' v e w r i t t e n b e l o n g s t o y o u a c o m p u t e rp r o g r a m , p o e m o r w h a t e v e r s l a p t h e f o l l o w i n ga t t h e b e g i n n i n g , u n d e r t h e t i t l e :

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H ITS ' new computi-otorol* 6800. no ' M M M t ~

l r i altair Ur- based or, th. Intel BOW, and

customers already Into that ..chin*" ^ i n ,n y way 1** they u y .

A computer hit based on tha Motorola 60 00.- i d . 2 bytes of cor, , cassstte recorder andTV dlipUy ,either 130x130 or 340x340. (Tha resolution willbe switch-selectable, if you have enough buffermemory; a screen of text takes 2 K, so does a130x120 picture , and 240x240 takea a whole 4K.)Buffer nemory will also be divldabla Into separate *page a of text or graphics; and two pageawill be super mpoa able, interlacing alternatevideo fields (see pp. C M 6 - 7 ) . Hota that refreshment Is from randon-acce**, rather than seri al ,memory, so that sult lple f ields cannot be overlaid.

While none haa been announced as y e t , a anisiciynthesiier that plugs into the Altair will alaoatcertainly be available in 1976.

(Mote that thi* could provide an entirely newform of interactive terminal if used with thetfachspres* e qu i pm e n t ; see nearby.)

) tha Altair ia in the

DEC's own f loppy dlak, for the B and 11,finally came out . Price for II i S3000 for oned r ive , S4000 for double.

LHJc t a p e , which la virtually the sane asDECtape but unpatented, has just come ou t atS2000 for one drive, Including controller andinterface to 11 or Hova (interrupt-driven).Mote that the unit is compact and r ugged , and naybe sore suitable than disk or cassette for thoseof us concerned about portable rigs and van-nounting. Computer Operations, Inc., 10774Tucker St. , Beltsvil le MD 20705 . (The bad n ews :software costs S300 for the driver, plus S750

> DEC if - operating syst n FT-11.)

Cambridge Memories, Inc. , cleverly sellsmain nemory banks for the 11 which can at tach tclat

Th * basic idea of the mscromodula ap proachwa s to have conputer subsection * that ware completely interpluggab le. With them you can buildny compu te r, to your ow n de s ign , in a couple ofd a y s . The syatem exists now and it work* justf i ne : coun te r s , r eg i s t e r s , memor iae can ba attached quickly by c ab l e .

Unfo r tuna te ly, the cost 1* high an d theyhaven't found a manufac turer. With chip pricesfa l l i ng , and chip know-how widespread, it's hardto justify charging ten or so t ime* as much forcomponen t* juat because they c an ba plugged together faster. (Juat as un fo r tuna te ly, eve rything in the aacronodule system i s bu i l t on l e ct ions of twelve bits .) For this reason the St.Louis folk are having trouble gett ing com mercialsponsorshi p. However , perhaps Soms bright hungry chip company, reading t h i s , would l ike toget into the aacronodule gam e. And presumablywhitt le the module down to th* now-universal 8

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t O O . , ,11 t o o. O p 1 7 l l L ' w h . l " o . l .o p r . n u . , : t h . Cr.Mfcl. t t e t -puo . , . . i r * * , ' .o o - p o t . , . U - U h l - c h i n . , t h . . c c p u t . r .

T h . tad.hl ccnput.r or Sy,t i 470, ac t - p u f r o l th. 160 . . . b , on . o, th.d.. lgned th orlclr-l ly ... 41 __ , /novv.i lt , l . f ro . tadahi Corpor. t lon, 1 2 S 0 Cat*rqu .a Av.nua , Sunnyva l . CA 940B6 . ( r tw, a r. no*aav. r t l . l n , (o r , y . t _ l . h * m a in _a i d . , of OS /HVT, VS. . t o . ) . Th . f lr. t .70 1. and runn in , at NASA'a In.t l tuta for Spac . s t u d l . .

T, T. : r ^ j T " . ; " * " " - ~of thair faaoua knockout" machines to do i t in(Datam ation, J uly 75 , 9t5 .)

Of courit you've thought that hardwiredetups were for s loppy analog type* of thing.But hare n ow wa have THE CHESS MACHINE, understraightfaced construction at the MIT AI Lab,which will provide HARDWIRED THREAT ANALYSIYe s , its advanced perceptron architecture willsupposedly be capable of analysing threats to*ny given posit ion in a GRAND PARALLEL FLASH.Tha Impact of this astonishing development onthe world of Electronic Chess, or anything else,for that matter. Is totally impossible top r e d i c t .

Over a very nice lunchat Foditys in ChicagoProf. Minsky^ and I discussed possible stylingfor his computer. Beparticularly liked thearrangement suggestedin this sketch; a fold-down keyboard and thedisplays sort of on poso they could be seeneasily through a crowdof bystanders. The handle would only work, ofcourse, with the scoperemoved. We'll see latwhat it finally lookslike.

Unsatisfied with the s tructure of normalcomputer*, they are building a t MIT ' s AI Lab a

computer whose native language 1* L ISP. It willhave 32 b i t * with virtual memory, and executeLISP like a bat out of b e l l .

In a refreshing reversal of t r ends , it willbe for one user at a t lBe. "Time-sharing is anIdea whose t ime has gone," chuckles one p a r t ic i p a n t . (Project MAC , where t ine-sharing grewu p , waa there.)

1 H C m C P ^ t v T C l L

Seymour Cray, master computer builder, created the 6600 system for Control Data. Indeed, heha d the audacity to require CDC to build the computer factory on the property adjoining his ownestate in Chippewa Falls , Minnesota, How thatha's broken off to s tart h i* own compan y (withmoney from CDC, among o t h e r s ) , the new computerfactory adjoins his e s t a t e on the other sid e. ThaC r a y - 1 , another supercomputer, i* nearlng completion there.

Patent #3,875,932 has now been issued forHow Wachspress ' electronic sex machine or w h a tever it is (you saw lt f irst on p. DM9) - In theIl lustration wa see it t ickling a shmoo.

After you send Wachspress his f if ty-buckroya l ty, you can ei ther buy the kit or a pre-bu i l t m o d e l . Concave or convex , as the poets a y s . (Etchings are antediluvian an d waterbed*are commonplace; as an invitation, what mora incisive comeuppance could ba proffered?)

Speaking of Machsp res* . it aearns that theunusual 1/0 equipment offered by the FederalScrew Works (Troy, Mich.) is only a voice output

Surp r i s ing ly, a voice input device is nowcoemterclally available from Threahold Tec hnology,I nc . , C innaminaon , NJ. For $10,500 you ge t adevice that will recognisa 33 spoken words, anda i c r o p h o n e s . (Each user ha* to t rain it on his12 words, but separata vocabularies m ay bastored on the computer for different users orp u r p o s e s . This ia s t i l l some way from thafabled "talking computer"-- see pp . DM 13-14 forproblama an d objections-- but it's undeniably a

teful
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The halfton e systfea of IfUMRRO, rum ored onp. DM38, Is r e e l . Clever indeed: it divides thehalf-tone problem into tvo parts, one the original picturing of the scene, the other its presentation in the terminal . That means that theirsystem permits one cen tral Image generator tosend out pictures to as many terminals as desired. Unlike the Watkins Box (see p. D M 3 7 ) ,whose half-milllon-dollar opulence can be pouredonly on a single user at onc e, in this systemthe central resource can be distributed amongvarious users, with each one's pictu re chang edIntermitten tly, or poured on a sing le user forfull anim ation. Currently it runs in Portran,transmitting encoded pictures to the unusual terminals required (built around Trinitron s). Buta special central processor is foreseen.

The system is called CHARGE, and Ron Swallow,its developer, la Indeed a hard charg er. (Software: Bill Underbill and Roger Gunwaldsen.)Swallow's game isn't movies or engin eering g rap h i c s ; he wants CHARGE to compete head-to-headwith PLATO (see pp . D H 2 6 - 7 ) . And at the pricesh e> talking about 55000 por terminal and$150,000 for tho central p r o c - " - ; - ' - I. 'J l-r.ows?

Millions of people ssw computer graphics forthe first time on the PBS "Ascent of Man" series,where a screen drawing of Early Man's skull wasseen to rotate and gradually change In its feat u r e s . This waa startling even if you know aboutcomputer graphics, since it seemed to be proceeding from complex data concerning the entireskulls and their changes.

Not so. Actuall y what you saw was a seriesof skull drawings by Peter Foldes, a Parisianartist, with the compu ter generating transitionaldrawings between them. (Indeed, though you sawProf. Bronovskl next to the screen, you did notsee him next to the screen at the same time thedrawings were changing because that had to befilmed very slowly.)

The system was created by Nestor Burtnyk andMarcelli Wein, of the National Research Counc ilof Canada. It curren tly runs only on n SEL 840A.(It was also use d by the National F ilm Boar d of

Canada for creating Foldes" splendid film "Hunger.") They can preview by rolling through b i tmap video on a movin g-head disk. (See Burtn ykand Wein, "Computer Generated Key-Frame Anim ation," J - SHPTE, March 71, 149-53.)

What about the animated figure that talks toJoe Gariagioln before baseball games? Haha,That's a rubber puppet matted in from a black box;the guy who does the voice works the mouth.

Hany unlikely individuals have stormed thatheartbreak town of Hollywood, leaving sadder butwiser but loan Sutherland, dean of aomputergraphiae? Hell, having found that the moviemakers are not ready for image synthesis theareammitho unprepared, as it. were, for the TotalForge he ie sojourning at the Rand Corporation.

A fella named Charles McC arthy, of suburbanChicago, bought the "Computer Eye" from SpatialData Systems, and will do mail-order picture conversions. He'll convert your favorite snapshotto a prin tout of the same subje ct made of lig htand dark letter s. If you're interested in havingthe actual grey-scale data for processing in yourown computer, inquire.

The Kobius Group, Inc., P . O . Box 306 , Win-field IL 60190.

UBEEAL ESTATE: for rcUua'.ion, Ron uorKB or.the "dream house'' he keeps inside the ay8ten.

Want a computer-controlled videocaasetterecorder? The model to ask for i s the Sony 2850,costing (gasp) some six thousand buc ks. An interface to the PDP-11 is made by CMX Systems.635 Vaqueroa, Ave., Sunnyvale CA 94086.

Incidentally, scaled-down CMX editing setupsare beginning to get around. For instance, theyhave a small setup in the pleasant offices of DJMrilm Tape, 4 East 46, NYC: three of the abo veSonys and the CMX Model 50 control setup, usinga PDP-11 and keyscop e. Thoug h prices are by thej o b , the basic charge is $75/hou r. (Note thatthe big CMX setu p, with a disk, is the mode l 300.)

Since the forties, there have been con tinualannouncements that video disks movies you playon your TV off a record were right aroun d thecorn er. Earlier this year they were supposedly

going to be available before Christ mas. Now theyBight be on sale, "on a limited basis," in 1976.(TV Gu ide, 16 Aug 75 , p. 7.) Because of the gravedifficulties of engineering inaccuracies in punching the center hole mean the track can't helpbeing off center, for instance some of us areskeptical.

Two systems have been confiden tly ann ounc ed.Philips, the firm that gave us the audio cassette,has a system that will follow the spiral track onthe disk from underneath with a laser. The diskturns at 30 revolutions per secon d, or one turnper TV frame, so it can supposedly freeze on oneframe when desired.

The other system is from RCA, which hasa long history of Be-too announcements, but stleast two of them made it big (the 45 record an dthe color TV system now used in the U SA) , so RCAshould not be dismissed out of hand. Their disksystem will supposedly go at 450 rpm (7.5 revolutions/sec ond) , but they still m ean to track i twith a needle . The man from TV Guide says he'sseen it and it works perf ect ly, but I -tould personally look for hidden wires.

(MCA, an entertainment conglomerate, hashitched up with Philips and printed a catalog ofall the movies they will supposedly make availableon disk for the "MCA- Phili ps" try a tew such asDee-try Rides Again for around ten buc ks. This isprobably just a bluff: with the price of audio

records what they are, no way is a movie going tocost ten buck s. But it makes RCA look weake r,which is probably the purpose.)

The prospect surprised them, but MAGI (seep. DM36) allows as how they might let you makemovies on their over-the-phone movie-mak ing setup(sketched on p, D M 3 6 ) . Price to capable out-d e r s , if the software mes hed, would be about $50an hour. (six hours makes one minute of film,not counting the phone b i l l . Cheap if you knowmovie economics.)

Meanwh ile, John Lowry, at Digital Video La boratories in Toronto, has been developing hig h-quality video suitable for transfer to theatricalfilm. He and they have developed a 655-linecolor system with heavy digital enhancement(see "Picture Processing," p . D M 1 0 ) . I scarcelybelieve my notes, but I saw it, and wrote downthat it was comparable to 3Sam studio color.The day of "electronic cameras"-- that ie, film-quality video may be upon us soon.

About 1972, there was announced an electronically-controlled color filter that could changeto any hue in nano secon ds. That would be Just

**hat we all need for color movies from COMsbut what happened to it?

railedt the high end of t hin gs, ,Three Rivers Company has come in with a 3D vecboring system (competitors discussed p. D M 3 0 ) .Supposedly they can pack a lot m the

The price of the GT40 display (see p. D M 2 1 ) ,which all in all is one of the best displays onthe ma rket , has just dropped to S6500. To d i sguise this pride drop, DEC gives you the smallertube and no keyboard.

And at the low end, a firm called Megatekin San Diego offers line-drawing CR T cont rollersfor $1000 to $3000 . Al l permi t anim ation . Youhave to supply the oscilloscop e. Their equipmen tplugs into the PDP-11 or the Nova, or in onecase connec ts in tandem to an ASCII tim e-sharingterminal ( ).

The 11 and Nova model s work directly fromBASIC; your program in Basic puts line lists inthe device's buffer memory. The time-sharingmodel converts incoming line lists from ASCII tobinary and stores them intern ally. 256 lineswith 6-bit resolution cost $1900, $110and S1600for 11, Nova and t-s respective ly; 1024 lineswith 10-bit resolution cost S2800, S2000 andS2500 respec tively. (Nova and 11 model s can becompletely updated in two refresh cycles, y i e lding as much animation as anyone can decentlyexpect for the price. Software is supplied toprovide display output from Nova, PDP-11 or timesharing BASIC; also t-s Fortran.)

Meanwhile, for the hands-on electronics guy.Optical Electronics, Inc . makes all kinds of rotation mod ule s. You can build your own 3D rota

tion setup out of their modules for a couple ofthousand; bu t, of cours e, the fancy digital I/Ofor high-speed refreshment is not available.An interesting capability of the OEI equipment,though, is that you can build 4D- or even SD-rotation systems out of their mod ule s. Hmmni.

Excellent manuals on the PLATO system andTUTOR language are now available from CERL, U n iversity of Illinois, Urban a.

The next gen eration of PLATO terminals iscoming down the line. The microfiche projectoris witherin g away , as was easily foreseeab le;mean time , steps ore being taken toward a morehigh-performance termin al, by putting a computerin it. This is being done both by Jack Sti fle,who has done it with the Intel chip, and RogerJohn son, who haa the panel interfaced to an 11 .(11 fans please note the implication: it is p o ssible that the interface may be marketed.)

Meanwhile, PLATO-like terminals (the modelAG-60) are about $5000 from Applications Group,I n c . , P.O. Box 444B, Kaunas, Ohio 43537. Notethat these have standard non-PLATO interfac esand standard keyboards, but the Owens-Illinoisplasma panel (erroneously called Cornin g elsewhere in the book) blazes in all its glory.

TI T W $rh nnin 'jRvelopnent in computer graphics in

the last year has been tha sudden upsurge of thebit-map approach to computer display- While theapproach, and equipment for lt like the DataDisk system-- have been around for some time, thefalling price of electron ics, especially in the

, have made lt abruptly the cheapest- type of compu ter dls-

iries of dot positions,ie form of fast me mor y

i conven tional scann ed>-7) . The one bits

and thus th* play for graphid

A "bit ma p" is aor bite, recorded in iand read out in sync to ivide o system (see pp . DM(stand for dots or little squares, the zeroesfor nothing , and the video system brightens thecorrespon ding zones on the screen . This methodhaa certain disadvantages parts of picturescannot be automatically distinguished or separately animated, as with subroutining display(see "The Mind's Eye," asp. p. D M 2 3 ) but forthe mon ey it's gr eat. Sizes given refer to thenumber of squares in the rectangle of the picture.

BLACK-AND-WHITE

An off-the-shelf bit-map system for thePDP-11 or the Nova is available from IntermediaSystems, 20430 Town Center Lane, Cupertino CA95014 (S2750 or $2500 respect ively) . May begang ed for grey-sc ale or color . It's 256x256 .

For the Altair, tha forthcoming 8096 display(see p. Y) will have 120x120 or Z40x240 bit-mapgraphics, for prices starting around $1000,

COLOR

Extra bit maps, plus electronics, can get youcolor; if you double the number of bits you candouble the number of available colors on your d i splay, ad infinitum.

On the small sid e, 64x64 color wll shortlybe available for the Altair from the Digital Group,Denv er. A 128x128 color bit-map system for the 11has just been annou nced by DEC (for "nuc lear m e d icine" of all thin gs but they will part with itto anybody for 8 or 10 thousan d (not yet f i x e d ) ) ,ihey stress that this will be the first of a modular series of bit-ma p display s, with plug ins fordifferen t degree s of resolution and differ entcharacter generators.

Ramtek and Comtal both make 256x256 bit-mapsystems, priced in the $16,000 area.

Above this resolution special TV systems tendto be necess ary. Both Ramtek and Comtal make veryexpensive systems for the purpose, usingsolid-state and disk respectively.

You may or may not have heard of the AdventTV projector, the most glorious TV thing there is.It costs $3500 and projects a four-foot picture inthe best TV color you can fin d. A lot of guys arebit-mapping to it.

At MIT they've got bit-map color on the Advent at better than 400x500 resolution. (An optionplann ed for the Flying Tu rtle (see p. Y) will allow its core memory to be used with the Advent asa bit-m ap display refresher .) At Comtal they'regoing for 1000x1000 on the Advent, rejiggering theelectronics fron scratch.

The most spectacular demonstration of bit-mapcolor so far has no doubt been the film done byDick Shou p et al . at Xerox PARC (see p. X) , showing the super animation that's possible when big-computer resources are given over to bit-map a n imation . Their system is 600x800.

All those scoreboards and wisecracking light-g r i d s , now that they are computer-controlled,raise all kindB of possibilities for non-frameanim ation . The big ones cost in the mill ions ; asnail one for shopping centers costs a hundredgrand (Millenium Info Systems, Santa Clara CA ).

Within a year or so, though, you ought tobe able to get a nice animated display-panel of

. for the s ide of yo ur iyou've got the computer inside.

. assuming

theBut

A surprise something-or-other from DEC,V T 5 5 , represents a breakthroug h of some sortwhat were they thinking of?

"Graphic capability" has been added to anordinary upper-case keyscope. Specifically, theability to make two grap hs, i.e., two wigg ly line;(no more) somewhere between the left and rightsides of the screen. You can also shade in underthem, and add coordin ate grids . It's $2500 , andobviously great if you're bonkers for 2D graphs.

IBM, which did not take part in its developm e n t , is sponsorin g a $100,000 CHARGE installationat the University of Waterloo, in Canada.

-*lbor Day , 197 5

MORE THANKS

In banging together thisvolume originally, I omittedthanking Hash Wiener, brazan (brash young old-fashioned neweditor of Computer Decisions,who has changed that publication from stolid X peppery.

Thanks also to my goodfriend Robert w. Fiddler, Esq.,patent attorney and still anex-philosophy professor sth e a r t , for many delig htful andwitty conversations on problemsof patent, copyright snd thevagaries of intellectual property. Any harebrained ideas onthese topics expressed here,however, are almost assuredlyay own.

For much of the information In this supplement I amgrateful to Bob Albrecht ofPCC, mentioned here and there.

Finally, special thanksto Commander Hugo McCauley,better known to you as Hugo'sBook service, for his yeomanperformance in shipping outthe books not to mention carrying them up and down stairs,typing the mailing labels,checking for bad on es, andsending out all those notes ofapology when we were out ofbooks again and again and again.And to long-suffering Lois andMegan McCa uley, my especialgratitude.

WHATEVER

The sea-to-shining-seaNelson Empire now consists ofa lot of unsold books, a 1K Altair and a second pair of shoes.My scheme for taking on Apprentice Generalists may have towait awhile. So may ComputerL i b , the film. But just wait .

Speaking of which, whatabout this book, hey, now?

Eventually there will bea new edition. Yes , the type

is horrendously small, and thatwill have to be fixed. Butthat involves new negatives forevery page, an expenditure ofthousan ds of dollar s, and som ereconsideration of how thisshould all be set up.

There have been severalinteresting plan s. One was tosplit the contents of this bookinto three books, add material,enlarge the type and have themeach this size and pric e. Tentative titles were Computer Lib/Dream Machines, ComputersArise./Computers Arouse , andGuerrilla Computing/Electronlc

Monkeyshimfor Guerrilla Computing: ringKong climbing the front panelof a 370 holding Patty Hearst.(I also daydreamed about p u tting out a 10-volume encyclopedia in the same format , embracing psychology/sociology,biology/evolutionary strategy,history (as strategy) /mor e h i story (as moo d and f e e l i n g ) ,revolution versus continu ity(a two-sided position p a p e r ) . . .

the Gem-Maniacal Encyclopedia'.But reason has prevailed, andsuch forays have been postponedindefinitely.

The present plan is forComputer Lib to be rewrittenand reset in bigger type, atleast 256 pages , with at lea st9 color pages and color co ver.(We're talking about fall '76or later.) Price will have tobe S15. If you think that's arlpoff you can still get thiso n e . (A num ber of people havecom plain ed to me about the $_7price tag of this volu me. Havethey ever bought other books?)Later I would like to put ou tan anthology of my favorite articles in the field, using theComputers Arise'./ComputersArouse 1 title and fo rmat, an dwith some good 3D if possible.In any case, I want to stay inthe publishing game; I haven'thad so mu ch fun in years- other projected volumes includeThe Inner Beyond, by SheilaMcKenrle; Dirty Driving and theStrategy of Traffic by "DriverE d j " and The Nelson ComputerGlos sary. Soon I hope to beable to typeset from my owncomputer, and possibly to sharethis facility.

This has been a most interesting year. I have beanpleased to mee t, and otherwiseenjoy, the variety of clever,charming and/or lubricous persons who have sought me outsince the book first appeared;as well aa all the speaking engagements, soirees and whatnot.

I am delighted to receiverelevant material and communications of any kind, althoughproblems of time, disorganisation and mood often precludea Personal Type Reply.

It haa been a real lift formy morale to share some of theseIdeas and enthusiasms with awider public at last. It isyou, finally, who have to carepand I am very glad you do.

As to the most importantmatters, there is a news blackout for tha indefinite future.Please stand by.

Next year in Xanadu.


7/132

i n 3

i Kai

(bo th . Id . . ) i . baa .d In P r t on my t a l k , a t o t b e f o r eS o c i e t y, t ha A m e r i c a n D o c u * n t a t i o n I n s t i t u t e ,

. r . . . n r l . U o n . t ha A s s o c i a t e d P r e s s , t ha A * . o -e l L l f t e n e e A g e n c y, t h .

th * P r i n t i n g a n da S o c i e t y f o r I n f o r -

. a nd Te l e v i s i o n E n g i n e e r, ( t h * A u b u r n l e c t u r e . ) .

a t t o n f o r C o m p u t i n g M a c h i n e r y , t h e C e n t r a ll a t i t u t * o f E l e c t r i c a l a n d E l e c t r o n i c * E n f l ni b l i a h l n . A a a o c l a t l o n , t h e R s n d C o r p o r a t i o n .I t io n D i a p l a y , th e S o c l . t y o f M o t i o n < < " . . "M E I n c o r p o r a t e d , U n i o n T h e o l o g i c a lr o x P a l o A l t o R e . a a r c h C * n t * r , a n dI v e r . i t l a e a n d J o i n t C o m p u t e r C o n f e

A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S

E v e r y b o d y a t C h i c a g o C i r c l e C a m p u sh a s b e e n v e r y s p o r t i n g a b o u t t h i s p r o j e c t .I am g r a t e f u l n o t o n l y f o r t he e n c o u r a g em e n t a n d a s s i s t a n c e o f v a r i o u s i n d i v i d u s l s( e s p e c i a l l y J o s e p h I . U p s o n , D a v i d C .M i l l e r a n d S a m u e l S c h r a g e ) , bu t fo r t hea t m o s p h e r e o f s u p p o r t w h i c h h a s m a d e t h i sp o s s i b l e . M y t h a n k s t o t h e D e p a r t m e n t o fA r t a n d t h e O f f i c e o f I n s t r u c t i o n a l R es o u r c e s D e v e l o p m e n t f o r f r e e i n g m e f r o mt e a c h i n g d u t i e s , t o t h e C o m p u t e r C e n t e rs n d t h e D e p a r t m e n t o f C h e n i s t r y f o r l e tt i n g m e u s e p i c t u r e s o f t h e i r e q u i p m e n t ,a n d e v e r y b o d y f o r t h e i r e n c o u r a g e m e n t .

I wou l d l i ke t o t hank the Wal t D i s neyo r g a n i z a t i o n f o r t h e i r p e r m i s s i o n t o d ep i c t t h e i r w o n d e r f u l c h a r a c t e r s , a n d e ve r y o n e e l s e w h o f u r n i s h e d m a t e r i a l s a n dp e r m i s s i o n s f o r t h e t h i n g s h e r e i n .

T h a n k s a l s o t o t h o s e w h o l o o k e d o v e rs o m e o f t h e m a t e r i a l , e s p e c i a l l y H e r b e r tG r o s c h o f C o w p u t e r w o r l d , D a n M c G u r k o ft h e C o m p u t e r I n d u s t r y A s s o c i a t i o n , a n dW i l l i a m R o d g e r s .

In 1 important sense this ia not no.

e f u l thea m p a r t i c u l a r l y g r a t im a n y w h o h a v e e x p l a i n e d c o m p u t e r s t o n eo v e r t h e y e a r s , e s p e c i a l l y D a v e D e n n i s t o n ,R o b e r t F e n i c h e l , A n d r e w J , S i n n e r , J o h nR . L e v i n e .

M y t h a n k s t o To m B a r n a r d f o r s o m e o ft h e e a r l y t y p i n g , a n d f o r t h e P o r t a - X a n .

I a m g r a t e f u l t o C o m p u t e r D e c i s i o n sm a g a z i n e f o r t h e i r g o o d w i l l , and he lp inr e s e a r c h i n g c o m p u t e r i m a g o s y n t h e s i s .

M y r o o m m a t e To m D e F a n t i , m e n t i o n e d

e l s e w h e r e i n t h i s b o o k , h a s b e e n c o n s i de r a t e b e y o n d t h e c a l l o f d u t y i n g i v i n go v e r a l l t h e f i r s t - f l o o r r o o m s o f o u rh o u s e t o t h i s p r o j e c t f o r s i x m o n t h s .

M y t h a n k s f i n a l l y t o t h e m a n y o t h e r sw h o s e g o o d w i l l h a s k e p t m e g o i n g , i np a r t i c u l a r m y f o r m e r w i f e a n d e t e r n a lf r i e n d , D e b o r a h S t o n e N e l s o n .

S p e c i a l g r e e t i n g s t o n y f r i e n d a n dn e i g h b o r , M r s . J o h n R . N e i l l : I h o p e y o ue n j o y t h e u s e s w h i c h y o u r h u s b a n d ' s i ll u s t r a t i o n s o f T i k - To k t h e M a c h i n e M a nh a v e f o u n d h e r e .

L a s t l y, f o r h e r c o n t r i b u t i o n s t om o r a l e ( a n d f o r n o t f o o t p r i n t i n g t h ep a s t e u p s } , l e t ' s h a v e a w a r n h a n d f o rP o o k y t h e Wo n d e r D o g .

The mac h ines , and t o y s , and involvement*we buy Into, are in but a small proportion ofcases ow ne d sim ply as sco res, for their eo.ta* consumpt ion symbo l s .

Ra the r, we buy th ings l ha t REP RE SE NTI D E A L S . hoping ourselv es lo partake of *omeabstraction or image-- the Playboy ma n, theS m a r t B u s i n e s s m a n , t he C l e v er H o m e m a k e r .

Each prod uct tries lo tell us it is the k eystone of a wa y of life, and the n, at least at thatmome n t o f pu rcha se , we s t ep in to , wc embrac ethat Wa y of l ife, covering ourselves with thefeeling, the aura, the magi c we s aw in the co mmerc i a l .

T h l * ia not material ism. It Is wishfulg ra sp ing at mias ma . (Fo l lowing sentence optional.) It is co mm un io n, with the object seisedsimply the Objective Correlative of a hoped-fortranasubstantist ion. (Sorry. ) I t's a seeking ,not to possess, 4 l o be long .

D .W. GRIFFITH-- t ook the mov ie -box and c rea t ed[he photoplay. no longer n twisted stagep roduc t ion .

WA LT DISNE Y-- c r ea t ed a hypno t i c pan theon o fk ind ly and innocen t s emi -an ima l s , sentimentally universal , generally acceptable.

JO HN W. CA MPB EL L- - a s au tho r and then ed ito r f As tound in g , t u rned Amer i can sc i ence -fiction from the Buck Rogers space operato the hum an story, buil t arou nd tho ught-out premises and structures.

I VA N S U T H E R L A N D p r o g r a m m e d a n d s y s t e m a t i z e da computer setup for helping people thinkand wo rk with dec ply-structured pictorialinformation. (See p.ihl)- )

D O U G E N G E L B A RT f o r e s aw t he u s e o f c o m p u t e rsc reens a s a way o f expand ing the mind ,and over the last decade and a half hasbrought about just that .

A n d m o r e , a n d o n .

Th e occasional O z ill s rations are ail byJohn R . Neil l . from various out-of-copyright Ozbooks by L . F rank Ba um , e speci a lly Ozm a o f Ozand Tik -Tok o f Oz . Tik - Tok . t he Mach ine M an ,is the figure to wh om occasional allegorical significance is attached here by Juxtaposition.

i this sDresd ia from

A N O T H E R Q U I C K I E

Comp are Al i ce , wh en she ge ts lo Wonder l and("Deary me Cur iose r and cu r io se r " )

with Dorothy G ale, transported to Oz("How d o I_ get back to Kans as? ")

Fantasy t ies in with everything, includingAmerican git-out-n-do-it .

Though t you migh t wonde r.

OUT THE DOOR IH ' 74

I h a v e w a n t e d t o w r i t * a n i n t r o d u c t i o n t o c o m p u t e r s , a n d a a e p a r a t e b o o k o n F a n t i c * f o r yB u t t h e I d e a of b i n d i n g t h e m b * c k - t o - b a c k i n a W h o l e E a r t h f o r m a t , w i t h l o t a o f m l a c h l e v o u * E n r

m a t e r i a l , d i d n ' t h i t m e t i l l J a n 7 3 . I h a v e t r i e d t o a d d a l l t h e s t i m u l a t i n g a n d e x h l l a r aa t i on* , a s o n t h e o t h e r s i d e ; c o m p u t e r * a r e d e e p l y p e rs h o w i n g - s y s t e m s . I r e g r e t h a v i n g t o t h r o w s o m a n y o f il at s o m e r e a d e r s w i l l s e n s e t h e s e r i o u s n e s s b e l o w.

s t u f f I c o u l d f i n d , e s p e c i a l l y p em a c h i n e s , c o n t r a r y t o l e g e n d , e n d ,c o n c e r n * i n t o c o m i c r e l i e f , b u t 1 1

* t r . i l h t , , ? t I O R , f 0 t t h i " b k C ' " ' t T O n t h i n g c a l l e d t h e D o m e b o o k , t h a t t e l l , youHHAf K , I hZ " m " k * C e o d e " l c D ' - ( c " t se I 'm b l a t a n t l y i m i t a t i n g , i n a w a y , t h .w o n d e r f u l W h o l e E rt h C a t a l o g o f S t s - a r t B r a n d . A s I t h i n k b a c k , t h o u g h , t h e t o n e a l s o c o m e , i n p a r tII rn rh i t ?* ' " w o n d e 5 f u l b - n J b k . " To . H c C a h i l l ' . a u t o m o b i l e r e v i e w . In M e c h a n l x I l l u s t r a t e

p r e c e d e n t l""mlmm' - ?'l ^ V l l i ^ l ' l l 1 1 ' ? " . ? > < - .. . M .t ry how he though t we shou ld win Wor ld War I I .

s k y ' s Vi c t o r y T h r o u g h A i t P o i

T h l * p r o j e c t , . i np l e i n p r i n c i p l e a r y b e c a u s e n o p u b l i s h e r c o u l d h a v e cH e n d e r e o o . ( a d . ) ' T h e P u b l i s h - I t - Yo u r *T 1 0 7 0 1 .

h a * b e e n i n f i n i t e l y b o t h e r s o m e . S e l f - p u b 1 i c a 1 1 o n w a s n e c e s -m p r e h e n d e d t h e c o n c e p t of t h l * b o o k ; I h e * r t i l y r e c o m m e n d B i l lO f H a n d b o o k . S I fr o m T h e P u s h c a r t B o o k P r e s s . B o x 8 4 5 , l o o k e r s

t th e b o o k I h a d m e a n t t o w r i t e . H o s t 1 * f i r a t - d r a f t ; h o w t h e s e n. I d o n o t l i k e u n d e r l i n i n g t h i n g * a f i r a t - d r a f t e x p e d i e n t . ) F aid t o b e l a r g e l y a b a n d o n e d . B a t t e r p l a n n i n g c o u l d h a v e i n c r e a s e d

I p t , a n d t h e g l o s s a r y, h a d to b e k i c k e d a s i d e ; I n c l u d i n g ia l n l n g s i m u l a t o r s , a u g m e n t e d s t a g e p r o d u c t i o n s o f tl11 t h s t .

H a l fi-madia," m l e r o f i l

news w h a t . So r ry f

W I T H A L I T T L E H E L P F R O M M t F R I E N D S

-y - l l e , l n r - i r - t f r l . n d . n s r j 1 h " : * v b " n " " P 1 " - " - i t h o u t t h . d e d i c a t e d a n d e x t r a o r d i n a r y e f f o r t , o f

The aad th ing abou t i t a l l I ta y a t * * ( o f wh ic h on ly a coup le exI f ee l d.*ply f o r e v e r y o n e w h o h a ,d e c e n t s y s t e m s w e r e a v a i l a b l e .

t a s y e t ) w o u l d h a v e o b v i a t e d a l l t h a f 1 n d l n g - a n d - r e t y p l o g p r o b l et r o u b l e w r i t i n g b y c o n v e n t i o n a l m e a n s , a n d w h o w o u l d n ' t I f o n l y

1 already said on the other aide that thecompute r i s a Ror scha ch , and you mak e o f itsom e wild reflection of what you are yourself .The re is mor e to it than that .

Amer ica la the land where the machine isan intimate part of our fantasy life.

Ge rm an s are too l i teral, they can get offon well-oiled c o g s . The F renc h a re t oo vag ue .(I 've noticed thai Ge rm an science-fiction ma gazines had cove rs of mach ines nn d planets; Frenchscience-fiction magazi nes , of drag ons and peoplewith wi ng s. Ou r science-fiction covers sho w

people with mac hin es. Intimately, emotionally.)Ger man f an ta sy Is i cy and imper s ona l , F renchfantasy too pers onal , and Am eri can fantasy issplat In the middl e, unit ing both: m an andm a c h i n e , m e a n s a n d e n d s , emotion and details .

Me n a lways l onged to fly. but it wa s her ethat they first did . Thi s is the land of theMO VI E, a fantasy fabricated with endless difficu lty u s ing va r ious k inds o f equ ipm en t .

i fabled ch aracter

This is the land of the kandy kolor hotr o d , the Hell 's Ang el cho ppe r, the drive-inm o v i e . An d the wi ld ho t ro d , in fact , is Justthe flip side of the deep-ca rpeted Cadillac: eachis a fantasy, an extension of its owne r 's imag eof himself in the world.

Th us i t wa s not an historical accident,but utterly predetermined, that in the hands ofAmer i cana the compu te r wou ld become a way o frealizing every conceivable wild fantasy thatwas dea r t o t hem.

Thi s is perfectly all right. Thi s is as it

should b e. This ia the best pert of our culture .Not "Let a hundred flowers bloom," but "Let ahund red g i zmos c l ank . " Th i s has sped immea surably the imaginative develo pment of ma ny different things we mig ht w a n t . I try here fairlyto explain a few differences amo ng the m.

The re la just one p robl em with all this .No w that all these things exist , or com e nearerto exist ing, which ones will other people want ?What will it be possible for every one to have?An d h ow can w e t ie all these things together?

( H o t e l t h i s t h e s i s i s b e i n g a d v a n c e do n l y h a l f - s e r i o u s l y . T h e r e h a v e b e e n an u m b e r o f e x a c t l y - d r e a m f u l F r e n c h m e n , a n df o r t h i s t h r e e - n a t i o n a l i t y s p l i t t o b er e a l l y t r u e , t h e y w o u l d a l l h a v e t o h a v ec o m e f r o m A l s a c e , n e x t t o G e r m a n y : Ju le .- >V o r n e , O a g u o r r c , t h e b r o t h e r s H o n t g o I f it h e o t h e r s L u m i e r e , . f e w. )

o f

Z D R E A M M A C H I N E S4 A P PA R AT U S E S O F A P PA R I T I O N6 V I D E O6 L I G H T N I N G I N A B O T T L E :

T H E C AT H O D E - R AY T U B E8 HOLOGRAPIIY8 S a n d i n ' s I m a g e P r o c e s s o r9 30DY ELECTRON' CS

1 0 P I C T U R E P R O C E S S I N G11 A U D I O u C O M P U T E R S1 2 T H R E E C O M P U T E R D R E A M S :1 Z A I ( a r t i f i c i a l i n t e l l i g e n c e )I S I R ( i n f o r m a t i o n r e t r i e v a l )1 5 C A I ( c o m p u t e r - a s s i s t e d

i n s t r u c t i o n )1 6 " N o M o r e Te a c h e r s '

D i r t y L o o k s . "2 0 T H E M I N D ' S E Y E

( c o m p u t e r d i s p l a y )2 4 C O M P U T E R M O V I E S2 6 P L AT O2 8 " L a w s o f t h e U n i v e r s e

H y p e r - C o m i c s "3 0 T H E M I N D ' S E Y E M O R E :

3 D L I N E S Y S T E M S3 1 D e F a n t i ' s C o u p d e G R A S S3 2 H A L F T O N E I M A G E S Y N T H E S I S

1 . P o l y g o n S y s t e m s3 4 2 . S h a d e s o f R e a l i t y

( n i c e r g r e y s )3 7 3 . H a r d e n i n g o f t h e

A r t i s t r i e s ( s p e c i a l h a r d w a r e )3 9 4 . C o m p u t e r I m a g e C o r p .4 0 T H E M I N D ' S E Y E M O R E :

n D i m e n s i o n s4 1 T h e C i r c l e . G r a p h i c s H a b i t a t4 2 T h e T i s s u e o f T h o u g h t4 2 H o w t o L e a r n A n y t h i n g4 3 O n Wr i t i n g4 3 T h e H e r i t a g e4 4 H Y P E R M E D I A , H Y P E RT E X T S4 6 E n g e l b a r t4 8 FA N T I C SS 2 T H I N K E RT O Y SS 6 X A N A D U5 8 W H AT N E L S O N I S R E A L LY S AY I N G59 FLIP OU T

m tfGWt> of Wr e e - f x * ^In the fantasies of their MibjecU, which ihey

ted are the precursors ol new artistic imageslhat will in turn aclualue theimelve* as anotherform ol bring, Matters and Ho uMo n tee . newhero igu re onstantly recurring. Thi* new heroii not ihe old "hero of a thou iand face*," theindividualist wh o tuflVr*, di n. and U reborn,tl.ughtering and conquer ing along the w a y. Instead, he ii Pro tean, c.pable of infinite change*in appear.nee and slyle, magici an, a Ballke-ur bringing giflL He rupture* categories andconfutes the senses, and in doing to he holdsoul ihe promise of fusion on a higher level.

If such . hero were to became I e model lor[he approarhing age , he would probably nol bethe founder of ma u movem ent or I e god ol. new rrliginn. He would be more elusive, morechangeful ihtn his predecessors. He would be sorcerer wh o Ireala the eilemsl world and theinterna world o n equal terms, givi ng spirit tothe former and lesh o the lat e t. H e would be matter of par dol and a player of g.nwm,speaking n ew language. H i* one prayer mightbe the tinea of Blake:

Wa y CaJ w kttpFrom tuuU villa*AmJ ftartea'j Ump.

Kenneth Cavander,"Voyage of the Peyohenaute.'Harper'a, Jon 74, p . 74,

cloved1 ^antt iather,

e a c W Holm.

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8/132

or AfPiJitmeNJIt a ee ma d i f f e r en t comp an i e s a r e a l l t he

t ime in t rod uc ing wonde r fu l ne w dev ic es t ha t w i l lr e v o l u t i o n iz e , u h . w h a t e v e r i t i s w e d o w i t h , u h ,inform ation and stuff . Thing's you' l l at tach toy o u r T V t o g e t h i g h b r o w p r o g r a m s o r d i r t y m o v i e s .Mic ro f i lm dev ices t ha t w i l l sh r in k the con ten t so f t he Va t i can L ib ra ry to a do t on your g l a s se s .G o g g l e s t ha t s h o w y o u h o l o g r a p h i c c o l o r m o v i e s .A p ince -nez tha t l e ts yo u see the fu tu re . An ds o o n .

R e a d i n g P o p u l a r M e c h a n i c s o r t h e S a t u r d a yr e v i e w o f p a t e n t s i n t h e N e w Yo r k T i m e s , y o ug e t t h e i d e a o f S o m e t h i n g B i g , N e w a n d W o n d e r

fu l Ab ou t t o Hap pe n , so we ' l l a ll hav e acce s s t oa n y t h i n g , a n y t i m e , a n y w h e r e .

Bu t i t' s been tha t wa y fo r deca de s , an dw i t h c e r t a i n e x c e p t i o n s h a s n ' t h a p p e n e d y e t .

H e r e a r e s o m e t h i n g s th a t h a v e c a u g h t o n ,and a re mos t ly f ami l i a r t o ua a l l .

B o o k . N e w s p a p e r . M a g a z i n e . R a d io ( A M ) .P h o n o g r a p h r e c or d ( 7 8 ) . Ta p e r e c o r d e r .B l a c k - a n d - w h i t e te l e vi s io n . R a d i o ( F M ) . P h o n og r a p h r e c o r d ( 3 3 ) . P h o n o g r a p h r e c o r d ( 4 5 ) .C o l o r t e l e v i si o n . Ta p e c a r t r i d g e ( i " ) . T a p ecas se t t e (Ph i l i p s , ca . 1 / 8 " ) . S t e r e o r e c o r d sa n d t a p e s . O h y e a h , a n d m o v i e s : 3 5 m m , 1 6 m m ,8 m m . S u p e r 8 m m . C a r o u s e l p r o j e c to r s . V i e w -m a s t e r s t e r e o v i e w e r s .

H e r e a r e s o m e t h i n g s I n t h e p r o c e s s o fca t ch ing on ( and no t a s s u re d o f s u c c e s s ) :Q u a d r o p h o n i c s o u n d . D o l b y . C h r o m i u m , d i o x i d et a p e e m u l s i o n . S u p e r 1 6 m o v i e f o r m a t .

B u t f o r e v e r y t h i n g t h a t d i d c a t c h o n , d o z e n s

d i d n ' t . S o m e e x a m p l e s : 1 2 -i n c h 4 5 r p m r e c o r d s .11 . 5 m i l l i me t e r m o v i e s . R C A ' s , - i n c h t a p e c a r tr i d g e , w h i c h b e c a m e a m o d e l f or t h e m u c h s m a l l e rP h i l i p s . W i r e r e c o r d e r s .

Th en the r e a r e t he t h ings t ha t cau gh t o nf o r a w h i l e a n d w e n t n w a y . S t e r e o p t i c o n s ( a n dt h e ir b e a u ti f u l d e s c e n d a n t , th e Tr u - Vu e , w h i c hI l o v e d a s a k i d ) . C y l i n d r i c a l r e c o r d i n g s .P i a n o ro l l s . A n d s o o n .

T h e n t h e r e a r e t h e v i d e o r e c o r d i n g s y st e m s . C B S ' E V R d i e d be f o r e it g o t a n y w h e r e .RC A' s Se l ec t aVi s ion i sn 't ou t ye t . 2 - i n c h q u a di s s t an da rd in t he s tud i os , | - i nch Po r t a - Paki s s t a n d a r d a m o n g t h e Vi d e o F r e a k s , a n d it l o o k sl ike Son y ' s 3 /4" ca r t r i dge wi l l w i n a s t he ma i ns a l e s a n d s t o r a g e m e d i u m . ( T h e P h il i p s s y s t e mh e r e l o o k s a s t h o u g h i t w o n ' t m a k e i t , a n d 1-inchi s d u b i o u s . ) B u t w h a t ' s t h i s w e h e a r a b o u tv i d e o d i s k s ( t w e n t y - f i v e y e a r s a f t e r t h e y a n n o u nc e d P h o n e v i s i o n . A h , w el l . ) ?

T h e t h i n g i s , s o m a n y o f t h e s e t h i n g s s e e mt o s o u n d a l i k e . T h e y e l l m e n t i o n " i n f o r m a t i o nr e t r i e v a l , " e d u c a t i o n , t e c h n o l o g y, p o s s i b l y " t h ei n f o r m a t i on e x p l o s i o n " a n d " t h e k n o w l e d g e i nd u s t r y. " P r e s s r el e a s e s o r e f f u si v e n e w s p a p e ra r ti c le s m a y u s e p h r a s e s l i k e " s p a c e - a g e , "" f u tu r i st i c ," " M c L u h a n e s q u e " o r e v e n " O r w e l l i a n "( t h o u g h f e w p e o p l e w h o u s e t ha t w o r d s e e m t ok n o w w h a t O r w e l l s t o o d f o r ; s e e p ) .

A n d t h e i n t im i d at i n g c o m p a n y n a m e sO u t f i t s w i t h n a m e s l i k e G e n e r a l L e a r n i n g , I n c . ,o r S y n e r g i s t i c C y b e r n e t i c s , I n c . , o r e v e nC o m m u n i c a t i o n s | R e s e a r c h ( M a c h i n e s , I n c .S u r e l y s u c h p e o p l e m u s t k n o w w h a t t h e y a r ed o i n g , t o u s e s u c h s c i e n t i f i c - s o u n d i n g p h r a s e sas t hese

T h e n t h e r e ar e t he b u s i n e s s m a g a z i n e s .In t he l a te s ix t i e s t hey w er e t a lk ing abou t " Th eK n o w l e d g e I n d u s t r y " ( a f ic ti on , it t u r n e d o u t .o f an economis t ' s l u mp in g a lo t o f t h ing s t oge t he ro d d l y ) . N o w t h e y ta l k a b o u t t he C a b l e T V o u tf it s an d the Vid eo Car t r i dg e out f i ts a s t ho ug ht h e y ' r e t h e ca t 'B p a j a m a s .

E m b l e m o f 2 d I n t e r n a t i o n a l A n i m a t i o n F i l m F e s t i v a lin H M Yo r k , J 7 4 . M a l t D i s n e y P r o d u c t i o n s .

Yo u C a n ' t Tel l t h e E x p e r t s Wi t h o u t T h e y P r o g r a m Yo u( C f . " C a l l i n g n S p a d e a S p a d e , p . J > )

B f \ r S e t l 5 I M TombGuy_'s_ B a c k g r o u n d

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3 . C a b l e O p e r a t o r s

M a t h / E n g i n e e r i n g

D i s p l a y E n g i n e e r i n g

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P u b l i s h i n gA d v e r t i s i n g ,

P u b l i c R e l a t i o n s ,M a r k e t i n g

Artificial Intell igence

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To l l - Ta l e P h r a a e s fc J a r g u m e n t a t i o n

" M e d i a " ( m e a n i n g t e l e v i s i o n ) ;" S o f t w a r e " ( m e a n i n g v i d e o t a p e s ) ." P r o g r a m m i n g " ( m e a n i n g c o m p et i t i ve s c h e d u l i n g ) ;

" S o f t w a r e " (m ean in g f ixed - length T V s h o w s ) .H e a d e n d , u p s tr e a m a d o w n s t r e a m , b a c k - c h a n n e l ,

" in t e r ac t ive T V " ( mea n in g any fo rm o f i n t e r ac t ivec o m p u t e r s y s t e m t h e y c a n g et in o n ) .

I n f o r m a t io n t h e o r y, c h a n n e l c a p a c i t y, b a n d w i d t h ,f e e d b a c k , a n y t h i n g c o m p l e x a n d i r r e l e v a n t .

F u l l d u p l e x , e c h o p l e x , a s p e c t r a t i o , s c r o l l , c u r s o r ;" in fo rma t ion t r ans fe r " (me an i ng t e ll i ng o r t e a c h i n g ) ;"da t a de l ive ry " ( ac t t h e r e o f ) .

" S o f t w a r e " ( m e a n i n g s e q u e n t i al o r b r a n c h i n g t e l l - i -test m a t e r i a l s ) ; " P r o g r a m m i n g " ( c r e at i n g t h e s e ) ;r e i n f o r c e m e n t s c h e d u l e s ( m e a n i n g p r e s e n t a t i o n a l o r d e r ) ;" i n p u t s " ( m e a n i n g i d e a s a n d i n f o r m a t i o n ) ; " f e e d b a c k "( m e a n i n g r e p l i e s ) ; " s i m u l a t i o n s " ( m e a n i n g p i c t u r e s o re v e n t s a u s e r c a n i n f l u e n c e ) .

" S o f t w a r e " ( m e a n i n g b o o k s ) ." D e m o g r a p h i c s " ( m e a n i n g f a c t i o n s ) ; c a m p a i g n ol r a l e g y

( m e a n i n g h o w y o u h i t a m a r k e t ) ; " p e n e t r a t i o n "( m e a n i n g e x t e n t to w h i c h y o u r s t u ff c a t c h e s o n ) ;" P r o g r a m m i n g " ( m o a n i n g a n y t h i n g w h a t e v e r ) .

A n y t h i n g m a t h e m a t i c a l ; t h e o r e m s , d i s c r i m i n a t o r s , n e u r a ln e t s : " p r o g r a m m i n g " ( m e a n i n g s e tt i ng u p a n y t h i n gv e r y c o m p l i c a t e d a n d i n c o m p r e h e n s i b l e ) .

G l o b a l V i l l a g e , m o s a i c , s u r r o u n d ; " P r o g r a m m i n g "( m e a n i n g p s y c h o l o g i c a l i n d o c tr i n a ti o n ) : a n y b o d ye l s e 's t e r m s , d y n a m i c a l l y i n f u s e d w i t h n e w s e n s e s .

M e d i u m ( m e a n i n g st a b i li z e d p r e s e n t a t i o n a l c o n t e x t ) ;Wr i t i n g a n d C r e a t i o n ( m e a n i n g t h o u g h t f u l p r o d u c t i o no f s o m e t h i n g p r e s e n t a b l e , w h e t h e r s e q u e n t i a l o r n o t ,in a m e d i u m ) ; " P r o g r a m m i n g " ( m e a n i n g g i v i n gexac t i n s t ruc t ions t o a c o m p u t e r ) ; m e d i a i n t e g r i t y,i n v e n t i o n s 1 c o n v e n t i o n s : h y p e r t e x t , t h i n k e r t o y, f a n t i c s.

H a v i n g B p e n t s o m e c o n s i d e r a b l e t i m e a r o u n da n d a m o n g t h e s e a r e a s , I h a v e d e v e l o p e d c o n s i de r a b l e c y n i c i s m a n d a b a d c a s e o f t h e g i g g l e s .Or ig ina l ly i t a ll s ee me d to f i t t oge t he r a nd to bel e a d i n g s o m e w h e r e , b u t t a l k i n g to p e o p l e a t al ll e v e l s , a n d e i t h e r g i v i n g a d v i c e o r t r y i n g t oi n t e r p r e t th e a d v i c e o f o t h e r s , I a m c o n v i n c e dt h a t w h a t w e h a v e h e r e i n t h i s w h o l e a u d i ov i s u a l - p r e s e n t a t i o n a l w h i z b a n g f ie ld i s n o t h i n gle s s t han a ve ry h i gh o rd e r o f co l l ec t ive i n san i t y.T h e s t r a n ge w a y c o m p a n i e s a d o p t a n d d r o p v a ri o u s p r o d u c t l i n e s , a n d v e r b a l i z e w h a t t h e y t h i n kt h e y a r e d o i n g , s e e m t o m e a c o m b i n a t i o n o fl e m m i n g i s m a n d a w i l l i n g n e s s t o f o l l ow a n y A u t ho r i t y i n a n e x p e n s i v e s u i t . I ha ve t a lked toe n o u g h v i c e - p r e s i d e n t s a n d p r e s i d e n t s o f c o m p ut e r c o m p a n i e s , p u b l i s h i n g c o m p a n i e s , n e t w o r k s ,med ia ou t f i t s an d so o n , t o be to t a l l y ce r t a in

t h a t t h e y h a v e n o s p e c i a l k n o w l e d g e o r u n u s u a lb a s i s o f i n f o r m a t i o n ; y e t t h e s e p e o p l e ' s r e m a r k s ,a s a m p l i f i e d t h r o u g h t h e b u s i n e s s r e p o r t e r s ,s e n d t h e w h o l e n a t i o n a - d i t h e r i n g . T h e r e a r et i m e s I t h i n k e v e r y b o d y i n M e d i a i s e i t h e r d e l u d e d ,m i s g u i d e d , l yi n g o r c r a z y .

T H R E E C R U C I A L P O I N T S .

1 . S Y S T E M S "I N T H E H O M E . "

T h e e m p h a s i s h a s c h a n g e d f r o m t r y i n g t os e ll s n a z z y s y s t e m s t o t h e s c h o o l s ( w h i c h d o n ' th a v e th e m o n e y ) t o t h e h o m e . T h i s i n t u r nh a s c o n v i n c e d m o s t p e o p l e t ha t t h e n e w s y s t e m sh a v e t o b e v e r y l i m i t e d , l i ke j i m m i e d - u p T V s e t s .(W e eas i ly l o se t r ack o f t he f ac t t ha t yo u canh a v e a n y t h i n g " i n t h e h o m e " i f y o u w a n t t o p a yf o r i t; a n d a n e c o n o m y i n w h i c h M a r a n t z e s a n ds n o w m o b i l e s h a v e c a u g h t o n b i g i n d i c a t e s t h a ts o m e p e o p l e a r e g o i n g t o b e w i l l i n g t o p a y f o rr ea l ly ho t s tu ff . )

2 . C A T C H I N G O N .

T h e k e y q u e s t i o n i s n o t h o w g o o d a s y s t e mi s i n t h e a b s t r a c t , b u t w h e t h e r i t w i l l c a t c h o n .( O b v i o u s l y i f w e ' r e p u b l i c - s p i r i t e d w e w a n t t h eb e s t s y s t e m s t o c a t c h o n , o f c o u r s e . )

T h i s m a t t e r o f C a t c h i n g O n i s a f ic k le a n dc r u c i a l b u s i n e s s .

A c c o r d i n g t o o n e a n e c d o t e , M r . B e l lc o u l d n ' t i nt e r e st s n y o n e i n h i s i n v e n t i o n , w h i c hh e w a s s h o w i n g at s o m e t r a d e f a ir . T h e n w h os h o u l d c o m e b y b u t t h e E m p e r o r o f B r a z i l ( ) ,w h o w a s a b o u t t o l e a v e w i t h h i s r et i n u e of a dv i s e r s . " W h a t is t h a t ? " a s k e d t h e E m p e r o r o fB r a z i l . " N o t h i n g to b o t h e r w i t h , " t h e y s a i d , a n dt r i ed to r u s h h i m b y, b u t h e s t o p p e d a n d l o v e dit , a n d o r d e r e d t h e f i rs t p a i r o f t e l e p h o n e s s o l d .T h i s m a d e t h e h e a d l i n e s , a n d t h e s a l e o f t e l ep h o n e s b e g a n .

A n o t h e r a n e c d o t e . It i s l e g e n d a r y t h a ti n v e n t o r s o v e r v a l u e t h ei r o w n w o r k . Ye t a f te rT h o m a s E d i s o n h a d i n v e n t e d t h e k i n e m a t o g r a p h ,o r " m o v i n g p i c t u r e , " a d e v i c e y o u l o o k e d i n t o

t u r n i n g a c r a n k , h e d e c l i n e d t o b u i l d a p r o j e c t o rfo r i t , s ay ing tha t t he nove l ty w ou ld w ea r o ff .O b v i o u s l y h e d id ' t q u i t e s e e w h a t " c a t c h i n g o n "w o u l d m e a n h e r e .

Wo n d e r f u l S y s t e m s T h a t We r e G o n n a B e

I o n c e r e u d a m i n d - b l o w i n g r e v i e w a r t i cl e i nF i l m s i n R e v i e w , e a r l y s i x ti e s I t h i n k ,o n s c h e m e s t o m a k e t h r e e - d i m e n s i o n a lm o v i e s b e f or e 1 9 3 0 . T h e r e w e r e d o z e n s .

T h e n t h e r e w a s t h a t m u l t i s c r e e n f i lm N a p o l e o n a l e g e n d - - d o n e i n t h e n i n e t e e n - t w e n t i e s .( T h a t o n e r e a l l y e x i s t e d . )

P h o n e v i s i o n , a b o u t 1 9 4 7 o r s o , w a s g o i n g t o

s t o r e a h a l f - h o u r m o v i e o n a 1 2 - i n c h d i s k .Did they ge t t he i dea f rom the LP? Didthey r ea l ly t h ink they cou ld do i t ?

T h e G e r m a n p h o t o - g i z m o , a r o u n d 1 9 5 0 : a s p e ci a lc a m e r a t h a t s u p p o s e d l y c r e a t e d a s c u l p t u r eo f w h a t it w a s p o i n t e d a t . ( B u t h o w d i dit k n o w w h a t w a s b e h i n d t h i n g s ? )

A w e i r d l e n s a r o u n d 1 9 5 0 I t h i n k it w a s d e p i ct e d a s h a v i n g a b l u e c e n t e r a n d a r e d p e r iph e r y, l i ke a f i ft i es ho od lu m t a i l - l i gh tt h a t w a s s o m e h o w g o i n g t o f i n d " r e s i d u a lt r a c e s " o f c o l o r i n b l a c k - a n d - w h i t e p i c t u r e s ,a n d m a k e ' e m i n t o c o l o r , z o w i e , j u s t b yc o p y i n g t h e m .

T h e n t h e r e w a s t he P a n a c o l o r C a r t r i d g e . D u r i n gt h e D a y s o f M a d n e s s - - 1 9 6 8 , I t h i n k it w a s- - a r a the r good l i tt le mov ie ga dge t w asb e i n g p u s h e d b y a f ir m c a l l ed P a n a c o l o r .It ha d t en pa ra l l e l mo v i e and aud io t r ac ks ,1 b e l i e v e , o n a 7 0 m m s t r i p . T h e p r o t o t y p e sw e r e b u i l t b y Z e i s s .

T h e i r i d e a w a s t h a t t h is w a s a c o mp a c t m o v i e p r o j e c t o r . 1 k e p t t r y i n g t o p e rs u a d e t h e c o m p a n y ' s p r e s i d e n t lh a t t h e y h a di n a d v e r t e n t l y d e s i g n e d a s p l e n d i d d e v i c ef o r b r a n c h i n g m o v i e s ( s e e " H y p e r f i l m s , "p . * 7 7 ) .

E x e r c i s e f or t h e r e a d e r : m a p o u t p r o pe r t ie s o f t h e b r a n c h i n g a n d e x p o s i t o r ys t ruc tu re s imp l i c i t i n suc h a dev ice . ( It 'so n e - d i r e c t i o n a l . G o t t a r e w i n d w h e n y o ug e t t o t h e e n d . B u t y o u c a n j u m p b e t w e e nt r a c k s w h e n it s e e m s a p p r o p r i a t e . )

A n y w a y , i t' s g o n e n o w .


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The Great Robert Crumb.(v r0m Zoe_ Comix HO.)

f i e r i .1 k ' W1 1 ;

r erv Rujnkfc wver*.

* Iz.Vtia.

Pr*.v*l.

H A R D W A R E , S O F T W A R E A N D W H A T N O T ( re pr is e)

A m o n g t h e m a n y o d d t h i ng s th a t h a v er e s u l t e d f r o m t h e c ol l i si o n o f c o m p u t e r p e o p l ew i t h e d u c a t o r s , p u b l i s h e r s a n d o t h e r s h a s b e e nt h e r e s p e c t f u l i m i t at i o n o f c o m p u t e r w a y s b yt h o s e w h o d id n ' t q u i t e u n d e r s t a n d t h e m . A g a i n ,t h e c a r g o c u l t . *

T h e m o s t d i s m a l o f t h e s e p r a c t i c e s h a s b e e nt h e a d o p t i o n o f t h e t e r m " s o f t w a r e " f o r a n y i n t e ll e c t u a l o r a r t is t i c p r o p e r t y T h i s w h o l l y l o s e st h e d i s ti n c t i o n , m a d e o n t h e o t h e r s i d e of t h e b o o k ,b e t w e e n :

h a r d w a r e ( p r o g r a m m a b l e e q u i p m e n t )

s o f t w a r e ( p r o g r a m s , d e ta i l ed p l a n so f o p e r a t i o n t h a t t h e h a r d w a r ec a r r i e s o u t )

c o n t e n t s o r d a t a ( m a t e r i a l w h i c h i sw o r k e d o n b y , m o v e d i n o rp r e s e n t e d b y t h e h a r d w a r eu n d e r c o n t r o l o f t h e s o f t w a r e )

I n o t h e r w o r d s , h a r d w a r e a n d s o f t w a r et o g e t h e r m a k e a n e n v i r o n m e n t ; d a t a o r c o n t e n t sm o v e a n d a p p e a r i n t h at e n v i r o n m e n t .

T h e p u b l i s h i n g - e n d - p i c t u r e f ol k h a v e m i s s e dt h i s d i s t i n c t i o n e n t i r e l y. N o t r e a l i z i n g t h a t t h e i rp r o d u c t i o n s a r e t h e c o n t e n t s ( m a t e r i a l , m a t t e r ,d a t a , s t u f f, m e s s a g e . . . ) t h at c o m e a n d g o i n t h ep r e f a b r i c a te d h a r d w a r e - s o f t w a r e e n t i r o n m e n t s ,t h e y h a v e m u s h e d t h i s t o g e t h e r i n t o a s ta t e o fs e l f - f e e d i n g c o n f u s i o n .

( T h e m a t t e r h a s n o t b e e n h e l p e d b y t h ec o m p u t e r - a s s i s t e d i n s t r u ct i o n p e o p l e s e e p . f y f t \ c

w h o s e b r a n c h i n g p r o d u c t i o n s s e e m e d t o t h e me n o u g h l j k e c o m p u t e r p r o g r a m s t o b e c a l l e d" s o f t w a r e . " )

' P r i m i t i v e s e x p o s e d t o " ci v i l i z e d" m a n i m i t a Uh i s w a y s r i d i c u l o u s l y - in r e l i g i o u s r i t u a l s ,h o p i n g f o r t h e s h i p m e n t s o f c a n n e d g o o d s ,e t c . t h a t h i s b e h a v i o r s e e m s t o b r i n g d o w nf r o m p a r ts u n k n o w n .

OKI

* * * " M e r e c o r r o b o r a t i v e d e t a i l ,t o e n h a n c e a n o t h e r w i s eu n i n t e r e s t i n g n a r r a t i v e . . . "

P o o h - B a h ,L o r d H i g hE v e r y t h i n gE l s e

3 . S T A N D A R D I Z A T I O N

I n o r d e r f o r s o m e t h i n g t o C a t c h O n , i t h a st o b e s t a n d a r d i z e d . U n f o r t u n a t e l y , t h e r e i a m ot i v at i o n fo r d i f f er e n t c o m p a n i e s t o m a k e t h e i r o w nl it tl e c h a n g e s i n o r d e r t o r e s t r i ct u s e r s t o I t so w n p r o d u c t s . T h e b es t e x a m p l e of h o w t oa v o i d t h i s : P h i l i p s p a t e n t e d it s a u d i o c a r t r i d g et o t h e t e e t h , b u t t h e n g r a n t e d e v e r y b o d y f r e eu s e o f t h e p a t e n t p r o v i d e d t h e y a d h e r e d t o t h ee x a c t s t a n d a r d i z a t i o n . T h e r e su l t h a s b e e n t h es y s t e m ' s s p e c t a c u l a r s u c c e s s , a n d P h i l i p s , r a t h e rt h a n d o m i n a t i n g a s m a l l m a r k e t , h a s a s h a r e o fa fa r l a r g e r m a r k e t , a n d h e n c e m a k e s m o r em o n e y . T h a t ' s a v i r t u e - r e w a r d e d k i n d o f s t o r y .

T h e o t h e r p r o b l e m w i t h s t a n d a r d i z a t i o n ,t h o u g h , is t h a t w e t e n d t o s t a n d a r d i z e t o o s o o n .W e s t a n d a r d i z e d o n A M r a d i o , e v e n t h o u g h F Mw o u l d p r o b a b l y h a v e b e e n b e t t e r. ( O n e M a j o rA r m s t r o n g , a g r e a t f ig u r e i n t h e d e v e l o p m e n to f r a d i o , c o m m i t t e d s u i ci d e w h e n n o b o d y w o u l da c c e p t F M . I f h e c o u l d o n l y h a v e h e a r d o u r F Mo f t o d a y , h e m i g h t h a v e s a i d " O h , n u t s , " a n dl i v e d . )

A n o t h e r e x a m p l e . W h e n t h e y d e s i g n e d t heT o u c h - T o n e p h o n e p a d , t h e B e l l p e o p l e e v i d e n t l ys a w n o r e a s o n t o h a v e it m a t c h t h e a d d i n g m ac h i n e p a n e l , s o t h e y p u t " 1 " in t h e u p p e r l ef tr a t h e r t h a n t h e l o w e r l e ft . N o w t h e r e a r e lo t so f p e o p l e w h o u s e b o t h a r r a n g e m e n t s , e v e r y d a y ,a n d a t l e a st o n e o f t h e m c u r s e s t h e d e s i g n e r s 'l a c k o f c o n s i d e r a t i o n .

A n o t h e r i n t e r e s ti n g e x a m p l e o f C a t c h i n gO n : d u r i n g t h e e a r l y s i x t i e s , i t w a s f u n b e i n ga t p l a c e s w h e r e t h e y w e r e j u s t g e t t i ng X e r o xc o p i e r s f o r t h e f ir st t i m e . E v e r y o n e w o u l d a rg u e th at n o b o d y n e e d e d a c o p i e r . T h e n , g r u dg i n g l y , o n e w o u l d b e o r d e r e d . T h e fi rs t m o n t h ' su s e i n v a r i a b l y w o u l d e x c e e d t h e e s t i m a t e f o r t h ef ir st y e a r , a n d g o u p a n d u p f r o m t h e r e .

T h e w o r s t a s p e c t o f t h e c o n f u s i o n a m o n gt h e c o r p o r a t i o n s i s t ha t c e r t a i n d ef i c i e n c i e s a n dc r u d i t i e s o f v i s i o n s li p i n t o t h e m i x . U n l e s so u r n e w m e d i a a n d t h e i r e x a c t r a m i f i c a t i o n s a n dc o n c o m i t a n t s a r e p l a n n e d w i t h t h e g r ea t e s t c a r e ,e v e r y b o d y s t a n d s t o l o s e . W e m u s t u n d e r s t a n d t h ed e t a i l e d p r o p e r t i e s of m e d i a . ( T h e f i rs t q u e s t i o nt o a s k , w h e n s o m e b o d y i s s h o w i n g y o u t h eL a t e s t a n d G r e a t e s t , i s : " W h a t a r e t h e p r o p e r t i e sa n d q u a li t i es o f t h e m e d i u m ? " T h e f o l l o w u pq u e s t i o n s c o m e e a s i ly w i t h e x p e r i e n c e : H o w o ft e n d o y o u h a v e t o c h a n g e i t . w h a t a r e t h e b r a nc h i n g o p t i o n s , w h a t p ar t c o u l d s o m e b o d y a c c id e n t a l ly p u t i n b a c k w a r d s , a r e t h e r e d i s t r a c t i ngc o m p l i c a t i o n s ? e t c . }

I a m u n p e r s u e d e d b y M c L u h a n . H i s i ns i g h t s a r e r e m a r k a b l e , y e t s u s p i c i o u s: h e _ s u pp o s e s th a t e l e c t r o n i c m e d i a a r e al l t h e s a m e . H o wc a n t h is b e ? H e r e w e m a y n o w d e c i d e w h a t e l e ct r o n i c m e d i a w e w a n t i n t h e f u t u r e a n d t h i s d ec i s i o n , I w o u l d s a y , i s o n e o f t h e m o s t i m p o r t a n tw e h a v e to f a c e .

T h e e n g i n e e r s s e e m t o b e q u i te t h e o p p os it e o f M c L u h a n : s o m e h o w t o t h e m i t' s a l w a y s am u l t i p l e - c h o i c e , m u l t i - e n g i n e e r i n g p r o b l e m , d iff e r e n t e v e r y t i m e ; " t h i s t e c h n i q u e i s g o o d f o r A ,t h a t t e c h n i q u e i s g o o d f o r B . " B u t t h e n e t e ff e ct i s t h e s a m e : " e l e c t r o n i c m e d i a a r e g e n e r a l l yt h e s a m e . " I w o u l d c l a i m t h a t t h e ' r e a l l d i f f e re n t , a ll t e n m i ll i o n of t h e m ( T V b e i n g o n l y o n ee l e c t r o n i c m e d i u m o u t of t h e l o t ) , a n d t h e d i ff e r e n c e s m a t t e r v e r y v e r y m u c h , a n d o n l y a f e wc a n c a tc h o n . S o it m a t t e r s v e r y m u c h w h i c h .S o m e a r e g r e a t , s o m e a r e l o u s y , s o m e a r e s u bt ly b a d , h a v i n g a l o c k e d - i n i n f o r m a t i o n s t r u c t u r e ,b u i lt d e e p - d o w n in t o t h e s y s t e m . ( E x a m p l e :t h e f i x ed " q u e r y m o d e s " bu i l t i n to s o m e s y s t e m s . )

O n e la st p o i n t . E v e r y b o d y o n l y h a s a2

ted nelson computer lib dream machines - 1st edition 1974

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