hot kid kid pbs tvo wheels

an
For every d r e a m , m a n y details and intricacies h a v e to b e whittled a n d Interlocked. Their
joint ramifications must be deeply understood b y
the person w h o is trying to create whatever-it-is.
Each confabulation of possibilities turns out to
h a v e the most intricate a n d exactly detailed results.
(This is w h y I a m so irritated b y those w h o think
"electronic media" are all alike.)
Technology fs an expression of man's dreams. If man did
not Indulge M s fantasies, his thoughts alone would inhibit the
development of technology Itself. Ancient visionaries spoke of
distant times and p l a c e s , where men flew around and a b o u t , and
some could see each other at great distance. The technological
realities of today are already obsolete and the future of
technology is bound only by the limits of our dreams. Modern
communications media and in particular electronic media are
outgrowths and extensions of those senses which have become
dominant 1n our social development.
Hon Vachaprcea,
(t) Auditaa
Ltd.
A n d each possible combination y o u choose
has different precise structures implicit in it.
a r r a n g e m e n t s a n d units w h i c h flow from these
ramified details. Implicit in Radio lurk the
T i m e Slot a n d the P r o g r a m . But m a n y of these
possibilities remain unnoticed or u n s e e n , for a
variety of social or e c o n o m i c r e a s o n s .
H
Hyper~Fa, lity.
IV}}.
W h y does it matter?
It matters b e c a u s e w e live In m e d i a , at
fish live in w a t e r . ( M a n y people are prisoners
of the m e d i a , m a n y are manipulators, a n d m a n y
w a n t to use t h e m to c o m m u n i c a t e artistic visions,)
B u t t o d a y , at this m o m e n t , w e can a n d m u d t
design the m e d i a , design the molecules of our
n e w w a t e r , a n d I believe the details of this design
matter v e r y d e e p l y . T h e y will b e with us for a
v e r y long time, p e r h a p s ss long as m a n has left;
p e r h a p s if they are as g o o d as they can b e , m a n
m a y e v e n b u y m o r e time-- or the o p e n - e n d e d
future m o s t s u p p o s e r e m a i n s . (See " E n d g a m e , "
p . W T •)
This U the flip Bide of C o m p u t e r Lib.
(Peel free to beg-in h e r e . T h e oiher aide
la Just If y o u w a n t to k n o w m o r e about c o m p u t e r s ,
w h i c h are changeable devices for twiddling s y m bols. Otherwise skip It.)
Ladies and gentlemen, the age of
pmtidif italrre presentation and publishing U about to begin. Palpitating
presentation*, screenncribbled. will
dance to your desire, making manifest the many mysteries o( winding
wisdom But if we are to rehumanize
an increasingly brutal and disagreeable world, we must step up our
efforts. And we must hurry. Hurry.
Step right up.
(But if y o u c h a n g e y o u r m i n d It might
be fun to b r o w s e . )
In • s e n s e , the other side has b e e n a
c o m e - o n for this side. B u t it's a n honest c o m e on: I figure the m o r e y o u k n o w , the readier
you'll be for w h a t I'm saying h e r e . Not n e c e s sarily to agree or b e "sold," but to think about
it in the non-simple terms that are going to be
necessary.
T h e material here h a s b e e n chosen largely
for its exhilarating a n d inspirational character.
N o matter what y o u r b a c k g r o u n d or technical
k n o w l e d g e , you'll be able to u n d e r s t a n d s o m e of
this, a n d not b e able to understand s o m e of the
rest. That's partly from the hasty preparation
of this b o o k , a n d partly from the variety of interests I'm trying to c o m p r i s e h e r e .
I w s n t to
present various d r e a m s a n d their resulting d r e a m
m a c h i n e s , all legitimate.
m c l t & a ^ M
"When you're
doling with media you're in ibow rtuiincu. yoo
know, whether you like it or not."
"Show brnincn.' he takl. "Absolutely. We've foMa
he in ihnw bimnen We've gotta put together a team
that will crt us there."
I made n mental note to m e the *how bnslnrn m e taphor aq.itn. anil onlinuid. "IMM'i real MIMI'VC talnit pri.lultlv I M in other sirrsw .. ."
S o In these p a g e s I h o p e to orient y o u s o m e w h a t to various of the p r o p o s e d d r e a m s . This Is
m e a n t also to record the efforts of a few B r e w s t e r
M c C l o u d s , each tinkering t o w a r d s o m e n e w flight
of fancy in his o w n s e n s o a r i u m .
rneodbr" H. Helaon,
"Bornum-TronicB."
Suarthmore
'allega
Alumni
Bulletin,
Deo 19?0, 12-15.
T h e m o s t exciting things here are those
that involve c o m p u t e r s : notably, b e c a u s e c o m p u ters will e m b r a c e d in every presentational m e d i u m
a n d thoughtful m e d i u m v e r y s o o n .
That's w h y this side is w e d d e d to the other:
if y o u w a n t to u n d e r s t a n d c o m p u t e r s , y o u can take
the first step b y turning the b o o k o v e r . I figure
that the m o r e y o u k n o w about c o m p u t e r s - - especially about m i n i c o m p u t e r s a n d the w a y on-line s y s tems can r e s p o n d to o u r slightest acts-- the better
y o u r imagination can flow b e t w e e n the technicalities, c a n slide the parts together, c a n discern the
s h a p e s of w h a t y o u w o u l d h a v e these things d o .
T h e c o m p u t e r is not a limitless p a r t n e r , but it is
deeply versatile; to w o r k with it w e m u s t u n d e r stand w h a t it can d o , the options a n d the costs.
Ileywood Gould,
Corporation
Freak (Tower), 23.
If the c o m p u t e r is a projective s y s t e m , or
R o r s c h a c h Inkblot, as alleged on the other side,
the real projective s y s t e m s - - the o n e s with p r o jectors in them-- are all the m o r e s o . T h e things
people try to d o with m o v i e s , T V a n d the m o r e
glamorous uses of the c o m p u t e r , w h e r e b y it m a k e s
pictures on screens-- are strange inversions
a n d foldovers of the rest of the m i n d a n d heart.
That's the peculiar origami of the self.
M y special c o n c e r n , all too tightly framed
h e r e , is the u s e of c o m p u t e r s to help people
w r i t e , think a n d s h o w . But I think presentation
b y c o m p u t e r is a b r a n c h of s h o w biz a n d writing,
not of p s y c h o l o g y , engineering or p e d a g o g y .
T h i s w o u l d b e idle disputation if it did not h a v e
far-reaching c o n s e q u e n c e s for the designs of the
s y s t e m s w e are all going to h a v e to live with.
At w o r s t , I fear these m a y lock us in; at best,
1 h o p e they can further the individualistic traditions of literature, film a n d scholarship. But
w e m u s t create o u r b r a v e n e w w o r l d s with art,
zest, intelligence, a n d the highest possible ideals.
V e r y well. This book-- this side, D r e a m
M a c h i n e s - - is m e a n t to let y o u see the choice
of d r e a m s . Noting that e v e r y c o m p a n y a n d u n i versity s e e m s to insist that its system is the
w a v e of the future, I think it is m o r e important
than ever to h a v e the alternatives s p r e a d out
clearly.
But the "experts" arc not going to b e m u c h
help; they are part of the p r o b l e m . O n both
sides, the academic a n d the industrial, they are
being painfully pontifical a n d bombastic in the
jarring n e w jargons (see "Babels in Toyland,' 1
p . Lf ) . Little clarity is spread b y this. F e w
things are funnier than the pretensions of those
w h o profess to dignity, sobriety a n d professionalism of their expert predictions - especially
w h e n they, too are p o u r i n g out their o w n personal
views u n d e r the guise of technicality. M o s t p e o ple don't d r e a m of what's going to hit the fan.
A n d the c o m p u t e r a n d electronics people are like
generals preparing for the last w a r .
I h a v e not m e n t i o n e d the e m o t i o n s . M o v i e s
a n d b o o k s , m u s i c a n d e v e n architecture h a v e for
all of us b e e n part of important emotional m o m e n t s .
T h e s a m e is going to h a p p e n with the n e w m e d i a .
T o w o r k at a highly responsive c o m p u t e r display
s c r e e n , for instance, can be deeply exciting,
like flying a n airplane t h r o u g h a c a n y o n , or
talking to s o m e b o d y brilliant.
T h i s is as it
should b e . ("The reason is, a n d b y rights o u g h t
lo b e , slave to the emotions." -- Bertrand Russell.)
F r a n k l y . I think it's an outrage m a k i n g it
look as if there's a n y kind of scientific basis to
these things; there is an underlevel of technicality,
but like the foundation of a cathedral, it serves
only to support w h a t rises from it. T H E T E C H NICALITIES M A T T E R A L O T , B U T T H E U N I F Y I N G
VISION M A T T E R S M O R E .
The Great
Robert
I From
Z a £ ComKx
This book has several simultaneous Intentions: to orient the beginner In fields more
complex and tied together than almost anybody
realizes; n e v e r t h e l e s s , to partially debunk
several realms of expertise which I think d e serve slightly less attention than they g e t ;
and to chart the right w a y , which I think uniquely
continues the Western traditions of literature,
scholarship and freedom. In this respect the
book is much more old-fashoned than it may seem
at the g e e - w h l z , very-now l e v e l .
IS HOT
cunm*/
B u t b e a r in m i n d that h a r d - e d g e d fantasy
is the c o r n e r of t o m o r r o w . T h e great A m e r i c a n
d r e a m often b e c o m e s the great A m e r i c a n novelty.
After w h i c h it's a choice of style, size a n d financing p l a n .
The main ideas of this book I present not
as my o w n , but as a curious species of revealed
t r u t h . It has all been obvious to me for some
t i m e , and I believe It should be obvious as well
to anyone who has not been blinded by education.
If you understand the problems of creative t h i n k ing and organizing Ideas, If you have seen the
bad things school so often does to p e o p l e . If
you understand the sociology of the intellectual
w o r l d , and have ever loved a m a c h i n e , then this
book says nothing you do not know a l r e a d y .
AUTHOR'S COUNTERCULTURE
Crumb.
»t). )
In the design of o u r future m e d i a a n d s y s t e m s , w e should not shrink from this emotional
aspect as a legitimate part of o u r fan tic (see p .
Dr\4? ) d e s i g n .
T h e substratum of technicalities
a n d the m i n d - b e n d i n g , g u t - s l a m m i n g effects they
p r o d u c e , are two sides of the s a m e coin; a n d to
u n d e r s t a n d the o n e is not necessarily to be
alienated from the other.
T h u s it is for the Wholiness of the h u m a n
spirit, that w e m u s t d e s i g n .
fad'
Li
£W*f*tf~
CREDENTIALS
Writer, s h o w m a n , generalist. G e m i n i , m o o n in Libra, G e m i n i rising.
O n e ' i m e s e v e n t h - g r a d e d r o p o u t . I h a v e relatively little interest in i m p r o v i n g the educational system within the existing f r a m e w o r k .
A u t h o r of w h a t m a y h a v e been world's first rock m u s i c a l , " A n y t h i n g * Everything." S w a r t h m o r e College. N o v e m b e r 1957 (with R i c h a r d L . C a p l a n ) .
P h o t o g r a p h e r for a y e a r at D r . Lilly's dolphin lab ( C o m m u n i c a t i o n R e s e a r c h Institute. M i a m i . Florida). Attendee of the Great Woodstock Festival
(like m a n y o t h e r s ) , a n d it c h a n g e d m y life (as others h a v e r e p o r t e d ) . W h a t w e are all looking for is not w h e r e w e thought it w a s
Lifelong m e d i a n u t . M a g a z i n e collector; h u n g a r o u n d T V studios as a child. C o m p u l s i v e explainer. Gimmicist b y disposition, computer-man b y accidestlny.
Lit
w
A lot of copies of this book have not b e e n p u t together 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 if t h i s b o o k b e l o n g s to y o u
please check i t . Incorrectly-made books will be exchanged.
within two weeks of purchase (address on p . 2 ) . Otherwise
you have a Collector's
To
w
THIKJ)
rumm,
A L L Y O U N E E D D O IS C H E C K T H E N U M B E R S ON T H E ' C O M P U T E R L I B ' S I D E .
They run straight through from cover to c o v e r , even thouqh
the contents flip c a p r i c i o u s l y .
If t h e l e t t e r s " D M " a p p e a r
anywhere amongst these plain n u m b e r s , you got a lemon.
Gee » h i z , folk., here »e .re at another p r i n t 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 the . a l l t e l l ,
us that anotber 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 tiling, t h a t h a d t o
be m e n t i o n e d , b u t it kind o f a . e u m e . you've read
a » book lteelf o r are g e n e r a l l y familiar w i t h
c o m p u t e r . . BOOKSTORE B R O W S E R S : avoid theae four
p a g e . . N E W OWNER OF THE
BOOK: Check that the
p a g e , are r i g h t ,
""^>
SORRY THE TYPE STILL ISN'T BIGGER, b u t that
. 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 in n e w n e g a t i v e s meaning a lot m o r e have to b e .old as ia.
The 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 x
dollars a year. People's Computer Company,
P.O.Box 3 1 0 , M e n l o Park CA 9 4 0 2 5 .
B Y T E M a g a z i n e , S l O / y e a r if y o u h u r r y , $ 1 2 l a t e r ,
from Green Publishing C o . , P e t e r b o r o u g h , N H .
Editorial: Carl H e l m e r s , Box 3 7 8 , Belmont
HA 02178.
Hardware-oriented.
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 of R e c r e a t i o n a l
and E d u c a t i o n a l C o m p u t i n g .
Xdeametrics,
P . O . Box 7 8 9 - M , M o r r i s t o w n , NJ ) 7 9 6 0 .
Weird
v a r i e t y of 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 ,
"individual" $8, "institutional" $15.
The Computer H o b b y i s t , $ 6 / y e a r . Box 2 9 5 , Cary N C
27511.
Hardware-oriented.
C o m p u t e r N o t e s (for A l t a i r u s e r s ; f r o m M I T S ) .
Mlcro-8 Newsletter, for people really into the
Intel. Hal Singer, Cabrillo High School,
4350 C o n s t e l l a t i o n , L o m p o c CA 9 3 4 3 6 .
and a l e o
S i m u l a t i o n and G a m i n g N e w s , B o x 3 0 3 9 U n i v e r s i t y
Station, Moscow, Idaho 83843.
E l e c t r o n o t e s is the 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 , 60 S h e r a t o n D r i v e ,
Ithaca NY 1 4 8 5 0 .
and s o m e t h i n g e l s e e n t i r e l y .
Privacy J o u r n a l , a m o n t h l y newsletter on problems
of p r i v a c y , m a n y or m o s t of w h i c h I n v o l v e
computers. P . O . Box 8 8 4 4 , W a s h i n g t o n , D . C .
2 0 0 0 3 ; $15 a y e a r .
A l l the DM numbers are supposed
to be on this side o n l y . T h e y p o o p o u t
at number 59, and were intended merely
for c r o s s - r e f e r e n c e .
. p m i p ^ ^ ^
p ^ ^ i
( N o t e : it is of 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 r
p r i v a c y in t h i s y e a r ' s H o u s e of R e p r e s e n t a t i v e s J u s t h a p p e n e d to b e H R 1 9 8 4 . )
One individual I know, who relishes his
c o u n t e r c u l t u r e i m a g e , told m e w i t h a n g r y and
shaking v o i c e that h e doesn't believe in c o p y right and that anything that gets near his
c o m p u t e r b e l o n g s to h i m . W e l l , d o n ' t l e a v e
your m a n u s c r i p t s near such a p e r s o n .
(Why i s
it a l w a y s the g u y s w i t h cushy and secure jobs
w h o tell you t w e e d l e de d e e , ideas should b e
f r e e , and p a t e n t s and c o p y r i g h t s are selfish?)
A c t u a l l y , for the i n d i v i d u a l , o n e of t h e
s t r o n g e s t forms of protection available is
copyright. Far from obsolete, the copyright
m a k e s p u b l i s h i n g , and the better c o m p u t e r
software, possible.
(It is n o t g e n e r a l l y
known that c o p y r i g h t v i o l a t i o n is a felony.)
(And 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 to
p a y for is n o t a b r a v e guerrilla a f f i r m a t i o n ,
like hitting Harold Geneen w i t h a p i e , b u t
grand larceny.)
Now that A l t a i r s and LSI-lls have got a
lot of you g u y s dreaming about selling 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 t
your w o r k . W e l l , you have a c h a m p i o n .
C a l v i n M o o e r s (see p p . 1 8 - 2 1 ) i s n o t o n l y
a genuine Computer Pioneer From The Forties,
b u t , along with Herb G r o s c h , pioneered the
Computer Counterculture. Grosch flaunted a
beard in front of old m a n W a t s o n , M o o e r s
s t r o v e to 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 k
when that was unheard of.
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 in w a y s
that small independent underground-type p r o grammers can p r o t e c t their d e v e l o p m e n t s .
He
and some a s s o c i a t e s a r e exploring the p o s s i ble formation o f a g r o u p for the legal p r o tection of small software p r o d u c e r s and o w n e r s .
Incidentally, when you think something
you've written belongs to y o u — a computer
program, poem or w h a t e v e r — slap the following
at the b e g i n n i n g , under the title:
(<=) 1 9 7 5 f r v i n g
Snerd
substituting, of c o u r s e , your own n a m e . A n d
t h e y e a r c u r r e n t l y in e f f e c t . If c o m p u t e r p r i n ting is u s e d , ( C ) , u s i n g p a r e n t h e s e s , i s c o n s i d e r e d an a c c e p t a b l e s u b s t i t u t e f o r c - i n - a - c i r c l e
This not only gives notice to potential
B o r r o w e r s , b u t it h a s c e r t a i n s t r o n g m a g i c a l
p r o p e r t i e s as a legal i n c a n t a t i o n . S e e y o u r
l a w y e r f o r d e t a i l s , b u t d o n ' t h e s i t a t e to a p p l y
it l i b e r a l l y to y o u r o w n w o r k ; y o u m a y b e g l a d
It b e g a n w i t h a b a n g l a s t C h r i s t m a s : t h e
c o v e r of P o p u l a r E l e c t r o n i c s s h o w e d 'a c o m p u t e r
you dan build yourself for only $ 4 0 0 ' .
It w a s r e a l . A y o u n g f i r m in A l b u q u e r q u e
called Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry S y s t e m s , or M I T S , had finally d o n e i t : a computer
for w e l l u n d e r $ 1 0 0 0 .
In a box not m u c h b i g g e r
t h a n a t y p e w r i t e r , a m a c h i n e c o m p a r a b l e to t h e
U n i v a c I. T h e y c a l l e d It t h e A l t a i r 8 8 0 0 .
Of c o u r s e , in a w a y t h i s w a s a n o b v i o u s
s t e p . T h e M I T S c o m p u t e r w a s s i m p l y the p a c k a g i n g , a s a c o m p u t e r , of a s p e c i f i c i n t e g r a t e d
c i r c u i t chip that had b e e n o n the m a r k e t f o r
s o m e m o n t h s . T h i s c h i p , the I n t e l 8 0 8 0 , is a
m i c r o p r o c e s s o r , or t w o - l e v e l c o m p u t e r (see p .
4 4 ) , g e n e r a l l y e m p l o y e d f o r f i x e d p u r p o s e s In
cash r e g i s t e r s , pinball m a c h i n e s , and the l i k e .
H o w e v e r , to m a k e it a " g e n e r a l " c o m p u t e r — w i t h
the e n g i n e e r i n g , h o o k u p s and a c c e s s o r i e s that
e n t a i l e d — w o u l d b e n o s m a l l c a t t e r if t a k e n
seriously.
O r-* M
Ul D* H
\ C W
Next in computer
hobbyiem
will
obviously
be the Computer
Van.
Already
vans come with
swivel
thrones,
four-track
stereo,
color TV; so this next
etep
is obvious.
But most
important,
recreational
vehicles
can be
purchased
on very long
timeplans,
sometimes
seven
yeare.
{HITS has a demo van with
Altair, floppy
disk,
lineprinter.
It drives
around
showing
off.
But they'll
sell you one
like
it for a trifling
$28,000.)
Now for mobile
operation
we
redo the power
supply...
•Wf
1 9 7 5 m a y b e t h o u y h t of a s t h e y e a r in w h i c h
the c o m p u t e r u n d e r g r o u n d suddenly appeared in
full f o r c e . The Altair was probably the big
crystallizing event.
Not that there wasn't a counterculture b e f o r e . There were the games-players at every u n i v e r s i t y , t h e p r a n k p r o g r a m m e r s (see p . 4 B - 9 ) , a n d ,
w h e r e v e r computers are the center of t h i n g s , a
shared experience of misch^ief and b r e a k t h r o u g h .
T h e r e w a s C o m p u t e r P e o p l e for P e a c e , a c l i q u e y
and u n a p p r o a c h a b l e g r o u p w i t h b o o t h s at the c o n f e r e n c e s (at l e a s t , t h e i r b a c k s w e r e a l w a y s
turned w h e n you wanted to ask q u e s t i o n s ) .
There
w a s the h o b b y f r i n g e .
B u t now it's gone different.
I n s t e a d of
p r e t e n t i o u s c o m p a n y n a m e s m e a n t t o a p p e a l to o b tuse b u s i n e s s m e n , like Performance Measurement
Systems Consultants Group and Bottom-Line-Tronics,
the new c o m p a n i e s h a v e r o c k - g r o u p n a m e s like
G e n e r a l T u r t l e , I n c . , The Sphere and Loving Grace
Cybernetics.
In t h i s n e w c o m p u t e r c o u n t e r c u l t u r e ,
the m a i n c o m p u t e r c o m p a n i e s a r e n o t IBM a n d
H o n e y w e l l a n d U n i v a c , but DEC and M I T S and G e n e r a l T u r t l e ; the s t a n d a r d c o m p u t e r is n o t the 3 7 0 ,
b u t t h e 11 (or p o s s i b l y t h e A l t a i r o r t h e 8 ) .
T h e s t a n d a r d l a n g u a g e is not F o r t r a n o r A l g o l or
P L / I , but B A S I C . Instead of the big color TV
that m i d d l e America w a n t s , the underground computernik dreams of his own graphic setup forever
r u n n i n g T h e G a m e o f L i f e i n c o l o r (see p p . 4 8 - 9
and pic p . D M 2 6 ) .
(Of c o u r s e t h a t ' l l a l s o r e q u i r e t h e c o l o r T V ; s e e " B i t M a p s , " p . Z.)
In such a w o r l d , c o m p u t e r s a r e not a tool
b u t a w a y o f l i f e . T t e c o m p u t e r is t o y , p e t ,
checkerboard, music box and T V . Computers are
for making m u s i c , computers are for getting people
t o g e t h e r via c o m m u n i t y m e m o r y , c o m p u t e r s are for
l e t t e r - w r i t i n g , c o m p u t e r s a r e for a r t and m o v i e m a k i n g and t h e a n i m a t e d d e c o r a t i o n of the h o m e .
C o m p u t e r s a r e f o r g a m e s ; a v a s t n u m b e r of
interactive game-programs are published and
s w a p p e d a r o u n d . A l m o s t a l l a r e in t h e B A S I C
language.
(Bob A l b r e c h t ' s W H A T T O D O A F T E R Y O U
HIT RETURN is s a i d to b e d e f i n i t i v e — S7.50 from
P e o p l e ' s Computer C o m p a n y , 1919 Menalto A v e . ,
M e n l o Park CA 9 4 0 2 5 . See also their magazine
P C C , as well as Simulation and Gaming News.)
PLATO g a m e s , a somewhat different subspecies, are
discussed on p . D M 2 7 .
The underground computer magazines have b e c o m e a b l i z z a r d (see b o x ) . A l b r e c h t ' s s p r i g h t l y
and successful P C C , originally oriented toward
h i g h and g r a d e s c h o o l s , has now branched into
hobbyism as w e l l . O n the hardware side there is
The Computer H o b b y i s t , and now a slick new hobby
m a g a z i n e . B y t e , w i t h a f i r s t p r i n t i n g of 5 0 , 0 0 0 .
O n the e d u c a t i o n a l side t h e r e is a s w e l l n e w
magazine called Creative Computing.
T h e n t h e r e is the C o m m u n i t y M e m o r y m o v e m e n t .
The b a s i c idea o f C o m m u n i t y M e m o r y is to h a v e a
computer resource of information and ideas, commonly available.
In i t s m o r e g l o r i f i e d and m y s t i c a l f o r m , the idea s e e m s to be to have a p l a c e ,
inside the c o m p u t e r , where information can be
shared by The P e o p l e , free of i n s t i t u t i o n a l o b struction or the profit motive.
T h i s vision is perhaps unclear to o t h e r s
b e s i d e s the a u t h o r , b u t it a t t r a c t s a v a r i e t y o f
p e o p l e i n t e r e s t e d in s o m e f o r m o f g r a s s r o o t s
r e v i t a l i z a t i o n of o u r s o c i e t y . Some of these a r e
d i s i l l u s i o n e d sixties radicals w h o look to "comm u n i t y o r g a n i z a t i o n " as a b u i l d i n g b l o c k for a
n e w s o c i e t y ; o t h e r s a r e i n t e r e s t e d in m o r e n u t s a n d - b o l t s a p p l i c a t i o n s , such a s trying to m a k e
b a r t e r a v i a b l e e c o n o m i c f o r m a g a i n , in a n u r b a n
society with many nonstandard leftovers, skills
and wants.
(Presumably this would work by having
the computer find pairs of people with matching
wants and tradables; or even search out potential
trades around multi-person rings.)
The first of these systems was Resource One,
in S a n F r a n c i s c o ; I saw a n o t h e r C o m m u n i t y M e m o r y
in V a n c o u v e r , w h i c h s e e m e d to be i n p r a c t i c e a
sort of animated classified-ad system. A user
B i t t i n g a t t h e t e r m i n a l c a n p u t in a d s o f h i s o w n ,
and can s e a r c h t h r o u g h the e n t i r e f i l e for k e y w o r d s of i n t e r e s t . A s t h e r e is no c e n s o r s h i p ,
some rather surprising things g e t in t h e r e , for
which I wish we
had room.
(A n e w s l e t t e r o f s u c h p r o j e c t s . C o m m u n i t y
C o m m u n i c a t i o n s , is being s t a r t e d b y L e e F e l s e n s t e i n . Loving G r a c e C y b e r n e t i c s , 1807 D e l a w a r e S t . ,
Berkeley CA 94703.)
E v e n for those coming anew into the field
the radio hams and amateur telescope makers who've
l a i d t h e i r M a s t e r C h a r g e c a r d s o n the line for the
A l t a i r — computers represent a new social life.
Amateur computer clubs have drawn startling numb e r s : for instance, the Los A n g e l e s and San F r a n c i s c o g r o u p s a r e c u r r e n t l y p u l l i n g 1 0 0 m e m b e r s to
their weekly m e e t i n g s .
(In S a n F r a n c i s c o , c o n tact Fred M o o r e , 55B Santa C r u z A v e n u e , M e n l o
Park CA 94025.)
This book and its surprise success probably
r a t e m e n t i o n o f s o m e s o r t in t h e w o r l d o f u n d e r ground computerdom, '74-75; although my underg r o u n d status m a y be in j e o p a r d y . I had intended
to b y p a s s the computer e s t a b l i s h m e n t , and cer
tainly not expected to b e c o m e assimilated therein;
so the dozens of university class adoptions have
come as a considerable shock, as have the accept a n c e a n d l e g i t i m a t i o n I h a d long s i n c e g i v e n u p
o n . M y h e a r t f e l t t h a n k s for this r e s p o n s e , a n d
I'll t r y t o l i v e u p t o i t .
(How i s d i s c u s s e d o n
p . Z, last column.)
But f o l k s , this a l l is the m e r e s t b e g i n n i n g .
A s it s a y s o n d i a m e t r i c a l l y t h e o t h e r s i d e , p . 3,
COMPUTERS BELONG TO ALL
MANKIND.
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x
Y
on p. "•
HITS' new computi
-otorol* 6800. • n o 'l—
MM
Mt
~ ri
« » «»
altair • U r - based or, t h . Intel B O W , and
11
customers already Into that ..chin*
" ^ i n ,ny way 1**
they u y .
3 1
• 5
Si
A computer hit based on tha Motorola 6000.
-id. 2 « bytes of cor,, cassstte recorder and
1 6 U n
TV dlipUy < » <="""•
" ' 1" o t t " m A
for H74S by THE S P K T O . 96 East SO0 South,
Bountiful, Utah B4010.
TVC computer ki
.nd enothsr • "ova lookallka,
Bill Codbout Electronica, Box 3355 Oakland
Mrport, Oakland CA 94614. Ha • !•» pl*h* »" U
lookallka.
One of t
Ing up at AJH
617/261-1100.
N a a o r n , for soae unfathonabl* raaaon, built
in tha early 70s a conputer Intended to be upw«rdcosfiatlbla fro- the 360/20. But lt waa not a 360.
Why did they do thla? The hind of people who
ahop around would not buy 360/20a, and tha kind of
people who buy J60/20a would scarcely leave IBM's
skirts at upgrade tlaa.
Thua the Fvrnorex 40 has, quite understandably,
been discontinued. And ell the ones thay had left
•re waiting for you brand new up at American Used
Cosjputar for •jh4' heart-stopping price of
icludes 48k byte!
Now for the bad news.
It cones bare-bones, with no software, and no
hardware support. Vou get the wiring dlag/raa with
it, and a liat of other owners, and you're on your
own. AUC does have spare parts, however. And
peripherals, ax>stly Bore expensive.
M r . Ma no son of AUC told na on tha phone that
it had 156 instructions, including 64-bit floating
point, 32-bit binary. On studying the literature,
however, it appears to Be that the instruction-set
he described is Blcroprograsaaed, with the microcoda Intended to be read in at startup tine.
(There are 65 microinstructions.) Maybe you can
gat the microcode for those 158 instructions and
Baybe you can't. Maybe you don't care, If you're
well enough fixed to handle one of theae.
Oi you might oat an LSI-11. An LSI-11
buying pool la being formed by Hal Lashley,
Southern Cal Co-putar Society, P.O. Box 987,
•;. Faeaden* CA 91030.
It cones in basic blsck, 2x5x4 feet, fits in
a van, and supposedly does not need aircondltloning. Supposedly plug-compatible with 370 periphexala! It's really a sixteen-blt nachlne, and
it haa sight sets of eight registers, having been
designed to perform up to eight functions sinultanaoualy.
So. 64 Bain registers, 4K dynamic Microstore,
48K of memory, for about the prlc* of a used PDP11/10 with tr. smelling aalts, anyone?
Processor Technology, 2465 4th St., Baikal ay
94710, Bakes a text diaplay kit for tha Altair
for SI to (you aupply tha IV Bon i tor and avldantly
tha keyboard). 64 character par U n a , 16 linaa.
Bootstrap Enterprises, Ann Arbor, are alao
working on • similar unit, cal lad "Tha Dumb Terminal," with a color option.
MITS i i ccaaa.ittad now to building a vidao
tarmlnal, the CT-B096, that will provide both
text and graphic*. Following specs are not final.
It will have a keyboard and video monitor,
plug straight into tha Altair, and refresh fron
Altair memory aodul**— which nay double as regular aemory, if you don't Bind garbage on the
It will have 34 lines of upper-case characters, SxB dots to the character, SO characters
to the line on a built-in nonitor. In addition
lt will offer graphics from bit nape (see p . Z>,
either 130x130 or 340x340. (Tha resolution will
be switch-selectable, if you have enough buffer
memory; a screen of text takes 2K, so does a
130x120 picture, and 240x240 takea a whole 4K.)
Buffer nemory will also be divldabla Into separate *pagea" of text or graphics; and two pagea
will be super impoaable, interlacing alternate
video fields (see pp. CM6-7). Hota that refreshment Is from randon-acce**, rather than serial,
memory, so that sultlple fields cannot be overlaid.
Redoubtable Max Palevsky, who brought you
Scientific Data Syatems (which Xerox bought and
recently shut down). Rolling Stone and the movie
"Harjoe"-- has another winner, which he's also
sold to xarox.
as s 5
a
| | |
° sei •
While none haa been announced as yet, a anisic
iynthesiier that plugs into the Altair will alaoat
certainly be available in 1976.
(Mote that thi* could provide an entirely new
form of interactive terminal if used with the
tfachspres* equipment; see nearby.)
) tha Altair ia in the
DEC's own floppy dlak, for the B and 1 1 ,
finally came out. Price for II i S3000 for one
drive, S4000 for double.
LHJctape, which la virtually the sane as
DECtape but unpatented, has just come out at
S2000 for one drive, Including controller and
interface to 11 or Hova (interrupt-driven).
Mote that the unit is compact and rugged, and nay
be sore suitable than disk or cassette for those
of us concerned about portable rigs and vannounting. Computer Operations, Inc., 10774
Tucker St., Beltsville MD 20705. (The bad news:
software costs S300 for the driver, plus S750
> DEC if
- operating syst n FT-11.)
Cambridge Memories, Inc., cleverly sells
main nemory banks for the 11 which can attach t<
to two PDP-iia at once— thus connecting the
two machines without using DEC's expensive
Unibus coupler.
Also for lls^ Formation, Inc., sells a
curious programmer's console that traps and displays the last sixteen Unibus addresses referenced; and Pabrl-Tek offers a cache aeaory for
the PDP-11/45.
s
1800
' * haa announcod • laaer
K i
'
P*lnt.r, tha pedal
It
. .
P r a t i n g aachin.a, i f , g o o d .
•t 1. ta.ic.ll, an . K M U t l , I r e copi.'.
out. [Evan Toahibafax now aak.a one I
. •JT"'';
• » « = « " " » « ° - « - M « . with
,mV^™
° " * " ' I t U M t - t l c drv.,. But
IT.T„
TIT,
u
This is the Diablo company, which first
made disks and now makes a sensational printing
aachine• It has a whirling plastic "daisy
wheel" of type, interchangeable, and can type
30 characters per second in either direction, as
as well as draw pictures— of a sort.
Tha basic difference between these printers and conventional typewriters, like the Selectric, 1* their use of servos rather than ratchets. This neans their characters can be positioned in nany intermediate positions, unlike
the fixed position* available on an ordinary
typewriter, for instance, the Diablo can position the type to 1/60 of an inch horizontally
and 1/48 of an inch vertically. (Nice for justified typesetting.)
There are new a number of machines of this
kind. First came the Diablo printer, officially
the HyTypa 1; then the engineers who built that
went off and created a competitive printer called
the pUME (pron.'kyoom'); now there's an improved
Diablo HyTypa II; Interdata makes a competitive
unit, the Carousel printer, with a little print
cup) and to Bake things totally confused, there's
a special model Diablo called the 800, which
can't be connected to computers but is sold for
office use as a "word processor."
A nuBber of companies stake terminals in the
SS000 ballpark embracing on* or the other of
these printers. Gen-Corn systems makes one around
the Diablo; Anderson-Jacobson makes one around
tha gUME. Xerox makes Its own computer terminal,
the 3010, around tha Diablo I— which, it should
be noted, can be rented for as little a* three
months, at S190/month.
Tha one everybody wants for their computers
1* called the Xerox BOO, but so far thst is not
available a* a computer terminal. It goes faster
than the other Diablos and offers typefaces that
look beautiful for typesetting; mucfi nicer, it
seems, than the type* currently available for the
other Diablos.
For those Interested in just hooking up the
printer mechanism, for substantially less money
than a whole terminal, interfaces for hooking
the Diablo or QUME printers to PDP-8 or PDP-11
are available fron Data Systems Design, Inc.,
1122 University Avenue, Berkeley CA 94702.
SUGGESTIONS
TO XEROX COttCBRSIllG DIABLO PRINTERS.
No charge.
1. Sell the 800 as a terminal, for goodness sake.
2. Failing that, make those pretty typefaces
available for the othsre.
3. Already you offer black and red ribbons; a
blue and yellov ribbon Mould permit printing
PICTURES IS FULL COLOR, a development of
great interest to the many aomputer graphics
freaks.
4. However, that uould require somewhat finer
positioning of the platen; say, 1/120 in both
directions.
£. ... failing uhiah, you could put out a "graphic
daisy uheel" vith intermediate dot positions
equivalent to dot positions between those
now available.
6. Could the Diablo somehow be made to sound leas
like a dentist's drill?
7. How about a portable?
'°™"' "* ~ y "°"»" " » P ™ " « -
° p S L i V
h_
**•"~ •
l
1
^ ; .
1
u r
"
c , !
1
:
ti. a;„ ' '"°«' t=i c
m
o«v7~, i ^
—«
put b u . i „ . „
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a
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• S110.0DO.
„ t r « ch«ta... A I M )
9 , t t h e
°ug. out of , .iisij
EGlUlftW
o w y f o T t r ^ ,
The graal Marvin Hineky ia renowned on five
continents.
Dean of the amorphous field of "artificial intelligence,'' and referred to without
ambiguity as "Marvin" throughout computer land,
he is a theoretician'e
theoretioian.
But at the heart of every theoretician, I
think, burns the dream that he will eamaday prove
the outright, worldly iimyortanae of his thoughts.
Like Dee try, at last he will go to hie euitaaee
and get out hie guns, and the audience will cheer.
General Turtle, Incorporated, Is a toy
company that the teem of Minsky and Papert put
together to aarket their educational computer
(Set p. 57.)
i few. rut the Impact has been
wrber of the project puts it,
"Me wanted to get our ideas for education out to
the world."
So they decided to build a terminal. But
lt grew, as terminal designs will. It is now
the CTI 2500.
Remember the tortoise and th* hare? Thi*
is the hairlast tortoise on four wheels. Plrst
deliveries this fall.
And her< • what v
; for
rand dollai
1 H C
tttLtH
C H ^ N I A V J
Dan Hillis and Radio Parlaan, of tha LOGO
group at MIT, are working on a special "preliter•te" terminal to allow non-reader* (possibly including chimps and gorillas) to program in LOGO,
especially on tha General Turtle 2500 (see "Minsky's Computer," nearby). Plastic credit cards
will have symbola for ths various picture and
music-box functions. To write a program, or
create a movie on the scope, th* ueer will Insert
function cards in slot*. Color coding will be
used for program transfer, a red card means "Jump
to tha red aubroutln*." Sine* thi* 1* MIT, the
full recursive power of tha ay at am will of course
be available. (My hope is that chinpanieea and
other little .alotnlka can be taught recursive
program definition. Than will th* public wake up
to computer* being aaay?)
tOO., ,11
to o. O p ™ 1 7 « l l L ' w ™ h . l " o „ . l .
o p r . n u . , : t h . Cr.Mfcl.tt et-puo.,. .ir**,'.
oo-pot.,. 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, a
c t - p u f r ol t h . 160 . „ ! . . b , o n . o , t h .
d..lgned th«« orlclr-lly— ...p 4 1 _ _ , / n o v
»v.il«t,l. f r o . tadahi Corpor.tlon, 1 2 S 0 C a t
*rqu.a Av.nua, Sunnyval. CA 940B6. (rtw, a r . no*
aav.rtl.ln, (or , y . t _W l . «h„ * m a» in_
aid., of OS/HVT, V S . . t o . ) . T h . flr.t .70 1 . „„
and runnin, at NASA'a In.tltuta for Spac. studl..
T, T.:
r^jT".;"
•*"«•"~
of thair faaoua knockout" machines to do it in
(Datamation, July 75, 9t5 .)
—
a 16-bit computer like none you ever saw.
8 working registers, in addition to PC.
32 scratchpad registers (70 nanosecond).
250-nanosecond 1/0.
4K of main memory, 250 nanosecond. (Expandable , of t
i.)
pa.o6«Aa> y a u c o v i * .
"Diobolo" uas a game of the tuenties that involved poking a spinning object. Oddly, that's
uhat today's Diablo involves.
ficeo.
f B t f « T» 8*
MARVIN
I H M S ^ C T a J t l - P i T ^
Cassette memory, 1 drive.
Alphabetical display, standard video, with
6*16-dot character generator, 64 characters, DYNAMICALLY ALTERABLE. Also
expandable.
Vectoring graphic display with 2D rotation
("turtle geometry"— line* are specified not by endpoints but by angles and
length). 512x512 resolution, 1 Billion
endpolnts/sec refresh.
Keyboard.
Of courit you've thought that hardwired
•etups were for sloppy analog type* of thing.
But hare now wa have THE CHESS MACHINE, under
straightfaced construction at the MIT AI Lab,
which will provide HARDWIRED THREAT ANALYSIS.
Yes, its advanced perceptron architecture will
supposedly be capable of analysing threats to
*ny given position in a GRAND PARALLEL FLASH.
Tha Impact of this astonishing development on
the world of Electronic Chess, or anything else,
for that matter. Is totally impossible to
predict.
Over a very nice lunch
at Foditys in Chicago,
Prof. Minsky^ and I discussed possible styling
for his computer. Be
particularly liked the
arrangement suggested
in this sketch; a folddown keyboard and the
displays sort of on poles
so they could be seen
easily through a crowd
of bystanders. The handle would only work, of
course, with the scopes
removed. We'll see later
what it finally looks
like.
I asked Dan Hillis, a member of the group, about
the possibility of Installing th* 2500 in a van.
"Think of it as a recreational vehicle with th*
van optional," he said.
What makes possible the computer c
culture and everything else is, of course, the
spectacular development of electronic chip technology, the techniques of shrinking great electronic circuits to almost no site. Electronic
rigs that were ahoebox-size ten years ago are
typically now etched on chips the size of your
thumbnail and sold for a few dollars, no matter
what they contain.
A few years ago, the chips only contained
building block*, such as registers— units for
holding information temporarily. But now in
the mid-seventies they have come to contain
whole computera, or large sections of them.
(The distinction between microprocessors and
computers is taken up on p . 44.)
The first biggies were from Intel: the BO08
and then the 8080, a chip that has become the
heart of the Altair (see p . X ) , as well as rival
computer*.
New computer chips keep coming out: people
keep telling me to mention specific ones, but I
can't keep track of them. The Motorola 6800
seem* popular; it will soon be the heart of new
computer* from MITS and SPHERE (see p . W and Y ) .
(An augmented and faster copy of the 6800 i* r e putedly being sold by HOS Technology for S30.)
Another interesting computer chip is the PACE
microprocessor from National Semiconductor, with
four working registers and a ten-word stack;
with 16K memory it costs $500. (The PACE is
hidden in an automatic drink mixer and boot*
inventory controller from Electro Units Corp.,
San Jose, Calif. Adjusts prices to hours and
can even water the drinks precisely. Claimed
to make absentee ownership of bar* practical.)
Because of chips, the price of computer main
memory is collapsing apace. Something like a
dollar a word in the sixties, it is something like
like a dime a word now. But Intel now offers a
•torago chip holding 16K bit* for SSS, which is
3C a bit, and a friend of nine estimate* that
memory chips will cost 1/10 of a cent per word in
1976.
These cost collapses cause many to predict
the end of disk and tape. But that's premature.
While these Eappier chips hold a lot for a little,
their contents disappear whan the lights go o u t .
Until laser-punched tape comes along, disk and
magnetic tape will be very much with us as longterm and oackup storage devices.
Because of the action in chip technology,
a potential Important movement in computer design
may have been passed over: the "macromodulas" d e veloped at Washington University in S t . Louis by
. (father of the original DEC modules).
>clat
and B
Th* basic idea of the mscromodula approach
was to have conputer subsection* that ware completely interpluggable. With them you can build
•ny computer, to your own design, in a couple of
days. The syatem exists now and it work* just
fine: counters, registers, memoriae can ba a t tached quickly by cable.
Unfortunately, the cost 1* high and they
haven't found a manufacturer. With chip prices
falling, and chip know-how widespread, it's hard
to justify charging ten or so time* as much for
component* juat because they can ba plugged together faster. (Juat as unfortunately, everything in the aacronodule system is built on lections of twelve bits.) For this reason the St.
Louis folk are having trouble getting commercial
sponsorship. However, perhaps Soms bright hungry chip company, reading this, would like to
get into the aacronodule game. And presumably
whittle the module down to th* now-universal 8
Unsatisfied with the structure of normal
computer*, they are building at MIT's AI Lab a
computer whose native language 1* LISP. It will
have 32 bit* with virtual memory, and execute
LISP like a bat out of bell.
In a refreshing reversal of trends, it will
be for one user at a tlBe. "Time-sharing is an
Idea whose time has gone," chuckles one participant. (Project MAC, where tine-sharing grew
u 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, he
had the audacity to require CDC to build the computer factory on the property adjoining his own
estate in Chippewa Falls, Minnesota, How that
ha's broken off to start hi* own company (with
money from CDC, among others), the new computer
factory adjoins his estate on the other side. Tha
Cray-1, another supercomputer, i* nearlng completion there.
Patent #3,875,932 has now been issued for
How Wachspress' electronic sex machine or whatever it is (you saw lt first on p . DM9) - In the
Illustration wa see it tickling a shmoo.
After you send Wachspress his fifty-buck
royalty, you can either buy the kit or a prebuilt model. Concave or convex, as the poet
says. (Etchings are antediluvian and waterbed*
are commonplace; as an invitation, what mora incisive comeuppance could ba proffered?)
Speaking of Machspres*. it aearns that the
unusual 1/0 equipment offered by the Federal
Screw Works (Troy, Mich.) is only a voice output
Surprisingly, a voice input device is now
coemterclally available from Threahold Technology,
Inc., Cinnaminaon, N J . For $10,500 you get a
device that will recognisa 33 spoken words, and
aicrophones. (Each user ha* to train it on his
12 words, but separata vocabularies may ba
stored on the computer for different users or
purposes. This ia still some way from tha
fabled "talking computer"-- see pp. DM 13-14 for
problama and objections-- but it's undeniably a
teful
mmcsm
•-*lbor Day, 1975
Millions of people ssw computer graphics for
the first time on the PBS "Ascent of Man" series,
where a screen drawing of Early Man's skull was
seen to rotate and gradually change In its features. This waa startling even if you know about
computer graphics, since it seemed to be proceeding from complex data concerning the entire
skulls and their changes.
Not so. Actually what you saw was a series
of skull drawings by Peter Foldes, a Parisian
a r t i s t , with the computer generating transitional
drawings between them. (Indeed, though you saw
Prof. Bronovskl next to the screen, you did not
see him next to the screen at the same time the
drawings were changing— because that had to be
filmed very slowly.)
The system was created by Nestor Burtnyk and
Marcelli W e i n , of the National Research Council
of Canada. It currently runs only on »n SEL 8 4 0 A .
(It was also used by the National Film Board of
Canada for creating Foldes" splendid film "Hunger.") They can preview by rolling through b i t map video on a moving-head d i s k . (See Burtnyk
and Wein, "Computer Generated Key-Frame A n i m a tion," J - SHPTE, March 7 1 , 149-53.)
TIT
W
$
rh» nnin 'jRvelopnent in computer graphics in
the last year has been tha sudden upsurge of the
bit-map approach to computer display- While the
approach, and equipment for l t — like the Data
Disk system-- have been around for some time, the
falling price of electronics, especially in the
, have made lt abruptly the cheapest
- type of computer dlsand thus th* «
play for g r a p h i d
A "bit map" is a
iries of dot positions,
or b i t e , recorded in i ie form of fast memory
and read out in sync to ii conventional scanned
video system (see p p . DM(>-7) . The one bits
stand for dots or little squares, the zeroes
for nothing, and the video system brightens the
corresponding zones on the screen. This method
haa certain disadvantages— parts of pictures
cannot be automatically distinguished or separately animated, as with subroutining display
(see "The Mind's Eye," a s p . p . D M 2 3 ) — but for
the money it's g r e a t . Sizes given refer to the
number of squares in the rectangle of the picture.
BLACK-AND-WHITE
The halftone systfea of IfUMRRO, rumored on
p . DM38, Is reel. Clever indeed: it divides the
half-tone problem into tvo parts, one the o r i g inal picturing of the scene, the other its p r e s entation in the terminal. That means that their
system permits one central Image generator to
send out pictures to as many terminals as d e sired. Unlike the Watkins Box (see p . D M 3 7 ) ,
whose half-milllon-dollar opulence can be poured
only on a single user at o n c e , in this system
the central resource can be distributed among
various users, with each one's picture changed
Intermittently, or poured on a single user for
full animation. Currently it runs in Portran,
transmitting encoded pictures to the unusual t e r minals required (built around T r i n i t r o n s ) . But
a special central processor is foreseen.
The system is called CHARGE, and Ron Swallow,
its developer, la Indeed a hard charger. (Software: Bill Underbill and Roger Gunwaldsen.)
Swallow's game isn't movies or engineering g r a phics; he wants CHARGE to compete head-to-head
with PLATO (see p p . D H 2 6 - 7 ) . And at the prices
h e > talking about— 55000 por terminal and
$150,000 for tho central proc-"-;-'•-•I.'J l-r.ows?
What about the animated figure that talks to
Joe Gariagioln before baseball games?
Haha,
That's a rubber puppet matted in from a black box;
the guy who does the voice works the m o u t h .
Hany unlikely individuals
have stormed that
heartbreak town of Hollywood, leaving sadder but
wiser— but loan Sutherland, dean of aomputer
graphiae?
Hell, having found that the moviemakers are not ready for image synthesis—
the
areammitho
unprepared, as it. were, for the Total
Forge— he ie sojourning at the Rand
Corporation.
A fella named Charles M c C a r t h y , of suburban
C h i c a g o , bought the "Computer Eye" from Spatial
Data S y s t e m s , and will do mail-order picture c o n v e r s i o n s . He'll convert your favorite snapshot
to a printout of the same subject made of light
and dark l e t t e r s . If you're interested in having
the actual grey-scale data for processing in your
own computer, inquire.
The Kobius G r o u p , I n c . , P . O . Box 3 0 6 , Winfield IL 6 0 1 9 0 .
Want a computer-controlled videocaasette
recorder? The model to ask for is the Sony 2 8 5 0 ,
costing (gasp) some six thousand b u c k s . An interface to the PDP-11 is made by CMX S y s t e m s .
635 V a q u e r o a , A v e . , Sunnyvale CA 9 4 0 8 6 .
UBEEAL ESTATE: for rcUua'.ion, Ron uorKB or.
the "dream house'' he keeps inside the ay8ten.
Since the forties, there have been continual
announcements that video disks— movies you play
on your TV off a record— were right around the
corner. Earlier this year they were supposedly
going to be available before C h r i s t m a s . Now they
Bight be on sale, "on a limited basis," in 1976.
(TV G u i d e , 16 Aug 7 5 , p . 7.) Because of the grave
difficulties of engineering— inaccuracies in p u n ching the center hole mean the track can't help
being off center, for instance— some of u s are
skeptical.
Two systems have been confidently announced.
Philips, the firm that gave us the audio c a s s e t t e ,
has a system that will follow the spiral track on
the disk from underneath with a laser. The disk
turns at 30 revolutions per second, or one turn
per TV frame, so it can supposedly freeze on one
frame when desired.
The other system is from R C A , which has
a long history of Be-too announcements, but st
least two of them made it big (the 45 record and
the color TV system now used in the U S A ) , so RCA
should not be dismissed out of h a n d . Their disk
system will supposedly go at 450 rpm (7.5 r e v o l utions/second) , but they still mean to track it
with a needle. The m a n from TV Guide says he's
seen it and it works perfectly, but I -«tould p e r sonally look for hidden w i r e s .
(MCA, an entertainment conglomerate, has
hitched up with Philips and printed a catalog of
all the movies they will supposedly make available
on disk for the "MCA-Philips" try a tew— such as
Dee-try Rides Again for around ten b u c k s . This is
probably just a bluff: with the price of audio
records what they a r e , no way is a movie going to
cost ten b u c k s . But it makes RCA look w e a k e r ,
which is probably the purpose.)
The prospect surprised them, but MAGI (see
p . DM36) allows as how they might let you make
movies on their over-the-phone movie-making setup
(sketched on p , D M 3 6 ) . Price to capable outd e r s , if the software m e s h e d , would be about $50
an hour. (six hours makes one minute of film,
not counting the phone b i l l . Cheap if you know
movie economics.)
Meanwhile, John Lowry, a t Digital Video L a b oratories in Toronto, has been developing highquality video suitable for transfer to theatrical
film. He and they have developed a 655-line
color system— with heavy digital enhancement
(see "Picture Processing," p . D M 1 0 ) . I scarcely
believe my notes, but I saw i t , and wrote down
that it was comparable to 3Sam studio c o l o r .
The day of "electronic cameras"-- that i e , filmquality video— may be upon us soon.
About 1972, there was announced an electronically-controlled color filter that could change
to any hue in nanoseconds. That would be Just
**hat we all need for color movies from C O M s —
but what happened to it?
Incidentally, scaled-down CMX editing setups
are beginning to get a r o u n d . For i n s t a n c e , they
have a small setup in the pleasant offices of DJM
rilm £ T a p e , 4 East 4 6 , NYC: three of the above
Sonys and the CMX Model 50 control s e t u p , using
a PDP-11 and k e y s c o p e . Though prices are b y the
j o b , the basic charge is $75/hour. (Note that
the big CMX s e t u p , with a d i s k , is the m o d e l 300.)
A t the high end of t h i n g s , ,
railed
Three Rivers Company has come in w i t h a 3D vec
boring system (competitors discussed p . D M 3 0 ) .
Supposedly they can pack a lot m
the
The price of the GT40 display (see p . DM21),
which all in all is one of the b e s t displays o n
the m a r k e t , has just dropped to S 6 5 0 0 . To d i s guise this pride d r o p , DEC gives you the smaller
tube and no k e y b o a r d .
And at the low e n d , a firm called Megatek
in San Diego offers line-drawing C R T controllers
for $1000 to $3000. A l l permit a n i m a t i o n . You
have to supply the o s c i l l o s c o p e . Their equipment
plugs into the PDP-11 or the N o v a , or in one
case connects in tandem to an A S C I I time-sharing
terminal (!).
The 11 and Nova models work directly from
BASIC; your program in Basic p u t s line lists in
the device's buffer m e m o r y . The time-sharing
m o d e l converts incoming line lists from A S C I I to
binary and stores them internally. 256 lines
with 6-bit resolution cost $ 1 9 0 0 , $110°and S1600
for 1 1 , Nova and t-s respectively; 1024 lines
with 10-bit resolution cost S 2 8 0 0 , S2000 and
S2500 respectively. (Nova and 11 models can be
completely updated in two refresh c y c l e s , y i e l ding as m u c h animation as anyone can decently
expect for the p r i c e . Software is supplied to
provide display output from N o v a , PDP-11 or t i m e sharing BASIC; also t-s Fortran.)
M e a n w h i l e , for the hands-on electronics g u y .
Optical E l e c t r o n i c s , I n c . makes all kinds of r o tation m o d u l e s . You can build your own 3D r o t a tion setup out of their modules for a couple of
thousand; b u t , of c o u r s e , the fancy digital I/O
for high-speed refreshment is not a v a i l a b l e .
An interesting capability of the OEI e q u i p m e n t ,
though, is that you can build 4D- or even SDrotation systems out of their m o d u l e s . Hmmni.
Excellent manuals on the PLATO system and
TUTOR language are now available from C E R L , U n i versity of I l l i n o i s , U r b a n a .
The next generation of PLATO terminals is
coming down the l i n e . The microfiche projector
is withering a w a y , as was easily foreseeable;
m e a n t i m e , steps ore being taken toward a more
high-performance terminal, by putting a computer
in i t . This is being done both by Jack S t i f l e ,
w h o has done it with the Intel c h i p , and Roger
Johnson, who haa the panel interfaced to an 1 1 .
(11 fans please note the implication: it is p o s sible that the interface may be marketed.)
M e a n w h i l e , PLATO-like terminals (the model
AG-60) are about $5000 from Applications G r o u p ,
I n c . , P.O. Box 4 4 4 B , K a u n a s , Ohio 4 3 5 3 7 . Note
that these have standard non-PLATO interfaces
and standard keyboards, but the Owens-Illinois
plasma panel (erroneously called Corning e l s e where in the book) blazes in all its g l o r y .
An off-the-shelf bit-map system for the
PDP-11 or the Nova is available from Intermedia
S y s t e m s , 20430 Town Center Lane, Cupertino CA
95014 (S2750 or $2500 r e s p e c t i v e l y ) . M a y be
ganged for grey-scale or color. It's 256x256.
For the A l t a i r , tha forthcoming 8096 display
(see p . Y) will have 120x120 or Z40x240 bit-map
g r a p h i c s , for prices starting around $1000,
COLOR
Extra bit m a p s , plus e l e c t r o n i c s , can g e t you
color; if you double the number of bits you can
double the number of available colors on your d i s p l a y , ad infinitum.
On the small s i d e , 64x64 color wll shortly
be available for the Altair from the Digital G r o u p ,
D e n v e r . A 128x128 color bit-map system for the 11
has just been announced b y DEC (for "nuclear m e d i cine" of all things— b u t they will part with it
to anybody for 8 or 10 thousand (not yet f i x e d ) ) ,
ihey stress that this w i l l be the first of a m o d u lar series of bit-map d i s p l a y s , with plugins for
different degrees of resolution and different
character g e n e r a t o r s .
Ramtek and Comtal both m a k e 256x256 bit-map
systems, priced in the $16,000 a r e a .
Above this resolution special TV systems tend
to be necessary. Both Ramtek and Comtal make very
expensive systems for the p u r p o s e , u s i n g
solid-state and disk respectively.
You m a y or m a y not have heard of the Advent
TV p r o j e c t o r , the m o s t glorious TV thing there i s .
It costs $3500 and projects a four-foot picture in
the best TV color you can f i n d . A lot of guys are
bit-mapping to i t .
A t M I T they've got bit-map color on the A d vent at better than 400x500 resolution. (An option
planned for the Flying Turtle (see p . Y) will a l low its core memory to be used with the A d v e n t as
a bit-map display refresher.) A t Comtal they're
going for 1000x1000 o n the A d v e n t , rejiggering the
electronics fron s c r a t c h .
The m o s t spectacular demonstration of bit-map
color so far has no doubt been the film done by
Dick Shoup et a l . a t Xerox PARC (see p . X ) , showing the super animation that's possible when bigcomputer resources are given over to bit-map a n i m a t i o n . Their system is 6 0 0 x 8 0 0 .
A l l those scoreboards and wisecracking lightg r i d s , now that they are computer-controlled,
raise all kindB of possibilities for non-frame
animation. The big ones cost in the millions; a
snail one for shopping centers costs a hundred
grand (Millenium Info S y s t e m s , Santa Clara C A ) .
Within a year or s o , though, you ought to
be able to get a n i c e animated display-panel of
. assuming
. for the side of your i
you've got the computer i n s i d e .
A surprise something-or-other from DEC, the
But
V T 5 5 , represents a breakthrough of some sort
what w e r e they thinking of?
"Graphic capability" has been added to an
ordinary upper-case k e y s c o p e . Specifically, the
ability to m a k e two g r a p h s , i.e., two wiggly line;
(no more) somewhere between the left and right
sides of the screen. Y o u can also shade in under
them, and add coordinate g r i d s . It's $2500, and
obviously great if you're bonkers for 2D g r a p h s .
MORE THANKS
In banging together this
volume originally, I omitted
thanking Hash Wiener, brazan (
brash young old-fashioned new
editor of Computer Decisions,
who has changed that publication from stolid X
peppery.
Thanks also to my good
friend Robert w . Fiddler, Esq.,
patent attorney and still an
ex-philosophy professor st
heart, for many delightful and
witty conversations on problems
of p a t e n t , copyright snd the
vagaries of intellectual p r o p erty. Any harebrained ideas on
these topics expressed here,
however, are almost assuredly
ay own.
For much of the information In this supplement I am
grateful to Bob Albrecht of
PCC, mentioned here and there.
Finally, special thanks
to Commander Hugo McCauley,
better known to you as Hugo's
Book service, for his yeoman
performance in shipping out
the books— not to mention c a r rying them up and down stairs,
typing the mailing labels,
checking for bad o n e s , and
sending out all those notes of
apology when we were out of
books again and again and a g a i n .
And to long-suffering Lois and
Megan McCauley, my especial
gratitude.
WHATEVER
The sea-to-shining-sea
Nelson Empire now consists of
a lot of unsold b o o k s , a 1K A l tair and a second pair of shoes.
My scheme for taking on Apprentice Generalists may have to
w a i t a w h i l e . So may Computer
L i b , the film. But just w a i t .
Speaking of w h i c h , what
about this b o o k , h e y , now?
Eventually there will be
a new edition. Y e s , the type
is horrendously s m a l l , and that
will have to be fixed. But
that involves new negatives for
every p a g e , an expenditure of
thousands of dollars, and some
reconsideration of how this
should all be set u p .
There have been several
interesting p l a n s . One was to
split the contents of this book
into three b o o k s , add m a t e r i a l ,
enlarge the type and have them
each this size and p r i c e . T e n tative titles were Computer Lib
/Dream M a c h i n e s , Computers
Arise./Computers A r o u s e ! , and
Guerrilla Computing/Electronlc
Monkeyshim
for Guerrilla Computing: ring
Kong climbing the front panel
of a 370 holding Patty H e a r s t .
(I also daydreamed about p u t ting out a 10-volume encyclopedia in the same f o r m a t , embracing psychology/sociology,
biology/evolutionary strategy,
history (as strategy) /more h i s tory (as mood and f e e l i n g ) ,
revolution versus continuity
(a two-sided position p a p e r ) . . .
the Gem-Maniacal Encyclopedia'™.
But reason has p r e v a i l e d , and
such forays have been postponed
indefinitely.
The present plan is for
Computer Lib to be rewritten
and reset in bigger t y p e , at
least 256 p a g e s , with at least
9 color pages and color c o v e r .
(We're talking about fall '76
or later.) Price will have to
be S15. If you think that's a
rlpoff you can still get this
o n e . (A number of people have
complained to me about the $_7
price tag of this v o l u m e . Have
they ever bought other books?)
Later I would like to put out
an anthology of my favorite a r ticles in the field, using the
Computers Arise'./Computers
Arouse 1 title and format, and
with some good 3D if p o s s i b l e .
In any c a s e , I w a n t to stay in
the publishing game; I haven't
had so m u c h fun in years- o t h er projected volumes include
The Inner B e y o n d , by Sheila
McKenrle; Dirty Driving and the
Strategy of Traffic by "Driver
Edj" and The Nelson Computer
G l o s s a r y . Soon I hope to be
able to typeset from my own
c o m p u t e r , and possibly to share
this facility.
This has been a m o s t interesting y e a r . I have bean
pleased to m e e t , and otherwise
e n j o y , the variety of clever,
charming and/or lubricous p e r sons who have sought me out
since the book first appeared;
as well aa all the speaking e n g a g e m e n t s , soirees and w h a t n o t .
I am delighted to receive
relevant material and c o m m u n i cations of any k i n d , although
problems of time, disorganisation and mood often preclude
a Personal Type Reply.
It haa been a real lift for
my morale to share some of these
Ideas and enthusiasms with a
wider public at last. It is
you, finally, who have to carep
and I am very glad you d o .
A s to the most important
m a t t e r s , there is a news b l a c k out for tha indefinite future.
Please stand b y .
IBM, which did not take p a r t in its d e v e l o p m e n t , is sponsoring a $100,000 CHARGE installation
a t the University of Waterloo, in C a n a d a .
Next year in Xanadu.
in 3
(both . I d . . ) i . b a a . d In P«rt on my t a l k , at o t b e f o r e
S o c i e t y , tha A m e r i c a n D o c u « * n t a t ion I n s t i t u t e ,
.„r . . . n r l . U o n . tha A s s o c i a t e d P r e s s , tha A * . o i Kai
elLlftenee A g e n c y , t h .
at ton for C o m p u t i n g M a c h i n e r y , the C e n t r a l
th* P r i n t i n g and
latitut* of E l e c t r i c a l and E l e c t r o n i c * E n f l n
a S o c i e t y for I n f o r i b l i a h l n . A a a o c l a t l o n , the Rsnd C o r p o r a t i o n .
.
and
Television Engineer
Ition D i a p l a y , the S o c l . t y of M o t i o n < • < " . . "
, (th* A u b u r n l e c t u r e . ) .
ME 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 l
rox P a l o Alto R e . a a r c h C * n t * r , and
I v e r . i t l a e and J o i n t C o m p u t e r C o n f e
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Everybody at C h i c a g o Circle Campus
has b e e n v e r y s p o r t i n g a b o u t this p r o j e c t .
I am g r a t e f u l n o t o n l y for the e n c o u r a g e m e n t and 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 and S a m u e l S c h r a g e ) , b u t for the
a t m o s p h e r e of s u p p o r t w h i c h h a s m a d e this
p o s s i b l e . M y thanks to the D e p a r t m e n t of
A r t and the O f f i c e of I n s t r u c t i o n a l R e s o u r c e s D e v e l o p m e n t for f r e e i n g me from
t e a c h i n g d u t i e s , to the C o m p u t e r C e n t e r
snd the D e p a r t m e n t of C h e n i s t r y for l e t ting me u s e p i c t u r e s of their e q u i p m e n t ,
and e v e r y b o d y for t h e i r e n c o u r a g e m e n t .
In
1 important sense this ia not no.
T h e machines, and toys, and involvement*
w e buy Into, are in but a small proportion of
cases o w n e d simply as scores, for their eo.t
a* consumption symbols.
Rather, w e b u y things lhat R E P R E S E N T
I D E A L S . hoping ourselves lo partake of *ome
abstraction or image-- the Playboy m a n , the
Smart Businessman, the Clever H o m e m a k e r .
I w o u l d like to thank the W a l t D i s n e y
o r g a n i z a t i o n for their p e r m i s s i o n to d e p i c t their w o n d e r f u l c h a r a c t e r s , and e v e 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 and
p e r m i s s i o n s for the t h i n g s h e r e i n .
Each product tries lo tell us it is the k e y stone of a w a y of life, and then, at least at that
m o m e n t of purchase, w e step into, w c embrace
that W a y of life, covering ourselves with the
feeling, the aura, the magic w e s a w in the c o m mercial.
T h a n k s a l s o to those w h o l o o k e d o v e r
some o f the m a t e r i a l , e s p e c i a l l y H e r b e r t
G r o s c h of C o w p u t e r w o r l d , Dan M c G u r k o f
the 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 d
William Rodgers.
1 already said on the other aide that the
computer is a Rorschach, and you m a k e of it
some wild reflection of what you are yourself.
T h e r e is m o r e to it than that.
Thl* ia not materialism. It Is wishful
grasping at m i a s m a . (Following sentence o p tional.) It is c o m m u n i o n , with the object seised
simply the Objective Correlative of a hoped-for
tranasubstantistion. (Sorry.) It's a seeking,
not to possess, 4
lo belong.
the
I am p a r t i c u l a r l y gratie f u l
m 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 to ne
o v e r the 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 ,
Robert Fenichel, Andrew J, S i n n e r , John
R. Levine.
I am g r a t e f u l to C o m p u t e r D e c i s i o n s
m a g a z i n e for t h e i r g o o d w i l l , and h e l p in
researching computer imago s y n t h e s i s .
My roommate Tom D e F a n t i , mentioned
e l s e w h e r e in this b o o k , has b e e n c o n s i d e r a t e b e y o n d the c a l l of d u t y in g i v i n g
o v e r all the f i r s t - f l o o r r o o m s o f o u r
h o u s e to this p r o j e c t for six m o n t h s .
M y t h a n k s f i n a l l y to the m a n y o t h e r s
w h o s e g o o d w i l l h a s k e p t me g o i n g , in
p a r t i c u l a r my f o r m e r w i f e and e t e r n a l
friend, Deborah Stone Nelson.
D . W . GRIFFITH-- took the movie-box and created
[he photoplay. no longer n twisted stage
production.
S p e c i a l g r e e t i n g s to ny f r i e n d a n d
neighbor, M r s . John R. Neill: I hope you
e n j o y the uses w h i c h y o u r h u s b a n d ' s i l l u s t r a t i o n s o f T i k - T o k the M a c h i n e M a n
have found h e r e .
W A L T D I S N E Y - - created a hypnotic pantheon of
kindly and innocent semi-animals, sentimentally universal, generally acceptable.
I V A N S U T H E R L A N D — p r o g r a m m e d and systematized
a computer setup for helping people think
and w o r k with dec ply-structured pictorial
information. (See p.ihl)-)
D O U G E N G E L B A R T — foresaw the use of computer
screens as a w a y of expanding the m i n d ,
and over the last decade and a half has
brought about just that.
C o m p a r e Alice, w h e n she gets lo Wonderland
("Deary m e ! Curioser and curioser!")
with Dorothy Gale, transported to O z
("How do I_ get back to Kansas?!!!")
Fantasy ties in with everything, including
American git-out-n-do-it.
M e n always longed to fly. but it w a s here
that they first did. This is the land of the
M O V I E , a fantasy fabricated with endless difficulty using various kinds of e q u i p m e n t .
16
20
24
26
28
This is the land of the kandy kolor hot
rod, the Hell's Angel c h o p p e r , the drive-in
m o v i e . A n d the wild h o t r o d , in fact, is Just
the flip side of the deep-carpeted Cadillac: each
is a fantasy, an extension of its owner's image
of himself in the w o r l d .
30
31
32
34
T h u s it w a s not an historical accident,
but utterly predetermined, that in the hands of
Americana the computer would b e c o m e a w a y of
realizing every conceivable wild fantasy that
w a s dear to t h e m .
(Hotel t h i s t h e s i s is b e i n g a d v a n c e d
only half-seriously. There have been a
number of exactly-dreamful F r e n c h m e n , and
for this three-nationality split to be
really t r u e , they would all h a v e to h a v e
c 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 : Jule.->
V o r n e , Oaguorrc, the brothers HontgoIfi
. few.)
others Lumiere,
the
Thought you might w o n d e r .
OUT THE D O O R IH
8
8
9
10
11
12
1Z
IS
15
37
39
40
41
42
42
43
43
44
46
48
S2
S6
58
59
T h e r e la just one problem with all this.
N o w that all these things exist, or c o m e nearer
to existing, which ones will other people want?
What will it be possible for everyone to have?
A n d h o w can w e tie all these things together?
A N O T H E R QUICKIE
i this sDresd ia from
Z
4
6
6
This is perfectly all right. This is as it
should b e . This ia the best pert of our culture.
Not "Let a h u n d r e d flowers bloom," but "Let a
h u n d r e d gizmos clank." This has sped i m m e a s urably the imaginative development of m a n y different things w e might w a n t . I try here fairly
to explain a few differences a m o n g t h e m .
A n d m o r e , and o n .
T h e occasional O z ill us [rations are ail b y
John R . Neill. from various out-of-copyright O z
books by L . Frank B a u m , especially O z m a of O z
and Tik-Tok of O z . T i k - T o k . the Machine M a n ,
is the figure to w h o m occasional allegorical significance is attached here b y Juxtaposition.
G e r m a n s are too literal, they can get off
on well-oiled cogs. T h e French are too v a g u e .
(I've noticed thai G e r m a n science-fiction m a g a zines had covers of machines nnd planets; French
science-fiction magazines, of dragons and people
with w i n g s . O u r science-fiction covers show
people with machines. Intimately, emotionally.)
G e r m a n fantasy Is icy and impersonal, French
fantasy too personal, and American fantasy is
splat In the middle, uniting both: m a n and
m a c h i n e , m e a n s and e n d s , emotion and details.
i fabled character
J O H N W . C A M P B E L L - - as author and then editor
•f Astounding, turned American sciencefiction from the B u c k Rogers space opera
to the h u m a n story, built around thoughtout premises and structures.
L a s t l y , for h e r c o n t r i b u t i o n s to
m o r a l e (and for n o t f o o t p r i n t i n g the
p a s t e u p s } , let's h a v e a w a r n h a n d for
P o o k y the W o n d e r D o g .
of
America la the land w h e r e the machine is
an intimate part of our fantasy life.
M y t h a n k s to T o m B a r n a r d for s o m e of
the e a r l y t y p i n g , and for the P o r t a - X a n .
'74
m e tfGWt> of Wree-fx*^
In the fantasies of their MibjecU, which ihey
ted are the precursors ol new artistic images
lhat will in turn aclualue theimelve* as another
form ol bring, Matters and HouMon tee . new
herofigureconstantly recurring. Thi* new hero
ii not ihe old "hero of a thouiand face*," the
individualist who tuflVr*, din. and U reborn,
tl.ughtering and conquering along the way. Instead, he ii Protean, c.pable of infinite change*
in appear.nee and slyle, • magician, a Ballkeu r bringing giflL He rupture* categories and
confutes the senses, and in doing to he holds
oul ihe promise of fusion on a higher level.
I h a v e w a n t e d to w r i t * an i n t r o d u c t i o n to c o m p u t e r s , and a a e p a r a t e b o o k on F a n t i c *
for y
But the Idea of b i n d i n g them b * c k - t o - b a c k in 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 of m l a c h l e v o u * Enr
material, d i d n ' t h i t me t i l l Jan 7 3 . I h a v e t r i e d to add a l l the s t i m u l a t i n g and e x h l l a r a
s t u f f I could f i n d , e s p e c i a l l y pe
at ion* , as on the o t h e r s i d e ; c o m p u t e r * are d e e p l y p e r
m a c h i n e s , c o n t r a r y to l e g e n d , end ,
s 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 to t h r o w so m a n y of i
c o n c e r n * into comic r e l i e f , b u t 1 1
lat s o m e r e a d e r s w i l l s e n s e the s e r i o u s n e s s b e l o w .
t I O R
f0t
t h i
b
k
C
t T O n
*tr.ilht,„™
,
?
,
" °°
'"'
thing
h
m
k
C e o d e
l c
D
HHAf
! £K , I °Z "
" *
"
°«'°( c°"tse
w o n d e r f u l W h o l e E±rth C a t a l o g of S t s - a r t B r a n d . As I t h i n k
w o n d e
f u l
b
n
b
k
II rn r h ! i t ! ? * ' "
5
- J ° ° ° . •"<> T o . H c C a h i l l ' .
p r e c e d e n t l"«"mlmm'
- ?'l
^ V l l i ^ l ' l l
11
try how he t h o u g h t we s h o u l d w i n W o r l d W a r I I .
c a l l e d the D o m e b o o k , t h a t t e l l , y o u
I'm b l a t a n t l y i m i t a t i n g , in a w a y , t h .
b a c k , t h o u g h , the t o n e a l s o c o m e , in p a r t
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
If such . hero were to became I he model lor
[he approarhing age, he would probably nol be
the founder of • m a u movement or I he god ol
. new rrliginn. He would be more elusive, more
changeful ihtn his predecessors. He would be •
sorcerer who Ireala the eilemsl world and the
interna! world on equal terms, giving spirit to
the former andfleshto the lat let. He would be
• matter of par idol and a player of g.nwm,
speaking • new language. Hi* one prayer might
be the tinea of Blake:
.
s k y' '? s" ! .V ?i c t> o•r«y< »T•h r o«-..
u g h .A i«tM «Poi
T h l * p r o j e c t , . i n p l e i n p r i n c i p l e 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 on w a s n e c e s •ary b e c a u s e no p u b l i s h e r could have c
m p r e h e n d e d the 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 l
H e n d e r e o o . (ad.)'« T h e P u b l i s h - I t - Y o u r *
O f H a n d b o o k . SI from T h e P u s h c a r t B o o k P r e s s . Box 8 4 5 , l o o k e r s
•T 1 0 7 0 1 .
t the b o o k I had m e a n t to w r i t e . H o s t 1* f i r a t - d r a f t ; h o w the s e n
. I do n o t like 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 . )
Fai
d to be 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
Half
I p t , and the g l o s s a r y , had to be k i c k e d a s i d e ; I n c l u d i n g i
i-madia," mlerofil
a 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 of tl
•news w h a t . S o r r y f
11 t h s t .
W I T H A L I T T L E H E L P F R O M Mt
,
t
n
Way CaJ w kttp
From tuuU villa*
AmJfftartea'jtUmp.
— Kenneth Cavander,
"Voyage of the Peyohenaute.'
Harper'a, Jon 74, p . 74,
FRIENDS
h
b
-y - l l e l n r - i r - f r l . n d . s r j 1 " : * v "
DREAM MACHINES
APPARATUSES OF APPARITION
VIDEO
L I G H T N I N G IN A B O T T L E :
THE CATHODE-RAY TUBE
HOLOGRAPIIY
S a n d i n ' s Image P r o c e s s o r
3 0 D Y ELECTRON'! CS
PICTURE PROCESSING
AUDIO u COMPUTERS
THREE COMPUTER DREAMS:
AI ( a r t i f i c i a l i n t e l l i g e n c e )
IR ( i n f o r m a t i o n r e t r i e v a l )
CAI ( c o m p u t e r - a s s i s t e d
instruction)
"No More T e a c h e r s '
Dirty Looks."
T H E M I N D ' S EYE
(computer display)
COMPUTER MOVIES
PLATO
" L a w s of the U n i v e r s e
Hyper-Comics"
THE MIND'S EYE MORE:
3D L I N E S Y S T E M S
D e F a n t i ' s C o u p de G R A S S
HALFTONE IMAGE SYNTHESIS
1. Polygon Systems
2. Shades of Reality
(nicer greys)
3 . H a r d e n i n g of the
Artistries (special hardware)
4. Computer Image C o r p .
T H E M I N D ' S EYE M O R E :
n Dimensions
The Circle.Graphics Habitat
T h e T i s s u e of T h o u g h t
H o w to L e a r n A n y t h i n g
On Writing
The Heritage
HYPERMEDIA, HYPERTEXTS
Engelbart
FANTICS
THINKERTOYS
XANADU
W H A T N E L S O N IS R E A L L Y S A Y I N G
FLIP O U T
n
1
""P "-"
-ithout t h . dedicated and extraordinary
e f f o r t , of
The aad t h i n g a b o u t it a l l It
a y a t * * (of w h i c h o n l y a c o u p l e ex
t as y e t ) w o u l d h a v e o b v i a t e d a l l tha f 1 n d l n g - a n d - r e t y p l o g
I feel d.*ply for e v e r y o n e w h o ha,
t r o u b l e w r i t i n g by c o n v e n t i o n a l m e a n s , and w h o w o u l d n ' t If
decent systems were a v a i l a b l e .
proble
only
cloved1 ^anttiather,
eacW Holm.
•Tit
Y o u Can't Tell the E x p e r t s Without T h e y P r o g r a m Y o u
(Cf. "Calling n S p a d e a S p a d e , p . J > )
or AfPiJitmeNJ
It a e e m a different c o m p a n i e s a r e all the
time introducing w o n d e r f u l n e w d e v i c e s that will
revolutionize, u h . w h a t e v e r it is w e d o w i t h , u h ,
information a n d stuff. Thing's you'll attach to
y o u r T V to get h i g h b r o w p r o g r a m s o r dirty m o v i e s .
Microfilm devices that will s h r i n k the contents
of the Vatican L i b r a r y to a dot o n y o u r g l a s s e s .
G o g g l e s that s h o w y o u h o l o g r a p h i c color m o v i e s .
A p i n c e - n e z that lets y o u see the future. A n d
so o n .
B f \ r S e t l 5
Guy_'s_ B a c k g r o u n d
Television:
1. V i d e o freaks
2. N e t w o r k People
3.
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 the S a t u r d a y
r e v i e w of patents in the N e w Y o r k T i m e s , y o u
get the idea of S o m e t h i n g B i g , N e w a n d W o n d e r ful A b o u t to H a p p e n , so we'll all h a v e a c c e s s to
anything, anytime, a n y w h e r e .
Cable Operators
Math/Engineering
Display
B u t it's b e e n that w a y for d e c a d e s , a n d
with certain exceptions hasn't h a p p e n e d y e t .
Engineering
Programmed
Instruction,
Computer-Assisted
Instruction
H e r e are s o m e things that h a v e c a u g h t o n ,
a n d are mostly familiar to u a all.
B o o k . N e w s p a p e r . Magazine. Radio ( A M ) .
P h o n o g r a p h record ( 7 8 ) . T a p e r e c o r d e r .
B l a c k - a n d - w h i t e television. R a d i o ( F M ) . P h o n o g r a p h record ( 3 3 ) . P h o n o g r a p h record ( 4 5 ) .
Color television. T a p e cartridge ( i " ) . T a p e
cassette (Philips, c a . 1 / 8 " ) . Stereo r e c o r d s
and tapes. O h y e a h , a n d movies: 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 projectors. V i e w m a s t e r stereo v i e w e r s .
Publishing
Advertising,
Public R e l a t i o n s ,
Marketing
Artificial Intelligence
McLuhanatic
H e r e a r e s o m e things In the p r o c e s s of
catching o n (and not a s s u r e d of 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 , dioxide
tape e m u l s i o n . S u p e r 16 m o v i e f o r m a t .
T h e n there a r e the v i d e o r e c o r d i n g s y s t e m s . C B S ' E V R d i e d before it got a n y w h e r e .
R C A ' s SelectaVision isn't out y e t . 2-inch q u a d
is s t a n d a r d in the s t u d i o s , |-inch P o r t a - P a k
is s t a n d a r d a m o n g the V i d e o F r e a k s , a n d it looks
like S o n y ' s 3/4" cartridge will w i n a s the m a i n
sales a n d storage m e d i u m .
( T h e Philips s y s t e m
h e r e looks as t h o u g h it w o n ' t m a k e it, a n d 1-inch
is d u b i o u s . ) B u t w h a t ' s this w e h e a r a b o u t
video d i s k s (twenty-five y e a r s after they a n n o u n c e d P h o n e v i s i o n . A h , well.)?
T h e thing i s , so m a n y of these t h i n g s s e e m
to s o u n d alike. T h e y ell m e n t i o n "information
retrieval," e d u c a t i o n , t e c h n o l o g y , possibly "the
information e x p l o s i o n " a n d "the k n o w l e d g e i n d u s t r y . " P r e s s releases o r effusive n e w s p a p e r
articles m a y u s e p h r a s e s like " s p a c e - a g e , "
"futuristic," " 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 that w o r d s e e m to
k n o w w h a t O r w e l l stood for; s e e p
).
T h e n there a r e the b u s i n e s s m a g a z i n e s .
In the late sixties t h e y w e r e talking a b o u t " T h e
K n o w l e d g e I n d u s t r y " (a fiction, it t u r n e d o u t .
of a n economist's l u m p i n g a lot of things together
o d d l y ) . N o w t h e y talk a b o u t the C a b l e T V o u t fits a n d the V i d e o C a r t r i d g e outfits a s t h o u g h
they're the cat'B p a j a m a s .
A n y t h i n g mathematical; t h e o r e m s , discriminators, neural
nets: " p r o g r a m m i n g " ( m e a n i n g setting u p a n y t h i n g
v e r y complicated a n d i n c o m p r e h e n s i b l e ) .
Global Village, 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 indoctrination): a n y b o d y
else's t e r m s , d y n a m i c a l l y infused with n e w s e n s e 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 time a r o u n d
a n d a m o n g these a r e a s , I h a v e d e v e l o p e d c o n s i d erable c y n i c i s m a n d a b a d c a s e of the g i g g l e s .
Originally it all s e e m e d to fit t o g e t h e r a n d to b e
l e a d i n g s o m e w h e r e , b u t talking to p e o p l e at all
levels, a n d either g i v i n g a d v i c e o r t r y i n g to
interpret the a d v i c e of o t h e r s , I a m c o n v i n c e d
that w h a t w e h a v e h e r e in this w h o l e a u d i o visual-presentational w h i z b a n g field is n o t h i n g
less t h a n a v e r y h i g h o r d e r of collective i n s a n i t y .
T h e strange w a y c o m p a n i e s adopt a n d d r o p v a r ious 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 think
t h e y a r e d o i n g , s e e m to m e a c o m b i n a t i o n of
l e m m i n g i s m a n d a w i l l i n g n e s s to follow a n y A u t h ority in a n e x p e n s i v e suit.
I h a v e talked to
e 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 of c o m p u ter 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 ,
m e d i a outfits a n d s o o n , to b e totally certain
that t h e y h a v e n o special k n o w l e d g e o r u n u s u a l
b a s i s of information; yet these people's r e m a r k s ,
as amplified t h r o u g h the b u s i n e s s r e p o r t e r s ,
s e n d the w h o l e nation a - d i t h e r i n g . T h e r e a r e
t i m e s I think e v e r y b o d y in M e d i a is either d e l u d e d ,
m i s g u i d e d , lying o r c r a z y .
THREE
A n d the intimidating c o m p a n y n a m e s !
Outfits with n a m e s like G e n e r a l L e a r n i n g , I n c . ,
o r Synergistic C y b e r n e t i c s , I n c . , o r e v e n
Communications | Research (Machines, Inc.
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 they a r e
d o i n g , to u s e s u c h scientific-sounding p h r a s e s
as these!
" M e d i a " ( m e a n i n g television);
"Software" ( m e a n i n g videotapes).
" P r o g r a m m i n g " ( m e a n i n g competitive s c h e d u l i n g ) ;
" S o f t w a r e " ( m e a n i n g fixed-length T V s h o w s ) .
Head e n d , upstream a downstream, back-channel,
"interactive T V " ( m e a n i n g a n y f o r m of interactive
c o m p u t e r s y s t e m they c a n get in o n ) .
Information 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 irrelevant.
Full d u p l e x , e c h o p l e x , aspect ratio, scroll, c u r s o r ;
"information transfer" ( m e a n i n g telling o r t e a c h i n g ) ;
"data d e l i v e r y " (act t h e r e o f ) .
" S o f t w a r e " ( m e a n i n g sequential o r b r a n c h i n g tell-itest m a t e r i a l s ) ; " P r o g r a m m i n g " (creating 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 presentational o r d e r ) ;
" i n p u t s " ( m e a n i n g ideas 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 replies); "simulations" ( m e a n i n g pictures o r
events a user can influence).
"Software" (meaning b o o k s ) .
" D e m o g r a p h i c s " ( m e a n i n g factions); c a m p a i g n o l r a l e g y
( m e a n i n g h o w y o u hit a m a r k e t ) ; "penetration"
( m e a n i n g extent to w h i c h y o u r stuff c a t c h e s o n ) ;
" P r o g r a m m i n g " (moaning anything w h a t e v e r ) .
M e d i u m ( m e a n i n g stabilized presentational c o n t e x t ) ;
W r i t i n g a n d C r e a t i o n ( m e a n i n g thoughtful p r o d u c t i o n
of 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 sequential 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 g
e x a c t instructions to a c o m p u t e r ) ; m e d i a integrity,
inventions 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 , fantics.
B u t for e v e r y t h i n g that did catch o n , d o z e n s
didn't. S o m e e x a m p l e s : 12-inch 45 r p m r e c o r d s .
11.5 millimeter m o v i e s . R C A ' s ,-inch tape cartr i d g e , w h i c h b e c a m e a m o d e l for the m u c h smaller
Philips. W i r e r e c o r d e r s .
T h e n there a r e the things that c a u g h t o n
for awhile a n d w e n t n w a y . Stereopticons ( a n d
their beautiful d e s c e n d a n t , the T r u - V u e , w h i c h
I loved a s a k i d ) . Cylindrical r e c o r d i n g s .
P i a n o rolls. A n d s o o n .
Tomb
I M
Toll-Tale P h r a a e s fc J a r g u m e n t a t i o n
1.
CRUCIAL
SYSTEMS
POINTS.
"IN T H E
CATCHING
ON.
Be
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 article in
F i l m s in R e v i e w , early sixties I t h i n k ,
o n s c h e m e s to m a k e t h r e e - d i m e n s i o n a l
movies before 1930. 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 that m u l t i s c r e e n film N a p o l e o n
— a l e g e n d - - d o n e in the n i n e t e e n - t w e n t i e s .
( T h a t o n e really e x i s t e d . )
P h o n e v i s i o n , a b o u t 1947 o r s o , w a s g o i n g to
store a h a l f - h o u r m o v i e o n a 12-inch d i s k .
D i d t h e y get the idea f r o m the L P ?
Did
t h e y really think they c o u l d d o it?
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 1950: a special
c a m e r a that 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 e
of w h a t it w a s p o i n t e d a t . (But h o w did
it k n o w w h a t w a s b e h i n d t h i n g s ? )
A
HOME."
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 to
sell s n a z z y s y s t e m s to the s c h o o l s ( w h i c h don't
h a v e the m o n e y ) to the h o m e . T h i s in t u r n
h a s c o n v i n c e d m o s t p e o p l e that the n e w s y s t e m s
h a v e to b e v e r y limited, like j i m m i e d - u p T V s e t s .
( W e easily lose track of the fact that y o u c a n
h a v e a n y t h i n g "in the h o m e " if y o u w a n t to p a y
for it; a n d a n e c o n o m y in w h i c h M a r a n t z e s a n d
s 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 indicates that
s o m e p e o p l e a r e g o i n g to b e willing to p a y for
really hot stuff.)
2.
Wonderful Systems That Were G o n n a
w e i r d lens a r o u n d 1 9 5 0 — I think it w a s d e p i c ted 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 i p h e r y , like a fifties h o o d l u m tail-light—
that w a s s o m e h o w g o i n g to find "residual
traces" of color in 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 into c o l o r , z o w i e , just b y
copying them.
T h e n t h e r e w a s the P a n a c o l o r C a r t r i d g e .
During
the D a y s of M a d n e s s - - 1 9 6 8 , I think it w a s
-- a r a t h e r g o o d little m o v i e g a d g e t w a s
b e i n g p u s h e d b y a firm called P a n a c o l o r .
It h a d ten parallel m o v i e a n d a u d i o t r a c k s ,
1 b e l i e v e , o n a 7 0 m m strip. T h e p r o t o t y p e s
w e r e built b y Z e i s s .
T h e k e y q u e s t i o n is not h o w g o o d a s y s t e m
is in the a b s t r a c t , b u t w h e t h e r it will catch o n .
( O b v i o u s l y if w e ' r e public-spirited w e w a n t the
best s y s t e m s to catch o n , of c o u r s e . )
T h i s m a t t e r of C a t c h i n g O n
crucial b u s i n e s s .
is a fickle a n d
A c c o r d i n g to o n e a n e c d o t e , M r . Bell
couldn't interest s n y o n e in his i n v e n t i o n , w h i c h
h e w a s s h o w i n g at s o m e t r a d e fair. T h e n w h o
s h o u l d c o m e b y b u t the E m p e r o r of Brazil (!),
w h o w a s a b o u t to leave with his retinue of a d v i s e r s . " W h a t is that?" a s k e d the E m p e r o r of
B r a z i l . " N o t h i n g to b o t h e r w i t h , " they s a i d , a n d
tried 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 d
it, a n d o r d e r e d the first pair of t e l e p h o n e s s o l d .
T h i s m a d e the h e a d l i n e s , a n d the sale of telephones began.
E m b l e m of 2d 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 l
in H M Y o 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 .
A n o t h e r a n e c d o t e . It is l e g e n d a r y that
i n v e n t o r s o v e r v a l u e their o w n w o r k . Yet after
T h o m a s E d i s o n h a d i n v e n t e d the 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 into
t u r n i n g a c r a n k , h e d e c l i n e d to build a projector
for it, s a y i n g that the novelty w o u l d w e a r off.
O b v i o u s l y h e did't quite s e e w h a t " c a t c h i n g o n "
would mean here.
T h e i r idea w a s that this w a s a c o m pact m o v i e p r o j e c t o r . 1 kept trying to p e r s u a d e the c o m p a n y ' s p r e s i d e n t lhat they h a d
inadvertently d e s i g n e d a s p l e n d i d d e v i c e
for b r a n c h i n g m o v i e s (see " H y p e r f i l m s , "
p.°*77).
E x e r c i s e for the r e a d e r : m a p out p r o p erties of the b r a n c h i n g a n d e x p o s i t o r y
s t r u c t u r e s implicit in s u c h a d e v i c e . (It's
o n e - d i r e c t i o n a l . Gotta r e w i n d w h e n y o u
get to the e n d . B u t y o u c a n j u m p b e t w e e n
tracks 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 , it's g o n e
now.
3.
The
Great
(vr0m
Zoe_
Robert
Comix
In o r d e r for s o m e t h i n g to C a t c h O n , it h a s
to 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 ia m o tivation for different c o m p a n i e s to m a k e their o w n
little c h a n g e s in o r d e r to restrict u s e r s to Its
o w n p r o d u c t s . T h e b e s t e x a m p l e of h o w to
a v o i d this: Philips p a t e n t e d its a u d i o c a r t r i d g e
to the 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 free
u s e of the 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 to the
e x a c t s t a n d a r d i z a t i o n . T h e result h a s b e e n the
system's spectacular s u c c e s s , a n d Philips, rather
t 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 of
a far 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 e
money.
T h a t ' s a v i r t u e - r e w a r d e d k i n d of s t o r y .
Crumb.
HO.)
f i e r i .1 k ' W
1
T h e other p r o b l e m with standardization,
t h o u g h , is that w e t e n d to s t a n d a r d i z e too s o o n .
W e standardized on A M radio, e v e n though F M
w o u l d p r o b a b l y h a v e b e e n better.
(One Major
A r m s t r o n g , a g r e a t figure in the d e v e l o p m e n t
of r a d i o , c o m m i t t e d s u i c i d e w h e n n o b o d y w o u l d
accept F M .
If h e c o u l d o n l y h a v e h e a r d o u r F M
of t o d a y , h e m i g h t h a v e said " O h , n u t s , " a n d
lived.)
;
1
— r^»^er«v Rujnkfc »wver*.
* Iz.V«tia.
AND
WHATNOT
(reprise)
A m o n g the m a n y o d d t h i n g s that h a v e
resulted f r o m the collision of c o m p u t e r p e o p l e
with e d u c a t o r s , p u b l i s h e r s a n d others h a s b e e n
the respectful imitation of c o m p u t e r w a y s b y
t h o s e w h o didn't quite u n d e r s t a n d t h e m .
Again,
the c a r g o cult.*
T h e m o s t d i s m a l of t h e s e p r a c t i c e s h a s b e e n
the a d o p t i o n of the t e r m " s o f t w a r e " for a n y intellectual o r artistic p r o p e r t y
T h i s w h o l l y loses
the distinction, m a d e o n t h e o t h e r side of the b o o k ,
between:
hardware
(programmable
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 the
T o u c h - T o n e p h o n e p a d , the Bell p e o p l e e v i d e n t l y
s a w n o r e a s o n to h a v e it m a t c h the a d d i n g m a c h i n e p a n e l , s o t h e y p u t " 1 " in the u p p e r left
r a t h e r t h a n the l o w e r left. N o w t h e r e a r e lots
of 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 at least o n e of t h e m c u r s e s t h e d e s i g n e r s '
lack of c o n s i d e r a t i o n .
A n o t h e r interesting e x a m p l e of C a t c h i n g
O n : d u r i n g t h e e a r l y s i x t i e s , it w a s f u n b e i n g
at p l a c e s w h e r e t h e y w e r e just getting X e r o x
c o p i e r s for t h e first t i m e . E v e r y o n e w o u l d a r g u e that 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 d g 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 first m o n t h ' s
u 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 for t h e
first 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 .
Pr*.v*l.
HARDWARE, SOFTWARE
STANDARDIZATION
equipment)
s o f t w a r e ( p r o g r a m s , detailed p l a n s
of o p e r a t i o n that the h a r d w a r e
carries out)
c o n t e n t s o r d a t a (material w h i c h is
w o r k e d o n b y , m o v e d in o r
p r e s e n t e d b y the h a r d w a r e
u n d e r control of t h e s o f t w a r e )
In 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 e
together m a k e a n e n v i r o n m e n t ; data o r contents
m o v e a n d a p p e a r in that 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 folk h a v e m i s s e d
this distinction e n t i r e l y . N o t realizing that their
p r o d u c t i o n s are the 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 , stuff, m e s s a g e . . . ) that c o m e a n d g o in t h e
prefabricated 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 this t o g e t h e r into a state of
self-feeding 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 the
c o m p u t e r - a s s i s t e d instruction p e o p l e — s e e p . fyft \ 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 to t h e m
e n o u g h ljke c o m p u t e r p r o g r a m s to b e called
"software.")
T h e w o r s t a s p e c t of the c o n f u s i o n a m o n g
t h e c o r p o r a t i o n s is that certain deficiencies a n d
c r u d i t i e s of v i s i o n slip into t h e m i x .
Unless
o u r n e w m e d i a a n d their e x a c t ramifications a n d
c 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 the g r e a t e s t c a r e ,
e v e r y b o d y s t a n d s to l o s e . W e m u s t u n d e r s t a n d t h e
detailed p r o p e r t i e s of m e d i a .
( T h e first q u e s t i o n
to a s k , w h e n s o m e b o d y is s h o w i n g y o u the
Latest a n d G r e a t e s t , is: " W h a t a r e t h e p r o p e r t i e s
a n d qualities of t h e m e d i u m ? "
T h e followup
q u e s t i o n s c o m e easily w i t h e x p e r i e n c e : H o w o f ten d o y o u h a v e to c h a n g e it. w h a t a r e the b r a n c h i n g options, w h a t part could s o m e b o d y accid e n t a l l y p u t in 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 n g
complications? etc. }
I am unpersueded by M c L u h a n .
His ins 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 : he_ s u p p o s e s that electronic m e d i a a r e all t h e s a m e .
How
c a n this b e ?
H e r e w e m a y n o w decide w h a t electronic m e d i a w e w a n t in the f u t u r e — a n d this d e c i s i o n , I w o u l d s a y , is o n e of the m o s t i m p o r t a n t
w 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 to b e q u i t e t h e o p p o site o f M c L u h a n : s o m e h o w to t h e m it's a l w a y s a
m 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 , different e v e r y t i m e ; "this t e c h n i q u e is g o o d for A ,
that t e c h n i q u e is g o o d for B . "
B u t the net effect is the 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 y
the s a m e . "
I w o u l d c l a i m that the're all differe n t , all ten million of t h e m ( T V b e i n g o n l y o n e
electronic m e d i u m o u t of t h e l o t ) , a n d the differences matter v e r y v e r y m u c h , a n d only a few
c a n c a t c 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 are g r e a t , s o m e are l o u s y , s o m e are s u b tly 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 ,
built d e e p - d o w n into t h e s y s t e m .
(Example:
t h e fixed " q u e r y m o d e s " built into s o m e s y s t e m s . )
O n e last p o i n t . E v e r y b o d y o n l y h a s a
24-hour d a y .
M o s t p e o p l e , if t h e y i n c r e a s e c o n s u m p t i o n of o n e m e d i u m (like m a g a z i n e s o r b o o k s )
will c u t d o w n o n a n o t h e r (like T V ) . T h i s d r a s tically r e d u c e s the sorts of g r o w t h s o m e p e o p l e
h a v e b e e n e x p e c t i n g . E x c e p t , n o w , if w e c a n
b e g i n to r e p l a c e s o m e of the i n a n e p a p e r - s h u f f l i n g
a n d p a p e r - l o s i n g of t h e b u s i n e s s w o r l d , a n d
r e p l a c e t h e c r e e p y activities o f the s c h o o l (as n o w
g e n e r a l l y c o n s t i t u t e d ) w i t h a m o r e g o l d e n u s e of
time a n d m i n d .
Read on.
" T h e E m p e r o r h a s n o clothes o n ! 1
Small B o y
(name withheld)
L a s t y e a r I actually h e a r d a p h o n e c o m p a n y
lecturer s a y that in the future w e
will h a v e "Instant A c c e s s to A n y t h i n g ,
Anytime, Anywhere."
W h a t t h e y ' r e p u s h i n g is P i c t u r e p h o n e , w h i c h
it s e e m s to m e is u n n e c e s s a r y , w a s t e f u l
a n d generally unfeasible.
(See: R o b e r t J . R o b i n s o n , " P i c t u r e p h o n e — W h o
N e e d s It?", D a t a m a t i o n 15 N o v 7 1 , 1 5 2 . )
In any medium-- w r i t t e n , v i s u a l , filaic
or whatever-- you generate instantaneously
an a t m o s p h e r e , a p a t i n a , a miasma of s t y l e ,
i n v o l v e m e n t , p e r s o n a l i t y (perhaps implicit) ,
outlook, portent.
Consider—
T h e c o m p l a c e n c y of t h e S u l z b e r g e r * '
Mew York Times-T h e c y n i c i s m and m i s c h i e f of Kraasner's.
Realist—
T h e p e r k i n e s s and sense of freedom of
"Sesame S t r e e t " —
The personalized, focussed foreboding
of O r s o n W e l l e s f i l m s ; as d i s t i n c t
from the I m p e r s o n a l ! z e d , focussed
f o r e b o d i n g of H i t c h c o c k —
N e x t to this matter of m o o d , all else pales;
t h e a c t u a l c o n s t r a i n t s a n d s t r u c t u r e s of m e d i a ,
the e x p o s i t i o n s and c o m p l i c a t i o n s of p a r t i c u l a r
cognitive w o r k s and presentations w i t h i n m e d i a ,
are as nothing.
« K \ € J > M f IK) T H E C l r r f f f c O P r v J
T i m e a f t e r t i m e , the e d u c a t i o n a l e s t a b l i s h m e n t has
thought some great revolution would come through getting
new k i n d s of e q u i p m e n t into the c l a s s r o o m .
First it was m o v i e s . More recently it's been "audiovisual" stuff, teaching m a c h i n e s , film loops and computerassisted instruction.
In n o c a s e s h a v e t h e e n t h u s i a s t s for t h e s e s y s t e m s
seen how the equipment would fit into conventional e d u c a t i o n — o r , m o r e l i k e l y , screw the teacher u p . T e a c h e r s
a r e e m b a r r a s s e d a n d f l u s t e r e d w h e n t h e y h a v e to m o n k e y
w i t h e q u i p m e n t in a d d i t i o n to everything e l s e , and fitting
the a v a i l a b l e c a n n e d m a t e r i a l s into their lesson p l a n s
doesn't work out w e l l , either.
T h e o n l y r e a l p o s s i b i l i t i e s for c h a n g e l i e i n s y s t e m s
that w i l l change the instructor's position from a manager
to a h e l p e r . M a n y teachers w i l l like t h i s , many w i l l n o t .
w h e n s o m e b o d y s h o w s y o u o n electronic o r o t h e r
presentational s y s t e m , device or w h a t e v e r .
A certain k i n d of s l i g h t - o f - h a n d g o e s o n .
It's v e r y e a s y to get f o o l e d . T h e y m a y s h o w
y o u o n e thing a n d p e r s u a d e y o u you've seen
another.
A n d if y o u ' r e c a n n y e n o u g h to a s k
1 feature y o u h a v e n ' t s e e n they'll a l w a y s
"WE'RE
WORKING
ON
IT.'
It's o n l y d i s h o n e s t if t h e y s a y , "It'll b e
next
about
say.
ready
month."
' P r i m i t i v e s e x p o s e d to "civilized" m a n imitaU
his w a y s ridiculously -in religious rituals,
h o p i n g for the s h i p m e n t s of c a n n e d g o o d s ,
e t c . that his b e h a v i o r s e e m s to b r i n g d o w n
f r o m parts u n k n o w n .
A s e l f - e m p l o y e d r e p a i r m a n of m o b i l e h o m e s
named Donald Veils has invented a solar-powered
t o m b s t o n e chat can show m o v i e s and s t i l l p i c t u r e s
of the d e p a r t e d , a l o n g w i t h a p p r o p r i a t e o r g a n
m u s i c and any last w o r d s or e u l o g i e s s e l e c t e d
b y the d e c e a s e d .
OKI
* * * " M e r e c o r r o b o r a t i v e detail,
to e n h a n c e a n o t h e r w i s e
uninteresting narrative..."
Pooh-Bah,
Lord High
Everything
Else
T h e d e v i c e 1B a c t i v a t e d b y a r e m o t e c o n t r o l
d e v i c e c a r r i e d by a v i s i t o r to t h e g r a v e s i t e .
T h e movies would be shown on a twelve-inch screen
m o u n t e d n e x t to t h e e p i t a p h .
" Y o u c o u l d a l s o h a v e p i c t u r e s of C h r i s t a s c e n d i n g to h e a v e n o r C h r i s t o n t h e c r o s s , w h a t e v e r
y o u w a n t , " s a y s W e l l s . "It a d d s a w h o l e n e w d i m e n s i o n to g o i n g to t h e c e m e t e r y . , . . "
Cleveland
Plain
Dealer
(Quoted
in National
Lampoon
True Paote, May 74,
10.)
Patent 3,767,901
is for the D i s n e y
Audi o-Animatronics
system, which now
b a s i c a l l y consists of the manipulation of rubber
p W a l t Dianey
Productions.
puppets
DM
6
"ALTERNATE" TELEVISION, < : VIDEO FREAKS
"T
witter
wan t e l e v i s i o n b r o a d c a s t i n g
h . , , . v , there
Would you b e l i e v e rjieie
'-"^
"*
'
over the a i r w a v e * in the n i n e t e e n - t w e n t i e s ?
T h e thing i s ,
it used b i z a r r e s p i n n i n g e q u i p m e n t b e c a u s e t h e r e w e r e n o
C R T s f e e -Lightning in a B o t t l e , " n e a r b y . ) O n l y w i t h
S T d e v l o p - n t ot r a d a r in V o r l d W a r " «"
^EJ..
come a p r a c t i c a b l e C a t h o d e Ray T u b e , m a k i n g h o m e t e l e v i s
ion f e a s i b l e .
But the big c o m p a n i e s w e r e at first v e r y c o n s e r v a t i v e
, „ their m a r k e t i n g , f i g u r i n g t e l e v i s i o n w o u l d be a luxury
Item only
It t o o k a man n a m e d M a d m a n H u n t * , w h o c a r i c a tured him.elf in a N a p o l e o n h a t . to see that m i l l i o n * w o u l d
television if the price w . a r i g h t . So he c a m e
b u y
H u n t * TV in the late f o r t i e s . A» I r e c a l l , t h e H u n t * T V
cost $100 and hsd o n e tuning k n o b . (This w a . l e s s i n t i m i d a t i n g than the row of knoba on m o r e e x p e n s i v e s e t a . ) I
L ' t know how H u n t , came out on it . 1 1 . but " i s o p e n i n g of
the m a s * m a r k e t m a d e the b i g g e r c o r p o r a t i o n , r e a l i z e it w a s
t h e r e . (This same thing may yet h a p p e n a g a i n in n e w e r
media.)
O r i g i n a l l y a l l there w a s w . a K r . z y Kat and F a r m e r
Brovn c a r t o o n s . But b e h o l d , s o o n e r than you c o u l d s.y
" v e r t i c a l h o l d , " t h e r e w e r e Sid C a e s a r and I n o g e n e C o c a
cm t h e A d m i r a l S h o w , and w e w e r e o f f .
A q u a r t e r of « c e n t u r y l a t e r , t h e b e s t of t e l e v i a i o n
is no b e t t e r and the b u l k of t e l e v i s i o n is a b o u t a s bad
a* It ever w a s .
We "understand" television. That i s . we know what a
T V ahow l a , h o w it fitB t o g e t h e r and so o n .
ICECUBES
But w h a t p e o p l e d o n ' t r e a l i z e a b o u t T V is t h a t the
g o v e r n i n g f e a t u r e Is the t i m e - s l o t . In any m e d i u m w i t h
t i m e - s l o t s , w h e t h e r T V , r a d i o or c l a s s r o o m e d u c a t i o n , t h e
time-slot r u l e s b e h a v i o r . W h a t e v e r can h a p p e n is a s c o n s t r a i n e d as i c e c u b e s in a t r a y .
T h i s is the l i m i t i n g f a c t o r w h e n o p t i m i s t s try to
use TV for t e a c h i n g . If it's c o m i n g o v e r a c a b l e , e v e r y thing has to be s c h e d u l e d a r o u n d I t , and the c o n t e n t s a r e
clipped and c o n s t r a i n e d to fit the t i m e - s l o t . It m a y b e
better with videotape.
CABLES
In the last d o z e n y e a r s . C a b l e T V , or C A T V , h a s
b e c o m e big b u s i n e s s . A V i d e o C a b l e Is a h i g h - c a p a c i t y
electrical carrier that runs through a given n e i g h b o r hood or r e g i o n . B u s i n e s s and i n d i v i d u a l s m a y " s u b s c r i b e " and get t h e i r own s e t s h o o k e d o n t o t h e c a b l e .
In r e c e n t y e a r s , m a n y y o u n g f o l k * h a v e t a k e n to v i d e o
a w a y o f l i f e . In the m o s t e x t r e m e c a e e a t h e y say t h i n g s
like " t h e w r i t t e n w o r d is d e a d , " p r o m p t e d p e r h a p s b y M c L u h a n .
I h a v e found it r a t h e r d i f f i c u l t to talk to v i d e o f r e a k . .
(It m a y b e t h a t s o m e o f them a r e a g a i n s t s p o k e n w o r d s a s w e l l . ;
I r e a l l y Just d o n ' t k n o w w h a t t h e y ' r e a b o u t .
A B
In s o m e c a s e s , " a l t e r n a t i v e t e l e v i s i o n " s i m p l y m e a n s d o c u m e n t a r i e s o u t s i d e t h e n o r m a l f r a m e w o r k of o w n e r s h i p a n d r e p o r t i n g . In o n e e x a m p l e c i t e d b y S h a m b e r g (see b i b l i o g r a p h y ) ,
v i d e o f r e a k s d i d e x c e l l e n t c o v e r a g e o f t h e 1968 R e p u b l i c a n c o n v e n
t i o n . P e o p l e w e r e a l l o w e d to s p e a k for t h e m s e l v e s , u n l i k e " n o r m a l " T V j o u r n a l i s m w h e r e " c o m m e n t a t o r s " t e l l y o u w h a t they s e e .
N o w , t h i s is h a r d l y r e v o l u t i o n a r y ] i t is j u s t g o o d d o c u m e n t a r y - m a k i n g t h a t s h u c k s d u m b t r a d i t i o n s a r t i s t i c a l l y , m u c h like
the P e n n e b a k e r f i l m s . H o w e v e r , v i d e o e n t h u s i a s t s c l a i m i t i .
s o m e h o w d i f f e r e n t , and i n d e e d c l a i m t h a t v i d e o is d i f f e r e n t In
p r i n c i p l e from f i l m s . I h a v e b e e n u n a b l e to g e t a s a t i s f a c t o r y
c l a r i f i c a t i o n of t h i s i d e a .
V i d e o i s b e i n g u s e d in o t h e r w a y s , h a r d e r to u n d e r s t a n d , b y
a r t i s t s (best d e f i n e d a s p e r s o n s c a l l e d " a r t i s t s " w i t h i n t h e a r t
world t o d a y ) . Very odd "video pieces" have been shown at art
s h o w s , w h e r e the o b j e c t s e e m s t o b e to c o n f u s e t h e v i e w e r — o r
knock him into a condition of Enlarged P e r s p e c t i v e , shall we s a y .
And a variety of non-objective videotapes are now being c r e a t e d .
(A g a l l e r y show in 1 9 6 9 w a s c a l l e d " V i d e o a s a C r e a t i v e M e d i u m "
— implying sarcastically that it had not b e e n b e f o r e , on the
airwaves.)
S o m e v i d e o f r e a k s think of v i d e o a s i n t r i n s i c a l l y r a d i c a l or
R e v o l u t i o n a r y . In t h i s r e s p e c t t h e y d i f f e r I n t e r e s t i n g l y f r o m ,
s a y , the e d i t o r s o f the N a t i o n a l L a m p o o n • T h e e d i t o r s o f t h e
N a t i o n a l L a m p o o n a p p e a r to b e p o l i t i c a l r a d i c a l s , b u t d o n o t s u g g e s t t h a t t h e v e r y m e d i a o f c a r t o o n and j o k e - p i e c e a r e t h e m s e l v e s
r e v o l u t i o n a r y . S o m e v i d e o f r e a k s a p p e a r to b e p e r s u a d e d t h a t t h e
m e d i u m of television itself is inherently a v e h i c l e for c h a n g e .
I c a n u n d e r s t a n d o n e i n t e r e s t i n g s e n s e in w h i c h t h i s m a y b e
true: Shamberg talks about video as a method of s e l f - d i s c o v e r y .
S e e i n g y o u r s e l f on T V d o e s , o f c o u r s e , c o n f e r c e r t a i n i n s i g h t s .
B u t S h a m b e r g s u g g e s t s i t m a y e x p a n d p e o p l e ' s c o n s c i o u s n e s s in
larger w a y s — allowing people to see the b l e a k n e s s of c e r t a i n
p u r s u i t s (he u s e s t h e e x a m p l e o f S h o p p i n g ) , for i n s t a n c e .
But
if t h i s d o e s h i t h o m e to p e o p l e , i t d o e s n ' t s e e m to m e t o b e t h e
m e d i u m t h a t ' s d o i n g it b u t t h e s e l e c t e d c o n t e n t — a s in a l l p r e v i o u s m e d i a . H a y b e I've m i s s e d the p o i n t in s o m e w a y .
"
In a d d i t i o n , t h o u g h , the c a b l e o f f e r s e x t r a c h a n n e l s .
N o w , the b u s i n e s s m e n w h o h a v e b e e n t h r o w i n g t o g e t h er these v i d e o c a b l e o u t f i t s a r e a i m i n g f o r s o m e t h i n g .
T h e y have b e e n t h i n k i n g that t h e s e e x t r a c h a n n e l s w o u l d
net them a lot of m o n e y : b y s h o w i n g t h i n g s on t h e m t h a t
can't b e o f f e r e d on t h e a i r — h i g h b r o w d r a m a , or p e r h a p s
X - r a t e d s t u f f — t h e y could get e x t r a r e v e n u e . (You'd pay
e x t r a to w a t c h it b y b u y i n g an u n s c r a m b l e r , or w h a t e v e r . )
T h i s is t u r n i n g i n t o s o m e w h a t i
i disappointment.
T h e c a b l e p e o p l e had f o r e s e e n , e v i d e n t l y , t h a t p e o p l e
w o u l d stay h o m e in d r o v e s to s e e the n e w o f f e r i n g s o n t h e
c a b l e . In S h o w B u s i n e s s it's e a s y to f o r g e t , t h o u g h , t h a t
e v e r y b o d y haa only t w e n t y f o u r h o u r s in a d a y , and f a r l e s s
than 24 h o u r s to d i s p o s e of f r e e l y ; so e v e r y l e i s u r e o c c u p a t i o n is c o m p e t i n g w i t h e v e r y o t h e r l e i s u r e o c c u p a t i o n .
M o r e o v e r , the r e s i d u a l l e i s u r e o c c u p a t i o n , w h e n t h e r e ' s n o thing e l s e to d o , is T V . It w o u l d s e e m that few p e o p l e
w o u l d w a t c h m o r e t e l e v i s i o n if it w e r e b e t t e r , b u t m a n y
w o u l d w a t c h less if t h e y could a f f o r d to go o u t .
EXTRA CHANNELS
In r e c e n t y e a r s , a n u m b e r of e x t r a c h a n n e l s h a v e b e e n
m a d e a v a i l a b l e by l a w . T h e s e a r e the U H F , or U l t r a H i g h
F r e q u e n c y c h a n n e l s . T h e s e , like c a b l e a , r e p r e s e n t a c o n sumer breakthrough but w i l l have only negligible i m p a c t .
IN A B0TTL5
!
T h e s e d e v e l o p m e n t s are a l l very i n t e r e s t i n g . It can b e
h o p e d t h a t t h o s e t r y i n g to d e v e l o p n e w f o r m s o f c o m m u n i c a t i o n
w i l l m a k e an e f f o r t to c o m m u n i c a t e b e t t e r w i t h t h o s e w h o , l i k e
the a u t h o r , often c a n n o t comprehend w h a t they are d o i n g .
W h a t this d o e s first of a l l is i m p r o v e r e c e p t i o n .
T h e f o u l e d - u p v i d e o p i c t u r e c a u s e d by s u c h e x t r a n e o u s
o b j e c t s as the W o r l d T r a d e C e n t e r in N e w Y o r k can b e
c o r r e c t e d by h o o k i n g i n t o the v i d e o c a b l e : y o u get a
nice, sharp picture.
LI6HWIII<T
B u t d e c e n t r a l i z e d transmission of
information should be d o m i n a n t , not f u g i tive. Each citizen of Media-America
should guaranteed as a birthright access
to the m e a n s of d i s t r i b u t i o n of i n f o r m a tion."
(Shamberg, p . 67)
"
W e l l , w e w e n t down there with our
P o r t a - P a k and tried to take it i n s i d e .
A guard came over and said w e couldn't
and even threw one of us o u t of the booth
while the other was i n s i d e . A g u a r d
t e l l i n g y o u w h a t to d o in a c y b e r n e t i c
environment?"
A c a t h o d e - r a y t u b e is actually a bottle filled
w i t h a v a c u u m a n d s o m e f u n n y electrical e q u i p m e n t . T h e e q u i p m e n t in the n e c k of the bottle
s h o o t B a b e a m of electrons t o w a r d the bottom of
the bottle.
T h i s b e a m of electrons is called, m o r e o r less for
historical r e a s o n s , a c a t h o d e r a y . T h i n k of it a s
a s t r a w that c a n b e w i g g l e d in the bottle.
A c t u a l l y the bottle is s h a p e d so a s to h a v e
a large v i e w i n g a r e a at the b o t t o m (the s c r e e n ) ,
a n d this s c r e e n is c o a t e d w i t h s o m e t h i n g that g l o w s
w h e n electrons hit it. S u c h a c h e m i c a l is called
a phosphor.
N o w , t w o useful things <
beam.
b e d o n e w i t h this
1)
It c a n b e m a d e b r i g h t e r b y i n c r e a s i n g
the v o l t a g e , w h i c h i n c r e a s e s the
n u m b e r of electrons in the b e a m .
2)
T h e b e a m can b e m o v e d !
T h a t i s , it
c a n b e m a d e to p l a y a r o u n d t h e face
of the t u b e the w a y y o u c a n slosh
the s t r e a m of a g a r d e n h o s e b a c k
a n d forth o n the l a w n ; o r w i g g l e a
s t r a w in a c o k e bottle. T h e b e a m
c a n b e m o v e d w i t h either m a g n e t i s m
o r static electricity. T h i s is a p p l i e d
in t h e n e c k of the bottle— o r e v e n
f r o m o u t s i d e the n e c k - b y deflection
p l a t e s , w h o s e electrical p u l s a t i o n s
d e t e r m i n e the pattern the b e a m
traces o n the s c r e e n .
(Note that the
b e a m c a n b e m o v e d o n the s c r e e n at
great s p e e d . )
T h e vertical deflection plates c a n pull the
b e a m u p o r d o w n o n the s c r e e n , controlled b y
a signal to t h e m ;
(Shamberg, p . 53)
("Cybernetic" is e v i d e n t l y a code
word here for w h a t they think is
g o o d , t r u e , beautiful and i n e v i t a b l e , c f . p . D/l
A b o u t t h e o n l y g e n e r a l i z a t i o n to b e
m a d e is that community v i d e o w i l l be
s u b v e r s i v e to a n y g r o u p , b u r e a u c r a c y , o r
individual w h i c h feels threatened by a
coalescing of grassroots c o n s c i o u s n e s s .
Because not only does d e c e n t r a l i z e d TV
serve as an early w a r n i n g s y s t e m , it puts
p e o p l e in t o u c h w i t h o n e a n o t h e r a b o u t
common grievances."
the horizontal deflection plates c a n pull the b e a m
s i d e w a y s o n the s c r e e n , controlled b y a signal
to t h e m .
JioetjCf-l
THE PROBLEM OF ORGANIZATION
( S h a m b e r g , p . 57)
W h a t e v e r e l s e y o u m a y s a y a b o u t t h e m , the n e t w o r k s
and T V s t a t i o n s a r e at least o r g a n i z e d a s g o i n g c o n c e r n s
w i t h i n the i n s t i t u t i o n a l s t r u c t u r e s of the c o u n t r y .
Ideas
of " c o m m u n i t y t e l e v i s i o n " and o t h e r s u c h s c h e m e s w h i c h c a l l
for some n e w form of s o c i a l o r g a n i z a t i o n to s p r i n g f o r t h
a r e a b o u t a s p l a u s i b l e aa " c o m m u n i t y c o n t r o l " of s c h o o l s
and p o l i c e — or at b e s t l i k e l y to b e a s i n f l u e n t i a l a s
"community social centers."
INTERACTIVE TV?
Some p e o p l e , I w o n ' t say w h o , h a v e g o t t e n a lot of
m o n e y for s o m e t h i n g they call " I n t e r a c t i v e t e l e v i s i o n . "
W h a t t h i s turns out to m e a n is any f o r m of c o m p u t e r t i m e s h a r i n g that w i l l u s e h o m e T V t e r m i n a l s and v i d e o c a b l e s .
T h e q u e s t i o n s are w h y u s e h o m e TV t e r m i n a l s and v i d e o
c a b l e a , i n s o f a r as they w o u l d seem to p r o m i s e o n l y c o m p a r a t i v e l y l o w - g r a d e p e r f o r m a n c e ; and w h e t h e r t h e s e p e o p l e
h a v e thought out a n y t h i n g a b o u t t h e p o t e n t i a l c h a r a c t e r i a tics of the v a r i o u s m e d i a t h e y p r o p o s e w i t h s u c h a b a n d o n .
N o t h i n g I h a v e seen or h e a r d a b o u t t h i s is r e a s s u r i n g .
I f tit
MIIT
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Michael Shamberg and Raindance C o r p o r a t i o n ,
Guerrilla Television.
(Holt, 54.)
T U B E , an underground TV m a g a z i n e . $ 8 / y r .
T U B E , 1B26 Spaight S t . , M a d i s o n , WI
53704.
C a b l e R e p o r t , S 7 / y r . 192 N . C l a r k S t . ,
Room 6 0 7 , C h i c a g o , Samples S I .
" S C A N D A L IS R A M P A N T i n the c a b l e
television industry. Only Cable R e port follows cable TV developments
from the citizen's perspective and
tells you what's happening and what's
going wrong."
A d in C h i c a g o R E A D E R .
Nicholas J o h n s o n , How to Talk Back to Your
T e l e v i s i o n S e t . B a n t a m , 95c
nuMDM^iT^ rv
m\] we s>\x
•'1
•ft* M -
B y s e n d i n g c o m b i n e d s i g n a l s to b o t h h o r i zontal a n d vertical deflection p l a t e s , w e c a n m a k e
the e n d of the b e a m - - a b r i g h t dot o n the s c r e e n ,
s o m e t i m e s called a flying s p o t - - j u m p a r o u n d in
a n y pattern o n the s c r e e n . A r e p e a t e d pattern
of the b e a m o n the face of the C R T is called a
raster.
F r o m t h e s e t w o capabilities— b r i g h t e n i n g
a n d m o v i n g the b e a m - - a n u m b e r of v e r y special
technologies e m e r g e :
T E L E V I S I O N uses a zig-zag scanning pattern w h i c h r e p e a t s o v e r a n d o v e r .
T h i s z i g z a g pattern is a l w a y s the
s a m e , night a n d d a y .
Y o u c a n u s u a l l y s e e the lines clearly
o n a b l a c k - a n d - w h i t e set. T h e pict u r e consists of the c h a n g i n g pattern
of b r i g h t n e s s of this b e a m , w h i c h
c o m e s in o v e r the a i r w a v e s a s the
television s i g n a l .
DM
A s t h e b e a m c r i s s - c r o s s e s t h e f a c e p l a t e in
t h e z i g - z a g television r a s t e r , t h e n , a c o n t i n u o u s l y
c h a n g i n g o u t p u t signal f r o m the faceplate s h o w s
t h e b r i g h t n e s s e s all a c r o s s t h e s u c c e s s i v e lines
of the s c a n .
RADAR
D I S P L A Y u s e s a C R T to s h o w r e f l e c ted i m a g e s a r o u n d w h e r e t h e r a d a r
a n t e n n a is s t a n d i n g . T h i s u s e s a
s c a n n i n g r a s t e r of a star s h a p e ,
b r i g h t e n i n g the b e a m w h e n reflected
images are received.
A n d that is t h e television s i g n a l .
Together
w i t h s y n c h r o n i z i n g i n f o r m a t i o n , it's w h a t g o e s
out o v e r the a i r w a v e s , d o w n y o u r a n t e n n a a n d
into y o u r s e t . Y o u r s e t , o b e y i n g t h e s y n c h r o n i z i n g i n f o r m a t i o n , b r i g h t e n s a n d d a r k e n s its o w n
b e a m in p r o p o r t i o n to t h e b r i g h t n e s s of t h e
i n d i v i d u a l t e e n y r e g i o n s o f t h e f a c e p l a t e in t h e
television c a m e r a .
A n d this p r o d u c e s t h e s c i n tillating s u r f a c e WP call t e l e v i s i o n .
C O M P U T E R C R T G R A P H I C S generally use
t h e C R T in still a n o t h e r w a y : t h e
b e a m is m o v e d a r o u n d t h e s c r e e n in
s t r a i g h t lines f r o m p o i n t to p o i n t .
( B e t w e e n different p a r t s o f t h e p i c t u r e t h e b e a m is d a r k e n e d , t u r n e d
v e r y l o w s o y o u d o n ' t s e e it.)
B e c a u s e the i m a g e o n
CRT
a
again a n d
must
the p i c t u r e a g a i n
again.
(Methods
The
There
c o l o r t u b e is a w e i r d
(and m a n y
Sony's Trinitron(TM)
The
OF
CRT
CATHODE-RAY
is n o t m e r e l y
a single
b u t a n e n t i r e f a m i l y of i n v e n t i o n s .
CRT,
which w e
end by
s t e a d of a u n i f o r m
TUBES
The
ordinary
h a v e d i s c u s s e d , is v i e w e d
a human
being, has
at o n e
an image w h i c h
fades
q u i c k l y , a n d c a n h a v e its f l y i n g s p o t d r i v e n
a n y k i n d of raster o r
Here
The
are s o m e
P l u m b i c o n , etc.
THAT
AND
MAKES
YET,
BY
THE
IS T H E
has
different
Orthicon,
DEVICE
CAMERA
WORK,
TELEVISION
G O S H , IT'S J U S T
ANOTHER
CRT.
( Y o u thought the p r i m a r y
you're mixing pigments
For some
ungodly
t u r n o u t to b e
turn
red, green
light c a n b e
If y o u
walled
don't believe m e
image and
g o e s o u t of it a s a n
optical
electrical s i g n a l .
c a n this
The
t u b e sits i n s i d e t h e t e l e v i s i o n
camera,
w h i c h is a n o r d i n a r y c a m e r a , l i k e , w i t h a
projecting a picture t h r o u g h
onto a sensitive s u r f a c e .
a dark
At any
crosses
device
which
examines
t h i n g in a r b i t r a r y
convernamed
to let t h e c o m p u t e r
scanners:
r a t e , color television u s e s
addi-
pro-
measure
the
places.
the b r i g h t n e s s of s o m e -
p l a c e s is c a l l e d a f l y i n g
flying-spot
in t h e T r i n i t r o n
of t h e f a c e p l a t e .
"green"
are s o m e
different k i n d s
spot
of
these
If t h e
as the electron
dot
a certain p a r t of the s c r e e n , the
when
so side b y
as the b e a m
from
up
in t h e p i c t u r e a n d
Here
s i g n a l tells t h e g r e e n
more
color
s t r i p e s that t h e y ' r e
hit.
If it's Y e l l o w
side they
light u p
free
Time,
red stripes a n d
the
red
the
green,
and
green,
c r o s s e s t h e m , b u t t h e total effect
than
a few
i n c h e s is
Yellow.
chamber
Most American
B u t instead of t h e
surface b e i n g a film, the surface
of a C R T w i t h s o m e
phosphor:
lens
around
scanner.)
tional c o l o r s i g n a l s , a n d
and
the three m a n u f a c t u r e r s
hooked
b r i g h t n e s s o f t h e p i c t u r e in a r b i t r a r y
A
chintzy
poke
be
white-
s i g n a l tells b o t h t h e
be?
g o to a
happens
It is often
picture
S c a n
(see p . ^ f j ) -
room.)
to light u p
How
gram
and
of d a t a
ters, usually b y
a b o v e , can
out
a b o u t this last m e t h o d .
c o m p u t e r p e o p l e to t u r n a
form
bulb,
see w h a t
color signal s a y s
into it a s a n
into s o m e
true.
it t u r n s
a green
word
desired b y
in a
and
control the r e s p o n s e
i m a g e , the picture c o m e s
If
all o t h e r s
o u t of r e d
s t o r e , get a r e d a n d
'em on
to b e
and blue;
made
A
col-
if y o u ' r e
m i x i n g l i g h t s . t h e c o l o r s that y i e l d
a n electrical s i g n a l a n d
optical
that h a p p e n s
reason, however,
E x c e p t i n s t e a d of t h e p i c t u r e c o i n i n g into it a s
o u t o f it a s a n
red,
r e d , b l u e a n d y e l l o w , didn't y o u .
hardware
MAGICAL
h a s , in-
colors—
green.
green.
CRT:
Vidicon, Image
THIS
which
the f a c e p l a t e , tiny
ors
were
C R T S w h i c h b r i n g in a p i c t u r e o n e w a y
( s u c h a s a v i d e o r a s t e r ) a n d s e n d it b a c k o u t
a n o t h e r w a y ( s u c h a s b y letting a c o m p u t e r
s e a r c h o u t individual p o i n t s ) are called s c a n
converters.
talk
best),
blue a n d
that y e l l o w
picture transmitter, w h i c h
versions and n a m e s :
in
pattern.
o t h e r k i n d s of
CRT
coating o n
vertical stripes of t h r e e p r i m a r y
invention,
indeed.
t h i n k the
tube.
T h i s is a n o r d i n a r y
KINDS
beast
a r e s e v e r a l t y p e s , b u t we'll o n l y
a b o u t the simplest
SPECIAL
N o t e : T e k t r o n i x ' t u b e is built into a n u m b e r o f d i f f e r e n t c o m p u t e r d i s p l a y s , a n d ia r e c o g n i z a b l e b y its K e l l y g r e e n s u r f a c e .
They
t h e m s e l v e s m a k e complete c o m p u t e r terminals
a r o u n d thiB s c o p e for $ 4 0 0 0 a n d u p , b u t lots of
o t h e r p e o p l e p u t it in t h e i r p r o d u c t s a l s o . It
s h o w B w h a t e v e r h a s a l r e a d y b e e n p u t o n the
s c r e e n , a n d t h e e l e c t r o n b e a m d o e s n o t h a v e to
repeat the action.
H o w e v e r , it u s u a l l y o n l y
s t a y s lit for a b o u t a m i n u t e .
and
for this
pf\
are d i s c u s s e d o n p .
T h e s t o r a g e C R T c o r n e a in t w o f l a v o r s :
viewable and non-viewable.
B u t w h a t it d o e s
is v e r y n e a t : it h o l d s the p i c t u r e o n t h e s c r e e n .
T h e m e c h a n i s m s for this a r e of v a r i o u s t y p e s ,
a n d it's all w e i r d a n d e l e c t r o n i c , b u t t h e i d e a
is that o n c e s o m e t h i n g is p u t o n t h e s c r e e n b y
t h e e l e c t r o n b e a m , it s t a y s a n d s t a y s . U p to
several m i n u t e s , usually. T h e main m a n u f a c t u r e r s a r e T e k t r o n i x , Princeton Electronic P r o d u c t s , a n d H u g h e s A i r c r a f t ; e a c h of t h e s e t h r e e
h a s a p r o d u c t that w o r k a b y a different m e t h o d .
Princeton Electronic P r o d u c t s (guess w h e r e )
is a m u c h s m a l l e r outfit, s o p e r h a p s it is a p p r o p r i a t e that t h e y m a k e a m u c h s m a l l e r s t o r a g e
tube.
It is a b o u t o n e i n c h s q u a r e at its s t o r a g e
e n d , a n d y o u d o n ' t l o o k at it d i r e c t l y .
Instead,
a n i m a g e c a n b e s t o r e d o n it e i t h e r w t h a T V
r a s t e r o r b y c o m p u t e r - d r i v e n line d r a w i n g .
A f t e r t h e i m a g e is s t o r e d o n it, t h o u g h , it f u n c tions a s a T V c a m e r a : t h e p i c t u r e s t o r e d o n t h e
plate c a n b e r e a d o u t w i t h a s c a n n i n g r a s t e r ,
e x a c t l y a s if it w e r e a p i c t u r e t r a n s m i t t e r in a
television c a m e r a .
T h e P r i n c e t o n folks h a v e
built a q u i t e e x p e n s i v e , b u t q u i t e s p l e n d i d ,
c o m p l e t e t e r m i n a l a r o u n d this d e v i c e : it c a n h o l d
both video and c o m p u t e r - d r a w n pictures, s u p e r i m p o s e d or c o m b i n e d , a n d s e n d s t h e m b a c k out
in s t a n d a r d b l a c k - a n d - w h i t e T V .
$12000.
normal
fades q u i c k l y , the c o m p u t e r
ordinarily d r a w
7
is t h e
k i n d of a special
faceplate
pickup
least u p
ferent, something
Shadow
Mask
entirely
Tube.
but there w e r e
TV ( W K V
color T V
till this y e a r , u s e d
sets, h o w e v e r ,
something
w e i r d called
at
dif-
the
I'll s p a r e y o u t h e
picture,
s e v e r a l different electron
beams
-- o f t e n r e f e r r e d to j o k i n g l y
as the "red
electron
beam,"
" b l u e electron
and
electron
beam,"
though
character.
near
beam"
of c o u r s e
These
"green
they w e r e
hit a p e r f o r a t e d
sieve,
mask,
the u n w a n t e d
s o t h e y d i d n o t hit d i f f e r e n t - c o l o r e d
d o t s that w e r e intricately
I'm
sorry
arranged
I s t a r t e d to e x p l a i n
Multigun
gun
and
can
be used
more
tubes have
than one
old s h a d o w - m a s k
TV
"U*
up
and
beams
phosphor
on
the
screen.
this.
more
electron
in d i f f e r e n t w a y s
t*-J More*, i^t-j-ls „f iprt , K
i d e n t i c a l in
the s c r e e n , called the s h a d o w
the color signal t w e a k e d
T h e e l e c t r o n b e a m , w h i c h is j u s t like a n y
o t h e r e l e c t r o n b e a m , is m a d e to z i g z a g a c r o s s
t h e f a c e p l a t e in a s t a n d a r d t e l e v i s i o n r a s t e r .
A n d the special p h o s p h o r of the t u b e m e a s u r e s
t h e b r i g h t n e s s of t h e p i c t u r e at t h e s p o t t h e
b e a m is h i t t i n g . I h a v e n o i d e a h o w this h a p p e n s , b u t it's c h e m i c a l a n d e l e c t r o n i c a l a n d m y s t e r i o u s , a n d is b a a e d o n t h e w a y t h e p h o s p h o r
i n t e r a c t s w i t h t h e light f r o m o n e s i d e a n d t h e
e l e c t r o n s f r o m t h e o t h e r s i d e at t h e s a m e t i m e .
A n y h o w , a m e a s u r e m e n t s i g n a l c o m e s o u t of t h e
faceplate, indicating h o w bright the projected
p i c t u r e is in t h e v e r y s p o t t h e e l e c t r o n b e a m ia
n o w hitting.
very
than o n e
beam.
electron
They
(aside f r o m
tube, mentioned
the
above).
F o r i n s t a n c e , o n e g u n c a n b e d r i v e n in a
v i d e o r a s t e r , to s h o w t e l e v i s i o n , w h i l e a n o t h e r
g u n c a n b e u s e d as a c o m p u t e r d i s p l a y , d r a w i n g
i n d i v i d u a l lines w i t h n o r e g a r d to t h e T V p a t t e r n .
1 have
heard
it s a i d
s i b l e to b u i l d a C R T
surface:
temporarily
tron b e a m .
you
that it m i g h t b e
with a changeable
that i s , t h e s c r e e n
where
bright a n d
it is b e i n g
Interesting.
couid m a k e
becomes
hit w i t h
This would
c o m p u t e r displays
p r o j e c t a b l e to a n y
p o u r i n g a super-intensity
g r e a t for w r i t i n g
a f r i e n d of m i n e .
the e l e c mean
(and
that
TV)
degree, say.
laser b e a m
'Coca-Cola' on
If y o u
pos-
mirror
mirrored
by
o n it.
the m o o n , "
b e l i e v e in astral
"Be
says
pro-
jection .
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Color TV Training M a n u a l , Sa»s i Co./
B o b b s - K e r r i l l ( $ 7 ) , is s w e l l - I l l u s t r a t e d and
i n t e l l i g e n t i n t r o d u c t i o n to t h e T V u s e of C R T s .
ZZI
SLUM'S
WHCJf
r|IT t w € F ' L K
O C I 6 I 1 M L Y
&- t! N o w
e e e o ^ f T R u e T ^ P .
Don A m a i n ,
professor of Art
at V. of
Illinois,
Chicago
Circle,
says very wise
things
(having
been a
phyeiciat1,
and He were going
to have a whole
section on that,
but as you can see.
there wasn't r o o m .
Diagram
1. A D D E R - M U L T I P L I E R . T h l . c o a b l n . s two Input
c h . n n e l e , either d i r e c t l y or a , specified by • t h i r d .
of hou hologram
ia mode,
p. DM Zo.
H v t - n r u e *
,J...-I
(
;«rutr 1
woo i s
«0
Daniel J . Sandin (pronounced san-DEEN) haa
•pent the last several yeara putting together a
device he currently calls the IP (Image P r o c e s s o r ) . It's a aystem of circuits for c h a n g i n g
and colorizing T V . What follows Is the first
published description of i t .
I regret that the following is probably
one of the most difficult sections of this b o o k .
(If you know nothing about v i d e o , read Hir..li|i|»'g-st.)
o t i f>- 7
The Idea is basically to create a c o m p l e t e ly generalised system for a l t e r i n g the color and
brightness of video I m a g e s . ( I . e . , the system
does not move them on the s c r e e n . Thus It
differs from the Computer Image line of v i d e o twisting graphics s y s t e m s , which alter p o s i t i o n s
of o b j e c t s ; see p . DM $ \ . Note also that
rather similar facilities exist as part o f , e . g . ,
the Scanimate system, j . DM 3 1 •>
This m e a n s that basically Sandln's system
plays with the part of the TV s i g n a l called z,
or brightness (as distinct from x or y , the s i g nals for horizontal and v e r t i c a l m o v e m e n t of the
dot.
)N o w , as a physicist snd f i e l d - t h e o r e t i c i a n ,
Sandin approached thia aa a p r o b l e m in g e n e r a l i t y ;
and Indeed, the style of g e n e r a l i z a t i o n should be
a p p r e c i a t e d . Sandin r e p e a t e d l y chose flexibility
and power rather than o b v i o u s n e s s in the p a r t s he
c r e a t e d . The resulting system is both p a r s i m o n ious and p r o d u c t i v e .
'
B a s i c a l l y , the incoming video image is " s t r i p p e d " of lta synchronizing i n f o r m a t i o n , so that all
signals turning up in the guts of the m a c h i n e m a y
be freely m o d i f i e d . O n l y at the final output a t a g e
are the Jots and tittles of the v i d e o signal put b a c k
T h u s the first and last blocks of the Image
Processor act like b o o k e n d s , b e t w e e n w h i c h the other
m o d u l e s have their f u n . The first block m a k e s the
incoming signal into " n a k e d " v i d e o , the last b l o c k
dresses It up respectably a g a i n .
f k « p'ClOr-?
>p,
Holography
of chose M o d e r n M i r a c l e s
that we r e a l l y <
get i n t o . It is m i n d - b l o w i n g ,
I n f l u e n t i a l , and of uncl<
importance.
T h e c h a n n e l A Inputs are added together a n d - m u l tiplied by C ; the c h a n n e l B Inputs are added together
and m u l t i p l i e d by the reverse of C; b o t h results are
added to m a k e the o u t p u t . (NOTE: this unit Is used
among other t h i n g s , for fades and k e y i n g . )
2 . C O M P A R A T O R . Thla is like K o d a l i t h film,makIng an Image Into stark b l a c k and w h i t e . Its o u t p u t
is pure black or w h i t e . One input s i g n a l (the v i d e o )
Is c o m p a r e d w i t h another input s i g n a l (reference l e v e l ,
other v i d e o , w h a t e v e r ) .
W h i l e one is g r e a t e r the o u t p u t goes all b l a c k ,
and w h i l e the other la greater it goes a l l w h i t e .
3. V A L U E S C R A M B L E R . This is a s i n g l e m o d u l e
d i v i d i n g the p i c t u r e into eight l e v e l s . It may be
thought of as e i g h t of the above c o m p a r a t o r s , d i v i d ing the b r i g h t n e s s s p e c t r u m by q u a n t u m j u m p s . T h e
floor and c e l l i n g of the a i g n a l to be d i v i d e d a r e
specified by the two c o n t r o l c h a n n e l s , but the d i v i d ing lines b e t w e e n them are then a u t o m a t i c a l l y d e t e r m i n e d . Each c o r r e s p o n d i n g output level may b e c o n trolled by a k n o b .
0 ©
UNCl tCT
H i s first important d e c i s i o n w a s that all
parts of the system should be c o m p a t i b l e and I d i o t p r o o f , so that any user could frivolously plug It
together any w a y at all without burning out the
circuits.
I n d e e d , Sandin decided to build It like a m u s i c
synthesizer: by m a k i n g all systems e l e c t r i c a l l y c o m patible (aa they are on the M o o g and its p r o g e n y ) ,
any signal can be used to alter or influence any
other s i g n a l . This is a very profound d e c i s i o n ,
w h o s e far-flung results have not yet been fully e x plored even among Sandin'B rather fanatical s t u d ents.
4*4
0
It is
A b a s i c h o l o g r a m (— a c t u a l l y it should be
called a laser h o l o g r a m or L e l t h - U p a t n l e k s h o l o g r a m , but w e ' v e no time for auch d i s t i n c t i o n s — )
is o n e of these s m u d g y pictures w h i c h , w h e n v i e w e d
under a p r o p e r laser a e t u p , s h o w s you a t h r e e d i m e n s i o n a l p i c t u r e . W o r s e than t h a t : a s you m o v e
your h e a d , the p i c t u r e c h a n g e s c o r r e s p o n d i n g l y .
It l o o k s , not like the flat s u r f a c e it I s , but like
a lit-up box w i t h a m o d e l in I t .
T h e o n l y p r o b l e m : o r d i n a r i l y they have to b e .
u s e d w i t h laser l i g h t , w h i c h is s p o o k i l y o n e colored .
"~-»® 0-
N o t e s from all o v e r ; art s t y l i s t S a l v a d o r D a l i
p r e s i d e d at an u n v e i l i n g of "the w o r l d ' s first 3 6 0 °
h o l o g r a m " at a N e w Y o r k g a l l e r y not long a g o . T h e
s u b j e c t w a s s o n g stylist A l i c e C o o p e r .
— " ^ " 2 * "
O © D
O
Basically a h o l o g r a m Is an all-around p i c t u r e .
It d o e s n ' t look like a p i c t u r e , but looks like a
smudged f i n g e r p r i n t or other m i s t a k e of some k i n d .
What does the h o l o g r a m do? A c t u a l l y it r e c r e a t e s , not a single v i e w , but the entire tangle
of light rays that are reflected from the real o b j e c t . E v e n d o w n to bright r e f l e c t i o n s , which
s c i n t i l l a t e In the u s u a l w a y , as from c h r o m i u m .
*©•
6Utc,
twn. SBT
T h e o r e t i c a l l y predicted by Dennis C a b o r , the
h o l o g r a m (Creek "whole p i c t u r e " ) w a s finally m a d e
to w o r k in the late fifties by Lelth and U p a t n l e k s .
Since then d o z e n s of other types of holograms have
b e e n e x p e r i m e n t e d w i t h , including color h o l o g r a m s ,
m o v i e h o l o g r a m s , video h o l o g r a m s , audio holograms
and g r a c i o u s know w h a t .
&
T h u s from a r a n g e of Input v a l u e s , w e g e t an
output a t e p - f u n c t i o n e a c h of w h o s e b r i g h t n e s s e s is i n dividually adjustable.
The Haunted H o u s e at D i s n e y W o r l d in Florida
w i l l ride y o u through a b u i l d i n g full of h o l o g r a m s .
T h a t ' s o n e w a y to m o v e through g h o s t s , all r i g h t ,
T h e r e is a New Y o r k S c h o o l of H o l o g r a p h y .
N o t e that t h e s e d e v i c e s may be a r r a n g e d in
p a r a l l e l , thus d i v i d i n g the b r i g h t n e s s s p e c t r u m into
as m a n y levels as d e s i r e d .
U. O S C I L L A T O R M O D U L E (very u n u s u a l ) . S a n d l n ' s
o s c i l l a t o r s are v o l t a g e c o n t r o l l e d , just like the o n e s
in m u s i c a y n t h e s l z e r s . H o w e v e r , if given any kind of
a eync s i g n a l , they lock into the n e a r e s t m u l t i p l e
(or s u b m u l t i p l e ) w i t h i n the s p e c i f i e d r a n g e . (But
then the c o n t r o l s i g n a l , I f a n y , tweaks it h i g h e r or
l o w e r . ) S t a n d a r d i z e d output c o m e s in s i n e , square and
.th.
6 . F U N C T I O N G E N E R A T O R . T h i s d e v i c e is h a r d e s t to
e x p l a i n . L e t ' s do It in terms of that first m o d u l e , the
A d d e r - M u l t i p l i e r . Know h o w the A d d e r - M u l t i p l i e r puts out
e i t h e r a p o s i t i v e or a n e g a t i v e p i c t u r e , d e p e n d i n g on
w h i c h input you select?
inrur » i o c ^
r
7^— cCKfie rr v
«Ufevev-~l
|
For the sake of clarity we w i l l refer to the
outputs a s p i c t u r e s , or aa b l a c k , w h i t e or g r e y ,
which they would be If they went straight out to a
s c r e e n ; but they may be turned b a c k Into the system
and function as Inputs a s w e l l . " W h i t e " m e a n s +.5
v o l t s , "black" m e a n s -.5 v o l t s .
L e t us c o n s i d e r , t h e n , Sandln's m o d u l e s and what
they do individually to the b r i g h t n e s s s i g n a l z_.
Combinations are beyond the scope of this a r t i c l e
What Dan's
processor
can do to
televieion
ie not to be
believed.
Savage colors or
delicate
Qff*vhiteB,
eolarisations
and
pictures on top of
pictures.
Then thr •
"video
feedback"
(pointing a TV aar.^r.
a t a TV
screen),
the eystem can genera,
throbbing
animated
cobweb* and spirals
of its own.
Shown.
W e l l , the F u n c t i o n G e n e r a t o r d i v i d e s the Input b r i g h t nesses Into three r a n g e s , and m u l t i p l i e s each range p o s i tive or n e g a t i v e , in p r o p o r t i o n to lta own knob s e t t i n g .
The two planned uses w e r e A ) w i t h a s y n c , to
g e n e r a t e fixed p a t t e r n s , and B) w i t h o u t a s y n c , to
g e n e r a t e m o v a b l e p a t t e r n s . If b o t h inputs a r e u s e d ,
it b e c o m e s a s t u b b o r n lock-on v o l t a g e - c o n t r o l l e d o s c i l l a t o r , w h i c h tends to grab at p a s s i n g s u b m u l t i p l e s .
5 . D I F F E R E N T I A T O R . B a s i c a l l y this sees e d g e s in
the p i c t u r e , or any other part of a s c a n - l i n e w h o s e
color is c h a n g i n g . Its output is p r o p o r t i o n a l to
change o c c u r r i n g in the b r i g h t n e s s of a s c a n - l i n e ,
A s the input goes from black to w h i t e its output la
l i g h t ; aa the input goes from w h i t e to b l a c k its o u t put Is d a r k . (The input h o l e s e l e c t e d d e t e r m i n e s t h e
amount of m u l t i p l i c a t i o n . )
Thus the c o m b i n e d setting of the three knobs g e n e r a t es a " f u n c t i o n , " or c u r v e , from the slopes of the i n d i v i d ual s e t t i n g s . See g r a p h . What in p h o t o g r a p h y ia called
" s o l a r i r a t i o n " r e p r e s e n t s Just o n e of these combined s e t t i n g s . T h e others a r e n a m e l e s s .
e*c*i
tun
scope
of- d e - m * -
J
T
r
>
•I t-
( W » t v f * K talechal
Iw ^ f - (,,.«
y * ^ too *Ytir
C O L O R E N C O D E R M O D U L E . This ia the lest b l o c k ,
go three s i g n a l s , the desired r e d , blue and g r e e n ,
comes standard N T S C v i d e o .
E v e n if th _t w e r e n ' t a p r o b l e m , t h e r e Is t h e
m o r e s i m p l e m i n d 'e d q u e s t i o n o f w h o i n t h e e x i s t i n g
It t u r n s o u t ,
s y s t e m w o u l d use such t e c h n i q u e s .
o f c o u r s e , t h a t t h e y w o u l d b e a d d e d to w h a t Is
l a u g h a b l y c a l l ed t h e C o r r e c t i o n a l S y s t e m , o r e v e n
ailed the Justice S y s t e m .
All
more
laughably
the sadists you could p o s s i b l y w a n t work t h e r e ,
(And no d o u b t some very nice guys-- but e x p e r i m e n t s h a v e d e m on s t r a t e d h o r r i f i c a l l y t h a t d e c e n t
p e o p l e , turned into " g u a r d s " e v e n for a s h o r t t i m e ,
adopt the p a t t erns of b r u t a l i t y w e h a v e known from
time
i m m e m o r i a l .)
S o , like truncheons and electric shock therapy and s o l i t a r y c o n f i n e m e n t and e v e r y t h i n g e l s e ,
t h e s e t e c h n i q u e s - - if t h e y a r e u s e d - - w i l l e n t e r
the r e a l m o f A v a i l a b l e P u n i s h m e n t s , n o t to be u s e d
with clinical precision but with gratuitously brutalizing i n t e n t , new tools for punitivity and
sadism.
T h e " c o r r e c t i o n a l " s y s t e m w o u l d h a v e to
be magically corrected itself before such
tools
could be employed without simply making
things
worse.
A n d t h e p r o s p e c t is n o t g o o d .
o5»J>Y
"I eing
tach
the I
Such schemes grow, of c o u r s e , from a caricature of the m a l e f a c t o r - - t h i n k i n g him to b e some
sort of miswired c i r c u i t , rather than a human being
c a u g h t up in a n g e r , p a i n , h u m i l i a t i o n and u n e m ployment.
E , i s c w t i x c £
l electric..."
(There are
Will, but these
controversy.)
— Walt Whitman
T h e r e are v a r i o u s p e o p l e w h o w a n t to a t e l e c t r o n i c s to p e o p l e ' s b o d i e s a n d b r a i n s .
NEW
also a lot
do n o t h i n g
of c a n a r d s
for e i t h e r
about Free
side i n
this
FACULTIES
There are b a s i c a l l y two s t a r t i n g p o i n t s
for this a m b i t i o n .
O n e is a u t h o r i t a r i a n , t h e
o t h e r is a l t r u i s t i c .
I am not sure both schools
are not equally d a n g e r o u s , h o w e v e r .
S t a r t i n g from an e n t i r e l y d i f f e r e n t
outlook,
various designers and bio-engineers are trying
to a d d t h i n g s to t h e h u m a n b o d y a n d n e r v o u s s y s tem, for the voluntary b e n e f i t of the r e c i p i e n t .
Let's consider first the a u t h o r i t a r i a n s .
Prof. Delgado of Yale has d e m o n s t r a t e d that any
creature's behavior can be controlled by jolts •
to the b r a i n .
Delgado has dealt especially with
the n e g a t i v e c i r c u i t s of the b r a i n , that i s ,
places where an electrical impulse causes pain
(or " n e g a t i v e r e i n f o r c e m e n t " ) .
In D c l g a d o ' s
most stunning demonstration, he stopped a charging bull with just a teeny radio s i g n a l .
Ent h u s i a s t i c a l l y D e l g a d o tells us h o w fine this
sort of thing w o u l d b e for c o n t r o l l i n g U n d e s i r able Human Behavior, too.
A number of research and development
efforts
are aimed at h e l p i n g those w i t h sensory
impairm e n t s , a n d e l e c t r o n i c s o b v i o u s l y is g o i n g t o
involved.
Now, let's consider just what we're
talking
about.
In these e x p e r i m e n t s , n e e d l e s are imp l a n t e d in the c r e a t u r e ' s b r a i n .
This can inv o l v e r e m o v i n g a s e c t i o n of the s k u l l , or it c a n
be done merely by h a m m e r i n g a long hollow n e e d l e
straight into the skull and thus the b r a i n .
The r e s e a r c h e r , or w h a t e v e r w e w a n t to call
h i m , h a d b e t t e r k n o w w h a t h e is d o i n g .
But due
to the r e m a r k a b l e m a s s a c t i o n o f the b r a i n , t h e
destruction caused by such needles will have not
o b s e r v a b l e e f f e c t s if d o n e p r o p e r l y .
The h o l l o w n e e d l e , o n c e in p l a c e , b e c o m e s a
tube for shielded electrical w i r e s , whose bare
m e t a l l i c tips may then be u s e d to c a r r y
little
e l e c t r i c a l j o l t s , to w h a t e v e r b r a i n t i s s u e is
reached by the tip of the n e e d l e , w h e n e v e r tiny
signals are a p p l i e d .
Now there are regions of the b r a i n , d i s t r i b u t e d i r r e g u l a r l y t h r o u g h its m y s t e r i o u s
contents,
which are loosely called the " p l e a s u r e " and
"pain" systems.
They are c a l l e d that b e c a u s e of
w h a t the o r g a n i s m d o e s w h e n y o u j o l t it in t h o s e
places'.
(We do n o t k n o w w h e t h e r j o l t s to t h e s e
areas really cause p l e a s u r e or p a i n , b e c a u s e
t h e s e t h i n g s h a v e n ' t b e e n d o n e to h u m a n b e i n g s .
Yet.
T h e c r e a t u r e s it h a s b e e n d o n e t o c a n ' t
tell us j u s t how it f e e l s ; thus " p l e a s u r e " a n d
" p a i n " a r e in q u o t a t i o n m a r k s .
For now.)
A n y w a y , w h a t h a p p e n s is t h i s .
If y o u s t i m u l a t e a c r e a t u r e in the " p a i n " s y s t e m it tends to
s t o p w h a t it is d o i n g - - t h i s is c a l l e d n e g a t i v e
r e i n f o r c e m e n t - - and if y o u s t i m u l a t e it in the
p l e a s u r e s y s t e m , it tends to d o m o r e of w h a t it
was doing.
Positive reinforcement.
N o w , to some
possibilities.
people
this
suggests
wonderful
D e l g a d o , for instance, believes that this
technology gives us e v e r y t h i n g w e need for the
control of Anti-Social T e n d e n c i e s .
Criminals,
p s y c h o p a t h s a n d B a d G u y s in g e n e r a l - - a l l c a n b e
effectively "cured" (i.e., put on their best b e havior) by these techniques.
A l l w e h a v e to d o ,
h e h h e h , is g e t i n t o t h e i r h e a d s , h e h h e h , h a b i t s
of p r o p e r b e h a v i o r .
And with these new
techniques
of reinforcement, we can really teach
'em.
Unfortunately
Delgado
is
probably
right.
In p r i n c i p l e t h i s is j u s t a d r a s t i c f o r m o f
b e h a v i o r c o n t r o l on the B . F . S k i n n e r m o d e l
(depicted a l s o in N i n e t e e n E i g h t y - F o u r a n d A C l o c k w o r k
Orange) •
T h e n e w s y s t e m is m o r e stark" a n d s t a r t l i n g T > e c a u s e of its v i o l a t i o n of the
individual's
b o d y i n t e r i o r , b u t not in p r i n c i p l e d i f f e r e n t .
S k i n n e r has the same n a i v e , s i m p l e m i n d e d s o l utions for e v e r y t h i n g .
A l l " w e " h a v e to
d o using " w e " to mean s o c i e t y , the good guys
good
g u y s a c t i n g o n b e h a l f o f s o c i e t y , e t c . - - is c o n trol the b e h a v i o r of the bad g u y s , and e v e r y t h i n g
will be b e t t e r , and " w e " can accomplish
anything
"we" desire.
The
reader
may
see
several
problems
with
this.
In t h e f i r s t p l a c e ( a n d t h e l a s t ) , t h e r e is
the obvious q u e s t i o n of w h o w e a r e , and if w e are
g o i n g to c o n t r o l o t h e r p e o p l e , w h o is g o i n e - ^
c o n t r o l us_.
At a time when our "highest" leaders show
. t h e m s e l v e s p r e o c c u p i e d w i t h low r e t a l i a t i o n s
and
l o w e r i n i t i a t i v e s , w e c a n w o n d e r i n d e e d if it is
not m o r e i m p o r t a n t to p r e v e n t a n y o n e f r o m e v e r
getting this kind of control over humans than to
facilitate it.
An example: a firm called Listening, Inc.
in B o s t o n , f o u n d e d b y W a y n e B a t t e a u (whom J o h n W .
Campbell considered one of the Great Men of Our
T i m e ) , devised a system for helping the totally
d e a f to h e a r .
Supposedly this could transmit
the
a c t u a l s e n s a t i o n of h e a r i n g into the n e r v o u s
system by some s c a r c e l y - u n d e r s t o o d form of e l e c t r i cal induction.
The machine was sold off; whether
it e v e r g o t a s a f e t y r a t i n g I d o n ' t
know.
to
do
This
for
is the s o r t of t h i n g
t h e b l i n d , as w e l l .
people
would
like
N o w , in p r i n c i p l e , it m i g h t b e p o s s i b l e to
t r a n s m i t an i m a g e in s o m e w a y to t h e a c t u a l v i s ual area of the cerebral c o r t e x .
(This might or
m i g h t not i n v o l v e o p e n i n g the s k u l 1 . )
Somebody's
working on i t .
In a r e l a t e d t r e n d , n u m e r o u s d e s i g n
groups
are a t t e m p t i n g to e x t e n d the c a p a b i l i t i e s of the
human body, by means of things variously
called
possums, waldoes and
telefactors.
" P o s s u m s " ( f r o m L a t i n "I c a n " ) a r e d e v i c e s
to aid the h a n d i c a p p e d in m o v i n g , g r a s p i n g a n d
controlling.
Whatever motions the person can
m a k e a r e e l e c t r o n i c a l l y t r a n s p o s e d to w h a t e v e r
r e a l m o f c o n t r o l is n e e d e d , s u c h as t y p e w r i t i n g
or guiding a w h e e l c h a i r .
("Waldo" is H e i n l e i n ' s
term for a p o s s u m that can be o p e r a t e d at a d i s tance.)
In the s p a c e p r o g r a m , t h o u g h , t h e y c a l l t h e m
telefactors.
A t e l e f a c t o r is a d e v i c e w h i c h c o n verts or adapts body movements by m a g n i f i c a t i o n
or remote mimicking.
Unlike p o s s u m s , they are
m e a n t to be o p e r a t e d by p e o p l e w i t h n o r m a l f a c u l t i e s , b u t to p r o v i d e , for e x a m p l e , s u p e r h u m a n
s t r e n g t h : c r a d l e d in a l a r g e r t e l e f a c t o r b o d y , a
m a n c a n p i c k up i m m e n s e l o a d s , as the m o v e m e n t s
of his a r m s a r e c o n v e r t e d to the m o v e m e n t s of the
greater robot arms.
Telefactors can also w o r k from f a r , far a w a y .
T h u s a m a n s i t t i n g in a b o o t h c a n c o n t r o l , w i t h
the
m o v e m e n t s of his own a r m s , the a r t i f i c i a l arms of
a robot vehicle on another planet.
(This w h o l e realm of sensory and m o t o r m e c h a n i c s a n d t r a n s p o s i t i o n is a n i m p o r t a n t a s p e c t o f
w h a t I c a l l " F a n t i c s , " d i s c u s s e d o n p f . J^ya-ft).
Then there are those w h o , like How Wachspress
(see n e a r b y ) , w a n t to expand man's senses beyond
the o r d i n a r y , into n e w s e n s o r y r e a l m s , by h o o k i n g
h i m to v a r i o u s
electronics.
THOUGHTS
T h e r e a r e two p r o b l e m s in all o f t h i s .
The
f i r s t a n d w o r s t , o f c o u r s e , is w h o c o n t r o l s
and
what w.,: hold them back from the most evil d o i n g s .
Recent h i s t o r y , both at h o m e and a b r o a d , s u g g e s t s
the answers are d i s c o u r a g i n g .
The second problem, wispish and
theoretical
n e x t t o t h a t o t h e r , is w h e t h e r in t u r n i n g
toward
bizarre new pleasures and involvements, we will not
l o s e t r a c k o f a l l t h a t is h u m a n .
(Of c o u r s e
this
is a q u e s t i o n t h a t is a s k e d b y s o m e b o d y
whenever
anything at all c h a n g e s .
But that doesn't m e a n it
is a l w a y s
inappropriate.)
In the face b o t h o f p o t e n t i a l e v i l a n d d e h u m aniration, though, we can wish there were some
boundary, some good and conspicuous stopping place
at w h i c h to s a y : no f u r t h e r , like the
three-mile
limit in i n t e r n a t i o n a l law of o l d .
I personally
t h i n k it s h o u l d b e the h u m a n s k i n .
Perhaps
that's
o l d - f a s h i o n e d , being long breached by the P a c e maker.
But what other lines can we draw?
The
prospects
are
horrorshow,
me
droogies.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
T.D. Sterling, E.A. Bering, J r . , S.V. Pollack
and H . V a u g h a n , J r . , Visual Prosthesis.
The Interdisciplinary Dialog.
ACM
Monograph. $21.
BVC^O-ftCOOSTlt
J>lLj)0H.CS
I originally hadn't i n t e n d e d to include a n y t h i n g like this in the b o o k , w a n t i n g it to be a
family-ntyle a c c e s s catalog a n d all t h a t , b u t this
particular item s e e m s fairly i m p o r t a n t .
R e m e m b e r h o w w e l a u g h e d at the O r g a n m o tron In W o o d y Allen's Sleeper?
W e l l , it t u r n s
out not to b e a J o k e .
A n individual n a m e d H o w (not H o w a r d )
W a c h s p r e s s , e l e c t r o n i c k c r - i n - r e s l d e n c e at a S a n
F r a n c i s c o radio station, h a s b e e n d e v e l o p i n g just
that, e x c e p t that h e h a s m o r e elevated p u r p o s e s
in m i n d . T h e secret w a s b r o k e n to the w o r l d
in Q u i m a g a z i n e earlier this y e a r ; b u t H e f n e r ,
the p u b l i s h e r , evidently h e l d b a c k the m o r e
startling p h o t o g r a p h s of a m o d e l in electronicallyinduced ecstasy.
W a c h s p r e s s * d e v i c e s t r a n s p o s e s o u n d (as
a u d i o s i g n a l s ) into feelings; y o u t o u c h y o u r
b o d y w i t h a n o p e n - e n d e d t u b e o r o t h e r soft
fixture a t t a c h e d to his d e v i c e — w h i c h in turn
is attached to a hi-fi.
T h e s e n s a t i o n s , it is c l a i m e d , a r e p r o f o u n d a n d m o v i n g . Y o u m a y take t h e m a n y w h e r e
o n y o u r b o d y ; the effect is d e e p l y r e l a x i n g a n d
emotionally e n g r o s s i n g . W a c h s p r e s s t h i n k s h e
h a s r e a c h e d a n entire n e u r o l o g i c a l s y s t e m that
w a s n ' t k n o w n b e f o r e , m u c h like O l d B ' d i s c o v e r y
of the " p l e a s u r e c e n t e r " in the b r a i n ; h e s e e s it
a s a n e w m o d a l i t y of e x p e r i e n c e a n d a g e n e r a l ization of m u s i c a n d t o u c h . T h a t is the m a i n
p o i n t . " H y p e r - r e a l i t y " is w h e r e h e s a y s it gets
y o u : a point c u r i o u s l y c o n g r u e n t w i t h the a u t h o r ' s
o w n notions of h y p e r t e x t a n d h y p e r m e d i a a s e x t e n s i o n s of the m e n t a l life.
T h i s s a i d , w e c a n c o n s i d e r the p r u r i e n t
a s p e c t s of W a c h s p r e s s ' A u d i t a c a n d Teletac d e v i c e s ( w h i c h h e i n t e n d s to m a r k e t in a c o u p l e of
y e a r s a s hi-fi a c c e s s o r i e s , b ' g o s h ) .
When
p l a y e d w i t h the right a u d i o , in the right p l a c e s ,
a n d a g o o d o p e r a t o r at the c o n t r o l s , t h e y p r o v i d e
a s e x u a l e x p e r i e n c e said to b e of a h i g h o r d e r .
W a c h s p r e s s ' w o r k ties in interestingly w i t h
today's " a w a r e n e s s " m o v e m e n t , of w h i c h E s a l e n
is the spiritual c e n t e r , w h i c h h o l d s that w e h a v e
gotten o u t of t o u c h w i t h o u r b o d i e s , o u r f e e l i n g s ,
o u r native p e r c e p t i o n s . A s s u c h , the W a c h s p r e s s
m a c h i n e s m a y b e a n u n f o l d i n g - m e c h a n i s m for the
u n f e e l i n g tightness of M o d e r n M a n - - a s w e U a s
a less p r o f o u n d t r e a t m e n t for "marital difficulties"
and Why-Can't-Johnny-Come-Lately.
Inscrutable S a n Francisco!
Wachspress
g a v e a n u m b e r of d e m o n s t r a t i o n s of his d e v i c e s
in B a y A r e a c h u r c h e s , until h e b e c a m e d i s t u r b e d
at i m m o d e s t u s e s of the p r o b e b y female c o m m u n i c a n t s w h o h a d stood in line to try the m a c h i n e .
(Auditac, Ltd., D e p t . C L B ,
1940 W a s h i n g t o n S t . .
San Francisco C A 94109.)
Harry M e n d e l l , a good friend of m i n e , rigged an
i n t e r e s t i n g e x p e r i m e n t w h i l e h e w a s s t i l l in h i g h s c h o o l .
He u s e d a l i t t l e H e w l e t t - P a c k a r d m i n i c o m p u t e r , w h i c h
the manufacturer had generously loaned to his Knights of
C o l u m b u s C o m p u t e r C l u b of H a d d o n f i e l d , N . J .
H a r r y h o o k e d t h e H e w l e t t - P a c k a r d u p to a C R T d i s p l a y
t o
(see p p . imi,'7,bHtty
• At
P o f **** C R T ' £ ° l l o w i n 9 .
h i s p r o g r a m , t h e c o m p u t e r c o n t i n u o u s l y d i s p l a y e d the l e t t e r s o f t h e a l p h a b e t . A l i t t l e m a r k e r (called a c u r s o r )
would skip along underneath the l e t t e r s , acting as a m a r ker for e a c h of them in t u r n .
H a r r y r i g g e d o n e m o r e e x t e r n a l d e v i c e : a s e t of e l e c t r o d e s . T h e s e would be s t r a p p e d , h a r m l e s s l y , to the head
of a s u b j e c t .
Harry's computer program used these e l e c t r o d e s to m e a s u r e a l p h a r h y t h m , o n e o f the m y s t e r i o u s
p u l s e s i n the b r a i n t h a t c o m e a n d g o .
Every time the subject flashed a l p h a , Harry's program
would copy the letter above the cursor to the bottom of
S i t t i n g in t h i s r i g , s u b j e c t s w e r e a b l e t o l e a r n ,
rather q u i c k l y , TO TYPE WORDS AND S E N T E N C E S . Just by
f l a s h i n g a l p h a r h y t h m w h e n the c u r s o r w a s u n d e r t h e r i g h t
letters.
J u b i l a n t , Harry showed this setup to an eminent neurop h y s i o l o g i s t from a g r e a t u n i v e r s i t y n e a r b y , a m a n s p e c i a l i z i n g in e l e c t r o d e h o o k u p s . H a r r y w a s a h i g h s c h o o l s t u d e n t
and did not understand about Professionalism.
" W h a t ' B so g r e a t a b o u t t h a t ? " s n i f f e d t h e e m i n e n t
p r o f e s s i o n a l . "I c a n t y p e f a s t e r . "
S o H a r r y d r o p p e d t h a t a n d w e n t o n to o t h e r s t u f f .
DM 10
w i s ™ .
" P i c t u r e p r o c e e d i n g " ie a n i m p o r t a n t t e c h n o l o g y ,
largely separate from the rest of c o m p u t e r g r a p h i c s .
It m e a n s t a k i n g a n i n c o m i n g p i c t u r e , u s u a l l y a p h o t o ;nd d o i n g s o m e t h i n g to I t . ( S o m e n o w c a l l t h i s
graph
area ' m p u t e r pictorlcs. )
F i r s t o f a l l , t h e r e is I m a g e e n h a n c e m e n t .
This
m e a n s taking p i c t u r e s , dividing them into points w h o s e
brightness is s e p a r a t e l y m e a s u r e d , a n d then u s i n g s p e c ial techniques for m a k i n g the picture betterTo
people familiar with p h o t o g r a p h y , this m a y seem I m p o s s i b l e ; t o p h o t o g r a p h e r s It I s a m a x i m t h a t p h o t o g r a p h s
a l w a y s lose q u a l i t y a t e a c h s t e p . N e v e r t h e l e s s , v a r i o u s
mathematical techniques such as Fourier Analysis (mentioned e l s e w h e r e ) do
just, t h a t , producing a n e w data
structure improving on the original d a t a . Surfaces a p pear smoother, edges sharper.
i..11.-i
Knowlton
and Leon Harmon
have done a
lot of experiments
with picture
conversion
(eee bibliography).
Here ie
a phone
made into teeny
patterns
(shown around).
(<[)Knowlton
S
Harmon.
(These t e c h n i q u e s h a v e been e x t e n s i v e l y used to
clean up photographs sent back from our unmanned space
v e h i c l e s — both those used exploring other planets and
those spying on our o w n — see Secret Sentries in S p a c e ,
Bibliography.)
For r e c o g n i z i n g more c o m p l e x o b j e c t s in p i c t u r e s —
b o x e s , s p h e r e s , faces or w h a t e v e r — more complex s t r u c ture-analyzing programs are necessary. As the p o s s i b i l i t i e s o f w h a t m i g h t b e in a p i c t u r e I n c r e a s e , t h e s e i n creasingly become guessing programs.
(This b e c o m e s a
b r a n c h of a r t i f i c i a l I n t e l l i g e n c e , a m i s l e a d i n g t e r m f o r
a curious field, d t s c u a s e T ^ n p ^ Z - / ' / . )
( S o m e of the c l e v e r d a t a - h a n d l i n g t e c h niques of B E F L I X K n o w l t o n then turned a r o u n d
a n d u s e d i n L*S, a l a n g u a g e w h i c h m a d e t h e s e
t e c h n i q u e s a v a i l a b l e to o t h e r c o m p u t e r p e o p l e .
T h i s m a y s o u n d like o n l y a c o m p u t e r t e c h n i c a l i t y ,
b u t it's t h e s o r t of t h i n g that's w i d e l y a p p r e c i a t e d .
( L 6 s t a n d s f o r " b e l L L a b s ' L o w e r - L e v e l List
Language."))
Numerous computer people think it Is i m p o r t a n t to
match up our computer graphic display systems (described
Variously on this side of the b o o k ) to image Input s y s t e m s . T h i s ia a m a t t e r o f t a s t e .
W a n t i n g to g e t o u t s i d e artists i n t e r e s t e d
in B E F L I X a n d r e l a t e d m e d i a , h e w o r k e d for a t i m e
with
film-maker
S t a n V a n d e r b e e k ; f r o m this
K n o w l t o n s a w that artists' n e e d s w e r e m o r e
intricate t h a n h e h a d a n t i c i p a t e d .
Augmenting
B E F L I X w i t h s o m e of t h e t h i n g s V a n d e r b e e k
a s k e d for, K n o w l t o n c a m e u p with a n e w lang u a g e called T A R P S ( T w o - D i m e n s i o n a l A l p h a N u m e r i c Raster Picture S y s t e m ) .
T h i s in t u r n
l e d to E X P L O R ( E X J M i c i t ( l y p r o v i d e d 2 D P a t t e r n s . )
Local ( n e i g h b o r h o o d ) O p e r a t i o n s , a n d R a n d o m - '
ness).
E X P L O R is f a s c i n a t i n g b e c a u s e o f its
originality a n d g e n e r a l i t y - - n o t o n l y d o e s it
m o d i f y p i c t u r e s a n d s e r v e a s a n artist's t o o l ,
b u t it h a s f a s c i n a t i n g p r o p e r t i e s a s a c o m p u t e r
l a n g u a g e a n d m a y e v e n h a v e a p p l i c a t i o n s in
c o m p l e x s i m u l a t i o n s for technical p u r p o s e s .
These are all basically techniques for making a
data s t r u c t u r e . A n y data stored in computers m u s t h a v e ,
of c o u r s e , a d a t a s t r u c t u r e — w h i c h b a s i c a l l y m e a n s a n y
a r r a n g e m e n t of i n f o r m a t i o n y o u c h o o s e .
(see p . 2 6 " f - )
T h e s e v a r i o u s t e c h n i q u e s a r e i n t e n d e d to c r e a t e r e duced data s t r u c t u r e s , recording only the "most i m p o r tant" data of the p i c t u r e — from w h i c h n e w and v a r y i n g
pictures m a y be created, reflecting the "true" structures
o r i g i n a l l y s h o w n in t h e i n i t i a l p i c t u r e . H o w m u c h i t ' s
going to be possible to create these data structures
from input p i c t u r e s remains to b e s e e n ; some of us think
it's n o t going to b e generally w o r t h w h i l e .
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Azriel
R o s e n f e l d , "Progress In P i c t u r e P r o c e s s i n g
1969-71." ACM Computing Surveys June 7 3 ,
81-108.
Philip J. K l a s s , Secret Sentries In S p a c e .
Random,
1971, SB. Interesting general book on g e o p o litical strategy and orbital photoreconnalssance. "Now-it-can—be-toId" a p p r o a c h .
LIZZIE
OF THE LINEPRINTER
A famous converted picture. The painting
was divided into 100,000 brightness-measured spots
by H . Philip Peterson of Control Data Corporation;
then each d o t was made into a square of overprinted
letters on the printing device. T h e program allowed 100 levels of g r e y . Above: Control Data's v e r sion, reprinted by permission. Below: a cut-down
version that often turns u p . (From o r i g i n a l flat
2D a r t w o r k b y L e n D a V i n c i o f M e d i c i A s s o c i a t e s . )
NOTE: this is n o t a "computer picture."
There
is no such t h i n g .
It's a quantization put out on
a lineprinter.
SATfclUTS PICT0H€5 o r
YoOR 0 U H H 0 K <
CPOHTij
OR. i W e V E R .
Y o u can g e t p i c t u r e s of
any area you want from ERTS
(Earth Resources
Observation
Systems) satellites, from
EROS Data Center (no, not a
d a t i n g s e r v i c e , s e e p . (o'j ),
Sioux Falls SD 57198, or call
605/594-6511 b e t . 7 AM & PM
central
time.
S o m e of K n o w l t o n ' s b e s t - k n o w n w o r k
h a s b e e n in p i c t u r e p r o c e s s i n g , w h e r e h e h a s
c o n v e r t e d p h o t o g r a p h s into m o s a i c s of tiny
patterns-- w h i c h n e v e r t h e l e s s s h o w the original.
H i s first w i d e l y - k n o w n l a n g u a g e w a s
B E F L I X ( B E 1 1 L a b s m o v i e - m a k i n g s y s t e m ) ; this
w a s p r o g r a m m e d for t h e 7 0 9 4 in t h e e a r l y s i x t i e s .
B E F L I X a l l o w e d t h e u s e r to c r e a t e m o t i o n p i c t u r e s
b y a c l e v e r m o s a i c p r o c e s s that u s e d t h e o u t p u t c a m e r a m o r e efficiently . ( A c t u a l l y , t h e l e n s
w a s t h r o w n o u t of f o c u s m a n u a l l y a n d t h e e n t i r e
f r a m e c r e a t e d a s a m o s a i c of a l p h a b e t i c a l c h a r a c ters; this d i d t h e w h o l e t h i n g m u c h m o r e q u i c k l y
and inexpensively.)
Then there a r e r e c o g n i z e r s — programs that look at
t h e d a t a s t r u c t u r e f r o m a n I n p u t p i c t u r e , a n d t r y to
discern the l i n e s , corners and other features of t h e
picture.
(While your e y e i n s t a n t l y sees these t h i n g s ,
computers do n o t , and must look at the dots of a picture
o n e - b y - o n e . H o w to a n a l y z e p i c t u r e s I n s u c h t e d i o u s s e quences Is no simple m a t t e r . )
Ken KnowIton and Leon Harmon, "Computer-Produced
Grey Scales." Computer Graphics and Image
Processing. April 7 2 , 1-20.
K e n n e t h K n o w l t o n is a Bell L a b s lifer.
T a l l , p a t r i c i a n a n d g r a c i o u s , h i s w o r k , like
S u t h e r l a n d ' s , s h o w s t h e i n n e r light of u n i f y i n g
1
i n t e l l i g e n c e . H e w o r k s in M a x M a t h e w s
section
of Bell L a b s at M u r r a y Hill, w h e r e t h e y d o all
that i n t e r e s t i n g stuff w i t h m u s i c a n d p e r c e p t u a l
p s y c h o l o g y a n d s o o n . D u r i n g t h e last d e c a d e .
K n o w l t o n h a s t u r n e d o u t vast quantities of arti c l e s , p r o c e s s e d p i c t u r e s , m o v i e s , a n d actual
c o m p u t e r languages; while a n y ordinary m a n
w o u l d b e satisfied to b e s o p r o d u c t i v e , a p p a r e n t l y h e d o e s a lot of o t h e r t h i n g s in h i s w o r k
that h e d o e s n ' t talk a b o u t .
<"Hiinniuii.nr)H5-=".....«..ntf«er'i;rFii'rrt'iuim^o
•fiihtitrntiin i m i H H ^ . . . . . . . . . . . . H u i i M t . » » M n i - n t t ^ r ^
IIHII'IIMI n|||fHinH.. — . " . . . H : M » t i | [ r F C t f H « ( l ( ! H m «
HH-HIinilllll
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n i j i U i M i L i i i j rj«?ii3==_-=uL"^_iLi£>th>fri>j j f'eEprrrtrfi(si'_iutt
h H N > B S . r M I I U I H H m < ^ « 1 = - = = '((*l l l l l H H ? r F T ¥ ? » f M « I B M J > ! 3
(l(|1^r•^^'wf^^i-^^^^i!^'lHl^1• i i i m ^ = = i n i i > ri<?*<;>tf<ppf;i-flflHHiiKi'rr>ii ;n<?«
,
JJ l •^lreBl^^^^t^>i-L8EHJLa^•SIL-_= = tlL' =(llt!4i1ll'!H*^|rlll*»f rtr-.^^w
XtMttHHtmiWWIMUto
HI • >l 1I U t H * tt i » !f F 9
ltTWWW9tS*>W
Since V a n d e r b e e k , Knowlton has entered
into a l o n g a n d fruitful c o l l a b o r a t i o n w i t h Lillian
S c h w a r t z , a t a l e n t e d artist. T h e i r m a n y films
h a v e b e e n c l e v e r , startling a n d p o w e r f u l . I
m u s t s a y that t h e y g r o w o n y o u : I l i k e d t h e m at
first, b u t w h e n I s a w five o r s i x in a r o w this
J a n u a r y , I f o u n d t h e m just i n c r e d i b l e .
Because
t h e y a r e a b s t r a c t , a n d full o f f a s t - c h a n g i n g
patterns a n d r e v e r s a l s , they take s o m e adjusting
to; b u t t h e y ' r e w o r t h s e e i n g o v e r a n d o v e r .
E X P L O R m a y b e t h o u g h t of as a highly
g e n e r a l i z e d v e r s i o n o f C o n w a y ' s g a m e o f Life
(see p .
) • Y o u start w i t h t w o - d i m e n s i o n a l
patterns a s y o u r data structure; these c a n b e
abstractions o r e v e n c o n v e r t e d p h o t o g r a p h s , as
in a r e c e n t K n o w l t o n - S c h w a r t z film s h o w i n g
M u y b r i d g e ' s R u n n i n g M a n . In y o u r E X P L O R
p r o g r a m , y o u m a y t h e n c a u s e t h e p a t t e r n to
c h a n g e b y d e g r e e s , e a c h cell o f t h e p a t t e r n
r e a c t i n g to t h e cells a r o u n d it o r to r a n d o m
e v e n t s a s s p e c i f i e d b y the p r o g r a m m e r .
m i i e i i f mvnht->bni!i!Bi= = . = . = . . . . H •••• = >"-=< t t u f ^ M f n r ( I C M ^ M
• J ? 1 9 » n * h f r e f t < h b t b f c B R H B B = " " » i . . H H » " - = M < it • • • « • -1 (1!> «1 iKAi-f^i
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( l i c i t E C U t ? l i '^i iHH' • • = • • • * t>*1H»IM?5»Il 1! »
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timtiii*rt«»F'lt-tVHninif.utnin.n-nvKtbttt'1 i i r m u i r f ' . ^ r v
E X P L O R , r u n n i n g without external data,
c o m e s u p with s o m e extraordinary snakeskin a n d
J a c k Frost patterns.
B u t its u s e s in traffic
simulation a n d v a r i o u s other studies of p o p u lations in s p a c e c o u l d b e v e r y i n t e r e s t i n g .
E X P L O R h a s o b v i o u s artistic a p p l i c a t i o n s .
Lillian S c h w a r t z is u s i n g it e x t e n s i v e l y in f i l m making.
It's n o w r u n n i n g o n a m i n i c o m p u t e r
f e e d i n g to a m o d i f i e d S o n y T r i n i t r o n c o l o r T V .
( T h i s color s e t u p w a s c r e a t e d b y M i k e Noll
a n d is d e s c r i b e d in a r e c e n t i s s u e of t h e C A C M ,
t h o u g h o n l y for b l a c k - a n d - w h i t e T V ; t h e c o l o r
is m o r e r e c e n t . It s t o r e s t h e c o l o r p i c t u r e a s
a list o f s e q u e n t i a l c o l o r s r e p r e s e n t e d in t h e
c o m p u t e r ' s c o r e m e m o r y , e a c h dot b e i n g r e p r e C f . " B o y e l l ' s T o r r a r i u m , " p . f l f \ 3 & .)
K n o w l t o n h a s u s e d E X P L O R for t e a c h i n g
c o m p u t e r a r t at t h e U n i v e r s i t y of C a l i f o r n i a ;
t h e l a n g u a g e is a v a i l a b l e p r o g r a m m e d in " m e d i u m
size" F o r t r a n f r o m H a r r y H u s k e y , D e p t . of
Information a n d C o m p u t e r S c i e n c e , U . of C a l .
at S a n t a C r u z , S a n t a C r u z , C a l i f o r n i a .
DM
S P E E C H BY
11
COMPUTER
Y o u m a y have h e a r d a b o u t v a r i o u s k i n d s of
"talking computer."
Thla deserves some explanation.
C o m p u t e r s m a y be m a d e to " t a l k " by v a r i o u s
means.
O n e Is t h r o u g h a n o u t p u t d e v i c e that
s i m p l y s t o r e s r e c o r d i n g s of s e p a r a t e
w o r d s or s y l l a b l e s , w h i c h the computer selects w i t h
appropriate timing.
( M a c h i n e s of t h i s t y p e h a v e b e e n
sold b y b o t h IBM and C o g n i t r o n i c s for a long t i m e . )
A d e e p e r a p p r o a c h i s to h a v e t h e c o m p u t e r s y n t h e s i z e s p e e c h from p h o n e m e s , or a c t u a l l y m a k e the t o n e s
and n o i s e s of w h i c h speech is c o m p o s e d .
These are
very tricky m a t t e r s .
Bell L a b s , and o t h e r s , have been
w o r k i n g on m a n y of t h e s e a p p r o a c h e s .
T h e r e a l p r o b l e m , of c o u r s e , is how to d e c i d e
w h a t to s a y .
(This was discussed under Artificial
I n t e l l i g e n c e , p . fft'll/.)
This ie a non-simple
picture
conversion.
The
original
photograph
was converted
into
measured
points;
but
these
were
in turn made
into
growtogether
patterns
by a
program
in the EXPLOR
language.
f£) Knowlton
i
Harmon.
AUDIO ANALYSIS AND
ENHANCEMENT
T h e p r o b l e m of a n a l y z i n g a u d i o is v e r y like the
p r o b l e m of a n a l y z i n g p i c t u r e s (see p . j t h l O ) , and indeed
s o m e of t h e s a m e t e c h n i q u e s a r e u s e d .
The audio goes
i n t o t h e c o m p u t e r a s a s t r e a m of m e a s u r e m e n t s , and
the s e l f s a m e t e c h n i q u e o f F o u r i e r A n a l y s i s is e m p l o y e d .
T h i s r e d u c e s t h e a u d i o to a s e r i e s o f f r e q u e n c y m e a s u r e m e n t s o v e r t i m e — b u t , p a r a d o x i c a l l y , l o s e s l i t t l e of
the f i d e l i t y .
O n c e a u d i o is r e d u c e d to F o u r i e r p a t t e r n s , it c a n
b e r e c o n s t i t u t e d in v a r i o u s w a y s : c h a n g e d in t i m i n g a n d
pitch i n d e p e n d e n t l y , or enhanced by polishing t e c h n i q u e s l i k e t h o s e u s e d i n i m a g e e n h a n c e m e n t ( s e e p-9f\i0 ) .
This has been done with great success by Tom Stockh a m at the U n i v e r s i t y of U t a h , w h o has r e p r o c e s s e d old
Caruso records into Improved fidelity.
In t h e p i c t u r e
w e s e e h i m w i t h e q u i p m e n t of s o m e s o r t a n d an old r e c o r d .
W i s h t h e r e w e r e r o o m to t a l k a b o u t p l a i n
regular audio h e r e — matters like " b i n a u r a l "
r e c o r d i n g , and W h y don't they make h i - f i systems
b a s e d on a G r a n d B u s (see p M 2
)?
But there's
no room h e r e .
AUDIO AND
COMPUTERS
People are occasionally
hear that computers can make
They can indeed.
s t i l l B t a r t l e d to
sound and m u s i c .
F i r s t of a l l , n o t e t h a t an I n c o m i n g s o u n d is
a fluctuating v o l t a g e and can thus be turned into
a d a t a s t r u c t u r e . I . e . , a s t r i n g of m e a s u r e m e n t s .
(Wloyt' -
conveys!©*^
In the e a s i e s t c a s e , the c o m p u t e r can j u s t
s e n d b a c k out the v o l t a g e s it o r i g i n a l l y got I n .
T h i s is r a t h e r r i d i c u l o u s — u s i n g the c o m p u t e r
just as a recording d e v i c e — but it's a clear and
simple example.
T h e q u e s t i o n a f t e r t h a t i s w h a t n e x t : h o w to
have the compute; m a k e interesting streams''output
., s o u n d s a n d t o n e s .
"
measurements,
There are numerous methods we can't go into.
Max M a t h e w s , at Bell L a b s , h a s for y e a r s been d o i n g
m u s i c by c o m p u t e r ; his c u r r e n t s y s t e m is called
GROOVE.
Heinz v o n F o e r s t e r , at the U n i v e r s i t y of
Illinois ( U r b a n a ) , has been d o i n g the s a m e .
Another lab at M I T h a s just gotten a P D P - 1 1 / 4 5 (see
p.
for the same p u r p o s e .
(The p r o b l e m i s : c a n the c o m p u t e r k e e p up
w i t h t h e o u t p u t r a t e n e e d e d to m a k e m u s i c in r e a l
time? maybe the 11/45 can.)
A n o t h e r a p p r o a c h is to r e l i e v e the c o m p u t e r
itself from making the t o n e s , and use other d e v i c e s — music s y n t h e s i z e r s — for t h i s , controlled
by the c o m p u t e r .
T h i s is e s s e n t i a l l y the a p p r o a c h
taken w i t h G e n e r a l T u r t l e ' s M u s i c Box (see p .
)>
and at the C o l u m b i a - P r i n c e t o n E l e c t r o n i c M u s i c C e n t e r , w h e r e their R C A M a r k II m u s i c s y n t h e s i z e r — an
i m m e n s e o n e - o f - a - k i n d j o b b i e — is u n d e r m o r e g e n e r a l
computer control.
T o m a k e s o u n d b y c o m p u t e r is t h e o b v e r s e .
If
t h e c o m p u t e r c a n b e s e t u p to s e n d out_ a s t r i n g o f
m e a s u r e m e n t s , these can be turned b a c k into a f l u c t uating voltage, and thus make sounds.
University
of
Utah
( S t o c k h a m h a s b e e n in t h e n e w s l a t e l y , a s o n e of
the p a n e l p u z z l i n g o v e r t h e n o t o r i o u s 1 8 - M i n u t e G a p . )
(The a u t h o r h a s proposed the n a m e K i t c h e n s y n c t r a
for a s y s t e m to s y n c h r o n i z e m o t i o n pictures w i t h "wild"
sound recording b y these means.)
/
J
Kelt?.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
T h o m a s G . S t o c k h a m , J r . , " R e s t o r a t i o n of O l d A c o u s t i c ^
R e c o r d i n g s b y M e a n s of D i g i t a l S i g n a l Processing."
Audio Engineering Society preprint n o . 831 ( D - 4 ) ,
presented at Audio Engineering Society 1971 c o n vention .
1»
MUSICAL
*K
>tv*CtV
NOTATION
N o t e t h a t t h e c o m p u t e r h a n d l i n g of m u s i c a l
n o t e s , as s y m b o l s , Is a n o t h e r rask e n t i r e l y ,
closely resembling computer text handling (mentioned v a r i o u s l y in t h e b o o k ) .
A high-power structure d - t e x t s y s t e m o r T h i n k e r t o y ( s e « p.flHftfl i s f l n e
tor staring and p r e s e n t i n g w r i t t e n m u s i c .
A n d , of c o u r s e , s u c h s t o r e d m u s i c a l n o t a t i o n
(a
data s t r u c t u r e ) can o b v i o u s l y be played by
the hookups m e n t i o n e d .
P r e n t i s s H . K n o w l t o n , " C a p t u r e a n d D i s p l a y of K e y b o a r d
Music." Datamation May '72, 56-60.
Describes a
s e t u p h e b u i l t at U . of U t a h t h a t a l l o w s p i a n i s t s
to p l a y m u s i c on an o r d i n a r y k e y b o a r d , and c o n v e t h e i n p u t to s y m b o l i c r e p r e s e n t a t i o n i n t h e c o m puter.
It u s e s a n o r g a n , a P D P - 8 a n d a c o u p l e o
CRT displays.
Heinz
Some
v o n F o e r s t e r a n a J Joes B e a u c h a m p , M u s i c b y
W i l e y , 1 9 6 9 . H A S R E C O R D S IN B A C K .
Computer*
of t h e e a r l y B e l l L a b s w o r k m a y b e h e a r d on an
excellent D e c c a LP w i t h the misleading title
"MUSIC from MATHEMATICS."
(Decca DL ?91°3>•
m a t h e m a t i c a l m y t h i s d i s c u s s e d o n p . 3-*}.)
811
4
frIHW?
•for
dioi
"Artificial I n t e l l i g e n c e " Is at once the aexiest
and m o s t o m i n o u s term In the w o r l d . It c h i l l s and Imp r e s s e s at the same t i m e . In p r i n c i p l e It m e a n s the
simulation of p r o c e s s e s of m i n d , by any m e a n s at a l l ;
but it generally turns out to be some form or a n o t h e r
of c o m p u t e r s i m u l a t i o n (see " S i m u l a t i o n , " p . <T8 ) •
A c t u a l l y , " a r t i f i c i a l i n t e l l i g e n c e " has generally b e come an a l l - i n c l u s i v e term for s y s t e m s that a m a z e , a s t o u n d , m y s t i f y , and do not operate a c c o r d i n g to p r i n ciples w h i c h can be easily e x p l a i n e d . In a w a y , " a r t i ficial i n t e l l i g e n c e " is an e v e r - r e c e d i n g f r o n t i e r : aa
t e c h n i q u e s b e c o m e w e l l - w o r k e d out and u n d e r s t o o d , their
a p p e a r a n c e of i n t e l l i g e n c e , to the s o p h i s t i c a t e d , c o n tinually r e c e d e s . It's like the o c e a n : h o w e v e r m u c h
you take out of i t , it atlll s t r e t c h e s o n — as l i m i t less as b e f o r e .
T h e s e are three topics of great importance;
of I m p o r t a n c e , unfortunately, less for w h a t they
h a v e actually a c c o m p l i s h e d than for the d e g r e e
to w h i c h they h a v e c o n f u s e d a n d intimidated p e o ple w h o w a n t to u n d e r s t a n d what's g o i n g o n .
M e r e l y lo mention t h e m can b e o n e - u p m a n s h i p .
All three titles m e a n so m u c h , so m a n y different
specific t h i n g s , as to m e a n almost nothing w h e n
l u m p e d together as a w h o l e . All three h a v e d e veloped a w e b of intricate technical facts (and
s o m e t i m e s t h e o r e m s ) , but the applicability of
these elegant findings is in all three cases a
matter o p e n to considerable s c r u t i n y .
U n f o r t u n a t e l y laymen are so impressed b y c o m p u t e r s
in general that they e a s i l y s u p p o s e c o m p u t e r s can do
a n y t h i n g involving i n f o r m a t i o n . And public u n d e r s t a n d ing Is not fostered by certain types of stupid d e m o n s t r a t i o n . O n e y e a r I heard from n u m e r o u s p e o p l e about
h o w "they'd seen on TV a b o u t how c o m p u t e r s w r i t e T V
s c r i p t s " — w h a t had a c t u a l l y been shown w a s a hokey e n a c t m e n t of h o w the c o m p u t e r could r a n d o m l y decide w h e ther the Bad Man g e t s shot or the C o o d Guy g e t s s h o t —
both o u t c o m e s d u t i f u l l y enacted by g u y s In c o w b o y o u t fits. Duh.
Since e a c h of these fields h a s d e v e l o p e d
a considerable b o d y of technical doctrine, the
reader might well ask: w h y aren't they o n the
other side of the b o o k , the c o m p u t e r side?
The
a n s w e r is that they are c o m p u t e r m a n ' s d r e a m s ,
d r e a m s of considerable intricacy a n d p e r s u a s i v e n e s s , a n d w c are not considering the technicalities h e r e a n y w a y . A s o n the other s i d e ,
the p r o b l e m is to help y o u distinguish a p p l e s
from o r a n g e s a n d w h i c h w a y is u p . F o r m o r e
go e l s e w h e r e , but 1 h o p e this orientation will
m a k e sorting things out q u i c k e r for y o u .
It should be p e r f e c t l y o b v i o u s to a n y b o d y w h o ' s
b r u s h e d e v e n s l i g h t l y w i t h c o m p u t e r s , h o w e v e r — for
T h e B r u s h , see the o t h e r a i d e — that they j u s t d o n ' t
w o r k like m i n d s . But the a n a l o g y h a n g s a r o u n d .
(Edm u n d C . B e r k e l e y w r o t e a b o o k in the f o r t i e s , I b e l i e v e ,
w i t h the m i s l e a d i n g title of Giant B r a i n s , or M a c h i n e s
T h a t T h i n k . T h e Idea Is s t i l l a r o u n d . )
T h e s e three t e r m s — "artificial intelligence,"
"information retrieval." " c o m p u t e r - a s s i s t e d
instruction"-- h a v e a n u m b e r of things in c o m m o n . First, the n a m e s are so portentous a n d
f o r m i d a b l e . S e c o n d , if y o u r e a d o r h e a r a n y thing in these fields, c h a n c e s are it will h a v e
a n air of u n f a t h o m a b l e technicality. B o t h s t r a n g e
technicalism a n d d e e p m a t h e m a t i c s m a y c o m b i n e
to give y o u a s e n s e that y o u can't u n d e r s t a n d
a n y of it. T h i s is w r o n g . T h e fact that there
are o b s c u r e a n d D e e p T e a c h i n g s in e a c h h a s n o
b e a r i n g o n the general comprehensibiliry of w h a t
they are a b o u t . M o r e importantly, the question
of h o w applicable all the things these people
h a v e b e e n d o i n g is g o i n g to b e is a question
of considerable i m p o r t a n c e , especially w h e n
s o m e of these people w a n t to take s o m e t h i n g o v e r .
Don't get s n o w e d .
H e r e ' s a very s i m p l e e x a m p l e , t h o u g h . C o n s i d e r
a m a z e d r a w n on a p i e c e of p a p e r . J u s t b y l o o k i n g , w e
c a n n o t s i m u l t a n e o u s l y c o m p r e h e n d a l l lta p a t h w a y s ; w e
have to poke a r o u n d on It to figure out the s o l u t i o n .
C o m p u t e r s a r e s o r t of like t h a t , b u t m o r e s o . W h i l e our
e y e s can take in a simple p i c t u r e , like a s q u a r e , at
o n c e , the c o m p u t e r p r o g r a m m u s t poke a r o u n d in its data
r e p r e s e n t a t i o n at l e n g t h to see w h a t w e saw at
T h e p r i n c i p l e h o l d s true in g e n e r a l . T h e human
m i n d can do in a f l a s h , all at o n c e (or "in p a r a l l e l " )
m a n y t h i n g s that m u s t b e t e d i o u s l y c h e c k e d and tried
by the h i g h l y s e q u e n t i a l c o m p u t e r p r o g r a m . And the
m o r e we know a b o u t c o m p u t e r s , the m o r e i m p r e s s i v e the
h u m a n b r a i n b e c o m e s . (The s e e m i n g c l e v e r n e s s of some
s i m p l e p r o g r a m s d o e s not p r o v e the s i m p l i c i t y of the
phenomena being imitated.)
E a c h of these fascinating t e r m s is actually
a roof o v e r a veritable 200 of different r e s e a r c h e r s ,
often of the m o s t eccentric a n d interesting s o r t ,
e a c h generally with his o w n d r e a m of h o w his
o w n research will b e the b r e a k t h r o u g h for
h u m a n i t y , o r for s o m e t h i n g . It w o u l d take a
L e m u e l Gulliver to to s h o w y o u the colorfulness
a n d fascination of these fields; a g a i n , w e just
scratch the surface h e r e .
T h e line is, " W E D O N ' T K N O W
YET."
HOW
TO
In v a r i o u s c a s e s this h a s r e s u l t e d In h e l p f u l
/
tricks that turn out to be u s e f u l e l s e w h e r e in the
(
c o m p u t e r f i e l d . In this s e n s e , a r t i f i c i a l i n t e l l i g e n c e
is a o r t of like m e n t h o l : a little m a y improve t h i n g s
j
h e r e and t h e r e . But (in m y o p i n i o n ) , that d o e s not
m e a n a w h o l e lot of it w o u l d m a k e t h i n g s b e t t e r s t i l l .
Nevertheless, some artificial-intelligence e n t h u s i a s t s t h i n k there is n o limit on w h a t m a c h i n e s can
d o . T h e y point out t h a t , a f t e r a l l , the b r a i n jLs a
m a c h i n e . But so Is the u n i v e r s e , p r e s u m a b l y ; and
w e ' r e n e v e r going to build o n e of t h o s e , e i t h e r .
DO
PATTERN
\/
1
N e v e r t h e l e s s , It is i n t e r e s t i n g to try t h i n g s
w i t h c o m p u t e r s that a r e m o r e like w h a t the m i n d d o e s ;
and that is m o s t l y w h a t a r t i f i c i a l I n t e l l i g e n c e is
about.
A n o t h e r interesting thing these three fields
n a v e in c o m m o n : the frequent u s e of a classical
computerman's p u t d o w n on anybody w h o dares
question w h e t h e r their super-ultimate goals can
ever be achieved.
THAT
What it boils down to Is the study of clues and
guessing, among a l t e r n a t i v e . In some c a s e s , w e l l defined c l u e * can be found for recognizing specific
t h i n g s , like parts of pictures (even straight tines
cannot be recognized by computer without a complex
p r o g r a m ) or like handwriting (see b e l o w ) . In the
w o r s e c a s e s , t h o u g h , careful study only raises the
m o a t h o r r e n d o u s technical p r o b l e m s , and the pursuit
of these technical problems la Its own field of
study (articles have titles like "Sensitivity P a r a m e t e r s in the A d j u s t m e n t of D i s c r i m i n a t o r s , " meaning
It Sure Is Hard to Draw T h e L i n e ) .
C f » . t V T Z Z J ) t e h 1 \ S \
ir s o m e b o d y pulls it o n y o u , the reply is
s i m p l y , " H o w d o y o u k n o w y o u e v e r will?"
RECOGNITION
T h i s is one of the m o s t a c t i v e a r e a s in a r t i f i c i a l I n t e l l i g e n c e , p e r h a p s b e c a u s e of D e f e n s e
Department m o n e y .
(It m i g h t be n i c e , g o e s the
r e a s o n i n g , to have g u n s that could r e c o g n i z e t a n k s ,
m a c h i n e s that could look over a e r i a l r e c o n n a i s s a n c e
p i c t u r e s , r a d a r s that could r e c o g n i z e m i s s i l e s . . . )
illustrating also certain p r o b l e m s of Artificial
Intelligence.
But In some felicitous e s s e s , researchers a c tually boll a recognition problem down to 4 m a n a g e able system of c l u e s . For l n a t e n c e , take the p r o b lem of written Input to c o m p u t e r s . (Some people
don't like to type and would rather w r i t e by hand
on s p e c i a l input tablets.) But how can • program
recognise the letters? A h a : the a n s w e r , k i d s , Is
In your t e x t .
The L e d e e n C h a r a c t e r R e c o g n i z e r (described in
d e t a i l in N e w m a n and S p r o u l l , P r i n c i p l e s of I n t e r active C o m p u t e r G r a p h i c s , A p p e n d i x 8) is a m e t h o d
by w h i c h a p r o g r a m can look at a h a n d - d r a w n c h a r a c ter and try to recognize i t . The program extracts
a s e r i e s of " p r o p e r t i e s " for the c h a r a c t e r and
s t o r e s then in an a r r a y . Every c h a r a c t e r in a given
p e r s o n ' s b l o c k lettering w i l l tend to have certain
p r o p e r t y s c o r e s . But the Ledeen recognizer m u s t
still be t r a i n e d , that i s , the average property
s c o r e s of the letters that each I n d i v i d u a l draws
m u s t be put into the system before that Individual's
lettering can be r e c o g n i z e d . Even then it's a q u e s tion of p r o b a b i l i t y , rather than c e r t a i n t y , that
a g i v e n c h a r a c t e r w i l l be r e c o g n i z e d .
TOO
J u r T
T t U H K
TH€V
HEURISTICS
(pronounced
hewRIStics)
A h a . But w h a t if w e w a n t a computer to do
s o m e t h i n g we do not know h o w to do ourselves?
T h i s Is c a l l e d h e u r i s t i c s .
W h a t it a m o u n t s to b a s i c a l l y is t e c h n i q u e s for
t r y i n g t h i n g s o u t , c h e c k i n g the r e s u l t s , and c o n t i n u ing to do m o r e and m o r e of w h a t seems to w o r k .
uld phrase it thla w a y : looking for
Or 1
a t e g l e s in w h a t e v e r area w e ' r e dealing
isful 1
w i t h . A s a h e u r i s t i c p r o g r a m tries t h i n g s o u t ,
k e e p s v a r i o u s s c o r e s of h o w w e l l it's d o i n g — a sort
s e l f - c o n g r a t u l a t i o n — and m a k e s a d j u s t m e n t s in favor
of w h a t w o r k s b e s t .
T h u s the G r e e n b l a t t C h e s s P r o g r a m , m e n t i o n e d u n d e r " C h e s s , " n e a r b y , can " i n v e n t " c h e s s s t r a t e g i e s
and "try them o u t " — w h a t it a c t u a l l y d o e s Is test
s p e c i f i c p a t t e r n s of movea for the o v e r a l l g o o d n e s s
of their r e s u l t s (in t e r m s of the usual p o s i t i o n a l
a d v a n t a g e s in c h e s s ) , and d i s c a r d the s t r a t e g i e s that
d o n ' t get a n y w h e r e . It d o e s this by c o m p a r i n g Its
" s t r a t e g i e s " (possible m o v e p a t t e r n s ) a g a i n s t the
r e c o r d s of c h e s s m a t c h e s w h i c h a r e fed into I t .
(If y o u ' v e read the o t h e r side of the b o o k ,
h e u r i s t i c s m a y be thought of as a form of o p e r a t i o n s
r e s e a r c h (p. S"0 ) c a r r i e d o n b y the c o m p u t e r i t s e l f . )
In some w a y s h e u r i s t i c s is the m o s t m a g i c a l area
of a r t i f i c i a l i n t e l l i g e n c e : its r e s u l t s are the m o a t
i m p r e s s i v e to l a y m e n . B u t , like so m a n y of the compu
er m a g i c s . It b o l l s d o w n to t e c h n i c a l i t i e s w h i c h lose
the r o m a n c e to a c e r t a i n e x t e n t .
MSTCRJOUJ t W t
UN W W W
" T h e s y s t e m is n o w r e a d y to a n s w e r q u e s tions," said the s p o k e s m a n for the project.
A four-star general bit off the e n d of a
c i g a r , looked whimsically at his c o m r a d e s a n d
said—
" A s k the m a c h i n e this: Will it b e P e a c e
or War?"
T h e clerk-typist ( S p 4 ) translated this
into the q u e r y l a n g u a g e a n d typed it i n .
T h e m a c h i n e replied:
" Y e s w h a t ? " b e l l o w e d the g e n e r a l .
(if
k°V
i f - )
T h e operator t y p e d in the q u e r y .
C a m e the a n s w e r :
Y e s SIR
Tt.Hlr.)
If we w a n t to m a k e a c o m p u t e r do w h a t w e know
p e r f e c t l y w e l l h o w to do o u r s e l v e s , then all we do
is w r i t e a p r o g r a m .
A v e r y large artificial-intelligence s y s t e m
(goes the story) h a d b e e n built for the military
to help in l o n g - r a n g e policy p l a n n i n g ; financed
b y A R P A , with p e o p l e from M . I . T . , Stanford
a n d so o n .
YES
r H W K . .
(lit
1
r
NEURAL SIMULATION
An Important branch of Artificial Intelligence la
concerned with what bunches of Imaginary neurone could
d o , even neuron* that we mad* up to follow particular
rules. This area of study ia somewhere between n e u r o l ogy and aathematlce; much of it ie concerned with the
mathematics of imaginary s e t u p s , rather than the properclea of actual nerve-nets, aa atudled by psychologists,
phyalologiate and o t h e r s . (The hypothetical s t u d i e s ,
of course, alert reaaarchera to complex configurations
and possibilities that may turn out to occur In reality,
aa well aa being Interesting for their own aalte— and
conceivably aa useful ways ol organising things to be
built.)
3.
SPEECH OUTPUT AS SOUND
It Is possible In principle to set up computers to
talk" by converting the language surface structures that
their p r o g r a m come up with Into actual s o u n d . See
"Audio," p . DM 1 1 ,
4.
SMITH
However, an earlier m y t h , that you could simulate
neurons till you got a p a r s o n , la about d e a d .
SIMULATION OF THOUGHT-PROCESSES
I
Fitted With n„ r R _
£». T I N K P o ' c
, „
C7WAN
A few attempts have been made to market devices which
would recognize limited speech and convert It to symbols to
go Into the c o m p u t e r . One of t h e m , which supposedly can
distinguish among thirty or forty different spoken w o r d s ,
ia supposedly still on the m a r k e t . Specific user* have to
"train" it to the particulars of their v o i c e s .
Nobody talks anymore about simulating artificial
bralna; there's too much to i t , and It Involves dirty
approximations.
However, a cleaner area la In the simulation of
thought: creating computer programa that mimic man s
mental processes aa he dopes through various p r o b l e m s .
Trying thing* o u t , deducing thoughts from what's a l ready k n o w n , following through the consequences of
guesses— these can all be done by programs that try
to figure o u t " answers to probli ! like The Cannibal
and The M i s s i o n a r y , or whatever
I repeatedly hear rumors of "dictation m a c h i n e s " which
w i l l type w h a t you aay to them. If such things exist I have
been unable to confirm I t .
"Do
(Everybody says that of course what we want la to be
able to communicate with computers by s p e e c h . Speaking
p e r s o n a l l y , I certainly d o n ' t . Explaining my punctuation
*" *"
ncretaries is hard e n o u g h , let alone trying to
tell It to a c o m p u t e r , when it's easy enough to type it in.)
you
AUTOMATA
"Automata",' aa the term is uaed in thla f i e l d ,
la just a fancy word for Imaginary c r i t t e r s , p a r t i cularly little thingiee that behave in exact w a y s .
(The Came of L i f e , see p . -fa*. 1* an aut ia ton in
!
this
0
SPEECH INPUT TO COMPUTERS BY ACTUAL SOUND
So far we have been talking about the computer's m a n i pulation of language as an alphabetical coding or similar
r e p r e s e n t a t i o n . To actually talk at a computer Is another
kettle of f l a h . Thla means breaking down the sound Into
phonemes and then breaking it into a data atructure which
can be treated with the rulee of grammar— a whole nother
difficult s t e p .
5.-
f
O
O
ALL T O G E T H E R NOW
The complexity of
problem should by now be clea
" I d o n ' t k n o w , " answered D o r o t h y , w h o had
nore to read.
" L i s t e n t o this, B i l l i n a : "
SELF-REPRODUCING S Y S T E M S ,
These are terms for Imaginary o b j e c t s , having
exactly defined mathematical p r o p e r t i e s , about which
varloua abstract things can be proven that tend to be
of interest only to m a t h e m a t i c i a n s .
DIRECTIONS F O R USING:
F o r T H I N K I N G : — W i n d the C l o c k - w o r k M a n
left a r m . ( m a r k e d N o . 1.)
F o r S P E A K I N G : — W i n d the C l o c k - w o r k M a n
u n d e r his
u n d e r his
right a r m , ( m a r k e d N o . 2,)
F o r W A L K I N G a n d A C T I O N : — W i n d C l o c k - w o r k in the
middle of his b a c k , ( m a r k e d N o . 3.)
N. B.—Tfcn M t c W k m w riuMiitd 10 «<wk pmrUelljfc»t ihouund run.
SPEECH
1. SENTENCE GENERATION
The problem of computers speaking human l a n g u a g e s —
not to be confused with computer l a n g u a g e s , p p . 15-25 and
e l s e w h e r e — is incredibly c o m p l i c a t e d . Just because little
human tykes start doing it e f f o r t l e s s l y , it is easy to s u p pose that it's a basically easy p r o b l e m .
Only since the mid-fifties has human language begun
to be u n d e r s t o o d . That waa when Noam Chomsky discovered the
inner structure of human languages: n a m e l y , that the long
(and complex) sentence constructions of language a r e built
out of certain exact o p e r a t i o n s . Previous linguists had
sought to classify the sentence structures t h e m s e l v e s ; this
led to complexities which Chomsky discovered were u n n e c e s s a r y . It is unnecessary to catalog sentence types t h e m selves if we can simply i s o l a t e . I n s t e a d , the exact p r o c e s s es by which they are g e n e r a t e d .
These processes he called transformations (a term he
borrowed from m a t h e m a t i c s ) . A l l utterances are created from
certain elementary p i e c e s , called k e r n e l s , which a r e then
chewed by transformations into surfai
final u t t e r a n c e s . Examples of kei
: The man lives in the
h o u s e . The house is w h i t e . Result of combining transformatlon: The man lives in the w h i t e housi . K e r n e l : I g o .
Result of past-tense transformation: I I
The moat important f i n d i n g , n o w , is that the transformations are carried out In orderly s e q u e n c e s : any sentences
can have more transformations carried out on i t , all a d h e r ing to the basic r u l e s , resulting in the m o s t complex s e n tences of any language.
Linguists since then have confirmed Chomsky's c o n j e c t u r e , and proceeded to w o r k out the fundamental t r a n s formations of major l a n g u a g e s , including E n g l i s h .
N o w , one result of all this ia that It t u m a out to
be easier to generate sentences in a language than to u n derstand t h e n . Why? Because it Is comparatively easy to
program computers to apply transformations to k e r n e l s ,
BUT very hard to take apart the r e s u l t . A complex " s u r face structure" may have numerous possible k e r n e l s — does
"Time flies like an arrow" have the same structure as
"Susie sings like a bird" or "Fruit files like an o r a n g e ? "
" W e l l , I d e c l a r e ! " gasped the y e l l o w hen, i n
a m a z e m e n t ; " i f the copper man can do h a l f o f these
things he is a very w o n d e r f u l machine. B u t I suppose
it isall h u m b u g , l i k e so many other patented articles."
" W e m i g h t w i n d h i m u p , " suggested D o r o t h y ,
" a n d see w h a t h e ' l l d o . "
CYBERNETICS
GORDON
PASi:
G o r d o n P a s k is one o f the m a d d e s t m u d
s c i e n t i s t s I have ever m e t , and also one of
the n i c e s t .
An eloquent English
leprechaun
w h o dresses the E d w a r d i a n d a n d y , Pask sows
awe wherever he g o e s ,
A forr,ier d o c t o r a n d
t h e a t r i c a l p r o d u c e r , P a s k is o n e o f t h e g r e a t
international fast-talkers, conferenee-hopping
r o u n d t h e p.lobe
f r o m U t a h t o W a s h i n g t o n to
his p r o j e c t at the B r o o k l y n C h i l d r e n ' s M u s e u m .
T h i s s p r i n g , 1 9 7 4 , he has b e e n at the U n i v e r sity of Illinois at Chicago C i r c l e , but soon
h e goes b a c k to E n g l a n d a n d his l a b o r a t o r y .
Pask
In a f i e l d f u l l o f b r i l l i a n t e c c e n t r i c s ,
has no difficulty standing o u t .
Result: to program a computer to generate s p e e c h —
that la, Invent sentences about a data structure and type
them o u t — is comparatively e a s y , but to have it recognize
Incoming s e n t e n c e s , and break them up into their kernel
meanings,is n o t .
P a s k is o n e o f t h e A r t i f i c i a l I n t e l l i g e n c e r s w h o is w o r k i n g o n t e a c h i n g b y c o m p u t e r , about which more will be said; but the
o r i g i n a l c o r e o f h i s i n t e r e s t is p e r h a p s t h e
process of c o n c e p t u a l i z a t i o n and a b s t r a c t i o n .
Chomsky and others have discovered that seta of t r a n s formation rules (or g r a m m a r s , pralae be) vary c o n s i d e r a b l y .
It le possible to Invent languages whose surface structures
are easy to take a p a r t , or p a r s e ; auch languages are called
context-free languages. (Moat computer l a n g u a g e s , see other
a i d e , are of this type.) Unfortunately natural l a n g u a g e s ,
like Engllah and French and N a v a h o , are not c o n t e x t - f r e e .
It turns out that the human brain can pick apart language
structures because it's so good at making sensible guesses
as to what i', m e a n t — and If there Is one thing hard to
p r o g r a m f o r c o m p u t e r s , i t la s e n s i b l e e u e s a l n c
(But see " H e u r i s t i c s , " n e a r b y . )
This means that to create computer system* which will
take real sentences apart Into their meanings Is quite
d i f f i c u l t , tie can't get into the various strategies h e r e ;
but most researchers cut the problem down in one way or
other.
The term " c y b e r n e t i c s " was coined by Norbert W i e n e r , the famously absent-minded mathe m a t i c i a n w h o ( a c c o r d i n g to l e g e n d ) o f t e n
f a i l e d to r e c o g n i z e h i s o w n c h i l d r e n . ' W i e n e r
d i d p i o n e e r i n g w o r k in a n u m b e r o f a r e a s .
A
s p e c i a l c o n c e r n of his was the s t u d y o f things
w h i c h a r e k e p t in c o n t r o l by c o r r e c t i v e m e a s u r e s , o r , as h e c a l l e d i t , F e e d b a c k .
The term
" c y b e r n e t i c s " he made out of a Greek w o r d
f o r s t e e r s m a n , a p p l y i n g it to a l l p r o c e s s e s
which involve corrective control.
It t u r n s
out that almost everything involves corrective
c o n t r o l , so the term " c y b e r n e t i c s " s p r e a d s out
as f a r a n d as t h i n l y as y o u c o u l d p o s s i b l y w a n t
( T h e p u b l i c is u n d e r t h e g e n e r a l i m p r e s s i o n
t h a t " c y b e r n e t i c s " r e f e r s to c o m p u t e r s , and
the computer people should be called "cyberneticians."
T h e r e s e e m s to be n o t h i n g t h a t
can be done about t h i s .
See "cybercrud,"
p.
g . T h i s is an e v e n w o r s e term m e a n i n g
"steering people into crud," s p e c i f i c a l l y ,
putting things over on people using computers.)
P r o p e r l y , the core of " c y b e r n e t i c s 1
seems
to d e a l w i t h c o n t r o l l i n k a g e s , w h e t h e r in
a u t o m o b i l e s , c o c k r o a c h e s or c o m p u t e r s .
Howe v e r , p e o p l e like P a s k , von F o e r s t e r , A s h b y
( a n d s o o n ) a p p e a r to e x t e n d t h e c o n c e p t g e n e r a l l y to the study of forms of b e h a v i o r and
a d a p t a t i o n c o n s i d e r e d in t h e a b s t r a c t .
The
validity and fascination of this w o r k , of
c o u r s e , is q u i t e u n r e l a t e d to w h a t y o u c a l l i t .
language-generating computer a y s -
SENTENCE RECOGNITION
Gordon Pask calls his field C y b e r n e t i c s .
T h e t e r m " c y b e r n e t i c s " i s h e a r d a l o t , a n d is
o n e o f t h o s e t e r m s w h i c h , in t h e m a i n , m a n k i n d
would be better off without; although after
t a l k i n g to Pask I get the s e n s e that there may
b e s o m e t h i n g to i t a f t e r a l l .
Pask has done a good deal on the m a t h e matics of s e l f - c o n t e m p l a t i n g s y s t e m s , that i s ,
s y m b o l i c r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s of w h a t it means for
a c r e a t u r e (or e n t i t y o m e g a ) to l o o k at t h i n g s ,
see that they are a l i k e , and divine a b s t r a c t
conceptions of them.
A c r o w n i n g m o m e n t is
w h e n Omega b e h o l d s itself and r e c o g n i z e s the
continuity and s e l f h o o d .
(Pask says several
others-- scholars from A r g e n t i n a , Russia and
elsewhere-- have hit on the same formulation.)
may
Models and a b s t r a c t i o n , t h e n , arc w h a t
call the first h a l f of Pask's w o r k .
Gordon
Paak
will
be
continued
on
we
p.Jhl7-
THE T U R I N G M A C H I N E
Is the most classical abstract A u t o m a t o n .
A Turing M a c h i n e , named after its d i s c o v e r e r ,
is a hypothetical device which has an Infinite recording tape that It can move back and
f o r t h , and the ability to make decisions d e pending on what's written t h e r e .
Turing proceeded to point out that no |
matter how fast you go s t e p - b y - s t e p , you can t
ever outrun certain restrictions built into
all sequential processes as represented by
the Turing M a c h i n e . This leys heavy limits
on w h a t can ever be done step-by-step by
c o m p u t e r . (It means we have to look for
non-step-by-step m e t h o d s , which tuch of
Artificial Intelligence is aboul
DO HI WANT TALKING FTSTEMS7
THE THREE LAWS OF
CAM A COMPUTER PLAY CHESST
I had one quite Irritating experience irfth a
"conversational 1 *y«tern,that la, computer program
that was auppoaed to talk back to m e . I waa s u p posed to trP« to it In English and it waa supposedly
going to type back to me In English. I found the e x perience thoroughly Irritating. My aide of the conversation, which I slncarely tried to keep simple,
produced repeated spologles and confusion from the
program. Tha guy who'd created the program kept e x plaining that the program would be Improvsd. so
that eventually It could handle responses like m i n e .
My reectlon w a s , and i s . Who needs ltT
1-- A robot m u s t o b e y the orders given it b y
h u m a n beings except w h e r e s u c h orders w o u l d
conflict with the First L a w .
And tha answer is yei , fairly w e l l .
Now, a chess program ia not i •thing you Jot
down on the back of an envelope one afternoon. It's
usually an isnense, convoluted thing that people have
worked on for years. (Although I vaguely recell that
second place In the 1670 lnter-computer chess contest
was won by a program that occupied only 2000 locations
In a 16-blt Minicomputer— in other w o r d s , a compact
and tricky aneaker.)
Many people In the computer field seem to think
we want to be sble to talk to computers and have them
talk~"baek to u s . This Is by oo means a settled matter
3 - A robot m u s t protect its o w n existence as
long as a u c h protection does not conflict with
the First or S e c o n d L a w .
-- H a n d b o o k of Robotic*.
56th Edition, 205B A . D . ,
quoted in I. A s i m o v , I, R o b o t .
Now, simple games (like tlc-tac-toe and Him and
even Cubic) can be worked out all the way: all a l t e r natives can be examined by the program and the beat
one found. Not so with chess.
:ated and require a
Talking programs are cempllci
lot of space In the machine, and (more la
require a lot of time by programmers who
(I think) s>or* In lea* time by other meal
talking programs produce in Irritating si
paradox. In dealing with human b e i n g s , i : know what
we're dealing with, and can adjust what we say accordingly; there Is no va* to t e l l , except by a lot of e x perimenting, what the principles are Inside a particular talking program; so that trying to adjust to it
Is a strain and an Irritation. (Compsre: talking to s
stranger who may or may not turn out to be your new boss.)
Now, some programmers keep saying that eventually they 11 ^
have it acting just as smart aa a real person, so we needn I
adjuat; but that's rldlculoua. We always adjust to real
people. In other w o r d s , the human discomfort and Irritation of psyching the ayst'
eliminated.
Chess basically involves, becauae of It* very
many possibilities, a "combinatorial explosion" of
alternatives (see p . 4 ) ) ; that I s , to look at " a l l "
the possibilities of a midgame would take forever
(perhaps literally— the Turing p r o b l e m ) , and thua
means must be found for discarding some possibilities.
ELIZA
The structure of branching possibilities is a
tree (see p .
) ; so that methods of "pruning" the
tree turn out to be c r u c i a l .
Moreover, having to type in whole English phrases
can be irritating. (We can't even get into the problem
of having the computer pick apart the audio if you talk
it In.)
T h e fascinating thing about the ELIZA program is
that it seems so like a real person— that i s , a psychoanalyst of the nondirectlve, Carl Rogers school.
A different approach Is taken by the Creenblatt
chess program. This la basically a big Heuristic progran. It "learns" best strategies in chess by "watching"
the g a m e . That i s , your pour historical chess matches
through i t , end it tries out strategies— making various
tentative rules about what kinds of moves ate g o o d , then
scoring these moves according to the results of making
them— as seen in positional advantages that resulted In
actually championship play.
This is not to say understandably restricted talking
systems are bad. If you know and understand the sorts of
response the system makes to what kinds of thing, then an
English-like response is really a clear m e s s a g e . For i n stance, the JOSS system (the first Quickie l a n g u a g e see p . IS) had an eloquent message:
But all it is is a bag of t r i c k s .
Then it spots certain types of sentences and turns
them a r o u n d . If the person types a sentence beginning with
"I a m . . . " , the ELIZA program turns it around with HOW LONG
HAVE YOUR B E E N . . . ?
eh?
Obviously this is a field In Itself, You won't get
grants for i t , but to those who really care about both
chess and c o m p u t e r s . It's the only thing to be d o i n g .
which actually m e a n t , What you have Just typed in does not
fit the rules of acceptable input for this ayatea. But It
was short, it was quick, it was simple, and it was almost
polite.
Fred B r o o k s , the keynote speaker at the IEEE c o m puter conference In Fall 7 4 , seems to have said that
HAL 9000 (the u n c t u o u s , traitorous Presence in the
movie 2001) was the way computers should b e . (Computer
D e c i s i o n s , Apr 7 4 , 4.)
And certain highly-charged words are signals to throw in
a z i n g e r , regardless of w h a t the user may have s a i d . Por i n stance, if the person uses the word "mother," the machine
replies:
I find it hard to believe that anybody could think
t h a t . Nevertheless, there are those artificial-Intelligence freaks whose view it Is that the purpose of all
this is eventually (a) to create servants that will read
our minds and do our bidding, (b) servants who w i l l take
things over and will Implement human m o r a l i t y , regardless
of our bidding (though we humans are tec frail to do s o —
a s in Aslmov's 1, R o b o t ) ; or even (c) create masters who
will take everything over and run everything according to
their own principles and the hell with u s . (I met a man
in a b a r , after an ACM m e e t i n g , w h o claimed to believe
thla was the purpose of it a l l : to create the master race
that would replace u s . )
(The problem of rudeness in computer dialogue haa not
been nuch discussed. This is partly because many p r o g r a m mers are not fully aware of I t , o r , indeed, some are so
skilled In certain aubtle forma of rudeness they wouldn't
even know they weren't acceptable. The result is that c e r tain types of putdown, poke, peremptorlness and importunacy
can find their way into computer dialogue all too easily.
Or, to put It another way: nobody like to be talked back t o .
C f . Those stupid green THANK YOU lights on automatic toll
booths.)
Now, this la not to say that research in these areas
is w r o n g , or even that researchers' hopes of aome b r e a k through In talking-systems is misguided. I am s a y i n g ,
basically, that talking systems cannot be taken for g r a n t ed as the proper goal in computers to be used by people;
that the problems of rudeness, and irritating the human
uaer, are far greater than many of these researchers s u p pose; and that there may be alternatives to thla p o t e n t i a l ly eternal leprechaun-chaalng.
And it looks for specific words which indicate a s e n tence can be turned around for a convincing r e s u l t . For i n s t a n c e , if the person uses the word "everyone," the program
aimply r e p l i e s , WHO IN PARTICULAR CAN YOU THINK OF?
FRANKENSTEIN MEETS CYBERCRUD
Similarly, talking systems that use an exact v o c a b u lary, whose limits and abilities are known to the p e r s o n ,
are okay. (Wlnograd, see Bibliography, has a nice example
of telling a computer to stack b l o c k s , where the system
knows words like between, o n , above and so on.) Where
this is understood by the human, it can be a genuine c o n venience rather than a spurious o n e .
TELL M E ABOUT Y O U R F A M I L Y .
N o w , do not be f o o l e d . There ia no Ghost in the
M a c h i n e . T h e program does not "understand" the u a e r .
THE PROGRAM IS MERELY ACTING OUT THE BAG OF TRICKS THAT
JOE WEIZENBAUH THOUGHT U P . C r e d i t where credit i* duel
not to T h e Computer's O m n i s c i e n c e , but to Weizenbaum's
The thing i s , many people refuse to believe that it's
a p r o g r a m . Even when the program's tricks are explained.
A c c o r d i n g to A r t h u r C . C l a r k e ' s r e t r o a c t i v e n o v e l
2 0 0 1 : A S p a c e O d y s s e y ( S i g n e t , 1 9 6 8 , 9 5 t ) , the H A L 9 0 0 0
c o m p u t e r s e r i e s b e g a n as f o l l o w s :
I d o n ' t k n o w w h o G o o d i s , b u t these are a m o n g the lines
Minsky has been w o r k i n g along for y e a r s , so I hope he's
e n c o u r a g e d b y t h e n e w s o f w h a t h e ' s g o i n g to a c c o m p l i s h .
Artificial Intelligence enthusiasts unfortunately
tend to have a magician's outlook! to make clear how
their things work would spoil the show.
A n y h o w , so o k a y t h e y g r o w the U A L 9 0 0 0 in a t a n k .
T h e n h o w c o m e in the D e a t h - o f - H a l s c e n e w e s e e K e i r D u l l e a
b o b b i n g a r o u n d l o o s e n i n g c i r c u i t c a r d s , j u s t as if it
were a plain old 1978 computer?
Possible
controlled by
in
instead, the block-stacking mechanism was enclosed
in a large glass p e n , in which numerous gerblla— hoppy
little rodents— were free to wander a b o u t . When a gerbil saw that a block was about to be stacked on h i m , he
would sensibly m o v e .
Now, it is fairly humorous, and not c r u e l , to put
gerbils into a block-stacking m a c h i n e . But this was
offered to the public as a device partaking of a far more
global mission, the experimental interaction of living
creatures and a dynamic self-improving environment,
blah blah b l a h .
Faasersby were awed, -why ore those animals in
there?" one would s a y , and the more informed one would
usually say, "It's some kind of scientific experiment."
M a l l , this is • twilight area, between science and
whimsical hokum, but one cannot help wishing simple and
humorous things could be presented with their simplicity
and humor laid bare.
a n s w e r » 2 . H A L ' s tanks of n e u r a l
P D P - l l s , o n e to a c a r d ,
(Of c o u r s e , if y o u take the l e t t e r s a f t e r
the a l p h a b e t , y o u g e t I, B a n d M .
So maybe
I take this ,
i allegory.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
glop
Terry W l n o g r a d , "When Will Computers Understand People?"
Psychology Today May 7 4 , 7 3 - ^ .
(Weizenbaum'i full article on ELIZA appeared in the
Communications of the ACM sometime in the mid or
late sixties; a flowchart revealed its major tricks,
I h a v e strong h u n c h e s about the inner w o r k ings of m e n w h o get millions of dollars from the
D e p a r t m e n t of Defense a n d then soy in private
that really they're going to use it to create a
m a c h i n e so intelligent it can play with their child r e n . (Not to n a m e n a m e s or anything.) A n
obvious question is, d o they play with their
children? N o , they play with c o m p u t e r s .
are
H , A and L
those are 1130s.)
DEUS EX MACHIN A
Obviously such beliefs are outside the realm of
jelence or engineering. They belong to pure speculation;
and while various mechanisms have in fact been programmed
to c r o a k , stagger, stack b l o c k s , compose sentences and ao
o n , to suppose that we are In any reel sense anywhere near
mimicking human Intelligence, let alone surpassing and
superseding i t , la either to be totally fooled or to hanker
after aome curious dream from inside y o u r s e l f .
As we said on the other side of the b o o k , everybody In
computers has deeper motivations and interior twists that
form his own special ties to these machines; and when It
cooes to our choices of fantasy m a c h i n e s , obviously an even
deeper level of psychic imprint la projecting Itself Into
the w o r l d .
...EX MENSA
I remember watching one gerbll who stood motionless
on hie little kangaroo match*tick legs, watching the Great
Greppier rearranging hi* world. Gerbils are somewhat i n scrutable, but 1 had a sense that he was worshiping i t .
He did not move until tha block started coming down on top
of him.
^
And even some w h o understand ELIZA like to call it up
from their terminals for companionship, now and t h e n .
"In the 1 9 8 0 s , M i n s k y a n d G o o d had s h o w n h o w n e u r a l
networks could be Generated automatically-- selfr e p l i c a t e d - - in a c c o r d a n c e witii a n y a r b i t r a r y
learning pattern.
A r t i f i c i a l b r a i n s c o u l d be g r o w n
by a p r o c e s s s t r i k i n g l y a n a l o g o u s to the d e v e l o p m e n t
of the h u m a n b r a i n . "
(P. 96.)
If like the author you are bemused by the great
difficulty of getting along with human b e i n g s , then the
creation of extraneous belnga of Impenetrable character
with vaguely human qualities can only alarm y o u , and
the prospect of these additional crypto-entltles which
Bust be fended and placated, clawing at ue from their
niches at every turn, la both distasteful and alarming.
T h u s , for a rather peculiar axt show held at New
York's Jewish Museum in 1970, a group from MIT built a
large device that stacked blocks under control of a
minicomputer (Inter data b r a n d ) . Now, the fact that it
could stack and re-stack blocks with just a minicomputer
wa* really quite an accomplishment, but this waa not
explained.
W I L L s e e y o u Moui
PLEASE TELL HE YOUR PROBLEM.
I am feeling depressed.
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN FEELING DEPRESSED?
Ever since my mother l e f t .
TELL ME MORE ABOUT YOUR FAMILY.
My father is very s t r i c t .
PLEASE GO O N .
Last night I dreamt he spanked m e .
WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO YOU IF HE SPANKED YOU?
Didn't you" ever get spanked?
WE WERE DISCUSSING Y O U , NOT M B .
You're just a dumb machine a n y w a y .
DO COMPUTERS FRIGHTEN YOU?
(quoted in Wlnograd, 74-5)
Basically there are two approaches to the design
of chess programa. In one a p p r o a c h , the programmers
look for specific threats and opportunities in the
date structure representing the b o a r d , and try to find
good strategies for selecting good moves on the basis
of then. This is the approach taken in C O K 0 , the
"Cooper-Kor"chess program. The programmers selectively
cope with individual problems and strategies as they
turn out to be necessary. (This means that It la
likely to have specific A c h i l l e s ' heels; w h i c h , of
course, the authors of the program keep trying to r e pair by adding specific corrections.)
Furthermore, on today's sequential equipment snd
with feasible budgets, I personally think tha likelihood
of making programs that are really general talkers Is a
foolish g o a l . There are many simpler ways of telling
computer systems what you want to tell them— light pen
choice, for example.
ROBOTICS
1-- A robot m a y not injure a h u m a n being-, o r ,
through inaction, allow a h u m a n being to c o m e
to h a r m .
can a aet of procedures
i what tha computer pro•et of procedures.
People who fantasize about wondroua creatures and deities they
want to make out of the computer obviously have something i n teresting in their own heads from which that cornea. Perhaps
It comes from a desire for imaginary playmates, or an a m b i valence toward authority, or goodness knows w h a t ; there are so
•any odd people at different ends of Artificial Intelligence
that there may be a lot of different psychological systems
at w o r k . Or maybe artificial intelligence 1 . Just where the
most b r i l l i a n t , determined and eccentric dreamers
Anyway,
I can only ask the ( u * a t i o n , not give the answer.
B u t the point here is not to hassle the
d r e a m e r s , just to sort out the d r e a m s a n d put
them o n h a n g e r s so y o u can try them o n , a n d
m a y b e choose an e n s e m b l e for yourself.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
stand People?"
Terry Winogrsd, "When Will Computers
Psychology Today May 74, 73-79.
Particularly readable article.
Nicholas Negroponte, The Architecture M a c h i n e . MIT Presa.
Takes the view that computers should be made Into
magical servants which not only handle bothersome
[•11.
minds
more or less read <
Leonard U h r , Pattern Recognition, Learning and Thoughti
Computer-Programmed Model* ot. Higher Mental Proesses . PrentIce-Hall.
Arthur W . H o l t . "Algorithm for a Low Cost Hand Print
Reader." Computer Design Feb 7 4 , 85-89.
Edward A . Felgenbaum and Julian Feldmaa (eda.),
Computers and T h o u g h t . McCraw-Hlll.
Old but still good for orientation.
A journal: Artificial Intelligence (North-Holland
Publishing C o . , Journal Division; P.O. Box 2 1 1 ,
Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Wsa $26.50 a year In IS
Thla'll show you what they're thinking about now.
Roger L i o d , "The Robots Are C o m i n g , The Robots Are
Coming." Oul_, Feb 1974.
11 the
Typical layman's h y p e . You don't get
second page that a typical industrial
huge mechanism with one grappling arm.
Edward W . Kordrowlckl and Dennis W . Cooper, "COKO III
the Cooper-Ko* Ches* Program." CACM July 73, 41 •427.
Creenblatt, R.D., Eaatlake, D.E., and Crocker. S.D.. "Tha
Creenblatt Che** Program." Proc FJCC 6 7 , 801-810.
R . C . G a m m l l l , "An Examination of Tic-Tac-Toa-lika Cornea."
P r o c . NCC 74, 349-355.
j>*ur
Like Artificial Intelligence and Information R e t r i e v a l , Computer-Assisted Instruction sounds like s o m e thing exact and impressive but Is In fact a scattering of
techniques tied together only nominally by a general Idee.
" I n f o n u t l o n Retrieval" ia one of thoae terms
that laymen throv around aa If It were a manhole
cover. It aounda aa though It means BO m u c h , so v e r y "
m u c h . And ao you actually hear people say thlnga like)
"But that would m e a n . . . (pregnant p o u a e ) ... I n f o r m a tion Retrieval:.':" S i m i l a r l y , some of the hokey new
copyright notlcee you aee In booka from Wlth-It p u b l i a h era intone that eold books may not be "place* in any i n formation retrieval ayatem..." I take thla to mean
that the publiahera are forbidding you to put the b o o k
on a b o o k s h e l f , because "Information r e t r i e v a l " simply
means any way at all of getting beck Information from
a n y t h i n g . A b o o k s h e l f , since it allows you to read the
•pines of the b o o k s , ia Indeed an Information Retrieval
System.
T h e real name
T e a c h i n g . T h a t wot
c o m p u t e r teaching i
to ask t h a t .
In the claaalc formulation of the early s i x t i e s , there
w e r e going to be three levels of C A I : " d r i l l - a n d - p r a c t l c e "
s y s t e m s , m u c h like teaching m a c h i n e s , that almply helped
a t u d e n t s practice v a r i o u s s k i l l s ; s m i d d l e level (often
itself c a l l e d , c o n f u s i n g l y , "computer-assisted I n s t r u c t i o n " ) '
and a third l e v e l , the Socratlc s y s t e m , which would supposedly
be I d e a l . S t u d e n t s s t u d y i n g on Socratlc systems would be
e l o q u e n t l y and thoughtfully Instructed and corrected by a
p e r f e c t being in the m a c h i n e . "We don't know how to do that
y e t , " the people keep s a y i n g . Y e t . I n d e e d .
It h a p p e n s , i n c i d e n t a l l y , that the phrase " i n f o r m a tion r e t r i e v a l " was coined In the forties b y Calvin M o o e r s ,
inventor of T R A C * " language (see p p . 1 8 - 2 1 ) . (If W i e n e r
had coined it he might have called it G e t b s c k . If Diebold
had coined It It might have been T h o u g h t o m a t i o n . )
1
(My p e r s o n a l view on this s u b j e c t , expressed in an article
( f o l l o w l n g ) Is that Computer -Assisted Instruction in many
w a y s e x t e n d s the worst featur ;s of education aa we now know it
into the n e w realm of present it ion by c o m p u t e r . )
in
A n y h o w , numerous entirely different things go
f i e l d , all under the name of Information R e t r i e v a l .
non-computer j itrleval. (See Becker and H a y e s
Automatic I n f o n ition R e t r i e v a l - ) These things are kind
of old-fashioned f u n — cards w i t h holes punched along the
e d g e , for Instance,that you sort w i t h knitting n e e d l e s ,
or the more recent systems w i t h holes drilled in plastic
c a r d s . Trouble i s , of c o u r s e , that computers are b e c o m i n g
m u c h more convenient and even less e x p e n s i v e than t h e s e ,
counting your own time as being w o r t h s o m e t h i n g .
This b a s i c a l l y is an apprc
2 . Document Retries
that glorifies the old library card f i l e , except n o w the
•tuff la stored In computers rather than on c s r d s . But
w h a t ' s stored is still the name of the d o c u m e n t , w h o w r o t e
I t , where It w a s published and so o n . Obviously h e l p f u l
to l i b r a r i a n s , but scarcely e x c i t i n g .
3 . Automatic document I n d e x i n g . Some o r g a n i z a t i o n s
find it helpful to have a computer try to figure out w h a t
a book la a b o u t , rather than have a person look at it and
c h e c k . (I don't see why this eaves a n y t h i n g , but there you
a r e . ) A n y w a y , the text of the d o c u m e n t (or selected p a r t s )
are poured through a computer p r o g r a m that s e l e c t s , for i n s t a n c e , k e y w o r d s , that i s , the most Important w o r d s in i t ,
or rather w o r d s the program thinks are most i m p o r t a n t . T h e n
these k e y w o r d s can go on the h e a d i n g s of library file c a r d s ,
or w h a t e v e r .
There are various related systems by w h i c h p e o p l e
s t u d y , for i n s t a n c e , the citations between a r t i c l e s , but
we won't get into t h a t .
4 . Content r e t r i e v a l . How w e ' r e getting to the sexy
s t u f f . A system for content r e t r i e v a l ia one that s o m e h o w
stores information in a c o m p u t e r and lets you get it b a c k
T h e trick c
both (
i is of i
W e l l , as we said on the o t h e r Bide of the b o o k , a n y
information stored in a computer has a data s t r u c t u r e ,
which simply m e a n s w h a t e v e r a r r a n g e m e n t of a l p h a b e t i c a l
c h a r a c t e r s , n u m b e r s and s p e c i a l c o d e s the c o m p u t e r h a p p e n s
to be s a v i n g .
In
subject
even by
It back
get It?
a c o n t e n t - r e t r i e v a l s y s t e m . I n f o r m a t i o n on s o m e
is s o m e h o w jammed into a data s t r u c t u r e — p o s s i b l y
human c o d e r s — and then set up so p e o p l e can get
out again in some w a y . Lot of p o s s i b i l i t i e s h e r e ,
:r It should be Automated Dialogue
1 Immediately allow you to a a k , should
s dialogues? But they don't went you
J)OtS
T H C NftlAC
PA.V10V
T h i s Is a true s t o r y . (The details are a p p r o x imate.)
It may provide certain i n s i g h t s .
T h e n there Is the m a t t e r of c o n s i s t e n c y . T h e r e a l l y
i n t e r e s t i n g s u b j e c t s a r e the o n e s w h e r e d i f f e r e n t a u t h o r s
c l a i m o p p o s i n g facts to support o p p o s i t e c o n c l u s i o n s .
In o t h e r w o r d s , there is i n c o n s i s t e n c y w i t h i n the c o n t e n t
of the f i e l d . In this c a s e such s y s t e m s a r e g o i n g to have
a problem.
(See " R a s h o - M o n P r i n c i p l e " u n d e r " T i s s u e of
Thought,"
ff-jPS '*-<7
A n o t h e r f u n d a m e n t a l p o i n t is t h i s . It m a y be e a s y
enough to p r o g r a m a s y s t e m to a n s w e r the q u e s t i o n ,
An A s s i s t a n t C o n m i s s i o n e r of Education was
being shown a CAI s y s t e m by r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s of a
large and w e l l - k n o w n c o m p u t e r c o m p a n y .
O n e one side of the C o m m i s s i o n e r stood a s a l e s m a n , w h o w a n t e d h i m to be i m p r e s s e d . On the o t h e r
side stood o n e D r . S . , w h o knew how the system
worked.
T h e t e r m i n a l , d e m o n s t r a t i n g a history p r o g r a m
that had h u r r i e d l y been put t o g e t h e r , typed: WHO
C A P T U R E D FORT T I C 0 N D E R 0 G A ?
W H A T T I M E DOES THE N E X T P L A N E L E A V E F O R L A C U A R D I A 7
but it is a lot s i m p l e r t o ^ d l s p l a y s c h e d u l e s y o u r e y e can
run d o w n , or a l l o w you to go look a t s o m e k i n d of g r a p h i c
display.
" S u r e , " said the s a l e s m a n , ignoring the frantic
h e a d - s h a k i n g of D r . S .
T h e A s s i s t a n t Commissi!
S p e a k i n g p e r s o n a l l y , I d o n ' t like t a l k i n g to m a c h i n e s
and I don't like their t a l k i n g b a c k to m e . I'm n o t s a y i n g
y o u have to a g r e e , I'm j u s t t e l l i n g y o u y o u ' r e a l l o w e d to
feel that w a y .
sumnarlei
5.
ie s y s t e m s let you sit a t
a c o m p u t e r d i s p l a y s c r e e n and read s u m m a r i e s of v a r i o u s
t h i n g s , a s w e l l as run through them w i t h v a r i o u s p r o g r a m s
to look for k e y w o r d s . (The N e w Y o r k T i m e s n o w o f f e r s s u c h
a s y s t e m , c o s t i n g o v e r a t h o u s a n d d o l l a r s a m o n t h to s u b scribers.)
6 . " F u l l - t e x t s y s t e m s . " T h e s e a r e s y s t e m s that
o n e w a y or a n o t h e r a l l o w you to read a l l the texi
s o m e t h i n g from a c o m p u t e r d i s p l a y s c r e e n . T h e r e
those of u s w h o see theae a s the w a v e of the f u n
X. "fullbut m a n y o t h e r s are p e r f e c t l y o u t r a g e d a t the the
( H y p e r t e x t s y s t e m s , n o w , a r e s e t u p s that a l l o w you to
read i n t e r c o n n e c t e d texts from c o m p u t e r d i s p l a y s c r e e n s .
See P P . - Y T - 7 . ;
T h i s has been brief and haa s k i p p e d i
a s you s e e , IR Is n o o n e t h i n g .
lot.
The machine
typed: Gypsy
Rose
replied:
HE C A P T U R E D QUEBEC A
The Assistant Commissioner evidently enlivened
m a n y a luncheon w i t h that o n e , and C o m p u t e r - A s s i s t e d
Instruction w a s e f f e c t i v e l y dead for the rest of the
admin Istrat ion.
<Hf
Anyway,
BIBLIOGRAPHY
In the m o s t startling of these s y s t e m s , the Q A S , o r
"Question-Answering S y s t e m , " some a o r t of d i a l o g u e p r o g r a m
(see "Artificial I n t e l l i g e n c e , " n e a r b y ) tries to give you
i about the data s t r u c t u r e . But this m e a n s there
have 1
i w h o l e lot of p r o g r a m s :
V a n n e v a r B u s h , 'As W e M a y T h i n k . " A t l a n t i c M o n t h l y ,
July 1 9 4 5 , 101-108.
T h e o d o r H . N e l s >n, "Aa W e W i l l T h i n k . " P r o c . O n l i n e 72
Conference
Brunei U . Uxbridge, England.
/'lu^ere.aj
G . S a l t o n , " R e c e n t S t u d i e s In A u t o m a t i c T e x t A n a l y s l :
and D o c u m e n t R e t r i e v a l . " J A C M , A p r 7 3 , 2 5 8 - 2 7 8 .
Donald E. Walker ( e d . ) , Interactive Bibliographic Search
The User/Computer Interface. AFIPS P r e s s , $ 1 5 .
T h e o d o r H . N e l s o n , " G e t t i n g It O u t of O u r S y s t e m . "
In
S c h e c h t e r ( e d . ) . C r i t i q u e of I n f o r m a t i o n R e t r i e v a l
(Thompson B o o k s , 1 9 * 7 ) .
J . C . R . L i c k l i d e r , L i b r a r i e s of the F u t u r e . M I T P r e s s ,
1 9 6 5 . C l e a r and r e a d a b l e s u m m a r y of the rest of thi
f i e l d ; then he g o e s on to a d v o c a t e " p r o c o g n l t i v e
s y s t e m s , " s y s t e m s that w i l l d i g e s t w h a t ' s k n o w n in
any field and talk b a c k to y o u , u s i n g t e c h n i q u e s
of a r t i f i c i a l i n t e l l i g e n c e .
W h a t e v e r its o t h e r m e r i t s , this b o o k Is great
for s h a k i n g people u p , e s p e c i a l l y l i b r a r i a n s . It
s e e m s so o f f i c i a l .
R i c h a r d M . L a s k a , "All the N e w s T h a t ' s F i t to R e t r i e v e . "
Computer Decisions. Aug 7 2 , p p . 18-22.
frjfert<u1j
V
t*x1 ~ J t « .
SoCRATId
ef »
U - , ,
ANOTHER ANECDOTE
T h e s e systems can b e q u i t e startling in the w a y
they •eem to understand you (see L i c k l i d e r b o o k ; a l s o
Wlnograd piece under A r t i f i c i a l I n t e l l i g e n c e ) . But they
don_t understand y o u . T h e y are just poor dumb p r o g r a m a .
Many people (Including L i c k l i d e r ) seem to see in
.QuestIon-Answering-Systems the wave of the future
O t h e r s , like this a u t h o r , are s k e p t i c a l . I t ' , one thing
to have a system that can deduce that G r e e n ' s H o u s e la
West of Red's House from . bunch of Input s e n t e n c e s on
the s u b j e c t , but the question of how m u c h these can b e
Improved 1 . in some d o u b t . A system that can answer the
q u e s t i o n . "What did Hegel aay about d e t e r m i n i s m ? " is
jome w a y s a w a y , to put it m i l d l y .
tt Is a truism that M e n d e l ' s t h e o r i e s of
genet les got " l o s t " a f t e r p u b l i c a t i o n in
• 8 6 5 , to be r e d i s c o v e r e d In 1 9 0 0 . "If
only h e r e had been p r o p e r information
retri val under the right c a t e g o r i e s , "
often s a y . Recent studies indicate that the p u b l i c a t i o n c o n t a i n i n g
M e n d e s p a p e r r e a c h e d , or got n e a r l y t o ,
"prai tically all p r o m i n e n t b i o l o g i s t s of
ild-nineteenth c e n t u r y . "
(Scientific
c a n , July 6 8 , 55.)
t take this as s u g g e s t i n g that the p r o b lem Isn't c a t e g o r i c a l retrieval at a l t .
It's m u l t I - c o n n e c t e d a v a i l a b i l i t y (see
"hypertext,"
ft.tyh
V)"/
S o m e o f u s h a v e b e e n s a y i n g for a long time
t h a t learning from c o m p u t e r s o u g h t to b e
u n d e r c o n t r o l of the s t u d e n t .
O n e g r o u p (never m i n d w h o ) h a s taken h o l d
of this idea a n d g o t t e n a lot of funding
for it u n d e r the name of STUDENT C O N T R O L .
T h i s g r o u p talks a s if it w e r e some k i n d of
scientific breakthrough.
A f r i e n d of m i n e s u g g e s t s , h o w e v e r , that
t h i s p h r a s e may h a v e b r o u g h t the funding
b e c a u s e a d m i n i s t r a t o r s t h o u g h t it m e a n t
c o n t r o l of the s t u d e n t .
BIBLIOGRAPHY
George B. Leonard, Education and Ecstasy.
Dell, $2.25.
Argues for making
e d u c a t i o n an e n t h u s i a s t i c p r o c e s s .
Theodor H. Nelson, "No More Teachers'
Dirty Looks."
Follows.
Wit
(The following article a p p e a r e d in the S e p t e m b e r . 1970 issue of C o m p u t e r Decisions,
a n d got an extraordinary a m o u n t of attention . I h a v e c h a n g e d m y v i e w s s o m e w h a t —
w e all go t h r o u g h c h a n g e s , after all— but after consideration h a v e decided to re-run
it in the original f o r m , without qualifications, mollifications or a n y t h i n g , for its unity.
T h a n k s to C o m p u t e r Decisions for use of the a r t w o r k b y G a n s a n d for the S u p e r s t u d e n t
picture o n the c o v e r , w h o s e artist unfortunately insists on p r e s e r v i n g his a n o n y m i t y .
b y
T h e o d o r
H .
The
Nelson
New
York
Some
N e l s o n
Organization
think
the educational system
is b a s i c a l l y
all right, a n d m o r e resources w o u l d get it w o r k i n g
again.
Schools w o u l d d o
things the same w a y . ex-
cept m o r e so. a n d t h i n g s w o u l d get
better.
I n t h a t case the o b v i o u s q u e s t i o n w o u l d be.
can
computers help?
supplement
H o w can
computers
a n d extend the traditional
how
usefully
and
accept-
e d f o r m s o f t e a c h i n g ? T h i s is t h e q u e s t i o n t o w h i c h
present-day
tion" —
efforts
in
"computer-assisted
called C A I —
instruc-
seem to respond.
B u t s u c h a n a p p r o a c h is o f
no
possible
interest
to the new generation of critics of our school
tem —
p e o p l e l i k e J o h n H o l t (Why
Jonathan
Kozol
James Herndon
{.Death
(The
at
Way
an
sys-
Children
Early
It Spozeil
Fail),
and
Age)
To
More
Be).
a n d m o r e , such people are severely questioning the
general
framework
and
structure
of
the
way
we
teach.
These
writers
examples
horror
it t u r n
Here
the
ways
to
you
turn
kids
proposes
on.
safe
and
legal
stories aside,
cation.
A
child
particularly
schooling
we
conditions.
are
coming
know them
every level to sabotage
off?
author
describe
our
t h a t s c h o o l s as w e
Did you find school dismal and dreary?
Did
of
ghastly
But
to
appear designedPaJ^*
the supposed
arrives at school
goals o f
bright
and
in his life. B y drabness we deprive h i m of
By
fixed
his
orientation,
testing
curriculum
a n d sequence we
initiative
and scoring we
and
such
recognize
eduearly
interests.
rob h i m of
motivation,
and
subvert his natural
by
intelli-
gence.
S c h o o l s as w e
principles:
in
know them
all run on
the
iron a l l subjects flat a n d then
groups, at a forced
march
across the
same
proceed,
flattened
p l a i n . M a t e r i a l is d u m p e d o n t h e s t u d e n t s a n d t h e i r
responses
calibrated; their interaction
and
involve-
m e n t w i t h t h e m a t e r i a l is n o t e n c o u r a g e d n o r t a k e n
into consideration, but their dutifulncss of
is c a r e f u l l y
response
monitored.
W h i l e an exact arrangement of intended
tions
for
they
the student
do
ideal.
not
the
to
the
but
way
askew.
they
take
Rather than
are
supposed
churlishness, surliness, or
A
general
beginning
cational
at
last
human
and
effect
motiva-
the system,
I t is n o t t h a t s t u d e n t s a r e u n m o t i v a t e d ,
motivated
usually
is p r e s e t w i t h i n
or
seek
to.
to achieve
in
students turn
to
intellectual
motivation
warped
according
sheepishness.
is g o d - g i v e n
destroyed
by
p r o c e s s as w e k n o w i t : t h u s w e
that
most
fundamental
of
at
the
the
edu-
internalize
grownup
goals:
just t o get t h r o u g h a n o t h e r d a y .
Because
human
of
ability
this
has
procedure
suffered.
our
very
Adult
notion
of
mentality
is
M
17
A n interesting point, incidentally, is that people road this » lot of different w a y s .
O n e D e a n of Education hilariously misread it as an across-the b o a r d plug for C A I .
Others read in it various forms of m e n a c e or a d v o c a c y of generalized mechanization.
O n e letter-writer said I w a s a m e n a c e but at least writing articles kept m e off the
streets. H e r e is m y fundamental point: c o m p u t e r ass is ted instruction, applied thoughtlessly and imitativcly , threatens to extend the w o r s t features of education as it is n o w .
cauterized, a n d we call it " n o r m a l . "
Most
people's
minds are mostly turned tiff most o f the time.
know
virtually
nothing
of
human
abilities
We
except
as t h e y h a v e b e e n p i c k l e d a n d b o x e d i n s c h o o l s ;
we
need t o i g n o r e a l l that a n d start fresh. T o w a n t
dents to be " n o r m a l "
is c r i m i n a l , w h e n w e a r e a l l
so f a r b e l o w o u r p o t e n t i a l .
/ Seem
To
Be
A
niuses: Sylvia
of
Buckminster Fuller, i n
says w e
Verb,
are all b o r n
A s h t o n - W a r n e r tells
h e r success w i t h
stu-
this
us
in
ge-
Teacher
premise, and of
the
bril-
liance a n d c r e a t i v e p o t e n t i a l she w a s a b l e t o f i n d i n
all
her schoolchildren.
Curricula
themselves
destructively
arrange
study situation. B y walls between artificially
the
segre-
gated "studies" a n d "separate topics" we f o r b i d the
pursuit o f interest a n d k i l l
motivation.
In ordinary schooling, the victim
cannot
himself to the current topic except by
orient
understand-
5
ing
the official
tion.
Though
angle
of
approach
tie-ins
to
previous
and
presenta-
interests
k n o w l e d g e are usually the best w a y t o get a n
and
initial
sense o f a t h i n g , t h e r e is o n l y t i m e t o c o n s i d e r
officially
presented tie-ins.
(Neither
to answer questions, except briefly
—
the
is t h e r e
time
and rarely
by
discouraging " e x t r a n e o u s " tie-ins f r o m c o m i n g u p . )
The
unnecessary
division
and
walling
9
well
and usually in a w a y that promotes " o r d e r "
of
sub-
If t h e c o m p u t e r i s a u n i v e r s a l c o n t r o l
let's give kids universes
to
system,
control.
jects, sequencing a n d k i b b l i n g o f m a t e r i a l l e a d p e o ple to expect simplifications, t o feel t h a t n a m i n g
thing
to
is u n d e r s t a n d i n g
believe
creativity
i t , t o fear c o m p l e x
means
a
wholes;
recombination,
the
I
parsing of o l d relations, rather than synthesis.
Like
political
ies a r i s e f r o m
and
hind
become
boundaries, curriculum
noticeable features o f
progressively m o r e
political
borders,
social
a
boundarcontinuum
fortified.
As
unification
w i t h i n t h e m , so t h a t w h o l l y d i s s i m i l a r
be-
occurs
practitioners
w h o share a n a m e c o m e to t h i n k they d o the
same
thing. A n d because they talk m a i n l y t o each o t h e r ,
t h e y f o r g e t h o w n e a r is t h e o t h e r s i d e o f t h e b o r d e r .
Because
cern
of
the fiction
of
"subjects," great
a n d c o n s i d e r a t i o n has a l w a y s g o n e
culating
the "correct" teaching sequence
"subject." I n recent years radical
quences have been introduced
subjects,
including
the
idea of
quence
with
supplanting
the
"right"
cal-
for
each
n e w t e a c h i n g se-
for teaching various
mathematics and
such efforts appear to have
con-
into
been
physics.
But
misinformed
the " w r o n g "
teaching
teaching sequence,
w h i c h is " v a l i d a t e d . " S i m i l a r l y , w e h a v e g o n e
by
seone
from
a time w h e n the instructional sequence was a
bal-
ance between tradition a n d the lowest c o m m o n
de-
nominator of each subject, to a time w h e n teachers
m a y pick "flexible optimized strategies" f r o m
text-
IT
Discrete hypertexts
" H y p e r t e x t " means forms of writing which branch
or perform on request; they are best presented on c o m puter display screens.
In ordinary writing the author may break sequence
for footnotes or insets, but the use of print on p r p r
makes some basic sequence essential. The c o m p u .
display screen, however, permits footnotes on footnotes
on footnotes, and pathways of any structure the author
wants to create.
Discrete, or chunk style, hypertexts consist of separate pieces of text connected by links.
Ordinary prose appears on the screen and may be
moved forward and back by throttle. A n asterisk or
other key in the text means, not an ordinary footnote,
but a jump—to an entirely new presentation on the
screen. Such jumpable interconnections become part
of the writing, entering into the prose m e d i u m itself as
a new way to provide explanations and details to the
seeker. These links may be artfully arranged according
to meanings or relations in the subject, and possible
tangents in the reader's m i n d .
Welcomingness and control
CHOICE POINT
GO
ON
1 DON'T
SO
UNDERSTAND
FAR
I'M
BORED
EXPLAIN
THE
DETAILS
PLEASE
TIE
I
THIS
IN
BIG
WITH
PICTURE
SOMETHING
KNOW
LET'S
GO
BACK
TO
LAST
There arc a screen and t w o throttles. T h e first
throttle moves the text f o r w a r d and backward, up and
d o w n on Ihe screen. The second throttle causes changes
in Ihe w r i t i n g itself: t h r o t t l i n g t o w a r d you causes the
texl to become hn^ - by minute degrees. Gaps appear
between phrases; ne M words and phrases pop into the
gaps, an item at a time. Push back on the Ihrotile and
the w r i t i n g becomes shorter and less detailed.
T h e stretchtext is stored as a text stream w i t h extras,
coded to pop in and pop out at Ihe desired altitudes:
Stretchtext is a form of writing.
It is read from a screen. The user
controls it with throttles. It yets
longer and shorter on demand.
Stretchtext, a kind of hypertext,
is basically n form nf writing closely
related to other prose. 11 is read by
a user or student from a computer
display screrm. The user, or student,
controls it, and causes it to change,
w i t h throttles connected to the
computer. Stretchtext yets longer,
by adding words and phrases, or
slim ter, by subtracting words and
phrases, on demand.
Dissection o n the screen
T h e student of anatomy may use his light-pen as a
scalpel for a deceased creature on the screen. As he
cuts, the tissue parts. H e could also t u r n the light-pen
into hemostal or forceps, and fully dissect the creature
— o r put it back together again. ( T h i s need not be a
complex s i m u l a t i o n . M a n y key relationships can be
shown by means of fairly simple schematic pictures,
needing a data structure not p r o h i b i t i v e l y complicated.)
CHOICE
POINT
GIVE
ME
MORE
CHOICES
H y p e r m a p zips up or d o w n
T h e screen is a m a p . A steering device permits the
user to move the m a p a r o u n d the world's surface; a
throttle zooms it i n . N o t by discrete j u m p s , but a n i mated in small changes, the m a p grows and grows in
scale. M o r e details appear as the magnifiealion i n creases. T h e user may request a d d i t i o n a l display modes
" o v e r l a y s , " such as p o p u l a t i o n , c l i m a t e , and industry Such a d d i t i o n a l features may pop i n t o view on
reqik
MORE
TEST
DRILL
TELL
arc t u n
Hyper-comics arc perhaps the simplest and most
s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d h y p e r - m e d i u m . I h e screen holds a
c o m i c s t r i p , but one which branches on the student's
request. F o r instance, different characters could be used
t o e x p l a i n things in different ways, with the student able
to choose w h i c h type of explanation he wanted at a
spec flic lime.
CHOICES
ME
ME
RIDDLE
DRAW
Hyper-comics
ME
ME
A
ME
CHANGE
A
DIAGRAM
RELEVANT
THE
SURPRISE
JOKE
SUBJECT
ME
\
Performing
A K O
t
^
OA
/( K
\
hypcrgrams
A hypergrum is a p e r f o r m i n g or branching picture;
for instance, this angle, w i t h the bar-graph of its related trigonometric functions. T h e student may t u r n
the angle upon the screen, seizing it with the l i g h t - p e n ,
and watch the related trigonometric functions, displayed as bar charts, change correspondingly.
Hypergrams may also be programmed to show the
consequences of a user's p r o d — w h a t follows or accompanies some m o t i o n of the picture that he makes
with a pointing t o o l , like the heartbeat sequence.
S l r u t d i l c x & i . l s in Hit details
This form of hypertext is easy to use w i t h o u t getting
lost. As a f o r m of w r i t i n g , it has special advantages for
discursive and loosely structured m a t e r i a l s — f o r i n stance historical narratives.
* T v c l i n i c i i l i l v ' is nol necessary
Queriable i l l u s t r a t i o n s : a t o r in 01 l i > p c r g r a m
A " h y p e r g r a m " is a picture that can branch or perf o r m on request. I n this particular example, we see
o n the screen a l i n e - d r a w i n g w i t h p r o t r u d i n g labels.
W h e n the student points at a label, it becomes a sliding
descriptive r i b b o n , e x p l a i n i n g the t h i n g labelled.
O r asterisks in an illustration may signal j u m p s l o
detailed diagrams and explanations, as i n discrete
hypertexts.
Proponents of C A I want us to believe that scientific
teaching requires a certain setup and format, incomprehensible to the layman and to be left to experts.
T h i s is s i m p l y not true. " T e c h n i c a l i t y " is a m y t h . The
problem is not one of technical Tightness, but what
should be.
T h e suggestions lhat have been given are things that
should be; they w i l l be brought about.
•
T h e t e c h n i q u e s of m a k i n g pictures b y
c o m p u t e r a r e called c o m p u t e r g r a p h i c s .
Y o u will therefore s e e that to u n d e r s t a n d
all the different c o m p u t e r diaplay t e r m i n a l s ,
y o u w o u l d h a v e to u n d e r s t a n d all the different
c o m p u t e r display t e c h n i q u e s ; unfortunately
w e c a n o n l y c o v e r a f e w h e r e , a n d those b u t
sparely.
B u t that includes the dull k i n d s of m a k i n g
pictures b y c o m p u t e r , the o n e s that d o it with
p e n s a n d printing m a c h i n e s .
T h e t e c h n i q u e s of m a k i n g c o m p u t e r s
p r e s e n t things interactively o n s c r e e n s is called
c o m p u t e r d i s p l a y . ( S o m e s a y "interactive c o m p u t e r g r a p h i c s ; " this is not just too l o n g , b u t
too restrictive a s well: interactive text s y s t e m s
are not " g r a p h i c " o r pictorial, b u t they a r e g o i n g
to b e a p r o f o u n d l y important area of c o m p u t e r
display.)
S o m e of the t y p e s of c o m p u t e r displny to
b e c o v e r e d h e r e a b o u t s include:
C R T , o r c a t h o d e - r a y t u b e , displays;
these a r e m y favorite b e c a u s e the
stuff o n their s c r e e n s m a y b e
a n i m a t e d b y the c o m p u t e r .
v i d e o d i s p l a y s , w h i c h u s e television
t e c h n i q u e s . T h e s e h a v e troubles
d e r i v i n g f r o m the w a y a T V picture
is t i m e d .
(Incidentally, the silly w o r d "interaction"
w a s c o i n e d b e c n u s e the p r e v i o u s w o r d "interc o u r s e . " w h i c h m e a n t exactly t h e s a m e t h i n g ,
h a d r a c y connotations for Borne p e o p l e . C f .
" d o n k e y " a n d "rooster," also relatively r e c e n t . )
p a n e l d i s p l a y s , i.e., those w h i c h a p p e a r
o n a flat p a n e l . T h e B e a r e g o i n g
to b e c r o p p i n g u p all o v e r . ( T h e
pictures can't m o v e m u c h , b u t the
d e v i c e s a r e g o i n g to b e c h e a p .
Flat, t o o . S o m e p e o p l e think that's
v e r y important.)
Y o u will note that c o m p u t e r display is
w h a t m a k e s possible the c o m p u t e r terminals with
s c r e e n s that w e s a w o n the other s i d e . All
that a s c r e e n - t e r m i n a l is is s o m e sort of c o m p u t e r d i s p l a y , to w h i c h a k e y b o a r d h a s b e e n
added.
It w a s explained o n the other side that
c o m p u t e r s h a v e n o fixed p u r p o s e o r style of
operation, b u t c a n b e set in motion o n detailed
a n d repetitive tasks in a n y realm of h u m a n i n terest-- as long as those tasks a r e exactly
specifiable in certain h u m d r u m w a y s .
3 - D d i s p l a y s , especially of the C R T t y p e .
N O T E : this t e r m refers a m b i g u o u s l y
to t w o different things: s e t u p s w h i c h
p r e s e n t flat v i e w s of t h r e e - d i m e n n i o n a l
s c e n e s , a n d those w h i c h p r e s e n t
stereoscopic v i e w s of 3 D s c e n e s ;
these a r e m u c h r a r e r .
N o w , if y o u h a d a m a c h i n e like that
b u r n i n g a hole in the c o m e r of y o u r office,
w h a t w o u l d y o u really w a n t to d o with it?
Y o u can't d r i v e it o n the r o a d .
V o u can't m a k e love to it,
i m a g e synthesis or" halftone t e c h n i q u e s
and systems. These are computer
p r o g r a m s a n d special d e v i c e s w h i c h
m a k e s h a d e d o r photograph-like
p i c t u r e s . (This h a p p e n s to b e a
favorite topic of m i n e , a n d s o there's
quite a bit o n it h e r e , a lot of w h i c h
is not w i d e l y k n o w n in the field.)
(But s e e p . * * . )
Y o u can't c o o k in it, o r get the n e w s
o n it.
T o get it to control elaborate e v e n t s in
the real w o r l d requires a lot of e x p e n s i v e e q u i p m e n t a n d interfaces, s o c r o s s that o u t .
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Yet s u p p o s e y o u h a v e a n i n q u i r i n g i m a g ination-- w h i c h is not u n l i k e l y , c o n s i d e r i n g
that y o u are r e a d i n g this s e n t e n c e .
Newman and S p r o u l l , Interactive Computer G r a p h i c s .
H c C r a w , S 1 5 . Your basic text o n a l l f o r m s o f " m
c o m p u t e r g r a p h i c s (and th.ua a n i m a t i o n ) .
*
tyg
A n d w e a r e also s u p p o s i n g (from a n e a r lier p a r a g r a p h ) that y o u h a v e a c o m p u t e r .
W h a t sorts of thing w o u l d y o u d o with it?
T h i n g s that are imaginative a n d don't
require too m u c h else.
t a m hinting at s o m e t h i n g .
a*«|
cK»Mt
Responding computer displays
come in a l l sizes and prices.
This
little setup ( i nt h e u n d e r - $ 10,000
class) is a PDP-8 minicomputer with
home-built display circuitry. Gothic
lettering data structure
available
from somebody in the military; m e s sage courtesy o f R.E.S.I.S.T.O.R.S.
T h e b i g d i s p l a y is a n I B M Z250 (over
$100,000, including minicomputer).
MU>t~'j~ito<</
and if thla idea doesn't turn y o u o n ,
tha rate o f this book is p r o b a b l y n o t for y o u .
GET
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J. « .
Some c o m p u t e r d i s p l a y s h a v e t o b e d e e p l y
a t t a c h e d to • c o m p u t e r a n d s o m e d o n ' t .
These
latter w e call display terminals•
A d i s p l a y t e r m i n a l is l i k e a n o r d i n a r y
computer terminal (see p I f ) : that i s , fundamentally a device by which a computer and a
person c a n type at each o t h e r . H o w e v e r , d i s play torminals have s c r e e n s .
Now, some display terminals only show
text, just like ordinary printing terminals
("described o n t h e o t h e r s i d e ) .
But manufacturers are free to a d d a n y o t h e r f e a t u r e s , a n d
s o d i f f e r e n t m a n u f a c t u r e r s m a k e it p o s s i b l e t o
do v a r i o u s kinds o f p i c t u r e - m a k i n g w i t h t h e i r
p a r t i c u l a r d i s p l a y t e r m i n a l s , i_f a p p r o p r i a t e
programs a r e running in the c o m p u t e r that c o n trols t h e m .
m
\T
tot;
Two major types are the storage tube and the p a n e l .
T h e s e in turn h a v e separate s u b t y p e s , e t c .
Refreshed displays have to have some other kind
)f s y m b o l i c ( d i g i t a l ) m e m o r y , w h o s e c o n t e n t s r e p e a t e d
ly 8 ° tO
« /- T-*. r>n -
That such systems should
fun goes without s a y i n g . That
be • place to w o r k m a y b e less
Ihe tone of thia publication, so
It h e r e .
(and will) b e
they wtll also
obvious from
1 w a n t to stress
Some devices are sold as display terminals
but a c t u a l l y , to further c o n f u s e t h e i s s u e ,
contain complete minicomputers.
(The fact
t h a t t h e m a n u f a c t u r e r m a y n o t s t r e s s t h i s is
simply a marketing angle he has chosen.)
Similarly, certain terminals contain microprocessors
( s e e p . iH ) , w h i c h m e a n s t h e y c a n b e p r o g r a m m e d
to b e h a v e l i k e v a r i o u s o t h e r t e r m i n a l s , b u t o r d i n a r i l y they c a n n o t b e p r o g r a m m e d to d o m u c h e l s e
by t h e m s e l v e s .
Without getting into it deeply, there are two main
types o f d i s p l a y t e r m i n a l : those that a r e r e f r e s h e d a n d
those that a r e n o t . A r e f r e s h e d d i s p l a y is o n e w h o s e
viewing s u r f a c e fades a n d m u s t b e c o n t i n u a l l y r e - f i l l e d ;
a non-refreshed display somehow stores the presentation
in t h e v i e w i n g s u r f a c e i t s e l f .
N o n - r e f r e s h e d displays simply take the symbols
from the c o m p u t e r , b l a m them o n t o the s c r e e n , a n d t h a t ' s
it u n t i l t h e s c r e e n is e r a s e d ( b y c i t h e r t h e c o m p u t e r o r
the u s e r ) .
M o s t r e f r e s h e d d i s p l a y s u s e an a c t u a l t e l e v i s i o n
s c r e e n - - t h a t i s , a C R T ( s e e p.b^t-7) w h o s e e n t i r e a r e a
is r e p e a t e d l y r e - p a i n t e d b y t h e e l c t r o n b e a m .
S i n c e computers send text o u t to terminals as i n dividual alphabetic and punctuation codes, each terminal
m u s t c o n t a i n circuitry to c h a n g e the c h a r a c t e r code to a
visible alphabetical character on the screen.
Such a
p i e c e o f c i r c u i t r y is c a l l e d a c h a r a c t e r g e n e r a t o r .
Ther>
Display terminals generally have a little marker, or
c u r s o r , that the user or the computer c a n move around the
screen.
T h e c o m p u t e r c a n s e n s e w h a t t h e u s e r is p o i n t i n g
at b y t h e m o t i o n c o d e s it g e t s , t e l l i n g w h e r e t h e u s e r h a s
moved the cursor.
I h a d intended here to print a little d i r e c t o r y o f
d i s p l a y t e r m i n a l m a n u f a c t u r e r s , b u t t h e r e s i m p l y is n o t
time.
See section on terminals, other side.
N o t e t h a t t h e term v i d e o t e r m i n a l is o f t e n u s e d , i n correctly, for any display terminal.
T h e term " v i d e o "
s h o u l d o n l y b e u s e d w h e n the s c r e e n is r e f r e s h e d b y a n
a c t u a l v i d e o r a s t e r . ( S e e " L i g h t n i n g i n a D o t t l e , " p.J>»,£-f.)
Text terminals (also called alphabetic terminals,
character terminals or keyscopes) simply show written text,
p u t in e i t h e r b y t h e c o m p u t e r o r the u s e r .
(Some terminals,
c a l l e d transaction t e r m i n a l s , c a n be divided u p into specific
areas that the user m a y and may not type into-- for banking
and stuff.
H o w e v e r , w h e t h e r t h a t f o r m o f t e r m i n a l is
n e c e s s a r y m a y a l s o b e a m a t t e r of taste in t h e p r o g r a m
design.)
T e x t t e r m i n a l s range in p r i c e f r o m , s a y , 51500 on u p
to $ 6 5 0 0 .
(This last is t h e p r i c e o f a r e m a r k a b l e c o l o r
text terminal demonstrated by T e c , I n c . , at the 1974 National
Computer Conference.
Each alphabetic position could contain a letter and/or a bright color; altogether the screen
could hold big colorful pictures made up of these bright
spaces.
Ostensibly just a text t e r m i n a l , actually the d e vice could be regarded as an Instant Movie Generator for
television animation.
B u t it m a y take T e c , I n c . a w h i l e to
realize w h a t they have created.)
G r a p h i c t e r m i n a l s o f f e r s o m e kind of p i c t u r e s on their
screens.
T h e s e c o m e in a g r e a t v a r i e t y : l i n e - d r a w i n g , some
w i t h o u t , some with levels of grey.
O f i n t e r e s t to t h e b e ginner a r e :
Thia honey
ie the GT-40
from DEC ($12,000,
including
computer—
the
thing with
teeth,
below).
It's a
eubroutining
display
(see p. DM 23).
Ltng eoreen
action
wxth
lightpen.
Computer
eimulatee
real moon
Reversed
uhite-to-black
for readability
lande:
here.
w o n d e r *
If y o u h a v e n o t s e e n i n t e r a c t i v e
display, you have not lived.
computer
Except for a few people w h o can imagine it-a n d I ra t r y i n g t o help y o u w i t h t h a t a s h a r d a s I
c a n - - m o s t p e o p l e j u s t d o n ' t g e t i t till t h e y s e e
it. T h e y c a n ' t i m a g i n e w h a t i t ' s l i k e to m a n i p u i a t e a p i c t u r e . T o h a v e a d i a g r a m respond to y o u .
T°~change o n e p a r t o f a p i c t u r e , ano^wtTcTT t n V T F s t
a^afitT h e s e a r e s o m e of t h e t h i n g s t h T t ~ c a n h a p of c o u r ^ t e « a C ^ V e c o n i P u t e r
oi c o u r s e , o n t h e p r o g r a m .
display-
all depending,
„„~w F o r L s o m e reason there are a l o t o f p e o p l e w h o
pooh-pooh computer display: they say it's " n o t
iu<r = ' " ° r e s"u l?
ts
a r y
r
n
j u s t a s g o o dJ
e
1 1
"The P E P . " Excellent (but very expensive) display
that comes o u t to a video screen from a high-resolution storage tube.
Permits grey scales and
selective erase.
Princeton Electronic Products.
The IDIgraf (Information Displays, I n c . , Mount Kisco,
NY).
Allows line pictures with animation; interesting u n i t ; somewhat less than $ 1 0 , 0 0 0 .
m
l
"The Tektronix."
(Also called " t h e greenie," or
"the green screen.")
Tektronix, Inc., makes a
display based on a pale green storage tube they
make.
(So does C o m p u t e r D i s p l a y s , I n c . ) Such
d i s p l a y s allow y o u to p u t m o r e and m o r e text a n d
pictures on a s c r e e n , crowding it a l l u p - -b u t
you can't take the lines or words o f f individually.
«»if "
S n ttll
0 n a l l y
°? i
Q
a
ute
'
1
tw o r t h
U
other
w o u l d
»'t
o r
t h a t
-w a"y s . "
can g e t
thing of trying to
display on " p r a c t i c a l "
S o what if it o f f e r s y o u f a s t e r
access
grounds.
to i n f o r -
M t i c a l l y milled by m a c h i n e s ) , and never mind
M
a
l e s
t h e
u s e r
on\ll
- " y . to c o n t r o l e n t i r e
l
°ii r e f i n e r i e s b y t h e f l i c k o f a l i g h t p e n .
, . , „ ^ s f a r a s I'm concerned, these matters
w n r L T V 6 ! : y l m P ° r t a n t c o m p a r e d to c h a n g i n g t h e
• " i d . making education an excitement, rather
writi* p r i * o n - giving scholars total access to
D e o n i 2 8 t / n ? n o t e s - i n n * w complex form; allowing
Sindt
\ l U y a g i n a t i v e l y , and raising human
"onTa™-^VK1?11*1*15 they 5hc,uld h a v e
"ached
h e
level IhA, *
l p i n s people think at the deepest
inS
confront ^
« d "mplex alternativesn
COI
» f r o n t us m o r e o m i n o u s l y today than e v e r .
A PLATO-like terminal (see PLATO terminal, nearby, and
pp?M4-27) i s n o w a v a i l a b l e f o r u s e w i t h S T A N D A R D c o m puter interfaces and software.
"Less than J5000"
from Applications Group, I n c . , P . O . Box 444A, Maumee,
Ohio 43537.
REFRESHED HIGH-RESOLUTION COLOR SYSTEMS.
A number of
companies manufacture computer displays allowing complex grey-scale pictures, including color.
They are
expensive b u t very very n i c e .
I n d e e d , if y o u b u y them
in c l u s t e r s , t h e s e f a n c y - p i c t u r e s c o p e s c a n c o s t as
l i t t l e as t e x t t e r m i n a l s .
Some manufacturers a r e :
Data D i s k . (Disk refresh.)
Note: I once recommendf mm ii nn ee ,, wwh o
ee du tt hn ee mm t
to
o a
a cc oo nn ss uu ll tt ii nn gg cc ll ii ee nn tt o
or
later expressed complete satisfaction w i t
their equipment.
Ramtek.
(S«-,.c.-W
ft-^ej
A d a g e , I n c . T h e i r m o d e l 2 0 0 is a v i d e o s
freshed from semiconductor storage.
Comtal.
(Disk.)
SIppaattiiaa l D a t a SS y s t e m s •
(Disk.)
Dlcomed. (Disk. Extremely high resolutio
Student programmer
Alan
McNeil,
an art major, pondere aome thing
or other.
It may be the program
for the Nova apace-game
he and
Pete Bowell are building.
Alan also made a film showing
what
may have been the motions of the
continents,
shooting etraight off
the PLATO
screen.
Some PLATO purists point out that
this is not exactly what PLATO
was originally
intended for. So?
P L A T O p a n e l d l . p l . y (, e e D M 2 6 - 7
Making
pictures
halftone
system
with
the GS
(see pp. DM
32-9).
T h e thing about display screens-- especially the h i g h - p e r f o r m a n c e , subroutining kind-is that the screen c a n b e c o m e a place from
w h i c h to control events in the outside w o r l d .
E x a m p l e : I believe a ( o w n in N . Y . State
haa Its electrical s y s t e m h o o k e d u p to an ID1IOM
subroutining display ( m a d e b y Information D i s p l a y s , Inc., a n d coupled to a Varian 620 m i n i c o m p u t e r ) . Instead of h a v i n g a wall with a b i g
painted m a p h a v i n g switches set into it. like
m a n y s u c h control centers, the switches are
linked directly to the m i n i c o m p u t e r , a n d a p r o g r a m in the m i n i c o m p u t e r connects these circuits
to the pictures o n the s c r e e n . T h u s to throw
a switch in the real w o r l d , the operator points
with his lightpen at the picture of the a w i t c h ,
a n d the m i n i c o m p u t e r t h r o w s the switch.
T h e r e a r e oil refineries that w o r k the
s a m e w a y . T h e operator c a n control flows
a m o n g pipes a n d tanks b y pointing at their
pictures. o r at s y m b o l s connected with t h e m ,
a n d b i n g o , it h a p p e n s O u t T h e r e .
In another c a a e , a p e r s o n designing s o m e thing at a screen c a n look across the r o o m a n d
see a m a c h i n e p r o d u c i n g w h a t h e just finished
designing a few minutes a g o . I w i s h I could
say m o r e about that particular s e t u p .
T h e true p r o b l e m lhat I think is e m e r g i n g ,
t h o u g h , is the p r o b l e m of system r e s p o n s e a n d
style. O k a y , so you're controlling widget
a s s e m b l y , o r traffic light g r i d s , at the C R T
s c r e e n . T h e real question is, h o w does the
screen b e h a v e a n d r e s p o n d ? T h i s is not, d a r n
it, a technical issue. It's psychological a n d
then s o m e . T h e design of screen activities
w h i c h w i U enjoyably focus the user's m i n d o n
his p r o p e r c o n c e r n s - - n o matter h o w personal
these m a y b e - - is the n e w frontier of d e s i g n ,
of art, a n d of architecture.
B u t m o r e of that
later.
N o w , the X e r o x Corporation h a s said that
they intend to replace p a p e r (or. the w a y I
h e a r d it, " S o m e b o d y is going to replace p a p e r
with s c r e e n s , a n d it will b e either I B M o r u s ,
so let's h a v e it b e us."J
Well a n d g o o d . S a v e the trees a n d stem
the g r e y m e n a c e . B u t the question is: w h a t
will the s y s t e m s b e like? H o w should they p e r form? W h a t forms will information take? W h a t
c o n v e n t i o n s , structures, d i a g r a m s , animations,
w a y s to sign t h i n g s , w a y s to view things ...
H O W S H A L L IT B E ?
I a m afraid that as long as people a r e b e fuddled with technicalities, o r confused b y those
w h o profess that these considerations are their
specialty b y right, w e will n e v e r get straight.
L a c k i n g time for the full discussion, I give y o u
a motto:
IF T H E B U T T O N IS N O T S H A P E D LIKE T H E T H O U G H T ,
T H E T H O U G H T W I L L E N D U P S H A P E D LIKE T H E B U T T O N .
SAVING ENERGY
WITH COMPUTER
A timely
that it needs
e l s e w h e r e ) it
bodes to save
c r i t i c i s m o f c o m p u t e r d i s p l a y is
electricity.
B u t (as mentioned
s a v e s p a p e r , a n d , i m p o r t a n t l y , it
energy as w e l l .
DISPLAY
IF W E S W I T C H T O C O M P U T E R S C R E E N S F R O M
PAPER, PEOPLE WON'T HAVE TO TRAVEL AS MUCH.
I n s t e a d o f c o m m u t i n g to o f f i c e s in t h e c e n t e r
o f t o w n , p e o p l e c a n s e t u p t h e i r o f f i c e s in
the s u b u r b s , a n d share the d o c u m e n t a r y s t r u c ture o f the w o r k s i t u a t i o n through the s c r e e n s .
"""^J^
This view has been propounded, indeed, by
Peter Goldmark, former director of
CBS L a b s , the m a n w h o brought y o u the LP record.
1.
EARLIEST
TO
MAKE
SYSTEM:
A
LITTLE
PROGRAM
2.
BASIC TYPES
OF COMPUTER
DISPLAY
(Note: t h e t e r m " d i s p l a y " is also u s e d
in this field to r e f e r to n u m b e r s a n d letters
that c a n b e m a d e to light u p in fixed p o s i t i o n s ,
like o n y o u r p o c k e t c a l c u l a t o r s . T h o s e will
not b e d i s c u s s e d h e r e .
If y o u ' r e i n t e r e s t e d
s e e a n article o n t h e s u b j e c t b y A l a n S o b e l ,
Scientific A m e r i c a n , e a r l y 1 9 7 3 s o m e t i m e . )
THE
FORKED
HARDWARE
T h e n e x t a t e p in d e s i g n is to g e t t h e c o m p u t e r p r o g r a m o u t of t h e b u s i n e s s of d r a w i n g
lineB b y a s u c c e s s i o n of d o t s . S o w e b u i l d a
p i e c e of h a r d w a r e that t h e c o m p u t e r p r o g r a m m a y
s i m p l y i n s t r u c t to d r a w a l i n e . A s a n i n t e r f a c e ,
it l o o k s to t h e c o m p u t e r like f o u r s e p a r a t e
d e v i c e s : r e g i s t e r s that tell w h e r e o n the s c r e e n
t h e line m u s t start ("first X " a n d "first Y " ) a n d
r e g i s t e r s that tell it w h e r e to s t o p ("end X " a n d
"end Y " ) ,
T h e earliest s e t u p c o n n e c t e d a C R T to a
c o m p u t e r b y the simplest possible m e a n s , a n d
m a d e its p i c t u r e s w i t h d o t s o n t h e s c r e e n — a
sort of tattooing p r o c e s s .
YOUR
LINE-DRAWING
DOTS
It w a s s i m p l e b e c a u s e all t h e c o m p u t e r
d i d w a s f u r n i s h to t h e c o n n e c t i n g c i r c u i t r y ( o r
i n t e r f a c e ) s y m b o l s s p e c i f y i n g h o w far u p , a n d
h o w far a c r o s s t h e s c r e e n , t h e n e x t d o t s h o u l d
be.
T h e s e s y m b o l s w e r e actually c o d e d n u m b e r s ,
a n d t h e interface t u r n e d t h e m into v o l t a g e s w h i c h
then m o v e d the b e a m c o r r e s p o n d i n g l y .
(This
p r o c e s s of m a k i n g a m e a s u r e d v o l t a g e o u t of a
c o d e d n u m e r i c a l s y m b o l is c a l l e d d i g i t a l - t o - a n a l o g
c o n v e r s i o n • since (as e x p l a i n e d o n the o t h e r s i d e )
t h e m a i n m e a n i n g o f " a n a l o g " t h e s e d e y B is " i n
a m e a s u r e d voltage.")
N o w , this h a s s e v e r a l d r a w b a c k s .
O n e is
that t h e lines a r e d o t t y ; n o b o d y likes t h a t .
A
m o r e i m p o r t a n t a n n o y a n c e , t h o u g h , is that t h e
c o m p u t e r s c a r c e l y h a s t i m e for a n y t h i n g e l s e .
H e r e is a f l o w c h a r t of w h a t t h e c o m p u t e r h a s to
d o in its p r o g r a m .
( E v e n if y o u d i d n ' t l o o k at
t h e o t h e r s i d e of t h e b o o k , f l o w c h a r t s a r e n o t h i n g
scary.
T h e y ' r e j u s t m a p s of w h a t h a p p e n s . )
LIGHTNING
" B e c a u s e their w o r d s h a v e
forked n o lightning they
D o n o t g o g e n t l e into that g o o d n i g h t . "
— Dylan T h o m a s
T h i s s p e e d s things u p considerably, a n d
a l l o w s t h e c o m p u t e r p r o g r a m to d i s p l a y o n t h e
C R T s i m p l y b y telling t h e d e v i c e w h a t lines it
wants drawn.
M o r e o v e r , t h e p r o g r a m is free
to d o o t h e r t h i n g s w h i l e e a c h line is b e i n g
d r a w n , t h o u g h this i n v o l v e s t h e p r o b l e m of h o w
t h e p r o g r a m is to k n o w w h e n it's t i m e to s e n d
o u t a n o t h e r l i n e - - a n d w e n e e d n ' t g o into that
here.
T h e m o s t b a s i c , a n d yet eventually the
m o s t v e r s a t i l e , c o m p u t e r d i s p l a y is that o f t h e
C R T . o r bottled l i g h t n i n g (as I like to call i t ) .
It i s , y o u k n o w : a b e a m of e l e c t r o n s , just like
l i g h t n i n g in a s t o r m , b u t f r o m t h e n e c k o f a
v e r y e m p t y bottle to its flat b o t t o m , w h o s e
chemically coated surface w e w a t c h . A s m a n i p u l a t e d b y t h e c o m p u t e r , t h e C R T s t a b s its b e a m
to all c o r n e r s of t h e faceplate: f o r k e d l i g h t n i n g .
( I n c i d e n t a l l y , it is a p u z z l i n g fact that
s u c h a d e v i c e is a v a i l a b l e n o w h e r e , a l t h o u g h
lots of p e o p l e e n d u p b u i l d i n g o n e for t h e m s e l v e s .
T h e r e w a s s u c h a thing o n the m a r k e t a c o u p l e
of y e a r s a g o - - l i n e - d r a w i n g h a r d w a r e w i t h n o
i n t e r f a c e a n d n o C R T — b u t it w a s w i t h d r a w n
b e c a u s e of reliability p r o b l e m s .
A just p r i c e ,
if a n y b o d y w a n t s to g o into t h a t , w o u l d b e five
h u n d r e d to a t h o u s a n d d o l a r s — this y e a r . )
C o m p u t e r d i s p l a y b e g a n in t h e late f o r t i e s .
C o m p u t e r s themselves w e r e completely n e w ,
and so w a s M r . Dumont's magical Cathode R a y
T u b e o r C R T (see p . ' % ) . d e v e l o p e d o n a
c r a s h basis d u r i n g the w a r so w e c o u l d h a v e
r a d a r , a n d a s l o n g a s it w a s a r o u n d after t h e
w a r , w e got television.
B u t the lightning bottle, o r C R T , c a n b e
u s e d in a v a r i e t y of w a y s . Its c o n t r o l p l a t e s ,
w h i c h m o v e t h e r a y of e l e c t r o n s a r o u n d o n t h e
s c r e e n , c a n b e g i v e n v a r i o u s different e l e c tronic s i g n a l s , c a u s i n g t h e b e a m to m o v e a r o u n d
in different p a t t e r n s . In n o r m a l v i d e o , t h e
s i g n a l s m o v e t h e b e a m in a z i g z a g p a t t e r n ,
w h e r e the zigs a r e v e r y close t o g e t h e r a n d t h e
z a g s a r e invisible; t h e c a r p e t of z i g s c o v e r s
t h e s c r e e n o v e r a n d o v e r in a repetitive p a t t e r n ,
a n d t h e b e a m ' s c h a n g i n g intensity p a i n t s t h e
picture.
B u t w e c a n d r i v e the C R T differently,
b y u s i n g different c o n t r o l s i g n a l s . F o r i n s t a n c e :
w e c a n a p p l y a m e a s u r e d v o l t a g e to t h e h e i g h t
o r " Y " plates of t h e C R T , m o v i n g t h e b e a m
to a g i v e n vertical p o s i t i o n , a n d a n o t h e r m e a s u r e d v o l t a g e to t h e s i d e w a y s o r " X " p l a t e s ,
c o n t r o l l i n g its h o r i z o n t a l p o s i t i o n .
C% cor p|or«oo3
We i*.Hj/£ %t »vuycj
3.
EVOLUTION
FROM
THIS:
T W O
OPTIONS
, ~v
There
a r e basically t w o w a y s
this b a s i c s t a r t i n g p o i n t .
the d i s p l a y
to g o f r o m
Either w e c a n k e e p
d e v i c e intimately a n d integrally
con-
n e c t e d to t h e c o m p u t e r , o r w e c a n s a y t h e hell
w i t h it a n d c u t t h e d i s p l a y d e v i c e l o o s e a s a
separate
entity.
F'itfT O o T
F u r t h e r m o r e , a n d h e r e w a s the indignity
o f it, this s y s t e m t o o k far too l o n g . T o d r a w
a line w i t h thirty d o t s in it t o o k thirty t i m e s
a r o u n d t h e l o o p in t h e f l o w c h a r t , a n d s i n c e e a c h
b o x in t h e flowchart t a k e s at least o n e o f t h e
m a c h i n e ' s rock-bottom instructions-- usually
m o r e - - t h e n t h e m a i n l o o p o f this d i s p l a y r o u t i n e
takes four separate operations p e r d o t , o r 120
operations for a stupid 30-dot line.
Plainly
t h e r e h a s to b e a b e t t e r w a y to u s e a n e x p e n s i v e
computer.
A c t u a l l y it w a s n ' t j u s t t h e i g n o m i n y o f it,
b u t t h e fact that it t o o k s o l o n g , that m a d e this
a poor method.
T h e a m o u n t o f stuff t h e c o m p u t e r c o u l d d r a w in l / 4 0 t h o f a s e c o n d — a n d this
t u r n s o u t to b e h o w fast t h e w h o l e p i c t u r e h a s
to b e m a d e - - w a s too little. A f t e r l / 4 0 t h o f a
s e c o n d t h e h u m a n e y e c a n s e e t h e lines o n t h e
C R T start to f a d e , a n d s o t h e p i c t u r e h a s to b e
r e d r a w n to m a k e it b r i g h t a g a i n b e f o r e that
happens.
If y o u r e y e s e e s t h e p i c t u r e f a d i n g ,
then w h e n the c o m p u t e r d r a w s the picture again
y o u will s e e it g e t s u d d e n l y b r i g h t a g a i n - - a n d
it will start to f l i c k e r . T h i s is d i s t r a c t i n g , u n healthy, a n d disagreeable.
N o t e that t h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t c o m p u t e r in
t h e h i ^ t g r y of c o m p u t e r d i s p l a y u s e d this t e c h n i q u e 1 ^ T h i s w a s t h e T X - 2 at L i n c o l n L a b o r a t o r i e s , a h i g h l y - g u a r d e d installation o u t s i d e B o s ton w h i c h is f o r m a l l y p a r t of M I T . T h e T X - 2
w a s o n e o f t h e first t r a n s i s t o r i z e d c o m p u t e r s - p e r h a p s t h e first; a n d o n it w e r e p r o g r a m m e d a
n u m b e r of m i l e s t o n e s y s t e m s , i n c l u d i n g S u t h e r land's S k e t c h p a d , J o h n s o n ' s S k e t c h p a d I V , a n d
Baecker's G E N E S Y S animation system (discussed
somewhere).
I v a n S u t h e r l a n d h a s c a n n i l y n o t e d that
t h e r e is a c e r t a i n t r a p i n v o l v e d in t h e s e d e s i g n s :
as w e build additional " i n d e p e n d e n t " structures
to t a k e t h e b u r d e n of d i s p l a y a w a y f r o m t h e
c o m p u t e r , w e a r e t e m p t e d to k e e p a d d i n g f e a tures w h i c h m a k e the " i n d e p e n d e n t " structure a
c o m p u t e r in its o w n r i g h t . T h i s p a r a d o x i c a l
t e m p t a t i o n S u t h e r l a n d calls " t h e g r e a t w h e e l o f
K a r m a " of c o m p u t e r d i s p l a y a r c h i t e c t u r e .
It is t e m p t i n g to c u t t h e d i s p l a y l o o s e f r o m
the c o m p u t e r .
It m e a n s t h e c o m p u t e r c a n b e
fully o c c u p i e d w i t h o t h e r m a t t e r s t h a n r e f r e s h i n g
the s c r e e n — p r e p a r i n g the next d i s p l a y s , p e r haps.
M a n y c o m p u t e r p e o p l e b e l i e v e this is t h e
r i g h t w a y to d o it, a n d it is c e r t a i n l y o n e v a l i d
approach.
B u t u n f o r t u n a t e l y it also drastically
r e d u c e s the i m m e d i a c y of the system's reaction,
m a k i n g interaction w i t h t h e s y s t e m less intimate
and wonderful.
A p p r o a c h e s w h i c h p u t display refreshment
a n d m a i n t e n a n c e in a s e p a r a t e d e v i c e
a r e less
i n t e r e s t i n g to m e , a n d s o that d i s c u s s i o n c o n t i n u e s s e p a r a t e l y n e a r b y . ("btfiv^^*"**^*
f- J*12l).
4.
THE SECOND PROGRAM
FOLLOWER
O n the other Bide of the b o o k . 1 explained
that a c o m p u t e r ia basically a sippy d e v i c e ,
n e v e r m i n d h o w constructed, w h i c h follows a
p r o g r a m s o m e h o w stored symbolically In a core
m e m o r y . S u c h a device w e call h e r e a p r o g r a m
follower. While p r o g r a m s m a y b e in m a n y c o m puter languages-- all of t h e m contrived s y s t e m s
for expressing the user's w i s h e s , in different
styles a n d with different general intent-- u n d e r neath they all translate to an inner l a n g u a g e of
binary patterns, w h i c h m a y Just b e thought of
as patterns of X a n d 0 . or light b u l b s on a n d off.
T h e innermost p r o g r a m follower of the c o m p u t e r
g o e s d o w n lists of binary patterns stored in the
core m e m o r y , a n d carries t h e m out as specific
instructions. It also c h a n g e s its s e q u e n c e s of
operations u n d e r conditions that the p r o g r a m m e r
has told it to w a t c h for.
T h e m o s t powerful a n d responsive c o m puter displays are those w h i c h build a s e c o n d
p r o g r a m follower w h i c h g o e s d o w n lists of pict u r e - d r a w i n g instructions also stored in the s a m e
core m e m o r y ,
FOLLOWER.
rc.fVej-.cj
scntei^-
**)m*-pc -pit
j\srw.
W e m a y call this also a "list-of-lines"
s y s t e m , since the c o m m a n d s recognized b y the
display p r o g r a m follower are typically patterns
that tell it w h a t lines to d r a w .
Typically also it h a s its o w n w a y of j u m p ing a r o u n d in a p r o g r a m , a n d m a y j u m p to a
specific list of lines, o r s u b p i c t u r e , from n u m e r o u s other parts of its p r o g r a m , a l w a y s returning
e a c h time to the point from w h i c h it h a d j u m p e d .
T h i s -allows the s a m e subpicture to a p p e a r in
n u m e r o u s places o n the screen at the s a m e t i m e .
(A p r o g r a m that can be j u m p e d to b y other p r o g r a m s w h i c h then r e s u m e operation is called a
subroutine; t h u s the real, o r m o s t prestigious,
n a m e for s u c h a device is a s u b r o u t i n i n g d i s p l a y . )
T h i s design haa s o m e extraordinary a d v a n tages. O n e is that since the c o m p u t e r ' s p r o g r a m
follower a n d the display's p r o g r a m follower both
s h a r e the s a m e core m e m o r y • they can w o r k together m o a t intimately. W h e n the user d e m a n d s
s o m e t h i n g n e w - - b y t y p i n g , s a y , o r pointing
with a light-pen-- the c o m p u t e r can step in a n d
take various actions. Its p r o g r a m can c o m p o s e
a n e w picture for the u s e r , get s o m e t h i n g from
a disk o r tape m e m o r y , o r switch the display's
p r o g r a m follower o v e r to a n e w picture it h a s
already p r e p a r e d .
M o s t importantly, the c o m p u t e r can m o v e
i m a g e s o n the s c r e n . allowing interactive a n i mation o n the s c r e e n u n d e r the user's control.
E a c h time the display starts to s h o w the s a m e
picture e g a i n , the c o m p u t e r simply supplies it
with a n e w starting point. Since the list of lines
is typically in the form of s e q u e n c e s of lines
relative to o n e a n o t h e r , the picture is d r a w n in
a n e w place e a c h time-- a n d thus s e e n to m o v e
o n the
Finally, the c o m p u t e r itself is free m o a t
of Ihe time-- free, that is, to d o other t h i n g s ,
w h i c h typically is a l w a y s desirable. Just h o w
m u c h the c o m p u t e r can o r should d o in s u c h a
p a r t n e r s h i p is n matter of d i s p u t e .
(Ordinarily
s u c h devices arc spliced onto m i n i c o m p u t e r s ;
a n d m i n i c o m p u t e r f a n s , s u c h a s the a u t h o r , see
n o reason not to p e r f o r m all services for the d i s play there in the m i n i c o m p u t e r - - a n d a p o x o n
the big m a c h i n e s . O t h e r s , for various r e a s o n s .
Bee the s u b r o u t i n i n g display a n d its host mini
as n e e d i n g the tender ministratious of a4 bigc o m p u t e r via s o m e sort of c o m m u n i c a t i o n s line.
T h e r e are various r e a s o n s for holding this e n tirely legitimate v i e w . People w h o are d e v o t e d
to the h i g h n u m b e r - c r u n c h i n g capacity of big
c o m p u t e r s , o r to l a n g u a g e s w h i c h require great
big c o m p u t e r s to r u n i n . h a v e a right to their
o p i n i o n . M o r e o v e r , it is currently feasible lo
store large b o d i e s of data only o n big c o m p u t e r s
— not b e c a u s e big disk a n d tape m e m o r i e s can't
b e easily attached to the small o n e s , for they
c a n , but they usually aren't; a n d other w a y s to
tie m i n i c o m p u t e r s to big stores of data aren't
available y e t . )
S u b r o u t i n i n g displays often h o v e c o m m a n d s
allowing t h e m to display text as well a s lines
a n d d o t s . In the display of text they c a n u s e
the s o m e t e c h n i q u e of " m o v i n g the picture" b y
starting its display at successively c r e e p i n g
points; this will c a u s e , s a y . w h o l e p a r a g r a p h s
to slide o n the s c r e e n . T h e i m p o r t a n c e of
this feature in the displaying of text c a n n o t b e
iphasized. A s m o r e a n d m o r e p e o p l e h a v e
e x p e r i e n c e with displays of different k i n d s , they
a r e b e g i n n i n g to realize h o w c o n f u s i n g a n d d i s orienting it is for a s c r e e n to clear a n d b e filled
with s o m e t h i n g n e w to r e a d . Y o u don't k n o w
w h e r e y o u are. O n subroutining displays,
m o v i n g the text c o n give the r e a d e r the s a m e
s e n s e of orientation h e gets from t u r n i n g p a g e s
— a n important thing to r e p l a c e .
HELPING PEOPLE SEE A N D M A N I P U L A T E
PICTURES A N D TEXT
IN A N Y S T Y L E , A N D F O R A N Y P U R P O S E .
Since pictures c a n b e of a n y t h i n g , a n d text c a n
b e about a n y t h i n g , this effectively c o m p r e h e n d s
the entire m e n t a l a n d w o r k i n g life of m a n k i n d .
M a n y r e a d e r s will scoff, s u p p o s i n g that
c o m p u t e r display s y s t e m s will a l w a y s cost tons
of m o n e y . T h i s is not Ihe c a s e . Y o u c a n alr e a d y get a b e a u t y , with its m i n i c o m p u t e r , for
as little as $13,000; a n d this price s h o u l d fall
to three o r four t h o u s a n d within a few y e a r s - as s o o n a s the m i n i c o m p u t e r m a n u f a c t u r e r s realize
that the m a r k e t frontier is not in the office o r
factory, b u t in the h o m e . B u t w e ' r e getting a
bit a h e a d of o u r s e l v e s h e r e .
TYPES OF SUBROUTINING
M o s t importantly, the c o m p u t e r c a n m o v e
i m a g e s o n the s c r e e n , allowing interactive~anT
nation o n the screen u n d e r the user's control.
E a c h time the display is about to s h o w the s a m e
picture a g a i n , the c o m p u t e r simply supplies it
with a n e w atartinfl point. Since the list of lines
is typically in the form of s e q u e n c e s of lines
relative to o n e a n o t h e r , the picture is d r a w n in
a n e w place e a c h time-- a n d thus s e e n to m o v e
o n the s c r e e n .
r
T h e units m e n t i o n e d a b o v e are of the m o a t
basic type: " t w o - d i m e n s i o n a l , " w h o s e pictures
at a n y given instant c o r r e s p o n d to flat d r a w i n g s
-- b u t , of c o u r s e , derive their excitement a n d
magnificence from their capacity to interact,
c h a n g e a n d animate w h u t y o u are looking at.
J r W
twUf'S V * *
d.k]:»»«i
# Kf .
DISPLAY
S o m e early s u b r o u t i n i n g displays u s e d a
screen-dotting t e c h n i q u e , but took the b u r d e n of
it off the c o m p u t e r itself; it w o u l d extract f r o m
core m e m o r y the instructions telling it to d r a w
individual lines a n d s h o w text. (1 refer h e r e
to the D E C m o d e l 3 3 8 , i n t r o d u c e d a b o u t 1965;
this attached to a P D P - 8 c o m p u t e r (see p . ' j T )
a n d cost about $50,000 including the c o m p u t e r . )
O t h e r s d r e w lines as straight zips of light a c r o s s
the s c r e e n ; a n e x a m p l e is the I B M 2250 d i a p l a y ,
introduced about 1966. ( T h e m o d e l 1 of thia
device b u c k l e d directly to the 3 6 0 , a n d c o s t , 1
believe, s o m e t h i n g like $75,000; its s u c c e s s o r ,
the m o d e l 4, b u c k l e d to their 1130 m i n i c o m p u t e r ,
the p a c k a g e costing s o m e $ 1 5 0 , 0 0 0 , a n d then
y o u w e r e s u p p o s e d to attach it to a n I B M 3 6 0 . )
T h e 2250 w a s a g o o d m a c h i n e , b u t in p e r f o r m a n c e suffers greatly from the restrictions of
the 360 c o m p u t e r itself (see p . 4 j ) .
i ^ o .
Seld cm has an event in a new field had as m u c h power and
Influence aa w h a t dour Ivan Sutherland did as a young man V the
period 1 9 6 0 - 6 4 .
~
The SKETCHPAD system,which w a s basically hla theale w o r k at
H I T , waa at once I n v e n t i v e , p r o f o u n d , overwhelmingly Impressive
to l a y m e n , snd deeply e l e g a n t . Simply for the universal influence
It has had In the computer f i e l d . It d e s e r v e s our close attention.
Sutherland was one of the first people to understand the use
of the computer in helping people visualize things that weren't
fully clear y e t — the o p p o s i t e , of c o u r s e , of the conventional
notion of c o m p u t e r s . W h i l e computers had been made to do animations
as early a s the f o r t i e s , and computer graphics had been put to w o r k aday d u t i e s in the old 5ACE system (defending us against bombers in
the f i f t i e s — remember the good old d a y s ? ) , Sutherland turned c o m puter display from an expensive curiosity into a true dream m a c h i n e .
SKETCHPAD ran on the 3 6 - b l t T X - 2 , a one-of-a-kind experimental
m a c h i n e at Lincoln L a b o r a t o r i e s (a military research place nominally
a part of M I T ) . It had a diaplay s c r e e n , light pen and lots of handy
switches.
SKETCHPAD w a s basically a drawing s y s t e m . But rather than
simulating paper (as some people m i g h t have d o n e ) , it found splendid
w a y s to take advantage of the c o m p u t e r ' s special c a p a b i l i t i e s .
In the Sketchpad s y s t e m , Sutherland looked for w a y s that a
responding computer display screen could help people design t h i n g s .
He pioneered m e t h o d s of drawing on s c r e e n s , w i t h such techniques
as the "rubber-band line" (a straight line on the s c r e e n , one end
of which follows your lightpen w h i l e the other remains f i x e d ) , and
the " I n s t a n c e " — a subpicture stored In core m e m o r y which could
appear n u m e r o u s times and w a y s in a larger p i c t u r e ) .
This
picture
vaguely
eimulatee
the
"instance"
facility
of
Sketchpad,
by uKicn
an
overall
picture
may be
created
out of repetitions
of a
c ingle
master
pattern.
..ilated with
'.-.Kjuage
(see
It m u s t b e stressed h e r e that, just as c o m p u t e r s t h e m s e l v e s h a v e n o fixed m o d e o r style
of o p e r a t i o n , neither d o c o m p u t e r displays; a n d
so the p u r p o s e of s u c h d e v i c e s is s i m p l y
T h i s d e s i g n h a s s o m e extraordinary a d v a n tages. O n e is that since the c o m p u t e r ' s p r o g r a m
follower a n d the display's p r o g r a m f o U o w e r both
s h a r e the s a m e core m e m o r y , they can w o r k together most intimately. W h e n the u s e r d e m a n d s
s o m e t h i n g n e w - - b y t y p i n g , s a y , o r pointing
with a light-pen-- the c o m p u t e r can step in a n d
take various actions. Its p r o g r a m can c o m p o s e
a n e w picture for the u s e r , get s o m e t h i n g from
a disk or tape m e m o r y , o r switch the display's
p r o g r a m follower o v e r to a n e w picture it h a s
already p r e p a r e d .
T h e s e earlier m a c h i n e s are b e i n g replaced
b y n e w versions with better-designed instructions
(see " C o m p u t e r Architecture," p . "$2.. tor a s e n s e
of w h a t well-designed instructions a r e ) . A n e s pecially fine unit is D E C ' s O T 4 0 , w h i c h b u c k l e s
o n the exceptionally fine P D P - 1 1 m i n i c o m p u t e r
(see p.*tt-). T h e G T 4 0 is illustrated n e a r b y . ( ? % )
It g o e s for a o m e $12,000 including the c o m p u t e r .
(That's t o d a y , w e repeat. C o n s i d e r noi the price
at this instant, but h o w fast it's going d o w n . )
GRASS
p.32).
The m i n d - b l o w i n g thing about Sketchpad w a s the way you could
move and m a n i p u l a t e the p i c t u r e on the s c r e e n , w i t h all Its p a r t s .
O n e o v e r a l l picture could be constructed out of a hundred copies
of a basic p i c t u r e ; then a change In the basic picture would I m m e d i a t e l y be shown in all hundred p l a c e s . Or you could expand
your picture until it w a s e f f e c t i v e l y the size of a football field
(with you looking at a tiny view In the handkerchief-sized s c r e e n ) .
Or you could draw m e s h i n g gears on the s c r e e n , and with the lightpen (and through the " c o n s t r a i n t " f a c i l i t y ) make one gear turn by
turning the o t h e r !
the constraint,does not seem to have
T h i s elegant technlqi
o n s t r a i n t " w a s a restriction placed
been imitated e v e n n o w . i
ill stored picture c o m p l e x . The user
on some part of the overa.
v a r i o u s parts of the picture on the screet
could move or manipulai
m a t r a l n t s could only move in certain d l but the parts that had
d r a g g l n g other
r e c t i o n s , or a c c o r d i n g to certain f o n n u L
parts a l o n g , e t c . , as s p e c i f i e d .
T h i s w a s a profound I d e a , b e c a u s e It meant that any rules for
the m a n i p u l a t i o n of particular o b j e c t s on the screen could be added
to Sketchpad as p a r t i c u l a r s w i t h i n the larger p r o g r a m , rather than
h a v i n g to be programmed in from s c r a t c h .
(One extremely interesting aspect of S u t h e r l a n d ' s t h e s i s , which
m o s t people aeem to have m i s s e d , dealt w i t h displaying a structure
of c o n s t r a i n t s : that i s , showing w h a t e l e m e n t s depended on w h a t
other e l e m e n t s , in a highly abstracted d i a g r a m that the system could
show y o u . T h i s form of display has remarkable p o s s i b i l i t i e s .
A f t e r his brilliant SKETCHPAD w o r k , Sutherland waa made head
of A R P A ' s computer branch (see "Military." p . 3 3 ) . T h e r e he wea
involved In many of the computer funding d e c i s i o n s of the late
s i x t i e s , w h i c h contributed to the impetus of computer d i s p l a y .
(His p r e d e c e s s o r , L i c k l i d e r , had been a pioneer In t i m e - s h a r i n g , end
m u c h of the forward movement In the computer field In recent years
may just have had to do with the strategic position of those two men
w h e n they were at A R P A / I P T . )
Sketchpad w e n t on as a continuing research tradition at L i n coln L a b s . Timothy J o h n s o n , for i n s t a n c e , made a version of it that
allowed the drawing of three-dimensional o b j e c t s ; thla became the
forerunner of the v a r i o u s three-dimensional line systems described
hereabouts•
From A R P A . Sutherland w e n t on to the University of U t a h ,
whence he slipped off w i t h the Computer Science department c h a i r man to found the Evens and Sutherland Computer C o m p a n y , m a k e r s ° *
the top-of-the-llne computer display systems (see p . J M *
P
Suthei land's w o r k has shown an elegance and Inventiveness
itandlng In the f i e l d . (For i n s t a n c e , I believe one issue of
Lena of the ACM had two unusual articles by him: one d e Communl
I e c c e n t r i c "Chinese a u c t i o n " system worked out for
scribing ....
-omputer, which benefited uaers more than any
scheduling use
infamous "Greet
"Great Wheel
Wheel ol
of "Karma"
a r t i ctl e .
previous method
K t h o d ; and
u d the
t h . lnfernoo.
™
:o>pered t h . design of gr.phlc.l o o « p u t e r . to t h . Hindu
r.lnc.rnetlon-- il yoo k«.p adding de.ireble f e . t u r e .
system <
t h . o e e l g o , .oon yoo heve another p t o g i u i follower .nd .noth.r coa
puter in the s u e b o x — over «nd o v e r . )
DM
24
IJoHK]
How
do
computers
make
movies?
W e l l , first of a l l , computers do
movies unless thoroughly
provoked.
not
make
In f a c t , o n l y p e o p l e m a k e m o v i e s .
But
c o m p u t e r s , if sufficiently p r o v o k e d , will do a
lot of it: enact the movie and photograph
it,
frame by
frame.
There
All
graphics
is
no
single
method.
forms of computer display and
computer
may be u s e d to m a k e c o m p u t e r m o v i e s .
" C o m p u t e r a n i m a t i o n " is a n y m e t h o d o f m a k ing movies in w h i c h a c o m p u t e r
successively
draws or paints the successive individual
frames,
which may be done by any of the m e t h o d s
mentione d in t h i s b o o k .
Now, since there are
numerous
methods of making pictures by c o m p u t e r , then
any
method of making different individual
pictures,
i n a s u c c e s s i o n of c h a n g i n g f r a m e s , i s
computer
animation.
S o a " c o m p u t e r m o v i e " is a n y
film
m a d e b y , or with the p i c t u r e - m a k i n g aid
of,
computers.
In
other
words--
it's
no
one
Here are a few
humanis tic.
stills
from
some
other
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Newman G Sproull, Interactive
Graphics.
McGraw,
$15.
Computer
T h i s is t h e t e x t b o o k .
Anyone
i n t e r e s t e d in c o m p u t e r
display
should get this
immediately.
An
expensive journal, Computer
Graphics
and Image Processing, comes
from
Academic
Press.
WHITNEY
J o h n W h i t n e y is the a n c e s t o r o f us all
probably the first computer movie-maker.
He
is a l s o a g r i p p i n g
speaker.
Lillian
Schwartz
tion
In the f o r t i e s , he b u i l t a s p e c i a l
stand-- using analog
computers.
anima-
D e e p l y c o n c e r n e d w i t h m u s i c , -Whitney has
in h i s i m a g e s e m p h a s i z e d r h y t h m i c a n d
contrap u n t a l m o v e m e n t of shapes and
lines.
thing.
N o w , there already e x i s t h u n d r e d s , if not
thousands, of computer movies.
So far most
of
them h a v e b e e n on t e c h n i c a l t o p i c s - - the
mechanics of satellite orbit s t a b i l i z a t i o n ,
the
mechanics of explosions and so o n .
more
JOHN
movies,
Whitney films available from:
Pyramid
Films, Box 1048, Santa Monica CA 90406.
A talented artist with a feel for
technology, M s . Schwartz has been working
for
several years with Knowlton and others
at
Bell Labs.
Her films with Knowlton,
mentioned elsewhere, are m a r v e l o u s .
She now
works
at a more permanent s e t u p , a
minicomputer
that runs successive images on a color
TV
screen, employing a modified form of Knowlton's EXPLOR language.
T h e w o r k is
immediately v i e w a b l e .
This allows rapid film
construction,- not p r e v i o u s l y p o s s i b l e when
the
w o r k h a d to g o t h r o u g h a s l o w
animation
camera before she could see the
result.
For Knowlton-&-Schwartz films contact: Martin
D u f f y , A T & T , 195 B r o a d w a y , NY N Y .
Sherwood Anderson,v'Computer Animation: A Survey.
J o u r n a l of M i c r o g r a p h i c s , S e p 7 1 , 1 3 - 2 0 .
Lists nineteen computer-animation languages
of t h a t t i m e .
K e n K n o w l t o n , " C o m p u t e r - M a d e F i l m s , " Fill
N e w s l e t t e r Dec 7 0 , 1 4 - 2 0 .
lakers
John
J
J
Instructions
for the d e s i r e d
movie enter the
computer as a
deck of punched
Whitney
§
>
>
cards.
<i
Vintage
Knowlton,
using
BEFLIX.
(This language
used the -COM
quite
efficiently:
dots were
actually
out-of-fooue
letters.
)
>
>
>
>
>
>
O
o
o
8
t. 8
*. 8
+•
8
X
X
X
X
X
John
VanderbL, ••
which
showc
uc
•^g influence
of
BEFLIX,
which •t grows
from).
Schwartz
& Knowlton.
Using
the EXPLOR.
language,
they make pictures
and patterns
scintillate
and
grow
together.
(EXPLOR
in some ways
generalizes
Conway's
Game of Life;
see p.^andp.
DM~^_S)
V
\
Whitney
Lillian
Schwartz
(with Henry
Magnuaki;
see
p.
DM
25
>
L y n n S m i t h is a y o u n g B o s t o n
artist
who has worked extensively with
Baecker's
GENESYS
(see n e a r b y ) .
One result has
been
a m o v i e w h i c h should be an e x a m p l e
to us
all: "The Wedding Movie for Bob and Judy
"
(Her Friends Bob and Judy were
getting
m a r r i e d , so she made this m o v i e , a few m i nutes
long and quite c l e v e r , to
celebrate
it. )
B y n o w t h e r e a r e d o z e n s of c o m p u t e r a n i m a tion l a n g u a g e s — p e r h a p s h u n d r e d s .
Each one e m ploys the t e c h n i q u e s of a n i m a t i o n w h i c h itB d e v e l o p e r w a n t e d to u s e , t i e d t o g e t h e r in t h e w a y s
that s e e m e d a p p r o p r i a t e to h i m .
(See "Computer
L a n g u a g e s , " p . 1 5 , and note K n o w l t o n ' s v a r i o u s
animation languages, described nearby.)
One of the m o r e i n f l u e n t i a l a n i m a t i o n s y s t e m s
has been Ron B a e c k e r ' s G E N E S Y S , a 2 - d L m e n s i o n a l
a n i m a t i o n s y s t e m p r o g r a m m e d in t h e l a t e s i x t i e s at
MIT's high-security Lincoln Laboratory.
(It u s e d
the TX-2 c o m p u t e r , m e n t i o n e d e l s e w h e r e in this
book.)
B a e c k e r , a cheery and g e n i a l f e l l o w , e x p r e s s e d
i n t e r e s t a s a s t u d e n t in u s i n g t h e T X - 2 f o r a n i m a tion, and was allowed t o .
The system he produced
has a n u m b e r of l e s s o n s for u s a l l .
A
^
/
This
computers
world;
it
any dozen
is m y f a v o r i t e e x a m p l e of
how
s h o u l d b e u s e d in the
human
s a y s more on the subject
than
articles.
(One question
that remains
unanswered
is h o w a s y s t e m
like GENESYS could
have
been used
for such a purpose, seeing
that
most people
in the field b e l i e v e
GENESYS
only
r u m on the heavily-guarded TX-2
computer.
Regretfully, I can shed no
light
on this
here.)
GENESYS is a "Good-Guy" system,as discussed
on p . I
H e a n i n g , in t h i s c a s e , t h a t it i s
e a s y to l e a r n a n d s i m p l e to u s e .
As argued e l s e w h e r e in this b o o k , m a k i n g c o m p u t e r s y s t e m s c l e a r
and s i m p l e is o f t e n h a r d f o r the p r o g r a m m e r
(and
m a y go a g a i n s t h i s g r a i n ) , but is e s s e n t i a l .
PICTURES
AND
MOTIONS
GENESYS makes the following simplifications
of y o u r m o v i e : a l l i m a g e s a r e m a d e up of d o t s .
They do not change as you w a t c h ; a n i m a t i o n c o n sists of the i m a g e s e i t h e r m o v i n g or b e i n g r e placed .
T o c r e a t e an i m a g e , y o u d r a w it o n t o t h e
screen with a lightpen or a t a b l e t .
(As in t h e
SKETCHPAD system; see p . ^ O
Parts o f . the
image may be changed until you're satisfied.
N o w , to c r e a t e the a n i m a t i o n , y o u d o the
same thing.
Each image can be made to m o v e on
the s c r e e n ; and t h e p a t h of the m o t i o n m a y b e
drawn on the s c r e e n , through the picture a r e a .
Not only t h a t , but the timing of the m o t i o n is
controlled through the same d i a g r a m , by the
s p a c i n g of the d o t s .
(Baecker calls his control
diagrams p-curves•)
^
Computer
Output
Microfilm
are w h a t y o u use to make computer m o v i e s .
Basically they consist of a CRT and a movie
camera in a b o x .
Mostly they are used to put text on
m i c r o f i l m by c o m p u t e r , so generally they
are not connected to a computer but run
off magnetic tape.
L a s t l y , s e c t i o n s of p i c t u r e m a y b e r e p l a c e d b y m e a n s of t h e c o n t r o l d i a g r a m ( a 7
i n d i c a t e d in p i c t u r e a b o v e ) .
Having created such an animated sequence,
w h i c h is s t o r e d in s y m b o l i c f o r m in the c o m puter ( d i g i t a l l y " ) , y o u c a n v l e u l t o n t l u ,
s c r e e n , d e c i d e what you do and d o n ' t l i k e
about i t , and c h a n g e a n y part of l t .
T h e b a s i c e l e g a n c e of t h e s y s t e m is t h i s :
Baecker made everything work the same w a y ,
through control by screen diagrams.
He s i m p l i fied the animation problem i„ a clear and simple
R o n n o w t e a c h e s In C a n a d a
ing with P D P - l l s .
The results
and is into w o r k should be fun.
This turns o u t to be very annoying if
you w a n t to hook up the computer directly
to the C O M , and make movies that fill the
frames spot-by-spot.
For that you really
need your own movie camera and a minicomputer.
(Movie cameras that can be made to
start and stop by computer are called "pulse
cameras" or "instrumentation cameras.")
The society for people who make Movies by
C o m p u t e r is c a l l e d U A I D E -(Users of A u t o matic Information Display Equipment— an
obsolete title).
It used to be a c l u b just
for companies that owned COMs made by
S t r o m b e r g D a t a g r a p h i x , but evidently it has
now cut itself loose and become a subsidiary
of the National Microfilm Association, 8728
Colesville Road, Silver Spring MD 20910.
(NOTE: for t h e m as w a n t to m a k e c o l o r
m o v i e s , the two alternatives have been either
to h a v e s e p a r a t e p r i m a r y n e g a t i v e s c o m b i n e d
at a l a b — the "old T e c h n i c o l o r " p r o c e s s or to a d d a c o m p l i c a t e d c o l o r - f i l t e r b o x to
a COM or other CRT s e t u p .
Such things are
available commercially now, from D i c o m e d —
a whole Color COM.)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Computer Output Microfilm.
$10 from National
Microfilm Assn., above.
Lists available
COMs and service centers.
POT
a
m
KTO la a complete stand-alone system,
[or program or "operating system" (si
in the CDC 6800 computer all by ltael
run on any other manufacturer's coajf
• Inulti tously with any othar big programs,
munlcatas only with PLATO terminate, no othai
PLATO terminals, because of their unusual del
or
ual design and pertly because of Its unlqua !
interface. (See diagram of PLATO terminal, t
PLATO
A PLATO terminal colli about J*000 and
seams to be going up; $5000 In the next few )
a popular estimate. But you can't ]uat buy t
have to get on the waiting list, and who ara
t really un.l
r Princeton.
> Evaluation
itlonal Teatl
PLATO'S audio device permits
the symtm* to respond to the
user with a epoken phrase,
snatch of —iMia. or whatever
— in a fraction of a second.
The magnetic disk ie forever
turning; comprisead air shoots
the read-head to the required
track en the disk for the reply.
The hardware was designed by Bltser. The software— that Is, tha underlying computer part. nawmr
mind th* content* to b« shown (also regrettably called
"software" by many hands)— was Initially lass * tree sad
by Bltier, but eventually grew under the direction of
others. In particular, sn «x-blologlat named Paul
Tenetsr (pron. "Tenser") created Its underlying TUTOR
language. (For sn Introduction to computer languages
see p. I F and what comma after.) Tha TUTOI language
exist mly on PLATO; end PLATO authors may o
• TUTOR 1 tuage. Fa
The TUTOR language can beat be understood
ictlon to CoursewrIter, another CAI languagi
off* ed by IBM on lta 1500 Instructional Syatam, M^.
Coursewrlter's original Inten
enable m-coarputer people, especially teachera,
to create drlll-and-practlca Instructional leasons
funds)
my l
ready and so many mi
tlon and the making of mi
to believe PLATO could d
Now, Johnny, what Is
1 put together: at Lowry Air Force Baae (Colo1 Florida State University. That means there
<hole other computers of the CDC 6000 series
[he PLATO Monitor and shepherding PLATO aaterjsers at PLATO taralnala, unconnected to Ur• for Lowry AFB and one In Florida.
3 X 51
— « (.IS
Good
• and pushing tha
stressing the Individual student's problem*. The
difficulty Is that attempting to extend this method
out of the very simple haa great pltfalla and may
not even be wortt.vhlla (see pp. >n
.
ORE MILLION PLATO TERMINALS BY 1980.
Another sign In the wind: Montgomery Ward has one.
Now, to call the PLATO system a "computer graph'
ica" system may aeem somewhat odd to people who know
lt in another guise, as a system for Computer-Assisted
Instruction (called C A I ) .
But as the author does not
like CAI in general, at least as It's been g o i n g see p.*S-rt — and rather likes PLATO, I prefer to describe it as I prefer to aee lt.
Nevertheless, t
had better consider w
in terms of what they
offer any amendments
Anyway. Coursewriter waa promulgated by IBM
with the 1500 and thus suffered premature standar~
jefore thlnga had been thought out. IBM
•> blai > for Coui
they were Just trying t •> make a
a lot of scared people believed Couri
the way it had to be, the evolutional
usual for computer language* didn't t
occur. An egregious omission: Courst Titer did not
mputer itself.
That Is, programa written for numeric 1 calculation.
m d PLATO properly ve
he people have been doing
ik they have been doing, and
OR changed all that. It haa both
ects of being original. Apparently
termen's controversies end dogma,
language of great power and spaed; it
"OPTIMIZED FOR CAI"
, and is In aome respects quite
It looks very simple to the user— but
deceptively simple techniques, lt has
I in considerable detail to do anything
(See box, " M r !**>faT-tT", .«t r-v)
• leaps of
s p e d fit
") Aa * 1th s
ictween its basic design premises have become
lit by airport beacons; clearmlnded individuals with
understood to some PLATO enthusiasts. But the most
bsslc underlying feature of the system, INSTANT RESPONSE, cannot be quarreled with. PLATO can respond,
as already mentioned, to a single key-pressing by a
user, almost Instantly; thla feature is virtually Impossible, say, on IBM systems (but ege^boj^p. Tf )•
this responslv-nesa Is the eystec's Greatest beauty.
(Above: l-LATO LlVcZ'.
Anyway, the word iteelf
goes through changes in
the Oanie of Life (see
P- fV, as programed
for the PLATO system by
Daivty 2 lea tor, and photo•jrap':r,; jrm j p^,;:-}
:he world's sre.it
•yat
Some 500 user., at terminal* around the world
>ut mostly In Illinois), simultaneously tic up to
big computer in Urban*, Illinois and savor lnstanincous pictorial and cent deliver les on their bright
:na. Diagrams, explsnatlons, teats and
on of a aort, flow almost without internipt Ion
he bright orange screens all over. The
syatem ia extremely responsive: depending on what the
uaer Is up to. Its various programs can respond to
each pressing of a key, usually within a fraction of
While literature on PLATO is copious, it Is
hard to read and slightly sales-oriented, but a f w
minutes' intercourse with a PLATO terminal cik^s
anyone an enthuaiast for the system.
PLATO Is the brainchild of Don Ritzcr. a I. at
Illlnoia engineer who haa devoted over a decade to
ita creation. Michael Scrii
haa called Bltzer "one of tt
Bltsar is also certainly on.
he'lll™
* C C * u " c u t ' ""SSJ-bear
irld d
great terminal along, When y
ilgn
you u y be informed thai
ling dog and pony show,
i 'ill..
If you have a PLATO terminal— you' presumably
being a achool or other favored Institution— you can
In principle log onto PLATO from anywhere in the world,
though most terminals stay in one place. There ia one
aaln network, conaiatlng of a big Control Data computer in Urbana (the model 6800; see p. 4l ) with tendrils extending out into the phone system and the
educational TV cable of the state of Illinois. When
1« "finished'* and fully loaded, it
will have 1
I foi
The PLATO terminal 1
manufactured (all tt
(Ins a terrific plai
plum* panel was invented by H
much of PLATO was publicly fun
rich from lt. We said he was
In terms of high performance for lota of users.
Various systems (described hereabouts) offer
more paver, but at huge aoet.
:irst taste of i n t e r a c t i o n
cal c o u p u t e r s y s t e u , PLATO
i r n i i n g nind-ojiener-- es> people w, l u think t o u p u t e r s
Because of t
led foi high reaponslvenesi
i decidec that all i
• had c
ular
. ("lessor
running In core at the same
tine. That meant there would be no swapping (bringing
In materials from disk memory), which can bring mortifying delays (if a lot of people need it at once); but
lt also meant lessons, have to be very small. Large
bodies of material, which would have to be moved In
from disk, are not allowed; thus each lesson Is basically a U t t l e love-nest that must generate Its own
action. Hence there la an emphasis on little programs
to respond various ways, rather than text which may be
read in quantity.
i large lounta of text cannot be
t PROJECTOR is in the ter:roflche, or microfilm sheet,
) fit in t • palm of your hand.
If a PLATO aui
leems it necessary, he requires
for his lesson, not
the use of the keyboard and
iflche as well. The student
mult put the mltirof.
n place when he starts the
esson; signals from Urbana (or wherever) then Jump
he projected Image among 256 different Images, In
esponse to what the student does.
Now, PLATO people are not doctrinaire about how
heir system la to be used. The plasma screen can be
ontlnuously showing little decorations along with
he teaching material. The microfiche could be showng irrelevant works of art or travel scenes. These
re all facilities at tha option of the PLATO author;
t his beck and call, If he thinks his program or
esson needs then. (But it's very bothersome to have
he microfiche made— an Important difficulty.)
Every terminal has the screen, the keyboard,
[he touch panel. This Is a transparent
window that goes over the plasma screen
and reports to the main computer whether
it has been touched, and where. (This
allows illiterates, especially klddiea,
to use the system without typing.)
rhe audio disk. This allows the terminal to respond with sound. Including
canned words, to the student. (It doss
tally synthesize the sound, a*
•H on p.BMJi.)
•jl W k . JCt to K,. confused
from any other device— provided you've
got the right Interface. This allows
all kinds of other devices, such aa
piano keyboards, to be used for student
input. Or output (like gum-ball machinal
:tually, except foi the r
if material that c.
itremely general B]
Amongst the terminate, PLATO room.
Circle Caucus. What one person
is doing ordinarily has no bearing
on the others, una aould as well
be in Timbuktu as far as the main
oafuter is ooncerned.
riction c
This
simplified. Bitzer and Tenczar did noi
leedera In s seething i
ty of dozens of smart
people working like bli
. the project, it has
taken some fifteen years of Bitter's effort, and tena
of millions of dollars, to get the system where lt la
now— Ready snd Working.
Project PLATO now extends far beyond lta original
domain. Originally a fairly tight nucleus at the
Computer-Based Education Research Laboratory ("CERL")
at the U. of Illinois In Urbana, the cosssunlty of PLATO
now sprawla out through its lines to a larger constituency, the PLATO community of users.
(Indeed, this extended Republic of PLATO— tha
systems people (see p.
in Urbana, the author!
and locsls-ln-charge throughout the network— constitute one of the maddest rookeries of computer freaks
In the world. Where else would you find a 14-year-old
system* programmer who's had his job for two years?
Where else would you see people fall In love over the
Talkamatlc (a PLATO program which allows you to have
writteo conversations with people at other terminals,
wherever they may be) only to clash when at last
they meet in person? Where else csn you play so many
different games with faraway strangers? (See Box.)
Where else can students anywhere In the network sign
Into hundreds of different lessons in different subjects (moat of tbem Incomplete)! Where else are people working on various different programs for
all to be offered c the • i «ya:ary i
f of the wonder
Hike O'Brien, a Tolkien fancier, has
put the tntin Elvish alphabet onto
PLATO as a special aharaater~eet.
Here ths system gives a famous warning
to turn book, both in English and
Elvish.
Hike says it intimidates snoopers
poking around his material.
Unfortunately, there
so few PLATO terminals, thi
now be fairly strictly c o m oiled. (Ths eight term!
at the University of Illlnt a at Chicago Circle, at
which most of these plcturi were taken, generally »
ju.
rabble is howling a
if your achool has PLATO terminals, and IF It will pay
for the communications linaa, THEN the service* of
the central computer are "fraa"— the National Science
Foundation Is bankrolling Its operation for a couple
of year* more. Then, bango. PLATO central service b e comes something that haa to be paid for too.
Juat to give you an Idea, the communication costs
to Urbana for Circle Campus'* eight terminal* end at
c/er $10 ,000 a year. But the** coat* ahould ba coming down sharply; lt ia the price of tooling up (or
whatever th* PLATO future le going to be. Anyway,
the general coat of the aystarn comae out to ebout
$1.50 an hour, the aaaw as general time-sharing on a
PDP-10 (sea p.
) . But that's without paying for
the centrel computer— another coat which we expect
Thle ia all a far cry. of couraa, from Bitaar'a
claim a decade ago that PLATO terminal* would cost
only 8*00. But considering tha system's success, wm
la thla: with •
i people'a love foi
COT
• stay Platonic'
t. I don't know by whoa,
t too the utir amy conti
-a by what he type*- Hi
:ure candy, box It and
i you c
Another
called candy I
th* animation'
chine* are set
lhip
View from your Wove spaa* ship includes perspective view of Where
you are among billions of stare;
and your various controls.
Some game* arc played between peoplet who 1
together before a single PLATO terminal, or(en w
(caching Intent. Such game* Include the hop caw
where Bunny (you) and Frog (your friend) add the
way along a board with numbered squares. Older
t Wa* (1*2)X ) , which ': by chance to try to get
grouping the number!
other i
ahead of I
The navigation part of
already workit^.
To get around
you need instruction; here we
are at the Training Center.
'BIC BOARD" GAMES
And cur doughty <•
Big Board for more challengers.
Kids love PLATO games.
then a qui ok kill of the unknown
adversary.
when (he Author gets tired of Authoring, or th*
Student of Slewing, Just around the corner, • few
keystroke* away, ere diversion* and game* to boogie
the ImaoJnelion.
You can go to a prooraa ("lesson rote") and
look at "the great rose*"-- elaborate curlicue* gener*(ed by mathematical pattern* (hat appealed to the
author* of (hat program; or find, a I*o tucked In rose,
Conway'* Game of Life (see write-up, p. T £ . and pier
ture serie*. nearby).
Then there are game* you can play against the
System, like racetrack and blackjack. (The** game*
let you win astronomical *ums of money-- play money,
forgotten when you * i gn off.) Remember, o ' course,
that you're not really playing against a computer but
against a specific program, with Its quirks and
shortcut* and blind spots.
i is
.al*
has
neny l
combination of anonymity and ln(imacy between user*
(-- much like the curious Nonexistent Phone Numbers
of Paris; in the French phone system, people calling
the same nonexistent phone number can talk to each
other; strange blindfolded encounter* occur at (he
Number of The Day, spread by word-of-mouth; sometimes
these result In people really getting together...)...
' 9"Y by spei ifled angles »\ r o u *tand
'*) . In addl (Ion, PLATO offers (not durln
<-*) what rnusi be two of the most baroque
>me* anywhen
(eight race* (the
KMngoni, e
il the galmi Mio)
lystems, all of which a
Anyway, the Big Board games of PLATO have exactly that: a shared list, or "Big Board," showing who
Is playing the specific game.
erous advantage*:
prove at play, yc
have been himilii
People who only play PLATO games occasionally
have to *lgn on.by typing their names into the big
board. (They often get slaughtered by the regulars)
The regular*-- hah. When they're signed Into the
system, they have merely to jump to a specific game
for their fightln' names to be posted on the big
board. A mighty rolleal 1 they make, too— such grei
warriors as yon Dave, rot, fright pilot, AL 3000,
simpson, doc-, THE RED BARON, The Red Sweater, The
Giant Pud, Fodzilla. tigress, enema salad, Conan,
Slddhertha, wonder pig:!!::, and EXORCIST.
society of shadows, you pick your
- fighting name. Thl* ha* numi most obvious il that st you I rain shed the identity In which you
The main game* with Big Board* are
standby, spacewar (rocketshlps wheeling
at each other and sliding around on (he
dogfight (biplanes wheeling and firing i
and sliding around on (he screen), moony
that old
ind firing
icreen};
; each other
•r (shooting
(As those insiders who have automatic sign-on
to Big Boards write programs to do the sign-on, the
arrival in a Big Board game Is often an animated
sign-on. The cutest trick Is THE RED BARON'*: it I,
THE RED BARON 4f *^~(tL* «,„
Then there are game* you play by yoursel f —
aceually responding resources (*ee fp. >*, rt-nJ , _wh'ch
entice you Into trying things out. Tenciar himself
ha* created (wo elegant, gem-like lessons, man and
plcto, which teach you computer programming without
ever saying so. These two programs present the u*er
the i
• of i
show hia h the little man may be moved around and
made to pi up pictures of balls. From there cm
tay have
have his
his way— and is never told that
the student may
computer language.
he's learning to program
(Though it Is a quite rei
iio.
belli
wocks like thi*. For dogfight, the
idy has stored In its temporary memo• ry, a* "characters," thi
irp ne* that arc
going to bu; around the
he Baron Just
foilows his
he code for that special character.)
Bunny 'a turn.
Screen
you personally:
One last point. No longer can you sign on with
an obscenity: a little obscenity-checking program
looks for the usual expletives, in case visitor* or
other priggish folk might be looking. But of course
thl* i* easy to circumvent by putting periods between
the letters of your nasty word, or something similarly
deceptive to the poor program,.
7¥tr
ar^'Kei/Y'i'zY
r£%*"utL.
-
IS i r B e m i ^ T D T O O T ?
"A tutor uho tooted the flute
Tried to tutor two tutors to toot.
But he asked through his snoot:
is it better to toot
Or to tutor two tutors to toot?"
The PLATO keyboard.
What looks odd and arbitrary t
to be divinely ordained.'
you is believed by devout
P L A T O IV- S T A N D A R D
Folk thing
Platoniatt
KEYBOARD
• • a a t a H S H H B H c n j
TO MOVE BETWEEN LESSONS, the basic action is to hold down SHIFT and
press STOP. (For further complications see Ins-And-Oute
diagram.)
TO HOVE VTTBIN A LESSON, basic actions are NEXT (to go forward or
tell the eystem it's its turn; BACK, which sometimes returns you to
earlier points in the sequence of your lesson; and six step-out-of-li'
options, by uhich the author may permit the user to sidestep to explanations, enrichment material, or things out of sequence.
TENCZAR'S CONCEPT OF A CONCEPT
Much has been n
for "analyzing the c
type in. Actually,
does not "understand
(see "Artificial Int
but rathei offer
of TUTOR'S facility
int" of what student*
:ourse, the computer
lat the student says
) prepare preset
PLATO Is a system for canned presentation*
that respond to the student. Student* need
not know TUTOR. Anyone out to prepare such
presentations must leaxn i t , howevert and the
attempt has discouraged many.
TEW
evidently was for when students wanted thinge Looked Up: bu
pressing TERM and typing the unknown word, the student uoula get a
definition. '•ASS" suggested that it might also be used when the
student was allowed the option of being told the answer.
Nats the arrows over Q,U,E.A,D,Z,X,C.
13P,t0r£' Tf' p o i n t dir'otion*'
•"P
ZVJf 7 ™ °* th* far USt'
They allow the student to move
Unfortunate confusion ensues
in
Proo*"«>ing (as in APL;
BUSE allows the student to correct his input; COPT helps edit and
ohcmge things. SUP and SUB allow superscripts and subscriptsfOm MICRO is like a special shiftTy,
golg into vhatsver .'pedal
I°nt t . currently stored on the terminal. I have no inkling of what
w « little square means.
You can read the standard-size lettering off
the screen at SIX FEET— even though it's
NO BIGGER THAN PICA TYPE. Fantastic.
The internal circuitry that draws on the screen
1* highly capable. Receiving a 20-blt code,
the terminal Itself deciphers it as —
A LINE ON THE SCREEN, or
TWO STANDARD CHARACTERS ON THE SCREEN
from its FIXED character memory, or
TWO SPECIAL CHARACTERS ON THE SCREEN
from its CHANGEABLE character memory
(which can be loaded with Russian,
Armenian, katakana, Cherokee or whatever— even little pictures— at the
start of the lesson), or
A COMMAND TO THE MICROFICHE PROJECTOR, or
A COMMAND TO THE AUDIO PLAYER, or
A COMMAND TO WHATEVER'S IN THE GENERAL JACK.
Basically, TUTOR'S "concept" facility
reduces every input word to a 60-bit code.
The technique of reduction (called a "hashing
function") supposedly substitutes for any
word of any language a code of 60 bits (see
"Binary Patterns," p . 3 3 ) , which means the
program in TUTOR can rapidly test s student's
input for numerous different possible things.
(The power of this technique will be readily
recognized by computer people; unfortunately
there is no room to explain it further here.)
Paul Tenczax'a TUTOR language, the programming language inside PLATO, is like any
other programming language (see pp. 15-31})
intricate, and unlike its results. That i s ,
a program bears no more resemblance to what
it doe* than the word "cow" looks like a COM.
Now the author might use these, however, was his own affair.
OF
PIATO.
H f t M O C M TV,C wart*-.
U*\Z
h Picture*-
The TUTOR language grew out of drill-aridproctlce, for which lt haa a command specifying
where a student's answer Is to appear on the
screen. This is the "arrow" ccaaund. The language has a strange scanning structure built
around thia "arrow* command, auch as the TRAC
Language (see pp. 18-21) has a scanning structure built around parentheses and coeamas. B e ginners don't need to understand the scan and
the arrow command, but journeymen d o .
Thus a TUTOR program may contain "concept
searches" that test whether a student types
altereither a desired response or numeri
native*. While lt nay be strange i
thi* a "concept," '
s powerful techniqui
The original idea was evidently that there would be a basic sequence
i n uhich NEXT and BACK would be the forward and back controls, and
the other t u would represent Mslp for the Confused, a "Lab'' allowing
expervssnts, and additional Data the student decides he needs. The
three with Shifts simply provided a second option of each type.
f L T T O TiKT ufFp
Tenczar is a former biologist, and had no
preconceptions from computer orthodoxy to bind
him in the design of TUTOR. Thus the language is very original. There is only room
to raise the following points:
To learn the first step* in TUTOR— how
to set up drill-ond-practice lesions, for i n stance— is unusually easy.
To do anything complex, however, require*
you to learn the bulk of the TUTOR language.
Thus when people say TUTOR ia "easy," thay
TUTOR i
Language Isi
language with new compound function* of h i *
own making. Steps are being taken to correct
this; meanwhile, lt ia said that the Urban*
people can be persuaded to put in new oussaauds
others want for, e.g., chocolate chip cookie*.
PLATO'S HANOI KEYBOARD is on .
flexible cable, can be worn
in your lap.
Note that all lines and characters for the p l a n a
screen can be turned on (orange on black) or
off (black on orange).
AUTHOR'*
*ij<T
/e
ttATO-SHCfi
u/ttr,
f«-'M^s.ywiM.)
—
W)
(5"
T H R E E - D I M E N S I O N A L LINE
r
DISPLAYS
S o far w e ' v e discussed (he two-dimensional
subroutining displays- H o w e v e r , things d o not
b y a n y m e a n s slop t h e r e . A n u m b e r of people
in the early d a y s e x p e r i m e n t e d with techniques
for d r a w i n g line pictures b y p r o g r a m ; the e a r liest of these u s e d plotters • output devices that
let the p r o g r a m d r a w with a p e n . B u t interest
soon g r e w in the possibility of interactive threedfmenalonal displays o n s c r e e n s . J o h n a o n ' s
Sketchpad 4 did this entirely b y p r o g r a m .
But
as night follows d a y , people set about putting
these techniques into h a r d w a r e , creating devices
that w o u l d automatically s h o w things in threedimensional viewB-- allowing the v i e w e r to
rotate v i e w s of nonexistent objects as if they
w e r e o n u n s e e n turntables.
T h e v i e w s w c are talking a b o u t , n o w , co
siat of bright lines o n a d a r k field, a n d so the
"objects" w c arc talking about arc called " w i r e f r a m e " objects-- they could effectively b e m a d e
of w e l d e d w i r e . But n o w w c d o not h a v e to
build t h e m physically to see t h e m .
Actually A d a g e h a d a t r e m e n d o u s lead in
this field, but they let it slip for a o m e r e a s o n ,
a n d h a v e n o w lost II to t w o firms: E v a n s a n d
Sutherland o n the high e n d , Vector G e n e r a l o n
the low e n d . (But of course things k e e p c h a n ging.)
T h e E v a n s a n d Sutherland C o m p u t e r C o m p a n y w a s f o u n d e d In 1966 b y Ivan S u t h e r l a n d ,
creator of the masterful S k e t c h p a d s y s t e m , a n d
D a v i d E v a n s , c h a i r m a n of c o m p u t e r science st
the University of U t a h . (For a time both held
a p p o i n t m e n t s at U 2 at the s a m e t i m e , but n o w
both h a v e left the university to devote full time
to their d r e a m factory in Salt L a k e City.)
T h e i r first p r o d u c t w a s a n extraordinary
piece of h a r d w a r e called the L D S - 1 . w h i c h they
aafd innocently stood for Line D r a w i n g S y s t e m .
{ T o a n y b o d y from U t a h , h o w e v e r , L D S m e a n s
Latter-Day-Saint, a n d don't y o u forget it. E v a n s ,
i n d e e d , is a M o r m o n , but I've b e e n told it m a y
h a v e b e e n Sutherland's s e n s e of h u m o r that
c h o s e the a c r o n y m . )
It s h o u l d b e pointed out that a special a d v a n t a g e of digital perspective calculation is that
v i e w e d coordinates can b e read b a c k b y the c o m p u t e r , a n d s e r v e as n e w data, if y o u g o for
that sort of t h i n g .
Basically a three-dimensional s y s t e m of
this type stores the lines as coordinates in threes:
cndpolnts of lines in a mythical three-dimensional
a p a c e . E a c h point's location in the s p a c e is told
b y three n u m b e r s ( e x a m p l e s h o w i n g a h o u s e
m a y b e seen o n p .
) : a line in a s p a c e is
represented in the data structure b y t w o s u c h
points, a n d a c o d e or s o m e t h i n g tying t h e m together.
The computer, at penman, draws lints
• stored in core memory. In a
' system, trie basic
mates is converted
representing a particular
T h e s e c o n d p r o g r a m follower in s u c h a
device b e h a v e s m u c h as it d o e s in the 2 D s y s t e m ,
but with certain additions. Like the 2 D s y s t e m ,
it p r o c e e d s d o w n its o w n p r o g r a m o n e step at
a t i m e . Like the Z D s y s t e m , it finds in its
p r o g r a m the coordinates of a line to display a n d
creates electronic signals r e p r e s e n t i n g its e n d points. B u t it d o e s not display these directly,
since these are three-dimensional coordinates.
Instead it routes these signals to w h a t w e m a y
call a view calculator, a particular piece of h a r d w a r e that has b e e n p r i m e d with the angle f r o m
w h i c h y o u w a n t to v i e w the object. T h i s view
calculator, automatically a n d b y m y s t e r i o u s m e a n s
w h i c h v a r y a m o n g m a c h i n e s , p r o d u c e s the v i e w ,
a n d U s signals g o to the s c r e e n .
Let's say w e w a n t to display a point. T h e
display's p r o g r a m follower pulls three n u m b e r s
from its display list a n d notes the c o d e that s a y s
it's a spatial point a n d not the e n d of a line.
T h e s e three n u m b e r s slide o n into the view c a l culator, already p r i m e d with the angle of rotation; a n d the v i e w calculators riggers w h e r e o n
the screen that point should b e d i s p l a y e d .
The
coordinates for the* screen-- telling w h e r e the
point g o e s in the desired picture-- g o to the
s c r e e n controller, a n d the point is b r i g h t e n e d .
H o w are these coordinates calculated?
W e l l , s o m e c o m m e r c i a l units d o it electronically
("in analog") a n d s o m e d o it symbolically ("in
digital"). T h e result is the s a m e .
(If y o u w a n t the equations for this, they'.re
in the N e w m a n a n d Sproull b o o k . )
T h e n h o w d o e s the v i e w calculator h a n d l e
a line? S a m e thing.
T h e p r o g r a m follower pulls three n u m b e r s
from its display list a n d notes the c o d e that s a y s
it's a line, so it takes three m o r e . T h e n the
view coordinates of both points are calculated
a n d fed to the s c r e e n controller. T h e s c r e e n
controller n o w h a s t w o points o n its screen-so it d r a w s a line b e t w e e n t h e m
The first device of this type w a a . I t h i n k ,
the so-called Kludge (pron. " K l o o j " — computer slang
lor a ridiculous m a c h i n e , but in this case applied
affectionately) built at MIT's Electronic Systems
Laboratory i„ the early s i x t i e s . T h i s device was
a o n e - o f - a - k i n d , built out of DEC circuit cards and
hooking to a bigger m a c h i n e . The ESL Kludge showed
vividly how good it was to have instantaneous view
calculation under a user's c o n t r o l .
T h e first of these s y s t e m s to b e offered
c o m m e r c i a l l y . I believe, w a s the " A d a g e D i s p l a y . "
m a d e b y A d a g e , I n c . of B o s t o n , w h i c h u s e d their
u n u s u a l A m b i l o g c o m p u t e r (see p . */3) to rotate
objects o n the s c r e e n . 1 v a g u e l y recall that it
cost about $80,000 with c o m p u t e r but without a c cessories .
T h e A d a g e Display is isometric. m e a n i n g
that lines d o not get shorter as they get farther
a w a y o r longer as they get c l o s e r . While this
is m a r v e l o u s l y i m p r e s s i v e , m o s t people w a n t
real perspective; a n d it w a s this that E v a n s ajid
S u t h e r l a n d set about to m o k e available in real
t i m e , i.e., in direct r e s p o n s e to the v i e w e r ' s
actions.
INTERACTIVE ROTATION
ia Ida from their fun and exc l t a • a n t — allow people to understand and work with
complex 3D structures without having to build t h n
physically.
T h * understanding, h o w e v e r , cornea fro* being
able to turn and manipulate the structure on tha
s c r e e n . If you can't turn it you can't really
perceive the 3D s t r u c t u r e , because the arrangement
of line* could ba a n y t h i n g .
H o w e v e r , system
,n<i the Vector
General and the Evans
: 'jir.-'i I MI>1 devices allow
you to turn things on the screen as easily a* If
they w e r e on turntable* behind a pane of g l a * s .
That's how you s e e , you s e e .
Thla Interaction Is what m a k e * computer d i s play augur a new era for m a n k i n d . If we're l u c k y .
(It's also why we use the term computer display
in this b o o k , rather than "computer graphics,"
since people who make computers draw with pens are
also doing "computer g r a p h i c s " — a related a c t i v i t y ,
but not o n e to change the w o r l d . )
U N F O R T U N A T E L Y , j u s t to g e t t h r o u g h the b a s i c s
t h e r e is o n l y r o o m to d i s c u s s s t i c k - f i g u r e
graphic display here.
But curved surfaces
may also be d e p i c t e d , though usually not inte
actively.
See b e l o w , and p p . i>*\3(-}.
T h e L D S - 1 . w e i g h i n g in at half a million
dollars or s o , b u c k l e d to the P D P - 1 0 , a big
36-bit c o m p u t e r from D E C (see p . 40).
Its
v i e w calculator w o r k e d symbolically (digitally),
a n d t h u s could w o r k to the h i g h e r precision
n e c e s s a r y for true perspective calculation.
A m o n g the exciting d e m o n s t r a t i o n s that
y o u c a n see sitting at an L D S - 1 a r e a m a p of
the United States y o u c a n z o o m in o n , b r i n g i n g
y o u in to a m a p of N e w J e r s e y , then Atlantic
C i t y , then a specific intersection, all in o n e
s m o o t h c o n t i n u o u s m o t i o n . Also a simulated
l a n d i n g o n the flight d e c k of a n aircraft carrier
-- with y o u flying the a i r p l a n e , s o y o u c a n
g o o v e r it, to the s i d e , into the d r i n k or straight
at the carrier. In all c a s e s the ghostly ship
will m o v e , turn a n d c h a n g e p e r s p e c t i v e o n the
s c r e e n a s if s o m e h o w it w e r e really t h e r e .
Drawing by Ruth W e i s B 1 BE VISION program
done at Bell L a b o r a t o r i e s , m i d - s i x t i e s .
( © U a ' t Disney P r o d u c t i o n s . )
This program represented truly curved
s u r f a c e s In its data s t r u c t u r e , as
"quadric s u r f a c e s " — that i s , i n v o l ving powers of two in the m a t h — and
calculated the visible lines tangent to
the edges from the v i e w p o i n t , thus d r a w ing the e d g e s . Removing the hidden
parts of the curves is of course one of
the greatest p r o b l e m s . (From Ruth A .
W e i s s , "BE V I S I O N . " JACK A p r 6 6 , 1942 0 4 , p . 201. 4 1
Several L D S - I s w e r e sold.
M e a n w h i l e a little n e w firm of y o u n g g u y s
in S o u t h e r n California, V e c t o r G e n e r a l , c a m e u p
with a line of terminals like the A d a g e line, e x cept that they could b u c k l e to the 16-bit m i n i c o m p u t e r of y o u r c h o i c e . (In practice m o a t of t h e m
h a v e b e e n attached to P D P - l l s ; s e e p . S c . . )
T h e V e c t o r G e n e r a l display is isometric,
a n d m a k e s its calculations in a n a l o g , like the
A d a g e D i s p l a y . It h a s b e e n v e r y successful am o n g both universities a n d private c o r p o r a t i o n s .
In addition, a highly interactive a n d welld e s i g n e d l a n g u a g e is available for the creation
of data structures r e p r e s e n t i n g 3 D objects, as
well as for g e n e r a l - p u r p o s e p r o g r a m m i n g a n d the
creation of w h o l e e n v i r o n m e n t s . A n d it's free
to individuals o r c o m p a n i e s that h a v e V e c t o r
G e n e r a l displays attached to P D P - l l s .
(See
" C o u p d e G R A S S , " p->\3/.)
But wait. E v a n s a n d Sutherland has n o w
d r o p p e d the L D S - 1 a n d given u s - - n o , not L D S - 2 ,
but s o m e t h i n g called T h e Picture S y s t e m — also
built onto the P D P - 1 1 , b u t this o n e w o r k s s y m bolically (digitally) a n d in full p e r s p e c t i v e . T h e
price starts at eighty g r a n d .
S i n c e the Picture S y s t e m w o r k s out of the
P D P - 1 1 c o r e m e m o r y , the c o m m a n d s it follows
are 16 bits l o n g , since that's the size of a slot
in P D P - 1 1 c o r e . B u t w a i t . T h e y ' v e d e s i g n e d
the thing to c o n v e r t to 36 bits, so that c o o r d i n ates a r e m o v e d to a private store o r buffer b e t w e e n the p r o g r a m follower a n d the d i s p l a y .
T h i s m e a n s the display c a n z o o m a n d zip a r o u n d
in the s c e n e without b o t h e r i n g the c o m p u t e r .
rpp-11,
A n o t h e r important feature of T h e Picture
S y s t e m : it will d o , not just o r d i n a r y p e r s p e c t i v e ,
out s u c h w e i r d view calculations as w i d e a n g l e
barrel distortion, p i n c u s h i o n distortion a n d
similar stuff.
V *
Courtesy
V. of
Utah
T h e rules of perspective h a v e b e e n u n d e r stood since the R e n a i s s a n c e . In olden c o m p u t e r
times ( u p till about 1965) people u s e d to d o
three-dimensional v i e w calculation b y angles
relative to a three-dimensional data structure.
T h e n L a r r y R o b e r t s at M I T noted that there w a s
a m o r e appropriate mathematical m e t h o d , long
m o l d e r i n g in o b s c u r e texts. T h e idea is this:
if y o u a d d an extra d i m e n s i o n to the data, it's
easier to p r o g r a m . It's easier b e c a u s e it b e c o m e s a simple matrix multiplication, w h i c h h a s
n o c o m m o n s e n s e explanation but is important to
mathematicians.
S O that m e a n s that to calculate v i e w s of
three-dimensional objects, the m o s t usual w a y
is n o w to a d d that extra d i m e n s i o n . Instead of
h a v i n g a point in s p a c e w h o s e position is 36-2436 (in s o m e set of three-dimensional c o o r d i n a t e s ) ,
another arbitrary n u m b e r is a d d e d to m a k e it,
s a y . 36-24-36-1.
It s e e m s that in the m a t h e m a t i c s of multiple
d i m e n s i o n s , it c o m e s out simpler that w a y . Ind e e d , from a mathematical point of v i e w the n e w
i m p r o v e d d i m e n s i o n is just like the other three.
F o r this r e a s o n , s u c h an a u g m e n t e d s y s t e m of
coordinates is celled h o m o g e n e o u s coordinates.
Like h o m o g e n i z e d m i l k , Ihe additional coordinate
is just stirred in with the rest, a n d out c o m e s
y o u r desired v i e w calculation. ( T h e formulas
are to b e found in N e w m a n a n d S p r o u l l . Principles of Interactive C o m p u t e r O rap hies , M c G r a w ,
$ 1 5 , y o u r basic text o n the subject.)
A t a n y rate the additional coordinate is
often referred to, incorrectly, as the " h o m o g e n e o u s coordinate." T h e y ' r e all h o m o g e n e o u s ,
w h i c h is w h y it w o r k s .
M31
M y f t f r p * ! *
GRASS
impudent and plucky Tom D e F a n t i was an a s s i s t ant professor at 2 4 . This in p a r t b e c a u s e he has
created one of the w o r l d ' s hottest 3D g r a p h i c s l a n g u a g e s , which h e calls C R A S S ,
(He says it stands for
CRAphics Symbiosis S y s t e m — a l s o , h e s a y s , it T u r n s
You On.)
T o w ' s GRASS language is an e x c e l l e n t b e g i n n e r ' s
computer language for two r e a s o n s : f i r s t , it is e a s i ly taught to b e g i n n e r s , and s e c o n d , lt is a b o u t things
of interest to b e g i n n e r s , i.e., p i c t u r e s a n d g r a p h i c a l
manipulation on s c r e e n s . (But c o m p a r e the three b e g i n n e r s ' languages presented b r i e f l y on p p . 16-25.)
A prototype for the system w a s d e v e l o p e d a t O h i o
S t a t e , on a project d i r e c t e d by a r t i s t C h a r l e s C s u r i .
Tom had a free h a n d , t h o u g h , and the language d e s i g n
is h i s ; but much of the specific c o d i n g w a s done by
Gerry M o e r s d o r f , a n d the g r a p h i c s a l g o r i t h m s a n d r o tation were p r o g r a m m e d b y M a n f r e d K n e m e y e r .
Inspiration was furnished by M n y n a r d E . S e n s e n b r e n n e r .
GRASS runs on the P D P - 1 1 , a s p l e n d i d m i n i c o m p u t e r
(Tom's is shown on p . 36) and is s p e c i f i c a l l y d e s i g n e d
for the control of t h r e e - d i m e n s i o n a l s t i c k - f i g u r e d i s plays on the V e c t o r G e n e r a l d i s p l a y system (see p .
DM \ci ) . But a lot of p e o p l e have w r e s t l e d w i t h t h e a e
matters and n o t d o n e as w e l l . Let's c o n s i d e r :
- i n
H . T h e language ia e x t e n s i b l e , m e a n i n g that the
user m a y c r e a t e new c o m m a n d s in the language as_ p r o g r a m s .
T h e s e c o m m a n d s , h o w e v e r , m a y b e used in later p r o g r a m s
as if they w e r e b u i l t i n t o the language i t s e l f .
I . T h e system is c o m p l e t e l y g e n e r a l - p u r p o s e .
Many
g r a p h i c s l a n g u a g e s are n o t , b e i n g r e s t r i c t e d only to
their o r i g i n a l p u r p o s e . T h i s is m o r e d i f f i c u l t , but o h ,
so much m o r e w o r t h w h i l e .
3 . ITS D E E P G E N E R A L I T Y . T h i n g s s h o u l d b e v e r s a t i l e ,
a n d a b l e to be tied t o g e t h e r in m a n y d i f f e r e n t w a y s . T h i s is
w h a t w e m e a n b y " g e n e r a l i t y ; " and this kind of g e n e r a l i t y c a n
make a system very p o w e r f u l .
(The term in m a t h e m a t i c s is
"elegance.")
A s is said on the o t h e r side of the b o o k , c o m p l l c a t e d n e s s is not g e n e r a l i t y or g o o d n e s s or p o w e r , b u t a
sign of the d e s i g n e r ' s s h a l l o w n e s s .
A n y w a y , G R A S S haa this kind of g e n e r a l i t y . It has a
g r e a t n u m b e r o f f a c i l i t i e s , g r o w i n g w e e k l y , a n d they a l l tie
t o g e t h e r in c l e a r a n d p r e d i c t a b l e w a y s , w i t h o u t e x c e p t i o n s .
R a t h e r than c r e a t e s p e c i a l f u n c t i o n s w h i c h c a n n o t b e tied t o g e t h e r . Y o u n g D o c t o r D e F a n t i has c h o s e n i n s t e a d to m a k e the
s e p a r a t e d e s i r a b l e f u n c t i o n s p a r t o f a s i m p l e and clear l a n guage.
(A n o t e to y o u e l e g a n t t y p o s : G R A S S is fully r e c u r s i v e
A s a n i c e e x a m p l e , D a n S a n d i n (see p . O n . & ) w r o t e a p r o g r a m to
d i s p l a y P e a n o l i n e s that w a s u n d e r forty G R A S S i n s t r u c t i o n s
l o n g . It is a l s o a s t o n i s h i n g l y r e v e r s i b l e : y o u c a n w a t c h it
u n c r e a t e the P e a n o l i n e , s t r a i g h t e n i n g i t s e l f b a c k w a r d . )
In the m o r e u s u a l s e n s e , DeFanti'a l a n g u a g e is n o t
the 'most a d v a n c e d ' ; there are m o r e p o w e r f u l 3D s y s t e m s
than the V e c t o r G e n e r a l (the L D S - 1 , see p.iiMJo, o f f e r s
true p e r s p e c t i v e ) , m o r e e l e g a n t u s e r - l e v e l l a n g u a g e s
(see T R A C L a n g u a g e a n d A P L , o t h e r s i d e ) , t r u e h a l f t o n e
(the W a t k i n s B o x ) ; y e t h i s a c h i e v e m e n t o n c l o s e e x a m i n a tion is e x t r a o r d i n a r y . N e v e r m i n d h i s a g e , the m o r e e s o t e r i c f e a t u r e s of his s y s t e m (full r e c u r s i v e n e s s , e t c . )
or the fact t h a t h e d o e s n o t s e e m to h a v e m a d e o n e m i s t a k e , w h i c h is i n f u r i a t i n g . C o n s i d e r o n l y t h i s : T O M D E F A N T I 'S ' G R A S S ' L A N G U A G E IS P E R H A P S T H E O N L Y S Y S T E M T H A T
CAN BE T A U G H T IN A FEW HOURS T O C O M P U T E R - N A I V E B E G I N N E R S
THAT PERMITS FULL THREE-DIMENSIONAL ANIMATED INTERACTIVE
G R A P H I C S WITH T R E E - S T R U C T U R E D D A T A .
T h e b e s t feature of a l l : it's c u r r e n t l y a v a i l a b l e .
P D P - 1 1 o w n e r s - - even w i t h o u t V e c t o r G e n e r a l d i s p l a y s —
m a y inquire of: T o m D e F a n t i , D o c t o r of Arta P r o g r a m , UICC
Chicago It 6O6B0.
You m a y w o n d e r how a young b r o n k i n g buck like D e F a n t i
haa m a n a g e d to d o such an e x c e l l e n t j o b , so e l e g a n t l y , where
s o m a n y h a v e a t u m b l e d and failed?
Cheerily.
: learn from other p e o p l e ' s m i s t a k e s ,
1
of.
the
DeFanti
eye tern.
MISCELLANY:
C o u p l i n g his s y s t e m w i t h that of D a n Sandin (p. t
has c r e a t e d the " C i r c l e G r a p h i c s H a b i t a t , " described i
(DeFanti's G R A S S is an i d e a l language for s o m e t h i n g like
the 3D T h t n k e r t o y , d e s c r i b e d o n p . S 5 . H o w e v e r , it d o e s n ' t
h a v e any p r o v i s i o n for the s t o r a g e of large complex data
s t r u c t u r e s , s o the hard p a r t w o u l d a c t u a l l y b e working o u t an
adequate storage data structure and storage macros within
G R A S S ' S u s e of the D E C file s y s t e m . )
w
SCREEN
CONTROLS
T h e g r e a t t h i n g a b o u t C R T d i s p l a y s is that they can b e
u s e d to c o n t r o l t h i n g s by_ m a n i p u l a t i o n of p l c t u r e t
Instead
of m o v i n g b u t t o n s o r l e v e r s , y o u can seize p a r t s of the p i c t u r e w i t h the l i g h t - p e n a n d m o v e s o m e p a r t of the p i c t u r e .
T h e c o m p u t e r , s e n s i n g the choice or a d j u s t m e n t y o u h a v e m a d e ,
can then perform whatever operations you have directed.
jnple.
VU e
tf
T«€t*\o;rAr
1. ITS C L E A R S I M P L I C I T Y . T o m b e l i e v e s c o m p u t e r s
are for e v e r y b o d y ; h e is n o t a high p r i e s t b e n t o n m a k ing things o b s c u r e (see " C y b e r c r u d , " p . 8 ) .
Thus he
made his language as s e n s i b l e , c l e a r and easy to learn
as p o s s i b l e . Tom likes to s t r e s s the c o n c e p t of " h a b i t ability" (a term of W . C . W a t t ) , m e a n i n g the c o z i n e s s of a
system.
COVT«;OI_
lot>%
T h e d e s i g n of s c r e e n contro]
s i m p l e c o n t r o l s for e v e r y t h i n g —
computer graphics.
(See "Fantict
2 . ITS G E N E R A L I T Y . R e f i n i n g a n d c o n d e n s i n g the
b a B i c i d e a s of a system is the h a r d e s t p a r t of the d e sign. DeFanti made several interesting d e c i s i o n s .
DIMENSIONAL
i one of the f r o n t i e r s of
FLIP
A . T h e i n t e r n a l form of the l a n g u a g e i s
A S C I I c o d e (see p .
) . In o t h e r w o r d s , y o u f»n
read p r o g r a m s in t h e i r final G R A S S f o r m .
3D s c o p e s a r e a b o u t the b e s t w e ' v e g o t — so w h a t do
we do about multidimensional phenomena?
B.
For a t h r e e - d i m e n s i o n a l s y s t e m s u c h
as the V e c t o r G e n e r a l , the main form of d a t a
s t r u c t u r e is the t h r e e - d i m e n s i o n a l o b j e c t — a
list of points and lines in s p a c e . T h i s is the
form of d a t a GRASS uses for m o s t p u r p o s e s .
O n e v e r y g o o d s o l u t i o n is to s h o w a s e l e c t i o n of thre*
d i m e n s i o n s a t a t i m e , a n d p r o v i d e for easy " f l i p " from one
d i m e n s i o n to a n o t h e r — so t h a t i n s t e a d of looking a t s o m e thing on d e m e n s i o n s A , B a n d C y o u are looking a t i t on d i mensions A , B and X .
C . In the d e s i g n of such a s y s t e m y o u
w a n t larger 3D o b j e c t s to b e b u i l d a b l e o u t o f
smaller o n e s . T h i s itmplies a r r a n g i n g d a t a
in tree s t r u c t u r e s (see p .
} . You also
w a n t to b e a b l e to m a k e things d o c o m p o u n d m o tions on the s c r e e n — for e x a m p l e , s h o w i n g an
a i r p l a n e flying a r o u n d on the s c r e e n w i t h its
p r o p e l l o r s p i n n i n g ; this too i m p l i e s a W e e s t r u c t u r e . T h e r e are some p r o g r a m m e r s w h o w o u l d use
d i f f e r e n t tree s t r u c t u r e s for b o t h o b j e c t s g r o u p -
D . O b j e c t s shown on T o m ' s s y s t e m can a l s o
a p p e a r to m o v e on c o m p l i c a t e d p a t h s t h r o u g h t h r e e d i m e n s i o n a l s p a c e . In T o m ' s s y s t e m , such a p a t h is
m e r e l y another o b j e c t . It s e e m s o b v i o u s w h e n y o u
say i t , y e t this k i n d of simple g e n e r a l i t y is e x actly w h a t many p r o g r a m m e r s seem to a v o i d .
(Note:
this f a c i l i t y is a g e n e r a l i z a t i o n of B a e c k e r ' s p c u r v e ; see p.5«\t5).
E . I n p u t d e v i c e s are c o m p l e t e l y a r b i t r a r y a n d
p r o g r a m m a b l e . W h a t h a p p e n s on the s c r e e n can b e c o n trolled b y a n y t h i n g — a n y v a r i a b l e (see p . jfc ) in
the p r o g r a m m i n g l a n g u a g e . In other w o r d s , D e F a n t i
h a s d e c o u p l e d the s c r e e n from any p a r t i c u l a r form of
c o n t r o l , a l l o w i n g u s e r p r o g r a m s to m a k e the c o n n e c t ion b e t w e e n c o n t r o l s and c o n s e q u e n c e s . T h i s m e a n s
t h a t , using T o m ' s l a n g u a g e , it is c o m p a r a t i v e l y easy
to build complex custom c o n t r o l s for any f u n c t i o n .
(This is d i s c u s s e d u n d e r "Fantics,"* p-^)j-5j.)
M u c h of today's i m p e t u s for 3 D c o m p u t e r
display is c o m i n g f r o m the field of c h e m i s t r y .
U n i v e r s i t y c h e m i s t r y d e p a r t m e n t s are b u y i n g
e q u i p m e n t like the E v a n s & S u t h e r l a n d L D S - 1 ,
the A d a g e a n d the V e c t o r G e n e r a l .
Y o u v i e w this c l o u d of d o t s , s a y , a c c o r d i n g to a g e ,
w e i g h t a n d e t h n i c b a c k g r o u n d . Tr. it m e a n s y o u c a n r o t a t e it
the g r o u p a r e w h a t .
a r o u n d a n d see h o w m a n y p e o p l e in
Why?
B e c a u s e c h e m i s t r y is i n c r e a s i n g l y i n v o l v e d with c o m p l e x t h r e e - d i m e n s i o n a l s t r u c t u r e s .
C r y s t a l s , l o n g folding c h a i n m o l e c u l e s , m i n u s cule forces acting o n s t r u c t u r e s w h o s e s h a p e
d e t e r m i n e s the o u t c o m e . O r g a n i c m o l e c u l e s
that involve t h o u s a n d s of a t o m s , a n d w h o s e
c o m p l e x folded structure e x p o s e s o n l y certain
k e y f e a t u r e s . A n d so o n .
Tom DeFanti.
Shows
part
of hemoglobin
molecule.
Data structure
from
Richard
J. Feldmann,
NItf.
T h e V e c t o r G e n e r a l display illustrated
h e r e a n d there o n these p a g e s b e l o n g s to the
D e p a r t m e n t of C h e m i s t r y , U n i v e r s i t y of Illinois
at C h i c a g o C i r c l e .
F . The language has string functions t h a t a l l o w
text h a n d l i n g . Since the language m a y a l s o u s e c o n v e r s a t i o n a l t e r m i n a l s , i t is e m i n e n t l y s u i t e d for
"good-guy" i n t e r a c t i v e s y s t e m s for naive u s e r s , as
described on p p . 12-13.
U s i n g d i m e n s i o n a l f l i p , h o w e v e r , y o u can c h a n g e the
v i e w a s f o l l o w s : r o t a t e the b o x - f r a m e till it b e c o m e s a
s q u a r e to y o u r e y e . T h e n y o u h i t the c o n t r o l that m a k e s
the u n s e e n d i m e n s i o n " f l i p " to a n o t h e r d i m e n s i o n t h a t i n t e r e s t s y o u . T h e c l o u d s t i l l l o o k s the s a m e — u n t i l y o u
r o t a t e i t , a n d the third d i m e n s i o n is now " p r e m a r i t a l e x perience."
So y o u c a n q u i c k l y g e t a v i e w of how p o p u l a t i o n s are r e a l l y d i v i d e d u p .
(Note to s o c i o l o g i s t s : this
same o p e r a t i o n , w i t h s t r e t c h i n g a n d c l i p p i n g , p r o v i d e s a
v i s u a l t e c h n i q u e for " p a r t i a l i n g " o p e r a t i o n s of the
Lazarsfeld type.}
THE TWISTED
SMILE
Y o u c a n m a k e a c h a r a c t e r c h a n g e e x p r e s s i o n on a :
s c o p e b y m a k i n g his m o u t h a twisted w i r e that c a n b e
rotated between "frown" and "smile" p o s i t i o n s . T h e
t r i c k Is the shape of the w i r e .
G . T o m ' s language is i n t e r p r e t i v e , like T R A C
Language (see p . 3 0 ) . T h a t m e a n s it is "slow" in t e r m s
of the number of m a c h i n e c y c l e s r e q u i r e d for it to d o
each o p e r a t i o n . H o w e v e r , D e F a n t i h a s added a " c o m pile" feature to the l a n g u a g e , so t h a t for long m a c r o s
(sections of program) t h a t h a v e to run r e p e t i t i v e l y , mo;
e f f i c i e n t c o m p i l e d v e r s i o n s of the m a c r o s m a y b e g e n e rated.
I coined the term f a n t i c s , for the a r t a n d t e c h n o l o g y of
showing t h i n g s , long b e f o r e I e v e r h e a r d of T o m D e F a n t i ,
and I am not a b o u t to change it j u s t b e c a u s e h e is now my
friend and r o o m m a t e .
F o r e x a m p l e , s u p p o s e y o u ' r e a s o c i o l o g i s t looking a t
m e a s u r e m e n t s of v a r i o u s traits among a g r o u p of p e o p l e .
I t ' s a c l o u d of d o t s in three d i m e n s i o n s — w h a t e v e r three
d i m e n s i o n s y o u ' r e looking a t . Some c o u l d b e : a g e , h e i g h t ,
weight, sex, ethnic background, premarital experience, e d ucation. .. e t c .
Boukniyht
£ Kelleu
(ste
p.t>^\*j)
N O W G U E S S W H A T : D e F a n t i ' s G R A S S language is the b e s t
g u a g e I know sf for d o i n g a l l the a b o v e t h i n g s .
lan-
SERVICES.
General Electric, Syracuse, offers three-dimensional
scene
s y n t h e s i s l i k e t h a t at t h e b o t t o m o f t h i s p a g e .
Every
j o b is c u s t o m .
It's done on videotape through
programs
r u n n i n g on a s m a l l i s h c o m p u t e r .
Production
costs,
a f t e r y o u r d a t a s t r u c t u r e s are a l l i n , c o u l d run as
W H E R E T O GET IT.
l i t t l e as h u n d r e d s of d o l l a r s p e r m i n u t e
(rather
than
C o m p u t e r 3D h a l f t o n e s y s t e m s a r e n o w a v a i l a b l e to m o v i e m a k e , *
thousands).
a v a r i e t y of s o u r c e s .
I t t e n d s to c o s t a l o t o f m o n e y , b u t
Contact: Charles P. Venus, General Electric
Co.,
fr
c o m p a r e d w i t h n o r m a l H o l l y w o o d p r o d u c t i o n e x p e n s e s , it t u r n .
B u i l d i n g 3. S y r a c u s e NY 1 3 2 0 1 , 3 1 5 / 4 5 6 - 3 5 5 2 .
(Given
In d e t a i l b e c a u s e h a r d e r to r e a c h t h a n t h e s e
others.)
o u t n o t to b e s o
Computer Visuals, Inc., ElmBford, NY.
Offer more
detail
t h a n C H s y s t e m , a n d g o s t r a i g h t to f i l m w i t h o u t
video.
SALES OF MACHINES
M o r e e x p e n s i v e : p r o b a b l e c o s t s r u n In t h e t h o u s a n d s
of
er, offe
dollars per m i n u t e .
A g a i n , e v e r y job is c u s t o m .
C o m p u t e r Ima ge C o r p o r a t i o n , De
S e e p . DM 3 9 .
Contact: Nat C. M y e r s , p r e s i d e n t .
I U I
B . l e .
a
n
d
S
u
t
h
e
r
l
a
n
d
C
o
m
p
u
t
e
r
C
o
r
p
o
r
a
t
i
o
n
.
S
a
l
t
L
a
k
e
C
i
t
y
,
Dolphin P r o d u c t i o n s , N Y C , has several Computer Image machines,
Ev
o f f e r s the W a t k i n s B o x , a r e a l - t i m e d i s P 1 ay d e y i c e
b u t t h e i r p r e s i d e n t , A l l e n S t a n l e y , is i n t e r e s t e d
in
u s i n g the W a t k i n s M e t h o d (see next p a g e ) and
offering
everything.
(s
also Goursud pseudo-curved
shadln
C o m p u t e r Image C o r p . , D e n v e r and H o l l y w o o d , also offers
eervlc
It c o s t s a b o u t $ 5 0 0 , 0 0 0 a n d
attac
on their m a c h i n e s .
On o c c a s i o n they have been
willing
large c o m p u t e r ; see p . 40) .
to b a c k f i l m - m a k e r s , r e p o r t e d l y on a 5 0 - 5 0 b a s i s .
Their
p r e s i d e n t , L e e H a r r i s o n I I I , is a s w e l l
fella.
A
Series of R e v i e w
C o m p u t e r Decisions
FIRST
T h i s i s , to m y k n o w l e d g e , the o n l y
existing collection a n d s u m m a r y of c o m p u t e r
half-tone s y s t e m s to d a t e , a n d in s o m e c a s e s
the articles r e v e a l m o r e a b o u t the s y s t e m s
than h a s b e e n p u b l i s h e d a n y w h e r e .
Surp r i s i n g l y , e v e n t w o y e a r s later they d o not
s e e m out of d a t e .
H o w e v e r , d u e to the editorial style of
C o m p u t e r D e c i s i o n s , a n d m y o w n , this h a s all
c o m e out e x t r e m e l y c o n d e n s e d , a n d p h r a s e d
in b r e e z y a n d h u m o r o u s w a y s not ordinarily
c o n s i d e r e d acceptable for serious technical
r e v i e w s . T h e h o p e is that they will s u p p l y
orientation to the b r o w s e r , d e e p e r insights to
the t e c h n i c a l l y - m i n d e d , a n d further directions
for t h e m a s w a n t s to p u r s u e .
M y t h a n k s to the p u b l i s h e r s of C o m p u t e r
D e c i s i o n s a n d its e d i t o r , R o b e r t C . H a a v i n d ,
for their e n c o u r a g e m e n t , p h o n e m o n e y a n d
p e r m i s s i o n to reprint thiB.
ARTICLE
G e n e r a l idea of 3 - D
Polygon
Articles for
Magazine.
A u t h o r ' s n o t e . T h e s e articles w e r e
written for C o m p u t e r Decisions m a g a z i n e , a n d
reflect the results of a lot of p h o n e calls they
paid for. T h e first of these articles w a a p u b lished in 1 9 7 1 . T h e o t h e r s h a v e not b e e n
p r e v i o u s l y p u b l i s h e d , as the editors a n d I
w e r e n e v e r able to get together o n quite w h s t
they w a n t e d .
halftone.
Systems.
h a l f t o n e
There are more ways than one
to produce shaded pictures with computer/.
Here are the methods
I of the 'polygon school.'
i m a g e
s y n t h e s i s
lal uses for visualizaof photography, in
and T V : for visual^uipment yet unbuilt.
izing worlds lost and imagined, equ
the responsiveness of aircraft. It m a y not he long
until moviemakers can bus different brands of picture
synthesizer, just as musicians choose today among
M o u g , Buchla and ARP music synthesi/crs Bul none
is in production yet. This is an attempt to review the
coming apparatuses of apparition.
Not only is ihe field of halftone one of the most
exciting in computing: it is also one of the nuttiest and
most secretive. For instance, at one time a firm that
was supposedly marketing its halftone system declared
the present author persona iron grata and noi to be
communicated with in any way, though information
was frccl; available to others. "I don't think it's
necessarily paranoia." says R o d Rougelot of General
Electric. " A lot of guys started about the same time,
and proceeded in a heads-down manner." It took a
special kind of initiative lo head off in that direction
with no external provocation. "All those heavy cats
These systems have
T o mosi people in the computer field, "computer
graphics" means line drawing—systems snd programs
for mapmaking, pipe layout, automobile and aircraft
design, or any other activity where a diagram may
help. Using line-drawing programs and equipment,
designers m a y create line drawings on fast-respondmil
graphic screens, reworking their ideas until satisfied;
the system then disgorges polished drawings and specifications for the designer's real intent, something else
thai is to be made or done. Bui it is possible for a
picture itself—instructjve, interesting or pretty—to be
the goal, fn that case wc will often want pictures that
look like things instead of wires. A picture that is not
all black and white we call "halftone."
With much secrecy and a slow start, computer
halftone systems are now being buill all over. The
methods arc extremely different from one another;
only the outputs arc similar. Some exist in software,
some have already been built into special hardware.
from AKPA and MIT were saying in the sixties I could
never do a Mickey Mouse," says Lcc Harrison in of
Computer Image. "'But I'm not that kind of researcher.
I talk to (he Lord."
The systems' stories are as different as the systems
themselves. General Elcctric's system grew out of
cockpit displays for blind flying. The system of Pennsylvania Research Associates began wilh terrain and
radar modelling. The system of MAGI (Mathematical
Applications Group, Inc.) began with the study of
radiation hazards in battlefield machinery. T w o system
families, that of Computer Image Inc. and m y o w n
Fantasm, were designed from the beginning for moviemaking, especially "special effects" and puppe tee ring.
The most poignant talc m a y be that of Lee Harrison,
whose struggling family was warmed through cold
winters by ihe tubes of their analog computer
Halftones in two dimensions
Two-dimensional computer halftone is not new.
Halftone pictures convened from photographs have
often been printed out on line printers, either for fun
(nudes often turn up at big installations), or in connection with some scientific problem, such as analyzing
chromosomes. Kenneth C . Knowlton, at Bell Laboratories, has executed some well-known photo conversions making pictures into huge grids of tiny whimsical
symbols having differeni grey-values.
Various other systems have allowed users to create
their o w n original 2-D pictures. Bul the natural temptation is lo want the computer really to make pictures.
W h y not have the computer produce a photographic
picture directly from the 3-D representation of objects?
Computers don't do this by nature, any more than
they do anything else by nature, so how it m a y be
done by computer is very interesting. The problem is
also interesting because of its intuitive nature. Visions
of scenes in space are around us constantly, and w e
intuitively understand the geometry of outlines and
light. A s 3-D work progresses large problems are being
overcome. The famed "hidden line problem," for enample, was mislead in gly couched, since the problem
is not finding what lines arc hidden, but whai surfaces
3-D halftone system
Today's new procedures can use the
same data to make a realistic shaded
or halftone picture. The visible parts
Of the objects are ascertained by
programs or special hardware,
using the same 3-D coordinates as in
the ordinary systems. These visible
parts are then shaded according
to the appropriate color information.
The series of shading-points makas the
picture on an output device.
Computer graphics the ordinary way
The computer, as penman, draws line
from a list stored in core memory. In
three-dimensional system, the basic
list of 3 D coordinates is converted
to a list representing a particular
view: the result looks
like a wire frame.
COMPUTER
DECISIONS
L
figure
W c m u m draw on I M i understanding of tec n o In
oul how to mike met urn. for there is no
mathematically elegant or preferable approach Scenes
•re •eomelrically nch. and low many diffcreni technique* may be u*cd lo extract pictures from them
Then* technique* may look at planar structures, spatial
interconnection*, relative edge* of intersection* or
anything else you can define and process I prefer lo
think at computer halftone as like trick photography
ol the kind done in Hollywood: a variety of technique* can be combined in various ways As in trick
photography. the number of touches and enhancem e n t that you add generally determines how good
it will look, regardlesi of what system you begin with
The simplest systems are those that depict objects
made of polygons—that is, planes wilh straight cdj^s.
W e will discuss such systems in the present installment.
The »iW poljfosi wader
Al least two companies are building image systems
that will behave and respond like onrushing realiiy.
Such a system, hooked to cockpit-like controls, can
she* a trainee pilot the delicate and precipitous results
of what he does Realistic action, rather lhan surface
detail, is crucial.
The techniques of action polygon halftone were
origmallv developed by General Electric, of Syracuse,
N Y.. and are now also under development al Link
Division of Singer Company (makers of the beloved
pilot trainer and its progeny). Basically such systems
operate upon ihe scan-lines thai crisscross a television
screen, switching the color of the running scan as it
crosses from polygon to polygon.
The action polygon school—GE and link—takes
a curious but effective approach to halftone T V : their
"environments" arc composed entirely of convex objects
made entirely of convex polygons T o use only convex
objects (no dents) means thai one objeel m a y be in
front of another or vice versa, but never both. (An
object with apparent indentations, such as an airplane,
has to be made out of a group of convex objects flying
together) T o use only convex polygons (notchlcss)
makes it easy for the system to decide, at a given
instant, whether ihe scan is crossing the polygon or not.
The edge-box reports summed into the facet boxes,
each of which was set to respond lo a particular
combination of left-right, above-below reports. Al the
instant all the facet's edge boxes replied in 'he proper
preset combination, the facet box signalled that its
o w n Tacet was being crossed by the scan-line W h e n
more than one lacet-box responded, the one nearest
ihe viewpoint had it* color gated to the *crccn.
N o w Rougelol's group is replacing the old NASA
system by a new NASA system, which works on entirely
different principles, bul keeps the vector calculator
The old one could show scenes with up lo 240 edges:
ihe new NASA system will al least double that. GE's new
method is already operational on smaller research facilities. They don't tell what it is, bul basically il involves sorting by distance. Supposedly the sort method
is good enough to make the old edge boxes obsolete
The Link group claims competitive performance for
their system, which will go lo black-and-white thousand-line T V . They say their system is different, better.
5*\
eady to compete. (Gary Watkins. Utah)
The method of Gary Walkin* is Ihe result of a
profound search at the University of Utah for the
method—a polygon technique fast enough for realtime enactment, but cheaper than the GE-type systems
and not subject to ihe convexity restriction*. They seem
to have found it.
Each video scan of the scene results in a "slice''
through surfaces in the scene. The two nearest surfaces
arc continuously compared to see which is closer, as
if by two rulers. The instant a new surface becomes the
nearer one, the system makes it the visible one. T V
nearest surface always shows, down to the precise
instant two surfaces cross.
Campus
of
Fooled
U.
(GE)
WyUe-Romney: shoot ihe works
\
The Wylie-Romncy method, disclosed in 1967, was
the Tint generally publicized procedure for making
halftone pictures. Indeed, the 1967 publication signalled the explosion of the University of Utah into
the forefront of computing research.
The Wylie-Romney method was actually the joint
work of Chris Wylie, Gordon R o m n e y . David C. Evans
and Alan Erdahl; hut much of the impetus for its
development came from Evans, chairman of computer
sciences al Utah, w h o had long suspected the possibility of 3-D halftone synthesis.
Instantaneous enactment, halftone animation
gives a sense of really being there. (Hod Rougelot.
General Electric)
This work evolved in pan from GE's work in the
fifties with a "ground plane simulator," a system that
would show a correct representation ol the ground's
position, dipping and rotating, lo the pilot of an aircraft in fog or night In 1963 the General Electric
group, under Rod Rougelol. worked oul for NASA Ihe
design of an "environment simulator"—a device that
would simulate the appearance and performance of
any equipment. This is now called the "old NASA system. ' It permitted the user—seated before a color T V
screen—to work controls for an imaginary aircraft or
spacecraft, and sec roughly what the pilot of the craft
would see. flying in real lime through a breathtaking
color scene. R i m s made on (his. machine have been
stunning Imaginary cities, roller coasters and aerial
dogfights arc among the visions that can be presented.
General Electrics old NASA method is fairly weird
if not mischievous. The earlier "ground plane simulator" had shown an edge (ihe horizon) digitally displayed on a crt: the system was extended to many
edges, and the logical analysis of areas between them.
The scene was represented by a collection of edge
boxes, physically jumpered into a collection of facet
boxes. Each edge box and facet box was loaded with
certain numerical and logic values, representing edges
and facets in ihe scene, which could change between
frames as required by the action.
In the prcprocess for each frame the old NASA system used a specially built digital computer, the "vector calculator." This performed at great speed the
three-pan vector calculations necessary lo determine
all scene positions, including the positions and slants
of all edges. Each individual edge generator, loaded
with its own edge position, constantly reported whether
the running scan of the picture was to Ihe left or right
of its o w n edge. It dutifully guarded this edge from
border lo border of the picture.
Watkins method: A new nearest surface is
instantly tensed through continuous comparison
ol the closes! two
Halftone lor art's sake now the artist can create
worlds and photograph them. (Gordon Romney,
Utah)
( N o t e : m o r e o u t p u t by
various Utah
systems
a p p e a r on f o l l o w i n g
pages.)
The Wylie-Romncy method is this: for each picturepoint desired in the final picture, shoot a searching
ray through the scene at a corresponding angle. Find
where this searching ray hits every surface in its way.
Since the locations in space of these hit-points are
easily calculated, figure their distances from the vantage
point. The nearest of the intersections is the visible
one. Look up the color of that surface and shade the
output point accordingly.
This may sound inefficient, but it is comparatively
easy to ascertain all the piercing-points, since the surfaces to be hit in a given scanning row can be largely
predicted from the previous row.
John Wurnock's method, also from Utah, is unrelated to the other methods, but has qualities mathematicians like, as well as a certain whimsy.
Consider a square in the picture area. (Al the start
consider the whole picture area.) Sow then. Test
whether the present square is entirely filled wilh one
color. If so, output a corresponding square all of that
color. If the present square is not all one color, divide
it into four smaller squares. Take another square and
go back to Now then. End the process when each of
the squares in the broken-down picture has been
completely filled with one color—or the unsatisfied
squares arc too small to care about
HOW
AVAILABLE!
Machine
running
technique,
the
Watkins
Box,
you
to view
imaginary
objects
color
and
manipulate
them
in
See
top
of
preceding
Vatkn
allot
in
real
time
page.
Shading: Last of the great lodge-1 unctions
Suppose that wc have some data structure representing a three-dimensional object, and a halftone method
to search out its visible surfaces. H o w do wc shade the
output pouits? What do wc take into account: how
combine the basic greys or colors, how blend them
with computations of surface angle, distances from the
vantage point, or anything else we can think of?
The answer: any way at all. The combining function
is an aesthetic choice. There are not many areas left
where you can make up a mathematical hodge-podge
and get pleasing or interestingresults.Computer halftone is a felicitous exception: you can augment by
adding or multiplying, diminish by subtracting or dividing, and yet always come up with an image resembling
something. Anyone w h o has worked in a darkroom
will recognize lhat this is like enlarging: playing with
parameters won't obliterate the picture.
There arc purists w h o insist that halftone coloration
should exactly follow the formulas that simulate the
behavior of real light. For some purposes, like pilot
training, this m a y often be/true. But insisting on mathematical accuracy as a general principle is like insisting
on ultra-high fidelity—an aesthcuc judgment couched
as a mechanical imperative.
Until now the output hardware was not really ready
for halftone. Five years ago a computer could usually
create halftone pictures only on a line primer or a
4020 microfilm plotter. Today there are many different
photographic printers, going to all sizes of film and
paper; one even uses a laser. There arc various display
terminals permitting grey-scale and color halftone on
T V screens.
The age of computer image synthesis has begun.
Polygon systems are fast and simple, and will come
to be used in our daily lives for such diverse purposes
as molecule study, the memorization of delivery routes,
and visualization of every kind of layout and design.
They will be fundamental to our new world of
computer display.
D
C O M P U T E R DECISIONS
Warnock'x dicing method: What can t be made all
one color is redivuled till its pieces can ba.
"Old NASA" method: Each edge box constantly
reports which side of its edge the scan is on.
each facet bo> sums the edge report* to sense
whan the scan is crossing it
%
SECOND
BOUKNIGHT A N D KELLEY:
PICKING T H R O U G H A CAT'S
ARTICLE.
Curvature.
Shadow.
THE PLOT SO
FAR.
Various c o m p u t e r m e t h o d s n o w m a k e it
possible to create artificial photographs of
three-dimensional objects or ccenes represented
in the computer's storage. This is d o n e b y
coloring or shading points in an output picture
like the points in the scene that can b e sighted
through them from the vantage point. W h a t
the m e t h o d s really boil d o w n to, t h o u g h , are
searching processes in the data representation
of the three-dimensional s c e n e .
In an earlier article w e h a v e considered
s o m e of the techniques being u s e d to depict
simple scenes— those m a d e u p of p o l y g o n s .
N o w w e turn to m o r e elaborate scenes w h i c h a d d
s h a d o w s , surface patterns a n d c u r v a t u r e .
VARIOUS N E W TECHNIQUES PERMIT US TO A D D C U R V E S ,
SHADOWS AND SURFACE PATTERNS
T O COMPUTER-GENERATED HALFTONE PICTURES
O n e of the most interesting things about
this b r a n c h of c o m p u t e r graphics— already seen
in the polygon m e t h o d s discussed earlier— is
the variety of techniques that can b e e m p l o y e d .
M o r e o v e r , these m e t h o d s , for all their sophistication, can usually b e intuitively u n d e r s t o o d
as thought they w e r e operations p e r f o r m e d o n
objects in s p a c e . T h e s a m e continues to b e true
for the m o r e c o m p l e x s y s t e m s .
CRADLE
T h e m e t h o d of B o u k n i g h t a n d Kelley. at
the University of Illinois, permits the addition
of s h a d o w to polygon pictures. Their m e t h o d
uses a n intricate system of scanning s w e e p s
across the s c e n e , analyzing the successive e d g e c r o s s i n g s . For each output line, a list of the
e d g e s in the scene is ordered according to w h i c h
will b e next e n c o u n t e r e d . T o m a k e a specific
output line of s h a d e d points, w e step through
successive positions of the scan-line, until an
an e d g e is c r o s s e d . With each e d g e w e c r o s s ,
w e enter or leave at least o n e facet. O f all
the current facets w e are in after a given e d g e crossing, the system finds out the nearest o n e ,
the visible o n e , b y c o m p a r i n g distances. T h e
coloration of this facet is then fed out to the
picture, until the next e d g e - c r o s s i n g .
Surface patterns.
ENHANCED POLYGON
B o u k n i g h t a n d Kelley e x p a n d their m e t h o d
to s h o w s h a d o w s b y a n additional step. T h e y
create a n e w list of e d g e s to b e e n c o u n t e r e d ,
this o n e relative to scans from the light s o u r c e .
T h e n , d u r i n g the regular output picture s c a n ,
they look to this latter data to see about s h a d o w .
A s soon as they k n o w t w o consecutive e d g e s
of a visible object in the picture, they are able
to search the s h a d o w - e d g e list to see if a n y
s h a d o w - e d g e s i m p i n g e b e t w e e n t h e m . T h e final
list of e d g e s - - visible facet e d g e s a n d s h a d o w
e d g e s - - goes to the picture output d e v i c e .
SYSTEMS
In the m e t h o d s discussed so far, w e looked
at several c o m p u t e r techniques for p h o t o g r a p h ically depicting s c e n e s a n d objects m a d e u p of
p o l y g o n s - - planar facets-- in a represented
three-dimensional s c e n e . I m a g i n a r y h o u s e s of
c a r d s , c a r d b o a r d airplanes a n d triangular s c e n ery take o n a compelling vividness w h e n depicted
b y the c o m p u t e r . A n d for visualizing s u c h
things as architectural a r r a n g e m e n t s , s u c h
s y s t e m s p r o m i s e to b e of increasing practical
value.
T h o s e of u s interested in the artistic
aspects of c o m p u t e r halftone i m a g e s w a n t m o r e .
T h i s article looks at s o m e w a y s to a d d the
a p p e a r a n c e of curvature a n d surface pattern
to c o m p u t e r - s y n t h e s i z e d i m a g e s .
MAGtlUSKI'S
(different
CONSTRUCTIONS
perspective
OF
REPEATED
PATTERNS
BOUKNIGHT-KELLEY
METHOD
/I )
s
-
calculations)
Consider
the series
of edges
whose
projections
cross
the current
scan-line.
Each
time
the s c a n - l i n e
crosses
an
edge,
find out what
facets
are currently
pierce
by a s i g h t - l i n e
from
the v i e w p o i n t .
The
nearest of
these
facets
is the v i s i b l e
on
Basic
MAGNUSKI'S PATTERNED
CONSTRUCTIONS
A n u m b e r of contributions h a v e b e e n m a d e
b y individuals w o r k i n g alone. For instance,
H e n r y M a g n u s k i , at M . I . T . , created a p r o g r a m
that repeatedly positions patterned facets in
space to m a k e large constructions.
This p r o g r a m did not calculate "true"
s h a d o w , basing its s h a d i n g partly o n angle of
surfaces. Neither does it s h o w true c u r v e s .
Yet it s h o w s the impressive d e g r e e to w h i c h
such effects m a y b e a p p r o x i m a t e d . T h e resulting beach ball picture is reminiscent of M o o r i s h
architecture.
triangle
pattern..
is
in
at
stitched
together
adjacent
positions
appropriate
angles.
To add
s h a d o w , use an e x t r a list
of
the scene' s edges
relative
to the
light
rather
than
the camera.
Between
viewed
edges, check
for shadow-edges
as
w e l l .
r
DON
L E E F I L L S IN T H E
GAPS
D o n L e e , at the U n i v e r s i t y of Illinois,
p r o d u c e d his finc-toned pictures of s p h e r e s in
1966 s i m p l y b e c a u s e s o m e o n e bet h i m a q u a r t e r
h e couldn't p r o g r a m the m e t h o d he'd s u g g e s t e d
in t w e n t y - f o u r h o u r s . H e a l m o s t m a d e it. H e
m a d e his pictures of s p h e r e s a n d p o l y g o n s b y
calculating the b o u n d a r i e s , then c h e c k i n g for
o v e r l a p a n d filling in with g r e y s a c c o r d i n g to
v i e w i n g a n g l e . His p r o g r a m w o r k s o n l y in
special c a s e s , b u t is interesting for its historical
position; it w a s o n e of the earliest half-tone
curvature systems.
SIMPLEX
CURVATURE
SYSTEMS:
MAHL
&
MAGI
A f u n d a m e n t a l t y p e of s y s t e m w e m a y call
the " s i m p l e x " s y s t e m w a s e x e m p l i f i e d in the
p r e v i o u s article b y the W y l i e - R o m n e y p r o g r a m .
A s i m p l e x t e c h n i q u e s i m p l y projects s i m u l a t e d
r a y s t o w a r d the s c e n e f r o m the v a n t a g e point
till t h e y hit the r e p r e s e n t e d o b j e c t s , a n d fills
c o r r e s p o n d i n g positions o n the o u t p u t p i c t u r e
w i t h the colors e n c o u n t e r e d o n the front s u r f a c e s
of o b j e c t s in the s c e n e .
T h e s a m e p r i n c i p l e e x t e n d s n a t u r a l l y to
scenes with c u r v e d a n d otherwise embellished
objects.
H A V E
A
BALL
W I T H
DON
R o b e r t M a h l , at the U n i v e r s i t y of U t a h ,
h a s r e c e n t l y r e p o r t e d his results w i t h s i m p l e x
m e t h o d s u s i n g q u a d r i c surfaces— those c u r v e d
s u r f a c e s g e n e r a t e d b y m a t h e m a t i c a l p o w e r s of
t w o . H i s p i c t u r e s — like the c u p a n d s a u c e r
s h o w n h e r e — h a v e a pleasing 1920s B a u h a u s like q u a l i t y .
L E E .
T h e n
f i l l s
in
c u r v a c e o u s
s h a d i n g .
His
p r o g r a m
the
first
g e n e r a l
w o r k s
O n e p r o b l e m w i t h this m e t h o d is that
computational c o m p l e x i t y increases rapidly as
t h e s c e n e s g r o w m o r e c o m p l e x ; the m o r e s u r f a c e s
a n d p i e r c i n g - p o i n t s , the m o r e t i m e - c o n s u m i n g
( a n d e x p e n s i v e ) it b e c o m e s to m a k e the p i c t u r e .
out
o u t l i n e s .
M A U L ' S
S I M P L E X
M E T H O D
C a l c u l a t e
w i t h
Is
I
all
I n t e r s e c t i o n s
o b j e c t s
n e a r e r ;
in
shade
s c e n e ;
lt
of
s i g h t i n g
c a l c u l a t e
a c c o r d i n g
to
ray
w h i c h
a n g l e .
Co/tv-
• J I M * ^ - ,
A,
cjL»r»*=^ s o r f i o i , p i e c u i s ^
a s s . j . , colors
1.
t w
It s e e m s , h o w e v e r , that M a h l ' s w o r k m a y
o n l y b e a r e d i s c o v e r y of w h a t o n e o r g a n i z a t i o n
w o r k e d o u t earlier a n d is b e i n g s e c r e t i v e a b o u t .
A firm delightfully called M A G I ( M a t h e m a t i c a l
A p p l i c a t i o n s G r o u p . I n c . ) of E l m s f o r d , N . Y . ,
h a s e x t e n d e d the s a m e idea m o r e elaborately.
T h e y h a p p e n e d into the halftone g a m e t h r o u g h
a military c o n t r a c t .
M A G I ' s system, n o w thoroughly developed
u n d e r R o b e r t G o l d s t e i n , b e g a n in 1 9 6 5 in a s t u d y
of radiation h a z a r d s in battlefield e q u i p m e n t .
T h e y w r o t e a p r o g r a m to s i m u l a t e p a t h s of r a d i a t i o n , s a y , that m i g h t r e a c h a t a n k d r i v e r u n d e r
v a r o u s disagreeable circumstances.
Having
w r i t t e n a p r o g r a m that w o u l d a s c e r t a i n t h e s u s ceptibility to radiation of battlefield m a c h i n e r y , .
t h e y n o t e d that t h e s a m e p r o g r a m c o u l d b e
a d a p t e d to m a k i n g p h o t o g r a p h s . T h e p r o g a m
s i m u l a t e d radiation; light is radiation; i p s o
facto, p i c t u r e s . Substantially t h e s a m e p r o g r a m
w o u l d m a k e p h o t o g r a p h - l i k e i m a g e s , b y treating
t h e o b j e c t s a s o p a q u e , a n d reflecting different
s h a d e s a c c o r d i n g to c o l o r a n d a n g l e of v i e w .
T h e resulting s y s t e m m a k e s nice pictures
of o b j e c t s c o m p o s e d of p l a n e s a n d q u a d r i c s u r f a c e s ; a n d i n c l u d e s , a s will b e s e e n f r o m t h e
racing car a n d chair, colored surface d e s i g n s ,
s h a d o w s a n d spectral reflections. N o t o n l y d o e s
M A G I ' s s o f t w a r e for this p r o c e s s p r o d u c e d e l i cately s h a d e d p i c t u r e s ; if the virtual p i c t u r e p l a n e is m o v e d until it intersects t h e s u b j e c t ,
it p r o d u c e s a c r o s s - s e c t i o n .
MAG1 program waa originally
developed
f o r s t u d y of r a d i a t i o n h a z a r d s
inside
m i l i t a r y a r m o r ; the
pseudo-photographic
t e c h n i q u e s w e r e a a i d e e f f e c t of the
approach chosen.
Who know: , these
tanks may be the ones
studied.
H A G I t e c h n i q u e s w e r e u s e d to
a l t e r n a t i v e w a y s of l i g h t i n g
study
nines.
M A G I r u n s this p r o g r a m r e m o t e l y in
F o r t r a n o n a b i g c o m p u t e r - - b u t they h a v e their
o w n m i n i c o m p u t e r s e t u p for p h o t o g r a p h i n g t h e
results a s c o l o r m o v i e s . T h e y n o w offer u s e of
this s y s t e m c o m m e r c i a l l y for m a k i n g m o v i e s o r
stills.
SYNTHEVISION SETUP uses remote time-sharing
computer
running big secret Fortran program and
containing
e n t i r e d a t a s t r u c t u r e of t h r e e - d i m e n s i o n a l
scenes.
M i n i c o m p u t e r p h o t o g r a p h i c s e t u p Is o n p r e m i s e s
at
Computer Visuals, Inc., HAG1 subsidiary
marketing
the S y n t h e v i s i o n
service.
Local setup uses Uova minicomputer controlling
both
CRT display and camera.
Informed guess would
suggest that time-sharing system does not send
all
s u c c e s s i v e p o i n t s of o u t p u t l i n e , b u t
difference
and t r a n s i t i o n v a l u e s ; Nova p r o g r a m w o u l d then i n t e r p o l a t e g r a d a t i o n s in r e l a t i v e l y q u i e t
sections
of the s c a n - l i n e .
M A G I ' s p r e c i s e s y s t e m is s e c r e t .
H o w e v e r , the only
r e a l q u e s t i o n s b o l l d o w n to: f o r m s of s u r f a c e
repr e s e n t a t i o n ; s y s terns o f s c e n e s o r t i n g ; a n d m e t h o d
of s c e n e s c a n n i n g to p r o d u c e o u t p u t
scan.
N o t e that o n e of the m o s t i m p r e s s i v e t h i n g s
about
H A G I w o r k , at l e a s t for s o p h i s t i c a t e s , is the d e g r e e o f a r t i s t i c c o n t r o l c h a t s e e m s to h a v e b e e n
r e a l i z e d in t h e i r i n p u t a n d r e v i s i o n s y s t e m s .
It
seems they offer e x c e l l e n t control over motion
and
c o l o r , a n d , of c o u r s e , r e v i s i o n of t h e a c t i o n in
a s c e n e till the a a k e r
is
satisfied.
2t
Popular 5cle
Synthevision
in
t h i n k it
f a l l of 7 3 .
had
Enlargement from MAGI film.
I hope
the r e p r o d u c t i o n s h o w s the
concentric
r i n g s , called Mach b a n d s , that divide
a r e a s of s h a d i n g ; K n o w l t o n and H a r m o n
( c i t a t i o n p . DM 10) a d v i s e on p s e u d o random t e c h n i q u e s for c o r r e c t i n g
this.
ROUNDUP
T h e s e h a v e b e e n s o m e of the h i g h l i g h t s
of the halftone g a m e to d a t e . T h e m e t h o d s d e s c r i b e d s o far a r e m a i n l y s o f t w a r e - o r i e n t e d , a n d
for t h e m o s t p a r t w o r k m o s t efficiently a s p r o grams.
In the n e x t article w e will look at s o m e
o u t l a n d i s h n e w f o r m s of e q u i p m e n t , u n d e r c o n struction o r p r o p o s e d , for d e d i c a t e d p r o d u c t i o n
of 3 - D halftone p i c t u r e s .
THIRD
Specialized
ARTICLE.
SPECIAL
FOR
EQUIPMENT
MAKING
PICTURES
COVERS
OF
THE
H A R D W A R E
EXISTENCE
OR
BEING
BEING
systems.
BUILT
HALFTONE
COMPUTER.
SOME
HALFTONE
IS N O W
"REALISTIC"
BY
hardware
THIS
M O R E
ARTICLE
UNUSUAL
SYSTEMS
N O W
IN
PLANNED.
Results
of G o u r a u d ' s
swell s m o o t h i n g
for t h e d a f a s t r u c t u r e o n
The
Gouraud
from
it b y
an
process
technique.
t h e left, a s y s t e m
(see b o x
extremely
below)
simple
process.
difficult t r u l y - c u r v e d
( N o t e also that t h e e d g e s
The
techniques
all i n t u i t i v e l y
do
In t w o
ized
previous
articles w e
s o m e of t h e i m p o r t a n t b a s i c
have
summar-
techniques
in
computer
h a l f t o n e - - t h e artificial c o n s t r u c t i o n
computer
of p h o t o g r a p h i c
scenes
which
as colored or s h a d e d
dinate s y s t e m
pictures
are represented
surfaces
of t h r e e
of 3 - D
within
placed
the
in a
dimensions.
by
scenes,
computer
coor-
edge
software.
advanced
and
intended
to m a k e
generation
looked
suited
at
Now
3-D
and
we
turn
computer
systems
halftone
df'halftone
represent
than
MAGI.)
to
in
more
equipment
faster
r e a l i s t i c , o r e a s i e r to w o r k
These
by
jagged.)
were
to s o m e
and
face
of t h e
relative
to i m p l e m e n t a t i o n
peculiar techniques
to u s e , o r m o r e
cheaper.
have
of s i g h t - l i n e s
positions, a n d
computer
or
we
" s p a t i a l " in c h a r a c t e r , h a v i n g
with the analysis
posed
data structure, rather
surfaces u s e d , e.g.,
remain
Gouraud
the s m o o t h - l o o k i n g
( N o t e that the p o w e r
t e c h n i q u e is in t h e u s e o f a s i m p l e p o l y g o n
the m o r e
M m e .
o f i n t e r c o n n e c t e d .flat p o l y g o n s .
created
a
with,
coming
THE
WATKINS
BOX
hardware.
The
what
University
of U t a h
w i l b e for s o m e
spectacular
Watkins
Box.
a computer
This
and
is n o w
building
time the w o r l d ' s
interactive
computer
most
display,
d e v i c e , interfacing
the
between
a television s c r e e n , will
o u t the W a t k i n s
algorithm
(described
in
carry
the
first article o f t h i s s e r i e s ) in r e a l t i m e ;
through
a predigested
the W a t k i n s
Box
i m a g e of a n
opaque
rotate o r
and
Watkins
Box
can
m o d e , in w h i c h
Gouraud
curved
over
The
gruduate
simple
marries
for e a c h
point.
it, a c r o s s
method
encountered
(These
shades
on
are
polation b e t w e e n
I suggested
this
cover
for this a r t i c l e .
The
folks at C o m p u t e r
Decisions
reacted with
puzzlement
if n o t d i s m a y .
"This
cover
doesn't have
practical
applications
for
the
ave ra^e u s e r , " I
think
someone
said.
It w i l l b e
does
not c u r v e
simplicity
that's n o
two
and
in t u r n
noted
of
interaround
proced-
a point
by
edge-colors:
edge
to
scan-line.
found
by
linear
inter-
endpoints.)
that G o u r a u d ' s
the e d g e s .
But
as a small addition
great
a
the
facets
those
the next
the p r e s e n t
their
the
In a c t u a l
shades
between
t h e c o l o r o f t h e last e d g e
be
by
ridiculously
In effect t h e m e t h o d
facet b o u n d a r i e s .
u r e , the G o u r a u d
be
calculates a s h a d e
of the point f r o m
linear interpolation
to
p e r f e c t l y to
I n s t e a d of s h a d i n g
u n i f o r m l y , this t e c h n i q u e
gray
it a p p e a r s
algorithm, developed
which
polates the s h a d e
modes:
faceted,
nearby).
s t u d e n t o f t h a t n a m e , is a
method.
can
o p e r a t e in t w o
m o d e , in w h i c h
Gouraud
an
the u s e r
program.
the object a p p e a r s
(see m a s k s ,
technique
Watkins
by
information,
the s c r e e n
object w h i c h
see manipulated
The
normal
list o f facet
will create o n
ripping
method
considering
to t h e W a t k i n s
its
box,
sacrifice.
Naturally, the W a t k i n s
the private h o m e
Box
will n o t
for s e v e r a l y e a r s ;
l i k e l y p r i c e is i n s i x f i g u r e s .
reach
current
B u t that's
now.
G O U R A U D ' S T W I S T a d d s the a p p e a r a n c e of
c u r v a t u r e to a f a c e t e d o b j e c t s h o w n o p a q u e l y
b y t h e W a t k i n s m e t h o d ( d e s c r i b e d in first
article).
I n s t e a d of s h a d i n g e a c h
with the s a m e
edges you've
edges
are
point within
a
facet
c o l o r , interpolate b e t w e e n
vertex-colors according
gotten.
to h o w
far d o w n
N o t e that the
the
the
jagged
retained.
u
T H E SHAPE OF THINGS T O C O M E
If these systems sound far fetched, or only
for theoretical tnveattgtatlon. conalder this: the
Air Force is n o w letting contracts for an advanced flight training simulator that la a small
boy's d r e a m . T o be situated In D r y Lake.
Arizona, the simulator will hava the moat realiatic cockpit* ever built: tha entire m o c k up will
turn and tilt in response to Ihe user, and the
seats will even swell and deflate. to simulate
acceleration and weightlessness. T h e cockpits
alone, without the visual diaplay screens, will
cost ten million dollars each.
PRA'S W O B L D V I E W
Roger Boyell, of Pennsylvania Research
Aasocistes. Philadelphia, likes io refer to the
company's main interest as "modelling the p h y s ical world." T h u s he and hia aaaociatea have
developed systems for cartography, landscape
modelling, pipe design, and eimulalion of c o m plex radar systems.
A radar simulator they are putting together Tor the Navy will show the results of any
possible radar system moving over any possible
terrain. A pilot or navigator trainee, in a simmulsted cockpit, will aee the miaelon's changing
radar picture as he changea the piano's course
or the radar's tuning. T h e radar picture, a p pearing on a screen and changing In real time,
wilt look just the w a y the radar would look on
a real mission-- flying in perspective a m o n g
: valleys, high or low. at any bearuid speed, and vi.-w.-d ihroutfh any type of
r <
tly
ke the K n o w l t o n - S c h w a r t z
D M 2 4 , top S c h w a r t z
d i v i d u a l frntur.-s i>m'nnRinr. v i e w .
An o u t f i t
they h a v e
that will
ballpark—
the E v a n s
But the viaual systems - a h . T h e pilotuser will look out into an artificial world, a m o n g
w h o s e mountains and m e a d o w s and clouds h e
will fly in real time. Six C R T s . arranged aa
parts of a dodecahedron in an entire viaual
surround, will show him the changing terrain
and flying environment. F.ach of theae C R T s
will b e driven by a real-time perspective
halftone simulator, with all displays spliced together and driven by a master simulator responding to his actions. W h o will build them ia
not yet decided; they could be Warnock or G E
T h e sheer joy of such a system will b e
hard to beat. But no doubt others will b e on
the w a y - - perhaps at the a m u s e m e n t pork level.
c a l l e d liUMRRO, in W . n h i n n
a real-time interactiv,
knock several people
e s p e c i a l l y the CC har.;
a n d S u t h e r l a n d W a t k i n s i; .
T h e H U M R R O a y s t e n la I n t e n d e d to go o u t
color screens (modified Sony Trinitrons)
ih s h a d e d p o l y g o n h a l f t o n e , o f f e r i n g
• u d o - c u r v e d a h a d l n g l i k e G o u r a u d ' s (see
Her).
Doyen's approach is to treat each c o m p o nent of the pictorial/radar simulation as a
separate problem, to be handled in different
w a y s , and blended in a final buffer, a core
m e m o r y which ia read out to lelevision. Separate mechanisms supply components of s h a d o w ,
specular reflection, coloration and randomizing
effects. T h e core buffer continuously refreshes
the scanned C R T display.
Boyell has put the same techniques to
w o r k making simulated halftone pictures of the
m o o n (aee cut). Both the radar and m o o n systems use the same type of halftone image synthesis, even though superficially they seem quite
different. But radar is radiation, Just like light,
and Boyell's techniquea of three-dimensional
modelling and search apply equally well to d e piction by reflected visible light-- i.e., halftone images.
T h e t e c h n i q u e a w e r e w o r k e d o u t by Ron
S w a l l o w , and they're not t e l l i n g about how
they w o r k .
It la c l a i m e d , h o w e v e r , t h a t t h e i r
with 16.000 edges / a n d that this w i l l cost
S 1 5 0 . 0 0 0 a n d s e r v i c e 16 (or w a s it 6 4 ) u s e r
terminals simultaneously.
It n a y h a v e b e e n a b a d p h o n e c o n n e c t i o
or this may be what they're really c l a i m i n g
O b v i o u s l y i t ' l l h e r e a l l y g r e a t if lt t u r n s
E v i d e n t l y t h e y h a v e in m i n d the use of
s u c h h i g h - p e r f o r m a n c e s c o p e s for t e a c h i n g , a l l o w i n g s t u d e n t s to e x p l o r e i n t r i c a t e t h r e e d i m e n s i o n a l s c e n e s or o b j e c t s .
Terrific.
( N o t e : c o m p a r e the c l a i m of 1 6 , 0 0 0 e d g e s
on a
$ 1 5 0 , 0 0 0 s y a t e m w i t h the 2 0 0 0 ( ? ) e d g e s
a l l o w e d by t h e o l d tlASA s y s t e m b u i l t by C E ,
o r the W a t k i n s B o x - - I d o n ' t know h o w m a n y
c d p e s - - at S 5 0 0 . 0 0 0 fro™ H v a n s a n d S u t h e r l a n d .
®
T h e syatem could c o m e in a n u m b e r of different versions. O n e of these involves a large
array of LSI computing modules (the checkerboard
Scene Machine) to be guided by special hardware
under an unusual monitor running on a generalpurpose computer. T h e checkerboard Scene
Machine holds a great spread of surface data.
It is a logical curiosity, an array that replies as
a unit, ignoring cell boundaries, to electrical
explorations of the shapes represented in it.
T h e resulting trace m a k e s varioua 3-space e x plorations on ihe faces, mountains or automobiles
spreadeagled in il. Think of its trace as a
radio-controlled firefly skating over a b u m p y
checkerboard. Using this m a c h i n e , and various
cat's-cradle list structures based on the g e o m etry of light around odd volumes of occupation,
the problem of halftone analysis of arbitrary
shapes is solved by brute force rather than
analytically. A variety of other processeB have
also been defined in Ihe syatem for other types
of graphic application.
f\ t o r O F B o s c f f ?
I don't expect you to believe this, because
not even m y patent attorney d o e s , but the system
I call Fantasm is intended to m a k e pictures that
pass the Turing-test: you won't be able to tell
them from real photographs. Fantasm is intended to allow the user to m a k e realistic, Hierony
m u s Bosch-like photographs and m o v i e s , with
real-looking people (and scenery, imaginary
characters, monsters, etc.) in scenes of arbitrary complexity. It is expected that 1975 economics will m a k e its construction feasible.
Fantasm I originally conceived as a method
of making realistic photographs and movies, not
knowing at the time that thia w a s impossible,
but feeling it could b e done s o m e h o w if the
problem were broken d o w n sufficiently. At
times it w a s not clear which of us would b e
broken d o w n first, 1 or it.
A s far as I have been able to learn. F a n tasm is the most baroque computer graphic system
anyone has proposed. It is noi intended to operate in real time, but rather take as long aa it
n e e d s , or as long as Ihe uaer wants to pay for.
(o fill in complex viaual details, s h a d o w , reflections, curlicues, leaves, hair, etc. It is best
suited to the production in Panavision of Busby
Berkeley musicals, or " T h e Lord of the Rings"
with realistic wraiths and interspecies battles.
Bul it m a y well cost too m u c h lo use for that.
Indeed, its economics seem to improve in lowbudget settings like videotape, although there
its output bandwidth will flower unseen. But
the Scene Machine should also be uaeful for
more m u n d a n e applications, auch aa contour
m a p p i n g , automobile design, advertising photography a n d medical illustration.
It occurred to m e sometime in 1S60-1 that
computer-interpolated, Disney-type cartooning
methods would be feasible. After some thought
1 realized that pseudo- photography would be
possible, and dropped the cartooning idea. T h e
atrange behavior of people w h o m I told about
this led m e to increasing secrecy.
T h e general goal w a s to m a k e a system
thai could do realistic movies without scenery
or actors, and m a k e pictures indistinguishable
from real photograph* of real scenery a n d
actors. ("What do you m e a n , indistinguishable
from photographs?" people keep asking. What
do they m e a n what do I m e a n ? ) T h e surfacea
are to be put in by "sculplora." animated by
"puppeieera," a n d photographed by a "director."
T h e objective is for moviemaking lo be under
the utter imaginative control of the creative uaer.
I am indebted
to Prof. Che
for the formalization
of »
1
function.
A s c e n e of a r b i t r a r y c u r v a t u r e a n d t o p o l o g y Is r e p r e s e n t e d
in a a y a t e m of h o l d i n g r e g i s t e r s ; the s u r f a c e Is p r e s e n t e d
( t h r o u g h D - t o - A c o n v e r t e r s a n d an a r r a y p a r a l l e l f u n c t i o n g e n e r a t o r ) to i n t e r r o g a t i n g c i r c u i t r y w h i c h s t e e r s an i n q u i r i n g a l g n a l
a r o u n d the r e p r e s e n t e d s u r f a c a a .
O p e r a t i o n is e m p i r i c a l .
Array
h a s p a r t i t i o n l o g i c a l l o w i n g a l m u l t a n e o u a q u e r i e s of v a r l o u a s u b surfaces.
F e e d b a c k s t e e r i n g c i r c u i t r y a l l o w s m u l t i p l e loopa
t h r o u g h a r r a y . S t e e r i n g s i g n a l a n d returnatf s u r f a c e p a r a m e t e r
are a n a l o g a n d c o n t i n u o u s .
List techniquea m a n a g e a h a d o w and
v i s i b i l i t y ' u m b r e l l a s ' ( s u r f a c e s of o c c u l t e d v o l u m e s or u m b r a s ) .
The F a n t a s m S c e n e M a c h i n e ® 1 , tha r e p r e s e n t a t i o n a n d a a a r c h
a r r a y , Is o n e c h i p r e p e a t e d In a c a r p e t . L a r g e - s c a l e I n t e g r a t i o n
p e r m i t s the r e q u i r e d d i g i t a l a t o r a g e of a b o u t 500 b i t s p e r s u r face s e c t i o n p l u s a n a l o g c i r c u i t r y a n d s w i t c h i n g l o g i c .
Patent
work underway.
S U M M A R Y : o u t l i n e * h a n d l e d by P e r i m e t e r P a r a m e t e r O c c u l t a t l o n
C h a s i n g , f l l l - l n by B u l l e t S e a r c h , a n i m a t i o n c o n t i n u i t y m a n a g e m e n t
by l i s t - p r o c e s s i n g t e c h n i q u e . .
11
T h e new p i l o t t r a i n e r w i l
and d i p in r e s p o n s e to th'
six Riant C R T s , w i t h optl.
In fr
f o c u s the e y e on I n f i n i t y
at t h e s e a m s , the p i l o t w
ponding perspective simul,
of
w o r l d he is f l y i n g t h r o u g h , p l a n
d o g f l g h t l n R w i t h , and who k n o w e Superaan?
FOURTH ARTICLE.
Systems of Computer Image Corporation.
SO F A R WE H A V E S U M M A R I Z E D A N D DISTINGUISHED A M O N G
THE M A J O R TECHNIQUES FOR C O M P U T E R SYNTHESIS OF IMAGES
F R O M DIGITALLY S T O R E D R E P R E S E N T A T I O N S OF S C E N E S .
WE N O W T A K E THE W R A P S F R O M A DIFFERENT B U T R E L A T E D
SET OF TECHNIQUES - T H E S Y S T E M S O F
C O M P U T E R IMAGE C O R P O R A T I O N .
CAESAR S y a t e m . C h a r a c t e r s are
m a d e to m o v e j a w s and H p s by
J o i n t i n g t e c h n i q u e s i m i l a r to
A n i s i c II ( b e l o w ) , b u t in s u c h
Lee Harrison III got the ides for what is
n o w Computer Image Corporation In 1959. A l ready having an art degree, he went on for a
degree In electrical engineering, snd through
long lean years put together the technical basics
around which Cl'a systems are n o w built. C o m puter Image Corporation Is n o w a going concern,
and output from their systems. especially Scanimate, ia n o w widely visible on television.
lanlpulatlon
Computer Image Corporation aecma to be
the first firm to be commercially successful In
the halftone field. Whether they should be
Included with the others is arguable, h o w e v e r .
Their systems are not widely understood, and
the relation of theae syatems to the other ayslems
and programs described in these articles is
problematical. A m o n g the few w h o understand
their techniques, some argue thai they do not
synthesize images at all. but rather twist preexisting pictures with a sort of M o o g synthesizer,
and lhat their analog techniques are really just
c o m p o u n d oscillators rather than Irue computing.
I think that this view is w r o n g , at least as
regards their most ambitloua system, and that
CI's techniquea deserve review. All the world
is not digital. CI aystoms do fill up areas with
grey-scale (and other) pictures, and their systems involve three-dimensional coordinates,
occultatlon and coloration; thus I think il a p propriate lo discuss them here.
window
s p i n on i n v i s i b l e
BS s e p a r a t e b o n e s
T h e following discussion is the first, I
believe, to lift the veil of secrecy that has hitherto confounded observers of this company's
w o r k . In the light of the extreme sophistication
wilh which Ihey have pursued extremely strange
techniques, they should benefit from the wider
understanding. (Note that this material, which
has been assembled from various sources and
careful T V watching, ia partly conjectural.)
L i 3 3 a j o _ u s and z i g z a g f i g u r e s
are r a p i d l y s p u n in t h r e e d i m e n s i o n
-- that i s , v a r y i n g v o l t a g e s x , y
and z . T h e r e s u l t i n g " t u b e s " and
S C A N I M A T E is a popular device now widely
used (at CI's studios) for the making of T V c o m mercials and station-break e m b l e m s . This is
their simplest system, used for the conversion
and discombobulation of flat artwork. In Scanimate. the space trace is controlled by handoperated potentiometers. T w o separate oscillator
settings are available, so that the space trace
can have two separate oscillation patterns,
spinning out two entirely different virtual shapea
in 3-spacc. A handlhrotile eases from one
oscillator setting to the other. This permits on
image to be m o v e d , shrunk or enlarged, or
flipped; to go from whirling around to a sort of
hula; and m a n y more effects. T h e picture
painted on it m a y be seen to roll on invisible
spindles, bloom into fountains, or undulate as
pennants-- all by modulating the brightness of
the flying spot as it traces its unseen shape.
This s h a p e , in turn, can m o v e between its two
forms u n d e r control of the throttle.
IsilptUtV-*
OiWwr<MC
'Ihlie
spectlve calculation.
The c i r c u i t y
p e r m i t s t h e s e s h a p e s to f l e x at
j o i n t s , w a v e , and go t h r o u g h o t h e r
III S C A N I M A T E : z i g z a g and
curling shapea define a
m o v i n g s c r o l l on w h i c h an
I m a g e is p a i n t e d .
IN C A E S A R : c u r l i n g s h a p e s a r e
treated 2-dimensiona11y,
as b l o c k i n g c o n t r o l s for
artwork.
T h e extraordinary ramifications and
varieties of this system, with sit its electronic
add-on and composite m e t h o d s , stagger the most
jaded technical imagination.
At the heart of the CI systems is the principle of filling areaa of a C R T screen with an
oscillating trace. This is a principle c o m m o n
lo both Lissajoua figures and television; but
Computer Image has elaborated il peculiarly.
B y variations they paint twisted television i m a g e s ,
wiggle sections of superimposed d r a w i n g s , create
moving filigree effects, and hope to animate
whole groups of opaque electronic puppets in
3-space.
be r o t a t e d and s h a p e d in
n a y e v e n t u a l l y be r o l l e d
I I ) , w h i c h m a y t h e n be
on the a i d e n e a r e s t the
By u s i n g a s t o r a g e t u b e and s p i n n i n g the t r a c e
c l o s e t o g e t h e r , like c o t t o n c a n d y , and c u t t i n g off
t h e p a i n t i n g s i g n a l w h i l e t h e t r a c e is w i t h i n t h e
area a l r e a d y f i l l e d , we get e l e c t r o n i c m a s k i n g :
v/hlch b l e n d s a n i m a t e d d r a w i n g s In 2D ( C A E S A R )
an.' way e v e n t u a l l y m a n a g e s h a d o w s and o c c u l t a t l o n
m a s k i n g a m o n g 3D p u p p e t s ( A n i m a c I I ) .
Computer Image's syatems represent an
apparently unpromising approach brilliantly
followed through.
All of CI's systems are a strange combination of closed-circuit T V and analog components
out of a music synthesizer: oscillators, potentiometers, interconnection networks. T h e basic
mechanisms are the same for all. but they ere
carried to different logical extremes, with differing accoutrements, in the four systems.
T h e y all seem to be based on the extraordinary
Animac II, not yet implemented; it would seem
thai for business reasons the c o m p a n y decided
to raise m o n e y promoting simpler systems, so
its bread and butter n o w consists of two less
ambitious systems, Scanimate snd A n i m a c I;
both of which might be puzzling if not recognized as parts of a more elegant w h o l e . It
would seem they were designed b a c k w a r d s as
spinoffs from A n i m a c II, as w a s C A E S A R . their
more recent 2-D system.
A fascinating variety of embellishments
has been put into these systems by CI's ingenious engineers. Coloration of Ihe final video
signal ia added by gating color levels under
control of the brightness signal, permitting pictures with several grey-levela to be transformed
to up to four rainbow h u e s . Separate shapes
described by the space trace m a y be independently m o v e d and jointed at the same time:
Harrison pointedly calls such separate shapes
"bones." Darkening at the backside of a spun
s h a p e , or brightening at edges of a painted portion, and brightening in proportion to curl, are
all strange capabilities of this machine. Lipsynchronized mouthlike motion can be imparted
to any part of the shape spun by the space trace
(whether or not a mouth is painted on it), by an
audio detector feeding directly lo the circuitry
from a live m i k e . A n d the limba of CI's ghostly
figures can be m a d e to swing by connection of
sensors to Ihe animators themselves-- in a living
pantograph.
rt of w o r l d :
Into a p e e u l l s
undulate nnj
s p i n d l e s ( S e a n l a a t e ) , or w l g g U (CAESAR.
T u b e l i k e s h a p e s may
3D ( A n l a i c ) , and p u p p e t s
like c i g a r e t t e s ( A n i m a c
p a i n t e d from a T V p i c k u p
viewpoint.
IXgftK-rubt
spin
out
scope; continu o u s l y teat
p o t e n t i a l of
A N D LATiiP,, IN THE
SAME
FRAME:
cut o f f the
b r i g h t n e s s of
a l r e a d y an l m a R e
on t h e s c r e e n .
9)
^ p £ ^ X
K
Consider an oscillating trace on an oscilloscope. This is a two-dimensional oscillation,
having two signals, x and y . But a three-dimensional oscillation is also possible; any third
signal, z, can be interpreted as a third dimension, meaning that a "point of light" is whirling
out some pattern in a three-dimensional space—
an oacillotank. so to speak. Let us call this
point moving in three dimensions a "space trace."
A last Ct technique, technically minor but
remarkable in effect, permits thla blocking end
shadowing a m o n g separate objects. This is the
use of a storage C R T tube on which every frame
is painted (from the viewpoint or from the light
source). T h e picture is painted on the storage
C R T , nearest things first; snd the return signal
from the screen tells whether the apace traee is
crossing an area already painted during Ihe
frame. T h e tube's output signal then effectively
conBtitutea a silhouette. This clue Indicates that
the space trace should not be visible; and hence
is used lo cut off brightness while the trace la
within the already-filled area. This gates
between two desired objects or pictures, foreground and b a c k g r o u n d . If operated from ihe
point of view of the light. It gates shadow: the
signal is used to control the relative brightness
of the s h a d o w e d and u n a h a d o w e d features of a
puppet in 1-apace.
A n i m a c 1 (usually called A n i m a c ) provides
greater flexibility in controlling the space trace.
T h e syslem's oscillations ore controlled by an
input vidicon, which artists m a y quickly modify
with pastel check at the pickup. Ghostly tubular lettering, s w a r m i n g pendulum-patterns and
jiggling filigrees are a m o n g the possible doodles.
C A E S A R , their newest system, is oriented
toward Yogi Bear-type animation. T h e artist's
cartoons are automatically superimposed on s
b a c k g r o u n d or each other. T h e y m a y be m o v e d ,
and m a d e to wiggle u n d e r real-time control by
the user.
But it is to A n i m a c II that these curiosities
lead. What Harrison calls the "Snow While
Capability" of A n i m a c II will permit the sculpture
of full humanoid puppets, wilh perhaps thirty
articulated "bones." opaque to one another and
casting s h a d o w s , colored, m o v i n g and talking.
T w o y o u n g f e l l a s in a M a n h a t t a n l o f t .
M e s s r s . Rutt and E t r a , are offering a
m a c h i n e s i o l l a r to S c a n i m a t e hut m u c h
RE
RUTT ETRA
N o w lo view this trace w e need to cut it
d o w n to two dimensions. By ignoring one of
the traces w e can view the oscillotank In certain
fixed w a y s ; but by creating a "view calculator,"
a b o x performing certain perspective tranaTormationa on the three signals of the space trace,
w e m a y obtain a view of the oscillotank from a
movable vantage point. This is an x-y view
which w e m a y put on an ordinary oscilloscope.
Let us now add one more signal, b (for
brightness). This is the brightness signal familiar in tele via ion.
Brightness of the spot is thus independent
of the m o v e m e n t of the apace trace. For e x a m p l e ,
the apace trace could describe a helical path, a
sort of tornado motion, and w e could time its
apinning to phase with a T V signal. If w e n o w
brighten ihe apace trace only with the brightneaa signal of a T V pickup, w e n o w will see
(in our view of the oscillotank) what would look
like a T V picture curled around itself in space.
s built around
Output from all these signals is ordinarily
picked u p by another vidicon. which stabilises
it by converting it into conventional television
Imagery.
T h e o n l y p i c t u r e I've b e e n a b l e to
f i n d t h a t r e l a t e s to the 3D s c u l p t u r i n g of
A n i m a c II is t h i s f r a m e , b l o w n up from a
s h o r t 16nm s e q u e n c e .
T h e f i g u r e la s c u l p tured f r o m o s c i l l a t i o n s In t h r e e v a r i a b l e s ,
m o d u l a t e d to r e p r e s e n t thla f i g u r e of t h i r teen s e c t i o n s or " b o n e s . "
H e a d and t o r s o
a r e c l e a r l y v i s i b l e in the f i l m ; the f i g u r e
I t ' s not as f i n e l y d u t i i l . d - the Inner
s c r e e n r u n s at 525 l i n e s r a t h e r than
7 0 0 — b u t it c o s t s a o m e $ 1 5 , 0 0 0 I n s t e a d
of 3 1 5 0 , 0 0 0 .
40
+PFEWSOT+ r>A»V.
W H A T A B O U T REAL
THREE-DIMENSIONAL
DISPLAY?
Lou K a t z , of N Y U , put o l d - f a s h i o n e d s t e r e o p ticons up to the C R T , and d i s p l a y e d two s e p a r a t e
v i e w s to the two e y e s . W o r k s f i n e , e v e n w i t h
isometric display.
In science-fiction stories y o u hear about
h o w objects are m a d e to appear as if they're
standing in the middle of the r o o m . For instance,
I believe that in Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange
L a n d they watched a "tank" in w h i c h things
appeared.
B o b Spinrad of X e r o x Data Systems has a
patent o n displaying 3D from a * o m p u t e r through
an ordinary color T V . A s s u m i n g you're using
s o m e standard w a y of refreshing the T V - - d e s cribed elsewhere-- the i m a g e for one eye is displayed in g r e e n . the other in r e d , a n d y o u look
through red a n d fcreen glasses. T h e w o n d e r s of
m o d e r n science. Spinrad chuckles over It h i m self.
Well, a lot of people h a v e thought about
this, a n d it's not so easy as y o u might think.
O n e interesting s c h e m e used a sort of
translucent propellor. spinning rather fast, on
which computer-generated images w e r e p r o jected from b e l o w . It w a s d o n e b y the dotting
m e t h o d , so that a bright dot of light w o u l d a p pear high or low in space d e p e n d i n g on w h e ther it w a s projected on a relatively high or low
point o n the propellor.
A n o t h e r s c h e m e glued silver M y l a r to the
front of a l o u d s p e a k e r , then played a soft h u m
through the loudspeaker to pulse the M y l a r b a c k
a n d forth. T h e n y o u used that as a mirror to
look at w h a t w a s going o n the C R T - - w h i c h w a s
s h o w i n g a lot of points at o d d places that w o u l d
a p p e a r to be in s p a c e . Unfortunately this w a s
hard to coordinate, a n d , like the propellor,
often required y o u to put dots in several places
at o n c e , w h i c h don't w o r k .
f W vW*r,
For a while y o u could get— m a y b e y o u
still c a n — a three-dimensional c o m p u t e r output
device. Here's w h a t it did: it created objects
s h o w i n g data structures that h a d three variables.
(It didn't m a k e wire-frame objects or the like.)
Automatically ejecting wire through a styrofoam
b l o c k , a n d snipping the d o n e o n e s , it created
little m o u n t a i n s s h o w i n g three-dimensional data.
V e r y cute. Since m a n y people h a v e p r o b l e m s
with m o u n t a i n o u s c o m p u t e r data, it probably
should h a v e caught o n .
T h e n a lot of people m u m b l e the w o r d
"holography," as if that is going to settle s o m e thing. While h o l o g r a m s are terrific a n d r e m a r k able, a n d h a v e b e e n p r o d u c e d o n c o m p u t e r s ,
m a k i n g t h e m is not a process that c a n be carried
out decently o n sequential m a c h i n e s — let alone
m a k i n g t h e m in real time. S o if a solution to
interactive three-dimensional c o m p u t e r display
is going to c o m e t h r o u g h h o l o g r a p h y , it m e a n s
a w h o l e n e w batch of technology will h a v e to b e
invented.
This w a s interesting but h a d n u m e r o u s
disadvantages-- not the least of w h i c h w a s the
d a n g e r of the thing flying apart. (Translucent
materials tend not to be as strong a s , s a y ,
metal.) Another basic p r o b l e m , t h o u g h , w a s
the fact that a n y given point in the space could
only be displayed at a given time, w h e n the
propellor's height in that region w a s just right,
a n d that m e a n t that at that given instant y o u
couldn't display a n y of the other points that
could only be displayed at that instant. A c o n siderable disadvantage.
Probably the most astonishing 3 D display
is Sutherland's Incredible H e l m e t . This consists
Df a helmet with two dinky C R T s m o u n t e d o n it,
each being driven in real time b y a perspective
system (such as the L D S - 1 ) a n d set u p with
prisms to the wearer's e y e s . T h r o u g h the p r i s m s
the w e a r e r can see the real w o r l d in front of h i m .
Reflected in the p r i s m s , h o w e v e r , a n d thus m i x e d
into the view of the real w o r l d , is the g l o w i n g
wire-frame being presented to him-- in p e r s p e c tive, a n d with its separate v i e w s m e r g i n g into
an apparent object in front of h i m . But he n e e d
not stand still: as he m o v e s , the helmet's c h a n ging position is monitored b y the p r o g r a m , a n d
the display system c h a n g e s the v i e w s accordingly
m e a n i n g he can walk a r o u n d a n d through a displayed object. T h e illusion, a n d the possibilities,
are fantastic: imaginary architecture, explanations
a n d diagrams of things in the r o o m , poetry that
c h a n g e s as y o u walk through it, ... well, y o u
w o r k on it. Not available commercially.
T h e r e w a s a lot to b e said for tents. T h e y
could b e m a d e b y tailors, rather than c o n s t r u c tion g a n g s ; they could b e transported a n d stored
flat. T h e i r surface-to-volume ratios couldn't be
beat.
Noting this, a n architect n a m e d R o n R e s c h
said to himself: w h a t about m a k i n g large-scale
foldable structures, likeunto geodesic d o m e s ,
that cou Id b e simply m a n u f a c t u r e d in sheet
form a n d creased at the factory, then bolted a n d
cabled a n d strutted in the field?
R e s c h h a s n o w for y e a r s b e e n e x p e r i m e n t i n g with c o m p l e x folded structures.
M y friend A n d r e w J . S i n g e r , w h o c o m e s
a n d goes in the c o m p u t e r field a n d is o n e of
the five or six smartest people I ever m e t , says
h e k n o w s h o w to build a display t a n k , a n d I
believe h i m . H e explained it quickly to m e o n c e
a n d I a s k e d h i m to tell it a g a i n , but he just said
s a d l y , "What's the use-- there are so m a n y
great things that could be d o n e . . . "
FOUR DIMENSIONS, EGAD
So m u c h for three d i m e n s i o n s . N o w , s o m e
readers are b o u n d to a s k , " W h a t about four d i m ensions?" b e c a u s e they are science-fiction fans
or troublemakers or mathematicians or s o m e t h i n g .
Just as w e can m a k e a two-dimensional
picture of a three-dimensional object, it is p o s sible, d e a r r e a d e r , to m a k e a two-dimensional
picture of a four-dimensional object.
W h a t is a four-dimensional object?
There's only o n e trouble. If y o u ' v e
m e s s e d with p a p e r airplanes y o u k n o w that
folding is an inaccurate p r o c e s s , a n d so the
prospect of discovering c o m p l e x geometric structures b y the hand-folding of p a p e r is rather
slim.
R e c o g n i z i n g this, R e s c h has contrived to
w o r k at a c o m p u t e r display. His w o r k — the
search for great folding structures-- is o n e of
the first practical uses of halftone p o l y g o n
c o m p u t e r g r a p h i c s . H e is, naturally, at the
University of U t a h .
W h y , a n y object that has four d i m e n s i o n s ,
(thanks a lot, y o u s a y ) , or e v e n four m e a s u r a b l e
qualities, s u c h as height, w e i g h t , age a n d g r a d e
point a v e r a g e . Well, let's not get into that, but
it turns out that v i e w s of such multidimensional
structures m a y b e obtained b y the s a m e h o m o g e n e o u s matrix techniques already mentioned for
regular perspective calculations. Rule of t h u m b :
h o w e v e r m a n y dimensions y o u r data has originally,
y o u a d d o n e m o r e d i m e n s i o n , h o m o g e n e o u s with
the rest, a n d there exist formulas (sorry, I don't
h a v e t h e m ) for view calculation.
(Note, of c o u r s e , that while a t w o - d i m e n sional view is a picture, a three-dimensional
view is a three-dimensional object-- you'll h a v e
to view it o n an interactive 3 D c o m p u t e r display
of s o m e kind.)
From videotape,
"The Hydrogen Atom
According to
Quantum Mechanics"
by T.J. O'Donnell
& David Parrish.
I t i s u s u a l l y hard t o combine t h i n g s :
especially complicated technical things.
Usually i t takes i n f i n i t e r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n s ,
finagling, modification, intertwingling.
The C i r c l e G r a p h i c s H a b i t a t , h o w e v e r ,
i s something else again.
I tr e s u l t s from
two i n t r i c a t e , i n d e p e n d e n t t e c h n o l o g i c a l
d e v e l o p m e n t s , e a c h an i n t r i c a t e s y s t e m c a r e f u l l y c r a f t e d b y an e x c e p t i o n a l l y t a l e n t e d
p e r s o n , coming t o g e t h e r l i k e t w o hands c l a p i n g . L i k e ham a n d e g g s , l i k e man a n d woman,
S a n d i n ' s Image P r o c e s s o r a n d D e F a n t i ' s GRASS
language c o n j o i n d i r e c t l y and i n t e r a c t p e r f e c t l y as i f t h e y h a d b e e n made f o r e a c h
o t h e r , which they were n o t .
Dan S a n d i n ' s Image P r o c e s s o r ( s e e p.J>M&)
i s a system o f c i r c u i t boxes t h a t a l l o w
v i d e o images t o be d y n a m i c a l l y c o l o r e d , matt e d , d i s s o l v e d a n d p a l p i t a t e d ; Tom D e F a n t i ' s
l a n g u a g e ( s e e "Coup de GRASS, p . j ) ^ ' 3 l ) p e r m i t s t h e r a p i d c r e a t i o n , v i e w i n g and manipu l a t i o n o f t h r e e - d i m e n s i o n a l o b j e c t s on t h e
screen o f a p a r t i c u l a r computer setup.
To c o m b i n e t h e m , y o u j u s t
s y s t e m a t Tom's s y s t e m .
p o i n t Dan's
L e t ' s s a y t h a t o n t h e s c r e e n o f Tom's
s y s t e m we a r e v i e w i n g a n a n i m a t e d b i r d ,
f l a p p i n g i t s wings.
S i n c e i t ' s b e i n g shown
on a t h r e e - d i m e n s i o n a l r e f r e s h e d l i n e d i s p l a y
( s e e pp-iUZT-S.iAJ") , i t a p p e a r s o n l y as w h i t e
l i n e s on a d a r k s c r e e n .
Dan m e r e l y p o i n t s a TV c a m e r a a t Tom's
s c r e e n , a n d r u n s t h e TV s i g n a l i n t o h i s I m age P r o c e s s o r .
Now, i n t h e Image P r o c e s s o r ,
he g i v e s i t t h e m a g i c o f c o l o r .
Different
c o l o r s , i n t e r p l a y i n g w i t h g r a d a t i o n s and
subtlety.
From
videotape,
"The Number
Cruncher,
by TDF & DJS.
From
videotape,
"The Spiral
Tape,'
by DJS and TDF.
From t h e Image P r o c e s s o r , t h e f i n i s h e d
s i g n a l goes o u t t o v i d e o t a p e r e c o r d e r s .
What t h e n h a v e we o v e r a l l ? One o f t h e
w o r l d ' s most f l e x i b l e f a c i l i t i e s f o r t h e
rapid production o f educational videotapes.
To e x p l a i n s o m e t h i n g , y o u c r e a t e a
t h r e e - d i m e n s i o n a l s t i c k - f i g u r e "model" o f i t ,
u s i n g D e F a n t i ' s GRASS l a n g u a g e .
Then y o u
make a v i d e o t a p e o f i t , s h o w i n g r o t a t i o n s o r
o t h e r m a n i p u l a t i o n s , u s i n g t h e Image P r o c e s sor t o give i t c o l o r .
D e F a n t i a n d S a n d i n h a v e s p e n t much o f
t h e a c a d e m i c y e a r '73-4 g e t t i n g t h e k i n k s o u t
of t h i s procedure.
(Many o f t h e d i f f i c u l t i e s
stem f r o m t h e u n r e l i a b i l i t y o f v i d e o t a p e r e corders.)
S t i l l s f r o m some o f t h e f i r s t w o r k
a r e shown h e r e .
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Thomas A. D e F a n t i , D a n i e l J . S a n d i n a n d
T h e o d o r H. N e l s o n , " C o m p u t e r G r a p h i c s as
a Way o f L i f e . "
To be p r e s e n t e d a t U.
of Colorado computer g r a p h i c s c o n f e r e n c e ,
J u l y 1974; t o appear i n p r o c e e d i n g s
purp o r t e d l y t o be c a l l e d C o m p u t e r s a n d G r a p h i c s •
88
ivc Yitfos or irjcwft
kt
Uneducated people typically think of
e d u c a t i o n as the l e a r n i n g of a lot of f a c t s
and s k i l l s .
While facts and skills certainly
h a v e t h e i r m e r i t s , " h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n " is a l s o
largely concerned with tying ideas
together,
and especially alternative
structures of such
tying-together: with s h o w i n g you the vast u n certainties of things.
3
A w o n d e r f u l J a p a n e s e film of the
fifties
was called Rasho-Mon.
It d e p i c t e d a s p e c i f i c
e v e n t - - a r a p e - - as told by five d i f f e r e n t
people.
As the a u d i e n c e w a t c h e s the five s e parate s t o r i e s , they m u s t try to j u d g e w h a t
really happened.
Nobody tells the complete truth, though
some try.
N o b o d y knows the c o m p l e t e
truth.
N o w h e r e may we find p r i n t e d the c o m p l e t e
truth.
There are only different views, assertions,
supposed facts that support one view or another
b u t are d i s p u t e d by d i s b e l i e v e r s in the p a r t i c u lar v i e w s ; and so o n .
There are "agreed-on
f a c t s , " b u t t h e i r m e a n i n g is o f t e n in d o u b t .
1.
DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT TO L E A R N . But you can't
know e x a c t l y , because of course you don't know exactly
h o w any f i e l d i s s t r u c t u r e d u n t i l y o u k n o w a l l a b o u t i t .
0*1 iT,
2.
READ EVERYTHING YOU CAN * especially w h a t you
e n j o y , since that way you can read more of it and f a s t e r .
3.
G R A B FOR I N S I G H T S . Regardless of points others
are trying to m a k e , when you recognize an insight that has
m e a n i n g for y o u , m a k e i t y o u r o w n . I t m a y h a v e to d o w i t h
t h e s h a p e o f m o l e c u l e s , o r t h e p e r s o n a l i t y of a s p e c i f i c
e m p e r o r , o r t h e q u i r k s o f a G r e a t M a n in the P i e l d .
Its
i m p o r t a n c e is n o t h o w c e n t r a l i t i s , b u t h o w c l e a r a n d i n t e r e s t i n g a n d m e m o r a b l e to y o u . R E M E M B E R I T . T h e n g o f o r
another.
T h e great c o m p r o m i s e of the w e s t e r n w o r l d
is that w e go b y the r u l e : a s s u m e t h a t w e n e v e r
know the final truth a b o u t a n y t h i n g .
There are
continuing Issues, Mysteries, Continuing
Dialogues .
What about flying saucers, "why Rome
fell," was there a Passover P l o t , and Did Roosevelt know Pearl Harbor would be attacked?
4.
TIE INSIGHTS T O G E T H E R . Soon you will have your
o w n s t r i n g o f i n s i g h t s in a f i e l d , l i k e t h e s t r i n g o f l i g h t s
around a Christmas tree.
Outsiders find the intellectual world pompous , v a g u e in its u n d e c i d e d i s s u e s , s t u f f y in
its q u o t e s and c i t a t i o n s .
B u t in a w a y
these
are the sounds of b a t t l e .
The clash of theories
is w h a t m a n y f i n d e x h i l a r a t i n g a b o u t t h e i n t e l lectual world.
T h e S c h o l a r l y A r e n a is s i m p l y
a C i r c u s H a x i m u s in w h i c h t h e s e b a t t l e s a r e s c h e duled.
5.
CONCENTRATE ON MAGAZINES, NOT B O O K S . Magazines
have far m o r e insights p e r inch o f t e x t , a n d c a n b e read
nuch f a s t e r . B u t w h e n a b o o k r e a l l y s p e a k s t o y o u , l a v i s h
attention o n f t .
6.
M a n y p e o p l e t h i n k " s c i e n c e " is f r e e f r o m
all t h i s .
These are people who do not know much
about science.
M o r e a n d m o r e is s c i e n t i f i c a l l y
k n o w n , t r u e ; b u t it is r e p e a t e d l y d i s c o v e r e d
that
s o m e s c i e n t i f i c " k n o w l e d g e " is u n t r u e , a n d this
p r o b l e m is b u i l t i n t o t h e s y s t e m .
The
important
t h i n g a b o u t s c i e n c e is n o t t h a t e v e r y t h i n g w i l l
be known, or that everything unanimously
believe d b y s c i e n t i s t s is n e c e s s a r i l y t r u e , b u t t h a t
s c i e n c e c o n t a i n s a systern f o r s e e k i n g
untruth
and purging it.
8.
"FIND YOUR MAN."
S o m e w h e r e in t h e w o r l d is s o m e o n e
who will answer your questions extraordinarily w e l l .
If y o u
find h i m , dog h i m . He may be a janitor or a teenage kid; no
m a t t e r . F o l l o w h i m w i t h y o u r b e g g i n g - b o w l , if t h a t ' s w h a t h e
w a n t s , or take him to expensive r e s t a u r a n t s , or w h a t e v e r .
9.
KEEP IMPROVING YOUR Q U E S T I O N S . Probably in y o u r
h e a d t h e r e a r e q u e s t i o n s t h a t d o n ' t s e e m to l i n e u p w i t h
what you're hearing. Don't assume that-you don't understand;
keep adjusting the q u e s t i o n s till y o u can g e t a n answer that
relates to w h a t you w a n t e d .
1 0 . Y O U R F I E L D IS B O U N D E D W H E R E YOU W A N T I T T O B E .
J u s t b e c a u s e o t h e r s g r o u p a n d s t e r e o t y p e t h i n g s in c o n v e n t i o n al w a y s does not m e a n they are necessarily r i g h t .
Intellectual
s u b j e c t s a r e c o n n e c t e d e v e r y w h i c h w a y ; y o u r f i e l d is w h a t y o u
think it i s .
(Again, this is one of t h e . t h i n g s that w i l l give
you insights and k e e p you m o t i v a t e d ; but it will get you into
t r o u b l e if y o u try t o g o f o r d e g r e e s . )
"Knowledge," then-- and indeed mos t of our
civilization and w h a t remains of those p r e v i o u s - is a v a s t y c r o s s - t a n g l e o f i d e a s a n d e v i d e n t i a l
m a t e r i a l s , not a p y r a m i d of truth.
So that p r e serving its s t r u c t u r e , and i m p r o v i n g its a c c e s s i b i l i t y , is i m p o r t a n t to u s a l l .
reason
we
need
hypertexts
FIND YOUR OWN SPECIAL TOPICS, AND PURSUE T H E M .
7. GO TO C O N V E N T I O N S . For some reason, conventions are
a s p l e n d i d c o n c e n t r a t e d w a y t o l e a r n t h i n g s ; t a l k i n g to p e o p l e
h e l p s . D o n ' t t h i n k y o u h a v e to b e a n y b o d y s p e c i a l to g o to a
convention; just plunk down your m o n e y . But you have to have
a h a n d l e . C a l l i n g y o u r s e l f a C o n s u l t a n t i s g o o d ; " S t u d e n t " is
perfectly honorable.
T h i s is t h e g r e a t t r a d i t i o n o f w e s t e r n
civilization.
T h e W e s t e r n W o r l d i s , in an
important sense, a continuing dialogue
among
people who have thought different
things.
" S c h o l a r s h i p " is the t r a d i t i o n o f t r y i n g t o
improve, collate and resolve u n c e r t a i n t i e s .
The fundamental ground rules are that no issue
is e v e r c l o s e d , n o i n t e r c o n n e c t i o n is i m p o s s i b l e .
It a l l c o m e s d o w n to w h a t is w r i t t e n , b e c a u s e
the t h o u g h t s and m i n d s t h e m s e l v e s , of c o u r s e , do
not last.
(The apparatus of citation and f o o t note are simply a combination of h a t - t i p p i n g ,
go-look-if-you-don't-believe-me, and you-mightwant-to-read-this-yourself.)
one
Jr.
A s Ear a s I c a n t e l l , t h e s e a r e the t e c h n i q u e s u s e d
b y b r i g h t p e o p l e w h o w a n t to l e a r n s o m e t h i n g o t h e r t h a n
b y t a k i n g c o u r a e a in i t . I t ' s t h e w a y P h . D . ' a p i c k u p
a second field; it's the way journalists and "geniuses"
operate) it b r i n g s the g e n e r a l understandings of a field
that children of e m i n e n t p e o p l e in that field g e t as a
b i r t h r i g h t ! i t ' s t h e w a y a n y b o d y c a n l e a r n a n y t h i n g , if
he h a s the n e r v e .
T h e R a s h o - M o n P r i n c i p l e : e v e r y t h i n g is
like that.
The complete truth about something
is n e v e r k n o w n .
W h i c h is
*hinkertoys.
1
T h e r e are l i m i t a t i o n s . T h i s d o e s n ' t g i v e you lab e x p e r i e n c e , and y o u w i l l c o n t i n u a l l y have to be m a k i n g up for
g a p s . B u t for a l e r t n e s s a n d the a b i l i t y to use his m i n d ,
give me the m a n w h o ' s learned this w a y , rather than been
b l i n k e r e d and c l i c h e d to d e a t h w i t h i n the educational s y s t e m .
and
BIBLIOGRAPHY
W i l m a r S h i r a s , C h i l d r e n o f the A t o m .
Science-Fiction a b o u t w h a t a school could be like w h e r e
k i d s r e a l l y u s e d t h e i r m i n d s . I've a l w a y s b e e n s u r e i t
w a s p o s s i b l e ; t h e R . E . S . I . S . T . O . R . S . (see p .
made
me surer.
I &OS I
I
M M
#>o«l^e$ of f«i^
u n l c a t i o n - - w h e t h e r w r i t t e n or s n o k e n
<
d i s a s s e m b l y of t h e T l n k e r t o y of
thought
i n t o p i e c e s , a n d p l a c i n g It on a
c o n v e y o r b e l t to its p l a c e
eassembly.
^
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W W 6 - /
3par^(^v
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...
0
0
1
credit procetf
being an e x a m i n a t i o n of some v e r y C o m p l e x H a t t e r s
w h i c h N o b o d y Seems to U n d e r s t a n d ; and whose
Generality of Relevance may be Gradually A p p r e h e n d e d .
( E v e n t u a l l y I h o p e to d e v e l o p a s o m e w h a t m o r e f o r m a l
t r e a t m e n t o f " i d e a s , " as d i s t i n c t from p r o p o s i t i o n s ,
s e n t e n c e k e r n e l s , e t c . B u t there is c e r t a i n l y n o r o o m
for that h e r e .
(Logicians! show me the truth-table of
"BUT.")
T h e p r o c e s s of w r i t i n g is p o o r l y u n d e r s t o o d in m o s t q u a r t e r s .
M a n y w o r k i n g w r i t e r s d e s p a i r of b e i n g " s y s t e m a t i c , " g e t t i n g
things done as b e s t they c a n . On the other h a n d , people w h o think
t h e y m i g h t b e a b l e to c o n t r i b u t e - - p a r t i c u l a r l y t h e s y m b o l i c l o g i c i a n s a n d t r a n s f o r m a t i o n a l l i n g u i s t s — b e i n g i m m e r s e d in t h e i r o w n
f o r m a l i s m s , simply d o n ' t see w h a t ' s going o n — a t l e a s t , w h e n I've
tried to talk to them.
W r i t i n g is n o t s i m p l e . A s w i t h v i s i o n o r s p e e c h o r r i d i n g a
b i c y c l e , an i m m e n s e l y c o m p l e x p r o c e s s is b e i n g u n c o n s c i o u s l y p u r sued.
Some people think you m a k e an o u t l i n e and follow i t , filling
o u t the d e t a i l s o f the o u t l i n e u n t i l the p i e c e is f i n i s h e d .
This
is a b s u r d .
(True, some people can do t h i s , but that is simply a
shortcutting of the real process.) Basically w r i t i n g is
THE TRY-AND-TRY-AGAIN INTERPLAY of PARTS AND DETAILS
OVERALL AND UNIFYING IDEAS WHICH KEEP CHANGING.
In f a c t a n u m b e r o f t h i n g s a r e h a p p e n i n g , o f t e n
We can separate them into three:
against
simultaneously.
1.
P r o v i s i o n a l d e v e l o p m e n t of ideas and points:
A) forming o v e r a l l o r g a n i z i n g i d e a s , B) s e l e c t i n g t e n tative points; C) inductively finding overall o r g a n i z a tion among them; D) finding r e l a t i o n s of i n t e r e s t b e t w e e n
points.
2. C o m p l e x s i f t i n g a n d a d j u s t m e n t a m o n g c o l l e c t i o n s of p o i n t s ,
overall ideas.
N o w , it h a p p e n s t h a t a g r e a t d e a l of w r i t i n g is c o n c e r n e d w i t h
n o t e s t o t h e r e a d e r a b o u t a c c o r d a n c e s in t h e m a t e r i a l . In f a c t ,
q u i t e a few w o r d s are e x c l u s i v e l y c o n c e r n e d w i t h s u b t l y p o i n t i n g o u t
to the reader the accords and d i s c o r d s w i t h i n the expository structure
of w h a t he is r e a d i n g . W e m a y c a l l t h e s e a c c o r d a n c e - c o n n e c t i v e s or
accordance-notes.
T w o of the i
; basic terms are Indeed and b u t .
T h e w o r d indeed h a s an i n t e r e s t i n g
function.
T h e w o r d i n d e e d (in i t s m a i n u s e , a t t h e b e g i n n i n g o f a s e n t e n c e )
i n d i c a t e s a n a c c o r d b e t w e e n w h a t h a s j u s t b e e n s a i d a n d w h a t is t o
follow.
In o t h e r w o r d s , i t f u n c t i o n s a s a p o s i t i v e t r a n s i t i o n , i m p e t u s o r g a s p e d a l , i n d i c a t i n g a c o n t i n u a t i o n o f t h e f l o w in t h e d i r e c t i o n
already indicated.
So do the w o r d s t h u s , t h e n , t h e r e f o r e , m o r e o v e r , so
and furthermore•
T h e s e a r e i n f i x a c c o r d s , t h a t i s , n o t e s of accord
that go b e t w e e n two i t e m s . We also see prefix a c c o r d s , such as
s i n c e . Inasmuch a s , insofar a s ; these h a v e to be followed by
two c l a u s e s , the s e c o n d of w h i c h is in a c c o r d w i t h the f i r s t .
T h e w o r d b u t is e x a c t l y the o p p o s i t e . It i n d i c a t e s a d i s c o r d or
c o n t r a d i s t i n c t i o n , a n e g a t i v e t r a n s i t i o n , " b r a k e s " in t h e f l o w ,
other
such infix discords include n e v e r t h e l e s s , despite t h i s , on the other
h a n d , even s o , and "Actually,.••"
S i m i l a r l y , there are prefix d i s cords: w h i l e , despite, though•.., notwithstanding•
I find t h i s t o p i c of inquiry v e r y i n t e r e s t i n g . T h e s e sorts of
terms have been used since time immemorial by writers adjusting their
t r a n s i t i o n s for
s m o o t h flow (note s u c h a n t i q u e y v a r i a n t s as h a p l y ,
h o w b e i t , w i t h a l , forasmuch and h o w s o m e v e r ) , b u t the importance and
structure of this service has n o t , I t h i n k , been generally understood.
(Note a l s o t h a t t h e r e a r e m o r e i n t r i c a t e a c c o r d a n c e - c o n n e c t i v e s :
I wish we could go here into the structure of
h F*g|-..j s t l e a s t ,
. . .if_ n o t . . . , . . . o t h e r w i s e . . . , A n y w a y . . . , a n d N o w . . . . )
(Note: the t r y - a n d - t r y - a g a i n revision and reconsideration p r o c e s s ,
t i n k e r i n g w i t h s t r u c t u r a l i n t e r c o n n e c t i o n s , is a u n i v e r s a l c o m p o n e n t
of the c r e a t i v e p r o c e s s in e v e r y t h i n g from m o v i e e d i t i n g to m a c h i n e
d e s i g n . T h e r e o u g h t to b e a n a m e for i t . I c a n ' t t h i n k of a s a t i s f a c tory o n e , a l t h o u g h I w o u l d c o m m e n d to y o u r a t t e n t i o n g r a n d e s i g n l n g ,
piece-whole diddlework, grand fuddling, meta-mogrification, and
t h a t m o s t e x a l t e d p o s s i b i l i t y , t a g n e b u l o p s i s (the v i s u a l i z a t i o n o f
s t r u c t u r e in c l o u d s ) . )
T h e past is like the r e c e d i n g v i e w out the b a c k
of a n a u t o m o b i l e : the m o s t r e c e n t is m o r e c o n s p i c u o u s ,
a n d e v e r y t h i n g seems e v e n t u a l l y t o b e l o s t .
3.
Fine splicing within developed sequences.
A) transition a n d j u x t a p o s i t i o n m a n a g e m e n t s , B)
c i t a t i o n s , C) s m o o t h i n g .
cross-
R e g r e t t a b l y , there's no r o o m or time to p u r s u e this h e r e .
{The a r t i c l e I h a d i n t e n d e d t o w r i t e w o u l d t a k e a w h o l e s p r e a d . )
For people w h o really care about the m a t t e r , I w i l l make some
p o i n t s in v e r y a b b r e v i a t e d f o r m .
T h e interesting s t r u c t u r e s in w r i t t e n m a t e r i a l
include:
"Points"— pieces, sentences, phrases, examples, plot
and expository "points."
events,
Organizing principles and structures (which w e w i l l c a l l here
a r c h e s ) — final i r o n i e s , things to b e led up t o , t h e m e s ,
p l o t s , concepts, principles, expository structures, -organizing titles, overconcepts. These may be either local
or g l o b a l , over the entire w o r k .
(Note: arches may n o t
b e h e i r a r c h i c a l relative to one another.)
Now, we may think of points and arches as individual objects
which have i n d i v i d u a l r e l a t i o n s to one a n o t h e r . B e t w e e n two p o i n t s
there, m a y b e a g o o d t r a n s i t i o n ; a s p e c i f i c p o i n t m a y l i n k w e l l t o a
specific arch.
T h e p r o b l e m in w r i t i n g , t h e n , is t h a t o v e r a l l s t r u c t u r e s y o u
c h o o s e ( s y s t e m s o f a r c h e s ) m a y n o t l i n k w e l l to t h e p o i n t s t h a t
h a v e to b e i n c l u d e d a m o n g t h e m ; a n d t h a t t r a n s i t i o n s b e t w e e n p o i n t s
don't work out the way you want them t o . Good transitions can't be
worked out for the sequence of points you w a n t to m a k e , o r , a l t e r n a t i v e l y , there are too many good transitions w i t h i n a specific
s t r u c t u r e of p o i n t s , and p i c k i n g among them i n v o l v e s d i f f i c u l t
c h o i c e s — especially when y o u have to d e v i s e a p p r o p r i a t e arches on
the b a s i s of the f i n a l s e q u e n c e of p o i n t s .
T h e r e are a n u m b e r of o t h e r i m p o r t a n t s t r u c t u r e s in w r i t t e n
material. T h e y include accordances, juxtapositions, cross-citations,
connotations, nuances and rhythms.
The only ones w e will discuss here are
accordances.
T h e term " a c c o r d a n c e , " as I s h a l l use it h e r e , is s i m p l y a
vaguely f o r m a l w a y of talking a b o u t w h e t h e r t h i n g s m a t c h or fit
t o g e t h e r . T w o i t e m s a r e i n a c c o r d if t h e y m a t c h o r f i t w e l l , o r i n
d i s c o r d if t h e y m a t c h o r f i t b a d l y . T h u s a g o o d t r a n s i t i o n b e t w e e n
p o i n t s (as m e n t i o n e d e a r l y ) r e p r e s e n t s a n a c c o r d , a n d a g o o d l i n k
b e t w e e n a p o i n t a n d a n a r c h is a l s o a n a c c o r d .
We know we chould save t h i n g s , but what?
Those
w i t h t h e j o b o f s a v i n g t h i n g s — t h e l i b r a r i e s and m u s e u m s — s a v e s o m a n y of t h e w r o n g t h i n g s , t h e f a s h i o n a b l e
and e x p e n s i v e and h i g h - t o n e d things esteemed by a given
t i m e , a n d m o s t of t h e r e s t s l i p s p a s t . E a c h g e n e r a t i o n
s e e m s to r i d i c u l e t h e t h i n g s h e l d in e s t e e m b y t i m e s b e f o r e , b u t o f c o u r s e t h i s c a n n e v e r b e a g u i d e to w h a t
s h o u l d b e s a v e d . A n d t h e r e i s s o m u c h to s a v e : m u s i c ,
writing, sinking Venice, vanishing species.
But why should things be saved?
E v e r y t h i n g is
deeply i n t e r t w i n g l e d . We save for k n o w l e d g e and n o s talgia, but what we thought was knowledge often turns
to n o s t a l g i a , a n d n o s t a l g i a o f t e n b r i n g s u s d e e p e r i n s i g h t s that cut a c r o s s our lives and v e r y s e l v e s . *
C o m p u t e r s offer an i n t e r e s t i n g d a y d r e a m : that w e
m a y b e a b l e to s t o r e t h i n g s d i g i t a l l y i n s t e a d o f
physically.
In o t h e r w o r d s , t u r n t h e l i b r a r i e s to d i g i tal s t o r a g e (see H y p e r t e x t s ,
digitize paintings
and p h o t o g r a p h s (see " P i c t u r e P r o c e s s i n g , p . » * | 0 ) ; e v e n
d i g i t i z e t h e g e n e t i c c o d e s o f a n i m a l s , so t h a t s p e c i e s
c a n b e r e s t o r e d a t f u t u r e d a t e s (see " T h e H i t i e s t C o m puter," p. t o ) .
pVsH);
Digital storage possesses several special advantages.
D i g i t a l l y stored m a t e r i a l s may be copied by automatic
m e a n B ; c o r r e c t i v e m e a s u r e s a r e p o s s i b l e , to p r e v e n t e r r o r s
f r o m c r e e p i n g I n — i . e . , " n o d e t e r i o r a t i o n " In p r i n c i p l e ;
and they could be k e p t in v a r i o u s p l a c e s , lessening m a n k i n d ' s d e p e n d e n c e o n i t s e g g s b e i n g a l l in o n e b a s k e t ( l i k e
the L i b r a r y at A l e x a n d r i a , w h o s e b u r n i n g d u r i n g the o c c u p a t i o n of J u l i u s C a e s a r w a s o n e of the g r e a t e s t l o s s e s in
human history).
B u t this w o u l d of c o u r s e r e q u i r e far m o r e compact
and r e l i a b l e forms of d i g i t a l s t o r a g e than exist right n o w .
N e v e r t h e l e s s , we better start thinking about i t .
T h o B e w h o f e a r a c o m i n g h o l o c a u s t (see p . M ) h a d b e s t t h i n k
about p u l l i n g some p a r t of m a n k i n d t h r o u g h , w i t h some part of
w h a t h e u s e d to h a v e .
T . H . N e l s o n , T h e S n u n k l n g of t h e H e a r t : O n t h e
P e•yy c h o l o g y o f P u n s a n d P r e t e r i s m in C a r r o l l a n d O t h e r B .
1 9180,
80 unless a decent writing system comes along.
?8
DM 44
REALITY IS OBSOLETE
In recent
presentational
EnSer t h e name
u n a e r ti.c
The idea that objective reality Is perceived by our s e n s e s ,
1s an obsolete concept. Old truisms like "seeing 1s believing",
become much less believable as we become more aware t h a t , the
biological machinery of life Itself, transforms images of the
physical world before we are made conscious of them. These
biological mechanisms share many similarities in principle and
in application, to other mechanisms observed in the natural
environment and those invented for our own use. Since we are
becoming more aware of the nature of perception and those
mechanisms involved, now is the time to gain control of o u r selves and share more discretion 1n the operation-of our own
biological machinery. He have entered the age of hyper-reality.
y e a r s a v e r y b a s i c change has o c c u r r e d i n
systems o f a l l k i n d s .
We may s u m m a r i z e I t
b r a n c h i n g , s i t h o u g h t h e r e a r e many v a r i a n t s
_
,
presenting pictures, texts
m
s
f
o
r
Essentially, today's systems
f o r P.
~ .
and w h a W o t
can bring you different things
automatically
S e l e c t i o n o f t h i s type i s gencrd e p e n d i n g on w h a t y o u
do
"TVvcalled branching.
( I have suggested
hynermedia f o r p r e s e n t a t i o n a l media which
( a n d o t h e r ) m u l t i d i m e n s i o n a l ways.)
A number o f b r a n c h i n g
Branching
media e x i s t
Oay-to-day living provides only a limited variety of
physical s t i m u l u s , and little Incentive to manipulate the
physiological and psychological processing involved, Han's
historical preoccupation with the need to maintain constant
images of the physical w o r l d , is a product of his extreme
orientation toward physical survival in a hostile environment.
The current evolving society of leisure orientations removes
this need for constant images and thereby enhances the opportunities
for a more complete use of the sensory apparatus and those r e lated brain functions. Many have turned to drugs or meditation.
More specifically it is proposed h e r e , that modern communications
technology be employed as a "vehicle of departure" from this need
for constant i m a g e s , to bring about a more complete use of the
human technology itself. Hyper-reality is the employment of
technology other than the biological m a c h i n e r y , when used to
affect the performance of the biological machinery beyond its
own limitations. This is almost like making adjustments on a
television s e t , except you are what's plugged i n , and the controls are outside your b o d y , being part of whatever technology
is interfaced to the body itself. As part of such a manmachine interface you could extend your own mental processes,
or if you should c h o o s e , you could just diddle with the dials.
Hyper-reality is an opportunity to enhance the various qualities
of the human e x p e r i e n c e . Reality is obsolete.
or are p o s s i b l e .
movies o r h y p e r f i l m s (see n e a r b y ) .
Branching
texts
or hypertexts
Branching
audio,
music, e t c .
Branching
the generic term
perform i n this
(see nearby).
slide-shows.
W i s h we c o u l d g e t i n t o
some o f t h a t
stuff
here.
The idea of b r a n c h i n g m o v i e s is q u i t e e x c i t i n g .
The possibility of it is a n o t h e r thing e n t i r e l y .
— How Wachepreea
The only system I know of that worked was at the
1967 Montreal World's Fair (Expo 6 7 ) . A t the Czech
Pavilion— you will recall that before the crackdown
they had quite a yeasty culture g o i n g in C z e c h o s l o v a k i a —
there were some terrific fantic systems g o i n g .
One was
a wall of cubes with slide projectors inside (that r o l l ed toward you and back as they changed their p i c t u r e s ) .
And then the M o v i e .
A
COPYRIGHT
1973
(see p. DM 6)
AUDITAC, LTD.
The Czechoslovak!an Branching M o v i e — I forget its
real n a m e — had the audience vote on w h a t was to h a p p e n
next at a number of d i f f e r e n t j u n c t u r e s .
What should
she do now, what will he do n e x t , e t c .
A n d lo a n d b e h o l d !
after they had voted, the lights went d o w n , and that's
what would happen next.
People agreed that this gave
the movie a special i m m e d i a c y .
N o w , in o u r t i m e , w e a r e t u r n i n g G u t e n b e r g
around.
The technology of movable type created
c e r t a i n s t r u c t u r e s and p r a c t i c e s a r o u n d the w r i t ten w o r d .
Now the technology of computer screen
displays make p o s s i b l e almost any structures and
p r a c t i c e s you can imagine for the w r i t t e n w o r d .
I never saw the m o v i e — I waited in line several
h o u r s b u t the line w a s too long to g e t i n t o the l a s t s h o w ing.
So instead 1 w e n t backstage and talked to Radusz C i n cera, who worked out the system.
It turns out that it
didn't work quite the way people supposed.
A lot of p e o p l e
thought that "all the p o s s i b i l i t i e s " had b e e n filmed in a d vance.
Actually, there were always only two possibilities,
and no matter w h a t the audience had c h o s e n , somehow the film
was plotted to come down to the same n e x t choice anyway:
So
now
what?
For new forms of w r i t t e n communication amo n g p e o p l e w h o k n o w e a c h o t h e r , j u m p to " E n g e l b a r t " piece., n e a r b y .
To learn about new forms of multidimensional
d o c u m e n t s f o r c o m p u t e r s c r e e n s , j u m p to " H y p e r texts."
Or
In the a c t u a l s e t u p , t h e y s i m p l y h a d t w o p r o j e c t o r s
running side by side, with Film A and Film B , and the
projectionist would drop an o p a q u e slide in front of
whichever wasn't chosen.
But Cincera said that a u d iences almost always chose the same alternatives anyway,
so half the movie was hardly ever used
In the early sixties a m o v i e w a s m a k i n g the r o u n d s
in w h i c h a u d i e n c e s w e r e s u p p o s e d l y a l l o w e d t o v o t e o n t h e
ending— "Mr. Sardonicus," I believe it was called.
From
the ads it seemed that audiences w o u l d b e p o l l e d as to
which last reel to show.
W h e t h e r the v i l l a i n was to g e t
his comeuppance, or whatever.
Then
mentioned
the user
there was that Panacolor cartridge projector,
elsewhere, which would have allowed choices by
More recently there's the CMX system, also mentioned
elsewhere.
This is a setup, being jointly marketed by
CBS and M e m o r e x , for computer-controlled movie e d i t i n g .
But actually it could a l s o b e used as a b r a n c h i n g m o v i e s y stem.
Essentially the movie itself is stored f r a m e - b y f r a m e (as v i d e o ) o n b i g d i s k s , m a d e b y M e m o r e x ; a n d , u n d e r
computer c o n t r o l , the o u t p u t can be switched rapidly among
the f r a m e s , e f f e c t i v e l y s h o w i n g the s t o r e d m o v i e s .
(To m y
knowledge, the video networks haven't yet recognized the
possibilities of this.)
The o n l y t r o u b l e i s , i t ' s e x t r e m e l y e x p e n s i v e (half a
m i l l i o n ? ) , it has an exact storage capacity limited by the
number of disk tracks (presumably one track per frame)
perhaps five minutes total one one big u n i t , b u t you can
buy m o r e — and it can only give its full performance to
o n e v i e w e r a t a t i m e . ) (Or t» (Vt .oU/t. h i W k
Iwe-)
It may be that the most practical branching movie
system would be a cartridge movie viewer and a big stack of
cartridges.
When you make your c h o i c e , change the c a r t ridge.
B u t of c o u r s e t h a t ' s n o t as m u c h fun a s h a v i n g it
happen automatically.
By " h y p e r t e x t "
writing.
I mean
just
feel
free
non-sequential
O r d i n a r y w r i t i n g is s e q u e n t i a l f o r t w o
reasons.
F i r s t , it grew out of s p e e c h and
s p e e c h - m a k i n g , w h i c h have to be s e q u e n t i a l ;
and s e c o n d , because books are not convenient
to r e a d e x c e p t i n a s e q u e n c e .
But the structures of ideas are not s e quential.
They tie together every whichway.
A n d w h e n w e w r i t e , w e a r e a l w a y s t r y i n g to
t i e t h i n g s t o g e t h e r in n o n - s e q u e n t i a l w a y s
(see p.JIr^HL).
T h e f o o t n o t e is a b r e a k f r o m
s e q u e n c e ; b u t it c a n n o t r e a l l y be e x t e n d e d
(though s o m e , like Will Cuppy, have toyed
with the t e c h n i q u e ) .
I have run into perhaps a dozen people
w h o u n d e r s t o o d this i n s t a n t l y w h e n I t a l k e d
to t h e m a b o u t i t . M o s t p e o p l e , h o w e v e r , a c t
m o r e b e m u s e d , t h i n k i n g I'm t r y i n g t o t e l l t h e m
s o m e t h i n g t e c h n i c a l or p o i n t l e s s l y p h i l o s o p h ical.
It's n o t p o i n t l e s s at a l l : t h e p o i n t i s ,
w r i t e r s d o b e t t e r if t h e y d o n ' t h a v e to w r i t e
in s e q u e n c e ( b u t m a y c r e a t e m u l t i p l e s t r u c t u r e s , branches and a l t e r n a t i v e s ) , and readers
d o b e t t e r if t h e y d o n ' t h a v e to r e a d in s e q u e n c e , but may establish i m p r e s s i o n s , jump
a r o u n d , and try d i f f e r e n t p a t h w a y s u n t i l they
f i n d t h e o n e s t h e y w a n t to s t u d y m o s t c l o s e l y .
to
browse.
(The a s t u t e r e a d e r , and anybody who's gotten
to this p o i n t m u s t b e , w i l l h a v e n o t i c e d that
t h i s b o o k is i n ' ' m a g a z i n e " l a y o u t , o r g a n i z e d
v i s u a l l y by ideas and m e a n i n g s , for that p r e cise reason.
I w i l l be i n t e r e s t e d to h e a r
whether that has worked.)
A n d t h e p i t y o f i t is t h a t ( l i k e t h e m a n
in t h e F r e n c h p l a y w h o w a s s u r p r i s e d to l e a r n
that he had been " s p e a k i n g prose all his life
and never known i t " ) , we've been speaking
hypertext all our lives and never known i t .
N o w , m a n y w r i t e r s h a v e t r i e d to b r e a k
away from s e q u e n c e .
I t h i n k of" N a b o k o v ' s
P a l e F i r e , o f T r i s t r a m S h a n d y and an o d d n o v e l
o f L a z a r o C o r t a z a r c a l l e d H o p s c o t c h , m a d e up
of sections ending with numbers telling you
w h e r e you can branch t o . There are many m o r e ;
a n d l a r g e b o o k s g e n e r a l l y u s e m a n y t r i c k s to
get a r o u n d the p r o b l e m of i n d e x i n g and r e v i e w ing w h a t has and h a s n ' t been said or done a l ready .
H o w e v e r , i n m y v i e w , a n e w d a y is d a w n i n g .
Computer storage and screen display mean that
w e n o l o n g e r h a v e to h a v e t h i n g s in s e q u e n c e ;
totally a r b i t r a r y s t r u c t u r e s are p o s s i b l e , and
I think that after w e ' v e tried them enough
p e o p l e w i l l see how d e s i r a b l e they a r e .
DM 45
TVPES OF
HYPERTEXT
C A N IT B E
Let's assume that you have a h i g h - P " " "
display-- and storage displays won t d o , be„ u « y o u h a v e to s e e t h i n g s m o v e in o r d e r
to u n d e r s t a n d w h e r e t h e y c o m e - f r o m a n d w h a t
they m e a n .
(Especially text.)
S o it h a s to
be a r e f r e s h e d C R T .
Basic or chunk style h y p e r t e x t o f f e r s
c h o i H i T T " e r t h e r as T S o T H o t e - m a r k e r s ( l i k e
a s t e r i s k s ) or labels at the end of a c h u n k .
W h a t e v e r y o u p o i n t at t h e n c o m e s t o t h e s c r e e n .
C o l l a t e r a l h y p e r t e x t m e a n s c o m p o u n d ann o t a t i o n s or p a r a l l e l text (see p . >,</*-).
Stretchtext changes continuously.
This
reauires very u n u s u a l t e c h n i q u e s (see p . W T . J .
bC? e x e m p l i f i e s h o w " c o n t i n u o u s " h y p e r t e x t m i g h t
work.
I d e a l l y , c h u n k and c o n t i n u o u s and c o l l a t e r a l
h y p e r t e x t c o u l d a l l b e c o m b i n e d ( a n d in t u r n c o l laterally l i n k e d ; see "Th inkertoys
p.*)*,?*-)A "fresh" or " s p e c i f i c " h y p e r t e x t - - I don't
have a better term at the m o m e n t - - w o u l d c o n s i s t
of m a t e r i a l e s p e c i a l l y w r i t t e n f o r s o m e p u r p o s e .
An anthological hypertext, however, would consist
of m a t e r i a l s b r o u g h t t o g e t h e r f r o m a l l o v e r , l i k e
an a n t h o l o g i c a l b o o k .
A grand h y p e r t e x t , then, f o l k s , would be
a hypertext consisting of "everything" written
about a s u b j e c t , or v a g u e l y r e l e v a n t to i t ,
tied together by editors (and NOT by " p r o g r a m m e r s , " d a m m i t ) , i n w h i c h y o u m a y r e a d in
a l l t h e d i r e c t i o n s y o u w i s h to p u r s u e .
TTTere
can be a l t e r n a t i v e p a t h w a y s T o r p e o p l e w h o
think d i f f e r e n t w a y s . P e o p l e w h o h a v e to
h a v e o n e t h i n g e x p l a i n e d to t h e m at a t i m e - m a n y h a v e i n s i s t e d to m e t h a t t h i s is n o r m a l ,
a l t h o u g h I c o n t e n d t h a t it is a p a t h o l o g i c a l
condition-- may have that; o t h e r s , learning
like true human b e i n g s , may gather and sift imp r e s s i o n s u n t i l the ideas b e c o m e c l e a r .
And t h e n , of c o u r s e , you see the
dream.
The real dream
in the h y p e r t e x t .
real
is f o r " e v e r y t h i n g "
to tie
.Everything you r e a d , you read from the
s c r e e n ( a n d c a n a l w a y s g e t b a c k to r i g h t a w a y ) ;
everything you w r i t e , you w r i t e at the s c r e e n
(and c a n c r o s s - l i n k to w h a t e v e r y o u r e a d ; s e e
Canons, p . t h ) .
P a p e r m o u l d e r s . M i c r o f i l m is i n c o n v e n i e n t .
In t h e b e s t l i b r a r i e s i t t a k e s at l e a s t m i n - '
u t e s to g e t a p a r t i c u l a r t h i n g .
B u t as t o
linking them together-- footnoting Aeschylus
with Marcus A u r e l i u s , linking genetic data
to 1 5 t h - c e n t u r y a c c o u n t s o f I n d i a n t r i b e s - w e l l , y o u c a n o n l y d o it o n p a p e r b y w r i t i n g
something new that ties them t o g e t h e r .
Isn't
that ridiculous?
W h e n y o u c o u l d d o it a l l
e l e c t r o n i c a l l y in s e c o n d s ?
Now that we have all these w o n d e r f u l d e v i c e s , it s h o u l d b e t h e g o a l o f s o c i e t y t o p u t
them in the s e r v i c e of t r u t h a n d l e a r n i n g .
A n d t h i s is t h e w a y I p r o p o s e . N o t t h r o u g h
o b s c u r e f o r m s of " i n f o r m a t i o n r e t r i e v a l ; " n o t
through newly oppressive forms of " c o m p u t e r ^ assisted instruction;" and not through a p u r p o r t e d s c i e n c e of " a r t i f icaTTTntel 1 i g e n c e "
t h a t w i l l c r e a t e n e w p e r s o n a l i s m s to i r k u s .
All these obstructive o d d i t i e s , I t h i n k , have
d e v e l o p e d as s e p a r a t e i d e a l s b e c a u s e o f t h e
grand p r e p o s t e r o s i t y of P r o f e s s i o n a l i s m that
has created a w o r l d - w i d e cult of m u t u a l i n c o m prehensibility and d i s c o n n e c t e d special g o a l s .
N o w w e n e e d to g e t e v e r y b o d y t o g e t h e r a g a i n .
W e w a n t to g o b a c k to t h e r o o t s o f o u r c i v i l ization-- the a b i l i t y , w h i c h w e o n c e h a d , for
e v e r y b o d y w h o c o u l d r e a d to b e a b l e t o r e a d
everything. We must once again become a comm u n i t y o f c o m m o n a c c e s s to a s h a r e d h e r i t a g e .
I
DONE?
dunno.
L i c k l i d e r , one of c o m p u t e r d o m ' s Great Men
e s t i m a t e d in 1 9 6 5 t h a t to h a n d l e a l l t e x t b y
c o m p u t e r , a n d b r i n g it o u t to s c r e e n s , w o u l d
cost no m o r e than w h a t w e pay for all text
handling now.
( B u t o f c o u r s e t h e r e is t h e
p r o b l e m o f w h a t to d o w i t h t h e p e o p l e w h o s e
lives are built around p a p e r ; that can't be
taken up here.)
The people who make big computers say
that to got the b i g d i s k s t o r a g e to h o l d g r e a t
a m o u n t s o f t e x t , y o u h a v e to get t h e i r b i g g e s t
c o m p u t e r s . W h i c h is a l a u g h a n d a h a l f .
One
I B M - s t y l e c o m p u t e r p e r s o n p o m p o u s l y told me
that for l a r g e - s c a l e text h a n d l i n g the only
a p p r o p r i a t e m a c h i n e w a s a n I B M 3 6 0 / 6 7 (a s h a m e fully large c o m p u t e r ) .
Such people seem not
to u n d e r s t a n d a b o u t m i n i c o m p u t e r s o r t h e p o tential of m i n i c o m p u t e r n e t w o r k s - - u s i n g , of
course, big disks.
There are of course questions of reliab i l i t y , of " b i g b r o t h e r " (see C a n o n s , p .
) ,
and so o n .
But I think these m a t t e r s can be
handled.
T h e k e y is t h a t p e o p l e w i l l p a y f o r i t .
I a m s u r e t h a t if w e c a n b r i n g t h e c o s t d o w n
to t w o d o l l a r s a n h o u r - - o n e f o r t h e l o c a l
m a c h i n e (more than a " t e r m i n a l " ) , one for the
material (including s t o r a g e , transmission and
copyrights)-- there's a b i g , big m a r k e t .
(And
t h a t ' s w h a t t h e X a n a d u n e t w o r k is a b o u t ; s e e
p . [H^V/.]
M y a s s u m p t i o n is t h a t t h e w a y t o d o
t h i s is n o t t h r o u g h b i g b u s i n e s s ( s i n c e a l l
t h e s e c o r p o r a t i o n s c a n s e e is o t h e r c o r p o r a t i o n s ) ; n o t t h r o u g h g o v e r n m e n t ( h y p e r t e x t is
not c o m m i t t e e - o r i e n t e d , but individualistic-and grants can only be g o t t e n through s e s q u i pedalian and obfuscatory p o m p i z z a z z ) ; but
through the byways of the p r i v a t e enterprise
system.
I think the same s p i r i t that gave us
McDonald's and kandy kolor hot rod accessories
m a y p u l l us t h r o u g h h e r e .
(See X a n a d u N e t w o r k ,
EVERYTHING
IS D E E P L Y
INTERTWINGLED.
( T h e o n l y w a y in w h i c h m y v i e w s d i f f e r
w i t h t h o s e of E n g e l b a r t a n d P a s k , I t h i n k is
in the m a t t e r of s t r u c t u r e a n d h i e r a r c h y .
Uoth men generally assume that w h a t e v e r
n a t u r a l h i e r a r c h y i.iay e x i s t in p a r t i c u l a r
s u b j e c t s n e e d s to b e a c c e n t u a t e d ; I h o l d t h a t
a l l s t r u c t u r e s m u s t b e t r e a t e d as t o t a l l y a r b i t r a r y , and any h i e r a r c h i e s w e find are i n t e r esting accidents.)
In an important
sense
there
are
no "subjects"
at all; there is only
all knowledge^
since
the
crossconnections
among
the myriad
topics
of this world
simply
cannot
be
divided
up
neatly.
Hypertext
at last offers
the
possibility
of representing
and exploring
it all
without
carving
it up
destructively.
Arthur C. Clarke wrote a book entitled
The Lost Worlds of 2001 ( S i g n e t , 1 9 7 2 ) ,
a b o u t the v a r i a n t s and a l t e r n a t i v e s o f '
that story that did not find their way
to the s c r e e n .
In a h y p e r t e x t v e r s i o n , w e c o u l d l o o k
a t t h e m a l l in c o n t e x t , i n c o l l a t e r a l
v i e w s , a n d see the r e l a t e d v a r i a n t s - with annotations.
p . 2>t\*7.)
Obviously, putting man's entire heritage
i n t o a h y p e r t e x t is g o i n g t o t a k e a w h i l e .
But
it c a n a n d s h o u l d b e d o n e .
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Theodor
II. N e l s o n ,
"The Hypertext."
World Documentation
Federation,
Proc.
1965.
Mortimer J. Adler, the ..wn who reduced all of
Western Culture to a few Great Books plus an index
under his own categories, has now Addled the
Encyclopedia Britannica.
Since 1965 he has been creating Bri tannica 3,
the venturesome and innovative new version, now on
sale for about half a thou.
COULDN'T
HAVE
HYPERTEXT
NOVELS, YOU
SAY?
Ci<M*i-s effect*
Consider t h e h y p e r t e x t c h a r a c t e r
of—
Tristram Shandy, by Sterne.
Spoon River Anthology, by Masters.
Hopscotch, by Cortazar.
Pale Fire, by Nabokov.
Remembrance
And,
of Things
Past, hy
Proust.
surprisingly, hypertext actually
F I G U R E S IN G i l e s G o a t - B o y , b y B a x t h .
Britannica 3 is basically a 3~level hypertext,
made to fit on printed pages by the strictures of
Adler's editing (according to Newsweek, some 200
authors withdrew their work rather than submit to
the kind of restrictions he was imposing).
The idea may be basically good, even though
the sesqulpaedalian titles may impaed the raeder.
THE BURNING
This was of course w h a t V a n n e v a r Bush
s a i d in 1 9 4 5 ( s e e
^ f ^ X r ) , in a n a r t i c l e e v e r y body cites but nobody r e a d s .
T h e h y p e r t e x t s o l u t i o n in m a n y w a y s o b viates some of these other a p p r o a c h e s , and in
a d d i t i o n retains and puts b a c k t o g e t h e r the
great traditions of literature and s c h o l a r s h i p ,
traditions based on the fact that d i v i d i n g
things up arbitrarily just generally d o e s n ' t
work.
t"vOTTrjHj6IS MePLV I M T O l v l U G ^ .
BUSH
In f a c t h y p e r t e x t s w e r e f o r e s e e n v e r y
c l e a r l y in 1 9 4 5 b y V a n n e v a r B u s h , R o o s e v e l t ' s
science advisor.
W h e n t h e w a r w a s in t h e b a g ,
he p u b l i s h e d a little article on various groovy
things that had b e c o m e p o s s i b l e by that t i m e .
GLINDA'S
MAGIC
BOOK
G l i n d a the G o o d , g e n t l e s o r c e r e s s of the
s o u t h e r n q u a d r a n t o f the land o f 0 z ~ - not the
f l a p h e a d p o r t r a y e d b y B l l l l e B u r k e in t h e
G o l d w y n i z e d f i l m — h a s a M a g i c B o o k in w h i c h
E v e r y t h i n g T h a t H a p p e n s Is w r i t t e n .
The
chosen.
question, of
course,
Is h o w
It's
You can only watch news tickers for .
short time before getting very bored.
"As We May Think" (Atlantic M o n t h l y , J u l y ,
1 9 4 5 ) is m o s t n o t a b l e f o r its c l e a r d e s c r i p t i o n
of v a r i o u s h y p e r t e x t t e c h n i q u e s - - t h a t i s , l i n k ages b e t w e e n d o c u m e n t s w h i c h m a y be b r o u g h t r a p i d l y to t h e s c r e e n a c c o r d i n g to t h e i r l i n k a g e s .
( S o w h a t if h e t h o u g h t t h e y ' d b e o n m i c r o f i l m . )
How characteristic of Professionalism.
B u s h ' s a r t i c l e h a s b e e n t a k e n as t h e s t a r t i n g
p o i n t f o r t h e f i e l d of I n f o r m a t i o n R e t r i e v a l
(see p .
) , b u t its a c t u a l c o n t e n t s h a v e b e e n
ignored by a c c l a m a t i o n .
Information Retrieval
folk have mostly done very different t h i n g s , yet
t h o u g h t t h e y w e r e in the t r a d i t i o n .
N o w p e o p l e are " r e d i s c o v e r i n g " the a r t i c l e .
If t h e r e ' s a n o t h e r e d i t i o n o f t h i s b o o k I h o p e
I c a n r u n it in e n t i r e t y .
THE SYSTEM I T S E L F
B a s i c a l l y the system I s a l a r g e - s c a l e setup
f o r t h e s t o r a g e , b r i n g i n g f o r t h , v i e w i n g and
r e v i s i o n o f d o c u m e n t s a n d c o n n e c t i o n s among t h e m .
The d o c u m e n t s a r e s t o r e d (of c o u r s e ) I n
a l p h a b e t i c a l codes.
C o n n e c t i o n s among t h e m ,
or o t h e r r e l a t i o n s w i t h i n them, are s i g n a l l e d
by the presence o f o t h e r codes w i t h i n them;
these are o r d i n a r i l y not d i s p l a y e d , however,
e x c e p t as d i r e c t e d b y a p a r t i c u l a r d i a p l a y
p r o g r a m and d i s p l a y programs can o f c o u r s e
va r y .
toUG- CHfiCiWT AND
D o u g l a s E n g e l b a r t I s a s a i n t l y man a t
S t a n f o r d R e s e a r c h I n s t i t u t e whose dream has
b e e n t o make p e o p l e s m a r t e r a n d b r i n g t h e m
together.
H i s s y s t e m , on w h i c h m i l l i o n s o f
d o l l a r s have been s p e n t , i s a wonder and a
glory.
He b e g a n a s a n e n g i n e e r o f CRTs ( s e e
"Lightning i n a B o t t l e , " p.#16); but his
d r i v i n g t h o u g h t was, q u i t e c o r r e c t l y , t h a t
t h e s e r e m a r k a b l e o b j e c t s c o u l d be u s e d t o
expand man's mind and i m p r o v e each s h i n i n g
hour.
Doug E n g e l b a r t ' s v i s i o n h a s n e v e r b e e n
r e s t r i c t e d to narrow t e c h n i c a l issues.
From
t h e b e g i n n i n g h i s c o n c e r n was n o t m e r e l y t o
p l a n k p e o p l e down a t d i s p l a y c o n s o l e s , b u t
i n t h e most p r o f o u n d sense t o expand man's
mind.
" T h e A u g m e n t a t i o n o f Human I n t e l l e c t , "
he c a l l s i t , b y w h i c h he means m a k i n g m i n d s
work b e t t e r by g i v i n g them b e t t e r t o o l s t o
work w i t h .
An o b v i o u s e x a m p l e i s w r i t i n g :
before
p e o p l e c o u l d w r i t e t h i n g s d o w n , men c o u l d
o n l y l e a r n what they experienced or were
t o l d by o t h e r s i n p e r s o n ; w r i t i n g changed
a l l that.
Within the computer-screen f r a t e r n i t y , the next step Is obvious; screens
can d o u b l e and r e d o u b l e o u r I n t e l l e c t u a l
capacities.
But t h i s i s n o t o b v i o u s t o e v e r y body.
Engelbart, p a t i e n t l y I n s t r u c t i n g those
o u t s i d e , came u p w i t h a b e a u t i f u l e x a m p l e .
To show w h a t he meant by t h e A u g m e n t a t i o n o f
I n t e l l e c t , Engelbart tied a pencil to a b r i c k .
T h e n h e a c t u a l l y made s o m e o n e w r i t e w i t h i t .
T h e r e s u l t , w h i c h was o f c o u r s e d r e a d f u l , E n gelbart solemnly put into a published r e p o r t .
Not y e t b e i n g a b l e t o d e m o n s t r a t e t h e a u g m e n t a t i o n o f i n t e l l e c t , s i n c e he h a d as y e t
no s y s t e m t o show o f f , he h a d m a s t e r f u l l y d e monstrated the
disaugmentation of i n t e l l e c t :
w h a t h a p p e n s i f y o u make m a n ' s t o o l s f o r w o r k ing out h i s thoughts worse i n s t e a d o f b e t t e r .
As t h i s p o o r g u y was w i t h h i s b r i c k i f i e d p e n c i l , e x p l a i n e d E n g e l b a r t , s o a r e we a l l a m o n g
our bothersome, i n f l e x i b l e systems of paper.
S t a r t i n g s m a l l , E n g e l b a r t programmed up
a s m a l l v e r s i o n o f what most fans c a l l "The
E n g e l b a r t S y s t e m " some t e n y e a r s a g o .
One
v e r s i o n h a s i t t h a t w h e n i t came t o l o o k i n g
f o r g r a n t s , management t h o u g h t he a c t e d t o o
k o o k y , a n d s o a s s i g n e d a F r o n t Man t o make
Che p r e s e n t a t i o n .
B u t , as t h e s t o r y g o e s ,
t h e man f r o m ARPA ( s e e " M i l i t a r y . . . " , p .
^f)
p o i n t e d a t E n g e l b a r t a n d s a i d , "We w a n t t o
back h i m . "
THE "KNOWLEDGE WORKSHOP"
For a l u c k y f i f t y o r so p e o p l e ,
Engelbart's
s y s t e m i s Home.
Wherever they a r e — a t Stanf o r d R e s e a r c h I n s t i t u t e o r f a r away o n t h e
ARPAnet— a whole w o r l d o f s e c r e t a r i a l and
communication services i s at t h e i r f i n g e r t i p s .
The u s e r has b u t t o c a l l up t h r o u g h h i s d i s p l a y t e r m i n a l and l o g o n .
At that point a l l
h i s w r i t t e n f i l e s , and numerous f i l e s
shared
among t h e u s e r s , a r e a t h i s f i n g e r t i p s .
He
may r e a d , w r i t e , a n n o t a t e t h e c r o s s - l i n k .
( E n g e l b a r t ' s system has p r o v i s i o n f o r c o l l a t e r a l s t r u c t u r i n g : s e e " T h i n k e r t o y s , " p*. T 2 _ . )
He may s e n d m e s s a g e s t o o t h e r s i n t h e W o r k s h o p .
He may o p e n c e r t a i n o f h i s f i l e s t o o t h e r
p e o p l e , and r e a d t h o s e t h a t iiave b e e n opened
to him.
T h i s a l l has a c e r t a i n v a g u e n e s s i f y o u
d o n o t u n d e r s t a n d how b o u n d y o u a r e t o d a y b y
paper— the problems of f i n d i n g i t , s o r t i n g
i t , looking things up.
( I f you w r i t e ,
that
i s , w r i t e a l o t , y o u know a l l t o o w e l l how
i n t r a c t a b l e i s p a p e r , w h a t a damned n u i s a n c e . )
W i t h a system l i k e E n g e l b a r t ' s , now, whatever
is written is instantly there.
Whatever you
w a n t t o l o o k up I s i n s t a n t l y t h e r e , s i m u l t a n eously interconnected to everything else l t
s h o u l d be c o n n e c t e d t o — s o u r c e m a t e r i a l s ,
f o o t n o t e s , comments and so o n .
A document i s
c o m p l e t e d t h e moment i t i s w r i t t e n : n o human
b e i n g has t o r e t y p e i t .
( I t need n o t be t y p e d
on paper a t a l l , i f i t ' s j u s t f o r t h e workshop
members: a p r i n t o u t i s o n l y needed i f i t has
t o go t o someone o u t s i d e t h e s y s t e m . )
I n many w a y s , E n g e l b a r t ' s s y s t e m i s a p r o totype for the world of the f u t u r e , I hope.
A L L HANDLING OF PAPER I S E L I M I N A T E D .
Whatever
you w r i t e , you w r i t e on the screens w i t h k e y b o a r d and p o i n t e r .
(No m o r e b a c k s o f
envelopes,
yellow pads, f i l e cards, t y p e w r i t e r s . )
Whatever you t r a n s m i t to f e l l o w users of the system
you s i m p l y ' r e l e a s e ' — no p h y s i c a l p a p e t c h a n g e B
hands.
T h e g r o u p h a s a l s o w o r k e d o u t some r e m a r k able techniques for c o l l a b o r a t i v e endeavor.
Two p e o p l e — s a y , o n e i n C a l i f o r n i a a n d o n e i n
New Y o r k — c a n w o r k t o g e t h e r t h r o u g h t h e i r
s c r e e n s , p l u s a phone l i n k ; i t ' s as i f t h e y
were s i d e - b y - s i d e a t a magic t a b l e .
Each sees
on h i s screen what t h e o t h e r sees; each c o n t r o l s
a m o v i n g d o t ( o r " c u r s o r " ) t h a t shows w h e r e h e ' s
pointing.
The e f f e c t i s somewhere b e t w e e n a
b l a c k b o a r d a n d a d e s k ; b o t h may c a l l u p d o c u m e n t s , p o i n t t h i n g s o u t i n them, change t h e m ,
and a n y t h i n g e l s e two p e o p l e m i g h t do when w o r k i n g on something t o g e t h e r .
There are v a r i o u s programs f o r d i s p l a y ,
i n l a r g e p a r t d e p e n d i n g on what s o r t o f
screen system the I n d i v i d u a l user has.
(NLS i s u s e d w i t h e v e r y t h i n g f r o m h i g h - r e s o l u t i o n l i n e - d r a w i n g screens c o n v e r t e d t o 1000l i n e t e l e v i s i o n , down t o i n e x p e n s i v e D e l t a
Data t e r m i n a l s — a brand, i n c i d e n t a l l y , that
a l l o w s t e x t m o t i o n , w h i c h most d o n ' t ^
Engelb a r t ' s system i s extremely general, a l l o w i n g
the c r e a t i o n of f i l e s having a l l kinds of
s t r u c t u r e s , and d i s p l a y programs in a l l k i n d s
of Btyles.
( I hope t h a t t h i s s i d e o f t h e p r e s e n t b o o k c o n v e y s a s e n s e o f how many s t y l e s
t h a t can b e . )
However, most u s e r s are devoted
to c e r t a i n standardized styles of working that
have b e e n w e l l worked out and p e r m i t t h e easy
s h a r i n g o f m a t e r i a l and o f o p e r a t i n g p r a c t i c e s .
Here, for instance, i s standard screen layout:
k ,
r
r
Two s e p a r a t e p a n e l s o f t e x t a p p e a r , a n d l i n k s
may b e s h o w n o n t h e m .
(Thus i t ' s a t h i n k e r t o y —
see p .
.)
Two l i t t l e w i n d o w s a t t h e t o p r e m i n d you o f what y o u ' r e s e e i n g and what y o u ' r e
asking f o r .
We c a n ' t g e t i n t o t h e r e s t o f i t
here
THE COMMAND LANGUAGE
NLS h a s a command l a n g u a g e w h i c h a l l
users must l e a r n .
While i t is a streaml i n e d a n d s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d command l a n g u a g e ,
nevertheless I t requires the user to type
i n a s p e c i f i c sequence o f a l p h a b e t i c a l
c h a r a c t e r s e v e r y t i m e he w a n t s s o m e t h i n g
done.
(This Is acceptable to computeroriented people; I suspect i t would not
be s a t i s f a c t o r y , s a y , f o r p h i l o s o p h e r s
and n o v e l i s t s .
For designs o r i e n t e d t o
s u c h u s e r s , s e e JOT ( p . * 5 " 0 ) a n d C a r m o d y ' s
System, nearby, P a r a l l e l Textface
(p?* ?})
and,Th3 (p.^ST).)
K
1
I n c i d e n t a l l y , NLS u s e r s may a l s o e m p l o y
a cute l i t t l e keyboard, something l i k e a
k a l i m b a , t h a t a l l o w s y o u t o t y p e w i t h one
hand.
You s i m p l y t y p e t h e s i x s i g n i f i c a n t
ASCII b i t s (see c h a r t p.
£J?) i n one " c h o n t "
— i t sounds h a r d b u t i s easy t o l e a r n .
Sample commands: I
M (move o r r e a r r a n g e ) .
t h e mouse.
(insert), D (delete),
Then you p o i n t w i t h
HOUSE?
A s m a l l b u t d e d i c a t e d g r o u p a t SRI h a s
b u i l t up a s y s t e m f r o m s c r a t c h .
F i r s t they
u s e d l i t t l e CDC 1 7 0 0 m i n i c o m p u t e r s ; t h e n ,
v a r i o u s g r a n t s l a t e r , they were able t o set
up t h e i r own P D P - 1 0 , i n w h i c h t h e s y s t e m now
r e s i d e s , and f r o m w h i c h l t r e a c h e s o u t a c ross the c o u n t r y .
The E n g e l b a r t F o l k s have b u i l t a p o i n t i n g
d e v i c e , f o r t e l l i n g t h e system where y o u ' r e
p o i n t i n g on the s c r e e n , t h a t i s c o n s i d e r a b l y
f a s t e r and h a n d i e r t h a n a l i g h t p e n .
(Unfortunately, I don't believe i t ' s commercially
available.)
I t ' s c a l l e d The Mouse.
The E n g e l b a r t Mouse i s a l i t t l e box w i t h
h i d d e n w h e e l s u n d e r n e a t h and a c a b l e t o t h e
terminal.
As y o u r o l l i t , t h e w h e e l ' s t u r n s
a r e s i g n a l l e d t o t h e computer and t h e c o m p u t e r moves t h e c u r s o r o n t h e s c r e e n .
I t s fast
and a c c u r a t e , and i n f a c t b e a t s a l i g h t p e n
hands down i n w o r k i n g s p e e d .
Doug c a l l s h i s s y s t e m NLS, o r " o N - L i n e
System."
Basically i t is a highly responsive,
deeply-structured t e x t system, feeding out to
display terminals.
F r o m a t e r m i n a l y o u may
read a n y t h i n g you or o t h e r s have w r i t t e n , and
w r i t e w i t h aa-yet-unmatched
flexibility.
The d i s p l a y t e r m i n a l s a r e a l l o v e r .
The
p r o j e c t has gone n a t i o n a l , t h o u g h a t g r e a t
exp e n s e : t h r o u g h t h e ARPA n e t o f c o m p u t e r s , y o u
c a n i n p r i n c i p l e b e c o m e a u s e r o f NLS f o r
something l i k e $50,000 a year.
Engelbart
far away
t
meets
with
as othere
someone
watch.
T h r o u g h t h e command l a n g u a g e , NLS a l l o w s
users t o c r e a t e programs t h a t respond I n a l l
s o r t s of ways; thus the fact t h a t c e r t a i n t e x t h a n d l i n g s t y l e s are s t a n d a r d (as I n above i l l u s t r a t i o n o f s c r e e n l a y o u t ) r e s u l t s more from
t r a d i t i o n than necessity.
W h a t h e d o e s , t h e n . Is p r e p a r e g i v e n
fields of learning so that they can be stydied
by s t u d e n t s u s i n g a b s t r a c t i v e m e t h o d s , w i t h o u t
guidance.
Hypertext Is non-sequential w r i t i n g . It's no good to u s ,
t h o u g h , unless we can go instantly in a choice of directions
from a given p o i n t .
T h i s p r e p a r a t i o n b a s i c a l l y has two s t e p s .
First he sets up the w h o l e f i e l d .
T h i s is
d o n e in c o l l a b o r a t i o n w i t h a " s u b j e c t m a t t e r
e x p e r t , " w h o n a m e s t h e i m p o r t a n t t o p i c s in
the field and s t a t e s w h a t i n t e r c o n n e c t i o n s
they have.
T h e r e s u l t is a c o m p l e x g r a p h
s t r u c t u r e (see p . fj, ) w h i c h Pask c l l l s a
conversational domain.
It c o m e s o u t t o h u g e
d i a g r a m s ot labels and lines b e t w e e n t h e n .
i computer diaplay
Thia of course i
Engelbart's s y s t e m , n o w , w a s mainly designed for people w h o
wanted to immerse themselves in lt and learn lta c o n v e n t i o n s .
I n d e e d , it might b« said to have been designed for a community
of people in close c o n t a c t , a sort of system of blackboards and
collaborative talking p a p e r s .
A more elemental s y s t e m , w i t h a d i f f e r e n t s l a n t , w a s p u t
together a t Brown U . on IBM e q u i p m e n t . W e ' l l refer to i t here
as "Carmcdy'a Syatem," a f t e r the young programmer w h o s e name
came first on the w r i t e u p .
T n e n
p a s
k p r o c e s s e s this s t r u c t u r e to
m a k e a m o r e u s a b l e map of the field that h e
c a l l s an e n t a i l m e n t s t r u c t u r e .
The processing
b a s i c a l l y i n v o l v e s r e m o v i n g " c y c l e s " in t h e
g r a p h , thus m a k i n g the s t r u c t u r e h i e r a r c h i c a l
in a s l i g h t l y a r t i f i c i a l w a y j u s t i f i e d b y w h a t
t h e s u b j e c t - m a t t e r - e x p e r t h a s s a i d is t h e
s t r u c t u r e of t h e f i e l d .
Carmody'a syatem runs on an IBM 360 with 2250 d i s p l a y .
While the 2250 is s fine piece of e q u i p m e n t , the quirks of the
360'» operating system (see p . f C ) often delay the user by
making h i m w a i t , e.g., for someone e l s e ' s cards to g e t punched
before it r e s p o n d s to his more immediate usesi this is like
m a k i n g ice-skaters w a i t for o x c a r t s .
gram
A n y w a y , the system essentially Imposes no structure on
the m a t e r i a l ) it may consist of text segments of any length
and ties and links between t h e m . A n asterisk appearing a n y w h e r e in one p i e c e of text signals a p o s s i b l e J u m p , b u t the
reader d o e s n ' t necessarily know w h e r e toi sapping the asterisk
w i t h the lightpen takes y o u t h e r e , h o w e v e r .
out by
a
oro-
v
Pask intends that the student's explora t i o n s . w i l l c o n s i s t of t e s t i n g a n a l o g i e s , or
w h a t P a s k c a l l s m o r p h i s m s , to f i n d the e x a c t
s t r u c t u r e s o f k n o w l e d g e h e i s s u p p o s e d tg
be a c q u i r i n g .
This k n o w l e d g e w i l l be in the
form o f i s o m o r p h i s m s , or e x a c t a n a l o g i e s , i.e.
laws.
P a s k ' s o v e r a l l systern,examples of w h i c h
h e h a s r u n n i n g in h i s l a b o r a t o r y in E n g l a n d ,
he calls C A S T E (Course A s s e m b l y S y s t e m and
Tutorial E n v i r o n m e n t ) . A further development,
w h i c h is t o b e p u t o n a P D P - 1 1 / 4 5 c o m p u t e r
(see p .
and p . I L
) at the B r o o k l y n C h i l d r e n ' s M u s e u m , is c a l l e d T H O U G H T - S T I C K E R .
T h i s p r o g r a m is i n t e n d e d to a l l o w the d e m o n stration and testing of analogies d i r e c t l y ,
by c h i l d r e n .
%
HIERARCHICAL FORMAT
A . STORAGE
A l . Everything in NLS is stored
with h i e r a r c h i c a l c o d e s .
A 2 . Their effect depends on the
display.
B . DISPLAY
B l . The h i e r a r c h i c a l codes of
NLS have no consequences in
particular.
B 2 . The h i e r a r c h i c a l codes for
NLS can splay the m a t e r i a l
out into a variety of d i s play a r r a n g e m e n t s .
B 2 A . They can be displayed
in outline f o r m .
B 2 B . They can be displayed
in n o r m a l text f o r m .
B 2 C . These dratted numbers
can even be made to
disappear.
C
LANGUAGE
C l . The command language d e t e r mines w h a t the display shows
of the h i e r a r c h i c a l s t r u c t u r e ,
C 2 . What is shown can be d e t e r mined by a program in the
command l a n g u a g e . (For i n s t a n c e , "how many levels
d o w n " it is being s h o w n ) .
C 2 A . This is four levels
d o w n . (The earlier
example w a s n ' t . )
C 3 . The display format all d e pends on w h a t display p r o gram you u s e , in the NLS
command l a n g u a g e .
Thia ia stark and s i m p l e . It could also g e t you g o o d
and l o s t . H o w e v e r , a simple t e c h n i q u e took care of t h a t :
every/time the user j u m p e d , the a d d r e s s of his p r e v i o u s
location w a s saved on a stack (see "The M a g i c of the Stack,"
p.
. T h e user a l s o had a RETURN b u t t o n : w h e n he w a n t e d
to go back to w h e r e he had l a s t jumped f r o m , t h e system
w o u l d p o p the last address off the top of the s t a c k , and
take him t h e r e . (This feature w a s a d a p t e d from m y 1967
S t r e t c h t e x t p a p e r , and turned o u t to w o r k o u t q u i t e w e l l
in p r a c t i c e . )
PASK AND
E s s e n t i a l l y P a s k is r e d u c i n g
an extremely formal structure of
w h i c h m a y t h e n b e s t u d i e d by_ t h e
the student's
initiative.
(What
analogies
It is l e f t for the r e a d e r to figure o u t i n t e r e s t i n g u s e s
for i t . How w o u l d y o u d o c o l l a t e r a l s t r u c t u r e s ?
H o w could
you s i g n a l to a r e a d e r w h i c h of several p i e c e s of t e x t a jump
was to?
the
Now it t u r n s o u t t h a t t h i s e x a c t l y c o m p l e m e n t s the n o t i o n of h y p e r t e x t as 1 h a v e b e e n
p r o m u l g a t i n g it lo t h e s e m a n y y e a r s .
This
on
continues
p.
the
remarks
on
Gordon
H y p e r t e x t is n o n - s e q u e n t i a l t e x t .
If w e
w r i t e a h y p e r t e x t o n s o m e t h i n g , it w i l l b e
m o s t a p p r o p r i a t e i F ~ w e g i v e it the g e n e r a l
i n t e r c o n n e c t i v e s t r u c t u r e of the f i e l d .
In
other w o r d s , the interconnective structures
c h o s e n f o r t h e t e x t u a l p a r t s a r e l i k e l y to h a v e
the s a m e c o n n e c t i v e s t r u c t u r e (in g e n e r a l ) as
Pask's Entailment Structure.
Paek
I w i l l npw try to d e s c r i b e P a s k ' s w o r k
as h e has e x p l a i n e d it to m e .
Perhaps this
w i l l b e of s o m e h e l p to t h o s e w h o m a y h a v e
b e e n m y s t i f i e d or d u m f o u n d e d by c o n t a c t w i t h
this fabulous n a n .
For a n o t h e r kind of h y p e r t e x t , the anthol o g i c a l h y p e r t e x t b u i l t up o f lots of o t h e r
w r i t i n g s , i t is a l s o r e a s o n a b l e t o e x p e c t t h e
c o n n e c t i v e s t r u c t u r e s to c l u s t e r to t h e s a m e
g e n e r a l f o r m as P a s k ' s e n t a i l m e n t s t r u c t u r e .
G o r d o n P a s k ' s c o n c e r n is a b s t r a c t i o n a n d
h o w c o n c e p t s a r e f o r m e d , w h e t h e r in a c r e a t u r e
of n a t u r e or a robot or a c o m p u t e r p r o g r a m .
A b s t r a c t i o n is of i n t e r e s t p r i m o r d i a l l y (as l i f e
evolved thinking capacity), psychogenetically
(as the m i n d a c q u i r e s n e w f a c i l i t i e s , d e s c r i b e d
most p e c u l i a r l y by P i a g e t ) , and epistemologically (how do we know?
L i k e , how do we k n o w , m a n ? ) ,
and m e t h o d o l o g i c a l l y (how can we m o s t e f f e c t i v e l y
find out m o r e ? ) .
In o t h e r w o r d s , t h e v e r y s a m e f i e l d o f
k n o w l e d g e P a s k is o u t t o r e p r e s e n t a s a n e x p l o r a b l e , f o r m a l i z e d w h o l e , I a m o u t to r e p r e s e n t as an e x p l o r a b l e U n f o r m a l i z e d w h o l e , w i t h
anecdotes, jokes, cartoons, "enrichment materials," and anything else people might d i g .
and
ills i n t e r e s t , t h e n , i s i n t e a c h i n g b y
a l l o w i n g s t u d e n t s to d i s c o v e r e x a c t r e l a t i o n s
in a s p e c i f i c s u b j e c t m a t t e r b y t h e v e r y p r o c e s s o f a b s t r a c t i o n t h a t is o f s o m u c h i n t e r e s t .
of
1 d o n ' t q u i t e u n d e r s t a n d is h o w
a r e to b e e x p l o r e d and t e s t e d . )
I n d e e d , h i s e x p l o r a b l e s y s t e r n s - - (I d o n ' t
k n o w if t h e y w i l l b e w h a t I e l s e w h e r e c a l l
hypergrams or responding resources)-- will be
f a s c i n a t i n g , fun and t e r r i f i c a l l y e d u c a t i o n a l .
Because he is.
Steven C a r m o d y , W a l t e r G r o s s , T h e o d o r H . N e l s o n , D a v i d Rice
and A n d r i e s van D a m , "A H y p e r t e x t E d i t i n g System for the
360." In F a i m a n and N i e v e r g e l t ( e d s . ) . P e r t i n e n t C o n c e p t s
in C o m p u t e r G r a p h i c s (U. 1 1 1 . P r e s s ' 6 9 ) , 2 9 1 - 3 3 0 .
N o t e : M r . G r o s s now g o e s by the name of Lightning C l e a r w a t e r .
Engelbart in German m e a n s A n g e l b e a r d ; Doug
Engelbart is indeed on the aide of the a n g e l s .
In building his mighty system he p o i n t s a new
way for h u m a n i t y . The sooner the b e t t e r . Any
history of the twentieth century w i l l certainly
hold him h i g h . Few great men are also such
nice g u y s .
Charles H . I r b y , "Display T e c h n i q u e s for I n t e r active Text Manipulation." Proc NCC 7 4 .
247-25S.
a f i e l d to
relations
s t u d e n t , at
BIBLIOGRAPHY
begun
Douglas C . E n g e l b a r t , Richard U . W a t s o n & James
C . N o r t o n , "The Augmented Knowledge Workshop.'
V
Proc NCC 7 3 , 9 - 2 1 .
similar
A n y w a y , a p r i n c i p a l p o i n t is t h a t t h e
s t u d e n t is i n c o n t r o l a n d m a y u s e h i s i n i t i a t i v e d y n a m i c a l l y ; t h e s u b j e c t is n o t a r t i f i cially p r o c e s s e d into a presentational s e quence.
M o r e o v e r , the arbitrary i n t e r c o n n e c tions of the s u b j e c t , which are no r e s p e c t e r s ,
of the p r i n t e d p a g e , a r e r e c o g n i z e d as the
f u n d a m e n t a l s t r u c t u r e s the s t u d e n t m u s t d e a l
with a n d c o m e to u n d e r s t a n d .
On all these
p o i n t s P a s k a n d I a r e in t o t a l a g r e e m e n t .
(At least one r e a l h y p e r t e x t w a s a c t u a l l y w r i t t e n o n this
s y s t e m . I t tied together a lot of p a t e n t s for m u l t i l a y e r e l e c t r o d e s . R e a d e r s agreed t h a t they could learn m o r e from i t a b o u t
m u l t i l a y e r e l e c t r o d e s than they had i m a g i n e d w a n t i n g to k n o w . )
BY THE BEARD OF THE PROPHET!
BIBLIOGRAPHY
HYPERTEXT
G o r d o n P a s k ' s w o r k is r e m a r k a b l y
to m y o w n s t u f f o n h y p e r t e x t .
T h e s y s t e m a l s o had handy f e a t u r e s for light-pen t e x t
e d i t i n g , and v a r i o u s nice p r i n t o u t t e c h n i q u e s . A l l t o l d ,
it w a s a clean and p o w e r f u l d e s i g n . W h i l e i t lacked h i g h e r level v i s u a l i z a t i o n f a c i l i t i e s , like E n g e l b a r t ' s d i s p l a y of
Levels (see "outline" in E n g e l b a r t a r t i c l e ) or c o l l a t e r a l
d i s p l a y (see " T h i n k e r t o y s , " p.D*\rz), it w a s in some way:
ted
for naive u s e r s ; that i s , i t w a s e v e n t u a l l y fairly safe to u s e .
and could in large p a r t be t a u g h t to rank b e g i n n e r s in a couple
of h o u r s — p r o v i d e d they d i d n ' t have to know a b o u t J C L c a r d s .
That's enough of t h a t . I can't help r e marking that I still don't like that sort of
s t r u c t u r i n g , but It is deep in N L S , and if
you don't like it either (poor deprived lucky
user of N L S ) you can program it to d i s a p p e a r ,
so it s hardly in your w a y .
The Augmentation
carried
HIERARCHICAL FORMAT
A . STORAGE
B . DISPLAY
C . LANGUAGE
But let's expand this example a l i t t l e :
1.
is
T h e r e s u l t i n g E n t a i l m e n t S t r u c t u r e is
t h e n p r e s e n t e d to t h e s t u d e n t as a g r e a t m a p
of the field w h i c h he may e x p l o r e .
The sane apparently la true of the data
s t r u c t u r e . 1 used to be somewhat disturbed
at che way Engelbart's text systems seen to
be rigorously h i e r a r c h i c a l . T h i s in fact la
the c a s e , in the sense that having multiple
discrete levels Is built deep into the s y s t e m .
But it turns out to be h a r m l e s s . T h e stored
text ie divided by the storage techniques i n to multiple l e v e l s , corresponding to a Harvard
o u t l i n e . Think of it as something like t h i s :
1.
(This processing
called EXTEND.)
In s t i l l o t h e r w o r d s , l e t ' s
c a l l it a p a r t y .
have
lou oan't read the eoreen
It eaye: C0GIT0 ERGO SIM
Inte
tha
lly it neede
'2001'
mueio.
both
here.
m
L
t
v
n
r
e
c
SYSTEM
T
A r i e THE N € W f R P N T l C f c .
FANTICS
N O T
A V i V
U
C
^
I
C
A
l
S P t r j H L T V
A h , Lovel could you and I with H i m compire
T o gratp this sorry Scheme of Tbingi entire.
W o u l d not w e ihstter it to bits—snd then
Re-mould it nearer to tbe Heart'* Desire I
Edward
Fitagerald.
A l m o s t e v e r y o n e s e e m s to a g r e e t h a t M a n k i n d ( w h o ? )
Is on the b r i n k of a r e v o l u t i o n in the w a y i n f o r m a t i o n
Is h a n d l e d , and that t h i s r e v o l u t i o n Is to c o m e f r o m
s o m e sort of m e r g i n g of e l e c t r o n i c s c r e e n p r e s e n t a t i o n
and a u d i o - v i s u a l t e c h n o l o g y w i t h b r a n c h i n g , i n t e r a c t i v e
computer systems.
(The n a i v e t h i n k " t h e " m e r g i n g Is
I n e v i t a b l e , as If " t h e " m e r g i n g m e a n t a n y t h i n g c l e a r .
I used to t h i n k that t o o . )
P r o f e s s i o n a l p e o p l e s e e m to t h i n k this m e r g i n g w i l l
be an i n t r i c a t e m i n g l i n g of t e c h n i c a l s p e c i a l t i e s , that
our n e w s y s t e m s w i l l r e q u i r e w o r k by a l l k i n d s of c o m m i t tees and c o n s u l t a n t s (adding and a d j u s t i n g ) u n t i l the R e s u l t s — e i t h e r s p e c i f i c p r o d u c t i o n s or o v e r a l l S y s t e m s —
a r e f i n i s h e d . T h e n w e w i l l h a v e to L e a r n to U s e T h e m .
More consulting fees.
W h a t p e o p l e d o n ' t s e a is h o w c o m p u t e r t e c h n o l o g y n o w
m a k e s p o s s i b l e ths r e v i s i o n a n d improvement—- the t r a n s f o r m a t i o n — of a l l o u r m a d i a .
It " s o u n d s too t e c h n i c a l . "
John B. Macdonsld
Research Leader
Computer Applications:
Graphic.
Western Electric Company
Engineering Research Center
But this is the b a s i c m i s u n d e r s t a n d i n g : tha f u n d a m e n t a l l a s u e s are N O T T E C H N I C A L . To u n d e r s t a n d t h i s is
b a s i c a l l y a m a t t e r of M E D I A C O N S C I O U S N E S S , n o t t e c h n i c a l
knowledge.
A lot of p e o p l e h a v e a c u t e m e d i a c o n s c i o u s n e s s .
But
s o m e p e o p l e , like Pat B u c h a n a n a n d the c o m m u n a r d s , s u g g e s t
that t h e r e is s o m e t h i n g s h a b b y a b o u t t h l a . M a n y t h i n k ,
i n d e e d , that w e l i v e in a w o r l d of false I m a g e s p r o m u l g a t ed by " m e d i a , " a s i t u a t i o n to b e c o r r e c t e d .
But this la
a m i s u n d e r s t a n d i n g . M a n y I m a g e s are false or p u f f y , a l l
r i g h t , but lt la I n c o r r e c t to s u p p o s e that t h e r e Is a n y
a l t e r n a t i v e . M e d i a h a v e e v o l v e d from s i m p l e r f o r m s , and
c o n v e y the b a c k g r o u n d I d e a s of our t i m e , a s w e l l a s the
f a d s . M e d i a t o d a y f o c u s the I m p r e s s i o n s a n d I d e a s that
in p r e v i o u s e r a s w e r e c o n v e y e d b y r i t u a l s , p u b l i c g a t h e r i n g s , d e c r e e s , p a r a d e s , b e h a v i o r in p u b l i c , m u m m e r ' t r o u p e s . . . b u t a c t u a l l y e v e r y c u l t u r e is a w o r l d of i m a g e s .
The
c h i e f t a i n in h i s p a l a n q u i n , the s h a m a n w i t h his f e a t h e r s
and r a t t l e , are telling us something about themselves and
a b o u t the c o n t i n u i t y of the s o c i e t y a n d p o s i t i o n of the
i n d i v i d u a l s in i t .
N o w the m e d i a , w i t h a l l t h e i r q u i r k s , p e r f o r m the
s a m e f u n c t i o n . A n d if w e d o n o t l i k e the w a y s o m e t h i n g s
are t r e a t e d by the m e d i a , in p a r t t h i s s t e m s f r o m not
u n d e r s t a n d i n g h o w they w o r k .
" M e d i a , " or s t r u c t u r e d t r a n s m i s s i o n m e c h a n i s m s , c a n n o t h e l p b e i n g p e r s o n a l i z e d by
t h o s e w h o run t h e m .
(Like e v e r y t h i n g e l s e . )
The problem
is to u n d e r s t a n d h o w m e d i a w o r k , a n d thus b a l a n c e o u r u n d e r s t a n d i n g of the t h i n g s that m e d i a m i s r e p r e s e n t .
THOUGHTS ABOUT MEDIA:
1 . A N Y T H I N G C A N BE S A I D IN A N Y
MEDIUM.
A n y t h i n g c a n b e said in a n y m e d i u m , a n d I n s p i r a t i o n
c o u n t s m u c h m o r e than ' s c i e n c e ' . But the t e c h n i q u e s w h i c h
a r e u s e d to c o n v e y s o m e t h i n g c a n b e q u i t e u n p r e d i c t a b l e .
PROBLEMS.
PROMISES
ss s«j j.;s .f
t
JbviSi;
($f pront
t
8
ln
t h
*
"
Q
p
i,,ieiflBB
p p U c a t l o n
COMPUTER Q R A P H : ™
*
o r
hich
«» <»
'cience
for
?.
C o m p u t e r G r a p h i c s d o e s not m a k e p o s s i b l e
anything that was previously Impossible:
U
c a n o n l y I m p r o v e the t h r o u g h p u t o r an e x i s t i n g
process,
3.
A s u c c e s s f u l a p p l i c a t i o n of c o m p u t e r g r a p h i c s
Is w h e n o v e r a p e r i o d o r rive y e a r s the cost
s a v i n g s fYom I m p r o v e d p r o c e s s t h r o u g h p u t e x c e e d t h e c o s t s of h a r d w a r e , s o f t w a r e , m a i n t e n a n c e a n d I n t e g r a t i o n i n t o an o x l s t i n e p r o c e s s
By " f a n t i c s " I m e a n the art and s c i e n c e of g e t t i n g
i d e a s a c r o s s , b o t h e m o t i o n a l l y and c o g n i t l v e l y .
"Presentat i o n " c o u l d b e a g e n e r a l w o r d for I t . T h e c h a r a c t e r of
w h a t g e t s a c r o a s Is a l w a y s d u a l : b o t h the e x p l i c i t s t r u c t u r e ^ a n d f e e l i n g s that go w i t h t h e m . T h e s e two a s p e c t s ,
e x a c t n e s s a n d c o n n o t a t i o n , are an I n s e p a r a b l e w h o l e ; w h a t
is c o n v e y e d g e n e r a l l y h a s b o t h . T h e r e a d e r or v i e w e r a l w a y s g e t s f e e l i n g s a l o n g w i t h i n f o r m a t i o n , e v e n w h e n the
c r e a t o r s of t h e i n f o r m a t i o n t h i n k that its " c o n t e n t " Is
much more restricted. A beautiful example: ponderous
technical
manuals which carry much more connotatlvely
than the a u t h o r r e a l i z e s . Such v o l u m e s m a y c o n v e y to
s o m e r e a d e r s an ( I n t e n d e d ) i m p r e s s i o n of c o m p e t e n c e , to
o t h e r s a s e n s e of the a u t h o r s ' o b t u s e n e e s and n o n - i m a g i n a tion. Explicit declarative structures nevertheless have
c o n n o t a t i v e f i e l d s ; p e o p l e r e c e i v e not o n l y c o g n i t i v e
s t r u c t u r e s , b u t i m p r e s s i o n s , f e e l i n g s a n d s e n s e s of t h i n g s .
F a n t i c s is thus c o n c e r n e d w i t h b o t h the a r t s of e f f e c t — w r i t i n g , t h e a t e r and so on—end the s t r u c t u r e s and
m e c h a n i s m s of t h o u g h t , i n c l u d i n g the v a r i o u s t r a d i t i o n s of
the s c h o l a r l y e v e n t ( a r t i c l e , b o o k , l e c t u r e , d e b a t e and
class ) . These are all a fundamentally Inseparable w h o l e ,
a n d t e c h n i c a l l y - o r i e n t e d p e o p l e w h o t h i n k that s y a t e m s to
i n t e r a c t w i t h p e o p l e , or t e a c h , or b r i n g up i n f o r m a t i o n ,
c a n f u n c t i o n on s o m e " t e c h n i c a l " b a s i s — w i t h no t i e - i n s
to h u m a n f e e l i n g s , p s y c h o l o g y , or t h e l a r g e r s o c i a l s t r u c t u r e — are kidding themselves and/or everyone e l s e .
Syst e m s f o r " t e a c h i n g by c o m p u t e r , " " i n f o r m a t i o n r e t r i e v a l , "
a n d so o n , h a v e to b e g o v e r n e d In t h e i r d e s i g n by l a r g e r
p r i n c i p l e s t h a n m o s t of t h e s e p e o p l e a r e w i l l i n g to d e a l
w i t h : the c o n v e y a n c e o f i m a g e s , i m p r e s s i o n s a n d I d e a s .
T h i s is w h a t w r i t e r s a n d e d i t o r s , m o v i e - m a k e r s a n d l e c t u r e r s , radio a n n o u n c e r s and layout people and advertising
people a r e concerned w i t h ; and unfortunately computer
p e o p l e tend n o t to u n d e r s t a n d lt for b e a n s .
I think this Is a d e l u s i o n and a c o n - g a m e . I t h i n k
that w h e n the r e a l m e d i a of the f u t u r e a r r i v e , t h e s m a l l est child w i l l k n o w it r i g h t a w a y (and p e r h a p s f i r s t ) .
T h a t , I n d e e d , should and w i l l b e the c r i t e r i o n . W h e n y o u
c a n ' t tear a teeny kid a w a y f r o m the c o m p u t e r s c r e e n ,
we'll have gotten t h e r e .
W e are a p p r o a c h i n g a s c r e e n a p o c a l y p s e . T h e a u t h o r ' s
b a s i c v i e w is that R E S P O N S I V E C O M P U T E R D I S P L A Y S Y S T E M S
C A N , S H O U L D A N D W I L L R E S T R U C T U R E A N D L I G H T UP T H E M E N T A L
LIFE OF M A N K I N D .
(For s m o r e c o n v e n t i o n a l o u t l o o k , s e e
box n e a r b y , "Another Viewpoint.")
I believe computer screens can make people h a p p i e r ,
s m a r t e r , a n d b e t t e r a b l e to c o p e w i t h the c o p i o u s p r o b lems of t o m o r r o w . But only if w e d o r i g h t , r i g h t n o w .
WHY?
In f a n t i c s a s a w h o l e , then w e a r e c o n c e r n e d
T h e c o m p u t e r ' s c a p a b i l i t y for b r a n c h i n g a m o n g
events, controlling exterior devices, controlling
o u t s i d e e v e n t s , a n d m e d i a t i n g in a l l o t h e r e v e n t s ,
m a k e s p o s s i b l e a n e w e r a of m e d i a .
1.
turally
and
T h e r e c o g n i t i o n of t h a t a r b i t r a r i n e s s , a n d r e consideration among broader and m o r e general a l t e r n a t i v e s , a w a i t s u s . A l l the p r e v i o u s u n i t s a n d
m e c h a n i s m s of l e a r n i n g , s c h o l a r s h i p , a r t s , t r a n s a c tion and c o n f i r m a t i o n , a n d even s e l f - r e m i n d e r , w e r e
b a s e d in v a r i o u s w a y s u p o n p h y s i c a l o b j e c t s — the
p r o p e r d e s of p a p e r , c a r b o n p a p e r , f i l e s , b o o k s
and b o o k s h e l v e s . T o read from p a p e r y o u m u s t m o v e
the p h y s i c a l o b j e c t in f r o n t of y o u .
Its c o n t e n t s
cannot be m a d e to s l i d e , f o l d , s h r i n k , b e c o m e t r a n s p a r e n t , or get l a r g e r .
But a l l t h i s Is n o w c h a n g i n g , a n d s u d d e n l y .
The
c o m p u t e r d i s p l a y s c r e e n d o e s a l l these t h i n g s if d e s i r e d ,
to the same m a r k i n g s w e h a v e p r e v i o u s l y h a n d l e d on p a p e r .
T h e c o m p u t e r d i s p l a y s c r e e n is g o i n g to b e c o m e u n i v e r s a l
v e r y f a s t ; t h i s is g u a r a n t e e d by t h e s u d d e n l y r i s i n g
cost of p a p e r . A n d w e w i l l u s e them for e v e r y t h i n g .
This already happens wherever there are responding c o m puter screen s y s t e m s .
(I h a v e a f r i e n d w i t h two C R T s on
his d e s k ; o n e for the n o r m a l f l o w of w o r k , a n d o n e to
handle interruptions and side e x c u r s i o n s . )
A lot of
forests will be s a v e d .
H o w , there a r e m a n y p e o p l e w h o d o n ' t like this i d e a ,
and huff a b o u t v a r i o u s a p p a r e n t d i s a d v a n t a g e s of the
s c r e e n . But w e c a n i m p r o v e p e r f o r m a n c e u n t i l a l m o s t
e v e r y o n e is s a t i s f i e d . F o r t h o s e w h o say the s c r e e n s a r e
"too s m a l l , " we can improve reliability and b a c k u p , and
o f f e r s c r e e n s e v e r y w h e r e (so that m a t e r i a l need n o t b e
physically carried between t h e m ) .
T h e e x h i l a r a t i o n a n d e x c i t e m e n t of t h e c o m i n g t i m e
is hard to c o n v e y on p a p e r . O u r s c r e e n d i s p l a y s w i l l b e
a l i v e w i t h a n i m a t i o n in their s e p a r a t e s e g m e n t s of a c t i v i t y , a n d w i l l r e s p o n d to o u r a c t i o n s a s If a l i v e p h y s i c ally too.
The question i s , then: HOW W I L L W E U S E THEM?
Thus
the d e s i g n of s c r e e n p e r f o r m a n c e s a n d e n v i r o n m e n t s , a n d
of t r a n s a c t i o n and t r a n s m i s s i o n a y s t e m s , is of the h i g h eat p r i o r i t y .
FRENCH
HAVE
A
WORD
FOR
IT
In F r e n c h t h e y u s e the t e r m
1'Informatique
to m e a n , a p p r o x i m a t e l y , the p r e s e n t a t i o n of lnformation to people by automatic
equipment.
U n f o r t u n a t e l y the E n g l i s h
equivalent,
informatics. has been p r e e m p t e d .
T h e r e is a
computer programming firm called
Informatics,
I n c . , a n d w h e n I w r o t e t h e m a b o u t this in t h e
early sixties they said they did not want
their
n a m e to b e c o m e a g e n e r i c t e r m .
Trademark
law
s u p p o r t s t h e m in t h i s to a c e r t a i n e x t e n t .
( O t h e r s , like W a l l y F e u r z e i g , w a n t t h a t to b e
the w o r d r e g a r d l e s s . ) B u t in t h e m e a n t i m e
I o f f e r u p the t e r m f a n t i c s , w h i c h is m o r e
general
anyhow.
T h e a r t a n d s c i e n c e of p r e s e n t a t i o n .
includes
with:
T h u s it
na-
2 . T e c h n i q u e s of p r e s e n t a t i o n : w r i t i n g , s t a g e d i r e c t i o n , movie m a k i n g , m a g a z i n e l a y o u t , sound o v e r l a y ,
e t c . a n d of c o u r s e
U n t i l n o w , the m e c h a n i c a l p r o p e r t i e s of e x t e r n a l o b j e c t s d e t e r m i n e d w h a t they w e r e to u s and h o w
w e used t h e m . But h e n c e f o r t h t h i s is a r b i t r a r y .
THE
P E R I L S , AMP
2.
TRANSPOSABILITY
T h e r e h a s a l w a y s b e e n , b u t n o w is n e w l y , a
U N I T Y O F M E D I A O P T I O N S . Y o u c a n get y o u r m e s s a g e
a c r o s s in a p l a y , a t r a c t , a b r o a d s i d e , a t e x t b o o k ,
a walking sandwich-board, a radio program, a comic
book
or f u m e t t l , a m o v i e , a s l i d e - s h o w , a c a s s e t t e
f o r the A u d i - S c a n o r t h e A V S - 1 0 , o r e v e n a h y p e r t e x t
(see p . } ) » ] % ) .
(But t r a n s p o s i n g c a n r a r e l y p r e s e r v e c o m p l e t e l y
the c h a r a c t e r or q u a l i t y of t h e o r i g i n a l . )
3.
BIG AND SMALL
APPROACHES
W h a t few p e o p l e r e a l i z e i s that b i g p i c t u r e s c a n
b e c o n v e y e d in m o r e p o w e r f u l w a y s t h a n they k n o w .
The
r e a s o n t h e y d o n ' t k n o w it is that t h e y s e e the c o n t e n t
in the m e d i a , a n d n o t h o w the c o n t e n t Is b e i n g g o t t e n
a c r o s s to t h e m — t h a t in f a c t they h a v e b e e n g i v e n v e r y
big pictures i n d e e d , but don't know I t .
(I t a k e t h i s
p o i n t to b e the N i c k e l - I r o n C o r e of H c L u h a n l s m . )
P e o p l e w h o w a n t to t e a c h In t e r m s of b u i l d i n g u p
f r o m the s m a l l to the l a r g e , a n d o t h e r s w h o (like t h e
a u t h o r ) l i k e to p r e s e n t a w h o l e p i c t u r e f i r s t , t h e n
f i l l in the g a p s , a r e t a k i n g two v a l i d a p p r o a c h e s .
(We m a y c a l l t h e s e , r e s p e c t i v e l y , t h e B i g P i c t u r e a p proach and the P i e c e m e a l a p p r o a c h . )
Big pictures are
just a s m e m o r a b l e a s p i c k y - p i e c e s if. t h e y h a v e s t r o n g
i n s i g h t s at t h e i r m a j o r i n t e r s e c t i o n s .
<*.
THE WORD-PICTURE
3 . M e d i a t h e m s e l v e s , their analysis and
ultimately
4 . T h e d e s i g n of s y s t e m s f o r p r e s e n t a t i o n .
This
w i l l of c o u r s e i n v o l v e c o m p u t e r s h e r e a f t e r , b o t h c o n c e p t u a l l y a n d t e c h n i c a l l y ; s i n c e It o b v i o u s l y I n c l u d e s , for t h e
future, branching and intricately Interactive systems e n a c t e d by p r o g r a m m a b l e m e c h a n i s m s , i . e . c o m p u t e r s .
Thus
c o m p u t e r d i s p l a y , d a t a s t r u c t u r e s ( a n d , to an e x t e n t ,
p r o g r a m m i n g languages and t e c h n i q u e s ) are all a p a r t .
F a n t i c s must
T h i s w o r d - p i c t u r e c o n t i n u u m is j u s t a p a r t of
broader continuum, which I call Fantics.
6.
S o c i o l o g i c a l t i e - i n B — e s p e c i a l l y s u p p o r t i v e and
d y s f u n c t i o n a l s t r u c t u r e s , such as tie-ins with occupational
s t r u c t u r e ; s p o n s o r s h i p a n d c o m m e r c i a l s ; w h a t w o r k s in s c h o o l s
a n d w h y . M o s t p r o f o u n d l y of a l l , h o w e v e r , f a n t i c s m u s t d e a l
w i t h p s y c h o l o g i c a l c o n s t r u c t s u s e d to o r g a n i z e t h i n g s :
7. T h e p a r t s , conceptual t h r e a d s , unifying concepts
a n d w h a t n o t that w e c r e a t e to m a k e a s p e c t s of the w o r l d u n d e r s t a n d a b l e . W e put them i n t o e v e r y t h i n g , but s t a n d a r d ize t h e m in m e d i a .
F o r e x a m p l e , t a k e r a d i o . G i v e n in r a d i o - - the t e c h n o l o g i c a l f u n d a m e n t — is m e r e l y the c o n t i n u o u s t r a n s m i s s i o n
of s o u n d .
Put i n t o it h a v e b e e n t h e " p r o g r a m , " the s e r i a l (and t h u s the e p i s o d e ) , the a n n o u n c e r , the theme s o n g
a n d the m u s i c a l b r i d g e — c o n v e n t i o n s w h i c h a r e u s e f u l p r e sentationally.
The arbitrariness of such mental constructs should
b e c l e a r . T h e i r u s e f u l n e s s in m e n t a l o r g a n i z a t i o n p e r h s p a
is n o t .
Let's
tbe
ale < i n c l u d e
5 . P s y c h o l o g i c a l e f f e c t a n d i m p a c t of v a r i o u s p r e s e n t a t i o n a l t e c h n i q u e s — b u t not p a r t i c u l a r f o r m a l a e s t h e t i c s ,
a s of h a i k u or m u s i c a l c o m p o s i t i o n . W h e r e d i r e c t l y r e l e vant fantics also includes
CONTINUUM
T h e a r t s of w r i t i n g a n d d i a g r a m m i n g a r e b a s i c a l l y
a continuum.
In b o t h c a s e s the m e n t a l i m a g e s and c o g n i t i v e s t r u c t u r e s p r o d u c e d a r e a m e r g e r of w h a t i s h e a r d
or r e c e i v e d . W o r d s a r e s l o w and t r i c k y for p r e s e n t i n g
a lot of c o n n e c t i o n s ; d i a g r a m s d o t h i s w e l l . B u t d i a g r a m s g i v e a p o o r f e e l for t h i n g s a n d w o r d s do t h i s
s p l e n d i d l y . T h e w r i t e r p r e s e n t s e x a c t s t a t e m e n t s , in
an a c c o r d - s t r u c t u r e of b u t s a n d i n d e e d s , m o l d e d In a
s t r u c t u r e of c o n n o t a t i o n s h a v i n g (if t h e w r i t e r la
good) exact imprecisenesa.
T h i s is h a r d l y s t a r t l i n g :
y o u ' r e a l w a y s s e l e c t i n g w h a t to s a y , a n d the u s e of
v a g u e w o r d s (or the u s e of p r e c i s e - s o u n d i n g w o r d s v a g u e l y ) is s i m p l y a f l a g r a n t f o r m of o m i s s i o n .
In d i a g r a m s , t o o , the c h o i c e of w h a t to l e a v e In a n d o u t , h o w
to r e p r e s e n t o v e r w e e n i n g c o n d i t i o n * a n d f o r c e s a n d e x e m p lary d e t a i l s , are highly c o n n o t a t i v e .
(Great d i a g r a m s
a r e to b e s e e n in the S c i e n t i f i c A m e r i c a n a n d o l d e r
I s s u e s of T I M E m a g a z i n e . )
design;
about
take a surprise e x a m p l e , nothing
electronic
it.
M a n y " h i g h w a y s " a r e w h o l l y f i c t i t i o u s — at l e a s t to
b e g i n w i t h . L e t ' s say that a R o u t e 37 le c r e a t e d a c r o s s
the s t a t e : that n u m b e r is m e r e l y a s e r i e s of s i g n s that
u s e r s c a n r e f e r to aa they look at their m a p s a n d t r a v e l
along.
H o w e v e r , a s time g o e s b y , " R o u t e 3 7 " t a k e s o n a c e r t a i n r e a l i t y a s a c o n c e p t u a l e n t i t y : p e o p l e t h i n k of it
a s a t h i n g . P e o p l e say " J u s t take 37 s t r a i g h t o u t "
( t h o u g h it m a y t w i s t a n d t u r n ) ; g r o u p s like a R o u t e 37
M e r c h a n t s ' A s s o c i a t i o n , or e v e n a C i t i z e n s to S a v e Scenic
.37, may spring u p .
What was originally simply a nominal construct, then,
becomes quite real as people organize their lives around
lt.
T h i s a l l s e e m s a r b i t r a r y b u t n e c e s s a r y in b o t h h i g h w a y s s n d r a d i o . W h a t , t h e n , d o e s lt h a v e to do w i t h the
new electronic media?
Simply t h i . : till now the s t r u c t u r e , of media somehow
•prang naturally from the nature of t h i n g s . M o w thej don I
a n y m o r e . R a d i o , books and m o v i e , have a natural Inner dynamic of their o w n , leading to auch c o n i t n icts. While
thia may prove to be ao for computer m e d i a as w e l l (—as I
ited p . & V O ,
argued In "Getting It Out of O u r Systi
then again it m a y n o t . In other vordi WE M U S T A C K N O W L E D G E
THAT W E A R E INVENTING P R E S E N T A T I O N A L TECHNIQUES IN T H E N E W
M E D I A , not merely transporting or transposing
things into then because they seem r i g h t . ThiL p s y c h o l o g l to be
cal constructs of m a n - m a c h i n e systems may. turn
a r b i t r a r y . Thus bringing to terminal systems c o n like d i a l o g u e instruction ( " C A I " ) , or a r b i t r a r y
ctlona of h o w things m a y b e c o n n e c t e d , presented or
rrltti ti on the computer m a y be a great m i s t a k e .
The h i g h w a y - n u m b e r analogy c o n t i n u e s , T h e older
highways had numbers for c o n v e n i e n c e , and our travels B e came organized around t h e m , a n d p a r t i c u l a r h i g h w a y s (like
" U . S . 1" and "Route 6 6 " ) came to have special c h a r a c t e r .
But n o w with the I n t e r s t a t c s , a h i g h w a y is a p l a n n e d ,
sealed u n i t , n o longer just a c o l l e c t i o n of roads g a t h e r ed together under a n a m e .
This u n i t , the I n t e r s t a t e , is n o t m e r e l y a p s y c h o l o g i cal c o n s t r u c t , b u t a planned s t r u c t u r e . K n o w i n g w h a t w o r k s
and what doesn't in the design of fast h i g h w a y s , the I n t e r states were built for s p e e d , s t r u c t u r e d as closed u n i t s .
D e s i g n i n g them with limited access h a s been a c o n s c i o u s
decision in the system design for w e l l - b a s e d r e a s o n s , not,
a chance structure brought in from h o r s e - a n d b u g g y d a y s .
N o w , the c o n s t r u c t s of p r e v i o u s m e d i a — w r i t i n g , f i l m s ,
other a r t s — evolved over t i m e , and in m a n y c a s e s m a y h a v e
found their w a y to a " n a t u r a l " f o r m . B u t b e c a u s e of the
peculiar w a y that c o m p u t e r m e d i a a r e c u r r e n t l y e v o l v i n g
/—under large grants largely granted to p r o f e s s i o n a l s w h o
use v e r y large w o r d s to p r o m o t e the idea that their o r i g i nal professions are largely a p p l i c a b l e — ) , this sort of
n a t u r a l e v o l u t i o n m a y not take p l a c e . T h e n e w c o n s t r u c t s
of computer m e d i a , e s p e c i a l l y computer s c r e e n - m e d i a , m a y n o t
have a chance to be thought o u t . W e need d e s i g n s for screen
p r e s e n t a t i o n s and their m i x t u r e — v i g n e t t i n g , W i n d o w s ,
screen m o s a i c s , transformed and a u g m e n t e d v i e w s , a n d the
rapid a n d r o o p r e h e n s i b l e c o n t r o l of these v i e w B a n d w i n d o w s .
We are still Just b e g i n n i n g to find clever v i e w i n g t e c h n i q u e s , and have hardly begun to d i s c o v e r h i g h l y r e s p o n sive forms of v i e w a b i l i t y and c o n t r o l ( c f . c o l l a t e r a t i o n
in " T h i n k e r t o y s , " p.y»*2»), a n d K n o w l t o n ' s b u t t o n - b o x (^..jftj)
(See T . N e l s o n , "A C o n c e p t u a l F r a m e w o r k for
Kan-Machine Everything," cited p .
, a n d m a t e r i a l on
controls, below.)
THE MIND'S UNIFICATION
One of the r e m a r k a b l e things a b o u t the h u m a n m i n d
is the w a y it ties things t o g e t h e r . P e r c e p t u a l u n i t y
comes out of n o w h e r e . A b u n c h of i r r e g u l a r r e s i d e n t i a l and I n d u s t r i a l b l o c k s b e c o m e s thought of a s "my
n e i g h b o r h o o d . " A most r e m a r k a b l e case of m e n t a l u n i fication Is afforded b y the v i s a g e of o u r good friend
M i c k e y M o u s e . T h e c h a r a c t e r Is d r a w n in a m o s t p a r a d o x i c a l f a s h i o n : two g l o b e l i k e p r o t r u s i o n s ( r e p r e s e n t i n g
the e a r s ) a r e in d i f f e r e n t p o s i t i o n s o n the h e a d , d e p e n d ing on w h e t h e r w e view h i m from the front o r the s i d e .
No one finds this o b j e c t i o n a b l e ; f e w p e o p l e even n o t i c e ,
it s e e m s .
THE
PARADOXICAL
ANATOMY
OF MICKEY
T h e h u m a n m i n d b e i n g as supple aa lt i s , a n y t h i n g
w h a t e v e r c a n b e used to c o n t r o l s y s t e m s . The p r o b l e m is
h a v i n g it b e s c o m p r e h e n s i b l e w h o l e .
As already remarked,
things ia e x t r a o r d i n a r y .
clutch, gear, accelerator
c o n t r o l s t r u c t u r e to m s k e
and I n s t r u c t .
o u r ability m e n t a l l y to unify
That w e s o m e h o w tie together
and brake into a c o m p r e h e n s i b l e
cars go and stop should amaxe
E n g i n e e r s and "human f a c t o r s " p e o p l e a p e a k a s though
there w e r e some kind of s c i e n t i f i c or d e t e r m i n a t e w a y to
d e s i g n c o n t r o l s y s t e m s . P i f f l e . W e c h o o s e a s e t of c o n t r o l s , m u c h like an a r t i s t ' s P a l e t t e , on the b a a l s of g e n e r a l a p p r o p r i a t e n e s s ; a n d then try b e s t a n d m o a t a r t i s t i c a l l y to fit them t o w h a t n e e d s d o i n g .
T h e result must b e c o n c e p t u a l l y clear and r e t r o a c t i v e ly " o b v i o u s " — simply b e c a u s e c l s r l t y is the s i m p l e s t w a y
to keep the u s e r from m a k i n g m i s t a k e s . C l e a r a n d s i m p l e
s y s t e m s a r e e a s i e r to l e a r n , h a r d e r to f o r g e t . Leas likely
to b e s c r e w e d u p by the u s e r , and thus a r e m o r e e c o n o m i c a l — g e t t i n g m o r e d o n e for the r e s o u r c e s p u t i n .
T h e r e ia a sort of p a r a d o x h e r e . T h e k i n d s of c o n trols a r e t o t a l l y a r b i t r a r y , b u t their u n i f i c a t i o n in a
good s y s t e m is n o t . S m o o t h n e s s and c l a r i t y c a n come from
d i s p a r a t e e l e m e n t s . It is for this r e a s o n that I lay p a r t i c u l a r stress on m y J O T s y s t e m for the input a n d r e v i s i o n
of t e x t , u s i n g a p a l e t t e of keys a v a i l a b l e on the s i m p l e s t
s t a n d a r d c o m p u t e r t e r m i n a l , the 33 T e l e t y p e . I c a n n o t
m a k e the final j u d g e m e n t on h o w good this s y s t e m i s , b u t
it p l e a s e s m e . J O T is a l s o a n i m p o r t a n t e x a m p l e b e c a u s e
lt s u g g e s t s that a c o n c e p t u a l l y u n i f i e d s y s t e m c a n b e
c r e a t e d from t h e a r t f u l n o n - o b v i o u s c o m b i n a t i o n of loose
elements originally having different intended p u r p o s e s .
M e n t a l a n a l o g y is an i m p o r t a n t a n d clear c o n t r o l
t e c h n i q u e . W e tend to forget that the s t e e r i n g w h e e l w a s
I n v e n t e d , s e p a r a t e l y r e p l a c i n g b o t h t h e b o a t ' s tiller a n d
the a u t o m o b i l e ' s t i l l e r . W e a l s o f o r g e t that the u s e of
such s t e e r i n g m e c h a n i s m s m u s t b e a c t u a l l y l e a r n e d b y
c h i l d r e n . Such c o n t i n u o u s a n a l o g i e s , t h o u g h , r e q u i r e c o r r e s p o n d i n g c o n t i n u i t i e s in the s p a c e to b e c o n t r o l l e d —
an i m p o r t a n t c o n d i t i o n .
S i m p l i c i t y a n d c irity h a v e n o t h i n g to d o w i t h the
b u t w i t h the c l a r i t y a n d u n i q u e
a p p e a r a n c e of c o n t r o ]
s t a b i l i t y of i n d i v i d u a l p a r t s . F o r this r e a s o n I find
d e p l o r a b l e the a r r a y e d c o n t r o l s that a r e t u r n i n g u p , e . g .
•n today's audio equipment. Designers seem to think
r o w s of t h i n g s are d e s i r a b l e . On the c o n t r a r y : t h e b e s t
d e s i g n e d c o n t r o l s I e v e r used a r e on the S o n y T C - 5 0
pocket tape recorder
^
But u s e f u l w h o l e n e s s can be helped a l o n g . Juat as
what I have called the a c c o r d a n c e - s t r u c t u r e of w r i t i n g
(see "Writing," p.^yj) m o v e , it along s m o o t h l y , fantic
design that b u i l d s from a w e 1 1 - o r g a n i z e d internal d y n
1
h
U
o n f
' " ' ' ° "
=
"
* * « t i c system the same m o m e n t u m
and c l a r i t y that c a r e f u l l y - o r g a n i z e d w r i t i n g h a a .
.^.hS.
T h i s c o n t r i b u t i o n of w h o l e n e s s can only occur
howe v e r , If the under-level c o m p l i c a t i o n , of
been c a r e f u l l y streamlined and .moothed b a c k , at lea.t
as they affect the uaer
C o n s i d e r the design of the J O T
text e d i t i n g s y s t e m (p.***?): while It 1 . simple t o t h .
u s ^ r , c o m p u t e r p e o p l e often reset to it w i t h lndignsllcm
snd anger b e c a u s e lt h i d e , w h a t are to them the s i g n i f i cant f e a t u r e s of computer text e d i t i n g - explicit p r e o c c u p a t i o n w i t h s t o r a g e , especially the calling and r e v i s i o n of " b l o c k s . " N e v e r t h e l e s s , I say it is the d e tails at thia level w h i c h m u s t b e smoothed back If w e
are to m a k e s y s t e m s for regular p e o p l e .
T h e Bame a p p l i e a to the T h 3 system (see p . DM- < P T )
w h i c h is d e s i g n e d to keep the user clear-minded a s h e
c o m p a r e s things in m u l t i p l e d i m e n s i o n s . The m e c h a n i s m s
at t h e c o m p u t e r level m u s t b e hidden to make this w o r k .
FANTIC SPACE
P u d o v k i n a n d E l s e n a t e l n , great RUBS:
of the t w e n t i e s , talked a b o u t "filmic spi
ary space that the action s e e m s to b e in
T h i s c o n c e p t extends Itself n a t u r a l l y to fantic space
the space and r e l a t i o n s h i p s sensed by a viewer of a n y m e d i u m , or a u s e r in a n y p r e s e n t i n g or responding e n v i r o n m e n t . T h e design of c o m p u t e r d i s p l a y s y s t e m s , t h e n , is
r e a l l y the a r t f u l c r a f t i n y of fantic s p a c e . T e c h n i c a l i t i e
a r e a u b s c r v l e n t to e f f e c t s . ( I n d e e d , I think computer
g r a p h i c s is r e a l l y a b r a n c h of m o v i e - m a k i n g . )
FANTIC
STRUCTURE
T h e f a n t i c s t r u c t u r e of a n y t h i n g , t h e n , c o n s i s t s of
its n o t i c e a b l e p a r t s , i n t e r c o n n e c t i o n s , c o n t e n t s a n d e f fects.
I c l a i m that it is the fantic u n i t y — the c o n c e p t u a l
and p r e s e n t a t i o n a l c l a r i t y of these t h i n g s — that m a k e s
f a n t i c s y s t e m s — p r e s e n t a t i o n a l systei— e-dJ -----materi•
alc l e a r and h e l p f u l , or n o t .
L e t u s take
Intel
c o m p u t e r - a s s i s t e d insti
I w i l l n o t i d e n t i f y or
h a p s I d o n o t understar
h a v e an a r r a y of studei
MOUSE
POSSIBLE
Diagonal
M>VICE
'FKST'
EASIER
MOUSE
S p u r i o u s c o n t r o l e l e g a n c e c o m e s in m a n y g u i s e s . C o n s i d e r B r u c e M c C a l l ' s d e s c r i p t i o n of the T a p - A - T o e F u t u r o i dic F o o t l e s s D e - C l u t c h i n g t m
s y s t e m . T h i s w a s o f f e r e d on
the f i c t i t i o u s 1 9 3 4 B u l g e m o b i l e s , a n d a l l o w e d y o u t o d r i v e
the c a r w i t h one p e d a l , r a t h e r than t h r e e (see b o x n e a r b y ) .
(frontal)
RECONCILIATIONS:
Mounting
Rolling
Relative
to
Camera
W h a t this s h o w s , of c o u r s e , is the w a y the mind c a n
unify into a c o n s i s t e n t m e n t a l w h o l e even t h i n g s w h i c h
a r e i n c o n s i s t e n t by n o r m a l r u l e s (in this c a s e , the r u l e s
of t h r e e - d i m e n s i o n a l s t r u c t u r e ) .
Even p e r c e p t i o n s a r e subject to the same p r i n c i p l e
of u n i f i c a t i o n . The f i n g e r n a i l is an e x c r e s c e n c e w i t h n o
n e r v e s in i t ; y e t s o m e h o w y o u c a n f e e l t h i n g s w i t h y o u r
f l n e e r n a i l a — tying together d i s p a r a t e s e n s a t i o n s i n t o
a unified s e n s e of s o m e t h i n g In the w o r l d ( s a y , a c o i n
y o u ' r e trying to pick u p ) . In the same w a y , an e x p e r i e n c ed driver feels the r o a d ; In a v e r y real s e n s e , the c a r ' s
w h e e l s and s u s p e n s i o n b e c o m e h i s o w n s e n s o r y e x t e n s i o n s .
T h i s p r i n c i p l e of m e n t a l u n i f i c a t i o n is w h a t m a k e b
things come t o g e t h e r , both l i t e r a l l y and f i g u r a t i v e l y ,
in a fantic f i e l d . A viewer sees two c o n s e c u t i v e m o v i e
shots of streets and u n i f i e s them I n t o one s t r e e t ; c o n t r o l s ,
if you are used to t h e m , b e c o m e a s i n g l e fused s y s t e m of
o p t i o n s ; w e c a n have a sense of a g r e a t e r w h o l e , of w h i c h
one v i e w on a Bcreen is a p a r t .
Careless and horrible designs are not all fictitious.
O n e e g r e g i o u s e x a m p l e a l s o I n d i c a t e s the l o w l e v e l of d e sign currently going into some responding systems: c o m p u t er p e o p l e h a v e d e s i g n e d C R T w r i t i n g s y s t e m s f o r n e w s p a p e r s
w h i c h a c t u a l l y h a v e a " k i l l " b u t t o n o n the c o n s o l e , b y
w h i c h a u t h o r s w o u l d a c c i d e n t a l l y k i l l t h e i r s t o r i e s . In
a r e c e n t m a g a z i n e a r t i c l e it w a s e x p l a i n e d that the e v e n t ual s o l u t i o n w a s t o c h a n g e the p r o g r a m s o that to k i l l
the s t o r y y o u h a d to h i t t h e " k i l l " b u t t o n t w i c e • T o m e
this s e e m s like a b e a u t i f u l e x a m p l e of w h a t h a p p e n s w h e n
y o u l e t i n s u l a t e d t e c h n i c a l p e o p l e d e s i g n the s y s t e m f o r
y o u : a " k i l l " b u t t o n on the k e y b o a r d is a b o u t a s i n t e l l i gent a s i n s t a l l i n g k n i v e s on t h e d a s h b o a r d of a c a r ,
pointing at the passenger.
N O T i n ooR^.STMy
CONTROLS: THEIR UNIFICATION A N D FEEL
C o n t r o l s a r e intimately related to screen p r e s e n t a t i o n , just as a r b i t r a r y , and just a s i m p o r t a n t .
The artful design of c o n t r o l s y s t e m s is a deeply
m i s u n d e r s t o o d a r e a , in n o w a y d e c o n f u s e d by c a l l i n g it
human f a c t o r s . " There are m a n y f u n c t i o n s to b e c o n t r o l l e d , such a s text e d i t i n g o p e r a t i o n s , v i e w s of the u n i v e r s e on a s c r e e n , the h e a d i n g of a v e h i c l e , the tilt of
an a i r c r a f t , the w i n d a g e and a d j u s t m e n t s of a r t i l l e r y
the temperature of a stove b u r n e r and a n y other c o n t r o l lable d e v i c e s . And n o w a d a y s any c o n c e i v a b l e d e v i c e s
could control t h e m — p u s h b u t t o n s , k n o b s , c r a n k s , w h e e l s ,
leyers and j o y s t i c k s , t r i g g e r , d i a l s , m a g i c w a n d s , m a n i pulation by lightpen on C R T screens (see p . ^ T i ) f l i c k s
of the f i n g e r , the turning pX the eyes (as in s o m e e x perimental g u n - a i m i n g d e v i c e s ) , the h u m a n v o i c e (but
that i n t r o d u c e s p r o b l e m s — see p.finrj), k e y b o a r d s , e l e c tronic t a b l e t s , Bogelbart m i c e and c h o r d w r i t e r s , a n d s o
EMMP
W h a t m a k e s for t h e b e s t c o n t r o l s t r u c t u r e s , then?
T h e r e is n o s i m p l e a n s w e r . I w o u l d s a y p r o v i s i o n a l l y
that it is a m a t t e r of u n i f i e d a n d c o n s p i c u o u s c o n s t r u c t s
in the m e n t a l v i e w of the d o m a i n to b e c o n t r o l l e d ,
c o r r e s p o n d i n g to a w e l l - d i s t i n g u i s h e d a n d c l e a r l y - i n t e r r e l a t e d s e t of c o n t r o l l i n g m e c h a n i s m s . B u t that is h a r d l y
the la.
•ord <
i subje,
It s h o u l d b e p l a i n that in r e s p o n d i n g s c r e e n s y s t e m s , " w h a t h a p p e n s on the s c r e e n " a n d " h o w the
controls respond" are not really distinguishable.
T h e s c r e e n e v e n t s a r e part of t h e w a y the c o n t r o l s
respond. T h e screen functions and control functions
merge psychologically.
N o w , there is a trap h e r e . J u s t a s the g a s
p e d a l , clutch, gearshift and brake merge p s y c h o l o g i c a l l y , any c o n t r o l s t r u c t u r e c a n m e r g e p s y c h o l o g i c a l l y . C l u t c h a n d g e a r s h i f t d o n o t h a v e , f o r m o s t of u s ,
c l e a r p s y c h o l o g i c a l r e l e v a n c e to the p r o b l e m of c o n trolled forward m o t i o n . Yet w e psychologically i n t e g r a t e the u s e of these m e c h a n i s m s a s a u n i f i e d m e a n s
for c o n t r o l l i n g f o r w a r d m o t i o n ( o r , like the a u t h o r ,
get an A u t o m a t i c ) . In m u c h the s a m e w a y , any s y s t e m
of c o n t r o l s c a n g r a d u a l l y c o m e t h r o u g h u s e to h a v e a
p s y c h o l o g i c a l o r g a n i z a t i o n , even s p u r i o u s l y . T h e trap
is that w e so easily lose s i g h t of a r b i t r a r i n e s s and
even s t u p i d i t y of d e s i g n , a n d live w i t h lt w h e n it
c o u l d b e a o m u c h b e t t e r , b e c a u s e of this p s y c h o l o g i c a l
melding.
fwer
T h e g e n e r a l t h i n k i n g in this s y s t e m s e e m s to b e
that the s t u d e n t m a y g e t an o v e r a l l o r g a n i z i n g v i e w of
w h a t h e is s u p p o s e d t o b e l e a r n i n g ( M A P ) ; i n f o r m a t i o n o n
w h a t h e is c u r r e n t l y s u p p o s e d to b e a b o u t ( O B J ) ; canned
suggestions based on what he's recently done
(ADVICE).
M o r t v e r , h e c a n g e t the s y s t e m to p r e s e n t a rule about
the s u b j e c t or g i v e h i m p r a c t i c e ; a n d f o r e i t h e r of
these h e m a y r e q u e s t e a s i e r r u l e s or p r a c t i c e , or h a r d e r
r u l e s ( i . e . , m o r e a b s t r u s e g e n e r a l i t i e s ) or harder p r a c tice.
For the l a t t e r , the s t u d e n t is s u p p o s e d to h i t
R U L E or P R A C T followed b y H E L P , H A R D E R or E A S I E R , v i z . :
Hap
There is another poor tendency. When computer p r o g r a m m e r s or o t h e r t e c h n i c a l p e o p l e d e s i g n p a r t i c u l a r
systems without thinking more g e n e r a l l y , things are not
l i k e l y to b e e i t h e r s i m p l e o r c o m b i n a b l e . W h a t m a y r e sult is i n t r i c a t e u s e r - l e v e l c o n t r o l s f o r o n e p a r t i c u l a r
f u n c t i o n , c o n t r o l s that a r e d i f f e r e n t l y used f o r a n o t h e r
particular function, making the two functions not c o m binable.
THE ORGANIZATION OF WHOLENESS
IS
ting e x a m p l e from a s y s t e m i
under implementation
nt on the s y a t e m bi
pers u f f i c i e n t l y . A n y w a y , they
t r o l - b u t t o n s that look like
fair foeuAtj)
b u t o f c o u r s e this is n o w p h a s e d o u t ; i n s t e a d m o s t c a s s e t t e
r e c o r d e r s h a v e f i v e or s i x stupid b u t t o n s in a r o w . (Was
it t o o good to l a s t ? )
MICKEY
via-makera
- the i m a g i n -
MAP
/
i-
£XNMP
ADWff
V
FK«CT
N o w r e g a r d l e s s o£ w h e t h e r this is a well-thought-w a y t o d i v i d e u p a s u b j e c t — I'll b e i n t e r e s t e d to se<
h o w it w o r k s o u t — t h e s e c o n t r o l s d o not seem to b e wi
a r r a n g e d for c o n c e p t u a l c l a r i t y . It s e e m s to b e the <
rows-of-buttons approach.
I h a v e n o d o u b t that the p e o p l e w o r k i n g on this i
S t e m a r e c e r t a i n this is the o n l y p o s s i b l e l a y o u t . Bi
c o n s i d e r that the s t u d e n t ' s o p t i o n s m i g h t b e c l e a r e r i
h i m , f o r i n s t a n c e , if w e s e t it u p as f o l l o w s :
Genera
A f f i l e kg;
S e l e c t i o n of p o i n t s a n d p a r t s c o n t r i b u t e s to b o t h
a s p e c t s . If y o u a r e t r y i n g to k e e p t h e f e e l i n g o f a
thing from being p o n d e r o u s , you can never Include
e v e r y t h i n g y o u w a n t e d , hut must select from a m o n g the
explicit points and feeling-generators that you have
thought o f .
O n e of the i n t e n t s of t h i s b o o k h a s b e e n to o r i e n t
y o u to s o m e of the p o s s i b i l i t i e s a n d s o m e of t h e o p t i o n s ,
c o n s i d e r e d g e n e r a l l y . T h e r e la n o t r o o a , u n f o r t u n a t e l y ,
to d i s c u s s m o r e t h a n o n e o r t w o o v e r a l l p o s s i b i l i t i e s in
d e t a i l . T h e m o s t s u c c e s s f u l s u c h s y s t e m so fsr h a s b e e n
PLATO (discussed p p . D M 1 8 - 1 9 ) ; others
2 . T h e d e s i g n of m e d i a t h e m s e l v e s , o r of m e d i a
s u b s y s t e m s , i s n o t u s u a l l y a m a t t e r of o p t i o n . B o o k s ,
m o v i e s , radio and TV are g i v e n . But on o c c a s i o n , as
for w o r l d ' s fairs or v e r y p e r s o n a l p r o j e c t s , w e have
a certain o p t i o n . Which allows things like:
HELP
W h a t I a a t r y i n g to s h o w h e r e la t h a t m e r e l y the
a r r a n g e m e n t of b u t t o n s c r e a t e s d i f f e r e n t f s n t i c c o n s t r u c t s . If you see t h i s , y o u w i l l r e c o g n i z e t h a t
c o n s i d e r i n g all the o t h e r o p t i o n s w e h a v e , d e s i g n i n g
n e w m e d i a Is n o s m a l l m a t t e r . T h e c o n t r o l s t r u c t u r e s
m e r g e m e n t a l l y w i t h the p r e s e n t a t i o n a l s t r u c t u r e s .
T h e t e m p t a t i o n to s e t t l e o n s h o r t - s i g h t e d d e s i g n s h a v ing s h a l l o w u n i t y is a l l t o o g r e a t .
FANTIC
DESICN
F a n t i c d e s i g n Is b a s i c a l l y the p l a n n i n g a n d s e l e c t i o n of e f f e c t s .
(We c o u l d a l s o c a l l t h e s e " p e r f o r m a n c e
v a l u e s " — c f . " p r o d u c t i o n v a l u e s " in m o v i e s . )
S o m e of t h e s e i n t e n d e d e f f e c t s a r e s i m p l y t h e c o m m u n i c a t i o n of i n f o r m a t i o n o r c o g n i t i v e s t r u c t u r e — " i n f o r m a t i o n t r a n s f e r , " to u s e o n e of t h e m o r e o b t u s e
phrases current. Other desirable effects include o r i e n t i n g the u s e r a n d o f t e n m o v i n g h i m e m o t i o n a l l y , i n c l u d i n g
sometimes overwhelming or entrancing h i m .
In the d e s i g n of f a n t i c s y s t e m s i n v o l v i n g a u t o m a t i c
r e s p o n s e , w e h a v e a v a s t c h o i c e a m o n g t y p e s of p r e s e n t a tional t e c h n i q u e s , tricks that are just n o w b e c o m i n g
understood.
Not just screen techniques and f u n c t i o n s ,
but also response techniques and f u n c t i o n s .
(If " f e e l i e " a y s t e m s a r e e v e r p e r f e c t e d , a s in
H u x l e y ' s B r a v e N e w W o r l d , i t ' s s t i l l t h e s a m e in p r i n c i p l e . S e e W a c h s p r e s s , p . T>*\^.)
In b o t h g e n e r a l a r e a s , t h o u g h — w i t h i n m e d i a , a n d
d e s i g n i n g m e d i a — It s e e m s to m e t h a t t h e c r e a t i o n of
o r g a n i z i n g c o n s t r u c t s Is t h e m o s t p r o f o u n d p r o b l e m .
In p a r t i c u l a r , the o r g a n i z i n g c o n s t r u c t s m u s t n o t d i s t r a c t , or t e a r u p c o n t e n t s . A n a n a l o g y : in w r i t i n g , t h e
i n v e n t i o n s of t h e p a r a g r a p h , c h a p t e r a n d f o o t n o t e w e r e
i n v e n t i o n s In w r i t i n g t e c h n i q u e t h a t h e l p e d c l a r i f y w h a t
w a s b e i n g e x p r e s s e d . W h a t w e n e e d in c o m p u t e r - b a s e d
f a n t i c d e s i g n is i n v e n t i o n s w h i c h d o n o t a r t i f i c i a l l y
c h o p u p , c o n s t r a i n , o r i n t e r f e r e w i t h t h e s u b j e c t (see
box, Procrustes, n e a r b y ) .
I do not feel these principles are everywhere s u f ficiently a p p r e c i a t e d . For i n s t a n c e , the b u i l t - i n
s t r u c t u r e s o f P L A T O (see " F a n t i c S p a c e o f P L A T O , " p .
|)*\ 7.7) d i s t u r b s m e s o m e w h a t In I t s a r b i t r a r i n e s s — a n d
the w a y i t s c o n t r o l k e y s a r e s c a t t e r e d a r o u n d .
NEW MEDIA TO
SmellavlBlon or whatever they called i t :
movies w i t h a s m e l l - t r a c k , w h i c h went out
I n t o the t h e a t e r t h r o u g h o d o r g e n e r a t o r s .
B r a n c h i n g m o v i e s (see p . ^ H H 1 ^ ) .
"Multi-media" (multiple audio tracks and s i m u l t a n e o u s slide p r o j e c t i o n s on different
screens).
Stereo movies.
A n d s o o n . T h e t h i n g a b o u t t h e o n e s m e n t i o n e d ia t h a t
they a r e not v i a b l e as c o n t i n u i n g s e t u p s for repeated
p r o d u c t i o n s . They do not offer a permanent w i d e m a r k e t ;
t h e y a r e n o t s t a b l e ; t h e y d o n o t c a t c h o n . W h i c h is in
a w a y , of c o u r s e , t o o b a d .
FINAL
R e s p o n d i n g s y s t e m s n o w m a k e it p o s s i b l e f o r s u c h
o r i e n t i n g s t r u c t u r e s to be m u l t i d i m e n s i o n a l and r e s p o n d i n g ( c f . the o r i e n t i n g f u n c t i o n of t h e " d i m e n s i o n a l
flip" control illustrated on p . D M J |
) .
B u t t h e g r e a t c h a n g e is J u s t a b o u t n o w .
Current
technicalities allow branching m e d i a — especially those
a s s o c i a t e d w i t h c o m p u t e r s c r e e n s . A n d it I s u p to u s now
to d e s i g n t h e m .
3. M E N T A L E N V I R O N M E N T S are w o r k i n g p l a c e s for s t r u c t u r e d a c t i v i t y . T h e s a m e p r i n c i p l e s of s h o w m a n s h i p a p p l y
to a w o r k i n g e n v i r o n m e n t a s to b o t h t h e c o n t e n t s of m e d i a
and the design of m e d i a .
If m e d i a a r e e n v i r o n m e n t s i n t o
which packaged materials are b r o u g h t , structured e n v i r o n ments are basically environments where you use n o n - p a c k a g ed m a t e r i a l , o r c r e a t e t h i n g s y o u r s e l f . T h e y m i g h t a l s o
be called "contentless media."
T h e p r i n c i p l e s of w h o l e n e s s in s t r u c t u r e d e n v i r o n m e n t s a r e t h e s a m e a s f o r t h e
o t h e r s , a n d m a n y of o u r e x a m p l e s r e f e r to t h e m .
But this all m e a n s that Interior computer t e c h n i c a l i t i e s h a v e to b e S U B S E R V I E N T , a n d the p r o g r a m m e r s c a n n o t
be a l l o w e d t o d i c t a t e h o w it i s to b e h a v e o n t h e b a s i s
of t h e u n d e r l e v e l s t r u c t u r e s t h a t a r e c o n v e n i e n t to t h e m .
Q u i t e the c o n t r a r y : from the fullest c o n s i d e r a t i o n of the
richest u p p e r - l e v e l s t r u c t u r e s w e w a n t , w e the u s e r s - t o b e m u s t d i c t a t e w h a t l o w e r - l e v e l s t r u c t u r e s a r e to b e
prepared within.
The b r a n c h i n g c o m p u t e r s c r e e n , t o g e t h e r w i t h the
s e l f s a m e c o m p u t e r ' s a b i l i t y to t u r n a n y t h i n g e l s e on
a n d o f f a s s e l e c t e d b y t h e u s e r , a n d to f e t c h u p i n f o r m a t i o n , y i e l d s a r e a l m of o p t i o n in t h e d e s i g n of
media and environment that has never existed b e f o r e .
M e d i a w e d e s i g n f o r B c r e e n - b a s e d c o m p u t e r syBterns a r e
g o i n g to c a t c h o n w i d e l y , s o w e m u s t be f a r more a t t e n t i v e to t h e o p t i o n s t h a t e x i s t in o r d e r to c o m m i t —
n a t i o n a l l y , p e r h a p s — to t h e b e s t .
B u t t h i s m e a n s y o u , d e a r r e a d e r , m u s t d e v e l o p the
f a n t i c i m a g i n a t i o n . Y o u m u s t l e a r n to v i s u a l i z e p o s s i b l e
u s e s o f c o m p u t e r s c r e e n s , so y o u c a n g e t o n d o w n to t h e
d e e p e r l e v e l of h o w w e a r e g o i n g to tie t h e s e t h i n g s
together.
In t o m o r r o w ' s s y s t e m s , p r o p e r l y u n i f i e d c o n t r o l s
can g i v e us new f l e x i b i l i t i e s .
If d e e p l y w e l l - d e s i g n e d ,
these promise magnificent new c a p a b i l i t i e s . For i n s t a n c e , we c o u l d a l l o w a m u s i c i a n to " c o n d u c t " t h e p e r f o r m a n c e of h i s w o r k b y a c o m p u t e r - b a s e d m u s i c s y n t h e s i s
s y s t e m ( s e e " A u d i o , " p.>>*\il), p e r h a p s c o n t r o l l i n g t h e
m a n y q u a l i t i e s of t h e p e r f o r m a n c e o n a s c r e e n a s h e g o e s ,
b y m e a n s of s u c h t e c h n i q u e s a s d i m e n s i o n a l f l i p (see
p.*tt7l).
(The t r a d i t i o n of c u m u l a t i v e a u d i o s y n t h e s i s ,
a s p r a c t i c e d in t h e f i f t i e s b y L e s P a u l a n d M a r y F o r d ,
and more recently by W a l t e r C a r l o s and M i k e O l d f l e l d ,
will take on a new fillip as multidimensional control
techniques become common.)
T h e d e s i g n e r o f r e s p o n d i n g c o m p u t e r s y s t e m s is
c r e a t i n g u n i f i e d s e t u p s for v i e w i n g a n d m a n i p u l a t i n g
t h i n g s — a n d t h e f e e l i n g s , i m p r e s s i o n s and s e n s e o f t h i n g s
t h a t go w i t h t h e m . O u r g o a l s h o u l d b e n o t h i n g l e s s t h a n
REPRESENTING THE TRUE CONTENT AND STRUCTURE OF HUMAN
THOUGHT.
(Yes, Dream Machines Indeed.)
B u t it s h o u l d
b e s o m e t h i n g m o r e : e n a b l i n g t h e m i n d to w e i g h ,
pursue,
s y n t h e s i z e and e v a l u a t e ideas for a b e t t e r t o m o r r o w .
Or for a n y at a l l .
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Theodor H. Nelson, "A Conceptual Framework
for
Man-Machine Everything."
Proc. NCC 73.
"Computopia and Cybercrud."
C o m p u t e r s in I n s t r u c t i o n , T h e
fro*
"A
The author (designer, director, etc.) must think
c a r e f u l l y a b o u t h o w to g i v e o r g a n i z a t i o n to w h a t is
being presented. T h i s , too, has both aspects, cognition
and f e e l i n g s .
A t the c o g n i t i v e e n d , t h e a u t h o r m u s t c o n c e r n h i m self w i t h d e t a i l e d e x p o s i t i o n o r a r g u m e n t , o r , in f i c t i o n ,
Plot•
But s i m p l y p u t t i n g a p p r o p r i a t e p a r t s t o g e t h e r i s
n o t e n o u g h : the a u t h o r m u s t u s e o r g a n i z i n g c o n s t r u c t s to
c o n t i n u a l l y o r i e n t t h e r e a d e r ' s (or v i e w e r ' s ) m i n d .
Rep e a t e d r e f e r e n c e to m a i n c o n c e p t s , r e p e a t e d s h o t s (in a
m o v i e ) of p a r t i c u l a r l o c a t i o n s , s e r v e t h i s f u n c t i o n ; b u t
e a c h m e d i u m p r e s e n t s its o w n p o s s i b l e d e v i c e s f o r t h i s
purpose.
T h e o r g a n i z a t i o n of the f e e l i n g s of t h e w o r k
criss-crosses the c o g n i t i v e ; but w e can't get Into
it h e r e .
M r w k 1 « «
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TEXT:
fa
F a n t i c d e s i g n , t h e n , is t h e c r e a t i o n e i t h e r o f
t h i n g s to b e s h o w n ( w r i t i n g , m o v i e - m a k i n g , e t c . ) a t t h e
l o w e r e n d , or m e d i a to s h o w t h i n g s i n , or e n v i r o n m e n t s .
1 . T h e d e s i g n of t h i n g s to b e s h o w n — w h e t h e r
w r i t i n g , m o v i e - m a k i n g , or w h a t e v e r — is nearly always a
c o m b i n a t i o n of s o m e k i n d of e x p l i c i t s t r u c t u r e — an e x p l a n a t i o n or p l a n n e d l e s s o n , or p l o t of a n o v e l — a n d
a f e e l i n g t h a t the a u t h o r c a n c o n t r o l in v a r y i n g d e g r e e s .
T h e t w o a r e .deeply i n t e r t w i n e d , h o w e v e r .
CONSEQUENCES.
It s e e m s to m e c e r t a i n t h a t w e a r e m o v i n g t o w a r d
a generalized and universal Fantic system; people can
and should demand i t . Perhaps there will be several;
b u t if s o , b e i n g a b l e to t i e t h e m t o g e t h e r for s m o o t h
t r a n s m i s s i o n is e s s e n t i a l .
( T h i n k of w h a t it w o u l d be
l i k e if t h e r e w e r e t w o k i n d s of t e l e p h o n e s ? ) T h i s t h e n
I s a g r e a t s e a r c h a n d c r u s a d e : to p u t t o g e t h e r t r u l y
g e n e r a l m e d i a f o r ^ f u t u r e , s y s t e m s at w h i c h w e can r e a d ,
w r i t e , learn and v i s u a l i z e , year after year after year•
T h e i n i t i a t i v e s a r e n o t l i k e l y to c o m e f r o m t h e m o r e
c o n v e n t i o n a l c o m p u t e r p e o p l e ; a o m e of t h e m a r e p a r t of
the problem.
(Be p r e p a r e d for e v e r y p o s s i b l e f o r m o f
aggressive defensiveness from p r o g r a m m e r s , especially:
" W h y w o u l d y o u w a n t t h a t ? " T h e c o r r e c t a n s w e r is
BECAUSE, dammit^)
But t h e r e is a l w a y s s o m e t h i n g a r t i f i c i a l — t h a t i s ,
s o m e f o r m of a r t i f i c e — in p r e s e n t a t i o n . So t h e p r o b l e m
is to d e v i s e t e c h n i q u e s w h i c h h a v e e l u c i d a t i n g v a l u e b u t
do n o t c u t c o n n e c t i o n s or t i e s o r o t h e r r e l a t i o n s h i p s
you w a n t to s a v e .
(For t h i s r e a s o n I s u g g e s t the r e a d e r
c o n s i d e r " S t r e t c h t e x t , " p . -WV*] , c o l l a t e r a l l i n k a g e
(P- J)H 5 ^ ) > a n d the v a r i o u s h y p e r g r a m s (p.J)P-j
l^).
These s t r u c t u r e s , while somewhat arbitrary and a r t i f i c i a l , n e v e r t h e l e s s c a n b e u s e d to h a n d l e a s u b j e c t
gently.)
A n I m p o r t a n t k i n d of o r g a n i z i n g c o n s t r u c t is t h e
map or o v e r a l l o r i e n t i n g d i a g r a m . T h i s , t o o , is often
p a r t l y " e x a c t " a n d p a r t l y " a r t i f i c e : " c e r t a i n a s p e c t s of
the d i a g r a m m a y h a v e u n c l e a r i m p o r t b u t c l e a r and h e l p ful c o n n o t a t i o n .
(For i n s t a n c e , c o n s i d e r t h e " p i c t u r e
s y s t e m s " d i a g r a m o n p . D M 2.0
— just w h a t does the
vertical dimension mean?
Y e s , b u t w h a t d o e s it r e a l l y
mean?)
LAST
W h a t ' a w o r s e , we are confronted not merely with the
J o b of u s i n g c o m p u t e r s to p r e s e n t s p e c i f i c t h i n g s . T h e
g r e a t e r t a s k ia to d e s i g n o v e r a l l c o m p u t e r m e d i a t h a t
w i l l l a s t u s Into a m o r e I n t e l l i g e n t f u t u r e . A d r i f t in
• s e a of I g n o r a n c e a n d c o n f u s i o n , it i s n e v e r t h e l e s s o u r
d u t y to try to c r e a t e a w h o l e t r a n s p o r t a t i o n s y s t e m t h a t
e v e r y b o d y can climb a b o a r d . For the long r u n , fantic
s y a t e m s m u s t be t r e a t e d n o t a s c u s t o m s y s t e m s for e x p l i c i t
p u r p o s e s , but as O V E R A L L G E N E R A L DESIGNS WHICH W I L L H A V E
T O T I E TOGETHER AND CATCH O H . otherwise collapse and
perish.
sp
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the
cuts.
s«o tjt^s w
1
r
N 0 6 0 0 V V ?
i N T e U t C T R e N ' C J ?
Either o f thece alternatives may continue with
Another application of tiv: P r e « n t Invention ia alao in « w »roa
,f pictorial display, but offer. . great w i t t y of p o t e D t U l user c h o i c e , in
, simple circumstance.
One Is that the presentation m a y be continuous In all directions,
aiding In continuous uter orientation.
dleltel
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materials ready to present, how any the uaer most .imply »
o f
n d
(Not only is a demonstration reversible within a given shank, b u t the user may
Graphical
back the pip through an intersection into the antecedent shank--
conveniently
Indeed, how may the uaer keep track of what 1 . happening,
Another is that presentations a r e
reversible in various v u y o , an aid both In ucer orientation a n d self-study.
The problew of Intricate computer graphic, may be phrased aa
choose them?
Several features of thla control application a r e of special
Interest.
step, or "v*lk,"
around the tcrcen.
rollovc: e l v m that a
development a and a n i m a t i o n , under control of its own shank.
I call t h i . the " m i k i n g net" .ystcm because control is
effected through a changlne network of choices vblch
v t e r
«
[ s - « H
T H O O & H T O W V h c N , ?
its ovr.
which reappears a t the Juncture a s the llchtpen backs u p — a n d the user cuy
'FANTICS.*
F i r s t o f a l l , I f e e i tll
ry few
people understand what
teractive computer
s y s t e m s a r e abot
s like the s t o r y o f the
b l i n d m e n a n d the e l e p h a n t - - each thinks I t ' " .
.inuc to reverse the presentation through that preceding shank, or to re-onte
he is and where he has been?
The extern*! mechanism I have selected for this facility paradoxically combines great versatility for sophisticated presentations vith 41e.1t
simplicity before the naive u s e r .
The Idea is this: the user may co=nnnd *
the intersection a n d mike
and to
These
explore numerous alternatives.
The displayed control n e t is thus to be understood a s a large
continuing succession of changing presentations, making only one simple choice
at • time, y e t receiving Intricate and rich animations vith extremely clear
another c h o i c e , "the path n o t taken.")
features allow the utter clearly to repent demonstrations a s often aa he l i k e ,
netvork of choices, mostly unseen, whose currently visible portion "walks" *iro<
the screen aa use progresses.
Within this system, then, numerous variants a r e
continuity on the screen.
possible.
For instance, the currently visible portion of the n e t m a y Itself
The exterior mechanism is this: along with an arbitrary graphic
be whimsically incorporated in a p i c t u r e , v i z . :
presentation on the screen, the user is contlnuoualy presented vitb the image
s
I—.H
VlUJiJC
The pip is a conventional iii^it-pen cursor.
"3
T n e "current shank" is a line
vhose Implicit gradations control developnentc In the picture; and the choice
Okay,
ote
mu a n sah,i p*j ,
handled by
so I w a n t e d a terra t h a t w o u l d
1 t h e s maons dt g e n e r a l s e n s e , t h e s h o w * ,
feelings-- whether or not
machine,
I derive "fantics" from the Greek words
"phainein" (show) and its derivative "phantastein" (present to the e y e o r m i n d ) .
Y o u w i l l o f c o u r s e r e c o g n i z e its cousins
fantastic, fantasy, phantom.
("Phantom" means
w h a t is s h o w n ; in m e d i c a l i l l u s t r a t i o n it r e f e r s
to a n o p a q u e o b j e c t d r a w n a s t r a n s p a r e n t ; a
" p h a n t o m l i m b " is a n a m p u t e e ' s t e m p o r a r y f e e l i n g
that the s e v e r e d limb has been r e s t o r e d . )
And a
f a n t a s t is a d r e a m e r .
of a forking set of a r r o w s , t .y
>K>U
But I think it's a l l show business
PENNY A R C A D E S are the model for Interactive
computer s y s t e m s , not classrooms or libraries
or i m a g i n a r y robot p l a y m a t e s . A n d c o m p u t e r
g r a p h i c s is an i n t r i c a t e b r a n c h o f m o v i e mak ing.
The word " f a n t i c s " would thus include
the s h o w i n g o f a n y t h i n g (and thus w r i t i n g
a n d t h e a t e r ) , w h i c h is m o r e o r l e s s w h a t I
intended.
T h e t e r m is a l s o i n t e n d e d t o
cover the tactics of conveying ideas and
impressions, especially with showmanship
and p r e s e n t a t i o n a l t e c h n i q u e s , organizing
constructs, and fundamental structures
underlying presentational systems.
of arrows a t too end of the current shank determine a discrete choice between
alternatives that a r e to transpire.
The u s e r , seizing the pip vith the lightpsn, moves it {through
the usual light pin techniques) sldcvviye alone the current shank.
Moving it In
the "forward" direction cuuees progressive developments in the plctuiz, moving
It "backvard" causes a reversal of anititir.Tic a n d other previous developments.
When the pip roichsc the chol-je j-oirit in the for.-j.-i direction,
the user may drag lt (through the usual lightpen t e c h n i q u e ) along either o i
the
beckoning alternatives. This then causec further developments in the
presentation consonant with the line selected.
..^
The Greeks told of a giant, Procrustes [rhyme, with
Rusty'.) who was very hospitable to passing travelers.
He would invite, indeed compel them, to sleep in h i .
b e d . Unfortunately, because it w a s a very odd b e d , h e
had to c u t them u p first...
Procrustes has haunted conversations ever since 1 and
any time w e are forced to use categories that don't p r o perly fit a subject, it seems like an invitation to the
Procrustean b e d .
Hypertext syatems at last offer total freedom from
arbitrary categorizing and chopping! but in some system,
for storing and presenting information, I can't help hearing the whisk of Procrustes' k n i f e —
T h u s E n g e l b a r t ' s d a t a h i e r a r c h y (P.s*%-T).
S K E T C H P A D ' S C o n s t r a i n t s (p.J»»T>), a n d P L A T O ' s
f a n t i c s p a c e s (p.>M<-J5 a r e f a n t i c c o n s t r u c t i o n s
t h a t n e e d t o b e u n d e r s t o o d if w e a r e t o u n d e r stand these systens and their potential u s a g e s .
Livermore L a b s , those h y d r o g e n - b o m b
design people, will have a "Laboratory for
Data Analysis." sn opulent facility for e x perimenting with multidimensional visualization.
"Developments" of the picture here Include expansion, contraction
V
sliding movements and fnurc-by-fnice animation.
(Thece materials will have b e e n , of c o u r s e , explicitly input b y
authors and artists.)
In a sample employment, consider a presentation on the subject
of Volcanoes.
Let the first shank of the control net control the "rise of a
volcano from the sen"— an undulating ocean surface pierced first b y d w i s p of
•moke, then a growing peak, with rivulets of lava M e n t o run down l t . sides
"Take new Tap-A-Toe Futuroidic Footless
De-Clutching.
Instead of old-fashioned g a s ,
brake a n d clutch pedals that kept your feet
busier than a dance m a r a t h o n , Tap-A-Toe
Futuroidic Footless De-Clutching offers the
convenience of Single Pedal Power Control-c o m b i n e s a l l f o o t f u n c t i o n s in o n e s i n g l e
pedal I
off
ou change
mortgage
U.S.
labelled respectively WORD ORISIH a n d UITERIOR.
"Three tapseconomy.
you stop quicker
than the
Bruce McCall,
"1934 Bulgemobile Brochure,"
N a t i o n a l L a m p o o n , M a y 7 4 , 76-
Either option continues 1!*
presentation without a break, retaining much of the picture on the screen.
Selection of WOTQ ORffilH cnunes the word VOLCAKO to change to VULCAII, a n d a
picture of the god Vulcan is seen to seize a' lightning bolt rising frcra the
crater; text appears t o explain t h i s . Alternatively, if the user chooses
IKTE3I0R, the tubes a n d ducts within the volcano appear, a n d explanatory text
SteiMVisioM
A nice example of a unified presentational
aysteHi would allow you a "feelie" glove along
with your computer display— the sort of thing
Mike Noll has been doing at Bell L a b s .
Now, suppose you are playing with a diagram
of a star on a computer display screen. It's all
very well to sea its layers, flowing arrows r e presenting convection currents, promontories and
so o n — b u t same things you ought to be able to
feel• For example, the mechanical resonance-properties of stars. It would be nice to ba able to
reach and grasp ths star, to aqueese it and feel
its pulsations as it regain* lta shape. This
could be done in the glove— at the same time the
image of the glove grasps the star on the screen,
and the star is squished.
(The p^th unchosen fades from the 1
Everything is deeply intPrtwtngied.
g e a r s , as s m o o t h
foreclosure.
" A n d t h a t ' s a l l t h e r e is t o i t . T a p - A Toe Futuroidic Footless De-Clutching with
S i n g l e P e d a l C o n t r o l is as easy a n d e f f o r t less as the J a p m a r c h on M a n c h u r i a ! "
A t the e n d of the first shank, the u;sr c^iy bran:h to two drrovt
T h e best with the w o r s t .
" T h i n k o f i t : o n e t a p - - y o u gi
moving
faster than a barfly after Repeal
and darken as they contribute to its growth.
- UL.
One of your jolly ironies. I have seen p i c tures of beautiful multlbutton control handles which
were designed for project SMASH, would you believe
Southeast [Asia] Nultisensory I
Helicopters. Aargh.>
Of course, to build such a responding glove,
particularly one that gave you subtle feelings
back in your fingers, would probably be very e x pensive. But it's the kind of possibility people
should start considaring-
Designing screen systems that focus
the u s e r ' s thought o n his w o r k , with h e l p f u l v i s u a l i z a t i o n s a n d n o d i s t r a c t i o n s , is
the g r e a t task of fantic d e s i g n .
In a s y s t e m I d e s i g n e d f o r C R T m o t i o n picture editing, the user could maipulate
w r i t t e n d e s c r i p t i o n s on the screen (corresponding to the usual yellow-pad n o t e s ) . To
see the c o n s e q u e n c e s o f a p a r t i c u l a r s p l i c e ,
for i n s t a n c e , the e d i t o r w o u l d o n l y h a v e to
draw a l i n e b e t w e e n two annotated lines r e presenting shots. Trim variations could be
seen b y m o v i n g this c u t - l i n e ( i l l u s t r a t e d ) .
Not long a f t e r , C B S and Memorex did i n troduce a s y s t e m for m o v i e - e d i t i n g by C R T - b u t I've h e a r d that in their s y s t e m the u s e r
has to a c t u a l l y d e a l w i t h n u m b e r s .
If s o ,
t h i s is m i s s i n g t h e w h o l e p o i n t .
DM
52
Our greatest prooiems 11 olve thinking and the
visualization of complexity.
By "Thinkertoy" I mean, first of all, a system
to help people think. ('Toy' means it should be easy
and fun to UBe.) This is the same general ides for
which Engelbart, for instance, uses the term "augmentation of intellect."
But a Thinkertoy is something quite specific:
I define it as a computer display system that helps
you envision complex alternatives.
The process of envisioning complex alternatives
is by no means the only important form of human
thought; but it is essential to making decisions, d e signing, planning, writing, weighing alternate theories, considering alternate forms of legislation, doing
scholarly research, and so on. it is also complicated
enough that, in solving it, we may solve simpler p r o b lems as w e l l .
He will stress here some of the uses of these s y stems for handling text, partly because I think these
are rather interesting, and partly because the complexity and subtlety of this problem has got to be
better understood: the written word is nothing less
than the tracks left by the mind, and so we are really
talking about screen systems for handling ideas, in
all their complexity.
Numerous types of complex things have to be intercompared, and their relations inter-comprehended. Here
are a few of the many types:
Alternative designs
Discrepancies among the testimony of witnesses.
Now, it will be noted f i r s t off that this is an e x tremely general method. By collateral structuring we
can easily handle the equivalents of: tables of contents;
indexes) comments and marginalia; explanations, exegesis,
explication; labeling; headings; footnotes; notes by the
writer to himself; comments and questions by the reader
for later reference; and additional details o u t of s e quence .
Collateration, then, is the creation of such
multiple and viewable l i n k B BETWEEN ANY TWO DATA
STRUCTURES, in principle. It is general and powerful
enough to handle a great variety of possible uses in
human intellectual endeavor, and deserves consider-able attention from researchers of every stripe.**
The problem then, is how to handle this for
rapid and convenient viewing and whatever other work
the user wants to do— writing and splicing, intercomparing, annotating and so o n . Two solutions a p pear on this spread: The Parallel T e x t f a c e ^ , designed as a seminal part of the Xanadu system (see p.>\•>£.),
which I hope will be marketed with that system in the
near future, and a more recent design which I've worked on at the University of Illinois, the 3D Thinkertoy
or T h 3 .
CLARITY AND POWER
It is because of my heartfelt belief in this kind
of simplicity that I stress the creation of prefabricated environments, carefully tuned for easy use, rather
than the creation of computer languages which must be
learnt by the user, as do such people as Engelbart (see
and DeFanti (see p . ^ M O . Now, their approach
bbviously has considerable merit for sophisticated users
who want to tinker repeatedly with variant approaches.
For people who want to work incessantly in an environment, and oil other things— say writers— and are a b sent-minded and clumsy and nervous and forgetful (like
the present author), then the safe, prefabricated environment, with thoroughly fail-safe functions and u t terly memorable structural and control interrelationships, is the only approach.
*
He stressed on the other side of the book that
computer systems must be clear, simple and easy to u s e .
Where things like business uses of computers are concerned, which are intrinsically so simple in principle,
some of the complications that people have been forced
to deal with in ill-designed computer systems verge on
t h e criminal. (But some computer people want others
to think that's the way it has to b e . "Your first
duty is to keep your job, right?" one computer person
said to me recently. "It wouldn't do to set up systems
so easy to use that the company wouldn't need you a n y more." See "Cybercrud," p.8.)
But if it is desirable that computer systems for
simple-minded purposes be easy to u s e , it is absolutely
necessary that computer systems for complicated purposes
be simple to use. If you art wrangling over complex a l ternatives— say, in chess, or in a political simulation game (see "Simulation," p . S$ ) , or in the throes
of trying to write a novel, the last thing you will t o l e rate is for your computer screen to introduce complications of its own. If a system for thinking doesn't
make thinking simpler— allowing you to see farther and
more deeply— it is uselss, to use only the polite terra.
But systems can be both powerful a n d simple a t
the same time. The myth that things have to be complicated t o do anything for you is pernicious rubbish.
Well-designed systems can make our mental tasks lighter
and our achievements come faster.
Successive drafts of the same document.
tt is for thia reason that I consnend^the reader
these two designs of mine: as examples of user-level
control and viewing designs— fantic environments, If
you will (see p!^i*,)~
that are pruned and tuned to
give the user great control over the viewing and crosjsconsideration of intricate alternatives, without oomplicatlon. I like to believe that both of these, indeed, are ten-minute ayatews— that i s , when w« get
them running, the range of uses shown here can be taught
to naive users in ten minutes or less.
In my 1965 paper (see bibliography) I called collateral
structures zlppered lists.
A group at Brown University has reportedly worked
along these lines since I worked with them, but due
to certain personal animosities I have not kept up
with their developments. It will be interesting to
see what kind of response they can get out of the
IBM systems they are using.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Theodor H . NelBon, "A File Structure for the complex,
the Changing and the Indeterminate." Proc. ACM 65
84-100.
. "Simplicity Versus Power in User Systems."
Unpublished.
DECISIOfl/CRJ'ATIVITY
SYSTEMS
A
It has b e e n recognized from the dawn o f computer display that the
grandest ar.d most important use of the computer display should be to
aid decisions and creative t h o u g h t . The work of Ivan Sutherland (SKETCHPAD)
and Douglas Engelbart have really shown how we may use the display to
visualize and effect our creative decisions swiftly and vividly.
Pairs of things which have some parts the
same, some parts different (contracts, holy books,
statutes of different states, draft versions of
legislation...)
i
Different theories and their ties to p a r t i cular examples and evidences.
For some r e a s o n , however, the most important aspect of such systems
has been neglected, '.-.'e do not icake important decisions, w e should not
make delicate decisions, serially and irreversibly. Rather, the power of
the computer display (and its computing and filing support) must be so
crafted that we may develop alternatives, spin out their complications
and interrelationships, and visualize these upon a screen.
WE
OFTEN
WANT
TO
SAVE
ALTERNATIVES.
i
Ani r/uilj tt my [burtj tbl frilid,
[Ati aik'd ml tcitb bir twimmmg ijii\
Under examination these different types of intercomparison seem to be rather different. Now, one a p proach would be to create a different data structure
and viewing technique for each different type of complex.
There may be reasons for doing that in the future.
That I [uttU ] rttbtrfilltbsn m
'i 6V ebntt,] i
For the present, however, it makes sense to try to
find the most general possible viewing technique: one
that will allow complex intercomparisons of all the
types mentioned, and any others we might run across.
One such technique is what I now call collateration, or the linking of materials into collateral structures,* as will be explained. This is fairly straightforward if you think enough about the problem; E n g e l bart discovered it independently.
Theodor H . Nelson
19 July 1970
No system could do this for us automatically. What design and
programming can create, however, is a facility that will allow us
to l i s t , sketch, link and annotate the complexities we seek to under-t
stand, then present "views" o f the complexities in reany different forms.
Studying those v i e w s , annotating and refining, we can reach the final
designs and decisions witb much rore in mind than we could otherwise
hold together in the imagination.
Some of the facilities that such systems must have include the
followi ng:
[Sit] tiU her Itvt witb mtiin frtft;
J*i tt 1 tut* mj GlKtvitvt,
Mj [tritfi] 6> Jtwi/j Bridi.}
From
Coleridge's Poems: A Facsimile
R e p r o d u c t i o n of the P r o o f s
a n d H S S . of s o m e of the P o e m s .
(Folcroft, 1972.)
Annotations to anything, to any remove.
Alternitives of decision, d e s i g n , writing, theory.
Unlinked or irrerru]ar p i e c e s , hanging as the user wishes.
Multicou-cling, or complex l i n k a g e , between alternatives, annotations or w h a t e v e r .
Historical filing of the user's actions, including each addition
and modification, and possibly the vieving actions that preceded them.
Let us call two structures collateral if there are
links between them, connecting a selected part of one
with a selected part of the other. The sequences of
the connected parts may be different. For simplicity's
sake, suppose each one is a short piece of writing.
(He will also assume that there is some convenient form
of rapid viewing and following between one end of a link
and another.)
rt
Frozen ironr-nts and versions, which the user may hold as memorable
for his thinking.
Kvc.lutior.ary coupling, where the correspondences between evolving
versions tire automatically maintained, and their differences or relations
easily annotated.
In addition, designs for screen "views", the motion, appearance
and disappearance of elements, require considerable thought and Imagination.
The object ic not to burden the u s e r , or make him aware of complexities in which he has no interest. But almost everyone in intellectual
and decision pursuits has at some time an implicit need for some of
these facilities. If people knew they were possible, they would demand
them. It is time for their creation.
U e might
also
A full-fledged decision/creativity system, embracing both text and
graphics, is one of the ultimate design goals of Project XANADU.
PARAU.EL TEXTFACE
C19 71)
This u s e r - l e v e l s y s t e m is i n t e n d e d to a i d in
all forms of w r i t i n g a n d s c h o l a r s h i p , as w e l l as
a n y w h e r e e l s e that w e n e e d to u n d e r s t a n d a n d m a n i It w i l l a l s o w o r k w i t h c e r t a i n a n i m a t e d
D E R I V A T I V E M O T I O N : w h e n links run s e q u e n t i a l ly, connecting one-after-the-other on both s i d e s ,
the c o n t e n t s of t h e s e c o n d p a n e l a r e p u l l e d a l o n g
d i r e c t l y : t h e s m o o t h m o t i o n in o n e p a n e l is m a t c h ed in. the o t h e r . T h i s m a y b e c a l l e d d e r i v a t i v e
m o t i o n , b e t w e e n i n d e p e n d e n t text (being handled
d i r e c t l y w i t h t h e l i g h t p e n ) a n d d e p e n d e n t text
(being pulled a l o n g ) .
The relationship may be rev e r s e d i m m e d i a t e l y , h o w e v e r , s i m p l y b y m o v i n g the
l i g h t p e n to the c o n t r o l p i p o f the o t h e r p a n e l ,
w h o s e c o n t e n t s then b e c o m e t h e i n d e p e n d e n t t e x t .
graphics.
T h e P a r a l l e l T e x t f a c e , as d e s c r i b e d h e r e ,
f u r n i s h e d the i n i t i a l i m p e t u s for the d e v e l o p m e n t
o f the X a n a d u t n l s y s t e m (see p . J)*" 5"fc) • X a n a d u w a s
d e v e l o p e d , i n d e e d , o r i g i n a l l y for t h e p u r p o s e o f
i m p l e m e n t i n g s o m e o f t h e s e f u n c t i o n s , b u t the t w o
s p l i t a p a r t . It t u r n e d o u t that the P a r a l l e l
T e x t f a c e r e q u i r e d an e x t r e m e l y u n u s u a l d a t a s t r u c s t r u c t u r e and p r o g r a m t e c h n i q u e s ; t h e s e then b e c a m e
the X a n a d u s y s t e m . A s d e v e l o p e d in t h e f i n a l
X a n a d u d e s i g n , t h e y turn o u t to h a n d l e s o m e v e r y
u n u s u a l k i n d s of s c r e e n a n i m a t i o n a n d f i l e r e t r i e v a l .
B u t this g r e w o u t of s t r u c t u r i n g a s y s t e m to h a n d l e
the f u n c t i o n s d e s c r i b e d h e r e .
Thus the P a r a l l e l T e x t f a c e b a s i c a l l y
a Xanadu system.
Real person sits
cardboard Xanadu
at
mockup.
I r r e g u l a r i t i e s in t h e l i n k s w i l l c a u s e the
i n d e p e n d e n t t e x t to m o v e a t v a r y i n g s p e e d s or j u m p ,
a c c o r d i n g to a n a v e r a g e o f t h e l i n k s ' c o n n e c t i v i t y .
requires
It is h o p e d t h a t this s y s t e m c a n b e s o l d c o m p l e t e ( i n c l u d i n g m i n i c o m p u t e r or m i c r o p r o c e s s o r - n o c o n n e c t i o n to a l a r g e c o m p u t e r is r e q u i r e d ) f o r
a few t h o u s a n d ' d o l l a r s b y 1 9 7 6 or 1 9 7 7 . S e e p .
(Since " b u s i n e s s p e o p l e " a r e e x t r e m e l y s k e p t i c a l
as to w h e t h e r a n y b o d y w o u l d w a n t s u c h a t h i n g , I
w o u l d b e i n t e r e s t e d in h e a r i n g e x p r e s s i o n s of i n t e r e s t , if a n y . )
I
"Nice keyboard. B
w h a t h a p p e n e d to
your typewriter?"
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Two panels are about
r i g h t f o r a 10 x 10
screen.
A s s h o w n h e r e , t h e s c r e e n p r e s e n t s two p a n e l s
of text; more are a l l o w e d . Each c o n t a i n s a s e g m e n t of a l o n g e r d o c u m e n t .
("Page" w o u l d b e an imSIvPhr
Z™' S ^ C e t h e b o u n d a r y o f t h e t e x t v i e w e d
may be c h a n g e d i n s t a n t l y . )
T.KWK
C o l l a t e r a l l i n k s b e t w e e n m a t e r i a l s in t h e
t w o p a n e l s a r e d i s p l a y e d as m o v a b l e l i n e s b e t w e e n the p a n e l s .
( T e x t o m i t t e d in t h i s d i a g r a m ;
p a n e l b o u n d a r y h a s b e e n m a d e to a p p e a r . )
Some
displayed
complete
direction
links may n o t have both their endpoints
at o n c e .
In this c a s e w e s h o w t h e i n l i n k as a b r o k e n a r r o w , p o i n t i n g in t h e
of the l i n k ' s c o m p l e t i o n .
T h e o t h e r o d d s a n d e n d s on t h e s c r e e n a r e h i d d e n k e y s to c o n t r o l e l e m e n t s w h i c h h a v e b e e n m a d e
to f a d e ( m this i l l u s t r a t i o n ) , j u s t to l e s s e n t h e
distraction.
P a n e l b o u n d a r i e s a n d c o n t r o l g r a p h i c s m a y fam a d e to a p p e a r b y t o u c h i n g t h e n w.tU t U lijkff*^.
Independent text pulls
dependent text along.
Painted streaks simulate
motion, not icicles.
1 '
lrJ,t*M
ROVING
\
T h e b r o k e n a r r o w s e r v e s n o t m e r e l y as a v i s u a l p o i n t e r , b u t as a j u m p - m a r k e r l e a d i n g to t h e
l i n k e d m a t e r i a l . By z a p p i n g t h e b r o k e n a r r o w w i t h
the l i g h t p e n , the u s e r s u m m o n s the linked m a t e r i a l - as s h o w n b y t h e c o m p l e t i o n o f t h e l i n k to t h e o t h e r
panel.
( S i n c e t h e r e h a s b e e n a j u m p in the s e c o n d
p a n e l , w e s e e t h a t in t h i s c a s e t h e o t h e r l i n k h a s
been broken.)
FUNCTIONS
T h e
t e X t
Th. i
v m o v e s o n t h e screen!
(Essential.)
T h e l o w e r r i g h t h a n d c o r n e r o f e a c h text
panel
3
" , n c o n s P i ^ o u s control diagram.
The
g h t
h o r l 2 0 n t i
n?i
' l . " t e n s i o n is a m o v a b l e c o n t r o l
T
5
t
h
h i s
U
h t
e n
m a
Sin',,,, ^ j " ' " , , .
8
P
'
y ""ove the
S m L X
i " U p " c a u s e s the t e x t to m o v e
s m o o t h l y u p w a r d ( f o r w a r d in t h e m a t e r i a l ) , at a
r a t e p r o p o r t i o n a l to h o w far y o u p u s h the pipn o ? ~ / a U ! | e S 1 1 "? m O V e b a c k < N o t e that w e d o
TH1,™^!
' t 0 j e r k y line-l>y-line jumps, but
to s m o o t h s c r e e n m o t i o n , w h i c h is e s s e n t i a l in
a high-performance system.
If the t e x t d o e s n o t
m o v e , y o u c a n ' t t e l l w h e r e it c a m e f r o m . )
W h e n s u c h l i n k s l e a d to d i f f e r e n t p l a c e s , b o t h
o f t h e s e d e s t i n a t i o n s m a y n e v e r t h e l e s s b e s e e n at
o n c e . T h i s is d o n e by p o i n t i n g a t b o t h b r o k e n l i n k s
i n s u c c e s s i o n ; t h e s y s t e m t h e n a l l o w s b o t h l i n k s to
be c o m p l e t e d , b r e a k i n g t h e s e c o n d p a n e l b e t w e e n the
t w o d e s t i n a t i o n s (as s h o w n b y d o t t e d l i n e a c r o s s
panel).
9L
DM
54
V
Mt\t
^2
FAIL-SAFE
AND HISTORICAL
FEATURES.
In s y s t e m s f o r n a i v e u s e r s , i t i s e s s e n t i a l
to s a f e g u a r d the u s e r f r o m h i s own m i s t a k e s .
Thus
in t e x t s y s t e m s , c o m m a n d s g i v e n in e r r o r m u s t b e
reversible.
For i n s t a n c e , C a r m o d y ' s system (see
p. D M 4 7 ) requires confirmation of d e l e t i o n s .
•
Another highly desirable feature would allow
t h e u s e r to v i e w p r e v i o u s v e r s i o n s , t o s e e t h e m c o l laterally w i t h the c o r r e s p o n d i n g p a r t s of c u r r e n t
v e r s i o n s , a n d e v e n g o b a c k to t h e w a y p a r t i c u l a r
things w e r e and resume w o r k from the p r e v i o u s
version.
— 4 hj* . p > u )
T. M F U « M
S e p a r a t e p o r t i o n s of the E d i t R o s e i n v o k e
various edit operations.
(You must also point with
t h e l i g h t p e n to t h e n e c e s s a r y p o i n t s in t h e t e x t :
o n c e for i n s e r t , twice for D e l e t e , three or four
t i m e s for R e a r r a n g e , three times for Conv I
In t h e P a r a l l e l T e x t f a c e t h i s is a l l c o m p r i s e d in t h e s a m e e x t r e m e l y s i m p l e f a c i l i t y .
(Extremely s i m p l e from the u s e r ' s p o i n t o f v i e w , that
is.
I n s i d e it i s , o f c o u r s e , h a i r y . )
In a n e g r e g i o u s t o u c h o f n a r c i s s i s t i c
w e u s e the v e r y t r a d e m a r k o n the s c r e e n as
d e v i c e ( e x p a n d e d from the " X " s h o w n in the
1
panel
(fli •
humor,
a control
first
_L
GENERALITY.
The
system
"
nay
be
used
'
for c o m m e n t , on
things,
Materials may be copied between v e r s i o n s .
(Note
t h a t in t h e c o p y i n g o p e r a t i o n o f t h e P a r a l l e l T e x t f a c e , you actually see the moved text moved bodily
as- a b l o c k . )
© m i l . T-HtLfeu
A c t u a l l y t h e X in " X a n a d u 1 ™ , " as it a p p e a r s
o n t h e s c r e e n , is a n h o u r g l a s s , w i t h a s o f t l y f a l l ing t r i c k l e of a n i m a t e d d o t s in t h e l o w e r h a l f , a n d
S a n d s of T i m e s e e n as h e a p s a b o v e a n d b e l o w .
These
h a v e a c o n t r o l , as w e l l as a r e p r e s e n t a t i v e , f u n c tion.
TO UNDO SOMETHING, YOU MERELY STEP "BACKWARD
IN T I M E " b y d a g g i n g t h e u p p e r p a r t o f t h e h o u r g l a s s
with the l i g h t p e n .
One p o k e , one editing operation
undone.
Two p o k e s , two o p e r a t i o n s .
Y o u may then continue to view and make changes
as if t h e l a s t two o p e r a t i o n s h a d n e v e r t a k e n p l a c e .
T h i s e f f e c t i v e l y c r e a t e s an a l t e r n a t i v e t i m e - l i n e . *
iiowever, if y o u d e c i d e t h a t a p r e v i o u s l y u n d o n e e d i t
o p e r a t i o n - J h o u l d be kept after a l l , you may step
forward-- stepping onto the previous time-line-oy u s i n g t h e l o w e r h a l f o f t h e h o u r g l a s s .
for organizing
of c o n t e n t s ;
GETTING
by multiple
outlines
or
tables
AROUND
with
them
The user may have a number of standby
different numbers of p a n e l s , and jump
by stabs of the lightpen.
layouts,
among
each
I m p o r t a n t l y , the p a n e l s of e a c h can be f u l l ,
h a v i n g w h a t e v e r t h e c o n t e n t s were~~i?hen y o u l a s t
© ^ 7 t T. W i u p y
and as a T h i n k e r t o y , organizing complex a l t e r n a t i v e s .
(The labels say: " C o n f l i c t i n g v e r s i o n s , " "New account
of c o n f l i c t s , " "Exposition of how different accounts
deal with objections," "Improved, synthesizing account.
©k72© 1 1 7 1 V- iieL»U
t m
We see this c l a r i f i e d in a m a s t e r time d i a g r a m
or K e v i s i c - n T r e e w h i c h m a y b e s u m m o n e d t o t h e s c r e e n
never mind how.
l n this example we see that three
versions are still " c u r r e n t , " V a r i o u s o t h e r starts
and variations having been a b a n d o n e d .
(The s h a g g y
f r o n d s c o r r e s p o n d to s h o r t - l i v e d v a r i a t i o n s , r e l u l t ing f r o m o p e r a t i o n s w h i c h w e r e then r e v e r s e d .
In
other words
" e x c i s e d " t i m e - l i n e s , to u s e G e r r o l d ' s
term-- see footnote.)
«ciiUiu »
• " • w a s
The File W e b
is a m a p
(labelled) files are present
which are collaterated.
r-MCLIotj
indicating what
in the s y s t e m , and
T h e F i l e S t a r t m is a q u i c k i n d e x i n t o the c o n tents of a file.
It e x p a n d s a s l o n g a s y o u h o l d
t h e l i g h t p e n t o t h e d o t in t h e c e n t e r , w i t h v a r i o u s
l e v e l s o f h e a d i n g s a p p e a r i n g as it e x p a n d s .
Natura l l y , y o u m a y j u m p to w h a t y o u p o i n t a t .
(
label
ce! i n
In o t h e r w o r d s , in t h i s a p p r o a c h w e a n n o t a t e a n d
d i s c r e p a n c i e s , and v e r b a l l y c o m m e n t on d i f f e r e n s e p a r a t e files or d o c u m e n t s .
In w a y s t h i s m a y s e e m s o m e w h a t o b t u s e .
Yet above
a l l i_t i s o r d e r l y , a n d t h e c o m p l e x o f c o l l a t e r a l f i l e s
has a c l a r i t y that could be a l l - t o o - e a s i l y lost in s y s t e m s w h i c h w e r e p r o g r a m m e d m o r e s p e c i f i c a l l y to e a c h
problem.
,„,.
<€)lt7Z
The fundamental strength of collateration,
s e e n h e r e , is o f c o u r s e t h a t a n y n e w s t r u c t u r e
c o l l a t e r a l to a n o t h e r m a y b e u s e d as a t a b l e o f
c o n t e n t s or an o u t l i n e , t a k i n g the u s e r i n s t a n t l y
to p a r t s w h i c h a r e o f i n t e r e s t in s o m e n e w c o n t e x t .
T h e u s e r - - l e t ' s s a y h e is a t h o u g h t f u l w r i t e r may define various Versions or D r a f t s , here marked
on the R e v i s i o n T r e e .
*
O d d l y , this has the same logical
time-travel in science-fiction.
©1172. r. WltOH
©H1Z.
T-Uojel
H i f f . H e ? a / ' i n d e e d . define collateral linkages between
different versions d e f i n e d at v a r i o u s T i m e s in the
Rather than giving the user anything complicatA 1 1
e d to l e a r n , t h e s y s t e m is c o m p l e t e l y , v i s u a l .
e d i t c o n t r o l s a r e c o m p r i s e d in t h i s d i a g r a m , t h e E d i t
Rose"1.
Viz..:
structure
as
T h e r e a r e b a s i c a l l y three a l t e r n a t e p r e m i s e s of
o f t i m e - t r a v e l : I) t h a t the p a s t c a n n o t b e c h a n g e d ,
a l l e v e n t s h a v i n g p r e c e d e d t h e b a c k s t e p ; 2) t h a t t h e
p a s t c a n b e c h a n g e d ; a n d 3) t h a t w h i l e t i m e - t r a v e l e r s
m a y b e - a * e l u d e d i n t o t h i n k i n g ( 2 ) , t h a t ( 1 ) is r e a l l y
t h e c a s e - - l e a d i n g to v a r i o u s a p p o i n t m e n t - i n - S a m a r r a
plots.
O n l y p o s s i b i l i t y (2) is o f i n t e r e s t h e r e , b u t
there are v a r i o u s a l t e r n a t i v e logics of m u t a b i l i t y and
time-line stepping.
O n e o f t h e b e s t I h a v e s e e n is i n
The Man W h o Folded H i m s e l f by David G e r r o l d (Popular
LTFrary ."ITTS) : logic expounded pp. 6 4 - 8 .
I am b e m u s e d by the p a r a l l e l b e t w e e n G e r r o l d ' s t i m e - c o n t r o l s
and t h o s e , w o r k e d out i n d e p e n d e n t l y .
r
I 1
'
I
*
t
I
\ « M
M V M l c y (•)
T C X T SH S T t « .
I n l y
*nrl
The c r u c i a l p o i n t h e r e la that It's unified
to the u s e r : every v e r s i o n a p p e a r s on a aide of
a b o x ; and a typeset v e r s i o n Is simply a m a g n i fied t w o - d i m e n s i o n a l view in w h i c h the two d i m e n sions are " p o s i t i o n In oversll t e x t " (vertical)
and "position on line" ( h o r i z o n t a l ) .
E a c h side of a box m a y have a d i f f e r e n t
v i e w p r o j e c t e d to i t . T h i s m e a n s that a s m a n y
aa three v i e w s of s specific c l u s t e r may be
seen at o n c e . H o w e v e r , for c o n s i s t e n c y these
must h a v e a p p r o p r i a t e l y c o m a o n d i m e n s i o n s .
This d e s i g n , TfO (Thinkertoy In
3 d i m e n s i o n s ) , ii o n e I have been w o r k ing at w h i l e on the faculty of the U n i v ersity of I l l i n o i s . It is designed s p e cifically for Implementation using D e Fanti's C R A S S language (see p.,5*1 31).
and the Vector C e n e r a l 3D d i s p l a y (see
p . ' ^ O ) . Whether It w i l l ever be a c t u a l l y
p r o g r a m e d d e p e n d s , of c o u r s e , on n u m e r ous f a c t o r s .
It is meant to be a v e r y h i g h power t h i n k e r t o y , s u i t a b l e for e x p e r i m e n tation with creative p r o c e s s e s , e s p e c i a l l y
writing and t h r e e - d i m e n s i o n a l d e s i g n .
(There Is no room to d i s c u s s the latter
h e r e . ) It is s u i t e d ( s p e c i a l l y to the v i s u a l ization of t e n t a t i v e s t r u c t u r e s in a m o r p h o u s
c l u s t e r s . In some of its features lt goes
considerably b e y o n d the more " c o m m e r c i a l "
thinkertoy s y s t e m , the P s r s l l e l T e x t f a c e
(elsewhere in this s p r e a d ) .
N e v e r t h e l e s s , the same d e s i g n c r i t e r i a
apply: a well-designed computer environment
for any p u r p o s e should be l e a r n a b l e In ten
m i n u t e s ; o t h e r w i s e the d e s i g n e r has not b e e n
doing his j o b . (I m e a n it w o u l d be l e a r n a b l e
in ten m i n u t e s if you and I had it in front
of u s , w o r k i n g . This d e s c r i p t i o n w i l l h a v e
to be weird and a b s t r u s e , I'm sorry to s a y . )
This s y s t e m Is d e s i g n e d a r o u n d a t h r e e d i m e n s i o n a l d i s p l a y s c r e e n (the V e c t o r C e n e r al d i s p l a y , a s m a n l p u l a b l e b y t h q ^ R A S S l a n guage).
N o w , most people do not think of text
as t h r e e - d i m e n s i o n a l . L a y m e n think of it a s
t w o - d i m e n s i o n a l , since it's u s u a l l y p r i n t e d
on rectangular p a g e s . C o m p u t e r p e o p l e o r dinarily think of it as o n e - d i m e n s i o n a l , a s
a long s t r i n g of c h a r a c t e r s and s p a c e s —
e s s e n t i a l l y what you'd get If you p r i n t e d
things in one line on a l o n g , long r i b b o n .
W e l l , f r a n k l y , I don't think of text as
t h r e e - d i m e n s i o n a l e i t h e r ; but like a n y t h i n g
e l s e , it has n u m e r o u s q u a l i t i e s or d i m e n s i o n s , any three of w h i c h it's n i c e to be
able to view at o n c e (see " D i m e n s i o n a l F l i p , " )
p . « • & ( ) . And that's e s s e n t i a l l y the idea:
the three d i m e n s i o n s w e ' l l look at at any
one time w i l l be a p a r t i c u l a r v i e w of a l a r g e r
whole.
By r o t a t i o n and z o o m i n g the u s e r m a y f o c u s
on the o r i g i n a l p i e c e s , and w o r k w i t h t h e m , w r i t ing and r e v i s i n g .
M o r e o v e r , b y u s i n g a c o m b i n a t i o n of z o o m
and h a r d w a r e c l i p p i n g (as a v a i l a b l e on thia
e q u i p m e n t ) , t h e u s e r m a y r e s t r i c t hla w o r k to
a s p e c i f i c r a n g e of m a t e r i a l on p a r t i c u l a r d i -
T h e r e a r e b a s i c a l l y two v i e w s of what
you a r e w o r k i n g w i t h : the G a l a x y and the B o x .
T h e y a p p e a r in v a r i o u s m a n i f e s t a t i o n s , a l l o w ing you to s t u d y d i s c r e t e r e l a t i o n s and s t r u c tures in the m a t e r i a l ; v a r i o u s " d i m e n s i o n s " of
Che m a t e r i a l ; a l t e r n a t e v e r s i o n s and d r a f t s to
be m a d e from the m a t e r i a l ; and the c o m p l e x c o l lateration (see u n d e r " T h i n k e r t o y s " ) of d i f f e r ent s t r u c t u r e s .
In w h a t f o l l o w s w e w i l l d i s c u s s the s c r e e n
f u n c t i o n s but not the c o n t r o l s t r u c t u r e s , w h i c h
h a v e not firmed up p a r t i c u l a r l y .
1.
F i n a l l y , the u n i f y i n g ide;
s y s t e m s i m p l i c i t y is t h i s : all
faces of a c u b e .
GALAXY V I E W S .
T h e p o i n t s a r e s e e n a s a cloud of d o t s on
the s c r e e n . If n o v i e w c o o r d i n a t e s a r e s u p p l i e d ,
the d o t s w i l l be r a n d o m l y p o s i t i o n e d .
A.
Puns s o m e t i m e s reflect a h i g h e r r e a l i t y .
Now it turns out that this s t r u c t u r e in fact
reflects a g r e a t Folk T r u t h : w r i t t e n d i s c o u r s e
does in fact c o n s i s t of " p o i n t s " w h i c h you
intend to get a c r o s s • That w e h e r e intend to
have them rotate a s d o t s u p o n a s c r e e n r e f l e c t s
this s t r u c t u r e .
T h e g e n e r a l idea of the T h 3 s y s t e m , t h e n ,
is that the user m a y v i e w the " p o i n t s " he
w i s h e s to m a k e , v a r i o u s l y u p o n the 3D v i e w i n g
s u r f a c e . S u c c e s s i v e d r a f t s , t h e n , w i l l all b e
p r o j e c t i o n s , g e o m e t r i c a l l y , from this i n t e r i o r
s t r u c t u r e of p o i n t s .
C O L L A T E R A L G A L A X I E S AND B O X E S .
V i e w i n g of c o l l a t e r a l s t r u c t u r e s w o r k s
through the same m e c h a n i s m . G a l a x i e s and
b o x e s may b e c o l l a t e r a t e d :
G A L A X Y A N D BOX
N o w , the basic torn of s t o r a g e w i l l be
o n e of those N e l s o n - s t r u c t u r e s that d r i v e s
c o m p u t e r p e o p l e b a t t y . S p e c i f i c a l l y , the
b a s i c d a t a s t r u c t u r e w i l l be c l u s t e r s of
points.
W r i t i n g i s , in f a c t , a p r o j e c t i o n from
the Intended " p o i n t s " to a f i n i s h e d e x p o s i t i o n
w h i c h e m b r a c e s t h e m . N o w , this is very like
the view of l a n g u a g e held in m o d e r n l i n g u i s t i c s ,
n a m e l y , that a finished s e n t e n c e is a " s u r f a c e
s t r u c t u r e " c o n s t r u c t e d out of b a s i c s e n t e n c e
kernels chewed up by certain t r a n s f o r m a t i o n s •
H e l l , I am just p o i n t i n g out h e r e that w r i t i n g
Is a s u r f a c e s t r u c t u r e of " p o i n t s " w h i c h have
b e e n e m b e d d e d and spliced in a s t r u c t u r e of
t r a n s i t i o n s , a c c o r d a n c e - n o t e s and so forth (see
t*»ffvej
\
2.
"Star Trek" e f f e c t .
U n d e r a u s e r ' s z o o m c o n t r o l , the d o t s
fly a p a r t a s If h e is h u r t l i n g t h r o u g h
space.
B.
MAGNIFICATION. The user may "magnify"
t h e d o t s , m a k i n g e a c h show Its k e y w o r d s ,
f u r t h e r t e x t , and on up to the f u l l
Piece.
C.
R O T A T I O N . T h e 3D s t r u c t u r e of t h e d o t s
in s p a c e m a y be seen by the u s e r at
any time t h r o u g h s h o r t r o t a t i o n s •
0.
A n y r e l a t i o n s that e x i s t a m o n g the
P o i n t s , i n s o f a r a s they h a v e b e e n l o g g ed i n t o t h e s y s t e m , m a y b e d i s p l a y e d
E.
T h e u s e r m a y sort the p o i n t s by m o v i n g
them w i t h a l i g h t p e n .
F.
T h e u s e r may w r i t e w i t h i n the i n d i v i d u a l p i e c e s and s p l i c e them t o g e t h e r ,
c o m b i n i n g l i g h t p e n and k e y b o a r d o p e r ations.
C O M P L I C A T E D N O T E : T h e e x t e n s i o n of t h e s e
m e c h a n i s m s to p i c t o r i a l g r a p h i c s i n two
and t h r e e d i m e n s i o n s Is s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d ,
and to c o n c e p t u a l s u b s t r u c t u r e s (such as
may e x i s t ) b e h i n d t h e s e g r a p h i c s . T h e
same goes for c o l l a t e r a t i o n and a n n o t a t i o n
of m u l t i d i m e n s i o n a l c l u s t e r m a t e r i a l s , e.g.
in s o c i o l o g y : the s y s t e m w o u l d a l l o w , for
i n s t a n c e , the v i e w i n g , a n n o t a t i o n and c o l l a t e r a t i o n of s o c i o m e t r I c c l u s t e r i n g s . )
BOX F I S S I O N .
(The B e a u t y P a r t . )
For p a i r e d v i e w s of p r o j e c t i o n s from
the same c l u s t e r w h i c h d o not s h a r e a c o m mon c o o r d i n a t e , a m a r v e l o u s trick Is p o s s i b l e : BOX F I S S I O N . S t a r t i n g w i t h o n e b o x
c o n t a i n i n g a g a l a x y , w e pull lt a p a r t ,
m a k i n g two b o x e s and t w o g a l a x i e s w h o s e
Points are linked.
BOX VIEWS
In the G a l a x y V i e w s , the i n d i v i d u a l P o i n t s
s i m p l y s w a r m a b o u t w i t h no d e f i n a b l e p o s i t i o n .
'Box V i e w s " a l l o w y o u to o r d e r the p o i n t s on a n y
d i m e n s i o n s that h a v e m e a n i n g to y o u , in an a r bitrary coordinate-space.
T h e b o x is m o r e than a m e r e m e a s u r e m e n t f r a m e . On r e q u e s t the u s e r m a y s e e the p o i n t s
p r o j e c t e d on a s p e c i f i c face of t h e b o x ( o r t h o g r a p h i c a l l y ) ; and o n r e q u e s t h e m a y a l s o s e e p r o j e c t i o n l i n e s b e t w e e n a b o x - f a c e and its c o r r e s p o n d i n g p o i n t in t h e p o i n t c l u s t e r .
N o w b o t h b o x e s can b e r o t a t e d i n d e p e n d e n t l y , and a n y v i e w c o n s i d e r e d ; e q u i v a l e n c e l i n k a g e s m a y n o w b e v i e w e d b e t w e e n any two
v i e w s . (The e y e m u s t , h o w e v e r , t u r n two
the
1
"Magnifying^ as b e f o r e , w i l l c r e a t e a v i e w
of the t e x t : b u t In the b o x m o d e of v i e w i n g , the
text a p p e a r s on the side of the b o x . T h a t i s ,
the inner v i e w w i l l p r o j e c t to the o u t s i d e ,
y i e l d i n g a d r a f t . N a t u r a l l y , this is the c u r r e n t
a s s e m b l y of y o u r p i e c e s ; If c e r t a i n c o o r d i n a t e s
a r e s e l e c t e d it is e v e n a " t y p e s e t " v e r s i o n .
(FURTHER T E C H N I C A L I T I E S OF T H E S E ' P O I N T S ' :
E a c h point may have a v a l u e ( n u m e r i c a l p a r a m e t e r ) in any of a n u m b e r of d i m e n s i o n s
(which number may itself c h a n g e ) . S u c h
values may be n u l l , as d i s t i n c t from z e r o ,
showing that the point h a s no p o s i t i o n on
that p a r t i c u l a r s c a l e .
A s s o c i a t e d w i t h each point may be o n e
or m o r e p i e c e s and scraps or w r i t t e n m a t e r i a l . S u c h s c r a p s may be just p h r a s e s or
single w o r d s . ( I n d e e d , such scraps may be
a s s o c i a t e d not just w i t h a p o i n t , but w i t h
s e v e r a l s p e c i f i c v a l u e s of a p o i n t . )
Each
(crap may a l s o c o n t a i n k e y w o r d s
— . e l a t l o n s b e t w e e n pol
also be d e f i n e d . T h e r e m a y be a va riety
of types of r e l a t i o n , w h i c h either
between two p o i n t s of d o n ' t . )
(Note: Vector General hardware does not a l low c h a r a c t e r r o t a t i o n ; o n l y k e y w o r d and h e a d l i n e
r o t a t i o n Is p o s s i b l e , t h r o u g h s o f t w a r e c h a r a c t e r
g e n e r a t i o n . T h u s text p i e c e s on the side of a
b o x show c e r t a i n f r e a k y m o v e m e n t s If t h e side i s
not v i e w e d s q u a r e - o n . )
^ A t the 1971 S p r i n g J o i n t C o m p u t e r C o n f e r e n c e , I think lt w a s ,
I w a s h e c k l e d by a l i n g u i s t w h o a c c u s e d m e of b e i n g " u n i m a g i n a t i v e , '
i n s i s t i n g further that w r i t i n g is m e r e l y an e x t e n s i o n of s p e e c h
and thus " m e r e l y " the a p p l i c a t i o n of f u r t h e r t r a n s f o r m a t i o n s ; and
he c l a i m e d further that what the uaer t h e r e f o r e n e e d s is an input
language to s p e c i f y these t r a n s f o r m a t i o n s . T h i s v i e w , w h i l e I n t e r e s t i n g , is w r o n g .
A b u t / i n d e e d c o n t r o l l a n g u a g e m i g h t be intei iting, h o w e v e r .
however-operatlon, a postfix " b u t .
[Appended by the
S e e "Writing," p . DM*(3 . ]
(It Is i n t e r e s t i n g to n o t e Lnat the links in
Box F i s s i o n a r e h a n d l e d a u t o m a t i c a l l y , to an
e x t e n t , b y the h a r d w a r e . )
WELCOME TO THE FUTURE.
HUH?
T h i s h a s s u m m a r i z e d the d e v e l o p m e n t of
some ideas for the v i e w i n g and m a n i p u l a t i o n
of c o m p l e x s t u f f . I o f f e r this d e s i g n , i n s o far a s I h a v e b e e n a b l e to p r e s e n t lt hejje,
a s an e x a m p l e of fantic d e s i g n (see p . 5 0 ) •
T h e r e ls.no l o g i c a l n e c e s s i t y to i t ; it c o r r e s p o n d s to the t r a d i t i o n a l s t r u c t u r e of no
t e c h n i c a l s y s t e m ; it a r i s e s from no i n t r i n s i c
or t r a d i t i o n a l d a t a s t r u c t u r e s used for c o m p u t e r r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of these t h i n g s .
But none of t h e s e c o n s i d e r a t i o n s is to
the p o i n t . T h i s d e s i g n h a s a c e r t a i n s t a r k
l o g i c a l s i m p l i c i t y ; it e x t e n d s itself p l a u s ibly from its b a s i c o u t l o o k (or s t a r t i n g
i d e a s , if y o u can i s o l a t e them) into a tool
for truly I n t r i c a t e c r o s s - c o n s i d e r a t i o n ,
w i t h o u t a d d i n g u n n e c e s s a r y and h « r d - t o - ^
r e m e m b e r " t e c h n i c a l i t i e s . " At least that s
h o w I think of i t .
O b v i o u s l y the a e s t h e t i c s of lt a r e I m p o r t a n t to the d e s i g n e r . But a more final
c r i t e r i o n of its g o o d n e s s — Its u s e f u l n e s s —
may d e p e n d on the same p a r s i m o n y and o r g a n i zational clarity.
Xanadu, f r i e n d ,
m
m
KL'BLA K H A N
: O K . A V I S I O N IN A
and
DREAM.
ft rilAliUK.VT.
1TO7, ihe Author. O w n in III health, had
M l m l to a lonely farm h w between Porlock and Union, on th*
Eimoor confine* »l Himier
•ml Uriuoihlre. lb contra timet of tt
tlii-ht tndUpultlrtB, sn ai>» .* dad l«*n prm-r<tw,l. from the effect
" Purchase'*
of fertile
'or about three
•i. during which
' -re composed
M
l
be called
l.li-rd
thing*, with
• parallel production of the r ^ r m p o a d e m expreaalon*.without
withoutar
any
•enialkMi or cnntdouineaaor effort. On awakingheappeared lo himself
hare a distinctrecollectiono( the « hole, and faking his pen, Ink. and
paper. Inaianlljrand eagerly wrote down the line* that are here presenred. At thin moment he waa unfortunately called oul by a person
oa buaine** from Poriook, and detained bj him above an hour, and on
hisreturnlot lie room, found, to bisno •mail surprise and mortification.
IItat though he Rillretainedn o w rague and dimrecollectionof the
general purport of the *lstoa, yet. with the esreptk
ten •calleml lines and Images, all the rest had pai
I n U M o n the surface of a nrtan inlo which a itt
but alas ' without the after restoration ot thr latter : h " o e e
Now t h e i d e a i s t h i s :
to the
i
T
o
T o make y o u a p a r t o f a new e l e c t r o n i c
l i t e r a t u r e and a r t , w h e r e y o u c a n g e t a l l y o u r
q u e s t i o n s a n s w e r e d and nobody w i l l p u t y o u
down.
O r i g i n a l l y Xanadu was programmed a r o u n d
the P a r a l l e l T e x t f a c e (see p.
. B u t as
t h e r e q u i r e m e n t s o f t h e P a r a l l e l T e x t f a c e were
b e t t e r a n d b e t t e r u n d e r s t o o d , Xanadu became
a more g e n e r a l u n d e r l y i n g s y s t e m f o r a l l f o r m s
of i n t e r a c t i v e g r a p h i c environments.
I t s data
s t r u c t u r e has V i r t u a l B l o c k l e s s n e s s and i s
t h u s w e l l r e l a t e d t o t h e s m o o t h m o t i o n s needed
by s c r e e n u s e r s .
Thus i n i t s f i n a l f o r m , now
b e i n g debugged, i t w i l l s u p p o r t n o t o n l y t h e
P a r a l l e l T e x t f a c e ( s e e p.^Z)
)» t h e W a l k i n g N e t
( s e e p . W15| ) , S t r e t c h t e x t ( s e e p . D M l 9 ) , Zoom
Maps ( s e e p.
13) and so o n , b u t i n d e e d any
d a t a s t r u c t u r e t h a t needs t o c o m b i n e c o m p l e x
l i n k a g e s w i t h f a s t a c c e s s and r a p i d c h a n g e s .
Because t h e d a t a s t r u c t u r e i s r e c u r s i v e l y
e x t e n s i b l e , i t w i l l p e r m i t h y p e r t e x t (see p.DrlTl)
o f any d e p t h a n d c o m p l e x i t y , and t h e c o l l a t e r a l
l i n k a g e ( s e e p . j } | ^ 2 ) o f any o b j e c t s o f contemplation.
H e r s y m p h o u v nml song.
T o such a deep delight 'twould win m c
That with music loud and long,
I would build that d o m e in air,
T h a t sunny d o m e ! those caves of Ice !
A n d all w h o beard should see liicm there.
A n d all should cry. B e w a r e ! Beware !
His flashing eves, his ftoaiiug buir [
W e a v e a circle roundJ hb ii mm thrice,
thrice,
A n d close your eyes with holy dread,
For he on Loucj-dew hath fed.
A n d drunk the milk of Paradise.
sea?"
Stewart
in
FBI
And t h e c o n c e p t o f w h a t i t was t o be k e p t
c h a n g i n g , as I saw more and more c l e a r l y t h a t
i t h a d t o be on a m i n i c o m p u t e r f o r t h e home.
(You c a n have one i n y o u r o f f i c e t o o , i f y o u
want, b u t t h a t ' s n o t what i t ' s about.)
/
T h e shadow of the d o m e of pleasure
Floated mid w a y on the w a v e s ;
W h e r e w a s beard the mingled measure
F r o m the fountain and the caves.
Il w a s a miracle of rare device,
A tunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice 1
A damsel with a dulcimer
In a vision ouce I saw :
It w a s an Abyssinian muid,
A n d on her dulcimer she played,
"The
O r i g i n a l l y i t was g o i n g t o be a s u p e r s y s tem f o r h a n d l i n g t e x t by c o m p u t e r ( s e e p . iCi.
and
|^
) . B u t i t grew: as I r e a l i z e d , l e v e l
by l e v e l , how deep t h e p r o b l e m was.
To g i v e y o u a s c r e e n s y s t e m t h a t w i l l
o f f e r h i g h - p e r f o r m a n c e c o m p u t e r g r a p h i c s and
• t e x t s e r v i c e s a t a p r i c e anyone can a f f o r d .
To a l l o w y o u t o send and r e c e i v e w r i t t e n messages a t t h e E n g e l b a r t l e v e l ( s e e p.J)I | /6)«
a l l o w you t o e x p l o r e diagrams (see p. 0MI9and
P. t>f*l51) . To e l i m i n a t e t h e a b s u r d d i s t i n c t i o n
b e t w e e n " t e a c h e r " and " p u p i l . "
KHAN.
James
this
(The f a c t t h a t t h e w o r l d d o e s n ' t have
any h y p e r t e x t l i b r a r i e s - - y e t - - i s a m i n o r
point.)
Is X a n a d u did Kubla K h a n
A stately pleasure-dome decree :
W h e r e Alpli, the sacred river, ran
T h r o u g h caverns measureless to m a n
D o w n to a sunless wit.
So twice five miles of fertile ground
With walls and towers were girdled round :
A n d there were gardens bright with sinuous rills
W h e r e blossomed m a n y an incense-bearing tree:
A n d here were forests undent ns the hills,
Enfolding sunny spot* of greenery.
B u t oh ! that deep romantic cluui'u which slanted
D o w n the green hill athwart a crdarn cover I
A savage place ! us holy and enchanted
A s e'er beneath a waning m o o n w a s liaunted
B y w o m a n walling for her demon-lover !
A n d from this chasm, with ceoM-lcss turmoil seething.
A s If this earth In fast thick p uutn were brcatiling,
A mighty fountain m o m e n t l y won forced :
A m i d whose swift ualf-intermltted burst
H u g e fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,
O r chaffy grain beneath the thresher's nail :
A n d 'mid uww rfiuiHng rocks at once and ever
Itflung^u p m o m e n t l y the sacred river.
Five miles meandering with a m n / y motion
T h r o u g h w o o d and dale the sucred liver ran,
T b e n reached the caverns measureless to m a n ,
A n d sank In tumult to a lifeless ocean :
A n d 'mid this tumult K u b l a heard from far
Ancestral voices prophesying w a r !
"Is that the r i v e r that r u n s d o w n
I have been w o r k i n g o n Xanadu, u n d e r
o t h e r names, f o r f o u r t e e n y e a r s now.
To g i v e y o u a s c r e e n i n y o u r home f r o m
w h i c h y o u c a n see i n t o t h e w o r l d ' s h y p e r t e x t
libraries.
Then all the charm
Is broken—all that phantom-world so fair,
Vaniahes and a thousand circlet* spread.
And each mle-shapn Ihe other, Stay awhile.
Poor youth ' who scarcely dar'st lift uplbtoeeya
The stream a III w<xi rrarw It* smoothness, noon
Therlsioas will relurn ! And lo ! be stags.
And soon the fragments dim of lorety forms
C o m e trembling back, unite, and now once, more
Tlie pool becomes a mirror.
KUBLA
i s my_ dream.
The name comes f r o m t h e poem ( n e a r b y ) ;
Coleridge's l i t t l e s t o r y o f the a r t i s t i c trance
(and t h e P e r s o n f r o m P o r l o c k ) make i t an a p p r o p r i a t e name f o r t h e P l e a s u r e Dome o f t h e c r e a tive writer.
The C i t i z e n Kane c o n n o t a t i o n s ,
and any o t h e r c o n n o t a t i o n s y o u may f i n d i n t h e
poem, a r e s i d e b e n e f i t s .
Story."
Xanadu i s u n d e r p r i v a t e d e v e l o p m e n t and
s h o u l d be a v a i l ' a b l e , i f t h e economy h o l d s , i n
1976.
R e g r e t t a b l y , f i r s t p r i c e s w i l l n o t be a t
t h e $3000 l e v e l n e c e s s a r y f o r t h e t r u e Home
System.
Exact equipment f o r t h e p r o d u c t i o n vers i o n has n o t b e e n s e l e c t e d . A number o f m i c r o p r o c e s s o r s (see p. ^ H ) a r e i n s e r i o u s content i o n , n o t a b l y t h e L o c k h e e d SUE, b u t t h e r e ' s
s o m e t h i n g t o be s a i d f o r a r e g u l a r m i n i . The
PDP-11 i s o f i n t e r e s t ( s e e p. H 2 ) ; ( s o espec i a l l y i s i t s C a l D a t a l o o k a l i k e - - u n l e s s DEC
w o u l d l i k e t o b u i l d us a PDP-11X w i t h s e v e n modes
of i n d i r e c t d i s p l a y addressing.
Are you reading
t h i s , Ken O l s e n ? ) And h e r e ' s a l a u g h : a company c a l l e d IBM may i n f a c t make a s u i t a b l e comp u t e r , e x c e p t t h a t t h e y c a l l i t t h e "3740 Work
Station."
So f o r t h o s e c u s t o m e r s who want IBM
e q u i p m e n t , m a i n t e n a n c e and p r i c e s , w i t h Xanadu
software, i t ' s a definite p o s s i b i l i t y .
So, f a n s , t h a t a b o u t w r a p s i t up. I ' l l be
i n t e r e s t e d i n h e a r i n g f r o m p e o p l e who w a n t t h i s
s y s t e m ; many h a r d h e a d e d b u s i n e s s p e o p l e have
t o l d me nobody w i l l .
P r o v e 'era w r o n g , A m e r i c a !
Patent
9>
work
on
Xanadu
is
in
progress.
Of c o u r s e , i f h y p e r - m e d i a a r e n ' t t h e g r e a t est t h i n g s i n c e t h e p r i n t i n g p r e s s , t h i s whole
p r o j e c t f a l l s f l a t on i t s f a c e .
But i t i s hard
f o r me t o c o n c e i v e t h a t t h e y w i l l n o t b e .
rlret of all,
wind that Xanadu i
ualfled ayatam for complex <
display. Thla basically ami
that the same
stem (without tha displays)
machine for the data network Itself,
p. 44). It le an operating system wiOi two proerasmi a highly generalised data management system for handling extremely ccmpla* data In huge
files, and a gsnarallsad diaplay system, awrltd
(o th* othii, (or handling branching animation
and retrieval and canned display program.. Thaaa
ordain retrlevele by tha data system. Tha Perallal T*atfac* (see p. IfcCJ) and tha Walking Wat
naarby, for
So far, so good. That awana that ws can have
e minicomputer network handling tha entire structure! eendlng out library mat.rial, to uaere on
cell, and .torlng any material, they want saved.
Thla eaves . n kind. 0 ( haselee with big computers
and bti-eowputer-eiyle progresmlng.
:and-alone turnkay uaa (
But who will p.y f Q r u , T o b u t l ( j t h . k l n J
o capacity we're talking about- all tboa. dlaka,
all those minicomputer* In a netvork— won't it
take lmmanae amounts of capital? low, paepl, ask
am, will any Aaerlcao company aver back euch a
Utopian scheme?
LANCUAGgSi Xanadu programs oil
abla In any higher languagea,
proprietary character, but all
I language.
One method of financing haa proven ltaelf In
the postwar suburban era, thla time of drlva-in*
and hamburger atanda.
The eyetea haa lta own undar-level language, XAP
(Xanadu Aaeembly Program). Wille two higher-level
u
diaplay languages, DISJOTJ (Diaplay Lingo) and X "
(tha ultimata?) are contemplated, theae "ill not ordinarily be accessible to the uaer. The purpose of
Xanadu la to tumlah tha uaer vith unwaputerlsh
good-guy system* for specific purposss, not a chance
to do hie own programming.
View from the snack balcony of a large Xanadu Installation,
overlooking the internal greenery. Hexagonal architecture
parent* physical expansion without interruption of services.
(The mollusks have been telling ue something about expansion.)
What I propoaa, then, la the Hoa-«nd Pop Xanadu
Shop. Or, more properly, the Xanadu stand. "Horn and
Pop" are tha owner* of tha individual stand. But the
customer* csn ba Families, too.
Important feature* of the data system t
dreaaabillty (In tha trllliona of elem*
tual Blocklateness. For advantages of
•fila Nap,
From far away the children aae the tall golden
X's, "Oh, Daddy, can't we stop? I want to play
Spacewar," ssys little Johnny. Big Sle adda, "Tou
know, I have to check somathing for my paper on
Roman politics." And Horn says, "Say, that would ba a
good place for lunch."
COMPATIBILITYi because of lta highly compacted and
unconventional structure, lt la not compatible w" th
other operating system* (including time-sharing).
Anyway, to put lt on a larger Machine la like hovino your Hasda driven around In a truck. Because
lt uaea a line-drawing display (eee p. D M ' ! } ) and
therefore draws Individual arbitrary Ilnaa on the
screen repeatedly, it la not compatible with television either— unless you point a TV camera at It,
or the equivalent. Sorry.
2 BILLION SCREE* HOCKS."
park tb* car, and Dad she
lt card, and tha klda rut
wait for a big horizontal
STANDARDIZATIOej. Taking a lesson from the integrated
work of various people whose work haa been described
in thla book, wa aee that If you want a thing done
right, you have to do it youraelf- (eraat Ideaa of
Western Man; one of a aeriea.) My good friend Calvin
Nooara with hla T M C Language (aee p p . 18-21) haa diecovered that trademark is one way to nail thla ae a
right.
tie algn that aays "OVE1
1 pull Into ths lot. They
the clerk his Xanadu cred-
through hi
of tours*, goes to hat
,u console.
THE PLAN.
AS CBAZT AS IT SEEMS?
tha public wants it, k
who think of computi
lt. Thla meana "thi public" must • •show c
Several levels of standardization are important with
Xanadu. One, all Xanadu ayataau must be abla to work
with all Xanadu files (except for possible variations
in screen performance and aixe of local memory), How.
there are those who would not be concerned for this
sort of universality, and who wight even try to make
sure systems were incompatible, so that you had to buy
acceaaorlaa and conversion kits up and down the line.
That ia one of the things that must be avoided! "partial* compatibility, subject to expensive options and
conditions, a well-known technique In the field.
i It.
On* way to go la to atart a new corporation,
register lt with tha SEC and try to raise a lot of
money by selling stock publicly. Unfortunately
there are all kinda of obataclea for that, ("lag
A" 1* about aa far aa lt will go.)
Ctm/t
Through the-alraele of franchising, now, a lot
of the difficulties of conventional backing can be
bypaaaed. The franchisee haa to put up tha money
for the computer*, the icopaa, the adorable purple
enamel building, the John* and ao on; aa a Xanadu
franchisee he gets the whole turnkey system and
certain responsibilities In the OVEKALL XANADU WETUOBK— of which he 1* a member. He is assigned
permanent storage of certain claaaea of materials,
on call from elsewhere In the net. (Naturally,
everything la stored in more than one place).
By stabilising the "Xanadu" trademark, I hope to prevent such shenanigans. Thus every accredited Xanadu
system will offer full compatibility with the data
atructure. and either full performance or substitutes
aa necessitated by the hardware. The "Xanadu" trademark
can thus In principle be made available to manufacturers
abiding by all design features of the system.
If you publish your ldeaa like thla, aren't
you afraid someone will steal them?
Ho.
(The Law of Intellectual Property la about
the strongest backing the Individual haa in
this society.)
Beside* uhich, there is here no revelation of
the Xanadu Sneakreta.
Q. Won't some big company sweep your Xanadu
under If they Imitate lt?
A . Let 'em. If thay come up with a aystea having
equivalent scope, which seems unlikely (see
Canona, p.JJUSI ) , I might even feel I had
achieved enough. But in the meantime, like
the tortoise, and like DEC, I aa going to
continue to try to do It rlaht.
Q . Aren't you afraid that writing a flippant book
will keep people from taking you seriously?
A . I do not want to be taken aerloualy In soma
quarters until lt'a too late.
A.
AVAILABILITY. It is hoped that Xanadu will be available In 1975 for at least one machine (guess which).
As s program It will be available only in absolute
SB,.„A|i.,
%
AHEM. There is s lot to talk about, but a lot of time
can be wasted talking. It is suggested that thoughtful computer firms, interested in aome form of participation, study this book carefully— at least enough so
no one's time need be wasted.
:rlbei
The Xan
requests st the screen ss quickly as |
in priority If he want* to pay for It'
itore his own files, including linksgi among other
uteri*!* and marginal notations to oi
that can be called. (See collateral structuraa,
P-D*l5i; theae can automatically bring forth any
thing they're linked to. (See "Nelson's Canons,'
p.ih?*.)) A user's historical record will be
atored to whatever degree he desires, but not (If
he chooses) in ways that can be identified wll
him.
Q.
Porta-Xan.
(Hookup by Tom Barnard.)
Faceplate reflects CRT to user while
he's abroad in the world. One-hand
typewriting and pointing device frees
the other. Can be built with available ruggedised components.
Second, all Xanadu systems should be able to work with
outside systems either through or off the net, lf_ they
conform to the unusual data rules required by the unusual design of the system. This assures that Xanadu
systems will be compatible with any other popular networks. It also assures others who want to offer Xanadu-claaa services to system owners (through, e.g.,
conventional time-sharing) that If thay adhere to tha
rules (sea "Canon*." p.»*t?f) they can play the game
on a certified basis.
lead only dial . local phone num—
— to connect with
j network. (The coet
col ot ualng
thing to do
on the network haa
(Special high-capacity U n a s need not ba Installed between storage atation*, as appropriate
digital tranaaiaalon acrvlcea are becoming available commsrclally.)
3 =
Various security techniquea prevent othar*
from reading a subscriber** files, even If thay
sign on falaely; the Dartmouth technique of
scrambling on non-stored keyword* Is a good one.
I have heard rumors that someone else In the field
calls a computer product "Xanadu."
I tend to doubt thla; and even lt they did, my
usage goea back to 1 9 6 6 .
BIBLIOCKAFHT
F<Q
k recent report by Arthur D. Little, a Boston fit
that makes its money by aeealng to be omniac
commented on the considerable market potent!
for on-line data aupply system*. The report
cost SkOd or SfcQOO, 1 forget which. Big-iU
>wl.
H,..^ U . W - A -
The Xanadu atand alao haa i
multiple screena, which can be i
business aaetlnga, design sssslc
legal consultations, lectures, •
Elliot
Klugman,
Hat
CKubla
Babeoki,
Cal Daniels
and John V.E.
Bidgaay
for the considerable
time and
involvement
they gave to the Xanadu
program
design
sessions;
thanks also to various
others
who eat in from
time to time.
For the final selection
of
algorithms,
however,
no one is to blame but me.
Ladoga,
, aualcalaa,
• Xanadu stands
: am grateful
to the good offices
of
Suarthmore
College
for the use of their equipment
in the
continuing
efforts
to debug the Xanadu
programs.
How are M e g o i n g to s e l l the H o n e C o m p u t e r ?
N e l l if you w a n t to s e l l c o m p u t e r s , let n e t e l l y o u i
Y o u ' v e got to talk to the h o u s e w i v e s , and the childrt
No one w a n t s to p r o g r a m , they w a n t s o m e t h i n g they cat
"Linen.'" M r . W o n k a Mid, "I'm an old n u n . I'm n m < h
oloYi thin joii think. 1 can't go on fur ever. I've got no
children of m y o w n , no family it all. So w h o is goiiif- to
run the factory when I git too ol J to do it tnyiclf? Semtowt't
got in keep il I;DIII(>~ jf onlyfi>rthe lake of the O o m p a -
t's got to o f f e r f u n , and it|s
t's got to g i v e y o u s o m e t h i n g h a t ' l l lift y o u f n
t's got to be u p l i f t i n g to the Lady from D u l u t h .
ou've got to h a v e a v i s i o n ; yo i've got to h a v e an
ou s h o u l d m a y b e sing a jingle
t's got to h a v e a t i n g l e , in a
So <
iuing under
our g u i d a n c e
Is X a n a d u w o r t h w a i t i n g
for?
That d e p e n d s , doaan't i t ,
o n t h e v a l u e of the h a n d - b u s h
differential bird utility ratio.
le;
t jangle);
t tangle-
i n g
inertial,
LooinpaL Mind you. there arc iliouuiidi of clever m e n w h o
mylhing Tot the r hi tic
;, IK.„
nif tint ton of [icrioii. 1 dnn'i
nt i piown-up per inn ; all. A grownup won't lntcii
m c ; ho won', learn. H e v 1 try to do ilnngi hit o w n wiy
i not m m c . So I hive t hive a child. I wint a gixxl
illblc luv,,,;' child. ...ie t
w h o m I CMI tell all m y ...cm
ii - while I a m mil ihvv."
I and the Chocolate Factory.
I a m sorry 1 have not been able
U reply to all those, w h o have written
to m a saying they wish they could
work for The Nelson Organisation
So c
1, m y friend*, ao do 1.
[I... f_..i,]
X A N - A - D U , 00-THE-
TORLU--
OF -
^OUVUij'/
• a
what \
IS
KEAUY
11 Knowledge, understanding *nd
freedom o n ill be advanced by th*
promotion end deployment ol computer display consoles ""il"
right program* behind them I
•I) romptiter prcsenlatlorwl media,
coming soon, will not be technically
determined but rather will be new
realm, for human artistry This point
„( view radically affect* how we
design man machine system* o( any
kind, especially I1*** , o r '"formation retrieval, teaching, and general
writing and reading Some practitioners nee such systems an narrowly
technical, with the computer hoisling
up little pieces of writing on some
"scientific" basis and showing them
to you one grunt at a lime A Metrecsl banquet. 1 disagree. The system,
should be opulent.
3) The problem in presentational
systems of any kind is lo make
thinp look good, fee) right, and come
•cross clearly. The thinp lhat mailer are the feel ol the system, the
user's state ot mind, his possible confusion, boredom or enthusiasm, the
problems of communicating concept*.
and the very nature ol concept* and
their interconnection There will
never be a •science" of presentation,
except as it relate* to these thinp.
4) Not the nature of machines,
but the nature of ideas, U what
mailers. It U incredibly hard to develop, organize and transmit idea*,
and il always will be But at least
in Ihe fulurc w c won't be boobytrapped by the nature ol paper W e
can design magic pa pet-
I b e l i e v e that an i n t r o d u c t i o n to any
s u b j e c t can be h u m o r o u s , o c c a s i o n a l l y p r o f o u n d , e x c i t i n g , v i v i d , and appealing even
to experts on their-separate l e v e l s .
m
SrVflMG-
it is time to nart lining computers
to hold informal ion for the mind
much as books have held this in format ion in the paal. N o w information
for the mind is very different from
"information for Ihe computer" a*
we have thought of it. hacked up
and com pressed into block* Irwlend
we can stretch the computer
t a m proposing a curious kind of
subversion. "Let us design." I soy.
and when people «ec the systems,
everybody will want one All I want
to do is put Renaissance humanism
in a multidimensional responsive console. And I • trying to work out
the forms of riting of the future.
Hypertexts.
Hypertexts: H forms ol writing,
appearing on computer screens, that
will branch or perform at the reader'H
command. A hypertext is a nonhequcntial piece of writing; only the
computer display makes it practical
Somewhere between a book, a T V
show and o penny arcade, the hyperlent can lie n vast tapestry of in torm a (ion. all in plain English i spiced
with n few magic tricks on the
screen I, which the reader m a y attack
and play for the things he wants,
branching and jumping on the screen,
using simple controls an il he were
driving n car. There can be specialized subparts lor specialized intercuts, instant availability ol relevancies in all direction*, footnote*
that are book* themselves. Hypertexts will be so much belter than
ordinary writing that the printed
word will wither away. Rrat uriling
by peoptt. make no mistake, not
data bank*, robot summaries or other
clank A person U writing lo other
people, juiit as before, but on magical
paper he can cut up and tie in knots
and My around on.
I b e l i e v e in c a l l i n g a s p a d e a s p a d e
-- n o t a p e r s o n a l i z e d e a r t h - m o v i n g e q u i p ment m o d u l e ; and a multi-U imens iona1 s p a d e ,
by g u m , a h v p e r s p a d e - - not a p e r s o n a l i z e d
earth-moving equipment module with augmented dirt a c c e s s , retrieval and display c a p ability under individulaized c o n t r o l .
Perhaps
It ts essential to state these firmly a n d
publicly, b e c a u s e y o u are going to see a lot
of s y s t e m s in the near future that purport to
be the last-word cst's-pajama s y s t e m s to bring
y o u "all Ihe information y o u n e e d , a n y t i m e ,
a n y w h e r e . " Unless y o u h a v e thought about It
y o u m a y b e s n o w e d b y s y s t e m s w h i c h are inherently a n d deeply limiting. H e r e are s o m e
of the things w h i c h I think w e will all w a n t .
( T h e s a l e s m a n for the other syatem will say
they are impossible, or " W e don't k n o w h o w
to d o that yet," the standard p u l d o w n . But
these things arc possible, if w c d e s i g n t h e m
In from the bottom u p ; a n d there are m a n y
different valid a p p r o a c h e s w h i c h could bring
these things into b e i n g 3
EASY A N D ARBITRARY FRONT
I can prove
it.
T h e user m u s t b e allowed multiple rovers
(movable p l a c e m a r k s at points of current activity);
m a k i n g possible, especially, multiple w i n d o w s
(to the location of each rover) with displays or
collateral links.
T h e system should also h a v e provision
for high-level mooting ( y i s v ^ a n d the automatic k e e p i n g of historical trails.
T h e s e arc rules, derived from c o m m o n
s e n s e a n d u n c o m m o n c o n c e r n , about w h a t people
can a n d should h a v e in gcnernl screen s y s t e m s ,
s y s t e m s to read f r o m .
1.
someday
ErJDS.
T h e "front e n d " of a s y s t e m - - lhat Is,
the p r o g r a m that creates the presentations for
the u s e r a n d interacts with h i m - - m u s t b e clear
a n d simple for people to u s e a n d u n d e r s t a n d .
T H E T E N - M I N U T E R U L E . A n y system
w h i c h cannot b e well taught to a l a y m a n in
ten m i n u t e s . b y a tutor in the p r e s e n c e of a
r e s p o n d i n g s e t u p , is too complicated. T h i s m a y
s o u n d far too stringent; I think n o t . Rich a n d
p o w e r f u l s y s t e m s m a y b e given front e n d s w h i c h
arc nonetheless ridiculously clear: this is a
design p r o b l e m of the foremost i m p o r t a n c e .
T E X T M U S T M O V E , that is, slide o n the
screen w h e n the u s e r steps f o r w a r d or b a c k w a r d
within the text h e is r e a d i n g . T h e alternative,
to clear the screen a n d lay out a n e w p r e s e n t a tion, is baffling to the e y e a n d thoroughly disorienting, e v e n with practice.
M a n y c o m p u t e r people d o not yet u n d e r stand the necessity of this. T h e p r o b l e m is that
if the screen is c l e a r e d , a n d s o m e t h i n g n e w
then a p p e a r s o n it, there is n o visual w a y to
tell w h e r e the n e w thing c a m e from: s e q u e n c e
a n d structure b e c o m e baffling. H a v i n g it slide
o n the screen allows y o u to u n d e r s t a n d w h e r e
y o u ' v e b e e n a n d w h e r e you're going: a feeling
y o u also get from turning p a g e s of a b o o k .
( S o m e close substitutes m a y b e possible o n
s o m e types of s c r e e n . )
O n front e n d s supplied for n o r m a l u s e r s ,
there m u s t b e n o explicit c o m p u t e r l a n g u a g e s
requiring input control strings, no visible e s o teric s y m b o l s . Graphical control structures
h a v i n g clarity a n d safety, o r v e r y clear taskoriented k e y b o a r d s , a r e a m o n g the p r i m e alternatives.
T h e n , a c o m p l e x of certain v e r y necessary
a n d v e r y powerful facilities b a s e d o n these things,
viz.:
A . A N T H O L O G I C A L F R E E D O M : the u s e r m u s t
be able to c o m b i n e easily anything h e finds into
an "anthology," a rovable collection of these
materials h a v i n g the structure h e w a n t s . T h e
linkage information for s u c h anthologies m u s t b e
separately transportable a n d passable b e t w e e n
users.
B . S T E P - O U T W I N D O W I N G : from a place
in s u c h an a n t h o l o g y , the u s e r m u s t b e able
to step out of the anthology a n d into the previous
context of the material. For instance, if h e h a s
just read a quotation, h e should b e able to h a v e
the present anthological context dissolve a r o u n d
the quotation (while it stays o n the s c r e e n ) , a n d
the original context r e a p p e a r a r o u n d it. T h e
n e e d of this in scholarship should b e o b v i o u s .
C . D 1 S A N T H O L O G I C A L F R E E D O M : the
u s e r m u s t b e able to step out of an anthology
in s u c h a w a y a n d not return if h e c h o o s e s .
(This h a s important implications for w h a t m u a t
really b e h a p p e n i n g in the file structure.)
Earlier versions of public d o c u m e n t s m u s t
be retained, as u s e r s will h a v e linked to t h e m .
H o w e v e r , w h e r e possible, linkages m u s t
also b e able to survive revisions of o n e o r both
objects.
T h e assumption m u s t b e m a d e at the
outset of a w i c k e d a n d malevolent g o v e r n m e n t a l
authority. If s u c h a situation d o e s not d e v e l o p ,
well a n d g o o d ; if it d o e s , the s y s t e m will h a v e
a few m i n i m a l safeguards built in.
F R E E D O M F R O M BEING M O N I T O R E D . The
u s e of p s e u d o n y m s a n d d u m m y accounts b y indiv i d u a l s , as well as the omission of certain r e c o r d k e e p i n g b y the s y s t e m p r o g r a m , are n e c e s s a r y
h e r e . File retention u n d e r d u m m y accounts is
also r e q u i r e d .
All operations m u s t b e fail-safe.
I want a world where w e can rend the world's literature from screen* r.-ither
than personally searching out the physical books. A world without routine u,?erwork, because all copying operations take place automatically and formalized transaction! occur through formalized ceremonies at consoles. A world when- w o can
learn, study, create, and share our creations without having privately to schlepp and
physically safeguard them. There is a familiar, all-embracing motto, the jingle w e
all know from the day school lets out, which I take quite seriously: " N o more pencils;
•o more books, no more teacher*' dirty looks " T h e Fantic Ace.
Arbitrary front e n d s m u s t b e attachable:
since w e are talking about reading from text,
or text-and-picture c o m p l e x e s , stored o n a
large data s y s t e m , the presentational front e n d
m u s t b e separable from Ihe data services p r o vided further d o w n in the s y s t e m , so the u s e r
m a y attach his o w n front-end s y s t e m , h a v i n g
his o w n style of operation a n d his o w n private
c o n v e n i e n c e s for r o v i n g , editing a n d other forms
of w o r k or play at the s c r e e n .
2.
M y w o r k is c o n c e r n e d principally with the
theory a n d execution of s y s t e m s useful to the m i n d
a n d the creative imagination. This has polemical
a n d practical aspects: I claim that the precepts of
designing s y s t e m s thai touch people's m i n d s , or
contents to b e s h o w n in t h e m , are simple a n d u n i versal: m a k i n g things look g o o d , feel right a n d
c o m e across clearly. I claim thai to d e s i g n s y s t e m s
that involve both m a c h i n e s a n d people's m i n d s is
art first, technology s e c o n d , a n d in n o w a y a d e r i vative specialty off in s o m e b r a n c h of c o m p u t e r
science.
H o w e v e r , presentational s y s t e m s will c e r tainly involve c o m p u t e r s from n o w o n .
Since h u n d r e d s of s u c h s y s t e m s are n o w
being built, m a n y of them all w r o n g , w e m u s t
teach designers (end certain others) the basics
of c o m p u t e r s , a n d give t h e m s o m e g o o d e x a m p l e s
lo emulate (such as Sutherland's S k e t c h p a d ,
Bilzer's P L A T O , a n d , I h o p e , s o m e of m y o w n
designs).
F u r t h e r , the popular superstitions about
c o m p u t e r s must b e fought-- the m y t h s that they
are mechanistic, scientific, objective or i n d e p e n dent of h u m a n intent a n d contemplative involve-
S M O O T H A N D RAPID D A T A
ACCESS.
T h e s y s t e m m u s t b e built to m a k e possible
fast a n d arbitrary access to a potentially h u g e
data b a s e , allowing extremely large files (at
least into the billions of c h a r a c t e r s ) . H o w e v e r ,
the s y s t e m s h o u l d b e contrived lo allow y o u to
r e a d f o r w a r d , b a c k or across links without s u b stantial hesitation. S u c h access m u s t b e implicit, not requiring k n o w l e d g e of w h e r e things are
physically stored or w h a t the internal file n a m e s
m a y . h a p p e n to b e . File divisions m u s t b e invisible to the u s e r in all his r o v i n g operations
( F R E E D O M O F R O V I N G ) : boundaries must be
invisible in the final presentations, a n d the u s e r
m u s t not n e e d to k n o w about t h e m .
3.
RICH D A T A
FACILITIES.
7.
COPYRIGHT.
C o p y r i g h t m u s t of c o u r s e b e retained, but
a universal flexible rule h a s to b e w o r k e d o u t ,
permitting material to b e transmitted a n d copied
u n d e r specific c i r c u m s t a n c e s for the p a y m e n t of
a royalty fee, s u r c h a r g e d o n top of y o u r other
e x p e n s e s in u s i n g the s y s t e m .
For a n y Individual section of material,
s u c h royalty should h a v e a m a x i m u m : i.e., " b y
n o w y o u ' v e b o u g h t it."
V a r y i n g royalty rates, h o w e v e r , should
b e the arbitrary choice of the copyright holder;
except that royalties should not v a r y sharply
locally within a tissue of material. O n public
s c r e e n s , m o v i n g b e t w e e n areas of different r o y alty cost m u s t b e sharply m a r k e d .
Arbitrary linkages m u s t b e possible b e t w e e n portions of text, o r lext a n d pictures;
annotation of a n y t h i n g m u s t b e p r o v i d e d for;
collateration (see p . » g 0 ) should b e a s t a n d a r d
facility, b e t w e e n a n y pair of well-defined o b jects; P L A C E M A R K facilities m u s t b e allowed"
to d r o p a n c h o r at. or in, a n y t h i n g . T h e s e
features imply private annotations to publiclyaccessible materials as a standard automatic
service m o d e .
T h e AI p e o p l e d o n ' t u n d e r s t a n d ,
the IR p e o p l e d o n ' t u n d e r s t a n d ,
the CAI p e o p l e don't u n d e r s t a n d ,
and for God's sake don't tell
B e c a u s e of the d a n g e r of file s a b o t a g e , a n d
the private a t - h o m e retention b y individuals of
files that also exist on public s y s t e m s , it is
n e c e s s a r y to h a v e F I D U C I A L S Y S T E M S F O R T E L L I N G
W H I C H V E R S I O N IS A U T H E N T I C . T h e doctoring
of on-line d o c u m e n t s , the rewriting of history-cf. both Winston Smith's continuous revision of
the encyclopedia in Nineteen E i g h t y - F o u r a n d
H . L . Hunt's forging of historical telegrams for
" T h e White H o u s e " - - is a constant d a n g e r . T h u s
o u r s y s t e m s m u s t h a v e a n u m b e r of c o m p l e x
provisions for verification of falsification, e s p e cially the creation of multilevel fiducials (parity
s y s t e m s ) , a n d their storage in a variety of
places. T h e s e fiducials m u s t b e local izable a n d
separate to small parts of files.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
rud.
"Coaputopla and Cybe
Theodor H . Nel
in R o g e r L e v i e n ( e d . ) . C o m p u t e r s
in I n s t r u c t i o n (Rand C o r p o r a t i o n , 1 9 7 1 ) .
or H . N e l s o n , "A C o n c e p t u a l F r i a e w o r k
for M a n - M a c h i n e Every t h i n g . "
Proc. NCC 73.
IBM.
%SCcl
9*1?
Ilk
T h e n there w a s the s u p p r e s s i o n of m y first
b o o k (this is m y s e c o n d ) . Y o u m i g h t say it w a a
a m i s u n d e r s t a n d i n g , at least o n m y p a r t . M y
boss's u n d e r s t a n d i n g w a s evidently that the a d v a n c e m e n t of m y ideas w o u l d be detrimental to
his. If it h a d b e e n a question of free s p e e c h in
Yugoslavia it might h a v e b e e n different. W e l l ,
it takes a long time to get a b o o k together, but
here w e g o a g a i n .
d m m , part thi «lt of nun to 117 what dream
it *>•: nun n but an ••>, If he e» about to «poind thi* dream. Metliouiht 1 w<ia—there il
r» man can tell wl.nl. Millwujtht I w«,—and
aaeuwaaht I hul.-but man it bat a patched
fao], if he will offer In ear wh.t melhangM I h-id.
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ball, iwt urn. nun'< liwd i. nn> ible to tatte.
hb lonpiH' I., ifflwitr. nor h.. heart to repett,
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N o w y o u aee w h y I b r o u g h t y o u h e r e .
This Gem-maniacal book h a s , obviously, been
created as a crossroad of several cross p u r poses: to furnish a n e e d e d , g r a b b y l a y m a n ' s
introduction to t w o vast but rather inaccessible
realms; to present a c o h e r e n t , if contentious,
point of v i e w , a n d unroll a particular sort of
apocalyptic vision after p r e p a r i n g the v o c a b u l a r y
for it; to m a k e bright friends a n d informed s u p porters for m y outlook a n d projects; to gel h o m e
to s o m e of m y friends the fact thai w h a t I a m
doing is at boitom not technical; a n d finally, if
nothing else, to set forth s o m e principles about
the w a y things should b e , w h i c h others will
have-to a n s w e r if they p r o p o s e to d o less.
T h u s , overall, this b o o k is a m e s s a g e in a Klein
bottle, waiting to see w h o ' s thirsty.
T h e n (here w a s the lime I w a s called In
as a consultant o n a vast federal s y s t e m , n e v e r
mind what. Numerous computer programs were
to b e coordinated b y a hypertext s y s t e m they
h a d created a n d they w a n t e d to k n o w if they'd
d e s i g n e d il right. It took m o n t h s to find oul
from the p r o g r a m m e r s exactly w h a t the s y s t e m
w a s , so I e n d e d u p writing the m a n u a l ; after
w h i c h I explained w h a t w a s w r o n g with the p r o ject a n d the w h o l e hypertext s y s t e m w a s s c r a p p e d .
A n d m y job with it. I n e v e r quite got the s w i n g
of c o n s u l t i n g
Flying coast-lo-coast with the president
of a large corporation, h e a n d I p l a n n e d the
w h o l e X a n a d u b u d g e t for the following y e a r at
s o m e t h i n g like half a million dollars, T w o y e a r s
later, r e d u c e d in c i r c u m s t a n c e s a n d driving a
yellow c a b In N e w Y o r k , the m i s e r a b l e vehicle
b r e a k s d o w n in front of those s a m e corporate
h e a d q u a r t e r s . A n d the r e a s o n I h a d that b a d
taxi w a s thai I w a s out of favor with the taxi
d i s p a t c h e r , o n account of h a v i n g b e e n a b s e n t
the p r e v i o u s w e e k - - I h a d h a d to fly to California
to give a b a n q u e t a d d r e s s at the R a n d C o r p o r a t i o n .
T h e n there w e r e m y a d v e n t u r e s with the
CIA.
1 s u p p o s e il all started in college. S w a r t h m o r e left m e with a n e x a g g e r a t e d notion of the
extent to w h i c h ideas are v a l u e d in the a c a d e m i c
world; il took t w o graduate schools to clear this
u p . After lhat, as far as I w a s c o n c e r n e d ,
P h . D . stood for P o o p h e a d . B u t I still cared
about ideas, a n d the d e e p necessity of finding
their true structure a n d organization.
From
writing I k n e w the grueling difficulty of trying
to m a k e ideas get in o r d e r .
I believed in the
p u r e , white light of inspiration a n d the p o w e r of
the naive but clever m i n d to figure out a n y t h i n g ,
if not obstructed but d u m b d o g m a s a n d obtuse
mental s c h e m a t a fostered b y the educational s y s t e m .
W h e n I finally got the idea of w h a t c o m p u ters w e r e a b o u t , s o m e t i m e in 1 9 6 0 , I took endless
w a l k s at night trying to h a s h these things out a n d
see w h e r e they led. T h e text s y s t e m s c a m e clear
to m e , at least in their b e g i n n i n g s ; in a few w e e k s ;
the realization that 3 D halftone w a s possible c a m e
to m e as a s h o c k the following s p r i n g , I believe
as 1 w a s w a l k i n g across Radeliffe C o m m o n .
Since
then trying lo build these s y s t e m s for creation a n d
the true o r d e r i n g of intricate thought h a s b e e n m y
driving d r e a m .
M y o w n life a m o n g these d r e a m m a c h i n e s
has b e e n a n i g h t m a r e , thoroughly u n p l e a s a n t ,
a n d if people are right in telling m e that n o b o d y
w a n t s s y s t e m s like the o n e s I a m d e s i g n i n g ,
I'll get the h e c k out of this a n d b e a disk j o c k e y
or a toy s a l e s m a n o r s o m e t h i n g .
I first got into this as a writer; all I
w a n t e d w a s a decent writing s y s t e m that w o u l d
r u n o n a c o m p u t e r . Little did I realize the i m mensity of w h a t that entailed, o r that for s o m e
reason m y w o r k a n d a p p r o a c h w o u l d e n g e n d e r
indignation a n d a n g e r w h e r e v e r I w e n t . T h e r e
is a fiction that e v e r y b o d y in these fields is
doing s o m e t h i n g fundamentally scientific a n d
technical, a n d this fiction is usually u p h e l d in
carefully enacted m u t u a l playlets. T r y i n g to
cut t h r o u g h that a n d s a y , "Let's build a h o m e for
m a n k i n d that will at last b e s h a p e d to fit m a n ' s
m i n d , " d o e s noi s e e m to-generate i m m e d i a t e
warmth and welcome.
But I'm glad for the friends I've m a d e in
this field, a n d of course there h a v e b e e n a lot
of l a u g h s . (I'd really h a v e hated to m i s s b e i n g
in this field, just for the thrilling m a d n e s s of
it all.) All in all m y a d v e n t u r e s h a v e b e e n a
sort of participatory j o u r n a l i s m , w h i c h I'd like
to write u p properly s o m e t i m e . S o m e highlights;
T h e d a y s of m a d n e s s in '68, trying to
start a n honest corporation to d o all this stuff,
a n d suffering endless l u n c h e s with Wall Street
h a n g e r s - o n w h o w e r e looking for a vehicle to
take public. T h e y w a n t e d another chickenfranchise type c o m p a n y , t h o u g h , a n d certainly
not ideas.
B e i n g briefed b y four different c o r p o r a t i o n s .
moBt of t h e m m a j o r , o n the fantastic p o w e r s their
interactive-movie s y s t e m w a s g o i n g to h a v e . O n e
of these briefings w a s in the b o a r d r o o m of a
f a m o u s s k y s c r a p e r . A n d n o w , only o n e of those
s y a t e m s is left-- K o d a k ' s .
T h e n there w a s the courtly g e n t l e m a n w h o
w a s going to be m y N o a h Dietrich, m y Colonel
P a r k e r . H e a s s u r e d m e that t h r o u g h his b u s i n e s s
connections all w a s going to go m a r v e l o u s l y ,
a n d then later intimated that as a special favor
he w a s going to put m e in touch with other
universes a n d the flying s a u c e r p e o p l e . I just
didn't h a v e lime for other u n i v e r s e s .
I w a s sitting in m y office at V a s s a r ,
sagely advising a s t u d e n l , w h e n the p h o n e r a n g
u n d the caller identified himself as J o h n W .
K u i p e r s , h e a d of c o m p u t e r r e s e a r c h at the C I A ,
H e told m e I h a d b e e n noticed as a n e w bright
y o u n g m a n in the field, a n d w o u l d I like to
w o r k for t h e m ?
N o w , there is s o m e t h i n g a b o u t b e i n g a
cynic a n d a r o m a n t i c . ( T h e y g o together: the
cynic deflates i d e a s , the romantic falls in love
with t h e m . ) It is not impossible for the cynical
romantic to s u r m i s e that b e c a u s e e v e r y t h i n g h e
h a s s e e n personally t u r n e d out to b e so l o u s y ,
that the true h o p e m a y lie at Ihe heart of the
v o r t e x , just w h e r e e v e r y b o d y thinks is i m p o s s i b l e .
A l s o the K e n n e d y a f t e r m a t h , w h e n sophisticated
people h a d learned to l a u g h at simple idealism
a s a facade for the real w h e e l - a n d - d e a l i n g ,
slap-and-tickle, m a y h a v e h a d s o m e t h i n g to d o
with it; a n y w a y , I w a s e n c h a n t e d . T h u s b e g a n
the K u i p e r s C a p e r .
YES, THERE
IS A M c L E A N ,
VIRGINIA
I w a s g i v e n a h a n d l e r n a m e d B o b , a jolly
fellow, w h o k e p t a s s u r i n g m e that m u c h m o n e y
w a s just a r o u n d the c o r n e r . I w a s regaled with
s u c c e s s stories of o t h e r people in the c o m p u t e r
field w h o really, u n d e r c o v e r W o r k e d for T h e m .
( T h e y weren't d o i n g a n y t h i n g v e r y exciting.)
I got to s h o w m y slides in the C I A office building
in A r l i n g t o n , a n d to see there v e r y fancy display
e q u i p m e n t b e h i n d shielded (!) d o u b l e - d o o r s in
a shielded (!!) c o m p u t e r r o o m — shielded lo k e e p
a n y planted b u g s from transmitting out the c o n tents of the c o m p u t e r s ' w o r k i n g registers. I e v e n
got to visit the m a i n C I A " c a m p u s " in M c L e a n ,
Virginia, w h e r e the sign s a y s Agricultural
R e s e a r c h Station. It is a n incredible feeling to
w a l k a c r o s s that b i g eagle in the t e r r a z z o ,
a n d to b e g i v e n the visitor's b a d g e that s a y s
"United States G o v e r n m e n t " all in w i g g l y lines.
T h e y told m e that they w o u l d b e glad to
set m e u p in b u s i n e s s a s a h y p e r t e x t c o m p a n y ,
b u t 1 w o u l d h a v e to h a v e a c o r p o r a t i o n , b e c a u s e
that w a s the w a y they a l w a y s did t h i n g s . A n d so
it c a m e to p a s s that T h e N e l s o n O r g a n i z a t i o n , I n c .
w a s f o u n d e d at the e x p r e s s request of the United
States Central Intelligence A g e n c y . I w o u l d n ' t h a v e
h a d it a n y other w a y . If life can't b e pleasant it
c a n at least b e surrealistic.
.. . BUT N O
SANTA
CLAUS
I w a s e n c o u r a g e d to write proposals for t h e m ,
a n d write proposals I d i d . (I h a p p e n e d to finish
typing the first o n e d u r i n g a lightning s t o r m ,
a n d lightning c r a s h e d just as I w a s signing the
p a g e ; 1 felt like F a u s t . ) I explained h o w h y p e r text m i g h t h a v e p r e v e n t e d the B a y of P i g s . After
d u e consideration, I did not say w h a t hypertexts
m i g h t h a v e d o n e for the W a r r e n R e p o r t .
Numerous
jolly p h o n e calls a s s u r e d m e that m y first $25,000
w a s just a r o u n d the c o r p e r .
T h e b r e a k c a m e w h e n B o b called m e a n d
a s k e d m e to rewrite a p r o p o s a l o n e m o r e t i m e .
H e h a d circulated it, h e said, a m o n g various
people "at the s h o p , " w h o h e r e m i n d e d m e w e r e
holders of a d v a n c e d d e g r e e s , a n d it h a d b e e n
r e m a r k e d that they f o u n d m y p r o p o s a l m e a n i n g less: " E v e r y place y o u say 'hypertext' y o u
could just as well put ' g o b b l e d y g o o k ' instead;
you'll h a v e to clear that u p a Utile."
T h a t did It. T h e y couldn't read either.
W h o turns out to b e in c h a r g e of c o m p u t e r stuff
in the heart of the C I A , the inner s a n c t u m , the
neat of v i p e r s , but the s a m e old p o o p y P h . D s .
1 decided to resuscitate m y virtue.
A s far as 1 k n o w , there ia still not a
D e c e n t Writing S y s t e m a n y w h e r e in the w o r l d ,
although several things n o w c o m e close. It
s e e m s a s h a m e that g r o w n m e n a n d w o m e n h a v e
to rustle a r o u n d in piles of p a p e r , like squirrels
looking for a c o r n s , in s e a r c h of the p h r a s e s
a n d ideas they t h e m s e l v e s h a v e g e n e r a t e d .
T h e d e c e n t writing s y s t e m , as I see it, will
actually b e m u c h m o r e : it will help u s create
better things in a fraction of the t i m e , but also
k e e p track of e v e r y t h i n g in better a n d m o r e
subtle w a y s than w e e v e r could b e f o r e .
B u t n o b o d y sees this-- I s u p p o s e it's only
writers a n d editors that k n o w they're trying to
" k e e p track of ideas"-- a n d I h a v e b e e n u n a b l e
to get thia across to a n y b o d y . ( T h e professional
w r i t e r s , of c o u r s e , won't talk to m e either.)
S o h e r e 1 a m after fourteen y e a r s with
exactly t w o s y s t e m s to s h o w for it: the m a i n o n e ,
X a n a d u , the text-and-animated-picture n e t w o r k
s y s t e m , a n d F a n t a s m (I shouldn't h a v e spent
the time but it w a s a labor of l o v e ) , the s i m u lated-photography s y s t e m . A c t u a l l y , I don't
h a v e either of t h e m to s h o w , it's all just flowc h a r t s , but it turns out that if I w o r k o n either
of t h e m with university e q u i p m e n t , m y w o r k of
fourteen y e a r s gets confiscated. S o m u c h for
that; the outside e x p e d i e n t s for d e b u g g i n g c o n tinue.
A n d , to lighten the b u r d e n , I've finally
given u p o n trying to reach professionals, w h o
evidently n e e d a thick g r a v y of technicalism to
m a k e the o b v i o u s palatable; with this bookity
I a m taking m y case to T h e P e o p l e . It is t h e r e ,
a n y w a y , out in C o n s u m e r d o m , that the real a c tion is g o i n g to o c c u r . S o the important thing
is for e v e r y b o d y to k n o w what's really possible,
a n d w h a t they could h a v e . T h a t is w h y 1 h a v e
shot off m y big c a n o n s (and this epistol).
T o m e , y o u s e e , this is really a holy
c r u s a d e , w h e r e a s I k n o w g u y s lo w h o m it's
just a living. It's n o less than a question
of f r e e d o m in o u r time. T h e cases of Solzhenitsyn
a n d Ellsberg r e m i n d u s that f r e e d o m is still
not w h a t it s h o u l d b e , a n y w h e r e .
Computer
display a n d storage c a n b r i n g u s a w h o l e n e w
literature, the uniting a n d the apotheosis of the
old a n d the n e w ; but there are m a n y w h o w o u l d
not necessarily w a n t to see this c o m e a b o u t .
D e e p and widespread computer systems would be
tempting to t w o d a n g e r o u s parties, "organized ,
c r i m e " a n d the E x e c u t i v e b r a n c h of the Federal
g o v e r n m e n t ( a s s u m i n g there is still a difference
b e t w e e n the t w o ) . If w e are to h a v e the f r e e d o m s
of information w e d e s e r v e a s a free p e o p l e , the
s a f e g u a r d s h a v e to b e built in at the b o t t o m , n o w .
A n d the o p u l e n c e w h i c h is possible m u s t b e m a d e
clear to e v e r y o n e before w e settle o n an inferior
s y s t e m — as w e did with television.
S o m e people h a v e called m y ideas a n d
s y s t e m s "Orwellian." T h i s is a n n o y i n g in t w o
w a y s . In the first place it s u g g e s t s the n i g h t m a r e of Orwell's b o o k Nineteen E i g h l y - F o u r ,
w h i c h obviously I w a n t n o part of. (But h e y ,
d o y o u r e m e m b e r w h a t that w o r l d of 1964 w a s
actually like? T h e cryptic w a r s against u n s e e n
e n e m i e s that k e p t shifting? T h e g o v e r n m e n t
s p y i n g ? T h e u s e of l a n g u a g e to twist a n d
m a n i p u l a t e ? T o p a r a p h r a s e H u e y L o n g : "Of
c o u r s e we'll h a v e 1984 in A m e r i c a . O n l y we'll
call it 1972.")
T h e s e c o n d r e a s o n the term "Orwellian"
is offensive is that it s o m e h o w r e d u c e s the life
of O r w e l l , the m a n , to the w o r l d of "1984."
T h i s is a shallow a n d s h a b b y thing to d o to a
m a n w h o s p e n t his life u n m a s k i n g o p p r e s s i v e n e s s
in h u m a n institutions e v e r y w h e r e .
In the larger s e n s e , then-- in h o m a g e to
that s i m p l e , h o n e s t , a n g r y m a n , w h o cared about
n o t h i n g m o r e than h u m a n f r e e d o m - - I w o u l d be
p r o u d i n d e e d if m y s y s t e m s could b e called
Orwellian.
T h a t r e m i n d s m e . N o w h e r e in the b o o k
h a v e I defined Ihe p h r a s e " c o m p u t e r lib." B y
C o m p u t e r Lib I m e a n simply: m a k i n g people
freer t h r o u g h c o m p u t e r s . That's all.
Fantically-- or fanatically-Y o u r s for a better w o r l d ,
Before w e h a v e to settle for A n y - -
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I |(h i A L K l . A D Y (JOT O S L
T H ' HKIOKS 1
S H M O U OF ALL
TIT F.AKTH . I T S E L F '
J E S T LIKE T H E S E LI' L S H M O O S . IJTS
KFALlY T'CIIVE E V ' H Y B O D Y E V K Y T H 1 N G
T H E Y N E E D " EF O N L Y F O L K S S T O P P E D
A FIOHTTN'. A N ' A G K A B H J N '
THEY'D
K E E - U Z E T H E T THIS SH M O O
TH' EARTH
liO'i P L E N T Y O' E V E H Y T H J N ' I-O' ). V IC V
Civilisation, and the bulk of m a n k i n d ,
have about forty years to live, according to
certain studies (see p . 6 5 ) . T h e studies
are depresstngly g o o d , although unfinished.
There are four possible things to d o .
O n e of the world's most exclusive clubs
is also one of its moat dismal. It la T h e Club
ot R o m e , founded by Italian businessman Aurelio
Peceet. having- Cas of 1973) aome seventy m e m bers from twenty-five countries.
Their concern they call T h e Predicament
of M a n k i n d , or the "problematique." It ia the
problem of growth, pollution, population, and
What's Happening in general.
1.
Ignore it.
2.
D e n y it.
But the breeder reactors multiply thla
output. Perhapa w e could survive the the watte
for a few hundred years, till It come* back out
But the olher part of it is the fissionable material
which enn be mBde Into backyard b o m b s .
N o w begins the winter of the world.
W e are pot toning everything.
With so little time left, w e are of course
expanding and accelerating every form of pollution
and destruction.
4. T h e glorious flameout. Est, drink
and be m e r r y . Tor tomorrow w e die. O r
apocalyptic occultism, or whatever.
W e are killing the last ot our beautiful
brothers, the whales. Just to provide marginal
amortization of the whale-ships that are going
to be scrapped a n y w a y .
5. W o r k starting n o w . In whatever
directions might, just might, point or contribute to a w a y out.
Set d o w n upon this beautiful planet, a
garden spot of the universe, w e are turning It
into a poisoned pigsty .
O n funds from Volkswagen, they have
sponsored studies which thinking; m e n con only
regard as the most dismal in portent of anything
we've seen in years. O r ever.
You and I m a y starve to deaih, dear reader.
In some year fairly aoon n o w , around the turn of
the century, there will no longer be nearly en o u b h food for the teeming billions.
Basically the prediction is that mankind
haa perhaps forty or fifty years left.
Not because of w a r , or b o m b s , or dirty
movies, or Divine retribution, but for simple
economic reasons. H o w e v e r , the studies are
often called "computer studies," because c o m p u ters are the viewing mechanism by which w e
have come to see these coming events.
T h a i , a n y w a y , is what Ihe predictions say.
T h e predictions are compelling, not because a
computer m a d e them -- anybody can m a k e a c o m puter predict anything - but because the p r e m ises from which the predictions grow were
very well thought oul.
M A L T H U S AGAIN
In the nineteenth century, a pessimistic
economist n a m e d T h o m a s Malthus predicted that
there would always be starving people, because
people increased geometrically-- expanding at
c o m p o u n d interest, with a fixed rate of increase
creating an ever-steeper growth-- while agricultural production, which must feed us all, expands
arithmetically, not as a rate but a few acres or
improvements at a lime.
This meant, Malthus thought, thst there
would always be the starving poor. For various
reasons this did not happen in Europe. But the
regrettable soundness of the general principle
persists: w h e n rates of food production can't
nearly keep u p with rates of population growth,
people are going to starve.
It i
T o haggle now about ideology ia like arguing about w h o is driving while w e are headed
toward a brick wall with ihe gas pedal j a m m e d
to the floor.
T h e public thinks, "science will save us,"
a view at which m a n y scientists, snicker bitterly.
Perhaps w c will be shrunk to an inch's height,
or fed on rocks, or given gills and super-kidneys
to live in the ever-mcre-poisoned sea. O r perhaps w c will do what science says others have
done: die out.
This is basically the prediction.
DYNAMIC
MODELLING
This science-will-save-us ostrich-position
is nicely exemplified by Albert Rosenfeld. Science
Editor Of Saturday Review/World.
Basically what has happened is this. O n e
Jay Forrester, of M I T . has for some years been
studying "dynamic models" of things, a n e w
breed of simulation which couldn't have been
done without computer*. A n d now dynamic
models of the world's entire economic system
can be crested and tried out.
Basically dynamic models are mathematical
complexes where things change at rales that
change themselves over time. For instance, the
more you eat. the fatter you get, and the fatter
you gel, the hungrier you are going lo b e . N o w ,
jus,l because this is simple lo say in w o r d s , and
sounds aa though mathematicians would have had
solved the whole class of problems centuries a g o ,
that's not how it ia. T h e intricacy of such
models, even for juel a few variables, m a d e lt
impossible to foresee what happens in such c o m plexes exact by techniques of computer enactment.
Forrester, w h o has studied such syatems since
the fifties, has become alert to their problems
and surprises. T h e culmination of his w o r k has
been a model of the entire world's economic
growth, agriculture, population, Industrialization
and pollution: this la described in his book
World Dynamics (Wright-Allen. 1971).
The
sidii . p o r t e n t s o f F o r r e s ier-s w o r k did n o t go u n n o t i c e d .
The
dangers of population increasing at compound interest on a planet of unchanging
s i z e , and f u r t h e r d e r i v a t i v e s o f t h e s e
c h a n g e s , s u g g e s t e d t h a t t h i n g s m i g h t be
getting worse than anybody t h o u g h t . An
alert Italian businessman brought together a g r o u p of s c h o l a r s from all o v e r the
w o r l d to study t h e s e p r o b l e m s , a n d c a l l e d
the g r o u p The C l u b o f R o m e . T h e i r f i r s t
w o r k is out n o w , and it is v e r y s c a r y
and all too r e a l . T h e b o o k is c a l l e d T h e
L i m i t s to G r o w t h .
B a s i c a l l y w h a t they h a v e d o n e is a
very e l a b o r a t e c o m p u t e r s i m u l a t i o n ,
m o d e l l i n g the e n t i r e e c o n o m y of the p l a n e t
in the y e a r s to come as a s t r u c t u r e o f
r a t e s . T h e y h a v e taken i n t o a c c o u n t
population, food-growing capacity, industrial g r o w t h , p o l l u t i o n , and a lot o f
o t h e r t h i n g s . T h e m o d e l is p r e c i s e and
elaborate.
It Is not any individual prediction lhat is
frightening, since the n u m b e r s plugged into the
separate runs are merely hypotheses, lo show
the shape of the consequences.
It Is the overall
set of runs that is so ghastly, because they siw a y s come out the s a m e .
PAY CLOSE ATTENTION
N o w , it 16 important to clarify what is
happening here and what is not. What is not
happening: an oracular pronouncement by "the
computer," showing some transcendental prediction by a s u p e r h u m a n intelligence. What is h a p pening: people are trying out separate possible
assumptions lo see what their consequences are,
enacted by the computer according to the economic
rules Ihcy set u p . Result: always the s e m e .
A n y set of rules, played out in the unstable
exploding-population world beyond the seventies,
appears lo have similarly dire results.
W H A T H O P E IS T H E R E ?
T h e original model is only an approximation, and the basic results, aa published in T h e
Limits to Growth (ace box) reflect those approximations. O n e of the things thai can be done is
to fill in and expand the model m a r e , to see
whether any hopes can be found in the details
and fine cracks which don't appear from the
gToas results. A n d , of course, to study and
re-study the basic findings. (For instance, a
small error w a s recently found: a decimal point
w a s misplaced in the "pollution" calculation,
leading tc an overstatement of the pollution in
aome of the r u n s . (Bul pollution, r e m e m b e r . Is
only part of the problem,)
So there you arc. Thia is a study of the
greatest importance. W e m a y , just m a y , be getting wind of things in time to change the outcome.
(If only w e k n e w n o w . But again, this study
is w h e r e serious discussion must begin.)
T h e y tried all k i n d s of a l t c r n a t i
futures using t h e m o d e l - - w h a t w o u l d
h a p p e n if the b i r t h rates w e r e differ*
W h a t if there w e r e no p o l l u t i o n ?
Whai
if r e s o u r c e s w e r e i n f i n i t e ?
IBM IS BULLISH O N T H E
A c c o r d i n g to all the s i m u l a t i o n s
the h u m a n race w i l l be w i p e d o u t - - m o s t l y
or c o m p l e t e l y - - by the y e a r 2 1 0 0 .
Let's go b r i e f l y t h r o u g h the m o d e l .
N o t e t h a t it can't be e x a c t , and we c a n ' t
know w h a t y e a r s things are going to h a p p e n . The c u r v e s t h e m s e l v e s - - the s h a p e
of t h i n g s to come-- tell the story all
too c l e a r l y .
(For those w h o w o u l d like
a little m o r e d r a m a w i t h their n u m b e r s ,
finding these m a t t e r s too a b s t r a c t , I
s t r o n g l y r e c o m m e n d the very b e a u t i f u l
Indian film " D i s t a n t T h u n d e r , " a s o r t of
" M r . S m i t h S t a r v e s to D e a t h . " O r j u s t
stick a r o u n d a w h i l e . )
HUIIT
T h e model a s s u m e s that b i r t h rates
s t a y r e l a t i v e l y c o n s t a n t in p a r t i c u l a r
p a r t s of the w o r l d , and that new land
and a g r i c u l t u r a l t e c h n i q u e s i n c r e a s e food
p r o d u c t i o n in r e l a t i v e l y w e l l - u n d e r s t o o d
wars.
Of c o u r s e , p o p u l a t i o n c o n t i n u e s to
go u p , o n the f a m i l i a r b u t d e a d l y c u r v e .
FUTURE
Lewis M . B r an scorn b . w h o haa the a w e some title of Chief Scientist of I B M . has been
giving n u m e r o u s talks recently thai seem to be
directed against pessimism resulting from the
Club of R o m e studies.
"'On the shoulders of the Information
processing community reals the responsibility tor convincing the public that w e
have the tools, if it ha* the will, to addreas the complex systems management
problems of the future,' Uranacomb said.
"'More lhan any other profession
our community can restore the public's
confidence that from tha limited resources
of the world can be fashioned a life of
well managed abundance fur all.' he
concluded."
Since "science" has given us the Boeing
747 snd the neutrino, neither of which could
once, he thinks, have been imagined possible,
obviously (to him) science can do anything else
w e think is impossible! He fully imagines lhat
science will c o m e up with something lo take
care of geometrically Increasing n u m b e r s of
people. In perpetuity?
"Take a lesson from the neutrino," he
says. " W e can solve our problems." ("Look
to the Neutrino. T h o u Doomssyer," Saturday
Review/World, Feb 23 1974. 47.)
OTHER
But n o w , wilh the breeder .reactor*-- i r
lots of countries-- pouring the stuff out. the era
of atomic plenty is here. T h e amaller countries
w h o want them are getting their atomic weapons
- though holding back assembly of the part*,
for variouB reasons. It ia generally believed
a m o n g bomb-watchers, for instance, that India
and Israel hove theirB anytime they want.
A d d this to the great avalanche of missiles,
tall and horny in their silos, reedy to go on two,
later three or four, side*. (The U . S . official
arsenal now stands at the explosive equivalent
of 5 billion tens of T N T , a ton or T N T for every
h u m a n being. A n d that's just the explosive part,
not the fallout; a fraction of these bombs could
destroy all life on earth by its seething residue.)
A n d n o w . because of the S A L T talks, w e may
expect a new and drastic increose of this Readiness
Posture. Hoo b o y . What is then* tt suy .
a us to m a k e ihe prcdlctio
Not by killing the bearer of bad tidings,
or by pretending they were not clearly stated-but by seeing what possible alternatives remain
in the few moments of real choice w e m a y yet
have-- scant years at best.
Now for the b a d n e w s . The running
r a t i o o f f o o d to p e o p l e , F o o d p e r C a p i t a ,
takes n s u d d e n n o s c - d i v e . A n d t h e n so
does p o p u l a t i o n .
That's the kicker. With more and more
fissionable crud being disgorged. its availability
for terrorists w h o want to build their o w n increases. Ralph Lapp pointed out last year that
Ihe stuff wa* shipped in unguarded trucks, and
one or two good hijacking* would enable *ny
bright kid to build his o w n dirty A - b o m b . By
the year 7000 it ia not inconceivable thst bootleg
atomic weapons will be as widespread as handgun* in Detroit-- and as m u c h used.
FUN
T h e growing diffusion of w e a p o n s and
grudges, and Ihe great vulnerability of almost
everything, assure that terrorism and political
extortion will will increase dramatically for
the foreseeable future. O n the other h a n d ,
whole economic blocs and industries have
lately m a s k red and demonstrated by example
h o w to hold the country at bay in order to
get tfeii wishes; as everybody can see what's
happening, und learn from it. the n u m b e r of
wrtnehing unpleasantnesses created by terrorists
and industries und interest blocs will irurrii^i
All ires*; wore c-,senlinlly foreseen by
T h o m a s C . Schelling In his masterly 1960 w o r k .
T h e Strategy of Conflict. Schelling formalizes
a theory of intimidation as part of his study of
communicating adversaries. (His ia a structural
rather thun s psychologies! study, examining
the properties of situations whether or not they
are psychologically perceived. Regrettably,
perception of situations ia improving all the
Coustesu says the oceans are dying
a lot faster than he anticipated
-- and gives mankind fifty years
after life ends there.
But even if everything else were all righl,
the Breeder Reactor* are sure to gel ua. I refer
to those w o n d e r machines that the electric c o m panies are calling Clean Energy for the Future.
What is not explained wilh such slogans is lhat
breeder reactors noi only create energy, Ihey
create atomic waste, breeding n e w fissionable
material-- including plutonium. Plutonium is
well n a m e d for the gcd of hell. Chemically a
poison and radloactlvely a horror. II does noi
go away; wherever w e pul it. it will get back
to u s .
T h e mere radiation from the atomic crap
is hardly the problem. T h e radioactive poisons
are getting into Ihe oceans. They are getting
into the clean walera of Ihe land. (A December
1071 new* report, for Instance, revealed thai
a D B S leak of radioactive chemicals wa* into
Ihe water aupply of Bloomfield, Colorado.) N o w ,
atomic enthusiasts call It a Disposal Problem.
Ilk* th* question of where to bury the garbage.
But it's a very different problem. Wherever w e
put it, it will come back. T h e M a * N o . that'll
ba poisoned after the containers go. Deep wells 1
T h e mountain*? But there la no place thai cannot be guaranteed against earthquake and recycling. It will come back. T h o u g h doiens of
generations might survive It. It Mill be waiting.
So there it is, folks, merry times ahead.
H u m a n it> m a y end with a b a n g (thermonuclear
exchanges, or just desultory firings urtil we're
all poisoned or sterile), or a w h i m p e r (universal
sttrvniion). or, I would anticipate, some spastic
combination of the two. and all within the (possible) lifetime of the average reader. Thi* Is.
at any rate, what 1 think most likely.
Except of course w e won't see it happen
that w a y . We'll watch the starvations on T V
(as w e did Biafra, Bangladesh, now West Africa,
what next... India?), and tsk about the poor
foreigners w h o can't take cere of themselves.
A n d as the problems increase and m o v e toward
oui heartland, it'll be blamed on environmentalists
and on the n e w s media, till b a n g .
Just m a y b e .
But we've all got to get access lo Ihe Club
of H o m e models, and look (or holes or strategies.
If computer modelling s y s t e m doing this kind of
work are made widely enough available, perhaps
some precocious grade-schooler or owlish hobbyist
will find some way out that the others haven't
We've got to think hard about everything.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Frederick Pohl and C M . K o m b l u t h , T h e Space
Merchants. Ballantine, paper.
T h o m a s C . Schelling. T h e Strategy of Conflict.
Paper.
T h e Grent American B o m b Machine (citation not
h a n d y ) . Paperback.
A book called Cold D a w n (citntion not handy;
originally published in Ihe N e w Yorker)
presents a most discouraging view of
thia country's actions ir the S A L T talks.
Ont Access Catalog, nol lo be named here, gives
a recipe for an atonic b o m b . Very funny,
ha ha. "The U-235 w e are using, (although
Plutonium will work just as well) is a
radioactive substance and deserves some
care In handling. II is N O T radioactive
enough lo kill with limited exposure, but
don't sleep with it or anything." A n d so o n .
T h a n k s a lot. fellas.
Ralph Lapp had a piece in Ihe N o w York Times
Magazine last year, pointing out thst
plutonium is shipped In unguarded truck*
and It's only a matter of time before
purks get their hands on il...
A piece in a recent Esquire. "Did There Ever
C o m e a Point in Time W h e n There Were
Forty-Three Different Theories *boul
Watergate? Yea. to Ihe Best of O u r
Recollection." is a very helpful general
source, especially for those w h o suspect a
connection between "Watergate" and the
assasainations of the Kennedy*. Malcolm
X . Martin Luther King. etc. Bul for a
real chill see "Mae Brussell's Conspiracy
Newsletter" in the March (?) 1974
Realist, aa well a* "Who Is Organized
Crime and W h y Are T h e y Saying Such
Awful Things About It." same i»*ue.
Glen A . Love and Rhoda M . Love. Ecologicul
Crisis: Readings for Survival. Harcourt.
14 (paper). A quick way lo catch up on
aome bad stuff. Pour bucka well spent.
For a dazzling, romantic and optimistic view of
the ruture. see Dlmen*lons of Change by
Don Fabun (Glencoe Pre**, 15 in paper).
The Futuriat magazine goe" o u t l" members of
the World Future Society. A n Aaaociation
for T h e Study of Alternative Futures,
Post Office Box 10369, Betheada Branch,
Washington, O C 70014. The magazine
used lo be prstty aappy and optimistic,
but acema lo be acquiring sophistication.
j Id
Chicago 1
1V-5J
"
Ths
Lifflboal
67
O n c e upon
na.ed
....
About these
boy
cnycup
n
» "> -
. I " « » "
just d r e a »
a b l e c o m p u t e r s e r v i c e ie for the k i d d l e s ?
i
Dick
Tricky
little
»
had a d v e n t u r e s
H e
W o u l d y o u b e l i e v e thst the g r e a t e s t a v a i l -
Tricky
cailed
al
a place
a t i . c , in
n.shlngton, there
1
"
*"*
U
t
l
e
b 0 ? S
• « «
b
5 l C l
numbers
°'°
of.
Y o u will note that all b a n k c h e c k a n o w
h a v e f u n n y - l o o k i n g n u m b e r s a l o n g their b o t t o m s
T h e y g o like this:
O 12314 5 & ? n ' q
0
F o r four b u c k s a n d a half, a n outfit called
M e - B o o k s will s e n d , to a child y o u d e s i g n a t e ,
a story of w h i c h h e is the h e r o , in w h i c h his
friends a n d siblings a p p e a r , a n d w h o s e action
i n v o l v e s his a d d r e s s a n d b i r t h d a y .
This
is the
a
one ot hi-'- a d v e n t u r e s .
story
,„
sto
I t ' s the
of t h e d a , that T r i c k y
As the giraffe
T r i c k y Dick
[ c a n p e r s o n a l l y r e p o r t , at least o n the
b a s i s of the o n e I o r d e r e d ( M y F r i e n d l y Giraffe)
that the story is beautifully t h o u g h t o u t . w a r m ,
l o v i n g , a n d c l e v e r l y p l o t t e d . In o t h e r w o r d s ,
far f r o m b e i n g a f a s t - b u c k s c h e m e , this t h i n g
h a s b e e n d o n e r i g h t . It's a s p l e n d i d c h i l d r e n ' s
s t o r y , fl w o n ' t r e v e a l the p l o t , b u t the Giraffe's
b i r t h d a y , n a m e a n d h o m e a d d r e s s a r e related
to t h o s e of the p r o t a g o n i s t . )
world
I r i
Dick
« t
irslle.
9
K i d s a d o r e it. C h i l d r e n w h o don't like
r e a d i n g treasure the v o l u m e s ; children w h o d o
like r e a d i n g l o v e t h e m just a s m u c h .
ck,
c«.„ closer
started
he .as g o i n g
Dick
k u e . there
Washington.
But Tricky
to look
closer.
h o . in
wasn't
ven
a little
eye.
in
on Pennsylvania
e
the
h i . in the
. e r e ao j u n g l e s
Especially
Dick
and
to wonder
.»
hit
-or
:ried.
M o r e o v e r , it h a s t h r e e - c o l o r illustrations,
is o n e x t r a - h e a v y p a p e r a n d is b o u n d
fanny
checks.
in h a r d
covers.
F l M
(In c a s e y o u ' r e i n t e r e s t e d , a n y of the
three p r o g r a m m i n g l a n g u a g e s e x p o u n d e d earlier
in the b o o k w o u l d b e suitable for c r e a t i n g a
M e - B o o k : d e p e n d i n g o n the l a n g u a g e c h o s e n ,
the holes left for the child's o w n n a m e w o u l d b e
alphabetic v a r i a b l e s , s e g m e n t g a p s o r null a r r a y s
-- a n y h o w , y o u c o u l d d o it.)
because
second,
he
«J
l t h
be...
h l
*
" "
U
C
*
b l d
-
„lloli
story
to t e l l M
s
f r
•
back.
.
l o
.
Tricky
There
Dick
would
foe T r i c k y
And
, „
Dick
. a y n e , just
h o y . so.eday
"*
"e a
and
T h e M I C R s y s t e m w a s d e s i g n e d in the
late fifties, w i t h the t e c h n o l o g y c o n v e n i e n t at
that t i m e , a n d w o u l d certainly not b e d e s i g n e d
that w a y n o w .
N e v e r t h e l e s s , these weird-looking
s y m b o l s h a v e inspired various
B I D O L Q J S
w h i c h a p p a r e n t l y look to the p u b l i c like the
latest h o t c h a w h i z b a n g zippity u p - t o - d a t e f u t u r istic stuff, e v e n t h o u g h to the k n o w l e d g e a b l e
p e r s o n t h e y b r i n g b a c k the late fifties. (In
fact t h e r e a r e n o letters in the M I C R c h a r a c t e r set.)
W e w e r e just getting to that. In fact,
t h e r e a r e t w o s u c h a l p h a b e t s , called O C R (for
Optical C h a r a c t e r R e c o g n i t i o n ) . T h e y h a v e
b e e n s t a n d a r d i z e d so e v e r y b o d y c a n d e s i g n
e q u i p m e n t a n d / o r p r o g r a m s to w o r k w i t h t h e m .
T h e y a r e called the A a n d B optical fonts, o r ,
for c o m p l e t e n e s s , O C R ( A ) a n d O C R ( B ) .
T h e y are v e r y
other
his
exciting
adventures
friends.
. a y b e , if you're
we'll tell
TVPE-fflCES,
t e r o
u
be .any
MIGR
T h e n a m e of these n u m b e r s is
w h i c h s t a n d s for M a g n e t i c Ink C h a r a c t e r R e c o r d i n g . T h e y a r e p r i n t e d in m a g n e t i c ink - not
m a g n e t i c so's y o u c o u l d r e c o r d o n it, like m a g netic t a p e , b u t chock-full of iron a n d v i t a m i n s
so that as its b l o b s w h i z past a special r e a d
h e a d , they c a u s e a specific s e q u e n c e of p u l s e B
in the parallel circuits of the r e a d h e a d that c a n
b e d e c o d e d as the specific n u m b e r o r m a r k .
W h a t , then (you m a y a s k ) w o u l d s y m b o l s
d e s i g n e d for c o m p u t e r s look like if they h a d
b e e n d e s i g n e d m o r e recently?
iashingtc.
3
/
**•
he knew t h a t h i s f r i e n d , <
• « «
Dick
i„
.as a very
because
giraffe.
I r i
A s t u t e r e a d e r s of the M e - B o o k will n o t e
that w h i l e it's not readily o b v i o u s , o n l y the lines
o n w h i c h personalized information a p p e a r h a v e
b e e n p r i n t e d in the c o m p u t e r ' s l i n e p r i n t e r .
The
o t h e r s h a v e all b e e n p r e - p r i n t e d o n a p r e s s .
I n d e e d , the p e r s o n a l i z a t i o n s a p p e a r o n o n l y o n e
side of e a c h p a g e , the w h o l e b o o k b e i n g o n e
l o n g w e b of p a p e r that's r u n t h r o u g h the lineprinter just o n c e b e f o r e b e i n g cut a n d b o u n d .
B u t it's s o cleverly written a n d laid o u t that the
story m o v e s o n beautifully e v e n o n the p a g e s
that don't m e n t i o n the child's n a m e .
A s a n e x p e r i m e n t , the a u t h o r tried s e n d i n g
for a c o p y of My_ F r i e n d l y Giraffe a s told a b o u t
a little b o y n a m e d T r i c k y D i c k N i x o n , r e s i d i n g
at 1600 P e n n s y l v a n i a A v e n u e in W a s h i n g t o n , D . C .
T h e result w a s e x t r e m e l y g r a t i f y i n g , a n d w e l l
w o r t h the $ 4 . 5 0 . H e r e w i t h s o m e e x c e r p t s .
t .
»• \f
T h e n u m b e r s are o d d b u t r e c o g n i z a b l e .
T h e last four thingies a r e p u n c t u a t i o n m a r k s ,
w h i c h p r e s u m a b l y c a n m e a n a n y t h i n g the p r o g r a m m e r w a n t s t h e m to. (In o t h e r w o r d s ,
f r a n k l y , I don't k n o w their n a m e s o r s t a n d a r d
functions.)
you about
a very
good
those,
diaappointing.
O C R ( A ) is a little s e x i e r . A t least it
l o o k s like s o m e t h i n g .
(Evidently it's slightly
easier to deal wilh a n d d e s i g n for.) B u t the
o t h e r o n e , O C R ( B ) , just looks like the a l p h a b e t
n e x t d o o r . H e r e they a r e .
too.
A B C D E F G H U K L J I
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66
THE
Minicomputers handle various
c o n t r o l f u n c t i o n s in o u r m i g h t y
i Aeroplanes and Ships of
the O c e a n .
5 S S
T h e national p h o n e c o m p a n y (usually
called affectionately, " M a Bell") h a s drastically
c h a n g e d its s w i t c h i n g m e t h o d s in t h e last f e w
y e a r s . T h e y a r e r e p l a c i n g the o l d e l e c t r o m e c h anical s w i t c h e s , o r " c r o s s b a r s , " w i t h a n e w
d e v i c e called t h e E S S , o r Electronic S w i t c h i n g
S y s t e m . If there's o n e in y o u r a r e a y o u m a y
h e a r a b o u t it in their jolly n e w s s h e e t that y o u
ret w i t h t h e bill.
In the old c r o s s b a r d s y s , a p h o n e c o n n e c t i o n w a s a p h o n e c o n n e c t i o n a n d that w a s
t h a t . N o w , w i t h the E S S , all sorts of n e w c o m binations are possible: the E S S h a s stored p r o g r a m s that d e t e r m i n e its o p e r a t i o n . If y o u
dialled a n o n - w o r k i n g n u m b e r , it j u m p s to a
p r o g r a m to t a k e c a r e of t h a t . It d o e s all s o r t s
of t h i n g s b y special p r o g r a m , a n d n e w p r o g r a m s
c a n b e c r e a t e d for special p u r p o s e s . N o w the
p h o n e c o m p a n y is t r y i n g to find t h e s e r v i c e s
that p e o p l e will p a y f o r . H a v i n g calls r e r o u t e d
t e m p o r a r i l y to o t h e r n u m b e r s ?
Linking u p
s e v e r a l p e o p l e in a c o n f e r e n c e call?
Storing
y o u r most-called n u m b e r s , so y o u c a n r e a c h
t h e m w i t h a single o r d o u b l e digit?
T h e s e particular services a r e n o w
offered e x p e r i m e n t a l l y .
T h i s h a s b e e n a r o u n d for d e c a d e s , a n d
h a s n o t h i n g to d o w i t h c o m p u t e r s , b u t isn't it
Y o u write with a p e n attached b y r o d s
to a t r a n s m i t t e r ; s o m e w h e r e e l s e , a p e n a t t a c h e d
b y r o d s to a r e c e i v e r d u p l i c a t e s w h a t y o u h a v e
written.
W h a t is b e i n g t r a n s m i t t e d c o n s i s t s of t h e
m e a s u r e d s i d e w a y s m o t i o n ( " c h a n g e in x " ) , t h e
m e a s u r e d u p - a n d - d o w n m o t i o n ( " c h a n g e in y " ) ,
a n d the c o n d i t i o n of t h e p e n ("up" o r " d o w n " ) .
W h a t w o u l d t h e s e d a y s b e called " t h r e e a n a l o g
c h a n n e l s , m u l t i p l e x e d o n a s i n g l e line."
T h e s e o n l y c o s t a c o u p l e of h u n d r e d d o l l a r s .
W h y h a s n o b o d y b e e n u s i n g t h e m for c o m p u t e r
input?
B A R N A BY'S
being
T h e w a y it w o r k s is this: t h e r e a r e a
n u m b e r of p r o g r a m s s t o r e d in a c o r e m e m o r y ;
the o n l y " o u t p u t d e v i c e " o f the s y s t e m c o n s i s t s
of its field of r e e d s w i t c h e s , a r r a n g e d to c l o s e
circuits of the t e l e p h o n e n e t w o r k .
S u g a r C r e e k , T e x a s will h a v e 3 0 0 0 h o m e s
with a m i n i c o m p u t e r - b a s e d alarm s y s t e m . Evidently
v a r i o u s a u t o m a t i c s e n s o r s a r o u n d e a c h h o u s e sniff
for fires a n d b u r g l a r s , a s w e l l a s p r o v i d i n g p a n i c
b u t t o n s for m e d i c a l e m e r g e n c i e s .
It w a s a truly stellar g r o u p that r e p o r t e d to
J u d g e Sirica o n 15 J a n 1974 that the 1 8 - m i n u t e
W a t e r g a t e t a p e b u z z h a d at least five starts a n d s t o p s .
T h e s i x panelists i n c l u d e d :
R i c h a r d B o l t , a f o u n d e r of
Bolt, B e r a n e k a n d N e w m a n , Inc.
F r a n k l i n C o o p e r , h e a d of
H a s k i n s Laboratories, tate-p^l )
T h o m a s S t o c k h a m , audio resynthesizer
e x t r a o r d i n a r y (see p
M)
T h e s y s t e m uses dual N o v a s (one a b a c k u p ) ,
a n d p r i n t s o u t t h e n e w s to fire a n d police d i s p a t c h e r s
o n a g o o d o l d 3 3 A S R T e l e t y p e . (Digital D e s i g n .
M a y 7 3 , 16.)
T h e n e w s , h o w e v e r , g e n e r a l l y r e f e r r e d to
t h e m as "technicians."
M
D e p e n d i n g o n t h e n u m b e r s that h a v e b e e n
d i a l l e d , a n d w h a t n o t , t h e E S S j u m p s to a specific
p r o g r a m , a n d that tells it to c o n n e c t a n i n c o m i n g
call to particular o t h e r circuits, o r to r i n g o t h e r
lines, o r w h a t e v e r .
OF TWO*
" O v e r p a y y o u r p h o n e bill b y o n e c e n t .
It d r i v e s the c o m p u t e r c r a z y . "
Nope.
T h e a m o u n t of p a y m e n t g e t s
p u n c h e d in a n d g o e s t h r o u g h t h e g e a r s
quite n o r m a l l y .
It's really n e a t .
a s w e l l v i d e o g a m e n o w in b a r s , p r o b a b l y
c o n t r o l s the f o u r - p l a y e r p i n g p o n g o n the s c r e e n
with a minicomputer or microprocessor.
T h e r e a r e o n l y a c o u p l e of t h i n g s to w o r r y
about.
O n e is that it m a k e s w i r e t a p p i n g , n o t a
c o m p l e x bother involving clipped w i r e s a n d m e n
h u n c h e d o v e r in c r a m p e d s p a c e s , b u t a s i m p l e
program.
A n o t h e r is that s o m e p e o p l e t h i n k that
b l u e - b o x e r s ( s e e n e a r b y ) m a y b e able to p r o g r a m
it, f r o m t h e c o m f o r t of their o w n h o m e s .
Meani n g that not just c o u r t - a u t h o r i z e d w i r e t a p s , b u t
Joe S c h m o e w i r e t a p s , w o u l d b e possible.
Let's
hope not.
If y o u w a n t to p u t t o g e t h e r y o u r o w n c o m p u t e r - o n - a - c h i p ,
o r a n y other c o m p l e x integrated circuit, a c o m p l e t e simulationv e r i f i c a t i o n - l a y o u t - a n d - f a b r i c a t i o n s e r v i c e is available f r o m
Motorola, Semiconductor Products D i v . . P . O . B o x 20924, Phoenix,
A r i z o n a . P r e s u m a b l y it costs a m i n t , b u t after that y o u c a n roll
o u t y o u r circuits like c o o k i e s .
E s p e c i a l l y exciting is the social p o s s i bility of horizontal s c r e e n s for o t h e r f u n i n t e r p e r s o n a l stuff. A s w e l l a s collaborative w o r k .
( B u t b o y , let's h o p e t h e radiation shielding- is
good.)
T h e C o m p u t e r Diet b y V i n c e n t Antonetti ( E v a n s P u b . )
Y o u r circuit is o v e r l a i d o n their b e e h i v e - c h i p of logical
s u b c i r c u i t s , called a P o l y c e l l . Y o u u s e their M A G I C l a n g u a g e
(Motorola Automatically G e n e r a t e d Integrated C i r c u i t s ) , w h i c h
t h e n f e e d s a r e s u l t i n g circuit data s t r u c t u r e to a p r o g r a m called
S I M U L 8 ( y u k y u k ) to try out the circuit w i t h o u t b u i l d i n g it.
T h a t w a y y o u c a n s u p p o a e d l y b e a u r e b e f o r e t h e y m a k e the final
masks.
s h o w s " t h T a u t h o r sitting o n the d e s k p l a t e of a 360 c o n s o l e .
The
m e n d s for
computer"
have been
inside consists principally of c h a r t s h e r e c o m w e i g h t l o s s . " T h e p o w e r of a m o d e r n digital
interpolated the t a b l e s . A slide rule m i g h t h a v e
simpler.
T h e t h i n g i s , h e p r e s e n t s a p a p e r o n the t h e r m o d y n a m i c s of w e i g h t loss w h i c h m a y b e i m p o r t a n t ; in this h e
states the difference e q u a t i o n s w h i c h a r e the heart of his
d i e t . A n d t h e s e m a y i n d e e d b e perfectly valid. S o w h y not
call it w h a t it i s , T h e T h e r m o d y n a m i c Diet?
I a l w a y s figured that the d a y of
H o b b y i s m w o u l d a r r i v e w h e n the folks
offered a build-it-yourself c o m p u t e r .
k n o w w h a t t h e y c a m e o u t w i t h instead
A g e n e r a l interface for h o o k i n g t h i n g s
13
Computer
at H e a t h k i t
But you
last y e a r ?
to t h e P D P - 8 .
-V-
K i r k B r a i n e r d . of L , A . , is u s i n g c o m p u ters for a registry of p e o p l e w i t h s o m e t h i n g to
t e a c h . H e h o p e s that if p e o p l e a r e m u t u a l l y available to e a c h o t h e r al a d e e p e n o u g h level,
p e o p l e c a n b e g i n to act out of altruism in g e n e r a l .
A S T R O P L A S H . etc.
T h e r e a r e v a r i o u s c o m p u t e r i z e d astrology
s e r v i c e s . G i v e n y o u r date of b i r t h , a n d h o u r
if k n o w n , they'll t y p e out y o u r s i g n s , e x p l a n ations, etc. P r e s u m a b l y there is a text n e t w o r k
w h i c h the s y s t e m selects a m o n g a c c o r d i n g to
"reinforcing t e n d e n c i e s , " e t c . , a m o n g the entities
t h o u g h t to b e influential.
C o n c e i v a b l y this c o u l d d o nine-tenths of
w h a t a talented h u m a n astrologer d o e s , a n d w i t h
the s a m e validity, w h a t e v e r that m a y b e . In
a n y c a s e It's p r o b a b l y a lot c h e a p e r .
T h i s is a n o u t r a g e o u s m i s n o m e r .
The
c o m p u t e r Is o n l y c a r r y i n g o u t , m o s t s p e e d i l y ,
w h a t h a r d e n e d politocoes h a v e a l w a y s d o n e :
F A C T I O N A L A N A L Y S I S , n o w possible w i t h n e w f o u n d precision o n the basis of certain election
returns.
T h i s is b a s e d o n the c y n i c a l , a n d fairly
reliable, v i e w that p e o p l e vote a c c o r d i n g to
w h a t faction of the g r e a t e r p o p u l a c e they b e l o n g
to-- m i d d l e - c l a s s w h i t e liberals, blue-collar
n o n - u n i o n m e m b e r s , a n d so o n . T h e factions
c h a n g e slowly o v e r time, a n d people m o v e
a m o n g t h e m , b u t the fact of factionalism r e m a i n s
unchanged.
W e l l . B y the close of a m a j o r election
c a m p a i g n , m o s t factions c a n b e pretty well p r e d i c t e d , especially a s to presidential c h o i c e , o r
w h a t p r o p o r t i o n of that faction will g o for a
given candidate.
B u t s o m e factions' reactions a r e not c e r tain u p to the d a y of the ballot.
Is i t t o o s o o n for a
computer pornography contest?
S o . " C o m p u t e r p r e d i c t i o n s " of elections
basically b r e a k the c o u n t r y into its factional
d i v i s i o n s , state b y state a n d district b y district,
a n d t h e n tabulate w h o c a n b e p r e d i c t e d to vote
fof w h o m o n a factional b a s i s .
(Is it t o o l a t e 7 )
T h e n w h a t ' s the
suspense?
S e e p . t>^"3V'
T h e s u s p e n s e c o m e s f r o m the u n c e r t a i n
factions— g r o u p s w h o s e final reactions aren't
k n o w n a s the election starts.
C e r t a i n election districts a r e k n o w n to
b e c h o c k full of the t y p e s of p e o p l e w h o s e r e a c tion isn't k n o w n .
People think computers are rigid
and i n v a r i a n t . This (as stated e l s e where In this book) is due to the systems
which people have imposed, and then
b l a m e d , on the c o m p u t e r .
The fact is that computers are now
being set up to give new flexibility to
manufacturing p r o c e s s e s . C o m p u t e r s ,
directly connected to milling m a c h i n e s ,
grind metal into any conceivable shape
much faster than a human c r a f t s m a n . To
change the r e s u l t , change the program-in a fraction of a s e c o n d . Fabric d e s ign has been done on computer s c r e e n s ;
the obvious next step is to have the
computer control the loom or knitting
machine and immediately produce whatever's been d e s i g n e d .
Custom clothing: soon we may look
forward to tailoring services that store
your measurements and can custom-tailor
a suit for you to any new fashion, in
m i n u t e s . (But will the price beat Hong
Kong?) Customized printed matter is
already here (see " M e - B o o k s , " p . 6 ) Wherever people want individual variations of a basic manufacturing p r o c e s s ,
computers can do i t .
T h e T e l e p h o n e C o m p a n y (at least in
Illinois a n d I n d i a n a ) offers a s p e a k e r o n
" T h e S h a d o w y W o r l d of Electronic S n o o p i n g "
to interested g r o u p s .
T h e final " c o m p u t e r prediction" s i m p l y
consists of c h e c k i n g out h o w those districts
v o t e d , c o n c l u d i n g h o w t h o s e factions a r e g o i n g
in the p r e s e n t election, a n d e x t e n d i n g this p r o portion t h r o u g h the rest of the c o u n t r y .
It's often painfully a c c u r a t e — b u t , t h a n k
g o d . not a l w a y s . W h e n it isn't don't b l a m e
"the c o m p u t e r . "
T h a n k h u m a n cantankerosity.
YOUR
AUTOMOBILE
COMPUTER
Didja k n o w , h u h , w e ' r e g o i n g to h a v e
c o m p u t e r s in o u r cars?
W e refer h e r e to t w o
things—
anti-skid controllers. w h i c h a r e really
just special circuits-- y o u k n o w ,
" a n a l o g c o m p u t e r s " — to c o m p e n s a t e
a m o n g s k i d d i n g w h e e l s . T u r n s out
that this is a p p a r e n t l y m o r e s e n s i tive a n d reliable t h a n e v e n y o u r g o o d
d r i v e r s w h o e n j o y controlling s k i d s .
A l r e a d y a d v e r t i s e d for s o m e i m p o r t s .
g r a n d b u s electronics (see p .
) . Since
the electrical part of the a u t o m o b i l e
is getting so b l a m e d c o m p l i c a t e d ,
the Detroit I r o n m o n g e r s h a v e d e c i d e d
to s w i t c h to a g r a n d b u s structure
instead of h a v i n g all those s w i t c h e s
a n d t h i n g s separate a n y m o r e .
Should
m a k e the w h o l e thing far easier to
service a n d customize.
P r e s u m a b l y this will all b e
u n d e r the control of a m i c r o p r o c e s s o r .
(See p - ^ ^ j ) T h i s m e a n s that the
c a r c a n h a v e things like a C o l d W e a t h e r Startup S e q u e n c e - - a p r o g r a m
that starts the c a r , t u r n s o n the
h e a t e r , m o n i t o r s the e n g i n e a n d
c a b i n t e m p e r a t u r e , a n d bleats the
h o r n , t w i c e , politely w h e n it's all
r e a d y - - all at a time p r e s e t b y the
d a s h b o a r d clock.
P r e s u m a b l y Detroit is not yet
p l a n n i n g to g o this far. B u t b e c a u s e
of the auto industry's a n o m a l o u s l y
h u g e influence in A m e r i c a , s o m e h a v e
e x p r e s s e d the fear that this m o v e
-- t o w a r d the integrated-circuit.
digitally-controlled g r a n d b u s w o u l d effectively p u t Detroit in c o n trol of the entire electronics i n d u s t r y .
m a y o r m a y not b e a real c o m p u t e r - - friends
h a v e told m e it isn't— b u t it's certainly a g o o d
idea.
W h e n y o u pull y o u r l a t e - m o d e l V o l k s w a g e n
into a dealer's s e r v i c e a r e a , the g u y s c a n just
roll o u t a c a b l e a n d p l u g it into the c o r r e s p o n r
d i n g s o c k e t in y o u r v e h i c l e . A t the o t h e r e n d
of the cable is s o m e sort of d e v i c e w h i c h tests
a series of special circuits t h r o u g h o u t the c a r
for G o o d C o n d i t i o n . T h e s e circuits indicate
that t h i n g s a r e w o r k i n g p r o p e r l y - - lights, p l u g s ,
p o i n t s , b r a k e s a n d so o n .
T h i s is the s a m e t e c h n i q u e u s e d b y N A S A
u p to the final m o m e n t of C O M M I T L A U N C H - - a
s y s t e m of circuits m o n i t o r s the conditions of
w h a t e v e r c a n b e m o n i t o r e d , to m a k e s u r e all's
functioning w e l l . It's m o r e e x p e n s i v e to w i r e it
u p that w a y , b u t it m a k e s c h e c k i n g out the
r o c k e t - - o r the c a r — that m u c h e a s i e r .
T h e ever-clever J a p a n e s e are computerizing
faster, better a n d m o r e d e e p l y than w e a r e .
T h e y n o w h a v e a p r o t o t y p e taxi o p e r a t i n g
u n d e r c o m p u t e r c o n t r o l . T h e y ' r e calling it, at
least for e x p o r t , C o m p u t e r - c o n t r o l l e d V e h i c l e
System ( C V S ) .
Basically it's like a n Elevated R a i l w a y - y o u c l i m b u p a n d wait-- b u t w h e n y o u gel in.
y o u p u n c h a button for y o u r destination. A c c o r d i n g to H i d e y u k i H a y a s h i of the Ministry of Ind u s t r y a n d International T r a d e , the s y s t e m will
b e operational in T o k y o within the d e c a d e , a n d
is the " c l e a n e s t , safest, quickest transport s y s t e m e v e r d e v i s e d b y m a n . " T h i n k fast, Detroit.
(A nice point: o n e of the m o s t important
features of s u c h a s y s t e m ia that the vehicles
don't react to e a c h o t h e r , as d o vehicles in the
existing H u m a n - c o n t r o l l e d Vehicle S y s t e m ( H V S ) .
A w h o l e line of the c a r s c a n b e accelerated o r
s l o w e d s i m u l t a n e o u s l y , a crucial aspect of their
flexibility a n d safety. N o t h i n g can p o s s i b r y
go long.)
(Leo C l a n c y . " N o w - - C o m p u t e r - C o n t r o l l e d ,
D r i v e r l e s s C a r s , " National E n q u i r e r 3 M a r 7 4 ,
24-5.)
THOSE THINGS ON
M o d e r n u i u g « , she 2 9 , i n t e r e s t e d
in r e c u r s i v e r e l a t i o n s and r e v e r s e
Polish culture. Phone a B u s t .
C o n t a c t b o x R S - 2 3 2 (t see p . J > n 3 ^ ,
BETCHA
DIDN'T
KNOW...
thsl the I R S hasn't b e e n able to d o instant
m a t c h i n g of W - 2 f o r m s to tax r e t u r n s . That'll
b e fixed in fiscal ' 7 4 . a n d interest a n d d i v i d e n d
p a y m e n t * In ' 7 5 . ( T I M E , 31 D e c 7 3 , 17.)
THE RAILROAD
A s w e lean o n the
a - w a t c h i n ' the trains g o
insignia o n their s i d e s ,
Scotch-Lite all b e g r i m e d
SIC
CARS
fence a - c h a w i n ' a n '
b y . w e note s t r a n g e
in highly reflective
b y travel.
TRANSIT
S o m e of the s a p p i e r n e w U r b a n T r a n s i t
S y s t e m s give y o u a ticket with a m a g n e t i c stripe
o n the b a c k . E a c h time y o u ride y o u m u s t p u s h
the c a r d into a n E n t r a n c e M a c h i n e , w h i c h p r e s u m a b l y d o e s s o m e t h i n g to the stripe, till Anally
the ticket r u n s out a n d y o u h a v e to p a y m o r e
money.
S e c r e c y of the r e c o r d i n g c o d e is a n i m p o r tant aspect of the t h i n g . I n d e e d , w a g g i s h g o s s i p
claims that a o m e s u c h s y s t e m s start with a b l a n k
m a g n e t i c stripe a n d just a d d stuff to lt, m e a n i n g
the c a r d c a n b e w a s h e d clean with a m a g n e t b y
l a r c e n o u s c o m m u t e r s . B u t this s e e m s u n l i k e l y .
Basically it's a stack of horizontal stripes
in r e d , b l u e a n d other c o l o r s . T h i s la A C I ,
for A u t o m a t i c C a r Idenliflcation. It m a y yet
straighten out the railroads.
In this neolithic i n d u s t r y , it is not k n o w n
at a n y g i v e n time w h e r e a railroad c o m p a n y ' s
c a r s a r e , a n d s o m e peculiar etiquette g o v e r n s
their u n r e q u e s t e d uBe b y other firms in the
i n d u s t r y . Yet the o b v i o u s solution m a y c o m e
about: a r u n n i n g inventory of w h e r e all the c a r s
a r e . w h e r e e a c h o n e is g o i n g , w h e t ' s in it.
a n d w h o thst b e l o n g s to. B u t . of c o u r s e , that's
still in the w o r k s . Revolutionary ideas take time.
6f
T h e potential d a n g e r s o f t r a n s a c t i o n s y s t e m s
a r e fairly o b v i o u s f r o m t h e s u p e r m a r k e t e x a m p l e ,
b u t t h e y fan o u t in g r e a t e r c o m p l e x i t y a s t h e
s y s t e m s get m o r e c o m p l e x .
C r e d i t c a r d s , for
instance, w e r e only m a d e possible b y c o m p u t e r s
a n d c o m p u t e r i z e d c r e d i t verification; b u t it is
o n l y n o w , fifteen o r s o y e a r s into t h e c r e d i t - c a r d
e r a , that l a w s p r o t e c t t h e c a r d h o l d e r a g a i n s t
u n l i m i t e d liability if h e l o s e s it.
Everywhere
they w e a r
so m a n y
what's going
you
go computers
lurk.
on.
G u i d e l i n e s a r e h a r d to lay d o w n
if y o u
Yet
f a c e s it's i m p o s s i b l e to f i g u r e
here, but
l o o k for e x a m p l e s o f t h i n g s y o u ' v e
r u n into in this b o o k , it m a y
help
alresdy
some.
Terminals you can presumably
recognize.
Microprocessors are h a r d e r , b e c a u s e y o u
don't s e e t h e m .
G o o d rule-of-thumb: a n y device
w h i c h acts w i t h c o m p l e x i t y o r a p p a r e n t d i s c r e t i o n
p r e s u m a b l y incorporates a terminal, m i n i c o m p u t e r
or m i c r o p r o c e s s o r .
Two
o t h e r t h i n g s to w a t c h
s y s t e m s a n d data b a s e
for:
transaction
systems.
A t r a n s a c t i o n s y s t e m is a n y s y a t e m that
t a k e s n o t e o f , a n d p e r h a p s r e q u i r e s verification
of, transactions.
E x a m p l e : the n e w point-of-sale
s y s t e m s ( P O S ) . T h i s is w h a t ' s a b o u t to r e p l a c e
the c a s h r e g i s t e r .
In t h e s u p e r m a r k e t of t h e f u t u r e , e v e r y
p a c k a g e will h a v e a b a r c o d e o n a s t i c k e r , o r
printed o n the w r a p p e r .
I n s t e a d of t h e c h e c k o u t
c l e r k l o o k i n g at t h e label a n d p u n c h i n g t h e am o u n t of t h e sale into t h e c a s h r e g i s t e r — a n
error-prone and cheat-prone technique w h i c h
requires considerable training— y o u r N e w I m p r o v e d C h e c k o u t C l e r k will w a v e a w a n d o v e r
t h e b a r c o d e . T h e b a r c o d e will b e s e n s e d b y
t h e w a n d , a n d t r a n s m i t t e d to a c o n t r o l c o m p u t e r ,
w h i c h will r i n g it u p b y a m o u n t a n d c a t e g o r y
(for t a x p u r p o s e s ) , a n d e v e n k e e p t r a c k of
i n v e n t o r y . n o t i n g e a c h o b j e c t a s it is r e m o v e d
from stock.
H e r e is w h a t y o u r b a r c o d e will l o o k l i k e .
(A circular c o d e , w h i c h w a s a l r e a d y t u r n i n g u p
o n s o m e T V d i n n e r s , h a s b e e n eliminated b y the
b a r c o d e . T h i s is u n f o r t u n a t e , s i n c e t h e s c a n n e r n e c e s s a r y to r e a d t h e b a r c o d e is e l e c t r o n ically m o r e c o m p l i c a t e d , b u t t h e r e w e a r e . )
Y e t w e p l u n g e a h e a d , a n d it is o b v i o u s w h y .
Transaction systems m a n a g e d in, a n d b y , c o m p u t e r s a l l o w m o r e flexible a n d (in p r i n c i p l e )
reliable o p e r a t i o n s .
F o r i n s t a n c e , in t h e s e c u rities b u s i n e s s , t h o u s a n d s of s t o c k certificates
a r e lost a n d m i s l a i d , a n d t h e t r a n s a c t i o n p a p e r
m u s t b e t y p e d , s h u f f l e d , p u t in e n v e l o p e s , s e n t ,
o p e n e d , s h u f f l e d a g a i n , c o m p a r e d . . . all b y h a n d .
Little w o n d e r t h e y ' r e w o r k i n g o n a n A u t o m a t e d
Stock E x c h a n g e S y s t e m .
B u t if it's t a k e n fifteen
y e a r s to g e t t h e implicit b u g s o u t o f c r e d i t c a r d s
. . . n o t to m e n t i o n t h e f r e q u e n t a l l e g a t i o n s that
m u c h W a l l S t r e e t " i n e f f i c i e n c y " is a c t u a l l y t h e
d i s g u i s e d m a r a u d i n g of O r g a n i z e d C r i m e . . .
uh-oh.
{If t h e y c a n b u y t h e b e s t l a w y e r s , t h e y
c a n p r o b a b l y b u y the best p r o g r a m m e r s . )
T h e n t h e r e is t h e C h e c k l e s s S o c i e t y .
This
is a c a t c h p h r a s e for a n o f t - a d v o c a t e d s y s t e m that
a l l o w s y o u to t r a n s f e r m o n e y instantly b y c o m p u ter; s u p p o s e d l y s o m e s u c h t h i n g is w o r k i n g a l r e a d y in F r a n c e .
A g a i n , t h e y b e t t e r g e t it p r e t t y
safe b e f o r e a s a n e m a n will g o u p in it.
(In this l i g h t , e v e n
will h a v e
motive behind
u s e its n e w
they
may
system
the greatest
to a d m i t that t h e r e m a y
be
a
IBM-haters
proper
language:
that
way
b e a b l e to p r e v e n t s p e c i a l h o l e s in
from
becoming
known
to
the
programmers.)
It is i n t e r e s t i n g that o n e p r o f e s s i o n s e e m s
to b e s t e p p i n g f o r w a r d to try to i m p r o v e this
situation: t h e a u d i t i n g p r o f e s s i o n , d e v o t e d to
verification of financial s i t u a t i o n s o f c o m p a n i e s ,
s e e m s to b e b r a n c h i n g into t h e verification of
c o m p u t e r p r o g r a m s a n d t h e p e r f o r m a n c e of c o m p l e x s y s t e m s . T h i s will b e g r e a t , if it w o r k s .
C y n i c s , h o w e v e r , m a y n o t e that a u d i t o r s h a v e
p e r m i t t e d s o m e r e m a r k a b l e p r a c t i c e s in t h e
" c r e a t i v e " a c c o u n t i n g of r e c e n t y e a r s .
(Obviously t h e w a y to c h e c k o u t t h e safety of b i g s y s t e m s
is to offer b o u n t y to t h o s e w h o c a n b r e a k its
security.
B u t w h o is w i l l i n g to s u b j e c t a s y s t e m
to a test like t h a t ? )
things y o u
defy
THE
may
are a few other
run
into w h i c h
computerish
m o r e or
less
categorization.
COMPUTER
GRAVEYARD
In t h e m i d - s i x t i e s t h e r e w a s
N o w , m o a t of t h e b i g s y s t e m s y o u r u n into
t e n d to b e a c o m b i n a t i o n of t r a n s a c t i o n a n d
data-base system.
For instance, s u p p o s e y o u
m a k e a n airline r e s e r v a t i o n . T h e airline h a s a
l a r g e d a t a b a s e to k e e p t r a c k of: t h e i n v e n t o r y
of all t h o s e a r m c h a i r s it's flying a r o u n d t h e
c o u n t r y , a n d t h e list of w h o s o far h a v e a n n o u n c e d
p l a n s to sit in t h e m , a n d in s o m e c a s e s w h a t
t h e y i n t e n d to e a t . W h e n y o u b u y y o u r ticket
that t r a n s a c t i o n t h e n g e t s y o u p u t In t h e listing.
S a m e for c a r rentals a n d s o o n .
T h e b a s i c p r i n c i p l e of " c o m p u t e r d a t i n g "
is p e r f e c t l y s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d .
A p p l i c a n t s s e n d in
d e s c r i p t i o n s of t h e m s e l v e s a n d t h e p r o s p e c t i v e
d a t e s t h e y w o u l d like to m e e t . T h e c o m p u t e r
p r o g r a m s i m p l y d o e s a u t o m a t i c a l l y t h e sorts of
t h i n g y o u w o u l d d o if y o u d i d this b y h a n d :
it a t t e m p t s to find t h e "best' 1 m a t c h b e t w e e e n
w h a t e v e r y b o d y w a n t s a n d what's o n h a n d .
I B M ' s c u r r e n t r e f u s a l to let o t h e r s
operating system
Hereabouts
Data b a s e s y s t e m s are a n y s y s t e m s w h i c h
k e e p t r a c k of a w h o l e lot of stuff, often w i t h
c o m p l e x pointer t e c h n i q u e s (see " D a t a S t r u c t u r e s , "
P - Z £ > ) . A c u t e e x a m p l e is t h e m e s s a g e s e r v i c e
n o w offered b y S t u c k e y ' s s n a c k / s o u v e n i r s t a n d s
all o v e r t h e c o u n t r y .
Y o u m a y leave m e s s a g e s
for y o u r f r i e n d s o r l o v e d o n e s o n t h e r o a d ; t h e y
c a n s t o p at a n y S t u c k e y ' s a n d a s k for their
m e s s a g e s , just a s if it w a s a t e l e p h o n e a n s w e r i n g
service.
( Y o u ' r e listed b y y o u r p h o n e n u m b e r is this to a v o i d p r a n k s ?
A n d w h a t about people
with n o p h o n e s ? )
It's free a n d a n e a t i d e a .
( O b v i o u s l y , the m e s s a g e s a r e s t o r e d o n t h e d i s k
of a b i g central c o m p u t e r , a n d q u e r i e d f r o m
t e r m i n a l s at t h e i n d i v i d u a l s t a n d s . )
In t h e e a r l y s i x t i e s , a p e r k y y o u n g fella
at t h e H a r v a r d B - S c h o o l , I b e l i e v e , o n e Jeff T a r r ,
c a m e u p w i t h t h e n o t i o n of a c o m p u t e r i z e d d a t i n g
s e r v i c e . T h e result w a s O p e r a t i o n M a t c h , a n
i m m e n s e financial s u c c e s s , w h i c h sort of c a m e
and went.
N o followup studies w e r e e v e r d o n e
o r s u c c e s s statistics g a t h e r e d , u n f o r t u n a t e l y ,
b u t t h e y certainly h a d their f u n .
T h e s a f e t y o f s u c h s y s t e m s is of c o u r s e
a m a t t e r of i m m e n s e g e n e r a l c o n c e r n .
IBM
p o r t e n t i o u s l y ( s i c ) a n n o u n c e d its intent to s p e n d
millions of dollars o n " c o m p u t e r s e c u r i t y " a f e w
y e a r s a g o . H o w e v e r , a f e w million d o l l a r s is
n o t g o i n g to p l u g t h e s e c u r i t y h o l e s in t h e I B M
3 6 0 , a n d e v i d e n t l y t h e 3 7 0 is j u s t a b o u t a s v u l nerable .
I
( I n c i d e n t a l l y , w h i l e this d o e s a r r e s t t h e
classic c a s h i e r ' s c h e a t - - r i n g i n g u p e x c e s s i v e
p u r c h a s e s o n the c u s t o m e r s , t h e n h a v i n g a c o n federate w a l k t h r o u g h equivalent a m o u n t s — the
c o n s u m e r is still entirely p r o n e to c h e a t i n g b y
t h e store in t h e c o m p u t e r p r o g r a m .
Remember,
it's 1 9 7 4 . S o y o u still m a y h a v e to c h e c k y o u r
tapes, folks.)
s h o u l d o f c o u r s e b e called M A T C H U P
DATING,
s i n c e t h e r e ia n o t h i n g p a r t i c u l a r l y c o m p u t e r i s h
a b o u t e i t h e r t h e p r o c e s s o r its i n t e n d e d r e s u l t .
B u t t h e r e w e g o a g a i n : w o r d - m a g i c , the i m p l i cit a u t h o r i t y of i n v o k i n g t h e w o r d C o m p u t e r .
(See " C y b e r c r u d , " p .
.)
in K i n g s t o n , N . Y . that w a s
graveyard--
like a n
a
junkyard
automobile
e x c e p t piled h i g h w i t h d e a d
com-
puters .
T h e y w e r e from various manufacturers.
T h e g u y s w o u l d s m a s h t h e m with s l e d g e h a m m e r s ,
o r o t h e r a w f u l t h i n g s , to m a k e s u r e t h e y c o u l d
n e v e r w o r k a g a i n . T h e n y o u c o u l d b u y the
circuit c a r d s .
I s a w 1 4 0 1 s five h i g h , U n i v a c
File C o m p u t e r s , t a p e d r i v e s . . . it w a s a n e l e c tronic nut's p a r a d i s e .
Y o u could decorate y o u r
d e n w i t h h u g e old c o n t r o l p a n e l s , m a g d i s k s
and whatnot,
lt s e e m s to b e g o n e n o w .
They
forbade pictures.
O b v i o u s l y this c o u l d b e a m a t t e r for
s e r i o u s o p e r a t i o n s r e s e a r c h : a t t e m p t i n g to d i s c o v e r the best m a t c h u p techniques a m o n g things
that n e v e r really fit t o g e t h e r , detail for detail;
t r y i n g to find o u t , b y f o l l o w u p q u e s t i o n n a i r e s ,
w h a t t r a i t - m a t c h i n g s s e e m e d to p r o d u c e t h e b e s t
result, etc. B u t s u c h serious matchup-function
r e s e a r c h r e m a i n s , s o far a s I k n o w , to b e e v e n
begun.
O b v i o u s l y there are several p r o b l e m s .
D e m o g r a p h i c a l l y it is a l m o s t n e v e r t r u e that
"for e v e r y m a n t h e r e ' s a w o m a n " — in e v e r y
a g e - b r a c k e t there's almost a l w a y s an i m b a l a n c e
of t h e o p p o s i t e s e x in t h e c o r r e s p o n d i n g eligible
a g e - b r a c k e t , e i t h e r too m a n y o r too f e w .
But
m o r e t h a n t h a t , t h e r e is little likelihood that
t h e traits w o m e n w a n t a r e a d e q u a t e l y r e p r e s e n ted a m o n g t h e a v a i l a b l e m a l e s , o r v i c e v e r s a .
F o r i n t r o d u c t i o n s e r v i c e s it's o b v i o u s l y w o r s e :
t h e r e is n o b a l a n c e likely b e t w e e n w h a t c o m e s
in o n e d o o r a n d w h a t c o m e s in t h e o t h e r .
The
s e r v i c e c a n o n l y d o its b e s t w i t h t h e available
p o o l of p e o p l e - - a n d m a k e b e l i e v e it's s o m e h o w
m a d e ideal b y t h e u s e o f the c o m p u t e r .
It's
like a n e m p l o y m e n t office: a p p l i c a n t s don't
match openings.
N u m e r o u s other dating services h a v e a p p e a r e d , s o m e of w h i c h don't e v e n p r e t e n d to
u s e t h e c o m p u t e r ( a n d o t h e r s w h i c h claim to
b e a r e g i s t r y for n o n s t a n d a r d s e x u a l a p p e t i t e s ) ,
b u t n o n e that's g o t t e n t h e attention of t h e o r i g inal P r o j e c t M a t c h .
B u t there's n o question w h o
d a t e s o u t of that o n e .
DO
YOU
GOT
got the b e s t
Jeff T a r r .
RHYTHM?
A d e v i c e called the B I O - C O M P U T E R (trade
m a r k ) p u r p o r t e d l y helps y o u predict y o u r " b o d y
b e a t s . " telling y o u w h a t d a y s a r e the right sort
of t i m e to d o p a r t i c u l a r t h i n g s in t e r m s ' of y o u r
o w n biological e n e r g i e s . T h e o b j e c t costs $ 1 5
postpaid from B I O - C O M P U T E R . D e p t . C L B / D M
( w h y n o t ? ) , 964 T h i r d A v e . . N Y N Y 1 0 0 2 2 .
T h e q u e s t i o n w i t h all s u c h special p u r p o s e
d e v i c e s - - "fishing c o m p u t e r s , " h o r s e - r a c i n g
c o m p u t e r s , e t c . , is a l w a y s w h e t h e r t h e t h e o r y
a n d f o r m u l a s w h i c h a r e built into t h e m a r e c o r r e c t . T h e r e is n o r e a d y w a y to tell.
O n e possibility, nice and expensive, is to
rent a n u m b e r of mailing lists from a single
mailing-list h o u s e , with them guaranteeing that
they'll c o m p a r e all the lists y o u choose and
not send to any person m o r e than o n c e .
But as y o u m a y b e suspecting, this costs
m o n e y . All this screening and intercomparing
requires computer time, and so, even though
you are getting a m o r e and m o r e perfect mailing,
you are paying m o r e a n d m o r e and m o r e m o n e y
for it. So y o u can see w h y reasonable businessm e n are willing to send out ads even w h e n they
k n o w s o m e recipients will get several duplicates.
Branch
Theodor H Nelson
4 5 8 H 20Th St
Hejf York,Ny
100H
Great
Another interesting point. T h e r e are
mailing lists for all kinds of different possible
customers. T h e possibilities are endless.
Minority-group doctors. People interested in
both stamp collecting and flowers (you'd h a v e
to get a c o m p a n y with both lists, and have them
go through them for the duplicates... y o u get
the idea).
news! for
elsonjf amily!
t
H o u l d n ' t y4u like your money
even when you're asleep?
How
011
th^Nelsonfamily
can
to work
save
for you
full
r i g h t -at t h e i r
time.,
own
bank.
-
Note that mailing lists are priced according
to their desirability. W e e d e d mailing lists, featuring only Live O n e s , people w h o ' v e ordered
big in recent times, are m o r e expensive. Lists
of doctors, w h o b u y a lot, .are m o r e expensive
than lists of social w o r k e r s . A n d so o n .
Passbook Savings Plan which
- n o a r t e r l y or e v e n
new""
T h e n there's the matter of the pitch.
IRS
T h e ad's phrasing m a y b e built a r o u n d
the mailing plan. S o m e circulars c o m e right out
a n d tell the recipient he's going to get several
copies because he's such a wonderful p e r s o n .
T H E N there are those advertisements that
are actually printed b y the c o m p u t e r , or at least
certain lines are filled in with the recipient's
n a m e a n d possibly s o m e snazzy phrases to m a k e
him think it's a personal letter. W h o responds
to such things I don't k n o w . M y favorite w a s
the one-- I wish I could find it to include here
— that w e n t something like
You'll really look swell, M r .
Nelson
walking d o w n Main Street of
N e w York
in y o u r sharp-looking n e w slacks...
Dear
Reader:
I don't k n o w whether I enjoyed the spaces or
the M a i n Street m o r e .
But y o u see h o w this w o r k s . There's
this batch-processing p r o g r a m , see, and the
n a m e s a n d addresses are o n o n e long tape, a n d
the tape goes through, and the p r o g r a m takes
one record (a n a m e and a d d r e s s ) , a n d decides
whether to call the addressee " M r . , " " M s . " or
w h a t e v e r , a n d then plugs his n a m e into the
printout lines that give it That Personal T o u c h ;
a n d then the mailing envelope or sticker is
printed; and the tape m o v e s on to the next
record.
fj^rj.apa^.intta-.to m u t u a l f u n d s .
you've undoubtedly
£
™
%
of p r o m i s e s a n d p r e m i u m s .
I w o n t t r y to
p
• K „ , „ 11
i nil v o u w o n ' t g e t r i c h
If y o u s u b s c r i b e
You won't
clever
to
and
busi"»°-
rem"" 1 "-
P L A C E
. B O 3U ULLDDEERR,. CCOOLLOORRAADDOO S800330022
tol^fS^^^"^^^}^Bsi^/
^^^
' U
won't appeal
i p p e a l to V O
B e c a u s e it
"» a i v e s vou
Q / H T ^ N I ]
SOTJ5
*~
Y O U C A N G E T O F F A L L MAILING LISTS
— that is, the ones "participating" in the
Association-- b y writing to
T h e y will send a b l a n k . If y o u fill it in
they'U process it and delete your n a m e from
mailing lists of all participating c o m p a n i e s .
Presumably this won't help with
X-rated or stamp-coUecting lists, but it
ought to keep you from getting semiannual
gift catalogs from places like T h e H o u s e of
G o - G o Creative, Inc. and those million
solicitations from C o n s u m e r Reports a n d
that File B o x c o m p a n y .
fc
1
hwj
W
T h e r e is, h o w e v e r , a final solution.
Direct Mail Advertising Association
Public Relations Department
230 Park A v e n u e
N e w Y o r k , N Y 10017
quicK.
« w w w ^
bowl over friends
•= = 5 P C W T L ^ o
W e m a y look forward to increasing e n croachments on our time and trust b y the direct
mail industry: especially in better a n d better
quack letters that look as though they've really
been personally typed to y o u b y a real h u m a n
being. (It is apparently legal for letters to be
signed b y a fictitious person within a c o m p a n y . )
In the future w e m a y expect such letters to b e
sent on fine p a p e r , typed individually on good
typewriters, and convincingly phrased to m a k e
us think a real personal pitch is being tendered.
^
Y o u call u p the b a n k and ask your balance
and they s a y , "I'm afraid I can't get that information. Y o u see, it's on a computer."
(See Baaic Rejoinder, nearby.)
Well, the reason it's this w a y is that
they're handling things in Batch (see p-HS )
and they aren't storing y o u r account on disk,
or if they are they don't have a terminal they
can query it with.
But to say that they can't get the information becauae it's on a computer is a typical
use of the computer as an excuse (see C y b e r c r u d , p . $ ) ; and second, if the person believes this to b e an explanation, it's a sign of
the intimidation and obfuscation that have been
s o w n a m o n g the clerks w h o don't understand
computers.
Write them a letter. C h a n g e b a n k s . Let's
get the banks to put on m a r e and m o r e citizen
services. Rah!
i f
we
it P e r think "
62
"Cot*
Everybody blames
the
computer.
P e o p l e are e n c o u r a g e d to b l a m e the
c o m p u t e r . The employees of a f i r m , by
t e l l i n g o u t s i d e p e o p l e t h a t i t ' s the
c o m p u t e r ' s f a u l t , are e n c o u r a g i n g p u b l i c
apathy through private d e c e i t . The p r e t e n s e is t h a t t h i s t h i n g , t h e c o m p u t e r ,
is r i g i d a n d i n h u m a n (see " T h e M y t h o f
the C o m p u t e r , " p . ?
) and makes all
kinds of s t u p i d m i s t a k e s .
Computers rarely make m i s t a k e s .
If
the c o m p u t i n g h a r d w a r e m a k e s a h a r d w a r e
e r r o r in a b i l l i o n o p e r a t i o n s , i t m a y
be noticed and a r e p a i r m a n c a l l e d .
(Of
c o u r s e , o n c e in a b i l l i o n o p e r a t i o n s is
o n c e in a t h o u s a n d s e c o n d s , or p e r h a p s
e v e r y t e n m i n u t e s . T h a t o u g h t to b e
mentioned.)
Anyhow, innocent gadgetry
is n o t w h a t f o r c e s y o u to m a k e s t u p i d
m u l t i p l e choices on b u r e a u c r a t i c f o r m s ;
mere equipment isn't what loses your
subscription records;
By s y s t e m w e m e a n t h e w h o l e s e t u p : t h e
c o m p u t e r , the accessories that have b e e n
c h o s e n f o r i t , its p l a n o f o p e r a t i o n or
p r o g r a m , and the way files are kept and
complaints handled.
Don't blame
the
computer.
Blame the system; blame the p r o g r a m m e r ; b l a m e the p r o c e d u r e s ; b e s t o f a l l ,
b l a m e the c o m p a n y .
Let them know y o u
w i l l t a k e y o u r b u s i n e s s to w h e r e v e r t h e y
have h u m a n b e i n g s . S a m e for g o v e r n m e n t a l
agencies: write your congressman.
And
so o n .
4
$Sit
t o r t u s "
P e w of us can help feeling outrage at
the book clubs, or subscription offices, or
billing departments. that don't reply to our
letters. O r reply inappropriately, with a form
printout that doesn't match the problem.
First let's understand h o w this h a p p e n s .
T h e s e outfits are based on using the c o m puter to handle all correspondence and transactions. T h e "office" m a y not have any people
in it at all-- that is, people w h o s e job it is
to understand and deal sensibly with the p r o b lems of customers. Instead, there m a y just be
k e y p u n c h operators staffing a Batch S y s t e m , set
u p by someone w h o has long since m o v e d o n .
T h e point of a batch system (see p.f$")
is to save m o n e y and bother b y handling everything in a controlled flow. This does not m e a n
iri principle that things have to be rigid and
restrictive, but it usually m e a n s it in practice.
(See "The P u n c h C a r d Mentality," p .
•)
T h e system is set up with only a fixed n u m b e r
of event types, a n d so only those events are
recognized as occurring. Most important, y o u r
problem is a s s u m e d to be one that will be
straightened out in the course of the system's
flow. While there m a y be provision for e x c e p tions-- one clerk, perhaps— y o u r problem has
not s e e m e d to him worthy of m a k i n g an e x c e p tion for.
Here is m y solution. It has w o r k e d
several times, particularly on book clubs that
ignored typed letters and kept billing m e
incorrectly.
Get a roll of white shelf p a p e r , two or
three feet wide and twenty or m o r e feet long.
Write a letter on the shelf paper in magic
m a r k e r . M a k e it big, perhaps six inches to a
w o r d . Legibility is necessary, but don't m a k e
it too easy to read.
Explain the problem clearly.
l^jotfcW
w e should all practice and have ready at the
tip of our tongues:
W H Y THE HELL NOT? YOU'RE THE ONES
THE C O M P U T E R S , N O T ME!
WITH
Let's froth u p a little citizen indignation here.
N o w take y o u r p u n c h card— y o u did get
o n e , didn't y o u , a bill or something?-- and
mutilate it carefully. T e a r it in quarters, or
cut it into lace, or something. But m a k e sure
the serial n u m b e r is still legible. Staple it
lovingly to your nice big letter..
N o w fold y o u r letter, and find an envelope
big e n o u g h for it to fit in, and send it, registered or certified mail, to A N Y H U M A N B E I N G ,
A C C O U N T I N G D E P A R T M E N T , or w h a t e v e r , and
the company's address.
This really w o r k s quite well.
I a m assuming h e r e , n o w , that your p r o b lem has merit, and y o u have been denied the
attention required to settle it. If w e w a n t justice
w e m u s t ourselves be just.
In principle w e no longer need account
numbers.
N o w that text processing facilities are
available in moBt (if not all) major computer
languages, the only excuse for not using these
features is the programmer's notion of his o w n
convenience— not that of the outside customer
or victim.
Example. Someone I k n o w got brand n e w
^•**4*»»*4B>B«ss>J> > and
M m m o b * credit
cards. He m a d e no note of their n u m b e r s . T h e n
he lost them both. Duly he reported the losses.
Neither service could look him u p , they said.
without the n u m b e r s . Not having used t h e m , he
had no bills to check. Even though he w a s the
only person at that addresa with anything like
that n a m e . A n d w h y not, pray tell? Either b e cause they were fibbing, or because they had
not Been fit to create a simple straightforward
program for the purpose. (See Baaic Rejoinder,
nearby.)
I have heard of similar cases involving
major life insurance companies. Don't lose the
n u m b e r s . Let's all dance to it:
W h e n anything is issued to y o u ,
Write the n u m b e r d o w n .
A T
T h e people w h o send it out like to call it
personalized advertising and the like. But most
of us call it J u n k Mail. A n d its vagaries are
N O T T H E P O O R C O M P U T E R ' S F A U L T . What gets
people angry derives from the system built
around the poor computer.
T h e r e is one further step, b u t , again, to
be used only in proportion to the offense. This
step is to be used only if a meritorious c o m m u n ication, like that already described, has not
been properly responded to in a decent interval.
W e a s s u m e that this unjust firm has sent
you a reply envelope or card on which they
must pay postage. N o w carefully drafting a
follow-up letter, explain once again, in civil
language, the original problem, your efforts
at attention, and so o n . N o w put it in a package
with a ten or twelve-pound rock, affix the
reply envelope to the outside, and send it off.
T h e problem, you see, has been to get
out of the batch stream and be treated as an
exception. Flagrantly destroying the p u n c h card
serves to remove you from the flow in that fashion. ( H o w e v e r , just tearing it a little bit p r o b ably won't: a card that is intact but torn can
simply be put in a certain slot of the card-punch
and duplicated. Destroy it good and plenty.)
In all these cases remember: the problem
is not that you are "being treated as a n u m b e r , "
whatever that m e a n s , but that your case does
not correctly fall in the categories that have
been set up for it. B y forcing attention to your
case as an exception, you are making them
realize that more categories are needed, or more
people to handle exceptions. If more people do
this w h e n they have a just complaint, service
will improve rapidly.
Y o u m a y w o n d e r w h y you get more and
m o r e seed catalogs, or gift-house catalogs, as
time goes o n , even though you never order anything from them. O r w h y a deceased m e m b e r
of the household goes on getting mail year
in and year out, regardless of your angry postcards .
H o w does it keep coming?
T h r o u g h the magic of something called the
Mailing List.
A n d especially the peculiar w a y that
mailing lists are bought and sold.
m e rcBMwu. MDIUH
N o w , a mailing list is a series of n a m e s
and addresses of possible customers. stored on
computer tape or disk.
Y o u can b u y the use of a mailing list.
But y o u cannot b u y the mailing list itself.
Suppose y o u have a brochure advertising
pumpkin-seed relish, which you suggest has
rejuvenating p o w e r s . Y o u want this brochure
to go out to rich college graduates.
Y o u go to a mailing-list house.
"I cannot sell you this mailing list outright," says the jolly proprietor, "for it is m y
business to sell its use again and again, so
I d o not want a n y b o d y else to have a copy of
it." So you leave 2500 pumpkin-seed relish
brochures with the mailing list c o m p a n y . and
p a y them a lot of m o n e y . A n d they swear on
a stack of bibles that they have mailed the brochures to their special list of rich college graduates .
Well, let's say you get 250 sales from
that mailing. (10% is fantastically good.) But
out of curiosity you go to another mailing-list
house and have another mailing sent out-- this
one to people w h o have low incomes and little
education.
This time you get lj>% orders.
N o w guess what you are acquiring.
A mailing list of your very o w n .
ple w h o eat pumpkin-seed relish.
Of peo-
Mailing lists are, y o u see, generally rented blind, with no chance to see the addressees
or check as to whether they've already been
mailed to.
A n d that explains all the duplications.
If an advertiser is going after a certain
type of customer, and goes to several mailinglist houses asking for mailings to that particular
type of customer, chances are some people will
be on several of the lists. A n d since there's
no w a y to intercompare the lists, these poor
g u y s get several copies of the mailing.
(Another w a y this can happen is if some
cheapskate has his o w n mailing Hat and doesn't
cheek it for repeats of the same n a m e . But
writing the computer program to check for
repeats of the same n a m e is not easy-- there
might just be a Robert Jones and a Rob Jones
at the same address-- and these things are not
usually checked manually. They're big.)
Another possibility exists for eliminating
duplications w h e n you rent mailing lists. You
can bring in a magnetic tape with your mailing
list on it, and they can send out the mailing
only to the m e m b e r s of their list w h o are not
already on your list. That w a y you still cant
steal their list, since the tape is on their
premises. T h e trouble is, they can steal your
list, by making a copy of the tape. O h dear.
From
all t h i s , o n e last s p e c u l a t i o n
creeps
forward.
I v a n S u t h e r l a n d , in c o n s i d e r i n g t h e
t u r e of s u b r o u t i n i n g
noted
that a s y o u
display
get m o r e
more
sophisti-
c a t e d in t h e d e s i g n of a d i s p l a y
program
lower, you
make
come
struc-
processors, has .
and
full circle a n d
fol-
it a full-
fledged c o m p u t e r , with b r a n c h , test, a n d
metic
arith-
operations.
If t h e s o m a t i c m e c h a n i s m
to h a v e a p r o g r a m
not m u c h
should
turn
out
f o l l o w e r a s d e s c r i b e d , it is
o f a s t e p to s u p p o s e t h a t it m i g h t
have
t h e traits o f a n a c t u a l c o m p u t e r , i . e . , t h e
to follow p r o g r a m s , b r a n c h , a n d
ulations o n data b e a r i n g o n
ability
perform
those
manip-
operations.
In o t h e r w o r d s , t h e digital c o m p u t e r
actually h a v e b e e n
Neumann, and
we
person B
on our
It m a y
invented
may
long before
already.
sound
far-fetched, b u t the
i s m s e l u c i d a t e d at this l e v e l a r e s o
already
may
von
h a v e billions o f t h e m
that this h a r d l y
seems
mechan-
far-fetched
ridiculous.
A l m o s t n o t h i n g is k n o w n a b o u t t h e b r a i n .
O h , t h e r e a r e lots o f p i c t u r e - b o o k s s h o w i n g
c r o s s - s e c t i o n s of b r a i n s . . . M a y b e y o u t h o u g h t
it w a s j u s t a b i g c a u l i f l o w e r , b u t it's full o f
strings a n d straps a n d l u m p s a n d h a r d l y a n y t h i n g is k n o w n a b o u t a n y o f it.
COMPUTER
We
used
to d i s s e c t b r a i n s w h e n
in D r . Lilly B d o l p h i n
1
down
are about
1.2
lab.
I worked
Dolphin
brains
t i m e s t h e s i z e of o u r s , a n d
quite r e a s o n a b l y
smarter than
it is c l e a r t h a t b e i n g
a b l e to a d a p t
c h e m i s t r y , especially D N A
s t o r a g e is a b e c k o n i n g
This would
ories w h i c h
any
we
make
to
computer
frontier.
cheaper
whales
mem-
than
We
deepfreeze
maybe
possible c o m p u t e r
a r e far l a r g e r a n d
now
molecular
and R N A ,
computer
smarter.
that w a s
come
much
about
can
s e p a r a t e this into
two
it s o m e h o w
can
of w h a l e s
The
would
DNA
Readout.
T h i s p a r t of t h e
create long molecules
holding
And
Killer's
Blue.
t h e i n t e l l i g e n c e of d o l p h i n s
ones you
just
tem
2 i feet a c r o s s .
b i g g e r t h a n that; the
was
feasibly
keep
in a l a b .
isn't w h a t
counts"?
That "brain
That's an
(or c a d g i n g
interesting
makes
if y o u ' r e
size
point.
f ^ ) .
The
DNA
Readin.
to electrical f o r m
Weird
This
w o u l d c o n v e r t it
again.
possibilities f o l l o w .
(if c h e m i c a l m e m o r y
One
DNA
and
c o u l d b e set u p
form, whatever
somehow
than
pathways)
in
"learned"
If y o u
big brains are elephants
anatomical explanation:
A s o u r ability to c r e a t e c l o n e s
and
could clone n e w
And
creatures, or
genetic
"im-
racehorBe
supported
of c o u r s e that g h a s t l y
in h u m a n
stuff a b o u t
o n the m a n
a heavy
by
by
and
a g r a p p l i n g tool, a n d
is
(An
supported
in t h e w h a l e
anatomies
couldn't m a n a g e
can't e v o l v e
with
whales.
inflexible n e c k
it in t h e f r o n t of a t o r p e d o .
by
But most
by
offset
putting
other
a big b r a i n , so
have a chance, maybe you
courses, but r e m e m b e r
push
Or
wait, and
club,
should
the
slant
perhaps you
prefer
b e p r e p a r e d to s p e a k
if t h e c o m p u t e r p e o p l e a r r i v e r e a d y
you
around.
COMPUTER
DOWN
one.^
Anyhow,
dogs
B u t t h e r e a l z i n g e r is this o n e .
species
are smarter than
are s m a r t .
just a p r o g r a m
— b u t the s y s t e m c o u l d o u t p u t a
that w o u l d d e s t r o y m a n k i n d .
bug—
virus
TO
THE
For
instance:
PEOPLE!
CYBERCRUD!
could
d o all k i n d s o f t h i n g s
help y o u
were
a c t i v e l y till it c o m e s o u t b e s t ; h e l p t h e
credit-card
him
holder with bill-paying b y
to try o u t different p a y m e n t s
inter-
harried
allowing
to different
c r e d i t o r s till h e settles o n t h e m o n t h ' s b e s t
BACK
WRITING
to t h o s e c o m p a n i e s
computer;
ANGRY
that w r i t e y o u
helping with
for
available.
calculate y o u r tax
mix,
LETTERS
nasty
letter-writing
Y o u ' l l h a v e to w r i t e t h e
programs.
is
Well,
rats...
It m i g h t
to
POWER
i n d i v i d u a l s , if o n l y t h e p r o g r a m s
letters b y
s o t h e scientific q u e s t i o n
whether big-brained
juBt b e a s m a l l a c c i d e n t a l p r i n t o u t m e a n t
WITH
in g e n e r a l .
desirable...
B u t a b o u t t h e s e o t h e r g u y s in o u r l e a g u e
and beyond.
H o w d o w e k n o w soientifically
t h a t " t h e s i z e o f t h e b r a i n isn't w h a t c o u n t s " ?
B e c a u s e o b v i o u s l y they're not as s m a r t as w e
are, people say.
T h e r e f o r e it isn't b r a i n size
that c o u n t s .
T h e d e p t h o f this l o g i c s h o u l d b e
evident.
(I've e v e n h e a r d p e o p l e s a y , " O f c o u r s e
they're not as s m a r t . T h e y don't h a v e g u n s . " )
How
do you
the
think c o m p u t e r s
can
help
world?
W h a t are y o u
waiting
for?
BIBLIOGRAPHY
James
D . W a t s o n , M o l e c u l a r B i o l o g y of t h e
Beautifully written;
science teachers.
m e a n t for
The
Mark
Double Helix, which
Ptashne and
formi-
ia a
gas.
Scientific A m e r i c a n ,
S . E . L u r i a , Life: T h e U n f i n i s h e d
Scribner's.
Pay
c l o s e attention to a n e l e p h a n t
W o r k i n g e l e p h a n t s in I n d i a r e s p o n d
5 0 0 different o r a l c o m m a n d s .
sometime.
to
some
autobiographical
Walter Gilbert, "Genetic
Repressors."
1970, 36-44.
Lewis
Gene.
highschool
B u t potentially
d a b l e ; if s o , start" w i t h h i s
June
C a n y o u t h i n k of a 5 0 1 s t t h i n g to a s k a n
e l e p h a n t to d o ?
(I r a t h e r s u p p o s e it c o u l d o b l i g e . )
A n y w a y , the d o z e n w h a l e s
sonally w e r e s m a r t as h e U .
I've k n o w n
per-
Experiment.
T h o m a s , T h e L i v e s of a C e l l . V i k i n g ,
57.
E l o q u e n t w r i t i n g to p o p u l a r i z e ,
among
other t h i n g s , the Hew C e n e t l c view
that
your modern animal c e l l s , and m i n e , a c tually contain varloua
fungi and
other
s t r a y d i n g - a - l l n g s t h a t s l i d i n t o o n e of
our ancestors and found useful w o r k ,
joining the basic genetic
program.
It u s e d to b e b e l i e v e d that m e m o r y w a s
e x c l u s i v e l y a m a t t e r of s y n a p t i c c o n n e c t i o n s - t h e g r a d u a l c l o s i n g of little s w i t c h e s b e t w e e n
n e r v e cells w i t h p r a c t i c e .
It is n o w k n o w n that t e m p o r a r y o r
s h o r t - t e r m m e m o r y is s y n a p t i c , b u t s o m e t h i n g
e l s e t a k e s p l a c e after t h a t . It's b e l i e v e d that
after a c e r t a i n p e r i o d , a n d it h a s s o m e t h i n g
to d o w i t h r e s t a n d s l e e p , m e m o r i e s a r e t r a n s f e r r e d to s o m e o t h e r f o r m , p r e s u m a b l y c h e m i c a l .
But h o w ?
It u s e d to b e f a s h i o n a b l e to
" T h e b r a i n la a
But n o w
is a
Fashion*
say,
computer."
people s a y , " T h e
hologram."
change.
up
to
Remember:
then t y p i n g the c h e c k s ;
they
traits t h a t
o r s o m e o r g a n i z a t i o n , u l p , t h i n k s is
test t h e facility, o r m a y b e
the w e i g h t
society."
building
and
b a l a n c i n g it, o n t h e e l e p h a n t
comparatively
non-
" t h o s e s o r t s of
h u m a n B , or s e m i - h u m a n s ; having
somebody
improves,
w h i c h , c o n s i d e r i n g the
the P e k i n e s e , m e a n s
viable modifications
sharply
buying
time-sharing
start a c o m p u t e r
it e a s i e r to g e t cast-off e q u i p m e n t ;
Computers
I b e l i e v e that t h e o n l y o t h e r a n i m a l s
very
provements"--
a terminal, and
should
Or
k i d s , w r i t e t h e R . E . S . I .S . T . O . R . S . ( p .
just to sit a n d
H o w e v e r , people h a v e m u c h bigger brains
than almost a n y other animals.
T h a t indicates
s o m e t h i n g too.
rather than taught •
Weird.
we
you
t h e s e a r e likely to h a v e .
that m i g h t t u r n o u t to b e ,
injected o r i m p l a n t e d
your
several
is t h a t
is g e n e r i c , r a t h e r
i d i o s y n c r a t i c to a n i n d i v i d u a l ' s n e u r a l
knowledge
People with small h e a d s are b y a n d large
just a s s m a r t as p e o p l e w i t h b i g h e a d s .
That's
one argument.
Or
as c a d g e c a n ) time o n a
Maybe
take c o m p u t e r
back
consider b u y i n g
f a m i l i e s to g e t o n e .
not
which
say?
should
think
So
super-smarties,
system.
W h a t ' s that y o u
you
m i n i c o m p u t e r , for a c o u p l e of t h o u s a n d .
(if y o u ' r e a p a r e n t ) , c h i p p i n g in w i t h
sys-
information.
Maybe
own
only
dolphins.}
digital
now?
pubthat
small w h a l e s , the
as the possible
do
B y r e a d i n g this b o o k in s o m e d e t a i l , e s p e c i a l l y that difficult m a c h i n e - l a n g u a g e stuff ( s e e
" R o c k Bottom" a n d "Bucky's Wristwatch," p p .
32 " 3
) • o r * n e p i e c e s o n specific c o m p u t e r
l a n g u a g e s C p p - t ^ - ^ ^ l >• y o u really s h o u l d b e
m e n t a l l y p r e p a r e d to g e t into p r o g r a m m i n g , if
y o u d i g it.
a little
didn't get m e n t i o n e d
d o l p h i n s a r e just v e r y
Basically w e
the
(I s h o u l d p o i n t o u t h e r e that Lilly's
too g o o d :
aspects:
even
a k i l l e r - w h a l e b r a i n in
a q u a r t e r t h e l e n g t h of t h e
licity o n
have.
had
W h a t will y o u
mean
us.
A n d , of c o u r s e , the b i g g e r w h a l e s
cell,
B y b r o w s i n g this b o o k y o u m a y h a v e m o r e
s e n s e of w h a t c o m p u t e r s a r e d o i n g , c a n d o ,
should d o .
Lilly
p o i n t e d o u t t h a t this m i g h t
FRONTIER
R e g a r d l e s s o f w h a t ' s a c t u a l l y in t h e
Wvt^rNexT?
C l i n i c a l e v i d e n c e , of c o u r s e , tells u s
t h a t if this o r that p a r t is c u t o u t , t h e p a t i e n t
can't talk, o r w a l k , o r s m e l l , o r w h a t e v e r .
B u t that d o e s n ' t c o m e c l o s e to telling u s h o w t h e
t h i n g w o r k s w h e n it d o e s w o r k .
T h e histologists,
the p e r c e p t u a l p s y c h o l o g i s t s , the a n a t o m i s t B ,
a r e all w o r k i n g at it— w i t h n o c o n v e r g e n c e .
Beautiful e x a m p l e : the split-brain stuff, w h i c h
1 just better n o t e v e n b r i n g u p h e r e (see n e w
M a y a Pines b o o k , Harcourt B r a c e ) .
dolphins w e r e
THE
61
brain
M y friend A n d r e w J . S i n g e r h a s a b e a u tiful h y p o t h e s i s that w r a p s it u p .
His g u e s s
is that m e m o r i e s a r e m o v e d f r o m s y n a p t i c
s t o r a g e to D N A (!) s t o r a g e d u r i n g d r e a m i n g ,
o r m o r e specifically R E M s l e e p .
I like that o n e .
IHE COPPER M A N
W A L K E D O U T OF THE ROCKY
CAVERN
"fee HT
icirjOHfom?
The
f o c u s of attention in genetics
and
o r g a n i c c h e m i s t r y h a s for a d e c a d e n o w
the r e m a r k a b l e s y s t e m s a n d
m o l e c u l e s of life. D N A
O n e t h e o r y a b o u t the m e c h a n l c a of this ia
that a sort of z i p p e r s l i d e , called the r i b o s o m e .
c h u g s d o w n the t a p e , attaching the c a l l e d - f b r ~
a m i n o a c l d a a n d p e e l i n g off the e v e r - l o n g e r r e s u l t .
been
s t r u c t u r e s of the
and
M u c h p r e B a i n g r e s e a r c h in m o l e c u l a r b i o l o g y , t h e n , is c o n c e r n e d with s e a r c h i n g for
w h a t e v e r it Is that s w i t c h e s different t h i n g s o n
a n d off at different times in the c a r e e r s of the
ever-splitting cells of o u r b o d i e s . N o t to m e n tion t h o s e of all o t h e r living c r e a t u r e s , i n c l u d i n g
turnips.
RNA.
COMPUTERISH
DNA
CONJECTURES
ia the b a a i c m o l e c u l e of life, a l o n g
a n d tiny s t r a n d of e n c o d e d
Information.
it is a digital m e m o r y , a stored
Actually
T h e g u y s w h o specialize in this a r e usually
c h e m i s t s , a n d p r e s u m a b l y k n o w w h a t they're
d o i n g , so the following r e m a r k s are not i n t e n d e d
a s b u t t i n g into c h e m i s t r y .
H o w e v e r , new pers p e c t i v e s often g i v e fresh insight; a n d the m a t t e r s
w e ' v e c o v e r e d BO far m i g h t s e e m to h a v e a c e r tain r e l e v a n c e .
representation
of c o d e s n e c e s s a r y to s u s t a i n , r e p r o d u c e ,
and
e v e n duplicate the c r e a t u r e a r o u n d it.
It is literally a n d
exactly a digital
memory.
Its s y m b o l s a r e not b i n a r y b u t q u a t e r n a r y , a s
e a c h position c o n t a i n s o n e of four c o d e m o l e c u l e s ;
h o w e v e r , a s it t a k e s t h r e e m o l e c u l e s in a r o w
make
u p o n e individual c o d o n , o r
s y m b o l , the actual n u m b e r
four different s y m b o l s in a r o w
DNA
o n thia t a p e is a data s t r u c t u r e , a n d
of
a data s t r u c t u r e w h i c h
of t h r e e . (I d o n ' t
may
Indeed,
i n d e e d it is
s e e m s to b e i n v o l v e d
the e x e c u t i o n of a p r o g r a m —
the adjective for s l x t y f o u r i s h n e s s , a n d it's
just a s
a n d R N A , as already r e m a r k e d ,
w i t h o u t distortion b e t h o u g h t of a s a t a p e .
symbols
is 64-- the n u m b e r of p o s s i b l e c o m b i n a t i o n s
know
to
functioning
of p o s s i b l e
the p r o g r a m
with
that
o c c u r s a s the o r g a n i s m ' s cells differentiate.
well.)
N o w , h e r e a r e s o m e of t h e f u n n y
T h e basic m e c h a n i s m
w o r k e d out b y
of the s y s t e m
Francis Crick
who
understandably
The
problem
Watson,
got the N o b e l P r i z e for it.
w a s this: h o w
c o u l d living cells
t r a n s m i t their o v e r a l l p l a n s to the cells
split into?
and
carried out b y
was
and J a m e s
how
a b o u t this.
c o d e , just like a p e r i o d
in o r d i n a r y
mechanism
ular o r d e r , b u t distributed
be
(Geneticists e n g a g e d
process?
is a s t o n i s h i n g l y
elegant.
Basically t h e r e is o n e l o n g m o l e c u l e , the
m o l e c u l e , w h i c h is really a l o n g t a p e
of all the information
the o r g a n i s m
l o n g helix
and
DNA
recording
had guessed years before.
The
for e y e color m a y
the g e n e
is
partic-
the g e n e s of a
find
that the
gene
t u r n o u t to b e right n e x t to
for l e n g t h of tail-- b u t w h e r e
a r e r e a l l y , a n d w h a t the p a r t i c u l a r m o l e c u l e s
do
sorts of
is c a p a b l e of b r a n c h i n g to dif-
ferent selections of (or s u b p r o g r a m s ) in the
overall p r o g r a m , d e p e n d i n g o n v a r i o u s
factors
in the cell's e n v i r o n m e n t - - o r p e r h a p s
its a g e .
N o w , it is o n e t h i n g to look for the p a r ticular c h e m i c a l m e c h a n i s m s
That's fine.
consider
those
On
that h a n d l e t h i s .
the o t h e r h a n d , w e
can
program
follower it m u s t b e to b e h a v e
chemical
H e r e is s o m e m o r e w e i r d
proand
t h e n for t h e m to c o m e a p a r t , u n w i n d i n g to g o
stuff a b o u t this.
ceLU.
L a r g e sections of t h e D N A
it t u r n s o u t , just m e a n i n g l e s s
strand are
( T h i s is like the difference b e t w e e n tracing out
particular circuitry a n d
trying to
figure
from h o w
get u s e d .
blind:
the g e n e r a l s u p p o s i t i o n
is that
A t a n y r a t e , the following interesting c o n j e c t u r e s arise:
random
anything—
T h i s ties i n , of c o u r s e , w i t h
the notion that genetic c h a n g e is r a n d o m
1.
The
mechanism
display
genetic
of somatic r e p r o d u c t i o n is
a subroutining p r o g r a m
the s e c o n d p r o g r a m
and
f o l l o w e r — not u n l i k e
follower of the
(see p .
slowly through a master p r o g r a m
and
and
t h e n s o m e t h i n g else activates a c h a n c e
perfected
through
1 - b a s e c h a n g e s d u r i n g the
process
of s u c c e s s i v e m u t a t i o n
and
with each n e w
evolution.
step directs the b l o c k i n g
A s the p r o g r a m
by
s o m e viruses.
of life, b u t
thought
and hence more
s o m e viruses
a certain p l a c e a n d l y i n g d o w n
and copy.
analogy
the R N A - -
and
copy,
c o n t a i n p l a n s for m a k i n g all the
else that c a n b e m a d e w i t h a m i n o a c i d s .
(Those
w h i c h a r e not p r o t e i n s o r
processes b r o u g h t about b y these
Now
well m a y y o u a s k
how
so far a s is k n o w n , is e x t r e m e l y
chemical
kinds.)
this l o n g
recording m a k e s chemical molecules.
being
virus
t h i n k of a n
hap-
From
The
from
answer,
puzzling.
A s a l r e a d y m e n t i o n e d , the b a s i c c o d e
m o l e c u l e s (or n i t r o g e n o u s b a s e s ? a r e a r r a n g e d
in g r o u p s of t h r e e . W h e n the R N A is t u r n e d
o n , t h e s e triples latch o n t o the m o l e c u l e s of
a m i n o acid that h a p p e n to b e floating b y in the
s o u p y interior of the cell.
( T h e r e are twenty-s e v e n a m i n o a c i d s , a n d sixty-four possible
c o m b i n a t i o n s of t h r e e b a s e s ; this is fine, b e c a u s e
s e v e r a l different c o d o n s of three b a s e s c a n g l o m
onto the s a m e p a s s i n g a m i n o a c i d . )
N o w , the tape r e c o r d i n g it d i v i d e d into
s e p a r a t e sections o r t e m p l a t e s ; a n d e a c h t e m p l a t e
d o e s its o w n t h i n g . W h e n a t e m p l a t e is filled,
the Btring of a m i n o a c i d s in that section s e p a r a t e ,
a n d the l o n g c h a i n that results is a particular
m o l e c u l e of significance "in s o m e a s p e c t of the
critter's life p r o c e s s e s — often a g r a n d l o n g
t h i n g that folds up_ in a certain w a y . e x p o s i n g
only certain active s u r f a c e s to the o n g o i n g
c h e m i s t r y of the cell.
A
the first
(the z y g o t e ) , v a r i o u s
liver cell is e x t r e m e l y
different
a b r a i n cell, b u t t h e y b o t h d a t e b a c k
successive
splitting f r o m
that first z y g o t e .
t h e y h a v e different s t r u c t u r e s a n d
we
If this w e r e
m i g h t s u p p o s e that this p r o g r a m
it w o u l d
perhaps
by
stored
areas;
and
I n d e e d , it m a k e s
some
w h i c h the p r o g r a m
further sections of the
such a program
--a
so,
too w a s
therefore b e n e c e s s a r y to postulate
addressing mechanism
s e n s e to s u p p o s e that
h a s the f o r m of a d i s p a t c h
table
list of a d d r e s s e s In the t a p e , p e r h a p s
to c a u s e the
fol-
close.
program.)
asso-
ciated w i t h specifications of the tests w h i c h
are
branching.
by
Yet
manufacture
4
chemicals.
O n e simplification m a y b e p o s s i b l e : the
" s t r u c t u r e " of a cell m a y really b e its c h e m i c a l
c o m p o s i t i o n , s i n c e cell w a l l s a n d o t h e r s t r u c t u r e s a r e t h o u g h t to b e special knittings of
certain tricky m o l e c u l e s . O k a y , so that m a y
r e d u c e (he q u e s t i o n slightly. H o w t h e n d o e s
the cell c h a n g e f r o m b e i n g a n O r i g i n a l ( u n d i f ferentiated, z y g o t i c ) cell to the S p e c i a l i z e d
cella that m a n u f a c t u r e particular o t h e r c o m p l e x
chemicals?
O n e h y p o t h e s i s w a s that t h e s e o t h e r cells
h a v e different p l a n s In t h e m , different t a p e s .
B u t this t h e o r y w a s d i s c a r d e d w h e n J o h n G u r d o n
at O x f o r d p r o d u c e d a f r e s h f r o g z y g o t e f r o m the
intestinal cell of a frog ( w h i c h a c c o r d i n g l y , in
d u e t i m e , b e c a m e a frog d e f a c t o ) . T h i s p r o v e d ,
m o s t t h i n k , that the w h o l e t a p e is in e v e r y cell.
T h u s there m u s t b e a o m e t h i n g - o r - o t h e r
that b l o c k s the different t e m p l a t e s at different
t i m e s ( Y o u t h e r e , n o w y o u ' r e a full-fledged e p i thelial cell, n e v e r m i n d w h a t y o u d i d b e f o r e )
a n d selects a m o n g all the s u b p r o g r a m s o n the t a p e .
T h e s e wild s p e c u l a t i o n s a r e offered in the
spirit of interdisciplinary g o o d fellowship a n d
g o o d c l e a n f u n . W h e t h e r (1) a n d (2) h a v e a n y
actual c o n t e n t , o r a r e m e r e l y p a r a p h r a s e s of
w h a t is a l r e a d y k n o w n o r d i s p r o v e n , I don't
k n o w ; s o m e b o d y m a y find the rest s u g g e s t i v e .
Two
be o b s o l e t e .
T h e g e n e t i c m e c h a n i s m r e a l l y s e e m s t o b e a l i s t p r o c e s s o r ( s e e p . 2i> tdl\
numerical addressing.
T h e g e n e Is n o w t h o u g h t to be d i v i d e d I n t o f o u r s e g m e n t s ,
celled Promoter, Initiator, gene p r o p e r , and T e r m i n a t o r .
As I understand
i t , the p r o m o t e r and t e r m i n a t o r sonee c o n t a i n codes w h i c h m e a n , s i m p l y ,
r, is a c o d e d s e g m e n t w h i c h e f nd S t o p .
The
lnitiato
niche
fectivelyflabela
the g e n e .
This
initiator
t e d in t h e a b o v e a r t i c l e , w e m a y c o n a l d e r b o t h l t a
logic
ue for e v e r y g e n a .
A s s u g g e s t e d in t h e a b o v e a r t i c l e , w e m a y c o n s i d e r b o t h i t a l o g i c a l s t r u c t u r e — i t s m e c h n l s m a a n d e f f e c t s , c o n s i d e r e d f r o m a c o . p u ce r u n ' s p o i n t o f v i e w — a n d l t a c h e m i c a l i t r u c t u r t , o r w h a t Is
eally happening.
T h e g e n e s a r e t u r n e d o_f_f b y g r a b b i n g m o l e c u l e s , o r r e p r e s s o r * , w h i c h g l o m o n t o t h e i n l t i a t o r (~»j
v
a c t i o n * of t h e g e n e s w h i c h t h e y h a v e b e a n s p e c i f i c a l l y c o d e d to r e p r e s s . R e s e a r c h in t h i s a r e a m u s t n o w f i n d
'
h« s p e c i f i c c o d i n g of m o l e c u l e s w h i c h b l o c k a n d u n b l o c k s p e c i f i c g e n e a , a n d h o w t h e a e f i t in t h e o v e r a l l
graph
f m e t e b o l i a m , i m m u n o l o g y , d e v e l o p m e n t , and so o n .
If t h e r e is a n y t h i n g to m a k e a n o l d a t h e i s t u n e a s y , it Is
h a e x t r a o r d i n a r y b e a u t y of t h i s
clockwork.
m o r e observations, though.
a r e not particularly d e e p , a n d m a y
o b v i o u s , but they suggest an
5.
T h e r e ia definitely a P r o g r a m
intestine cell into a fresh
C a n c e r ia a r u n a w a y
BIBLIOGRAPHY
(Ur
These
indeed
be
approach.
w h a t e v e r it is that t u r n s a n old
6.
T h e a b o v e r e m a r k s a e e m to
lng a s s o c i a t i v e , rather than
„ .
fcv~/ w '
HJKMV
it c o u l d e v e n b e testing a c o u n t e r .
( T h i s is the steep o n e . )
o n the D N A , in o n e o r m o r e p r o g r a m
4.
all cells a r e n o t a l i k e .
entiated cells.
different
tape
3.
l o w e r c a n find the t e m p l a t e s to o p e n a n d
cartoon.
MECHANISMS
b e g i n n i n g cell of the o r g a n i s m
states of the overall p r o g r a m . It m a y
its e n v i r o n m e n t ;
(And
Now.
not
steps
b e testing for particular c h e m i c a l secretions in
splits c r e a t e m o r e a n d m o r e s p e c i a l i z e d , differ-
anything
in
Bunny
is d i r e c -
or m a y
successive
it in
process
b a s i c p r o t e i n m o l e c u l e s of the b o d y , a n d
m o l e c u l e s of the b o d y
in a B u g s
branching--
Well,
unhooking
both parent
I can't for the life of m e
pening s o m e h o w
wrong,
its c o n v e r t e d
built of a m i n o a c i d s a r e later m a d e
a n d toddling a w a y - -
to t h i s , b u t I k e e p v i s u a l i z i n g it a s
CONTROL
a b o u t this
h a v e this
t h e r e , then
d u p l i c a t e d a s p a r t of t h £ t e m p l a t e , t h e n
program
for
in t h e genetic material:
or R N A , u n h o o k i n g
In e a c h cell, the m a s t e r p r o g r a m
command
to n e w
streamlined than elemental.
b r e e z i n g u p to the D N A
themselves
form
(but not all) h a v e the c a p a c i t y
inserting t h e m s e l v e s
2.
ting certain tests, w h o s e results m a y
actually
they are usually d e p e n d e n t o n s o m e other
A s a t a p e r e c o r d i n g , the m o l e c u l e directs
the creation of c h e m i c a l s a n d o t h e r cells b y a n
intricate series of p r o c e s s e s , not w e l l u n d e r s t o o d .
B a s i c a l l y , t h o u g h , the i n f o r m a t i o n o n the b a s i c
D N A t a p e is t r a n s f e r r e d to a n e w t a p e , a n active
copy called "messenger RNA," which
becomes an a c t u a l p l a y b a c k d e v i c e for
the
c r e a t i o n of n e w m o l e c u l e s a c c o r d i n g
to
the p l a n s t o r e d on t h e o r i g i n a l .
cell.
computing.)
mechanisms
N o w , v i r u s e s a r e often
of a s the m o s t b a s i c f o r m
or
is in e a c h cell, p r e s u m a b l y
it is b e i n g s e p a r a t e l y followed in e a c h
( T h i s is s o m e t i m e s called distributed
A m a z i n g u s e is m a d e of t h e s e
very
somewhere,
u n b l o c k i n g of particular stretches of the t a p e .
stretch that t u r n s out to b e
u s e f u l , a n d this is s o m e h o w
successive
com-
subroutining
T h a t i s . it steps
m u t a t i o n t a k e s p l a c e a b a s e o r t w o at a t i m e ,
b i n a t i o n in a d r y
b u t basically the D N A - -
out
it b e h a v e s . )
"dork,"
s t r e t c h e s of
c o m b i n a t i o n s of b a s e s that don't m e a n
or e v e r
S o m e things are k n o w n
like this.
Pauling
b e c o m e t w o stitched-together c o r k s c r e w s ,
a n d s o m e aren't, a n d I m a y
also
(from the top d o w n ) w h a t sort of a
the s t r u c t u r e of a p r o g r a m
c e s s e s p e r m i t the helix to b e d u p l i c a t e d , to
their s e p a r a t e w a y s to d a u g h t e r
T h e r e is e v i d e n t l y s o m e sort of p r o g r a m
follower w h i c h
higgledy-piggledy.
in m a p p i n g
question.)
T h i s is a
(or c o r k s c r e w ) , a s L i n u s
Another
that d e t e r m i n e it, a r e still m y s t e r i o u s
r e q u i r e d to p e r p e t u a t e
r e p r o d u c e it.
punctuation.
T h i s s i g n a l s the e n d of a t e m p l a t e .
p a r t i c u l a r s p e c i e s of c r e a t u r e
The
things
O n e is that t h e r e is
a particular c o d o n of t h r e e b a s e s that is a stop
that the t e m p l a t e s o n t h e t a p e a r e in n o
they
could these p l a n s
a mechanical
that a r e k n o w n
Restart: to w i t .
differentiated
zygote.
subroutine.
»«t*. •»
Her Gobind K h o r a n a , Millard Glbbs l e c t u r e . May 1974,
" P r o g r e s s In t h e T o t a l S y n t h s s i s o f the T y r o s i n e tHm\A>Gen« a n d Its C o n t r o l E l e m e n t s . "
ft. fl?EVlWJLY
Not all kidi oho play with computer* ar*
quit* aa law-abldtng •• tha R.E.6.I.S.T.O.R.S.
And th* tamptatlona art vary strong.
On* such youngster want on a hlghschool
field-trip to * suburban Philadelphia police
•tatton. and aaw a demonslrstion of tha polloa
remote Information ayatem.
Tha police who war* demon*trating II,
not balng computer freak*, didn't realise how
•1mpie 11 waa to observe the dial-in numbers,
paaaworda and protocol.
When thla lad got home, ha merrily want
to hla computer terminal In the basement and
proceeded to en tar Into Philadelphia'* llal of
moat- wanted criminal! th* n*m*s of all hla
taachera.
A few days later • man came to hla houae
from the FBI. He waa evidently not • regular
operative but a technical type. He aaked very
nicely It the boy had a terminal. Then Ihe FBI
man aaked very nicely if ha had put In theae
names. The boy admitted, grinning, that he
had. (Everyone In tha achool knew II had lo
be he.)
"Of course lt didn't do any harm," aay*
th* culprit. "I had them down for crime* llk*
'intellectual murder.' What could happen to then
for that*"
Ooea that make you feel better*
PHILADELPHIA'S A N D C R O O K S PLEASE N O T E :
Thia happened five or six year* ago, end
without a doubt the ayatem la by now totally aecure
and Impenetrable. Let'* hope.
looser-Of ftcPRJ)5:
The question of "privacy" in the aba tract
ian't really an laaue. W h o carea if God a***
under your clothe*? The problem la what happen* to you on the b u t * of people'
your record*.
Margo St. Jamei
tore "data bank" doesn't have
any part icular technical m e a n i n g . It
era to any large store of infor« t i o n e ' especially something attached to
tlMK.
*5J>
hU
eve*.
The phone ayatem ia bruised and bleeding
from the depredation* of people w h o have found
out how to cheat the phone company electronically. Such people are called Phone Freak* (or
Phreax); articles on them have appeared in such
placea aa Ramparta, The Re«ll*t and Oul. For
no clear reason, the electronic device* Ihey use
have been given various colorful namea:
bl*ck box: device which, attached to a
local telephone, permita It to receive
an incoming call without billing the
calling party; ii "look* like" the
phone ia *UII ringing, aa far aa the
billing mechanism la concerned.
blue box: device that generate* the magical
"Inside" tones that open up the phone
network and stop the billing mechanism. Poseaaion of a blue box can
put you In prison.
with * many thing*, th*
phone ayi
i not designed under
the aaauti
at there would be
thousanda of electronic w
capable of fooling around with II.
Thus the phone system la tragically
vulnerable to auch mealing around.
The only thing they can do la get
ferocious laws passed and really try
to catch people, both of which are
apparently happening. Supposedly
It la illegal to poaaeas a tona generator, or lo inform anyone aa lo what
the magical frequenclea are-- even
though a allda whistle ia auch a
tons generator, and any engineering
library la a*ld lo hev* th* information.
Because of the way census data is h a n d l e d , n o w , it is not possible to ask for the
records of a specific i n d i v i d u a l . But this
kind of capability leads to some real danger*
There is a lot of information stored
•bout most individuals in this c o u n t r y .
Credit i n f o r m a t i o n , arrest r e c o r d s , medical
and psychiatric f i l e s , d r i v e r s ' l i c e n s e s ,
military service r e c o r d s , and so o n .
But oven given, and only for th*
sake of argusmnt, the feasibility of
Spartan-Sprint for Ei*h-in-«-barrel
shota, look what's happening now.
1
The usefulness should be e v i d e n t .
Even if people wars entitled to ateej beck
eaoeae profit! from the phone c o m p a n y - ths
so-called "people's dlaoounl'-- tha trouble is
thai they mas* things up for everyone. We have
a beautiful and delicate phone ay .tern, on* that
atands ready lo do wonderful things for you
Including bring computer service to your home;
•van If. for the sak. of argument. II I* run by
dirty rati, meaalng around with It la Ilk* poisoning tha reservoir for everybody.
MlJtVs and rOBa.
N o w , it is not hard to find out about
an i n d i v i d u a l . A few phone calls from an
official-sounding p e r s o n can ascertain his
credit r a t i n g , for i n s t a n c e . But that is
very different from putting all these r e cords together in one p l a c e .
MI*V (Multiple Independently Targ*t«d Re-entry Vehicle) basically swans
Multiple warheads. On. rocket can carry
all these little guys, aee, that fan out
whan lt gate near the target, and each
one goes to Its own target city or Installation. POB, or fractional Orbital Bombardment aystem, just means that thay
send the thing Into an orbit around the
world, snd the warheads com* in from the
opposite sid*. Any side. Meaning that
all those radars pointed at Russia would
•ak* good drive-in anvl* screene.
The potential for m i s c h i e f lies in
danger to i n d i v i d u a l s . Persons up to no
good could carefully investigate someone
through the computer and then b u r g l a r i z e
or k i d n a p . Someone u n s c r u p u l o u s could
look for rich widows with 30-year-old u n married d a u g h t e r s . O r g a n i z e d crime could
search for patsies and strong-arm v i c t i m s .
ABM la sort of a dead duck: the on*
face-saving Instillation ia in North Dakota, and there won't be any others. But
one wonders how such things could ever
be funded. But then again I remember
once hearing Eric Sevsreid, whom soma
call a liberal, pontifical* on thla subject. "They describe it aa a 'thin
•hieid,'(he said) Why can't w* just
spend a few billion more and get complete
protection?" Othsrwia* canny people, if
fooled by th* technologists, will believe
anything.
In the face of this sort of p o s s i b i l i t y , computer people have been w o r r y ing for y e a r s ; noteworthy is the study
by Alan Westin that originally sounded
the alarm, and his too-reassuring followup study of some d a t a - g a t h e r i n g organn a t i o n s (see b i b l i o g r a p h y ) . But the
scary data b a n k s , the ones that evidently
keep track of political d i s s e n t e r s ,
aren't talking about w h a t they do (see
Schwartz p i e c e ) .
B a s i c a l l y , the two g r e a t e s t
from data banks are organized cri
the Executive branch of the Fede:
Ita nasa haa kspt changing, poaalbly
to lull th* public, possibly to gull the
Congress. Anyhow, would you believe a
systea, totally controlled by computers,
designed to shoot down oncoming •lsailaa?
If you would, read on.
It's been called Nifce-X, Safeguard
and goodness knows whet. (It's even been
called a "thin shield"-- masculine, huh7
Perhaps Congress would pay s o n if they
called it the Trojan 4X.I But generally
wa refer to lt aa the M M {Anti-Ballistic
Missile). It's the anti-oissile Missile
people have talked about, and in it lis
aany interesting morals, possible comparison*, etc., for which there Is no
But the ABM is a beautiful sumpla
! top-down planning— like the Vletnamis war. I imagine that th* Sprint cam*
>out aome thing like this t
"Garfield, our people In Operations
Basearch have concluded that
Spartan won't work."
"Garfield, I want your team to gat
on lt and find somsthlng additional that will make it work.*
and cs
'Lease
of the telephone company, remember, the
sane people who mak* the Prlncesst" phone.
Of the hundred, of Billions al dollars
they are taking in on this project, auch
had had control
national data
Enough said.
tt may seem o d d , bi
i has
idhe is concerned about computers and the
privacy p r o b l e m . Cynics may joke about
what his concern actually is; but a more
credible stand was taken by v i c e - p r e s i dent Ford at the 1974 National Computer
C o n f e r e n c e . Ford expressed personal
concern over p r i v a c y , particularly c o n s i d ering a proposed system called F E D N E T ,
which would supposedly centralize g o v e r n m e n t records of a broad v a r i e t y .
which makes the computers: to Bell labs,
which guides the project,
whose
Whlppany, H.J. facility is totally given
over to iti to the rocket-builders snd ao
B systs
Note that in telling you thi* I em
drawing only on information that ia publicly available, and drawing eoncluatona
from lt the way on* usually draws concluHer* ia how th* great ABM is sup-
N o t mentioned by Ford was the matter
of N C I C , the National Crime Information
C e n t e r . This will be a s y s t e m , run by
the F B I , to give police anywhere in the
country access to c e n t r a l i z e d r e c o r d s .
THE QUESTION IS WHAT GETS S T O R E D . A r rest records? Anonymous tips?
(It would
be possible to frame individuals rather
nicely if a lot of loose stuff could be
slipped into the file.)
Many people seen to be concerned
with preserving some "right to p r i v a c y , "
which is certainly a very nice idea, but
it isn't in the C o n s t i t u t i o n ; getting
such a " r i g h t " formalized and agreed upon
is going to be no small m a t t e r .
But that isn't w h a t bothers m e .
Considering recent e v e n t s , and the c h a r acter of certain elected officials whole
devotion t o , and conception o f , democracy
is lately in d o u b t , things' are scarcely
as abstract as all t h a t . Considering how
helpful our government has been to brutal
regimes abroad-- notably the Chile overthrow, which some say was run from here
(and which used sports arenas for d e t e n tion just as J o h n Mitchell did--) we can
no longer know w h a t use any information
may find in this g o v e r n m e n t . Tomorrow's
Data Bank may be next week's Enemies L i s t ,
' " i Protective Custodial Advisi Ten
> List
and f xt yel
(I don't know if you saw Robert Mardian's
eyes on the Watergate h e a r i n g s , but they
chilled my blood.)
Isswns* radars scan ov*r th* horizon looking for possible reflections
that alghe be intercontinental missiles.
The radar laiagas sre forever constantly analysed ij computers, using
•vary trick of pattern Recognition (see
p. on I D Anal
Somsthlng is coming.
Great doors swing open, and a long
phallic snap* arises. It has jagged angular fine, inherited from th* mailer
anti-aircraft Nik* (wa aay Hikey
that preceded lt. Thia eUsslls
.lad
th* Spartan.
It take* off.
The computer system is tracking tha
oncoming missile. Here lt comas— it's
dodging now-- the Spartan ia turning,
going faster and faster-- they're coming
Oncoming aiasll* speedi maybe 15,000
alias an hour. Spartan spaed, maybe
10,000, who knows. In these f*w minutes
the Spartan has gone 400 alias.
How's your tannlal
"Computers, Privacy, and Secur e r Decision*. Kay 74, 46-48.
river snd Freedoe. 1967.
red box: device that almulates th* elgnala
mads by falling coin*.
The fact that th* namea of theae devices
are given here is not lo b* construed as In any
same* approving of thsm. and anybody w h o
masses around with them la a fool, playing with
napalm.
Brlghtar than . thousand suns!
Sorry, Scsrsdal*. can't win >em all.
If you find this description mindboggling, that', bec.u.. it is. Anybody
-ho imsgine. U - t thl. project, on which
Billion* of your dollars hav* already
been spant, can work. Is a wishful
thinker Indeed.
Even If •!sill,, ,t*y*d like they
the good old days of 1 « 2 , big
helplai clunkers they had to fuel up
J ™ ooior* th* shoot, th* likelihood of
th. 5-mil. ABM detonation they count on
was pretty low. (Supposedly ACTA w a a
hoping that Spartan and Sprint could ba
replaced with ultrapcver, fry-ln-the-sky
laser beaaa, sapping down all comers
with aky-plercing stab* under computer
control— but that Is said to hav* been
abendoned.)
I case In point
Ai/d B l u e
trHD
There 1. another missile. It is
called Sprint, it l, .haped Ilk, the
point of s pencil, it Is alsoat all
propellent. Wn*„ ^ m g r , , c cemputars
realise that the bad guy ha* gotten
through, up goes Sprint: Sprint ia elo
qu*ntly ealud the "terminal d e f . ™ .
systeat." it only ha* . couple of elnutee.
For ins
at D*T! uth C o l l e g e ,
scientists have been
wher< the
orklng hand-i hand with their big timesharing projec
f dai
is already available on-line in the so.
s c i e n c e s . The last c e n s u s , for instant
In detailed and undigested form. Suppi
you're at Dartmouth and you get into
argument over w h e t h e r , s a y , divi
< the
age i
age who
olve: you just go to the nearest t e r m i n a l ,
in a quick program in B A S I C , and the
M a . St. Jame* la a celebrated *
prostitute, once well known for her activities
with Paul Kraaaner aa "The Realist Nun;" she
la now Chairraadam of an organization called
C O Y O T E , campaigning for the decriminalization
of prostitution.
She originally had no intention of becc
ing a prostitute. Rather, she learned that
there waa a falae record of her arrest for prostitution; and despite her efforts to clear her
name, the record followed her wherever she
tried to get a Job. Finally the said the hell
with It and did become a prostitute.
"And the rocket's red glare,
The bomb* bunting in air,
Gave proof through the night
That our flag uae etill there.
r> you h
1 fired a
•ut now cones th* good part.
Th* Spartan go** off. lay!
UTso—
'
" *
ndmark Study ot Computer-Prfv*cy Problems
Completed." CACM, Dec 11, 1096-7.
nt review of Uestln 4 Baker.
It too
Hies of
If 1
the attacking mlsall*. the hope 1* that
U u attacking aiasll*'* thermonuclear
warhead will get heated on one side and
misfire. So lt lands in Time* Square,
just break* a few buildings and spreads
radioactive contamination.
•ut welt.
•*•* Found,
S t C ) . 110.
• lecord.: rirst th* Psnscrs; Thenl'
Datamation, Dec 7}. 105-110.
* Fair Are Those Fair Credit Guides'"
Pat—ation Hay 73, 110-114.
1 HirstD. Computer Systems end the Isau* of
Privacy, HOW Far away Is 1M4T" Data—tion. JetX,
What If Spartan alseed.
oops, aorry, Montreal.
Never fear! Have you forgotten
Sergeant York? Have you forgotten the
3 his cubicle
clearj
t jus
fil r
fling additional,
•Gee whir, they aay to
aearch and destroy. I guess that suat
mean..." Something new, this: the topdown project of th* worst sort, where
the orders go down, and only news of
partial success goes up, rather than th*
facts of total hopelessness. As in VietThe sophisticated argument is that
th* ABM effort l*ts our nation "keep its
hand in," "sharpen skills," in case something vsguely like this is *v«r r**lly
needed— and possible. But this overlook*
the overall strategic problem. All this
foolishness leads away from tha stability
keeps everybody alive.
(An Interesting point to notei a
biologist and population geneticist named
Sternglas* claims lt doesn't matter: that
human reproduction is so susceptible to
radiation poisof
df— I fsw d
mid end h
itally, an illustrious
Dan McCracken (author Of
ailng text* on seat of the
good prograsmiw
major language*] goes around lecturing
on the futility
Th* thing Is. any set of assumptions, no
natter how intricate, can be enacted by a computer model. Anything you can express exactly
can be paired out, snd you can see its consequence* In the computer's readout-- a printout,
a screen display, or some other view Into the
resulting dels structure.
Ii in Imposing lerm which means almost anything.
Basically, "simulation" means any activity that
represents or resembles something. Computer
simulation is using the computer to mimic something real, or something thai might b e , for any
purpose: to understand an ongoing process better,
or lo see how something might come oul in the
Hero again, though, the Science myth steps
In to mystify thia process, aa though the mere
use of the computer conferred validity or some
kind of truth.
(On T V shows the Space Voyagers stand
In front of the "computer" and ask In firm, unnaturally loud voices what will be the results of soand-so. The computer's oracular reply Is Infallible. On T V . )
Let there be no mystery about this. Any
use of a data structure on a what-if basis is
Simulation. You can simulate in detail or crudely;
your simulation can embody any theories, sensible
r stupid-, and your results may or m a y not cor1 to reality.
A "computer prediction'' ia the outcome of
a simulation thai someone, evidently. Is willing
to stand behind. (See "computer election predictions," p . 4iS~",)
These point* have to be stressed because
if there Is one computer activity which is pretentiously presented and stressed, it is simulation.
Especially to naive clients. There is nothing
wrong with simulation but there is nothing supernatural about it either.
Another term which n
iam« la modelling.
In the loose sense, simulation or modelling consists of calculations aboul any descrlbable phoenomens-- for Instance, optical
equations. In optical modelling (and this ia how
they design today's great lenses), a data structure is created which represents the curvature,
mounting, etc. of the separate glasses in a lena.
Then "simulating" the paths of Individual rays
of light through that lens, the computer program
test* that lena design for how well the rays
come together, and so o n . Then the design I*
changed and tried again.
Another type of simulation, an important
and quite diatinct one-- Is thai which represent*
the complex interplay of myriad units, finding
out the upshots and consequences of intricate
premise*. In traffic simulations, for Instance,
II 1* easy enough to represent thousands of cars
In a data structure, end hsvc them "reset"
like drivers-- creating very convincing traffic
Jams, again represented somehow within the
Basically simulation requires two things;
• representation, or data structure, that somehow
represents the things you're simulating in the
as pacts that concern you; and then a program
does something to these data, that is In some
w a y ilka the process you're concerned about
acting on the thing* you're modelling. A n d each
event of significance enacted by the program
must somehow leave ita trace in the data structure.
The line between simulation and other programming Is not always clear. Thua the calculation of the future orbits of the planets could be
called "simulations."
•
The most Intricate case*, though, don't
particularly resemble any other kind* of program*.
The intricate enactments of physical movement*,
especially swarms and myriads with mixed and
colliding populations, are especially Interesting.
On a recent Scientific American article, simulation helped to understand possible stream era
of stars between galaxies as resulting from normal conalderatlon* or Inertia and gravitation.
(Alar and Juri Toomre, "Violent Tides between
Gsi*lies." S d . A m . Dec 73, 18-48. )J
Models of complex and changing rates are
another interesting type. Enacting complex
thing*, whose amounts are constantly changing
In terms of percentage multipliers of each other,
sound easy in principle, but their consequences
can be quite surprising. (See "The Club of
Rone." p. tf .)
To Imagine th* kinds of mixed-case myriad
modal* now possible, w e could on today's big
computers model snlirs societies, with s separate
record describing each Idlvldual out of million*,
and specifying his probabilities 0 f action and
different preference* according to various theories
-- then follow through whole societies' behavior
in terms of education, Income, marriage, sex
poverty, death, and anything else. Talk about
tin soldier, and boats In the bathtub.
Any computer language can be used for
some kind of simulation. For simulations involving relatively few entitles, but lots of rates
or formulas, good old BASIC or F O R T R A N is
fin*. OlAOI's "Synthavision" system, which
could be said lo "simulate" complex figures In
a three-dimensional space, i» don* In Portren;
•** P-S*\1.) for simulation* involving s lot
of separate object*, special cases and discrete
events. T R A C Language (see p. | e ) [a great.
1/ numerous mathematical formula, are Involved,
and you want to change them around oonsldersbly In an experimental sort of w a y . A P L Is
well suited (aee pp
2j2 ) .
There ar* a number of special "atmuUuon"
languages, notably BTM8CRIPT and Q P 8 S . Thee*
hav* additional features useful, for Instance, In
simulating *venta ovar time, auch a* "EVENT"
command* which synchronize or draw dl vision lines In Urn* (th* simulated Urn*). Simulation
languages generally allow a great variety or
data types and operations on them.
The llat-procaaalng fanatic*, of ooure*,
insist that their own languages (such as U 8 P
and S N O B O L ) ar* best
And than there's P L A T O
Case p ^ £ , > , who** T U T O H languag* 1* splendid for both formulas and discrate work-- but
allow* you only 1(00 variables, total (60 bit*
.each).
OF
Obviously these enactments (or sometime*
"predictions") are wholly fallible, deriving any
validity they may have from th* soundness of
the Initial data or model.
If simulation mean* the Enactment of some
event by computer. Operations Research means
doing theae enactment* to try out different atrategies, and teat the moat effective ones.
However, they have another Important
function, one which is going to be very Important In education and, I hope, general public
understanding, as computers get spread about
more widely and become more usable.
Operations research really began during
World War II with such problems as submarine
hunting. Given so-and-so many planes, whst
pattern should they fly in lo make their catching
submarines most likely? Building from certain
types of known probability, (but in areas where
The availability of simulation modela can
make things easier to understand.
Well-set-up
simulation programs, available easily through
terminals, can be used as Staged Explanatory
Structures and Theoretical Exploration Tool*.
The user can build hi* o w n w a r s , his o w n societies . his o w n economic conditions, snd see
what follow* from the ways he sets (hem u p .
importantly, different theories can be applied to
the same setups, to make more vivid the consequence* of one or the other point of view.
found), operotions researcher* could sometime*
find the best ("optimal") strategies Tor many
different kinds of activity.
Basically what they do is ploy the situation
out hundred* or thousands of H m e a . enacting it
by computer, end using dice-throwing techniques
to determine the outcomes of all the unpredictable
parts. T h e n , after all entities have done their
thing, the program can report on what strategies
turned out to be most effective.
(Indeed, similar facilities ought to be available for Congress, to allow them lo pour s new
tax through the population and see w h o suffers,
w h o gains...)
Example. In 1973 the Saturday Review of
so m e thing-or-other printed s piece on the solution . by O R techniques, of the game of Monopoly.
Effectively the game had been played thousands of
times, the dice thrown perhaps millions, and
the different "players" had employed various
different strategies against each other In a varying
mix: Always B u y , Buy Light Green, Utilities snd
Boardwalk, etc.
I should point out here that for this purpose-- Insightful Simulation— you don't always
need a computer. I have in mind the so-called
"simulation games." which If well designed give
extraordinary Insights to the players. Allen
Calhamer's brilliant game of Diplomacy, for instance (Games Research, Boston; available from
Brenlano's. N Y C ) teaches more about international
politic* than you could suppose possible, t a m
also Intrigued by a game called "Slmsoc," worked
out by a sociologist to demonstrate the development of social structures from o state of random
creation, but I haven't played it.
(Clark C .
A b t . or Abt Associates, Boston, has also done
a lot of Interesting design here.)
A complete solution was found, the strategy
which tends (over many playa) to work beat. I
forget what it w a * .
Using another technique. Ihe game of football was analyzed by Robert E . Machol or Northwestern and Virgil Carter, a football personage.
Their idea was to test various maxims of the
g a m e , to find out which c o m m o n rules about
beneficial plays were Irue. W h s ! they did waa
replay fifty-six big-league football games on s
play-by-play basis, rate the outcomes, and see
which circumstances proved most advantageous on
Ihe average. I've mislaid the reprint (Operations
Research• a recent year), and being totally ignorant of football can remember none of Ihe findings. A n y h o w , that'* where to look.
A last point, a very "practical" application.
Simulation makes il possible (o enact things without trying Ihem out In concrete reality. For instance, in the lens-design systems mentioned
earlier, the lenses don't have to be actually built
to find out their detailed characteristic*. Nor
la lt necessary to build electronic circuitry, n o w .
to find out whether it will work-- at least that's
what the sales m e n aay. You can simulate any
circuit from a terminal, and "measure" what it
does al any time or In any part with simulated
meters. Similarly, when any computer la designed n o w , It's simulated before It's built, and
programs are run on Ihe simulated computer,
aa enacted within a real computer, lo aee if it
behaves as Intended. (Actually there are aome
hot-wire types w h o insist on building thing*
first, but one assume* that the more sensible
computer designer* do this.)
(faT** J****,
T h e earlier explanation or Operations
Research wasn't quite right. It's any systematic
study or whnl works best. Computers can help.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Virqil Carter and Robert E. Machol, "Operations
Research on Football." Operations Research,
1, 541-544.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Simulation magazine ia the official journal of
Simulation Councils, Inc., the curiously named society of the Simulator*. It costs
SIB a year from Simulation Councils, Inc..
Box 2228. La J oil a C A 62037.
m
For all I know you get annual m e m bership free with that. I've always wonted
to join bul it was always the one thing too
many: but their conference programs are
sensation*). Where else can you hear
papers on traffic, biology, military hardware,
weather prediction and electronic design
without changing your seal?
^
Y
3tY ^ - Y
Y ^
A lot of people think compute
in some way cruel and d e s t r u c t i v e , Thi!
comes in part from the image of the ^,
puter as " r i g i d " (see "The Myth of th«
C o m p u t e r , " p . <? ) , and partly becauthe military use so many of them.
But it'
p u t e r , any n
typewriter i
warrants.
lot the nature o:
than the naturt
o type poems or
The point is that the military p e o ple are gung ho on t e c h n o l o g y , and keen
on c h a n g e , and Congress buys it for them.
No way is there room to cover this
subject d e c e n t l y . But we'll mention a
few t h i n g s .
The Pent; „
. fir___st of a l l , with its
p a y r o l l of m i l l i o n s , with its stupendous
inventories of blankets and bombs and
toilet p a p e r , was the prime mover behind
the d e v e l o p m e n t of the Cobol business
computing l a n g u a g e . So a vast amount is
spent just on computers to run the mili*" "
"'.shaent from a business point
of viei
O f course that's i ot the
stuff.
With automobiles it's harder; but C M , for
instance, simulates the handling characteristics
of lta cars betore they're ever built-- so that
designers can redistribute weight, change steering characteristics and so on, till the handling
char acts rl tat ics come out Ihe w a y the Consumers
seem to like.
Y ^ t Y ^ Y ^ * - Y
CD^fWfj
Y
"Simulation" means almost anything that in
any w a y represents or resembles something.
useless or Improper
Ex amp lea. Here are ways w e could "simu-
Show dots moving around an oval track
on a completely random baals, and declare the
first lo complete the circuit T h e Winner.
Assign odda to Individual horses, and
then use a randomizer to choose Ihe winner,
taking into account those odds. (This ie how the
P L A T O "horserace" game works; see p.JHJ7.)
Give conditional odds to the differenl horses,
based on possible "weather conditions." Then
flip a ooln (or the computer equivalent, weighted
randomisation) to test the "weather conditions,"
and aaslgn the horse's performance accordingly.
Program an enactment of a horaa race. In
which the winner 1* selected on Ihe basis of
th* Interaction of th* horoscopes of horse and
rider.
Create a data structure representing th*
three-dimensional hinging of horse's bones, and
tha Interlaced timing of the the horse'* gait.
(This haa been don* at U . of Pennsylvania on a
D E C 111.) Than hav* (h*ae stick figures run
around a track (or the data alructure equivalent).
Using a synthetic photography system
auch aa MAuT'a Synlhavielon (see p . j n ^ ) , create
the ID data structure for th* entire surf ace of a
running horae over time; then make several copies
of this horae run around a track, and make simulated photographs of it.
A n d so on.
So don'1 be snowed by th* term "simulstton ."
H a**n* m u c h , little or nothing, depending.
i
sm
Until n o w , the o b s c u r i t y of computers
has kept the p u b l i c from u n d e r s t a n d i n g
that a n y t h i n g like p o l i t i c a l issues were
involved in their u s e . But now a lot of
things are going to b r e a k . For instance--
rlHiTHer,
FBI?
J . Lds;ar H o o v e r ' s recent death
raised a very serious p r o b l e m .
What
about all those files he had been k e e p ing?
Responsible critics of the F B I ,
such as Fred J . C o o k , have claimed t.ut
H o o v e r ' s policy b a s i c a l l y consisted of
chasing lone punks (like D i l l i n g e r ,
Bonnie and C l y d e ) , h a r a s s i n g p o l i t i c a l
d i s s e n t e r s , and keeping vast u n n e c e s s a r y
records on innocent citizens-- thus v i r tually creating the vast network of o r ganized crime in A m e r i c a , which stays
off the police b l o t t e r s . Thus the quesof the FBI
T h e q u e s t i o n has been a n s w e r e d .
In
July 1973 N i x o n appointed Clarence K e l l e y ,
police chief of Kansas C i t y . A f t e r the
p r e v i o u s goings-on-- for i n s t a n c e , Nixon's
seeming to offer the post to Judge Byrne
w h i l e he was presiding o v e r the Ellsberg
trial-- this looked to the press like a
aid and u n c o n t r o v e r s i a l r e s o l u t i o n .
But i
itT
Kelley certainly is aware of techn o l o g y . It seems to be he that put d i s play screens In Kansas City police c a r s ,
created the A L E R T system (Automated Law
Enforcement Response Team) and COPPS
(Computerized Police Planning S y s t e m ] ,
which for your amusement ties into MULES
(Missouri Uniform Law Enforcement S y s t e m ) .
(See H e l v i n F. B o c k e l m a n , "On-Line f > n ~
puters Keeping Things S t r a i g h t , " which
describes the Kansas City computer s e t u p .
C o m m u n i c a t i o n s . June 7 3 , 12-Z0.)
In a
more threatening v e i n , supposedly the
Kansas City department kept computer
files on " m i l i t a n t s , mentals and a c t i vists."
(Schwartr a r t i c l e , p . 19.)
"hat Kelley does is thus of interest
to us a l l . The big q u e s t i o n is w h e t h e r ,
for all his concern with police automation,
he is also concerned with the freedoms
this country used to be a b o u t .
It is thus a supreae irony that ARPA
paid for the d e v e l o p m e n t of: COMPUTER
DISPLAY (the Sketchpad studies at Lincoln
L a b s ; see p . ^ e \ t > ) ; TIME-SHARING ( e . g .
the CTSS s y s t e m , see p . f T ) ; HALFTONE
IMAGE SYNTHESIS (the Utah algorithms: but
see all of p p . J.», "St. - 3 1 ) ; and lots
m o r e . Some folks m i g h t say that proves
it's all e v i l . I say let's look at c a s e s .
While they have military a p p l i c a t i o n s ,
that's simply because they have appliitions in every f" i eml d ,i and
l i the
t a
e just where the money i s .
J u s t to enumerate
tary things--
r
y
•ili-
,nd and control-- the problem
.f keeping track oi who's done what to
whj
ipm, nd ,what's. -left on both s i d e s ,
lemn :.rony that the g n
"46SL Command and Control System"-- a
grand room with many projectors drlvei
by c o m p u t e r , only something like thosi
In " D r . S t r a n g e l o v e " and "Fail-Safe"-may be a prototype for offices and cot
ference rooms of the f u t u r e .
mlc
all the ele<
eluding thoi
"Avioi
piece described how wonderful it felt
to fly the F-111-- which has a computer
managing the Feel of the Controls for
you.)
al :
ef i
iir frequenc
• whatever
they
cosput
elligence"in from
forma
c e s . This is no simple probleu-- how tt find out what i. so from a
ntradictory info nation;
think about i t . Don't think about how
we get that i n f o r m a t i o n .
ill*]
(Did you know c
ilther chirps bac
t all be
Big Bird satelits pictures by
m as Droppings?)
>n with gadgets does noi
helped us militarily al
is d e m o r a l i z e d , and the
itry that h « n
losing ground t
even has comput
QUIS CUSTOOIBT, mj
7J, p. 21.
K sysMets analyst
: the welfare progr*
NECESSITY HAS BEEN THE EXCUSE FOR
EVERY INFRINGEMENT OF HUMAN FREEDOM,
I T I S THE ARGUMENT OF TYRANTS;
I T I S THE CREED OF SLAVES,
interesting
The i
sting stuff in computers a n came out of the m i l i t a r y .
The Department of Defense has a branch
called A H P A , or Advanced Research and
Development A g e n c y , which finances all
kinds of technical developments with
vaguely military p o s s i b i l i t i e s .
Digital Equipment Corporation, in re •port mo
to the "Energy Crisis" of 1973, didn't turn out
their Christmas tree. Instead they hooked it u p
to a water wheel they happened to n e v e . Typical.
This policy ha* m a d e for slow but steady
g r o w t h , In effect, Digital built a national c u s tomer base a m o n g the most sophisticated clients.
T h e kids w h o as undergraduates and hangers-on
built interfaces and kludgey arrangements, n o w
aa project heads build big fancy systems around
D E C e q u i p m e n t . T h e places that k n o w computers
usually have a variety of D E C equipment a r o u n d ,
usually drastically modified.
f\^»oT«r (Vp»»-j
DEC
Tit FDPe^l*
KMOW
A n area D E C has emphasized from the first
haa been computer display (discussed al length
on the flip side). T h u s it is no surprise that
their interactive animated computer display, the
G T 4 0 (see P - M | ) is an outstanding design and
success. (And" the University of U t a h , currently
Ihe mother c h u r c h of computer display, runs its
graphic systems from P D P - l O s . )
D E C w e n t about 11 differently, always d e signing for the people w h o k n e w w h a t they w e r e
doing*, and always going to great lengths to tell
y o u exactly w h a t their equipment did.
First they m a d e circuits for people w h o
wanted to tie digital equipment together. T h e n ,
since they had the circuits a n y w a y , they m a n u factured a computer (the P D P - 1 ) .
T h e n more
c o m p u t e r s , increasing the line slowly, but always
telling potential users aa m u c h as they could
possibly w a n t to k n o w .
T h e a a m e for its m a n u a l s . People w h o
wrote for information from Digital would often
get. not s s u m m a r y sheet referring you to a local
sales office, but a complete m a n u a l (say. for
the P D P - 8 ) , including chapters on p r o g r a m m i n g ,
h o w to build interfaces to it, and the exact
liming and distribution of the main internal pulses.
T h e effect of thia w a s thai sophisticated users-espectally in universities and research establishments-- started building their o w n . Their
o w n interfaces, their o w n modifications to D E C
c o m p u t e r s , their o w n original systems around
D E C computers.
(There were no P D P - 2 . 3 or 13.)
*T»a4t « * » i e
JXds
In this p l u c k y , h o m e s p u n c o m p a n y , w h e r e
e v e n president Olsen is k n o w n by his first n a m e
( K e n ) , il is understandable thai marketing pizazz
takes a back seat. This apparently w a s the view
of a g r o u p of rebels, led b y vice president E d
deCastro, w h o broke off in ihe late sixties to
start a n e w computer c o m p a n y around a 16-bit
computer design called the N o v a — r u m o r e d lo
have been a rejected design for ihe P D P - 1 1 . T h e
c o m p a n y they started, Data General, has not been
afraid to use the hard sell, anil between their
hard sell a n d s o u n d machine line they've seriously
challenged the parent c o m p a n y .
e»h|»fer.
H o w e v e r . I do have grateful recollections
of the w a r m t h and courtesy with which people
from Digital Equipment Corporation have taken
pains to explain things to m e . hour after h o u r ,
conference after conference.
In the early sixties they had one m a n in
one small office to service and sell all of N e w
Jersey and N e w York City. But that one g u y ,
D a v e Denniston. spent considerable time responding to m y questions and requests over a period
of a couple of years, and in the nicest possible
w a y , even though (here w a s no w a y I could buy
anything. Y o u don't forget treatment like thst.
But Digital m a r c h e s o n . the Cor,(>ulor I'ur.'s
computer c o m p a n y . If I B M Is computerdem's
K o d a k , w h o s e overpriced but quite reliable goods
h a v e various d r a w b a c k s , D E C is N i k o n , with u
mlx-and-match assortment of w h a t the hotshots
w a n t . That's pluralism for y o u .
Any nuubcr of diftei
are used for mass storagi
information! each haa iti
T r y i n g to print lists of a v a i l a b l e s t u f f
h e r e is h o p e l e s s .
T h e r e are t h o u s a n d s of
p e r i p h e r a l s fron h u n d r e d s of m a n u f a c t u r e r s .
If y o u b u y a m i n i , f i g u r e t h a t y o u r p e r i p h e r a l s
w i l l c o s t I 1 S 0 0 ( T e l e t y p e ) on un_. B u t m a i n t e n a n c e (see p . 5 C ) is t h e b i g g e s t p r o b l e n .
If
you buy p e r i p h e r a l s from the m a n u f a c t u r e r of
t h e c o m p u t e r , a t l e a s t y o u c a n be s u r e s o n c o n e
w i l l b e w i l l i n g to m a i n t a i n t h e w h o l e t h i n g .
(Independent peripheral manufacturers will
often repair their own e q u i p m e n t , but nobody
w a n t s to be r e s p o n s i b l e f o r the i n t e r f a c e . )
t magnetic devices
[ symbolic (digital)
m medium, or form
EFFECTIVELY STANDARDIZED BY IBM
3/4-inch magnetic tap*.
Pr*-196S: 6 tracks data, 1 track parity.
Post-196S: 8 tracks data, 1 track parity.
2741 disk
Stack of removable platters site of a
layer cake.
3330 diak
Same but bigger cak*.
If y o u w a n t a l i s t s e c " T a b l e o f M i n i p e r i p h e r a l S u p p l i e r s , " C o m p u t e r D e c is i o n s ,
D e c 7 2 , 3 3 - S ; otore t h o r o u g h p o o p "Is o f f e r e d
by Datapro Research C o r p . , 1 Corporate C e n t e r ,
R o u t e 3 8 , M o o r e s t o w n NJ 0 8 0 5 7 .
Viek drive
for the 11.
Moot auch devices
go
at 30 spirts a
second,
or 1600 rpm.
The
heads
that read and
urite
moving
arms
that
have
to be positioned
on
the different
tracks.
(Sons disks
have a head
for every
track,
uhiah
tsd
disk
itself
is hidden
in the
plastic
case.
Nevertheless,
they
sometimes
get soratahed
or
break.
A disk costs
S?S and
holds
up to
2,400,000
characters
of
information
(1.2
million
PDP-11
uords,
uhiah
are IS bits
each).
If you have disk
drivse
($5600
saah)
you need a
controller
(S5S0O).
Sigh.
Surely nobody can resist th* peripherals offered
by General Turtle, inc., 545 Technology Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139.
Th* Turtle is a sort of caaserola on wheels that
takes a pencil down tha middle, Attached to your
computer, it can be programmed to ramble around draw' in? picture*, or Just do w h e e U * * on the parquetry.
SBOO.
•oa Is 1600. tt sing* In four
lot of Vivaldi, doe* fiva octaves
fftiter like • -Teletype. Thay will
tha phone (617/661-1773).
d
SIS,000.
Tsv.J
the
holes
n the
aards.
BRAlLLt
$
Plastic case, size of coolis hat, enclosing disk.
(loppy disk
rlaxible, card-thin disk enclosed in
square 8" envelope.
data cell Inot very common)
Plastic strips pulled out of wedgeshaped tube* arranged In a rotating
cylinder. Strip i* pulled out of thi*
carouael, whipped around a drum to aaka
temporary drum memory, returned to case.
EFFECTIVELY STANDARDIZED BY OTHERS
[e.rie>l*t,wAls
TYPICAL
••twaJr*.*-
For either of theae you r
for*
I'm not getting any favors from D E C , 1'n
t saying about them what people ought (o
S o m e k i n d s of p e r i p h
.1 d e
or c o m p u t e r ua ct ct ec s si ou ri i ec si , a r ec aallwwaayys n e c e s s a r y .
Only
t h r o u g h p e r i p h e r a l s can y o u look at or h e a r
results of w h a t the c o m p u t e r d o e s , s t o r e q u a n tities of i n f o r m a t i o n , p r i n t s t u f f out and
whatnot.
Then the Hualc
voices, enough for i
and looks to th* cos
play you samples on
UNC.
D E C ' s computers have always been designed
by p r o g r a m m e r s , for p r o g r a m m e r s . This m a d e
for considerable suspense w h e n the P D P - 1 1 did
not a p p e a r , even though the higher n u m b e r s did.
and the grapevine had il that the 11 would be
a sixteen-bit m a c h i n e . It proved to be well
waiting for (see p . 22.}, and has since b e c o m e
the standard sophisticated 16-bit machine in the
industry.
Other computer companies have mimicked
I B M . T h e y have built big computers and iried
lo sell them to big corporations for their business
data processing, or big "scientific" machines and
tried to sell them to scientists.
A l s o h e l p f u l on disks and t a p e s : " M a k i n g
a Go of M i n i s t o r a g e , " by Linda D e r n e r .
Comp u t e r D e c i s i o n s . F e b 7 4 , 3 2 - 3 8 . B e s t recen"t
mn:
Because of the great success of its small
c o m p u t e r s , especially the P D P - 8 . even m a n y c o m puter people think ihey only m a k e small c o m p u ters. In fact their big c o m p u t e r , the P D P - 1 0 , is
one of the most successful U m e - s h s r i n g c o m p u t e r s .
A n e x a m p l e ot its general esteem In the field: it
is the host computer of A R P A N E T . the national
computer network a m o n g scientific installations
funded b y the Department of Defense; basically
this m e a n s A R P A N E T is a network of P D P - l O s .
T h e computer companies are often referred
to in the field as " S n o w White and the Seven
Dwarfs"-- a phrase that atays the s a m e e v e n aa
the lesser ones (like R C A and General Electric)
get out of the buslneaB one b y o n e . T h e phrase
suggest*, that they're all alike. T o an extent;
but there ia one c o m p a n y sufficiently different,
and Important e n o u g h both In Its history and its
continuing e m i n e n c e , to require exposition h e r e .
This is Digital E q u i p m e n t Corporation, usually
pronounced "Deck," the people w h o first brought
out the minicomputer and continue to m a k e fine
stuff for people w h o k n o w w h a t they are doing.
A s to the s e r i o u s m a t t e r o f d i s k s , a n e x c e l l e n t r e v i e w a r t i c l e is " D i s c S t o r a g e f o r
Minicomputer Applications," Computer Design
June 1 9 7 3 , 55-66. This reviews both principles
of d i f f e r e n t types of disk d r i v e s , and w h a t
various manufacturers offer.
? 0 U t
Ho joke her*. People are still making
Braille copies of things by hand. But th* way
to do lt 1* by computeri 'he machine can punch
out new copies of whatever'* stored in lt,
repeatedly.
L IMC tape
3/4-lnch tape on a 4-inch reel (fits in
pocket). apecially coated against friction, developed at Lincoln Labs for LIWC
computer (see p . 4 1 ) .
°kCt*Sa**i' else and real but differently formatted for DEC machines (variaa with
modal). Vary reliable. A personal favorite of many prograossers.
3M CARTRIDGE
The Scotch-tape people say th* caaaetta
is unreliable, and offer aa an alternative a belt-driven quarter-Inch baby,
coating maybe S10OO without Interface.
CRAM (Card Random Access Memory)-- rare
Big place* of plastic [about four Inch**
by two feet) pulled by notch*a out of a
cartridge and whipped around a drum.
National Cash Register.
HARDLY STANDARDIZED AT ALL
"Cassettes"— Phllip*-typ* audio-type cassette.
Used by various manufacturer* in
various way*. Syk*s. Sycor. DEC, Data
General end other, h a v . separata, snd u s ually incompatible, system*.
A Brailie-punching adapter kit is available for tha plain 33 Teletype, I believe
froet Honeywell.
[It 1* of Interest that an early use of
Mooers' TRAC Language was with Braille convsz
slon.l
YOU never know what you'll sea next. In 1969
one firm announced a "high-density r-ad-only
memory device - which anyone could sea waa a
plain 45 RPH phonograph— but with digital e l ectronics. And it mad. senas. But it doasn t
•earn to have caught o n .
56
A LITTLE G E M F R O M T H E IBM S O N G B O O K
(Who lays IBM doesn't encourage Individualism?
T o tha tuna of "Pack U p Your Troubles
in Your Old Kit Bag.")
BIBLIOGRAPHY
" T H E R E IS A W O R L D E L S E W H E R E . "
- Corlolsnus
There is no w a y to escape IBM entirely. IBM
mediates our contacts with government and medicine, wilh libraries, bookkeeping systems, and
bank balances. But these Intrusions are still limited, and moat of us don't have to live there.
" T O T H O M A S J. W A T S O N , President, IBMPack up your troubles-- M r , Watson's here!
A n d smile, smile, smile.
He is the genius In our IBM
He's the m a n worth while.
He's inspiring all the time.
A n d very versatile-- oh)
He Is our strong and abla President 1
His smile's worth while.
There are m a n y computer people w h o refuse
to have anything to do with IBM systems. Others,
not so emphatic, will tell you pointedly that they
prefer to stay as far away from IBM computers
a* possible. If you ask w h y . they m a y tell you
they don't care to be bothered with restrictive,
unwieldy and unnecessary complications [the JCL
language is usually mentioned). This Is one
reason that quite a few people stick with minicomputers, or with firms using large computers of
other brands.
"Greet organizer and a friend s
Say all we boys.
Ever he thinks of things to say
T o Increase our Joys.
He Is building every day
In hi* outstanding style— so
Pack up your troubles, M r Watson's here
A n d Smile-- Smile-- Smile
It is possible to work productively In the
computer field and completely avoid having to
work with IBM-style systems. M a n y people d o .
(As a nostalgic public service
Advanced Computer Techniques, Inc.. of
Boston, gave sway LPs of IBM songs at the
'69 S J C C . They might Just have some left...
Harvey D , Shapiro, "l.B.M. and all the dwarfs."
N e w York Times Magazine, July 29. 1«73,
10-36.
A n objective, factual article, sympathetic to IBM-- although it drew at least
one irate letter from an lbmer w h o didn't
think it sympathetic enough.
lall?"
N e w s w e e k . Octo-
Frank T . G a r y , letter to the editor, N e w s w e e k ,
Oct. 15 73, p , 4. A snappish reply to
the above by the IBM Board Chairman,
w h o evidently didn't like the article very
Robert Somuelson. "IBM's
Times Sunday linan
1973, p. 1.
-•This article gives a unique
glimpse of some of the interesting things
lhat came to light in the Control Data suit
against IBM-- citing trial documents never
publicly released .
* William Hodgers. Think. Stein and D a y . 1969.
Subtitled A Biography of the Watsons
and I B M .
IBM can put pretty m u c h anything on s single
chip, to m a k e a functioning machine the size of a
postage stamp; but so can a lot ol other companies.
The question really becomes whether what
goes on thst chip ia a worthwhile machine lhat does
what people want.
.. . B U T T H E S A M E O L D B L O C K ?
It Is by no m e a n s clear that IBM has any
general ability to m a k e computer systems easy to
This is a psychological problem.
A* a corporation they are used to designing
systems that people have to use by fist, and must
be trained to use. contributing to the captivity
and inertia of the customer base. T h u s the notion
of making things deeply and conceptually straightforward, without special Jargon or training, m a y
not be a concept the company is ready for.
T h e famous Consent Decree of January 1956. (In a consent decree,
an accused party admits no guilt but agrees to behave In
certain w a y s thereafter.) In response to a federal anti-trust
suit. IBM agreed to:
sell as well as lease its computers, and repair those
o w n e d by others;
permit attachments to lta leased computers.
not require certain package deals;
license various patents;
not buy up used machines;
and get out of the business of supplying computer
services, i.e., programming and hourly rentals.
Unbundling decision, late sixties. While this was not a government
action but a an internal policy decision by the c o m p a n y , it s o m e how had a public-relations appearance ol official compulsion.
Beset by pressures from makers of look-alike machines, users of
competitive equipment, and the threat of anti-trust action, IBM
decided to change its policy and sell programs without computers
and computers without programs. Delight amongst the Industry
turned to chagrin as this became recognized as a price hike.
T h e Telex Decision. September '73; Telex C o r p . of Tulsa was awarded
$352, 500.000 in triple damages (since reduced) for losses attributed
to IBM's "predatory" pricing and other marketing practices.
M u c h more important. IBM w a s required lo disclose the
detailed electronics required to hook things to their computers and
accessories within sixty days of announcing any. This w a s a great
relief for the whole industry. Essentially it meant IBM could no
longer dictate what you attach to their machines Unlortunately,
it is not clear whether this will stand.
But what we're waiting to hear about is whether tha Nixon Justice
Department is, or is not, going to press the big anti-trust suit
which has been long brewing, al the persistent request of other
firms in the Industry,
-» Concentrates on the days before
computers. Fascinating profile of Watson,
a business tiger; but the view of the corporation in an evolving nation Is general
Americana that transcends fiction.
Would you believe Rodgers says
Watson was tha kingmaker w o put General
Ike in the White House?
Unfortunately, the book has relatively
less on the computer era. so the inside
story ol m a n y of their momentous decisions since then i
Marvelous; hard to get; Gould thinks
IBM quietly bought up all the copies.
T h e musings of a sophisticated, clever
and observant cynic w h o began knowing
nothing about I B M , Gould's wide-eyed observation of its corporate style and atmosphere
is a jolt to those of us who've gotten used
to it. A n d he thought it was just another big
company!
-^Questionnaire survey intended to
test truth of c o m m o n accusations against I B M .
(Discussed in text above.)
W.David Gardner, "The Government's Four Years
and Four Months In Pursuit of IBM." Datamation, June 1973, 114-115.
"THINK O F T H E C O M P U T E R A S E N E R G Y . "
says a recent series of IBM ads.
But in terms of monopoly, price, un
the world's convenience, there woul
seem only one way to complete the
analogy, viz.:
"THINK O F T H E C O M P U T E R A S E N E R G Y .
Almost any Issue of Computerworld or Datamation,
tha two main industry news publications,
carries articles mentioning complaints about
IBM from various quarters on various issues.
Datamation's letters are also sometimes Juicy
on the topic.
A n y Issue of O n Line, a n e w s sheet of th* Computer
Industry Association, ten bucks a year.
(C1A-- no relation to the intelligence agency
162S5 Ventura Blvd., Encino, C A 9131B.)
"Think of IBM as King Faisal."
other reasons.
focyk/6 of
w
! Think left o f f ;
S O M E DIVISIONS O F IBM you m a y hear about
OPD
OPD
F8D
OHice Producta Division. Typewriters, copisrs.
Data Processing Division. Computers and accessories.
Federal Systems Division. Big government contract*:
N A S A *tufl. and w h o knows what.
ASDD
Advanced Systems Development Division. Very secret.
Component* Division.
Makes parts for th* other g u y s , including Integrated circuits.
BRA
Science Resasrch Associates. Chicago. Publishes textbooks
and learning kit*.
Hstson Lab
T.J. Watson Research Laboratory. Wsatchaatar County,
north ol N e w York City. Theoretical snd lookahaad research.
For a long time, during th*
sixties. IBM's high prices provided
sn environment that m a d e II easy for
other companies to come into tha field
and sell computers and peripheral*.
These high prices were referred to as
"the IBM umbrella."
T h s author regret* not being able to liat mora
articla* and books favorable to I B M . but th*** do not
aeem to turn up so m u c h However, her* are s fsw.
However, this era haa ended.
IBM n o w cuts prices in whatever areas
It's threatened. A brief flourishing of
companies making add-on disk and
core memories for IBM computars ha*
become precarious; not only will IBM
n o w cut prices, but thay have shown
themselves still disposed to invent new
restrictive arrangements (the recent
"virtual m e m o r y " announcement for
the 370 claimed thai th* program
will only work oo IBM disk and core).
For an axample of the kind of adulation of IBM
baaed on faith, see Hsnry C . Wallich,
"Trusl-Bustlng the U.S.A.," N*wsweek
1 Oct 73, p. SO.
Th* IBM Songbook, any yaar-- they haven't been
issued since th*ftftla*--Is definitely a
collsctlbla.
55
IBM a n n o u n c e d a n u m b e r o f w o r t h y o b j e c t i v e s w h e n the 360
l i n e w a s a n n o u n c e d in 1 9 6 4 .
IBM s h o u l d c e r t a i n l y be t h a n k e d for
a t l e a s t t h e i r l i p s e r v i c e to t h e s e n o b l e g o a l s .
1,
'One m a c h i n e for all p u r p o s e s , b u s i n e s s and s c i e n t i f i c . '
(Thus the n a m e ' " 3 6 0 , " for the " f u l l c i r c l e " of a p p l i c a t i o n s . )
By " b u s i n e s s " this m a i n l y m e a n t d e c i m a l , at f o u r b i t s a d i g i t .
A c t u a l l y t h i s m e a n t g r a f t i n g 4 - b i t d e c i m a l h a r d w a r e to a n o t h e r wise n o r m a l b i n a r y c o m p u t e r , and m a k i n g b o t h types of u s e r s share
the s a m e f a c i l i t y .
2.
'Information s t o r a g e and
dardized.'
T h e 360 w a s s e t u p to
a t i m e , 8 b i t s at a t i m e , 1 6 , 3 2 ,
p r e c e d i n g s t a n d a r d h a d b e e n 6 , 18
transmission will be stanh a n d l e i n f o r m a t i o n 4 b i t s at
and 64 b i t s at a t i m e .
(The
a n d 36 b i t s a t a t i m e . )
3.
'360s will
can be m o v e d freely
all look a l i k e to the n r o g r a n
from m a c h i n e to m a c h i n e . '
f a c i l i t a t e t h e m o v i n g o f p r o g r a m s froi, a i l l B i i L u m p u t e r s
to b i g o n e s , a m o r e i m p o r t a n t e f f e c t h a s p e r h a p s b e e n to m a k e it
h a r d to m o v e f r o m a b i £ c o m p u t e r to a s m a l l e r o n e .
Note* tn~"T
u s e f u l n e s s of this a p p a r e n t p a r a d o x t o T B M ' s m*IrTetinr.
In t h e i r 3 6 0 l i n e , I B H a l s o r e p l a c e d t h e i n d u s t r y ' s s t a n dard ASCII code with a strange alphabetical code called EBCDIC
("Extended Binary Coded Decimal Information C o d e " ) , ostensibly
b u i l t up from the 4 - b i t d e c i m a l c o d e ( B C D ) , b u t b e l i e v e d b y *
c y n i c s to h a v e b e e n c r e a t e d c h i e f l y to m a k e the 360 i n c o m p a t i b l e
with other systems and terminals.
THE
FUTURE
W h a t will I B M d o next?
B e t w e e n the trade press a n d d o z e n s of acquaintances
in the field, almost everything 1 hear about I B M a n d its
products is negative (say five or ten to o n e ) - - except from
people w h o w o r k or h a v e relatives there.
P e r h a p s it's Just sour g r a p e s . O r the authorityhating character or research t y p o s . O r selective r e a d i n g .
O r p e r h a p s there really is something sinister.
T h e major questions are theae.
Speculation ia almost futile, but necessary
a n y h o w . T h e prospects are fascinating if not
terrifying.
N o o n e can ever predict w h a t I B M will do; but
trying to predict IBM's actions-- I B M - w a t c h i n g is
something like K r e m l i n - w a t c h i n g - - is e v e r y b o d y ' s
h o b b y in the field. A n d Its c o n s e q u e n c e s affect
e v e r y b o d y . With so m a n y things possible, a n d
determined only in the vaguest w a y b y technical
considerations, the question of w h a t I B M chooses
to d o next Is pretty s c a r y . B e c a u s e w h a t e v e r
they d o we'll b e stuck w i t h . T h e y can design o u r
lives for the foreseeable future.
E v e n if it is true, as A n o n y m o u s s a y s (see Bibliography)
that I B M intimidates people a n d k e e p s its enemies
from getting jobs at IBM-oriented establishments,
that's not the e n d of the w o r l d .
G r o s c h , G o u l d , Ilodgers a n d M c G u r k are alive a n d w o r k i n g .
Extramural h a r a s s m e n t like that e m p l o y e d b y C M against
N a d e r , for e x a m p l e , has not b e e n reported.
1. H o w clean is their salesmanship?
2 . A r e their systems unnecessarily difficult or
c u m b e r s o m e on purpose?
3 . H o w d e e p is their system of e n t r a p m e n t a n d
forced c o m m i t m e n t of the customer? H o w
necessary are the de-standardizations a n d
the constant c h a n g e s ?
4. D o they h a v e a final liberating vision? D o they
really, after all, Intend to bring about a d a y
w h e n life is easier for people? W h e n the
difficulties of present-day c o m p u t e r s y s t e m s ,
especially theirs, wither a w a y ? 1 think that
history's J u d g m e n t o n I B M in o u r time
m a y n a r r o w d o w n to that simple question.
(In this light it is not h a r d to u n d e r s t a n d
IBM's stand o n software copyrights v s . patents.
I B M is against p r o g r a m s being patentable, w h i c h
w o u l d cover abstracted properties, but a r g u e s
in favor of copyright, w h o s e protection Is
probably m o r e limited to the particulars of a
given p r o g r a m . If they h a v e their way. It w o u l d
be assured that I B M could u s e any ingenious
n e w p r o g r a m m i n g tricks without c o m p e n s a t i o n ,
w h e r e a s all u n n e c e s s a r y complications of b u l k y ,
c u m b e r s o m e software w o u l d be covered In
entirety b y copyright.)
Finally, tt has not b e e n demonstrated that
I B M h a s any general ability to m a k e systems
conceptually simple a n d easy to u s e .
(Two
good e x a m p l e s of h a r d systems are the M a g
T a p e S electric and Data text - easy for p r o g r a m m e r s , but hardly for secretaries.) T h e r e s e e m s
to b e no e m p h a s i s o n elegance or conceptual
simplicity at I B M . T h o s e w h o adopt s u c h a
philosophy (such as K e n n e t h Iverson) d o so
o n their o w n .
A s mentioned earlier, this h a s something
to d o with the fact that individuals generally
use IBM's Bystems b e c a u s e they h a v e to, being
e m p l o y e e s or clients of the firms that rent I B M
e q u i p m e n t , so there is n o impetus to design
p r o g r a m s or systems to run o n simple or clearm i n d e d principles, or dress out intricate s y s t e m s
so they can be used easily.
4. T H E I M A G E .
It is h a r d to analyze i m a g e s , corporate or
personal. T h e y are often received in s u c h different w a y s b y different populations. But there m a y b e
a commonality to the I B M i m a g e as generally s e e n .
T h e i m a g e of I B M involves s o m e kind of cold m a g i c ,
a brooding sense of sterile efficiency. B u t other
things are percolating In there. If w e elide that
connotation ol efficiency aside, the I B M i m a g e
seems to have t w o other principal c o m p o n e n t s ,
authoritarianism and c o m p l a c e n c y . It is this m i x ture that longhalrs will naturally find revolting.
This s a m e combination, h o w e v e r , m a y be exactly
w h a t it is that appeals to b u a i n e s s - m a n a g e m e n t
typas.
IP Y O U R E A L L Y W A N T I T . ..
you can get character-by-character
responding systems on I B M c o m p u t e r s .
T h e n e w Stock E x c h a n g e system uses s
"Telecommunications A c c e s s M e t h o d "
permitting n o n - I B M terminals to respond
character-by-character. Just as systems
for non-computer-people s h o u l d .
T r y i n g to use this Input-output
p r o g r a m on your local I B M computer Is
another p r o b l e m , t h o u g h . Aside from
p r o g r a m rental costs, there Is ths p r o b lem of its compatibility with Ihe whole
line of I B M software. Adaptation* and
r e p r o g r a m m i n g would probably be
necessary u p snd d o w n the line
j
W e k n o w that In the future I B M will a n n o u n c e
n e w m a c h i n e s a n d s y s t e m s , price c h a n g e s (both u p
a n d d o w n ) in fascinating patterns, r e a r r a n g e m e n t s
of w h a t they will "support," a n 3 c h a n g e s in the
contracts they olfer (see b o x . "IBM's C o n t r o l " ) .
Occasional high-publicity s p e e c h e s b y I B M high
officers will continue to b e w a t c h e d with great c a r e .
B u t mainly w e don't k n o w .
END OF THE'DINOSAURS?
T o a very great extent, IBM's c o m p u t e r
m a r k e t is based o n big c o m p u t e r s run in batch
m o d e , u n d e r a v e r y obtrusive operating s y s t e m .
M a n y people are beginning to notice, t h o u g h ,
that m a n y things are m o r e sensibly d o n e o n small
c o m p u t e r s than on big o n e s , e v e n in c o m p a n i e s
that h a v e big c o m p u t e r s . T h a t w a y they can be
d o n e right a w a y rather than having to wait in line.
Is this the m a m m a l that will eat the dinosaur eggs?
I B M ' s slick manufacturing capabilities m e a n
that practically a n y m a c h i n e they w a n t e d to m a k e ,
a n d put o n a single c h i p , they c o u l d , a n d in a
v e r y short time. (The g r a p e v i n e h a s it that the
C o m p o n e n t s Division, w h i c h m a k e s the c o m p u t e r
parts, h a s b r a g g e d within the c o m p a n y that it
doesn't really n e e d the other divisions a n y m o r e
— it could just put w h o l e c o m p u t e r s on teeny
chips if it w a n t e d to.)
O n the other h a n d , a v e r y unfortunate trend
Is beginning to a p p e a r , an implicit feud within
large organizations, w h i c h m a y benefit IBM's big
c o m p u t e r a p p r o a c h . T h o s e w h o advocate m i n i c o m p u t e r s are being opposed b y m a n a g e r s of the
big computing installations, w h o see the minis
as threatening their o w n p o w e r a n d b u d g e t s . This
m a y for a long time hold the minis b a c k , p e r h a p s
with the help a n d advice of computer salesmen w h o
feel likewise threatened. B u t there will be no
holding b a c k the minis a n d their m y r i a d offspring,
the microprocessors (see p . ^
) . A n d the inroads
should begin s o o n .
In this time of the 3 7 0 , things are for the
m o m e n t stable. T h e 370 c o m p u t e r line is still their
m a i n marketing thrust. H a v i n g sold a lot of 370
c o m p u t e r s (basically s p e d - u p 3 6 0 s ) , their idea is
at the m o m e n t to sell conversion Jobs to adapt the
370 to run the n e w "Virtual S y s t e m " control p r o g r a m (VS or O S / V S or various other n a m e s ) . T h i s
system (which is. incidentally, widely respected)
m a k e s core m e m o r y effectively m u c h larger to
p r o g r a m s that r u n o n it. This effectively e n c o u r ages p r o g r a m m e r s to u s e tons of c o r e , b y m e a n s
of virtual m e m o r y : essentially getting people in
the habit of p r o g r a m m i n g as if core w e r e infinite.
T h i B extension of a p p a r e n t m e m o r y size distracts
from a n y inefficiencies of both locally written p r o g r a m s a n d I B M p r o g r a m s , thus tending to increase
u s e a n d rental c h a r g e s .
(Others are g r o w i n g to k n o w and love true
high-capacity time-sharing as a w a y of life, like
that offered for D E C . G E a n d H o n e y w e l l m a c h i n e s .
T h i s . too. m a y begin to h a v e derogatory effects on
IBM's markets.)
Finally, it m u s t b e noted that almost all big
c o m p a n i e s h a v e c o m p u t e r s , usually I B M c o m p u t e r s ,
a n d so an era of marketing m a y well h a v e e n d e d .
It m a y be possible for I B M to go on selling bigger
a n d bigger c o m p u t e r s to the customers w h o already
h a v e t h e m , but obviously this g r o w t h can no
longer be exponential.
W h e n that marketing impetus r u n s out we'll
see the next thing.
T h e other n e w I B M initiative is with smaller
m a c h i n e s , the S y s t e m 3 a n d S y s t e m 7, being p u s h e d
for relatively small b u s i n e s s e s . T h a t is w h e r e they
see another n e w m a r k e t . H o w easy and useful their
p r o g r a m s are in this area will be an important
question.
With the S y s t e m 7, a 16-bit minicomputer
for $17,000, I B M h a s at last genuinely entered the
minicomputer m a r k e t . (.Balancing its speed a n d
cost against c o m p a r a b l e m a c h i n e s , w e can figure
the I B M m a r k u p as being about 5 0 % , w h i c h is
typical.)
In addition, it is r u m o r e d that I B M m i g h t
put out a tiny business m i n i , to sell out of O P D .
(Datamation. D e c 7 2 . 139.) B u t really, w h o k n o w s .
In addition to this h u g e - m e m o r y strategy for
its big m a c h i n e s , a n d the starting foray into s p e cialized mini s y s t e m s , there is the office strategy
a n d " w o r d processing."
I B M h a s conceptually consolidated its
various magic-typewriter and text services u n d e r
the n a m e ol " w o r d processing," w h i c h m e a n s a n y
handling of text that goes through their m a c h i n e s .
T h i s superficially unites their O P D efforts (typewriters a n d dictation m a c h i n e s ) with things going
o n in U P D , auch as Datatext, and allays interdivisional rivalries for awhile
Also, b y stressing the unity of tha subject matter, il leaves the
door o p e n for later and m o r e g l a m o r o u s initiatives,
s u c h as hypertext systems (see " C a r m o d y ' s System. 1 '
flip side) .
In other w o r d s , the foot Is in the d o o r . M r .
B u s i n e s s m a n has the ides thst automatic typing
a n d things like that are IBM's special p r o v i n c e .
F e w firms a n y w h e r e h a v e the confidence
to advertise generiosJry a product w h i c h
Is m a d e b y others as well, as in IBM's
" T h i n k of the c o m p u t e r as e n e r g y " series.
a
a
m
y
i
w
H e r b G r o s c h . now editorial director of C o m p u t e r w o r l d . Is perhaps
IBM's worst e n e m y . O n c e he w o r k e d for old m a n Watson, and w a s the
only I B M employee allowed to have a b e a r d . N o w . a m o n g- other things,
, I R Mhe
gTvts speeches and testimony w h e r e v e r possible shout ths M e n a c e ol I B M ,
at conlerences. at governmental hearings, and In letters to editors.
Yet IBM's m a i n c o m p u t e r sales strategy today is to stress ths a d v a n tages of big computers wilh lots of core m e m o r y (and persuade you you
don't w a n t highly Interactive systems or independent minicomputers) .
A n d the fundamental rule staung the advantages of big computara
Is called Grosch'a L a w . formulated years ago by none other. S e e p .
Finally, there 1* the popular doctrine of
IBM's Infallibility. Thla. too. la a w a y s from
the truth. T h e most conspicuous example w a s
something called T S S / 3 8 0 .
A n interesting example ot an IBM nonbreakthrough was the dramatic announcement in
19B4 of the 380 computer, portrayed as a machine
which would at last combine the functions of
both "business" computers and "scientific" c o m puters. Bul other companies, such as Burroughs
(with the 5500) had been doing this for s o m e
time. T h e quaint separation of p o w e r s between
scientific computers (with all-binary storage of
numbers) and business computers (decimal
storage) w a s bssed only on tradition and m a r keting considerstions. and w a s otherwise u n d e sirable. In amalgamating the "two types." IBM
w s s only rescinding their o w n previous u n necessary distinction. T h e drama of the a n nouncement derived in large measure from ths
stress they had previously laid on the division.
(Fortune ran an Interesting piece on the decision
struggles preceding the introduction of the 3G0
computer, and the internal arguments as to w h e ther there should be one line of computers or t w o .
See the flve-billlon-dollsr gamble piece. Bibliography.)
This ties in closely with another interesting aspect of the IBM image, the public notion
that IBM is a great Innovator, bringing out
novel technologies all the time. It is well k n o w n
In the field that they are not: IBM usually does not
bring out a n e w type of product until some other
c o m p a n y has pioneered it. (Again r e m e m b e r
the earlier point, that the product offering Is a
strategic maneuver.) Bul of course such facts
do not appear in the promotional literature, nor
are they volunteered by the salesman.
T h e expression for this in the field is
that IBM "makes things respectable." That is,
customers get that reassured feeling, w h e n IBM
adds other people's innovations to their product
line, and decide it's okay to go ahead and rent
or buy such a product. (This also sometimes
kicks business bsck to the original manufacturer.)
A few examples of things that were already
on the market w h e n IBM brought them out. often
making them sound completely new: transistorized
computers (first offered by Philco), virtual m e m ory (Burroughs). microprogramming (introduced
commercially by B u n k e r - H a m o ) .
This is not to say that IBM is incapable of
innovation; merely that they are never in a
hurry about it. T h e introduction of IBM p r o ducts is orchestrated like a military campaign,
and what I B M brings out is always a carefullyplanned, profit-oriented step intended not to
dislocate its product line. Thia is not to say
that they don't have n e w stuff in the back r o o m ,
a potential arsenal ol surprises of m a n y types.
But it is probable that most of them will never
be seen. This is because of IBM's "impact"
Unique in IBM's position is the problem of
fitting n e w products Into the market alongside
its old ones. Its problem is m u c h w o r s e , say,
lhan lhat of Procter a G a m b l e . T h e problem is
not merely its size and the diversity of its
products, but the fact that they m a y interfere
with each other ("impact" each other, they say)
in very complicated w a y s . A program like
their Datatext. for example, which allows certain kinds of text input and revision from terminals, m a y affect its typewriter line. These
are no small matters: the danger is that s o m e
n e w combination of products will save the customers m o n e y IBM would otherwise be getting.
Innovations must expand the amount IBM is
taking In, or IBM loses by making them.
These complications of the product line
in a w a y provide a counterbalance to IBM's fearsome p o w e r . T h e corporation has an I m m e n s e
inertia based on its existing product line and
customer base, and on w a y s of thinking which
have been carefully promulgated and explained
throughout its huge ranks, that cannot be
revised quickly or flippantly.
Nevertheless it Is remarkable h o w at
every turn-- notably w h e n people think IBM
will be set back-- they m a n a g e to m a k e policy
declaiona or strategic m o v e s which further consolidate their position. Often these seem to
Involve restricting the w a y their computers will
be used (see b o x , "IBM's Control.")
(The most ironic such counter m o v e by I B M
occurred a few years ago with the so-called
"unbundling" decision. IBM at last agreed (on
complaint from other software firms] to stop
giving Its programs a w a y to people renting the
hardware. Glee was widespread in the industry,
which expected IBM to lower computer prices
In proportion to what it would n o w charge for
the software. Not st all. IBM lowered Its c o m puter prices by a minuscule amount and slapped
heavy n e w price* on the software-- often
charges of thousands of dollars per month.)
TSS/360 w a s B time-sharing system-that Is, the control program to govern one
model of the 3G0 as a time-sharing computer.
According to Datamation ("IBM Phases Out W o r k
on Showcssa T S S Effort," Sept. 1, 1971, 5 B - 9 ) .
over 400 people w o r k e d on lt at once for a total
of some 2000 man-years of effort. A n d it w a s
scrapped, a writeoff of s o m e 100 million dollars
In lost development costs. T h e system never
worked wall e n o u g h . Reputedly users had to
wait m u c h too long for the computer's responses,
and the system could not really compete with
those offered elsewhere.
T h e failure and abandonment of this program is thus responsible for IBM's present n o n competitive position In time-sharing: customers
are n o w assured b y IBM that other things are
more important. IBM-haters thank their stars
that this h a p p e n e d . Cynics think it conceivable
that high-power time-sharing w a s dropped b y
I B M in order to shoo Its customer base toward
areas it controlled m o r e completely.
T w o other conspicuous IBM catastrophes
have been specific computers: the 360 model 90
in the late sixties, and a machine called the
S T R E T C H s o m e w h a t earlier. Both of these
machines w o r k e d and w e r e delivered lo customers. (Indeed, Ihe S T R E T C H Is said by some
to have been one of the best machines ever.)
But they w e r e discontinued by IBM as not sufficiently profitsble. Therein Is said lo have
been the "failure." ( H o w e v e r , it has been alleged in court cases thai these were "knockout"
machines designed to clobber the competition
at a planned loss. ]
B . Negative views of I B M systems.
In the technical realm. IBM Is widely u n loved because m a n y people think some or all of
their computers and p r o g r a m s are either poor,
or far from what they should b e . T h e reasons
vary.
S o m e of the people feeling this w a y are
I B M customers, and for a lime they had an organized lobby, called S H A R E (which also facilitated sharing of programs) . Recently, h o w e v e r ,
S H A R E has become IBM-dominated, a sort of
c o m p a n y union, according to m y sources.
T h e design of the 360, while widely accepted as a fact of life, is sharply criticized
b y m a n y . (See "What's w r o n g with the 3607",
IBM's p r o g r a m s , while they are available
for a broad variety of purposes, are often notoriously c u m b e r s o m e , a w k w a r d and inefficient,
and sometimes dovetail very badly. H o w e v e r ,
the less efficient a program is. the m o r e m o n e y
they m a k e from it. A program that has to be
run for an hour generates twice as m u c h revenue
than if it did its w o r k in thirty minutes: a p r o gram that has to be run on a computer with, say,
a million spaces of core m e m o r y generates len
times the revenue it would in two hundred thousand.
T h e complex training and restrictions
that go with IBM programs seem to have
interesting functions. (See b o x . "IBM's Control.")
C.
Theories of IBM design.
T h e question Is. h o w could a c o m p a n y
like I B M create anything like the 360 (with Its
severe deficiencies) and its operating system or
control program O S (with its sprawling complications, not present in competitors' systems)?
Three answers are widely proposed: O n Purpose
(the conspiracy theory), B y Accident (the
blunder theory), and That's H o w They're Set
U p (the M a n a g e m e n t Science theory). T h e s e
views are b y no m e a n s mutually exclusive.
Of
i*>}\
IBM appeared In 1911 as the consolidation of a n u m b e r of small companies
making light equipment, under the n a m e
C - T - R C o m p a n y (Computer-TabulatingR e c o r d ) . This was prophetic, considering h o w aptly it described the c o m pany's future business, and especially
prophetic considering that today's
stored-program computer w a s undreamed
of at that time.
According to William Rodgers'
definitive c o m p a n y biography Think,
the company'a creator w a s a s h r e w d
operator n a m e d Charles R . Flint,
dashing entrepreneur and former gun
runner to the South American republics,
w h o in his shrewdness brought in to
run the c o m p a n y an Incredibly talented,
fire-breathing and self-righteous individual n a m e d T h o m a s J. Watson, even
though Watson at that time w a s under
prison sentence for his sales practices
at another well-known c o m p a n y . T h e
sentence w a s never served, and Watson
went on to preside for m a n y years
over a corporation to which he gave
his unique stamp.
Watson arises from the pages of
Think as a sanctimonious tyrant,
hard as nails yet reverently principled
in his words: the pillar of fervid,
aggressive corporate piety.
I B M w a s totally Watson's
creation. T h e c o m p a n y b e c a m e what
he admired in others, a mechanism
totally obedient to his will and implementing his forceful and inspiringly
rationalized convictions with alacrity.
A s the C h u r c h is said to be the bride
of Christ, IBM might be characterized
as the Bride of Watson, molded to the
styles of d e m a n d i n g n e s s . pressure,
efficiency and pietism which so characterized that m a n . But the ideas
flowed from Watson alone, except for
a few confidantes w h o received his
n o d . T h e c o m p a n y is vastly bigger
n o w , and slightly more colorful, in a
muted sort of w a y ; but it is still the
stiff and deadly earnest battalion of
his d r e a m .
Because of Watson's background
as salesman, he m a d e Sales the apex
of the corporation. T h e salesmen had
the most prestige within the c o m p a n y
and could m a k e the most m o n e y ; below
that was administration, below that,
technical stall.
Watson eliminated the meat-slicing
machines, and pushed the product line
based on punched cards developed by
IBM's first chief engineer, H e r m a n
Hollerith. According to R o d g e r s . it
w a s impetus from the Depression, and
the n e w bookkeeping requirements of
Roosevelt's remedies, that skyrocketed
the firm uniquely during the depths of
general economic catastrophe, till
Watson came to d r a w the highest salary
of any m a n in the nation. In 1934 his
Income w a s $364,432 (Will R o g e r s , not
the author of T h i n k , w a s second with
•324.314) . Watson had neatly arranged
to gel 5% of IBM's net profit.
While IBM participated in the
creation of certain early computers, it
is Interesting that Watson dismissed
Eckert and Mauchly w h e n they came
around after World W a r II tring to get
backing for their ENIAC design, in
certain w a y s the first true electronic
computer. Eckert snd Mauchly went
to Remington R a n d , and the reaulting
Univac w a s the first commercial
computer.
H o w e v e r , IBM bounced back
vary well If there was one thing they
k n e w h o w to do it w a s sell, and w h e n
they brought out their computers It
was practically clear sailing. (The
Univac I was the first of m a n y c o m p u ters to be delayed and boggled in the
completion of its software, and this
considerable setback helped IBM get
the lead very quickly; they have
never lost It since.)
In the early sixties the IBM 7090
and 7094 were virtually unchallenged
as the leading scientific computers of
the country. But IBM in the late sixties almost relinquished tha fields of
very big computers and time-sharing
to other companies, and their c o m p u ters are not regarded as innovative.
Nevertheless, IBM's Systems 3B0 and
370, despite various criticisms, have
been very successful; thousands of
them are in operation around the globe,
far more than all their rivals' big
computers all put together. This despite the fact that some of these systems
have failed, including the big Model 91
(an economic failure) and the TSS/360
time-sharing program, a technical
catastrophe.
T h e y have from time to time
been accused of unfair tactics, and
various antitrust and other actions
(see "Legal Milestones" box) have
required IBM to change us arrangements in various w a y s . O n e decree
required them to sell the computers
that before they had only rented:
.mother decision, lo. "unbundle," or
bull computers separately from their
programs (previously "given" a w a y
with the computers they ran o n ) , Is
widely believed to have prevented
government action on the same
matter. Showing characteristic
finesse. IBM thereupon lowered the
computer prices almost imperceptibly,
then slapped heavy price-tags on
the programs that had previously
been free.
Recent moves b y the government
have suggested an especially serious
and far-reaching anti-trust suit against
I B M . possibly one that might break the
c o m p a n y u p , with its separate divisions
going various w a y s . H o w e v e r , In
today's climate of cozy relations between business and government. It is
hard to imagine that such matters
would not be settled to IBM's liking.
This lends a curious tint lo a remark
one IBM person has m a d e to the author,
to wit, that m a y b e IBM wants to be
broken u p . That might be one w a y of
reducing the unwieldiness and lnterdependency of its product line; In
addition to reducing its vast, underutilized personnel base. (Another
angle: Acting Attorney General Bark
has expressed the view that IBM Is
big only because its products and
m a n a g e m e n t are wonderful, so the
antitrust case m a y simply evaporate
during the r u m p days of the Nixon
incumbency.)
T h e M a n a g e m e n t Science theory of I B M
design is the only one of these w e need take u p .
T h e extensive use
committee decisions m a y
design compromises with
aimlessness, rather than
simple structures. (See
chapter, "The Meeting."
of group discussion and
tend to create a w k w a r d
a certain intrinsic
incisively distinct and
Gould's marvelous
58-80.)
Their use of i m m e n s e teams to do big
programming jobs, rather than highly motivated
and especially talented g r o u p s , Is widely viewed
aa counterproductive. For Instance, Barnet A .
Wolff, in a letter to Datamation (Sept. 1, 1971,
p . 13) says a particular program
"remains ineffflcient, probably because of
IBM's unfortunate habit of using trainees
fresh out of school to write their
systems code."
There m a y also be something in the w a y that
projects are Initiated and laid out from the top
d o w n , rather than acquiring direction from
knowledgeable people at the technical level,
that creates a tendency toward perfunctorlness
and clunky structure.
A persistent r
a lhat IBM tin
all Its sale am en in a geographic
area if a key or preeUge sale is
"lost," as w h e n M . I . T ' s Project
M A C switched over to General Electric
computers in the sixties, or w h e n
Western Electric Engineering Research
Center passed over IBM computers
to get a big PDP-10.
M u c h aa some people would like
to believe these stories, there seems
to be no documentation. You would
think one such victim would write
an article about It if it were true.
T h u s there m a y very well be no intentional
policy of unnecessary complication (see B o x ,
"IBM's Control"). Bul the w a y In which goal*
are set and technical decisions delegated m a y
generate this unnecessary complication.
•<PftUnoi») i N t l D r f W f
11 is unlortunatc that Hodgeia'
remarkable book does not follow the
details of IBM's computer design* and
politic* in the computer age, I.e.,
since 1955. Later w o r k , perhaps
helped by some Pentagon Papers, will
have to relate tha decision process**
that occurred in thl* unique national
Institution to the systems it has
produced snd the stamp it has put
on the world.
A n Interesting aspect of IBM publicity la its stress on statu*.
Publicity photographs often show e subordinate seeking advice
from a superior. IBM ada appeal to the corporation president
in all of us- - either Ooing It Alone (taking a long walk ovsr an
Executive Decision) or soberly directing a lesser employe*
In one extraordinary case, w e aaw worshipful convicts st the
feet of a Teacher implausibly situated in the corner of a prison
PROVINCIAL?
There would **«n to ba no question that
IBM people are comparatively conservative and
conventional. This partly because that's w h o IBM
hires (though thay reportedly urge tolerance of
Ihe unusual employee in a training film. "The Wild
Duck"). A huge number of IBM people never
worked for anybody else: obviously this affects
the perspective, like slaying at one university
all your life, or in one city.
"When w e went from IBM to
National Cash Register, it was like
the difference between night snd day."
Retired hardware executive,
talking about inventory program*
A —
It m a y also be that because IBM places sjch
a premium on dependability and obedience, new
Idea* (and the abilities needed to generate them)
naturally run Into a little trouble. Some critics
find among IBM people a heavy concern with conventional symbols of achievement, and (unfortunately) seeing the world stuck sit over with
conventional labels and Middle American stereotype*
Some of the most amusing material on thla
comes from an odd source s writer named
Hey wood Gould w h o , si] unprepared, became a
consultant to IBM. earned unconscionable amounts
of money (HO.ODD In six months), and lived to
write a very funny and observant book about it
(see Bibliography) ,
But it is neceaaary on these matters to aee
how difficult things can be for IBM people, T o be
Identified as an IBM person Is something like wearing a ring in your nose, a yarmulka or a halo:
an entrapment in a social role thst makes the Individual's position a w k w a r d among outsiders. IBM
people often have to take guff at parlies, unless
they are IBM parties, DeFenslveness m a y account
for soma of the Overdo, and some of the clannlsh-
B RA1 NtfASHED?
It Is true thai IBM people are essentially in
tholr o w n world. O n e theorv Is that comparlmentallzation within the firm (rather visible in
their designs) m a y tend to stifle. Indeed, because
IBM people can expect to be briefed and schooled
In every technical matter they will need lo know
for a given assignment, the Incentive to follow
technical developments through outside magazines
and societies m a y be reduced. Between Think
magazine and corporate briefings, it is possible
for IBM people to be comparatively (or even completely) unaware of innovations elsewhere In the
field, except aa theae new developments are
presented to them within the organization. In
this light It is easy to understand the Ibmers'
sense of certainty that their firm invented everything and is at the forefront.
Of course m a n y fine research efforts do go on
there, in considerable awareness of what's happening elsewhere. Particular individuals at IBM
have done excellent research on everything from
computer hidden-line Imaging to the structure of
the genetic code and computer-synthesized holograms. A P L itself (see pp.Zt.-3i. as developed
by Iverson at Harvard and later programmed by
him at IBM, is another example of sophisticated
individual creativity there. So it's entirely
possible. But IBM certainly has no monopoly on
understanding or creativity, and IBM-haters
sometimes talk as if the reverse is true.
THc
VIRTUAL KtCHAU'CS
IBM controls the industry principally by
controlling Its customers. Through various
mechanisms. It seems to enforce the principle
that "Once an IBM customer, always an IBM
customer," With sn extraordinary degree of
control, surely possessed In no other field by
any other organization in the free world, it
dictate* what Its customers m a y buy, and what
they m a y do with what they get. More than
this: the exactions of loyalty levied upon IBM's
customers are similar, in kind and degree, to
what it demand* of Its own employees. IBM
make* the customer's employees more snd more
like its o w n employees, committing them as
individuals, and effectively committing the company that buys from it. to IBM service in
perpetuity.
Here are some of the wsy* Ihls system of
control seems to work. We are not saying here
that this is necessarily how IBM plans it.
rather, these are the virtual mechanics, virtual
In the old sense, this is how it might as well
b* working. In th* anthropological sense thl*
Is • "functional" analysis, showing the tie-ins
rather than the actual detailed thought processes
that occur. And even if these are really the
mechanics, perhaps IBM doesn't mesn them to be.
It might Just somehow be a continuous accident.
InterconnacUon and c npaUblllUei
IBM acta as if it does not want competitor*
to be abla to connect their accessories to its
computer*
It's as though G M could design th*
roads so as to prevent the passage of other
vehicles than il* o w n .
This 1* done several way*. First. IBM
has sometimes used contractual technique* to
prevent such interconnection* lo It* syatem*.
either lor bidding other thing* to be attached
(or si least slapping on axira service charge*
if thay arsl. or declaring that It would not
be responsible for ovsrsll performance of such
• eelur;. allacUvely withdrawing Ihe hardware
iuarante* that la such s strong selling point.
secondly. IBM does not tail all lhal need*
to t*j known In order to make these intsrconi* details of the hardwsr* Interfaces
Finally. IBM can simply decree, perhaps
claiming technical •*c***lty, that InterconnacUon
la lmpo**lule. For Instance, IBM said for a
lima that Ihalr latest big program. "VS," 01
Virtual System, wouldn't work (U-snsiauon
would not be allowed) U compeUUv* memories
used c th* c
\
1 book will help
people w h o are Inconvenienced by
systems to understand and plnpoln
they think is wrong with the aysti
their data structure, Interactive properties,
or other design featurea-- and that they
will try to express their discontents intelligently and constructively to those responsible. Including, where appropriate.
International Business Machines Corporation
Armonk, N Y .
2.
SALES T E C H N I Q U E S .
These accusations are well summarized
by "Anonymous" in a recent article (see Bibliography) . Basically the accusauons against
IBM's sales practices are thai they play dirty:
If you. say. the computer manager in a business
firm, want to buy equipment from another outfit. IBM (so the story goes) will go over your
head to your boss, accuse you of Incompetence,
try to get you fired if you appose them, and
Heaven knows what else. Anonymous claims
that various forms of threat, Intimidation, "hardsell scare tactics" and "behind-the-scenes m a n ipulation" are actually standard practice in IBM
sales, he or she alleges various instances in
certain municipalities.
Such behavior is emphatically denied,
though not in relation to lhat article, by Board
Chairman Gary. In a recent letter to Newsweek
(see Bibliography). Cary emphasizes the Importance of IBM's 76-page Business Conduct Guidelines. Whether these are publicly examinable
is nut stated.
These charges were also taken up concretely in a recent survey ol computing managers
done by Datamation (summarized by McLaughlin
in "Monopoly Is Not a Game:" see Bibliography).
In Datamation's analysis of this survey, the
managers did not seem to agree with these
charges against I B M . However, it must be
noted-- and this seriously calls into question
the entire survey as analyzed-- that out of 1100
panelists to the questionnaire. Datamation only
considered 3B9 responses "usable," partly (It Is
stated) because m a n y did not give data allowing
themselves to be identified. Considering the
widespread fear ol IBM in the field, this m a y
have strongly biased the poll in favor of I B M .
Thus the Telex Decision of September 17.
1973. in which it was decreed by the judge lhat
IBM would have to supply complete interface
Information promptly when introducing a new
computer, was a source of great jubilation in
the computer field. However, lhal part of the
judgment has since been cancelled.
M u c h the same problem exists In the software area. IBM Is less than interested in
helping its competitors write programs that hook
up to IBM program*, so the details of program
hookup are not always made clear. Here, too,
m a n y smaller companies Insist they should be
made to do it.
B . Control and guidance of what the customer
can gat.
To a remarkable degree. If you are an
IBM customer, you pracucally have to buy what
they tell you. This IBM manages by an intricate system of fluctuating degrees of sales and
support and contractual dealing. T h e IBM customer always has several opUons: but these are
like forced cards, IBM la always introducing
and discontinuing products, and changing prices
•nd contractual arrangement* snd software opUons in an elaborate choreography, which applies
calculated pressures on Ihe customer. IBM has
a flnely-luned syatem of customer Incentives by
which it controls product phasing, to use the
polite term, or planned obsolescence, as some
people call it,
(Ryal R . Poppa,
I of Pertec Corp..
predicts lhat IBM (
quired to switch over lo naw product* every
flva or six yesr*. rather than every seven,
which Poppa contends has been the figure.
("Poppa Sees Several IBM Changes." Computet
world, 21 Nov 73. 29.)
Program*, especially, are available with
different degress of approval from IBM
Ths
technique of "support" Is ths concrete manlfeatation of approval. A support* d program Is
one which IBM promises lo II* when bugs turn
u p . With an unsupported program, you're on
your o w n . God has forgotten you. Because so
much of IBM's virtue Ilea In tha strength and
fervor ol It* support, th* us* of unsupported
programs, or unsupported features of supported
programs, Is • difficult and risky mailer. Ilk*
driving without a m a p snd s spite tire, or even
going Into the Himalaya* without glovea. Effectively th* withdrawal of support I* th* death
knell of any big program, such ss TSS/1B0,
even though customers rosy want to go on using
A n InteresUng view on IBM's sales ethica
was expressed recently by Ryal R . Poppa,
prealdent of Pertec Corp.
"In the past, when there have been sale*
situations where 'you can't honor the
policy and win the deal,' IBM has violated
the policy with the practice, he said."
W
It is IBM's alleged misbehavior in pursuit
of sales that has drawn some of the strongest
criticism within the Industry, as well as considerable litigation. Their "predatory pricing"
(a lerm used by the judge in the recent Telex
decision), and other mean practices, are (whether true or false) folklore within the Industry.
N o w , there are m a n y manufacturers w h o
think this is very wrong of IBM: w h o believe
they should have the right to sell accessories
and parts-- especially core and disk memorles-to plug onto IBM's computers. II has been
generally possible for these other manufacturers
to work these interconnections out awhile after
the computer comes out on the market, but
it's getting mare difficult.
(Incidentally, it is amusing to note that
even In this remaining company. In terms of
"performance per dollar," the managers surveyed
(and surviving the weedout) ranked the top
three companies as D E C , Burroughs and Control
Data. IBM waa worst oul of B. Obviously
service counts for a lot.)
However, he believes that situation Is changing
under IBM's new management, so that the guidelines will be observed in the future. ("Poppa
Sees Several IBM Changes." Compulerworld.
21 Nov 73, 29.)
T h e peopls w h o take these matters of IBM
sales practices most seriously-- IBM's competitors-- now have their o w n organization, the
Computer Industry Association. This is an association of computer companies, which has aa
i intention the "establishment and preser
of a sound and viable U .S. computer industry.
based on... free and open competition." Emphasis theirs. Translation: they're out to get IBM,
Prealdent Dan L. M c G u r k . formerly of Xerox
Data Systems, has blood in his eye. M e m b e r ship is open only lo computer companies, but
their newsletter O n Line is available lo individuals (see Bibliography) . Anyone seriously
interested In these matters is referred to them.
3. T E C H N I C A L DECISIONS A N D DESIGNS
A . Prologue.
Part of the myth of IBM's corporate perfection is based on the notion that technical matters
somehow predominate in IBM's decisions, and
that IBM's product offerings and designs thus
emerge naturally and necessarily and inevitably
irom theae considerations. This is rather far
from the truth,
IBM presents many of their actions as technical, even as technical breakthroughs, when
in fact they are strategic maneuvers. T h e announcement of a new computer, for example,
such as Ihe 3B0 or 370. Is usually made to
sound as if they have invented something special,
while in fact they have simply made certain
decisions as to "which way they intend to go"
and how they plan to market things in the next
few years.
Availability of products la in general a
matter of exquisite degree. It's not so much
that you can or can't get a particular thing,
but that the pricing and available contracts at
a given time exert strong pressure to put you
where they have chosen within their currently
featured product line
Moreover, extremely
strong hints are always available; the salesman
will tell you what model of their computers Is
likely to be a dead end, or. on the other hand,
what model is likely to offer various options
and progressive developments in the near future.
Some things are half-available, either as
"RPQs" Ian IBM term for special ordersRequest Price Quotation), or available to
sophisticated customers at IBM's discretion.
With all the degrees of availability, It is
easy for IBM to open or close by degrees
various avenues in which customers are interAlso, different size* of computer will or
won't allow given programs or desirable program
features. M a n y IBM customer* have to get bigger
computers than they would otherwise want because a given program-- for instance, a C O B O L
compiler with certain capabilities-- Is noi offered
by IBM for the smaller machine. Indeed, an
elaborate sizing scheme exists for matching the
machine to the customer - or, s cynic might say.
assuring that you can't get the program feature*
you ought to be able to get unless you gel a
larger computer than you wanted.
What It boils down to la that you. the
customer, have few genuine options, especially
if your firm 1* already committed lo doing certain things with a computer. And when IBM
brings out a new computer, the prices and
other Influences are exacungly calculated to
make mandatory the jump thay hav* in mind to
tha new model,
(This planning of customer transitions
does not always work. When the 370 was Introduced, for instance. IBM had in mind lhat companies with s certain s u e of 3B0 would trade up
to a bigger 370. In soma cases ussrs traded
down to a smaller 370. which was able to do the
same work for lea* money, to th* acuta bother
of IBM.)
C.
Having to do thing* just their way.
IBM systems and programa ara set up 10
do things in partlculsr wsy*
To a remarkable
degree, II la difficult to u*« them In ways not
planned or spproved by IBM. and difficult to
Us system* snd progrsms together. Program*
and feature* which th* casual observer would
suppose ought to ba compaUble. land not to b*.
For aome resson compatibility always lend* to
cost extra
It is as though th* compaUbllity of
•qulpmanl and programs ware planned by IBM
a* much a* their product line.
Effectively the IBM customer tends to be
frequently trapped in a cage of restrictions,
whether this cage is intentionally created by
IBM or not One is reminded of the motto of
T . H . White's anthill in The Once and Future KingT H A T W H I C H IS N O T F O R B I D D E N IS C O M P U L S O R Y .
T h e degree to which these
manipulated or Intentional is. of
of debate.
CapUve bur«
1 running in plat
Perhaps the moat unfortunate thing about
IBM (from an outsider's point of view) 1* that
effectively their systems can only be used by
bureaucracie* w h o m ihey have trained. From
keypunch operator up lo installation manager,
all are effectively enslaved to curious complexities thai keep changing. The ever-changing
structure of O S . and its quaint access methods.
Is just one example
it might even seem to the
outside observer that IBM's g a m e , intentional
or not. Is to keep things difficult and intricately
fluid to retain utter control. In other words,
It is as though they fostered a continual turnover
of unnecessary complications to keep a captive
bureaucracy running In place. People w h o they
have indoctrinated tend not to buy opponents'
computers. People w h o ar* immersed in Ihe
peculiarities of IBM systems, and busy keeping
up with mandatory change*, do not get uppity.
They are too buay. and the Investment of their
tlms and effort 1* loo high for them lo want to
Anti-IBM cynics say that s lot of the
work involved in working wilh IBM computers
Is self-generated, arising from the unnecessary
complexities of OS/310. JCL. T C A M and ao on.
But ol course that cannot be evaluated here.
PROSPECTS
Thsa* remarks should clarify the bleakness
of Ihe prospect for man's futur* among computers
If IBM's system of control really does work this
way. and If it is going to go on doing so Because it means th* future that some of us hope
for-- the simple snd casual availability lo individuals of clear and simple computer system*
with extraneous complications edllad away-- may
be foreclosed if ihey can help a.
Let's
turn out not t
• things
"... IBM In It* Infinite wisdom
ha* decreed lhal thi* 1* the way
we must go."
Cynical computer
installation manager.
quoted in Compulerworld,
II A u g 13. p. *•
It Is important to note first of all lhat IBM
is In m a n y respects the very model of a generous and dutiful corporate citizen. In " c o m m u n ity relations," in donations to colleges and universities, In generous release of the time of Its
employees for charitable and civic undertaking*,
it It almost certainly the most public-spirited
corporation In America, and perhaps on Ihe
face of the earth.
They have been generous about m a n y
public interest project*, from Braille transcription to donating photographers and facilities Tor
films on child development.
T h e corporation sponsors worthwhile cultural events. "Don Quixote" with Rex Harrison
on T V was terrific. Katherlne Hepburn's "Glass
Menagerie" was marvelous.
IhBleakcst M°rdor
ar uc
m i JVfc<
i
Sewr.1i,
to
Ml
Rla-U-1
IBM's enlightenment and benevolence
toward its employees la perhaps beyond that of
any company anywhere
They have rigorously
upgraded the position of w o m e n and other minority employees; the opportunities for w o m e n m a y
be greater there than anywhere else. They have
upgraded repair of their systems, at any level,
to white-collar status, and tool kits are disguised
as briefcases. This innovation, making a repairm a n Into a "field engineer," Is one of the cleverest public-relations and employment policies ever
instituted.
They are opanhanded to employees w h o
want to run (or office, evidently regardless of
platform. In the sixties there were peace candidates w h o worked for I B M . and evidently got
time off for it. More recently, Fran Youngsteln.
an IBM marketing instructor, was a 1973 candidate for Mayor of N e w York on the ticket of the
Free Libertarian Party, opposing all laws against
victimless crimes (e.g. prostitution and odd s e x ) ,
as well as D a y Care and welfare.
They also rarely fire people. Once you're
in. and within certain broad outlines, it's e x tremely safe employment. For those w h o turn
out not to fit in well, they have a tradition of
certain gentle pressure-practices like moving
you around the country repeatedly at IBM expense. This encourages leaving, but also e x poses the less-wanted employee to a variety of
opportunities he might not otherwise see. without
the trauma and anxiety of dismissal.
"IBM." as everyone k n o w s , is the trade
nark of the International Business Machines
Corporation, an Immense company centered in
A r m o n k . N . Y . , but extending to over a hundred
countries and employing well over a quarter of
• million people.
To m a n y people. IBM is synonymous with
computers. Some of the public, indeed, believes
them to be the only computer manufacturer.
B and lllm. there is K o d a k . In
automobiles, there is General Motors. A n d in
the computer Held there is I B M .
IBM sells some 6S to 701 of all tha c o m puters and programs thai are sold. In this respect, the balanced near-monopoly, they are like
Kodak and G M .
(It is said that there are IBM firings, but
they are rare and formidable. Hey wood Gould's
description of an IBM firing (Corporation Freak,
p p . 113-115), for which he does not claim authenticity, ia nevertheless bloodcurdling.)
IBM's international manners (in its 115
countries) are likewise praiseworthy. Compared
to the perfidious behavior of some of our other
multinational corporations, they are sweetness
and light and highschool civics. Sensitive to
the feelings of people abroad, they are said to
operate carefully within arrangements m a d e to
satisfy each country. They train nationals for
real corporate responsibility rather than bringing
in only outside people. A n d they are sensitive
to issues: for instance, they recently refused lo
set up an Apartheid computer in South Africa.
O N E T H I N G IS P E R F E C T L Y C L E A R :
IBM has no monopoly on understanding or sophistication.
But there are important differences. Eveverybody k n o w s what a camera la. or an automobile. But to m a n y , II not most, people, a
computer is what IBM says it is.
T h s Importance of this firm, for good or
111, cannot be overstated: whose legend Is so
thick, whose slock prices have doubled and redoubled, ten u m e a over, to its mulubillion-dollar
mass: whose seeming Infallibility-- at least, as
seen by outsider*-- have been the stuff ol
legend, whose style ha* proliferated across the
world. • style which has in a w a y itself become
synonymous with "computers," whose name s y m bolizes for m a n y people-- remarkably, both
those w h o love it and those w h o hate it— the
New Age,
The rigidity associated in the public mind
with "tha computer" m a y be related in some
deep w a y to this organization. A s a corporation
they are used to designing systems that people
have to use in their )ob* by fiat, »nd thus there
are few external limitations on the complications
to our live* that IBM can create.
Many people mistake IBM for ")u*t another
big company," and here lies the danger. IBM's
postuon in tha world is so extraordinary, so
carefully poised (as a result of various antitrust proceedings and precautions) just outside
of total monopoly of a vitally important and allpenetrating field, that m u c h of what thsy do haa
implications lor all ol u*. Ralph Nader'* contention that General Motor* l* too powerful to
function as an Independent government surely
applies even more to I B M . General Motors Is not
in s poaluon to persuade th* public that every
car has to have tan wheels and a snowplow.
IBM seems In some v
> have molded computars in its c
world that t
But IBM la deeply sensluvs, in it* w a y ,
lo public relations, and has woven sn axtsnslve
aystaa ol political Uas and 1 agenda (if not
mythology) which hav* kept it almost completely
exempt from the critical attention of concarn.d
ctuzena,
Thus It if necessary her*, simply as a
matter of covering the field at an Introductory
level, to rale* aome que*lion* and criticism*
that occur to people who are concerned about
IBM
IBM presumably wilt not mind having
these matters raised. th*ir public-spirited concern in so m a n y ar*** assures that wh*n something so publicly important •• the character ot
their o w n power Is concerned, occasional
scrutiny should be welcome
Now for the bad n e w s . .
They offer m a n y computer programs for a variety ol purposes.
These programs are not necessarily
sat up the w a y you would want them.
(But If you take the trouble to adapt
to them, you'll probably never get
back.)
T h e programs favor card or
card-like input and. to date, strongly
discourage time-sharing and widespread
convenient terminal use by untrained
people.
IBM programs are also notoriously
inefficient. (That w a y you have to use
bigger machines for longer .)
A company or governmental agency
The courses indoctrinate with the IBM
can get immense amounts of "help"
outlook, and the planted people spread
and "information" from I B M . which
II. Moreover, both mechanisms help
offers free courses, even IBM
IBM spot the people they can work wilh
people on "released time" to look
to m a k e a big sale-- and (lt is alleged
over the problems on the premises. by some) those w h o stand in the w a y .
IBM offers various kinds of c o m patibility among its systems.
It always seems to cost extra.
IBM equipment Is rugged and
durable, and their repairmen
or "field engineers" struggle
with great diligence and alacrity
to keep it running
1. S O C I A L A S P E C T S O F I B M .
It Is perhaps in the social realm. Including
its Ideological character, that a lot of people
are turned off by I B M .
IBM has traditionally been the paternalistic
corporation. [Paternalistic corporations were
some kind of big philosophical issue to people
In the fifties, but nobody cares anymore. A n y w a y ,
the rest were perhaps inconsequential compared
to IBM.) Big IBM towns not only have a Country
Club (no booze) , but a Homestead far the comfort
of important corporate guests. There are dress
codes (although non-white shirts and below-thecollar hair are now allowed) , and yes. codes
of private behavior (now subdued) . These irritate
people with libertarian concerns. They do not
bother employees, evidently, because employees
k n e w what they were getting into.
Generalizations about IBM people obviously
cannot be very strong . Obviously there is going
to be immense variation among 265,000 people,
half of w h o m have college degrees; but of course
one of the great truths of sociology is that any
non-random group haa tendencies.
More lhan that In this case. In a w a y IBM
people are an ethnic group. Impressive indeed
are the general energy and singlemindednesi
of the people, galvanized by their certainty that
IBM is true, good and right, and that the IBM
w a y is the w a y . This righteousness is of course
a big turn-off for a lot of people. Perhaps It
leads in turn to the most-heard slurs about IBM
people, that thay are brainwashed or provincial.
A m o n g computer people, feelings toward
IBM range from worship to furious hate (depending only in part on whether you work there).
M a n y , m a n y are of course employed by
I B M . and the devotion with which they embrace
the corporation and U s spirit is a wonder of the
But the spiritual community of IBM extends
further. Upper-management types, especially
Chairmen of Boards and comptrollers, seem to
have a reverence for IBM that is not of this
world, some amalgamated vision which entwines
images of eternal stock and dividend growth
with an idealized notion of management efficiency.
M a n y others use and live with IBM's equipment,
and view IBM as anything from "the greatest
company in the world" to "a fact of life" or even
"a necessary evil." In some places whole colonies of users mold themselves in its image, so
that around IBM computers there are m a n y "Utile
IBMs." full of people w h o imitate the personalities and style of IBM people. ( R C A . before lis
computer operation fell to pieces. Imitated not
Just the design of IBM's 360 computer, but a
whole range of titles and departmental names
from out of IBM. T h e sincerest form of flattery.)
But outside this pale-- beyond the spiritual community of IBM-- there are quite a few
other computer people. Some simply ignore I B M .
being concerned with their o w n stuff. S o m e
like IBM but happen lo be elsewhere. Others
dislike or hate IBM for a variety of reasons,
business and social. A n d this smoldering
hatred Is surely far different In character from
anybody's atutud* toward Kodak or G M .
While it la not tha Intent hers to do any
kind of an anti-IBM n u m b e r . It la nevarthsless
necessary to attempt lo round out Ihe on*-*ld*d
picture that 1* projected outside th* computer
world. In what follow* there I* no room to try
to give a balanced picture. B*c*uae IBM can
speak (or llaelf, and doe* so with m a n y voles*.
It 1* mors Important to indicate here tha kind*
of crlUcism* which ar* commonly made of IBM
by sophisticated people within th* industry, so
that IBM-worshipar* will have some idea of what
bother* people. But of course no attempt can
be made here to Judge the** matter*, thl* i*
Just intended a* source material for concerned
M r j O o R BjM. d O W W
Iff,
G-MVCf
1350s (TUBES)
650 (Decimal)
700 Series
701
702 (decimal)
?->
705 (decimal)
MID-1960S
(INTEGRATED
CIRCUITS)
1970s
("MEDIUM-SCALE
INTEGRATION")
360 Series
(32-bit as w e U as decimal)
30, 35, 30. 40. is. SO. 65. 67,
I
75. 35. 90. 91
370 Series
125, 135. U S . 153, IBS. IS*. 199..
(Variable)
Syatem 7
(19 bits)
T h e asm* slick marketing could be applied lo any other industry .
But it wouldn't be IBM Nowhere else could the mystery of the subject
be met and enhanced with so many more mysteries.
51
||oU](5vN\*)
r\*S F f * M C « j >
T h o s e of u s w h o w e r e a r o u n d will n e v e r
forget the D a y s of M a d n e s s ( 1 9 6 8 - 9 ) .
Computer
s t o c k s w e r e b o o m i n g , a n d their b u y e r s d i d n ' t
K n o w w h a t it w a s a b o u t ; b u t e v e r y w h e r e t h e r e
w e r e financial p e o p l e t r y i n g to b a c k n e w c o m p u t e r c o m p a n i e s , a n d e v e r y w h e r e the s m a r t
c o m p u t e r people w h o ' d m i s s e d out o n Getting
T h e i r s w e r e l o o k i n g for a d e a l .
Datamation
for N o v e m b e r
t h i c k , t h e r e w e r e that m a n y
and
1969 w a s
ads
for
an
inch
computers
accessories.
A t t h e Fall J o i n t C o m p u t e r C o n f e r e n c e that
y e a r in L a s V e g a s , I h a d to c o v e r t h e h i g h l i g h t s
of t h e e x h i b i t s in a h u r r y , a n d it t o o k m e all
a f t e r n o o n , m u c h o f it practically at a t r o t .
Then,
after c l o s i n g t i m e , I f o u n d o u t t h e r e h a d b e e n
a w h o l e other building.
It is i m p o r t a n t to l o o k at h o w a lot o f t h e s e
c o m p a n i e s w e r e b a c k e d , t h e b e t t e r to u n d e r s t a n d
h o w irrationality b l o o m e d in t h e s y s t e m , a n d
m a d e t h e c o l l a p s e of t h e s p e c u l a t i v e s t o c k s in
1970 quite inevitable.
It w a s v e r y difficult to talk to t h e s e p e o p l e ,
particularly if y o u w e r e t r y i n g to g e t s u p p o r t for
a legitimate e n t e r p r i s e built a r o u n d u n u s u a l i d e a s .
( E v e r y b o d y w a n t s to b e s e c o n d . )
A n d what's
w o r s e , t h e y t e n d e d to h a v e that m o s t r e p r e h e n sible q u a l i t y : t h e y w o u l d n ' t listen.
Did they
w a n t to h e a r w h a t y o u r i d e a actually w a s ?
"I'll
get m y t e c h n i c a l p e o p l e to e v a l u a t e it"-- a n d
they s e n d o v e r J o e w h o o n c e took C O B O L .
I
finally f i g u r e d o u t that s u c h p e o p l e a r e i m p o s s i b l e
to talk to if y o u ' r e s i n c e r e - - it's a q u a l i t y t h e y
find u n f a m i l i a r a n d t h r e a t e n i n g .
I don't think
there's a n y w a y a p e r s o n w i t h a g e n u i n e idea
can c o m m u n i c a t e with s u c h Wheeler-Dealers;
t h e y j u s t fix y o u w i t h a p i e r c i n g g l a n c e a n d s a y
" Y e a h , b u t are w e talking a b o u t h a r d w a r e or
s o f t w a r e ? " (the t w o w o r d s t h e y k n o w in the
field).
A n u m b e r of c o m p a n i e s w e r e s t a r t e d at
t h e initiative o f p e o p l e w h o k n e w w h a t t h e y w e r e
d o i n g a n d h a d a clear i d e a , a n e w t e c h n i q u e o r
a g o o d m a r k e t i n g s l a n t . T h e s e w e r e in t h e
minority, I fear.
T h i s is all the s a d d e r b e c a u s e the c o m p a n i e s that a c h i e v e i m p o r t a n t t h i n g s in this field,
a s far a s I c a n s e e , a r e t h o s e w i t h a u n i f y i n g
i d e a , c a r r i e d o u t u n s t i n t i n g l y b y the m a n o r
m e n w h o b e l i e v e in it. I t h i n k of O l s e n ' s Digital
E q u i p m e n t Corporation, Data G e n e r a l , E v a n s a n d
Sutherland C o m p u t e r Corporation, Vector General.
T h i s is n o t to s a y that a g o o d i d e a s u c c e e d s
w i t h o u t g o o d m a n a g e m e n t o r g o o d b r e a k s : for
i n s t a n c e , V i a t r o n , a firm w h i c h w a s the d a r l i n g
of the c o m p u t e r high-flying s t o c k s , h a d a p e r fectly s o u n d i d e a , if n o t a d e e p o n e : to p r o d u c e
a v i d e o t e r m i n a l that c o u l d b e s o l d for a s little
as $ 1 0 0 a m o n t h .
B u t t h e y got o v e r e x t e n d e d ,
a n d h a d m a n u f a c t u r i n g t r o u b l e s , a n d that w a s
that.
( Y o u c a n n o w g e t a v i d e o t e r m i n a l for
$ 4 9 a m o n t h , t h e H a z e l t i n e . ) O f c o u r s e , a lot
o f i d e a s a r e h a r d to e v a l u a t e . A m a n n a m e d
O v s h i n s k y , for i n s t a n c e , n a m e d a w h o l e n e w
b r a n c h o f electronics after h i m s e l f ( " o v o n i c s " ) ,
a n d c l a i m e d it w o u l d m a k e i n t e g r a t e d circuits
c h e a p e r o r better t h a n a n y b o d y e l s e ' s . S c o f f ,
scoff. N o w O v s h i n s k y h a s h a d the last l a u g h :
w h a t h e d i s c o v e r e d s o m e n o w call " a m o r p h o u s
s e m i c o n d u c t o r t e c h n o l o g y , " a n d his circuits a r e
b e i n g u s e d b y m a n u f a c t u r e r s of c o m p u t e r e q u i p m e n t . A n o t h e r e x a m p l e is o n e F r a n k M a r c h u k ,
w h o s e "laser c o m p u t e r " w a s a n n o u n c e d several
y e a r s a g o b u t hasn't b e e n s e e n y e t . M a n y c o m puter people are u n d e r s t a n d a b l y skeptical.
M o r e c o m m o n w e r e c o m p a n i e s s t a r t e d at
the initiative of s o m e b o d y w h o w a n t e d to start
"another X " — another m i n i c o m p u t e r c o m p a n y ,
another terminal c o m p a n y , e x p e c t i n g the p r o d u c t
s o m e h o w to b e satisfactory w h e n t h r o w n t o g e t h e r
b y hired help. P e r h a p s these people s a w c o m p u t e r c o m p a n i e s a s s o m e t h i n g like g o l d m i n e s ,
putting out a c o m m o n p r o d u c t with interchangeable
commodity value.
T h e d e a l , a s s o m e of t h e s e W a l l S t . h a n g e r s o n w o u l d e x p l a i n it, w a s m o s t i n t r i g u i n g .
Their
i d e a w a s to c r e a t e a c o m p u t e r c o m p a n y o n l o w
c a p i t a l , " b r i n g it p u b l i c " (get c l e a r a n c e f r o m t h e
S E C to sell s t o c k p u b l i c l y ) , a n d t h e n m a k e a
killing a s t h e s h e e p b o u g h t it a n d t h e p r i c e w e n t
up.
T h e n , if y o u c o u l d g e t a " t r a c k r e c o r d "
b a s e d o n a f e w fast s a l e s , t h e i n c r e a s i n g p r i c e
of y o u r s t o c k ( t h e s e a r e t h e d a y s o f m a d n e s s ,
r e m e m b e r ) m a k e s it p o s s i b l e to b u y u p o t h e r
companies and become a conglomerate.
"ITS A
WHEELER
T
T h i s is still a field w h e r e i n d i v i d u a l s c a n
h a v e a p r o f o u n d i n f l u e n c e . B u t the w r o n g w a y
to try it is t h r o u g h c o n v e n t i o n a l c o r p o r a t e fina n c i n g . G e t y o u r o w n c o m p u t e r , d o it in a
g a r r e t , a n d t h e n talk a b o u t w a y s of getting it
o u t to t h e w o r l d .
BIBLIOGRAPHY
T h e j o k e r is that if y o u m i s s e d o u t o n all
this y o u w e r e m u c h b e t t e r off. A n y o n e w i t h a
g e n u i n e i d e a is b e i n g set u p for t w o f l e e c i n g s :
the first b i g o n e , w h e n t h e y tell y o u y o u r i d e a s ,
skills a n d l o n g - t e r m i n d e n t u r e a r e w o r t h 2 i %
(if y o u ' r e l u c k y ) c o m p a r e d to their i m m e n s e c o n t r i b u t i o n s of " b u s i n e s s k n o w h o w , " a n d t h e s e c o n d ,
w h e n y o u g o p u b l i c a n d the u n d e r w r i t e r gets
v a s t r a k e o f f s for h i s i n c o m p a r a b l e s e r v i c e s . W h a t
is m o s t likely to g e t lost in all this is a n y o r i g inal o r s t r u c t u r e d c o n t r i b u t i o n to t h e w o r l d that
the c o m p a n y w a s i n t e n d e d , in y o u r m i n d , to
achieve.
*«••, i t * a r e a l .
Life imitates art
on Routs 4 6 , N . J .
In p a r t this is b e c a u s e a n y o n e w i t h t e c h nical k n o w l e d g e is a p p a r e n t l y l a b e l l e d Silly
T e c h n i c i a n in t h e financial c o m m u n i t y , o r I m p o s sible D r e a m e r ; it is e n t r e n c h e d d o c t r i n e a m o n g
m a n y p e o p l e t h e r e that t h e m a n w i t h t h e o r i g i n a l
i d e a c a n n o t b e a l l o w e d to c o n t r o l t h e direction
of t h e r e s u l t i n g c o m p a n y .
In o n e c a s e k n o w n
to m e , a m a n h a d a beautiful i n v e n t i o n (not
e l e c t r o n i c ) that c o u l d h a v e d e e p l y i m p r o v e d
American industry,
lt w a s i n e x p e n s i v e , s i m p l e
to m a n u f a c t u r e , p r o f o u n d l y effective. H e m a d e
his d e a l a n d the c o m p a n y w a s s t a r t e d , u n d e r
his d i r e c t i o n . B u t it w a s a t r i c k . W h e n the
s e c o n d i n s t a l l m e n t of f i n a n c i n g c a m e d u e (not
t h e s e c o n d r o u n d . m i n d y o u ) , the b a c k e r s
called for a n e w d e a l , a n d h e w a s s k e w e r e d .
R e s u l t : n o s a l e s , n o effect o n the w o r l d , n o
n o t h i n g to s p e a k o f .
John
Brooks, The Go-Go
* Talley.
$10.
Years.
Weybright
USED COMPUTERS
\s gou6r|r ^^©U)
While in principle there would seem to be
every advsntage in buying used computer!., there
ore certain drawbacks, Service is the main one:
the manufacturer ia not very helpful about fixing
discontinued machines, and you m a y have to know
how to do it yourself. Even with machines still
available, you may have trouble getting onto a
service contract from Ihe manufacturer, since
It "may have been mistreated." (American Used
Computer, in Boston, will usually guar ante*
that its merchandise will be accepted back into
manufacturer's contract service.) A final drawback is price: a popular machine m a y cost aa
m u c h used aa n e w , since they're saving you the
waiting period.
For (he most part, his; computer;- hnve
alwayn been rented or leased, rather than
bought outright. There are various rcanons f'ir
thia. From the customer's point of view, it
mskes the whole thing tax-deductible without
amortisation problems, and means that it's possible to change part of the package - the model
of computer or the accessorieB-- more easily.
A n d big amounts of money don't have to be
shelled out at once.
From the manufacturer's point of view (and
of course w e are speaking mostly of I B M ) , It is
advantageous to work the leasing gnme for
several reasons. Cash inflow is steady. T h e
manufacturer Is in continuous communication
with the customer, and has his ear for changes
and improvements costing m o r e . Competitors
are at a disadvantage because the immense
capital base needed to get into the selling-andleaslng game makes competitition impossible.
Basically, leasing really may be thought
of as having two parts: the sale of the computer,
and banking s loan on it; essentially the lease
payments arc Installment payments, and the real
profits come after the customer has effectively
paid the real purchase prk-e and is still forking
over.
M a n y firms other than IBM prefer to sell
their computers outright. Minicomputers are
almost always sold rather than rented. H o w e v e r ,
for those w h o believe in renting or leasing, the
so-called "leasing firms" have appeared, effectively performing a banking function. They buy
the computer, you rent or lease it from them,
and they make the money you would'vo saved
if you'd bought.
I B M , now required to sell its computers
as well ss lease them, keeps making changes
in its systems which cynics think are done partly
to scare companies away from leasing, since
if you've bought the computer you can't catch u p .
(Large computers bought from companies that
like to sell them, auch as D E C and C D C , do not
aeem to have this problem.)
una*, mfyMTetvMCt
h practical problea of Immense importanct
meaning repair and upkeep ol compute
Lots of guys in Boston and L.A. are iving fun Baking conputem
but here you are stuck in Squeedunk id it doesn't work anynore
You can aign a "aaintenance contract" with the manufacturer,
which is sort of like breakdown Insurance: whatever happens
he'll fix. Eventually. If you own equipment frc
•anufacturors, though. It's worse-, each ns
contract to fix his own equipaent. (And r
i tha biggest point in favor of IBM. Their maintenance is
who'll
Raytheon
•thing called third-party maintenance: companies
to keep all your hardware working. RCA and
o that.
T H E S E V E N D W A R V E S A M I THEIR FRIENDS
T h e computer companies arc often
called "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves,"
even though the seven keep changing. Here
are some main ones beside I R M . 1 hope I
haven't left anyone out.
Requiescanl in Pi
General Electric
Sperry Rand Univac
(sold out to Honeywell)
Honeywell
R C A (sold out to Univac)
Burroughs
Phllco
Control Data Corporation ( C D C )
General Foods
National Cash Register ( N C R )
a others beyond recollection.
Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC)
Xerox Data Systems (XDS; formerly
Scientific Data Syslems (SDS))
Hewlett-Packard (HP)
Data General
Interdata, Inc.
Vartan Data Machines
Lockheed
SOFTWARE
Computer progroits. or "software," used
10 come fr«c with the computer. Bul IBM turned
around and "unbundled," meaning you had lo
buy It separately, and Ihere has been some following of this example. H o w e v e r , for users w h o
are buying a computer with some conned program
for a particular purpose, prices are obviously
for the whole package; it's people w h o use the
same computer for a lot of different things that
have to pay for individual programs.
There are m a n y small software companies.
For the cost of a letterhead anyone can start one;
the question is whether he has anything special
lo sell. Some people w h o m p up programs on
Iheir o w n which turn out to be quite useful.
(For instance, one Benjamin Pitman offers a
magnificent program in Fortran to generate textual garbage. It's so good it can be used lo
expand proposals by hundreds of pages.
He
calls it Simplified Integrated Modular Prose (SIMP)
and lt sells for J10. His address is Computer
Center, University of Georgia, Athens G A 30602?)
Obviously, lo create big systems for intricate management purposes requires a great deal
more effort. Traditionally these are done by
vast programmer teams working in C O B O L or
the like, constantly fighting wilh monitor programs
snd chewing up millions of dollar*. H o w e v e r ,
the ntw Quickie Languages (three shown p p . |L-?$)
m a y offer great simplification of such programmin^
Programs are protected by copyrighl-Ihflt'e. the only way there can be a software Industry at all-- but since there has been no
court litigation in Die field, nobody k n o w s what
the law really is or whht it covers. Everybody
agrees that traditional copyright precedent covers
a lol of ground— "derivative works" definitely
violate copyright, even study guides to textbooks -- but no one k n o w s how far this goes.
S a m e for patents. T h e Patent Office has
granted program patents, notably the one on
Ihe sorting program of Applied Data Research,
Inc., but T h e Patent Office has a profound distaste for this potential extension of its duties,
unrt it telling everyone that programs aren'l
patentable, even though they clearly fall within
its mandate as unique, original prccesscs.
People w h o only n u d Ihe headlines thirk
thai the S u p r e m e Court struck d o w n the patentability of programs. N o such thing.
In this light the patents lhat the University
of Utah has gotten on the halflonc image synthesis
programs of Warnock and Wylic and R o m n e y (sec
p.
) are of considerable interest.
These
patents use the "software-as-hardware" ruse: the
program it. described in detail as taking place in
a fictitious machine shown In m a n y detailed d r a w ings whose nebulous character is not readily
seen by the uninitiated: events vaguely taking
place in "micreprogrammable microprocessors"
have been neatly foisted on the Patent Office as
detailed technical disclosure. It's a great g a m e .
T h e idea is that the claims are so drawn as to
cover not just the fictitious machine, but any
program that should happen to work the same
w a y . But such approaches, though c
previous.patent practices, have not ye!
litigated in this field.
It's kind of unfortunate: otherwise usable
machines get wasted. (But here's waste for
you: certain well-known laboratories, owned by
e profit-making monopoly, smash their u*ed computers if nobody wants them within Ihe lab.
They claim they can't resell them because they
would then be "competing" with the manufacturers.
I wish thr conservationists would get on that one.)
(Notts from all over: it seems thst all the
surviving numbers of the Philco computer, a nice
machine but very m u c h discontinued, have either gone to the stste of Israel or to Prslt Institute in Brooklyn. W h e n I spoke at Pratt they
showed m e their Philco machines, chugging healthily, and said they had (I think) some four more
Phil cos in crates, donated by their original o w n e r s .
ANNOUNCEMENTS
A n eccentric aspect of the computer field
is the Announcement, the statement by a company
(or even individual) that he is planning to make
or sell a certain computer or program. Some
very odd things happen with announcements in
this field. (None of this is unique tu computerd o m , but it goes to unusual extremes here.)
Under our system it is permissible for any
person or firm to announce that he will make or
sell any particular thing, and even if he's lying
through his teeth, it's not ordinarily considered
fraud unless money changes hands. Talk is
cheap. T h u s it is c o m m o n prsctice in American
industry for people to say that they will soon
be selling hundred-mile-an-hour automobiles,
tapioca-powered rocketships. antigravity belts.
O k a y . In the computer world the ssire
thing happens. T h ' strategy depends on the
announcer's market position. T h e liitle guys
arc often bluffing wistfully, hoping someone will
get interested enough lo put up the money to
finish the projtct, or the like; the big companies
are often "testing the water." looking to see
whether there are potential customers for what
they hsven'1 even attempted to develop. Announcements by big companies also havt strategic value:
if they announce something a smaller guy has
already announced, they may cut him off at Ihe
pass, even though they htvo no intention of
delivering. That's just one example. The analysis of IBM's announcements is a parlor game
in the field. It has been alleged, for Instance,
thht IBM announced its 360 computer long be fere
it was ready to cut off incursions on its customers by oilier firms; Control Data, in a recent
suit, alleged that the Model 90 number* of (he
360 were announced, and then developed, simply
tt> destroy Control Data and its o w n big fast
mcchincs. These art just examples.
In other »
t auditor.
Datamation ran several good articles on
buying computer stuff in its September, 15. 1970 issue.
"Software Buying" by Howard
Bromberg (3S-40) and "Contract
Caveats" by Robert P. Blgelow (4144) are very helpful warnings about
not getting burned.
Another, "Projecl Management
Games." by Werner W . Leutert (2434) is an absolutely brilliant, bloodcurdling strategic analysis of the
ploy* and dangers involved ir. buying and selling very expensive things,
such as computers and software.
A N Y O N E I N V O L V E D IN C O M P U T E R
M A N A G E M E N T S H O U L D R E A D THIS
MACIIIAVELIJAN PIECE WITH T H E
G R E A T E S T C A R E . Anyone interested in the theory of s h o w d o w n and
negotiation can read it with a differ-
SbWivYji
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-nfc fi
O n e of the stranger projects of the sixties w a s a g a m e
played b y the most illustrious p r o g r a m m e r s at a w e l l - k n o w n
place of research; the place cannot b e n a m e d h e r e , nor
the true n a m e of the project, b e c a u s e f u n d s w e r e obtained
through sober c h a n n e l s , a n d those w h o a p p r o v e d w e r e
u n a w a r e of the true nature of the project, a g a m e w e shall
call S U R F I T ("SURvival of the FITtest".) E v e r y d a y after
lunch the g u y s w o u l d solemnly deliver their p r o g r a m s a n d
see w h o w o n . It w a s a sort of analogy to biological evolution.
T h e p r o g r a m s w o u l d attack each other, a n d the survivors
w o u l d multiply until only o n e w a s left.
It w o r k e d like this. C o r e m e m o r y w a s divided u p
into " p e n s , " o n e for each p r o g r a m m e r , plus a n area for
the m o n i t o r .
3K'<Kt|
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E a c h p r o g r a m , or "animal," could b e loaded a n y w h e r e
in its p e n . T h e other p r o g r a m s k n e w the size of the p e n
but not w h e r e the animal w a s in it. U n d e r supervision
of the special m o n i t o r , the animals could b y turns bite
into the other p e n s , m e a n i n g that the contents of core at
several consecutive locations in the other p e n w a s b r o u g h t
b a c k , a n d c h a n g e d to zero in its original p e n .
Y o u r animal could then "digest"— that is, analyze-the contents bitten. T h e n the other animal got his t u r n .
If h e w a s still alive— that is, if the p r o g r a m could still
function— it could stay in play; otherwise the animal w h o
had bitten it to death could multiply itself into the other
pen.
T h e w i n n e r w a s the g u y w h o s e animal occupied all
p e n s at the e n d of the r u n . If h e w o n several times in a
r o w h e h a d to reveal h o w his p r o g r a m w o r k e d .
A s the g a m e w e n t o n , m o r e a n d m o r e sophistication
w a s p o u r e d into the analytic routines, w h e r e b y the animal
analyzed the p r o g r a m that w a s its victim; so the p r o g r a m m e r
could attack better next time. T h e p r o g r a m s got bigger
and bigger.
Finally the g a m e c a m e to a close. A creature e m e r g e d
w h o could not b e b e a t e n . T h e p r o g r a m m e r h a d reinvented
the g e r m . His w i n n i n g creature w a s all teeth, with n o
diagnostic routines; a n d the first thing it did w a s multiply
itself t h r o u g h the entirety of its o w n p e n , assuring that
n o matter w h e r e it m i g h t just h a v e b e e n bitten, it w o u l d
survive.
WINNIMG-
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Twitting a p r o g r a m within its o w n premises
is a jolly aspect of c o m p u t e r f u n . T h i s g a m e of
three-dimensional tic-tac-toe w a s played with a
p r o g r a m r u n n i n g o n a m i n i c o m p u t e r at the S p r i n g
Joint, 1969. C A U T I O N - - A D U L T S O N L Y . g)
While this e x a m p l e m a y offend s o m e people,
it vividly s h o w B h o w p r o g r a m s m a y b e toyed with
— in this c a s e , b y the mischievous sign-on-to m a k e t h e m b e h a v e h u m o r o u s l y .
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W h e n w o r d got a r o u n d that this n u d e w a s in a public file o n the
time-sharing s y s t e m , m y office-mates s c r a m b l e d to get printouts of h e r .
T h e cleverest, t h o u g h , h a d a d e c k p u n c h e d . A s h e predicted, she w a s
t h r o w n off b y the s y s t e m s people within an h o u r or so-- leaving the other
g u y s with their printouts, but he h a d the d e c k . N o w h e can put her
b a c k in the c o m p u t e r a n y time, but they can't.
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THE PHANTOM
The way
s y s t e m s at M I T
t i m e s , with all
the lineprinter
STRIKES
this story is told, o n a of the time-sharing
w o u l d g o d o w n at completely mysterious
of core a n d disk b e i n g w i p e d o u t , a n d
printing out T H E P H A N T O M S T R I K E S .
F o r a long time the guilty p r o g r a m could not b e
f o u n d . Finally it w a s discovered that the b o m b w a s
h i d d e n in an old a n d v e n e r a b l e statistics p r o g r a m
previously believed to b e completely reliable. T h e
reason the p h a n t o m didn't a l w a y s strike w a s that the
B o m b part queried the s y s t e m clock a n d m a d e a p s e u d o r a n d o m decision w h e t h e r to b o m b the system d e p e n d i n g
o n the instantaneous setting of the clock. T h i s is w h y
it took so long to discover; the p r o g r a m usually bided
its time a n d b e h a v e d p r o p e r l y .
All k i n d s of d u m b Jokes s n d cartoons circulate a m o n g
the public about c o m p u t e r s . T h e n o u r friends regale u s
computerfolk with these Jokes a n d c a r t o o n s , s n d b e c a u s e
we don't laugh they say w e h a v e n o sense of h u m o r .
O h w e d o , we d o . B u t w h a t w e laugh at ie rather
m o r e complicated, a n d relates to w h a t we think of aa t h e
real structure of t h i n g s .
S o m e of the best h u m o r in the field is r u n in Datamation;
a n anthology called Faith, H o p e a n d Parity r e r a n a lot of
their best pieces from the early sixties. Classic w a s the
K l u d g e series, a r o m p describing various activities a n d
products of the K l u d g e K o m p u t e r K o r p o r a t i o n , w h o s e foibles
distilled m a n y of the m o r e idiotic things that h a v e b e e n
d o n e in the field. ("Kludge," p r o n o u n c e d "klooj," is a.
c o m p u t e r m a n ' B term for a ridiculous m a c h i n e . ) Datamation's
h u m o r o u s tradition has continued in a p o n d e r o u s b u t extremely
funny serial that ran in '72 called Also S p r a c h v o n N e u m a n n ,
w h i c h in mellifluous a n d elliptical e u p h e m i s m s described
the author's a d v e n t u r e s st the "airship f o u n d r y " a n d other
confused c o m p a n i e s that h a d h i m d o i n g o n e p r e p o s t e r o u s
thing with c o m p u t e r s after a n o t h e r .
A p p a r e n t l y this w a s the r e v e n g e of a disgruntled
p r o g r a m m e r , long since d e p a r t e d . Not only that, but
his r e v e n g e w a s thorough: the B o m b part of the p r o g r a m
w a s totally kni*'ed into the rest of it, it w a s a v e r y
important p r o g r a m that h a d to b e r u n a lot with different
data, a n d n o documentation existed, m a k i n g it for
practical p u r p o s e s impossible to c h a n g e .
T h e final solution, so the story g o e s , w a s this:
w h e n e v e r the r o w d y p r o g r a m h a d to b e r u n , the rest
of the m a c h i n e w a s cleared o r put o n protect, so it ran
a n d h a d its fits in majestic solitude.
2.
H e sat d o w n at the terminal a n d typed in the c o m m a n d . P R I N T R H B O M B . But before he could see its
contents, the terminal typed instead
94
O n e of the m e a n e r p r a n k s w a s a p r o g r a m that ran
o n the old 7094. It could fit o n o n e c a r d (in b i n a r y ) , a n d
put the c o m p u t e r in an inescapable loop. Unfortunately
the usual " S T O P " button w a s disabled b y this p r o g r a m ,
so to atop the p r o g r a m o n e w o u l d eventually h a v e to pull
the big e m e r g e n c y button. T h i s b u r n t out all the m a i n
registers.
TIMES S Q U A R E
LIGHTS
O n e of the w e i r d e r p r o g r a m s w a a the o p e r a t o r - w a k e r u p p e r s o m e b o d y wrote for the 7094. It w a s a big p r o g r a m ,
a n d w h a t it did w a s D I S P L A Y A L P H A B E T I C A L M E S S A G E S
O N T H E C O N S O L E L I G H T S , eliding past like the n e w s in
T i m e s S q u a r e . Y o u put in this p r o g r a m a n d followed it
with the m e s s a g e ; the computer's console b o a r d w o u l d light
u p a n d the n e w s w o u l d go b y . Since the lights usually
blink In uninteresting patterns, thla w a s v e r y startling.
TSS HAS GONE
T h i s w o u l d blink lights a n d spin tapes impressively
and lengthen the run of y o u r p r o g r a m to w h a t e v e r ' y o u w a n t e d .
BOMBING T H E TIME
SHARE
O n e of the classic b e d - b o y p r a n k s is to b o m b timesharing systems-- that ia, foul them u p a n d bring t h e m to
a halt. M a n y p r o g r a m m e r s h a v e d o n * this; o n e has told
m e It's a wonderful w a y to get rid of y o u r a g g r e s s i o n s .
Of c o u r s e , it con d a m a g e other people's w o r k (especially
if disks are b o m b e d ) ; a n d it a l w a y s gels the ay stem p r o g r a m m e r e h o p p i n g m a d , b e c a u s e it m e a n s you've defied their
authority a n d m a y b e found a hole they don't k n o w a b o u t .
H a r e are a couple of e x a m o l e s .
T h e s e rules h a v e the following general effect: patterns
y o u m a k e will c h a n g e , r e p e a t , g r o w , disappear in wild
c o m b i n a t i o n s . S o m e patterns m o v e across the screen in
s u c c e e d i n g generations ("gliders"). O t h e r patterns pulsate
strangely a n d eject gliders repetitively (glider g u n s ) .
S o m e patterns c r a s h together in w a y s that p r o d u c e m o v i n g
glider g u n s . W e i r d .
While the g a m e of Life, as y o u can see from the rules,
haa nothing to d o with c o m p u t e r s intrinsically, obviously
c o m p u t e r s are the only w a y to try out c o m p l e x patterns
in a reasonable length of time.
DOWN
2; «. 7 - , . j ( U / + « -
H e did so p r e m a t u r e l y . T h e contents of the
n e w file R H B O M B w e r e simply
TSS HAS GONE
DOWN
(•fnlU ] y )
rQ U O
OQQ '
followed b y t h o u s a n d s of n u U c o d e s , w h i c h w e r e silently b e i n g fed to the T e l e t y p e , 10 p e r s e c o n d , p r e venting it from signalling that it w a s ready for the
next thing.
aa
a
•D
N O N - O B V I O U S R E S U L T S OF S O M E SIMPLE P A T T E R N S :
s o m e d i e . o n e blinks b a c k a n d forth, others b e c o m e stable.
( C o n w a y ' s C a m e of Life p r o g r a m m e d for P L A T O b y D a n n y Sleator.)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
TIME-WASTER
In o n e c o m p a n y , for s o m e r e a s o n , it w a s a r r a n g e d
that large and l o n g - r u n n i n g p r o g r a m s h a d priority o v e r
short quick o n e s . V e r y well: s o m e o n e w r o t e a counterattack
p r o g r a m o c c u p i n g several b o x e s of p u n c h c a r d s , to w h i c h
y o u a d d e d the short p r o g r a m y o u really w a n t e d r u n , a n d
a card specifying h o w long y o u w a n t e d the first part of
the p r o g r a m to grind before y o u r real o n e actually started.
T i m e flows in the g a m e b y "generations." T h e pattern
o n the b o a r d in each generation determines the pattern
o n the b o a r d in the next generation. T h e g a m e part simply
consists of trying out n e w patterns a n d seeing w h a t things
result in the generations after it. E a c h cell is either O C C U P I E D
or E M P T Y . A cell b e c o m e s occupied (or "is b o r n " ) if exactly
three of its n e i g h b o r s w e r e full in the previous generation.
A cell stays occupied if either t w o or three of its neighbors
w e r e o c c u p i e d in the previous generation. All other cells
b e c o m e e m p t y ("die").
B u t this w a s incredible! A p r o g r a m so virulent lhat
if y o u just tried to read its contents, without r u n n i n g
it, it still b o m b e d the s y s t e m ! T h e s y s t e m s m a n
r u s h e d from the r o o m to see w h a t h a d g o n e w r o n g .
T h i s p r o g r a m w a s extremely c o m p l e x . Since the
94 displayed the contents of all m a i n registers a n d trap,
arithmetic a n d overflow lights, it w a s necessary to d o v e r y
weird things in the p r o g r a m to turn these lights o n and
off at the right times.
THE
T h e g a m e is a strange m o d e l of evolution, natural
selection, q u a n t u m m e c h a n i c s or pretty m u c h w h a t e v e r
else y o u w a n t to see in it. Part of its initial fascination
w a s that C o n w a y didn't k n o w its long-term o u t c o m e s , a n d
held a contest (eventually w o n b y a g r o u p from M I T ) .
RHBOMB
T h e time-share at the L a b s , n e v e r m i n d w h i c h
L a b s , kept g o i n g d o w n . Mischief w a s s u s p e c t e d . M i s chief w a s verified: a p r o g r a m called R H B O M B , s u b mitted b y a certain p r o g r a m m e r with the initials R . H . ,
w a s r e s p o n s i b l e , a n d t u r n e d out a l w a y s to be present
w h e n the terminals printed T S S H A S G O N E D O W N . It
w a s verified b y the s y s t e m s people that the p r o g r a m
called R H B O M B w a s in fact a B o m b p r o g r a m , with n o
other p u r p o s e than to take d o w n the time-sharing s y s t e m .
H o w e v e r , s o m e m o n t h s later a s n o o p y s y s t e m s
p r o g r a m m e r noted that a file called R H B O M B h a d b e e n
stored o n d i s k . R a t h e r than h a v e R . H . scalped p r e m a t u r e l y , h e thought h e w o u l d c h e c k the contents.
ZAP T H E
T h e rules a p p e a r e d in the Scientific A m e r i c a n in
O c t o b e r 1 9 7 0 , in Martin G a r d n e r ' s g a m e s c o l u m n , a n d the
w h o l e country w e n t w i l d . G a r d n e r w a s s w a m p e d with
results ( m a n y published in F e b . 7 1 ) ; after a couple m o r e
issues G a r d n e r w a s h e d his h a n d s of it, a n d it goes on
in its o w n m a g a z i n e .
T h e rules are deceptively simple: s u p p o s e y o u h a v e
a big c h e c k e r b o a r d . E a c h cell has eight neighbors: the
cells next to it u p , d o w n a n d diagonally.
R . H . w a s s p o k e n to sternly a n d it did not h a p p e n again.
P r a n k s are a n important b r a n c h of h u m o r in the field.
H e r e are s o m e that will give y o u a s e n s e of it.
A G r a n d F a d a m o n g computerfolk in the last couple
of y e a r s has b e e n the g a m e of " Life," invented b y J o h n
Horton C o n w a y .
G a m e s with c o m p u t e r p r o g r a m s are universally enjoyed
in the c o m p u t e r c o m m u n i t y . W h e r e v e r there are g r a p h i c
displays there is usually a veraion of the g a m e S p a c e w a r .
(Bee S t e w a r d B r a n d ' s S p a c e w a r piece In Rolling S t o n e ,
mentioned e l s e w h e r e . ) S p a c e w a r , like m a n y other c o m p u t e r b a s e d g a m e s , is played b e t w e e n p e o p l e , using the c o m p u t e r
as a n animated b o a r d w h i c h can w o r k out the results of
complex rules.
S o m e installations h a v e c o m p u t e r g a m e s y o u c a n play
against; y o u arc effectively "playing against the h o u s e , "
trying to outfox a p r o g r a m . T h i s is rarely e a s y . A variety
of t e c h n i q u e s , h i d d e n from y o u , can be u s e d .
W h e n "a c o m p u t e r " plays a g a m e , actually s o m e b o d y ' s
p r o g r a m is carrying out a set of rules that the p r o g r a m m e r
haa laid out In a d v a n c e . T h e p r o g r a m has s natural e d g e :
it c a n c h e c k a m u c h longer serlea of possibilities In looking
for the best m o v e (according to the criteria in the p r o g r a m ) .
T h e r e Is s m o r e complicated a p p r o a c h : the c o m p u t e r
can b e p r o g r a m m e d to test for tha best strategy in a g a m e .
T h i s la m u c h m o r e complicated, a n d ia ordinarily considered
an e x a m p l e of "artificial intelligence" (aee " T h e G o d - B u i l d e r s , "
e l s e w h e r e in thla b o o k ) .
D o n a l d D . S p e n c e r . G a m e Playing with C o m p u t e r s ,
( S p a r t a n / H a y d e n . $13.) T h i s includes flowi a n d w h a t - h a v e - y o u for s o m e
A continuing scries of g a m e p r o g r a m s (mostly or
all in B A S I C ) a p p e a r s in P C C . a n e w s p a p e r
mentioned earlier.
Stewart Brand's m a r v e l o u s S p a c e w a r piece, also
mentioned earlier, ia highly r e c o m m e n d e d .
Robert C . G a s - a i U , "an <.xa.ln.tion of Tic-Tac-Toellke G*fl»«." P r o c . NCC 7 4 , 349-355.
Exa»u.nes structure of simple gasws
(••p. 3D tic-t«c-toe or guBIC) - h e r . forced
wins are poesiblej and prograsi structures to
play t h e * .
. of Life," Ti M , 21 Jan 7 4 , 66-1
(Lifeline, -aid to be pub11shad by Robert T .
kteinwright of W i l t o n , Connecticut.)
R.W.\J.T.0.|y.
frtteta,.
"
7
Lauren. 14. was t»lking to another girl at Ihe A C M TO con
14
F O R I
ftTiKfr
of R.S.S.
tic City
They have varied backgrounds. T h e father of one Is n bulcl
the falher of another Is one of ihe country's foremost intellectuals.
(None of that matters to the kids.) I have dined in a number ot
their h o m e s , and find this in common: their parents show them
great respect, love and trust. Indeed, Resistor parents have
expressed some surprise to learn that their children's work Is
at the full-fledged professional level. T h e important thing, lo
the parents, is that the kids are working on constructing things
Ihey enjoy.
Tln-ir name makes people think they're a war protest group,
but actually Ihe R.E.S.I.S.T.O.R.S, of Princeton. N ,J. are n
bunch of kids w h o play with computers. They're nil young; mcmbei
are purged when they finish high school. Their clubroom la at
Princeton University, but the Initiative la strictly theirs.
The name stands Tor "Radically Emphatic Students Interested
In Science. Technology and Other Research Subjects." Computers
are not all they do--they've also gotten Inlo slot racing nnd the
game of Diplomacy-- but computers arc what Ihoy're known for.
T h e Resistors (lei's spell 11 the short w a y ) exhibit regularly at
the computer conferences. and have startled numerous people
with the high quality of their work. They've been invited to
conferences abroad. They have built various language procei
and done graphics! lately their fad la working with the LDS-1
In Princeton's Chemistry Department.
Since there was H lot .,t
(;.i1,.-.e,ty . (ho Resistors got
a free account on a national time-sharing system, Though they
didn't have to pay, the system kept them informed on whet they
would have owed. In a year or so they ran up funny-money bills
of several hundred thousand dollars.
P..E.S.I.S.T.O. a.:
after infamous
Onega ceremony.
r»F-t
Tho trade press is umblvalcnt toward the Resistor*. O n
the one hand they make good copy. (Al one Spring Joint they
had the only working time-shoring demo-- on a carpel next to
a phOne booth.) O n the other, Ihcy sometimes Nccm hriitty and
publicity-hungry . like m a n y celebrities. (At another Spring
Joint they d u g up an IBM Songbook und serenaded the guys ut
the IBM pavilion, w h o hud to act nice about it.) So they don't
get written up in computer magazines so much anymore.
I first met the Resistors in 1370. and started hanging around
with them for two reasons. First, Ihcy ore perfectly delightful:
enthusiastic in the w a y Ihnl most Adults forego, und very wilty .
T o them computer talk was not u thing ii|>;irt. us it Is Cur both outsiders end m a n y professionals.
Where do they learn il all? They lcact
Newcomers hang around, learn computer talk. work on projects ,
and tease each other. They also use the informal trade channels,
subscribing to magazines and filling oul information request
cards under such company names as Plebney International Signal
Division and Excallbur W a x Fruit.
Secondly, und this was the self-seeking impect, I noted
that these kids were quite export, and interested in Riving m e
advice where computer professionals would not. They got interested
in helping m e wilh m y (perhaps quixotic) Xanadu"" project (see
flip side). This was enough lo keep m e visiting for a couple of
years. N o w , some people arc too proud lo auk children for information. This is d u m b . Information is where you find it.
T h e great thing about these klda Is their zany flippancy.
They've never failed, they've never been ofruld for their jobs,
and so they combine the zest of the young with their expertise.
Their forms of expression arc aa startling to professionals as
they are to outsiders: don't say anything ponderously if it can
be said playfully. Don't say "bit ricld" if you can say "funny
bits;" don't say "alphanumeric buffer" If you can soy "quick brown
fox box; " don't say "interrupt signal" If you cai :all it a Hoy
Charlie: " don't say "readdressing logic" if you ;an say "whoopee
T h e last I hcurd. the Resistors were ut work in ;i C O B O L
compiler for the Pl)l'-ll. hoping it would save the local high school
from the disastrous (10 them) purchase of an IBM 1130. (Since
the school's intent WOB lo teach business programming, Ihcy hoped
that the avuilabillty of C O B O L would encourage the school to buy
the more powerful und less expensive PUP-11.)
T h e Resistors urc few, but I think they are very important
in principle, an cxislencc proof. They show how silly and artificial
is our edifice of pedagogy , with ull its sequences und sterilizations,
end how anybody cun learn anything in Ihe right atmosphere,
stripped of Its pomposities. T h e Resistors arc not obsessed with
computers; their love at computers is part of their love of everything,
and everything is whut computers arc for.
4. A t t e m p t to find out how else computer:
a r e used in the p a r t i c u l a r a r e a , and m e n t i o n
these to h e l p orient the r e a d e r .
The public is thoroughly confused about
c o m p u t e r s , and the p r e s s and p u b l i c i s t s are
scarcely free from b l a m e . IT'S TIME F O R E X P L A N A T I O N S . People want to know what c o m p u t e r
systems really do-- no more of this "latest
space-age technology" g a r b a g e . M r . B u s i n e s s *
• a n , M r . W r i t e r , are y o u man enough to s t a r t
telling it straight?
The computer p r i e s t h o o d , u n f o r t u n a t e l y ,
often w a n t s to awe people w i t h , or unduly
s t r e s s , the notion of the computer b e i n g i n volved in a p a r t i c u l a r thing at a l l . It is
time for everybody to stop being impressed by
this and get on with t h i n g s . Don't just copyedit what they give y o u . Nose around and
really find o u t , then write it loud and c l e a r .
These simple rules are my < gge:
inging on more intelligent dei
tha
'11 help e n l i g h t e n the publ ; by t
for
1. FIND O U T A N D DESCRIBE THE FUNDAMENTAL A P P R O A C H A N D PHILOSOPHY OF THE P R O G R A M .
T h i * can invariably b e stated in three clear
English sentences or l e s s , but not necessarily
by the person w h o created i t . THIS IS W H A T
WRITERS A R E FOR: it is your duty to probe u n til the matter has become c l e a r .
Examples.
"This chess-playing progri
notes for various kinds
"This
This goes a g a i n s t the c x c l u s i v i s t t e n d e n cies we all have w h e n w e want to b a l l y h o o
s o m e t h i n g . It is a matter of c o n s c i e n c e , an
important o n e .
W h a t c o u l d go wrong?
A n d most i m p o r t a n t : W h a
IMPORTANT
DISTINCTIONS
It is only by c l a r i f y i n g distinction;
' going to get anything
7. Don't say "a ma 1functioning computer'
(hardware error) if the computer functioned
as it was d i r e c t e d on an incorrect program
(software e r r o r ) . (And remember that the
best p r o g r a m m e r s make m i s t a k e s , so that a
c a t a s t r o p h i c bug in a system is no sign that
it was p r o g r a m m e d by an i n c o m p e t e n t , only
that it isn't finished.)
8 . (A p a r t i c u l a r point about g r a p h i c s .
S e e flip s i d e . ) Don't say " T V screen" if a
computer screen is not T V , i.e., S2S h o r i zontal lines that you can see on the screen
if y o u look for t h e m . (See p . >»\fc versus p .
£ w \ ? J . ) HOW A B O U T : "visual display screen"?
-- y o u can a d d , "on which the computer can
draw moving lines," or w h a t e v e r else the
p a r t i c u l a r system d o e s .
9 . Don't assume that your audience is
computer-illiterate.
What or whose computer is used to do a
thing is of almost no concern (unless it is
one of unusual d e s i g n , of which there are comparatively f e w ) . Not the make of the comput e r , but the GENERAL IDEA OF HOW T H E PROGRAM
O P E R A T E S , Is the most important t h i n g .
ing paid by ,
have ti
• that
< public u n d e r s t a n d i n g , and
>ss. (If y o u think I t c a n ' t
splendid Kodak ads in the
I. Keep g e e - w h i n i n g restricted to the
crlptlon of a system's psychological effect
real p e o p l e . (What impresses 1you may turn
to be old hat.)
—
3. Look for angles special to f
reporting. Pursuing details is like!
bring up better story pegs and more I
t e r e s t . Instead of saying "computer
ists"
1 done s o m e t h i n g , you might find 1
thl
• tlni
how
unlike:.
oph/slcist and 1
finding what's special••
"Never before'hes
s been done on a compute:
so small the six<
a portable typewriter
(end having only 1
4000 words of m e n o r y ) . .
Did they rale free subscriptions to computer ma go tines*
I asked. Could they claim Ihcy really "make decisions affecting
the purchase of computers"?
"Of course w e do!" was the reply. "All together: shall
w e buy a computer?"
Resistors (in unison) "NO!"
Their originul advisor w h o m w e shall coll Gaston, is mischievous in his o w n right. It was meeting-time al Gaston's piece
on a bright Saturday, end I »us on the fawn working on Xanadu
with Nat and Elliott wher
(l interrupted lo say that an unwelcome
salesman of burg lar alarms was about to arrive. "Let's have
a little fun with him." said Gaston. The kids were to be introduced
as Gaston's children, I was an uncle. W e took our stations.
T h e salesman may have realized ho was walking into a trap
from all the strangely beaming adolescents that stood in the living
room. H e got out his wares and started to demonstrate the burglar
iilarm, but it didn't go right. Peter, standing in front of Ihe equipment with n dcmonicully vucuous grin, had reversed n diode behind
his back so thul Ihe alarm rang continuously unless you broke
the light beam.
"Itumpf," said Gaston, "you w a n
system?" W e trooped into the kitchen,
running.
A N Y N E W S ? typed Gaston.
C R E A M Y E L L O W BUICK P U L L E D INTO D R I V E W A Y , replied
the Teletype. JERSEY LICENSE P L A T E . . . (and the salesman's
license n u m b e r ) . and finally. O W N E R O F R E C O R D N O T K N O W N .
John was typing this from the other Teletype in the barn.
T h e salesman stared nt the Teletype H e looked around
at our cherubic smiling faces, lie looked at the Teletype. "That's
all right," said the salesman. "But now I'd like to show you a
real security system. . ." A n d it was back to the old burglar
alarm.
deeply versed in computers or softw
just a p r o g r a m m e r . (Anyway, if son thing has
been p r o g r a m m e d by an e n t o m o l o g i s t , it is
probably more interesting to refer 3 him as
an e n t o m o l o g i s t than as a "computer
1 4 . Do not refer to apparent
of the computer (unless that
rathe)
feature of the program]. Cre
n o r . Do j
inybody is
"the clever comp
it is the progra
These guys don't get
if you think s o , say
:cogn
ihey dese
S . N e v e r , never say "teach the computer
elliptical w a y of saying "write computer
progr; m s . " Programming means creating exact
and s| e c i f i c plans that can be automatically
folloi ed by the equipment
like
'cry"
•ile
of dr
of flushing i t .
an the flip
taught."
archseologici
Of coui
hardware mat
equipment 01
your real di
put the f a d
I was driving some Resistors around Princeton- ihev w * ™
yelling con.radie.ory driving inatructions. "I demand trujle redundancy ,n the directions." I „„[<,. -Right up ahead you turn
right right away." said a seok.-mnn
1 0 . D o n ' t assume that lt can't all b e
said s i m p l y . O n l y lazy or h a r d - p r e s s e d write!
are u n c l e a r .
1 1 . Do not use c u t e s y - t a l k , particular
that w h i c h suggests that computers have an intrinsic c h a r a c t e r . By " c u t e s y " I mean s e n tences like "Scientists have recently taught
a computer to play c h e s s , " Mis-Leads like
"What does a computer sound like?" (when talking about music constructed by a particular
program in a particular w a y ) , and awe-struck
' icrlptlons l i k e , "At last the Space Age has
come to the
1 bus!
1 2 . Do not use the garbage term " c o m p u terized," unless there is a clear statement
of whore the computer is in the s y s t e m , what
the computer is doing and h o w . A " c o m p u t e r ized traffic system," for i n s t a n c e , could be
any damn t h i n g , but a "system of traffic light
under computer c o n t r o l , using various timing
techniques still under d e v e l o p m e n t , " says
something.
1 3 . Don't put in cliches as f a c t , for
example by the use Jit such terms as " m a t h e m a t i c a l " or "computer scientist" unless they
really a p p l y . Do not imply any mathematical
character unless y o u know the system possesses
it: many programs contain no operations that
can fairly b e called m a t h e m a t i c a l . S i m i l a r l y ,
tidely
Lentis ' is
:ompu
should b e de
suggests the
b a b y , puppy •
t Imply that something is '
*ss y o u have checked that
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ernest G o w e r s , Plain W o r d s .
This wonderful little book showed
English civil Jervants "bureaucratic
w r i t i n g " was totally u n n e c e s s a r y . Its
precepts-- mainly concerned with callini
challenge: not Just to ei
the specifications, but i
find aesthetically pleaai
i are • m y s t e r y to o t h e r s ,
iwhat f r i g h t e n i n g , s o m e w h a t
o n c e r n s s e e * so p e c u l i a r ,
•re, t h e i r l a n g u a g e so in-
C o m p u t e r pi
w h o see them as
r i d i c u l o u s . Th<
their h o u r s so I
comprehens ible.
C o m p u t e r p e o p l e n a y b e s t b e t h o u g h t of
as a new e t h n i c g r o u p , very » " c h u n t o t h e m s e l v e s . N o w , it is very h a r d to c h a r a c t e r i z e
e t h n i c g r o u p s in w o r d s , and c e r t a i n to g i v e
o f f e n s e , but if I had to c h o o s e one w o r d for
them it w o u l d be e l f i n . W e are like those
l i t t l e p e o p l e down among the m u s h r o o m s , s k i t tering around completely preoccupied with
u n f a t h o m a b l e c o n c e r n s and s e e m i n g l y i n d i f f e r e n t to n o r m a l h u m a n i t y .
In the m o o n l i g h t
( i . e . , p r e t t y l a t e , w i t h snacks a r o u n d the
e q u i p m e n t ) y o u m a y h e a r our m u s i c .
M o s t i m p o r t a n t l y , the first rule in d e a l ing w i t h l e p r e c h a u n s a p p l i e s ex h y p o t h e s i to
c o m p u t e r p e o p l e : w h e n o n e p r o m i s e s to do y o u
a m a g i c a l f a v o r , k e e p y o u r e y e s fixed on h l a
u n t i l he has d e l i v e r e d . O r y o u w i l l g e t w h a t
y o u d e s e r v e . P r o g r a m m e r s ' p r o m i s e s are n o t o r iously u n k e p t .
But the d i p p y g l o r i e s of this w o r l d , the
e a r n e s t n e s s and w h i m s y , are s o m e t h i n g e l s e .
A real c o m p u t e r f r e » k , if y o u ask h i m for a
p r o g r a m to p r i n t c a l e n d a r s , w i l l w r i t e a p r o g r a m that g i v e s y o u y o u r c h o i c e o f G r e g o r i a n ,
J u l i a n , O l d R u s s i a n and F r e n c h R e v o l u t i o n a r y ,
in e i t h e r s m a l l r e f e r e n c e p r i n t o u t s or b i g
ones y o u can w r i t e i n .
P r a c t i c e s a y i n g them l o u d l y and f i r m l y to
y o u r s e l f . That way you won't freeze
w h e n t h e y ' r e p u l l e d on y o u .
T H A T ' S N O T H O W Y O U DO IT
THAT'S NOT HOW YOU USE COMPUTERS
T H A T ' S N O T W H A T Y O U DO W I T H C O M P U T E R S
T H A T ' S N O T HOW I T ' S D O N E
THAT'S NOT PRACTICAL
H O W M U C H DO Y O U K N O W A B O U T C O M P U T E R S ?
WITH YOUR BACKGROUND,
Y O U C O U L D N ' T U N D E R S T A N D IT
L E T ' S C A L L IN S O M E O N E W H O K N O W S T H I S
APPLICATION (generally a shill)
IT I S N ' T DONE
(you k n o w the a n s w e r to that o n e )
a n d the one I've b e e n w a i t i n g tb h e a r ,
IF G O D H A D I N T E N D E D C O M P U T E R S TO BE U S E D
THAT W A Y , HE WOULD HAVE DESIGNED
THEM DIFFERENTLY.
O n e c o m m o n t r a i t of o u r t i m e s - - the t e c h n i q u e o f o b s c u r i n g o n e s e l f - - m a y be m o r e c o m mon a m o n g c o m p u t e r p e o p l e than o t h e r s (see
" T h e M y t h of the M a c h i n e . " p . <f , a n d a l s o
"Cybercrud," p. J
} . Perhaps a certain disg r u n t l e m e n t w i t h the w o r l d of p e o p l e fuses
w i t h f a s c i n a t i o n for (and e n v y o f ? ) m a c h i n e s .
A n y w a y , m » n y of us w h o h a v e g o t t e n a l o n g b a d l y
w i t h p e o p l e find here a r e a l m of a b s t r a c t i o n s
to i n v e n t and c h o r e o g r a p h , p r i v a t e l y a n d w i t h
c o n t i n u i n g c o n t r o l . A s t r a n g e h o u s e for t h e
emotions, this. Like H e g e l , who became most
e l o q u e n t and a r d e n t w h e n h e w a s l e c t u r i n g at
his m o s t t h e o r e t i c a l , it is i n t e r e s t i n g to be
a m o n g c o m p u t e r freaks b o i s t e r o u s l y e x p l a i n i n g
the c r o s s - t a n g l e d r a m i f i c a t i o n s of s o m e s y s t e m
they h a v e seen or w o u l d l i k e to b u i l d .
(A s y n d r o m e
m o r e than o n c e :
someone he cares
a b o u t his ideas
type of F r e u d i a n
to p o n d e r .
I h a v e s e e n it
the t e c h n i c a l p e r s o n w h o , w i t h
a b o u t , cannot stop talking
for a p r o j e c t . A p o i g n a n t
displacement.)
A sad a s p e c t of t h i s , i n c i d e n t a l l y , is by
no m e a n s o b v i o u s . T h i s is that the s a m e c o m p u t e r folks w h o c h a t t e r e l o q u e n t l y a b o u t s y s tems that f a s c i n a t e t h e m tend to fall d a r k and
s i l e n t w h i l e s o m e o n e e l s e is e x p o u n d i n g his o w n
f a s c i n a t i o n s . Y o u w o u l d e x p e c t that the p e r s o n
with effulgent technical enthusiasms would
really click with kindred s p i r i t s .
In my e x p e r i e n c e this o n l y h a p p e n s b r i e f l y : h o s t i l i ties and d i s a g r e e m e n t s b o i l out of n o w h e r e to
cut the g o o d m o o d .
My o n l y c o n c l u s i o n is that
the s a m e s p i r i t that o r i g i n a l l y d r i v e s us m u t t e r i n g i n t o the c l o c k w o r k feels t h r e a t e n e d
w h e n o t h e r s s t a r t m o n k e y i n g w i t h w h a t has b e e n
c o n t r o l l e d and p r i v a t e f a n t a s y .
T h i s c a n b e s u m m e d up as f o l l o w s : N O B O D Y
WANTS TO HEAR ABOUT ANOTHER GUY'S S Y S T E M .
H e r e as e l s e w h e r e , things fuse to b l o c k h u m a n
c o m m u n i c a t i o n : e n v y , d i s l i k e of b e i n g d o m i n a t e d , r e f u s a l to r e l a t e e m o t i o n a l l y , and w h a t ever e l s e . Whatever computer people hear
a b o u t , it s e e m s they i m m e d i a t e l y try to t o p .
W h i c h Is n o t to say that c o m p u t e r p e o p l e
are m e r e c l o c k w o r k lemons or B e t t e l h e i m i a n
r o b o t - c h i l d r e n . But the t e n d e n c i e s are t h e r e .
BIBLIOGRAPHY
G e r a l d M . W e i n b e r g , The P s y c h o l o g y of Computi
Programming. VarTNoTtrand R e i n n ' o T o T ^
Systematic
treatment
in a r e l s t e d
and Judy ahov.
O n . of Lha nastiest people I have av»r
waa tha haed of aacurlty for a blg-oomput*r
atallatlon. Sarvaral people agree with me U
he delights In tailing people thay can't do
specific things on u s computer, merely for
aak* of restricting them.
Anyway, at thla same lnstallatii
a programmer, l.t's call him A , who disliked au
thorlty, ana disliked t M * director of sacurity
let's csll him s, with a moody passion.
S spent auch of his time Intensely. •*»•••
Ively contemplating possible ways that
might b r « k into th. s y . t ™ , and .laborataly
programing dafans*a and cowtarmaaauxa* 1
Ui.at.nitor. HOW do I know thla? I know
who constantly went through B's w<
" -11 plana Incaaaantly for On
baskat.
• will gat a big taunting printout. comlm
•apectadly to hla off th* machine,
hla .11 his M C I . U u a known
place between people who want computer programs,
but can't write thorn, and people who can write
them, but don't want to. Or, that ta, who don't
want to get caught having to do a lot of unnecessary work if lt could be done nora simply.
than, is where the
ly be the boss— says,
do it this way."
requests and counter-offers
he wants and the pro•Id rather do it a dlfil for both sides to
- d e a r . Often the cuathlng but would be
-__ier that Is much easier
Often the programmer can make helpways to do it that will
U n f o r t u n a t e l y t h e r e is no r o o m h e r e to
c o a c h y o u on how to r e p l y to all t h e s e .
Be
a s s u r e d that there is a l w a y s a r e p l y .
The
brute-force brazen comeback, equally d i r t y ,
is j u s t to s a y s o m e t h i n g like
DIDN'T Y O U SEE THE LAST JOINT
PROCEEDINGS?
(where x is a n y p l a c e on the map on p .
S" ,
and y is any c u r r e n t computer, such as a
PDP-10.^
Computer people have many ordinary traits
that show up in e x t r a o r d i n a r y w a y s - - l o y a l t y ,
p r i d e , t e m p e r , v e n g e f u l n e s s and so o n .
They
h a v e p a r t i c u l a r q u a l i t i e s , as w e l l . Of d o g g e d ness and c o n s t r a i n e d f a n t a s y t h a t e n a b l e them
to p r o d u c e in t h e i r w o r k .
(Once a t lunch I
asked a t a b l e f u l l of p r o g r a m m e r s w h a t p l a n e
f i g u r e s they c o u l d get out of one cut t h r o u g h
a cube.
I got a b o u t three times as m a n y a n s w e r s .as I t h o u g h t there w e r e . )
U n f o r t u n a t e l y there is no r o o m or time
to go on a b o u t all these t h i n g s - - see B i b l i o g r a p h y - - but in this p a r t i c u l a r a r e a of f a n tasy and e m o t i o n I h a v e o b s e r v e d s o m e i n t e r e s ting t h i n g s .
down to a paraonal
a program that meeti
... p r o g r a m m e r s , in m y experience,
tend to be painstaking, logical,
inhibited, cautious, restrained,
defensive, methodical, and ritualistic."
very bad things can happen if program negotiation is not done carefully and honestly enough.
The programmer can Bisunderstand and create sanething that was not wanted, or the cuatenwr can
carelessly nisstate himself and ask for the wrong
thing.
Or worst of all— the programmer can d e liberately mishear and do state thing different,
saying, "There, that's what you wanted," aa ha
hands over something that isn't what wa* really
asked for. And the poor custc«Mr may evan believe
lt (see "Cybercrud," p. I ) .
Program negotiation should be more widely
acknowledged as a difficult and painful business.
It is exhausting and fraught with stressi people
(on both side*) get all kinds of psychoscmatic
symptoms (like abdominal pains, tics and chills).
The fact that people's careers often depend on
the outcone makes the atmosphere worse, rather
than fostering the thorough and sympathetic cooperation which is essential.
If there is one thine that lavmui in hu.iru,*.
K e n Knowlton.
"Collaborations with Artists—
A Programmer's Reflections,"
in N s k e a Rosenfeld <eds.).
Graphic Languages
(North-Holland P u b . C o . ) , p . 399.
U S E F U L , A N D POS5IBLY E M B A R R A S S I N G QUESTIONS
If the Computer Priests start to pick o
here are some helpful phrases that will give
strength.
I do not want to give the impression tl
Guardians of the Machine are always bad gu
Nevertheless, sad lo relate, they are not alv
good g u y s . Like everyone out to bolster his position
including the plumber and the electrician
m a n haa learned h o w easy it is to intimidate the laymi
N o w . these people are often right. But if
you have reason to question the w a y things are donewhether you're a m e m b e r of the same corporation,
a consumer advocate or whatever-- you are probably
entitled to straight answers that will help settle the
istly . without p u t d o w n s . A n y honest
N o w , these helpful que
•stly a
m a y elicit long mysterious an:
and confident. Write d o w n what's said and !
vith the glossary in this book until you undi
Ther
the a
i ask n
1 a m not Inviting Ihe reader to m a k e trouble
flippantly. I a m suggesting that m a n y people have
a right to k n o w which ha* not been exercised, and
there m a y be some discomfort at first.
H O W D O E S IT W O R K ?
(This question m a y have to be backed
up as follows: "There are no computer systems
whose workings cannot be clearly described
to someone w h o understands the basics. I
INSIST T H A T Y O U M A K E A S I N C E R E A T T E M P T . " )
W H Y D O Y O U C L A I M IT H A S T O B E THIS W A Y ?
(SPEAK M O R E S L O W L Y , PLEASE.)
W H A T IS T H E D A T A S T R U C T U R E ?
C O U L D Y O U E X P L A I N T H A T IN T E R M S O F T H E D A T A
STRUCTURE?
W H O D E S I G N E D THIS D A T A S T R U C T U R E ?
A n d can I lalk to him?
W H A T IS T H E A L G O R I T H M ?
W H O IS T H E P R O G R A M M E R ?
A n d can I talk lo him?
W H Y D O W E H A V E T O USE A C A N N E D P R O G R A M FOR
THIS?
W H Y IS T H E I N P U T L A N G U A G E S O C O M P L I C A T E D ?
W H Y D O W E NEED CARDS? W H Y CAN'T PEOPLE TYPE
IN T H E I R O W N INPUT?
W H Y N O T H A V E A SIMPLE-MINDED F R O N T E N D T H A T
L E T S U S E R S C O N T R O L IT T H E M S E L V E S ?
W H Y H A V E F O R M S T O FILL O U T ? W H Y N O T H A V E
A D I A L O G U E F R O N T - E N D O N A MINI?
W H Y C A N ' T IT B E ON-LINE? fr.* *K C O H B l s * * « / f fit* ft. lO-%)?
W H Y D O E S IT H A V E T O B E T H A T B R A N D O F C O M P U T E R ?
W H Y N O T G E T A S Y S T E M WITH LESS O V E R H E A D ?
W H Y S H O U L D ALL C O M P U T E R OPERATIONS BE CENTRALIZED?
D O N ' T T H E Y G E T IN E A C H O T H E R ' S W A Y ?
W H Y D O E S IT A L L H A V E T O B E O N O N E C O M P U T E R ?
W H Y N O T P U T P A R T O F IT O N A D E D I C A T E D MINI?
W H Y C A N ' T W E D O THIS P A R T I C U L A R T H I N G A L L
O N A MINI?
W O U L D N ' T IT C O S T LESS IF W E G O T A M I N I C O M P U T E R
F O R THIS T A S K ?
W H Y C A N ' T THIS BE P R O G R A M M E D IN S O M E L A N G U A G E
LIKE BASIC?
YOU K N O W AND I KNOW THAT COMPUTERS DONT
HAVE TO W O R K THAT WAY . WHY DO YOU CHOOSE
T O D O IT T H A T W A Y ?
If these suggestions seem unnecessarily contentioui
II Is because some of theae guys like lo pick on peopis,
and you m a y have lo be ready. A n d you m a y need
all the support you can get, if. say, you take a stand
"If the lnfarmaUon Is In there, I don't sea «
in't get It oul."
"You have no right lo ask questions like thl
( tha program requires It, change ths progri
-1 C A N T D E A R HEAT." R E M A R K E D L A N G W I D E R E
THE MEETING OF THE MINOS
The _ £*pprt"
Naive Advocate
details
What you've gotta
understand ia that thai
are problwa involved..
i do all thasa things.
Comeuppancei the customer will gat what he d*s*r*
Morali if you want something, you'd better damn M
negotiate lt at th* detailed laval.
T h e Strang* language of computer people makes
more senae than laymen necessarily realise.
It's a generalized analytical w a y of looking
at time. space and activity. Conalder th*
following.
- T H E R E IS INSIGNIFICANT B U F F E R S P A C E W
T H E F R O N T H A L L . " (Buffer: place to put
something temporarily. >
" B E F O R E 1 A C K N O W L E D G E Y O U R I N T E R R U P T . LET
M E T A K E THIS P R O C E S S T O T E R M I N A T I O N , "
- C O O K W G IS A N A R T O F INTERLEAVING
T D M E - B O U N D O P E R A T I O N S . " (I.e..doing
parts of separate jobe in the right order
with an eye on th* clock.)
Some
In the early throes of computer enthusiasm,
it ii easy to suppose that anything tan be d o n e
by computer-- that i s , any thine involving the
chewing or diddling of information. This is
decldealy not s o .
For Instance, lt Is easy e n o u g h , and often
p r a c t i c a l , to have a computer do something a few
mi 111 on t i n e s . But it is almost never practical
to have a computer do something s trillion t i m e s .
Why? W e l l , let's say (for the **ke~oT sTSplicity) that a certain program loop takes 1/1000
of a second. To do it a thousand t i m e s , then,
would take one s e c o n d , and to do it a million
tines would take a thousand s e c o n d s , or about
seventeen m i n u t e s . But to do it a trillion times
n o w , would mean doing it 17,000,000 "minutes. or
'
over thirty y e a r s .
N o w , you will note that even if you speed up
thst loop to 1/1,000,006 o f a s e c o n d , a trillion
repetitions will take almost twelve days
which
is obviously going to need some justifying, even
assuming that it Is otherwise feasible.
(For problems of this type people begin
thinking about building special h a r d w a r e , anyw a y . It will be n o t e d , for i n s t a n c e , that the
PDP-I6-- see p . J T - - lets you compile your own
special equipment for problems thst need eternal repetitions.
COMBINATORIAL
EXPLOSIONS
One kind o f thing that's too much to do
is generally called a combinatorial explosion-that i s , a problem that '^explodes" into too
many things to d o . for i n s t a n c e , consider the
game of c h e s s . Just because you can write a
program to look ahead at all the possible o u t comes o f , s a y , tic-tac-toe, that doesn't mean
you can consider ail the possibilities of c h e s s .
To look at " a l l " the possibilities just a few
moves ahead involves you in trillions of
c a l c u l a t i o n s . Renembcr about trillions?
And
it turns out that there are a lot of problems
like t h a t .
METHODS FOR DOIMC THINGS
i^MerwiT
jm-imr>H(r
$tn<Ms
w - r i * )
IS
Time-sharing prices are a mix
of lotsa stuff:
1. Connect time.
This
you psy-Ey - the hour.
Good prices: Jz (DTSS),
II.SO (Monmouth County
[MJ] Community College
but they have no
*
Basically, an opernl i rig s y s 1 cm is
program thst supervises all the other p
grams in s c o m p u t e r . For this
also called a supervi sor or a
Because the operating system i
be in c h a r g e , many computers nun
cial w i r e d - i n instructions that r
operating system can u s e . This j
other programs from taking complete control
of the m a c h i n e .
2.
Operating systems cone in all s u e s .
The bigger ones take up a lot of computer
tine because they have to do a l o t . The
smallest kind,which are really kind of
d i f f e r e n t , are just to help a single p r o grammer move quickly between his basic
p r o g r a m s . {A typical such system is DEC's
D O S , or Disk Operating 5 y s t e m , which you
can get with the PDP-11.) This system is
really a kind of butler that keeps track of
where your basic programs are stored on disk
and brings then in for you q u i c k l y .
no beginner: *
"Core charge:
tially the price of
processing itself; depends on amount of
number crunching.
PDP-10 bills this in
kilocore-seconds. i.e.,
how many thousand words
of core nenory your program really turns out
to n e e d , for how many
Storage, which costs much.
Example: 1000 characters
for a month for a buck.
(Typical.) That adds up
*
"ou might do better
A step up is the Batch M o n i t o r , or operating system set up for Batch Processing
(see p . 5 ~ £ 3 r ) . In batch p r o c e s s i n g , prograns go through the computer as if on a
conveyer b e l t , one at a time (or in some
systems several at a t i n e ) . T h e operating
system shepherds then.
Note that time-sharing usually
less in non-business hours
some exceptions charge m o r e .
IBM'* OS/VS2-:.
(Big IBH 370..)
Hatch processing is used when programs
don't need any interaction with human u s e r s .
(Or, and this is more c o m m o n , when human
users want tine-sharing but can't ge_t it;
see below.) A multiprogramming operating
system is one that allows several different
prograns (or conveyor-belt sequences of
batch programs) to operate at one t i n e .
(This is how most IBM J60s are used.)
WHERE TO GET IT
BIBLIOGRAPHY
MacDonald7Al
All About Timesharing
ic Computer Sysi
"Elsevier PubTTi
Sen
1
No way can we here get into the prose and
cons (both senses) of the myriad time-sharing
services that are available. An excellent
summary of fifty-six different time-sharing
services (variously using computers by Honeyw e l l , IBM, D E C , U n i v a c , C D C , Xerox and
Burroughs)
appeared in the February, 1973
Computer Decisions ("Piecing Out the Tinesharine Putil'e w Ty John R. H i l l e g a s s , p p . 2 4 - 1 2 ) .
This summarises infornation available from
Datapro Research C o r p . , Moorestown, N J . The
article cautions against the potential high
cost of tino-sharinp, services, and urges you
to |*.ct a 1 1 the advice you can before committing to a time-sharing :
There are really no c
Tha problem 1* always to think up
Mthuds for doing things by computer,
tklso called algorithms.}
Basically what can be don* by
computer is what can be don* on a
tab 1.top with slip* of paper— comparing, copying, sorting, marking, doing
arithmatic— and handing slip* of paper
That
. they
try
:he operating system orktng.
:he changes lt needs to adapt to new
•ent and working rules and schedules
iltware. And change the parts through
which mischievous users crash the systea.
was created by keneny and Kurtz,
ited the BASIC language to be used
it (• ;ee p . (fc ) .
Systems people often look like dirty
Their computer arrived in fall '63.
Their time-sharing system went into operation in spring '64, prograwneJ mostly by
Dartmouth s t u d e n t s . and has grown and i improved continuously since t h e n . On that
b a s i s : programmed bv students.
)ther they often look like harrlfd,
'hatever else) In the dike, trying
Id back the tide
•How would you do that by computer?"
— but "Can you think of a method
for accomplishing that?" Th* "computer"
i* really Irrelevant, for it ha* no
nature and mtraty twiddle* information
'
J
L _ "
Then there is
.Then there is the problem of "Turing impossibility." Turing was a mathematician who
discovered that some things can be done s e quentially in a finite amount of t i n e , snd
some things c a n ' t , such as proving certain
types of mathematical theorem. In other w o r d s ,
anything that has to do things in sequence-whether a computer o r a nind o f G o d , if any-cannot possibly know anything which is not
Turing-computable, Another important limitation.
On a more practical level, though, there
ar* just lots of things which nobody has figured out how to do in any feasible w a y , or are
just now figuring out different systematic ways
of d o i n g . (For s favorite such area of m i n e ,
compare the different conputer half-tone image
synthesis systems described on p p . DM " I L t o
DM "J"! .)
Thus you see that figgering <
doing stuff is still one of the principal aspects of the computer f i e l d . (Whole journals
are devoted to i t , such as C A C M , JACM and so on.)
But then of c o u r s e , every few years there
comes a new movement in the field that bodes to
make us start all o v e r .
One such trend is called structured programming . being promulgated by a Dutch researcher named Dijkstra, among others. The idea of
structured programming is to restrict computing
languages in certain ways and "eliminate the
GO TO," i.e., no longer have jumps to labeled
places in programs. By dividing computer programs up only in certain w a y s , goes this school
of thought, the programs can perhaps be proven
w o r k a b l e , in the mathematical s e n s e , rather
than just demonstrated to w o r k , as they are now-a notoriously error-prone situation. If the
Dljkstra school is c o r r e c t , we say h a v e to
start all over again with a new bunch of programming languages.
These remarks give you the flavor of some
restrictions and lines of development. The rest
of this page is devoted to The Great Software
Problem-- the Operating System.
OrtWTiVlGr
'
or O S / 1 6 0 , or OS
We have no space here to discuss O S ,
the operating system of the IBM ibO snd 1 7 0 ,
which is just si w e l l : it Li a notoriously
heavy-handed system, elaborated with what
some would call devastating messlness. Kinds
of convenience taken for granted by user* of
such computer systems as the Burroughs S000,
the P D P - 1 0 , DTSS and others aren't there.
The programmer ha* to concern himself
with intricacies having names like A C O N s ,
V C O H s , T C B s , E C B * , and the complications of
JCL, (While these othar systems may have
equivalent complications, the programmer
need not mess with them to create efficient
programs, as the 160 demands.) The programmer must even set s»lde the previous
programmer's information in "SAVE AREAS,"
which is liks a restaurant guest having to
clear th* dirty dishes on sitting down-and return them when he leaves. Several of
the 160's sixteen general registers are confiscated. Time-sharing requires its own
JCL-typ* language. And so o n .
BIBLIOGRAPHY
time-sharing.
Tine-sharing means the simultaneous use
of one computer by several different users
at o n c e . It's basically a complex form of
nultiprogrammi n g .
In principle this is like a la:y sua a n .
The centra) c o n p u t e r works o n one user's p r o gram for a w h i l e , then on a n o t h e r ' s . . . until
it is back to the first u s e r .
There are basically two kinds of tinesharing: tinc-sharing where you can only use
certain facilities or l a n g u a g e s , and timesharing where you can use all the facilities
of the computer (including programming in the
computer"s assembly 1 a n n u a g e ) .
Examples of restricted time-sharing are
the various minicomputer systens that arc
available which time-share the BASIC language.
(Nova and PDP-11 and H e w l e t t - P a c k a r d , for
Sorae examples of unrestricted timesharing arc the PDP-10 (see p . l o ) , D a r t mouth's D T S S , Honeywell's M U L T 1 C S , IBM's T S O ,
and General E l e c t n c ' s MARK III.
Bigger is not necessarily b e t t e r . For
i n s t a n c e , there are time-shared versions of
BASIC that run on big IBM c o m p u t e r s . Howe v e r , tt m a y very well be that big IBM installations can save money by eliminating
this function and buying instead a small
Hewlett-Packard minicomputer to run their
BASIC o n , thereby supplying BASIC to more
users at less cost and freeing the 360 for
whatever it is IBM systems do b e t t e r .
Restricted time-sharing, with only one
or a few languages o f f e r e d , is much easier to
provide for than full tine-sharing.
Full time-sharing is always shared with
b a t c h . In other w o r d s , the c o m p u t e r , darting
among u s e r s , still finds some tine to Jevote
to the batch stream.
Time-sharing is self-1imi11ng. That i s ,
the more users are signed onto a tine-sharing
system at a given m o m e n t , the more slowly the
system responds to all of them.
Operating systems i
program. They take a l c . __
lime: tor instance, Dartmouth'* time-sharing
operating s y s t e m , taking as ouch as 211 of
Che computer's t i m e , is considered e f f i c i e n t .
The importance of time-sharing is not in
terms of "raw" efficiency, that i s , the cost
of each million o p e r a t i o n s , but in terms of
human efficiency, the ability of each user to
get so much more out of the computer by using
Interactive programs and languages.
OPERATING SYSTEMS TRICKERY
„..,„«.
i continuous
possessloi
Paging is one of the Great Abstruse
Problems of modern operating system*. The
problem is this: you've always got fast expensive memory and cheap slow memory. How
can the operating systea store most of your
program in cheap flow memory and still predict
which parts you'll need soon enough to get
them In there for you?
In the hotter s y i t e m s ,
indeed, the operating system tries to predict
what's most Important and move It to a fast
little memory called a c a c h e . Thi* »r*a is
so bitarr* and complicated I prefer not to
think about i t . "Minis for me," says M r .
Natural.
It took a lot longer to get going
than they expected-- I have a 1968 [')
button that s a y s , VCUJ NEVER OUTGROW YOUR
•VTAi FOR MULTICS-- but now it's available
from Honeywell. Teople say it's the
greatest, all right-- its fascinating
facilities include the ability to execute
parts of other people's prograns, if you
have pernission-- but it's also s*id to be
awfully expensive.
The Dartmouth conputer philosophy-i.e., the idea carried through by John
Kemeny and Tom k'urt;--was that a conputer
is like a library: its services should he
iree to all in a c o m m u n i t y , paid for
through some general fund.
Students and faculty at Dartnouth
use it free. (Unless they have grants.)
You can use it too, if you p a y .
The result: everybody at Dartmouth
uses the c o m p u t e r . It's always running,
(ahem) six days a w e e k . There are almost
two hundred terminals around the campus;
peak afternoon usage is about a hundred
and fifty. Freshmen learn BASIC first
thing, after which the computer is a
standing facility, to he used in courses
in m u s i c , s o c i o l o g y , literature, h i s t o r y ,
engineering or whatever; for independent
research; or just for fun and canes and
showing off to v i s i t o r s ,
for simp11c i tv and c1 a
tions o f ai1 the faci1
t e r m i n a l s . I The connand i
es the terminal to type c"
Kemeny.)
"any TuJJy-JudJ i es insist that computer
usage should be billed, is it is on most
college campuses" That is essentially the
Calvinist view. But what if wc treated libraries like that?
It would probably cost
S10 just to borrow any b o o k . The point is
that it we bcTTevc that certain conditions
are a social good, then we should be flexible about how to inplemcnt them. (See Arthur
W . Luehrmann and John H. N e v i s o n , "Computer
Use under a Free-Access Policy, S c i e n c e , II
May 74, 9 S 7 - 9 6 1 . This article continues this
line of argument and further describes the
Dartmouth billing system.)
A n y w a y , Dartmouth will sell you its timesharing system for about S?500 a month (and
you'll need a computet
setup that begins at
517,500 a m o n t h ) . That'll run SO terminals.
A bigger setup will cost m o r e . But that gets
you Fortran, C O B O L , S N 0 H 0 L , e t c . , rtt best
BASIC in the whole w o r l d , g a m e s , financial
s y i t e m s , and nyriad other programs they've
built at Dartmouth. Furthermore, N r . A d m i n i s trator, it means the system will be available
to users with a minimum of complication and
Interestingly, the MULTICS operating
system is largely programmed in the PL/I
language (see p.
).
Contact: Honeywell Information
5 y s t c m s , 200 Smith Street,
•IS 0 6 1 , Waltham, M a s s . 02154.
THt
LOWM
HEA*.<>
K B V U » TMt
WoRVj:
Grt'
' log
sharing systetis arc- local, other:
" allowing users in other
them with local telephone
calls.
Perhaps the nost far-reaching time-sharing
system, though, is General Electric'* MARK I I I ,
with concentrators in many of the najor cities
of the world
(mostly E u r o p e ) . The n a m computer is in O h i o , but the overall system may be
thought of as an octopus around the globe. Besides hundreds of cities in the USA, The GE
system offers local access in Australia, Austria,
iielgium, C a n a d a , Denmark, Finland, France
, Puerto Rico,
Netherlands,
aly.
.itcJ Kingdom and Hest
What this basically neans is that if a
company has offices in these places, it can
do its internal communication through lencrai
ETectric's computer system.
This presents obvious merits and difficulties, which there is no room to discuss h e r e .
The service is said to be expensive.
They also offer a toll-free number for
program consultation.
General Electric
Inforoa-
A number of companies have b o u g h t . Including the U . S . Naval Academy at Annapolis,
which offers Uartnouth-style computing to
its m i d s h l p n e n .
Connect charge is W to 19 an hour
depending on your terminal
speed, plus processing charges.
Contact: D T S S , INC., Hanover Mi
0 1 7 S S . (Several commercial
firms also offer DT5S to u s e r s ,
including Computer Sharing Serv i c e s , Inc. Denver; Crumman (lata
S y s t e m s . Woodbury, NY; PolyCom
Systems L t d . , Toronto.)
Swapping means transferring one user's
program out of core memory in order to move
in somebody else's program. T h i * can happen
very rapidly, and even when it's done to you
the <
MULT ICS was announced in 196S as the
Time-Sharing System of All T i m e , to be
created jointly by M I T , General Electric
and Bell Labs.
have cone up with tor tne J / U .
It i* a sort of interactive batch programming. That i*. it allows the user at •
•
-imunicaie with programs running
i batch m o d e .
i is a form of true time-sharing,
iractor* tend to compare it with
"true" time-sharing, such as
' - 1 0 ) , it has a number of draw-
0TSS. Th* Old Haoas »•
orkad on th* original t
ou b*caa* grownups ot o
uir, who fid )i
l*r[moulh eflor
: IBM). Me sta
th* Dartmouth 'ttc
oibara from that t
• tb* rrane** 0. Ki
, the model 1SI, a fairly large machine (ca. ISO,000 a • » » * » - * " •
p.
3 8 ) , TSO normally allows only t w n t j .
The bad feature of TSO -oat " ' " D
tioned is its slow response time.
mas
tioneu is » "
.nmetimes aood. sometimes
response may be sometime* g««u.
execrable.
IBM is urcina its fan* to believe that
it. ndt g r a t i n g " system, called OS/VS2-2.
will be auch batter.
HfRf
THEY
C O M C — H e
The history hook: en years from now, if a n v
wi1 1 note that the fii : computer-on-a-chip was produced by Intel. Intel i i astutely managed company.
^sso^ that would
would he
chose to make a microprocessor
h V isuited
to placement .•-i o t h e—
r s•' machine* at low c o s t . This
that if you make a fancy bulldozer or bakeoven and want it to have some form of intricate
ore-planned hehavior, you'll put "t"
Intel chip"
in i
Microprocessors are what's happening.
Computers cost several thousand bucks on u p .
Microprocessors cost several hundred on u p , and
that price range is falling fast.
Actually the Intel chip
So»e microprocessors are already on integrated circults, postage stamp-sized electronic
tangles that are simply printed and b a k e d , rather
than wired up; this means there is effectively
no bottom limit to the price of microprocessors.
Hark this wel 1. It means thst in a few years
there will be a microprocessor in your refrigerator, your typewriter, your lawnmower, your c a r ,
and possibly your w a l l e t . (If you don't believe
this, look what happened to pocket calculators in
the last couple of y e a r s . The chip those arc
built around costs five b u c k s . But next come the
programmable c h i p s , the microprocessors.)
C
f o r ^ ^ a r s ^
TWO LF.VELS, TWO SPEEDS
A last p o i n t . One of the most important characteristics of an ordinary computer is its worJ
length, that i s , the number of binary positions in
a usual chunk of its information.
el c o m p u t e r .
You will remember from the "Rock Bottom"
section (pp. 3Z-3) that every computer has an
internal language of binary patterns or "aachine
language" (i11 ustrated in horrendous detai1 in
the program called "Bucky's tfristwatch," p p . 3 3 - 4 ) .
C * M M . <uou»4 (to l.h, ,f j ti)
But aince microprocessors have two scjurate lei
they often have two separate word lengths as wi
the upper-level and the lower-level.
W e l l , a microprocessor has two levels,
has an upper-level program follower with it
binary program; but each instruction of th
upper-level program is in turn carried out by •
program follower running a program at a lowe:
level-- called a nlcroprog'
r extraordinary
building super-cash-registers i
IT the like. So their mcmorii
; and s p e e d s , to be tailored i
'ou should know the diffe:
-- HeaJ-Only M e m o r y . Contents <
changed, costs less than chan,
any given s p e e d ) .
•- Rapid-Access M e m o r y . All
called
read-write m e n o r v . Sarac ;
•e memory
Hay ha, its contents chai
NOT).: i
you simulate some computer with a micro
program, its simulatcd "registors" are
usually locations in the lower-level RA!
- Read-Mostly M e m o r y , You can (;ct out ts
contents f a s t , but change them onlv very
ramifications.
First of a l l , it means that the upper-level
binary language can be anything you want-- that .
any feasible computer l a n g u a g e - - b e c a u s e each of
its instructions, in turn, will be carried
by
program.
(The lower-level memory i:
"program memory" and the uppercalled "data m e m o r y , but this
ing from certain typical a p p l u
rather than their inherent nati
programs at both levels.)
This
. for
__.
, that machines can
be created which may be programmed directly in some
higher-level language, such as APL (note Canadian
machine described on p . Z _ i ) or BASIC (note one of
the Hewlett-Packard machines described on p. 17 ) .
Th* characters in the upper-level program (APL or
B A S I C ) , stepped through by the upper-level program
follower, cause the lower-level program foilower to
carry out the operations of the language.
Raymond M . ilolt and Manuel R. I.emas, "Currcni
Microcomputer Arclii tecture." Computer
He sign, Feb 7 4 , 6 S - 7 3 .
Sunmari zes
on the market (s
liography also.
computer prograi
Uig Ci Lxpcnsive.
Up to 32 hardware registers.
Cooes with cassette
holding various
Burroughs 1700
Microdata 3200
Varian 7J
* oorapular which haa .
undar th* binary languag*
you want lo us*.
t h e
M c s
-*
a
«d
Lower level
microseconds)
12.5
mi croseconds)
S or 16 bits
(900 nanoseconds)
8 to 24 bits
(900 nanoseconds)
While these individual chins cost under a hundred
dollsrs e a c h , memories and other necessary sections
cost extra. For people who want to develop systems
around these c h i p s , Intel has cannily prepared a number of setups. If you want to go 4-bit, you get the
"Intellec 4," S 2 2 0 0 , which also needs a Teletype.
This jives you various display lights- and debugging
features. M e a n w h i l e , you can assemble and simulate
on sinulation programs offered on national cine-sharing. If you want to go 8-bit, you get the "Intellec
8" for S2400 (also without T e l e t y p e ) , and benefit additionally from the fact that you can prepare the
underware in PL/1 , and compile it on national timeCrafty and clever Intel, which has captured much
of the overall market already, has now brought out
i of these c h i p s . Rail.
Lower memory: 16 h i t s , 90 nanoseconds (or 35
nanoseconds, programmed by a card (on
which you darken the squares.)
Uppe,
10 bil
500 !
What this is is a very high-power minicomputer:
it can be turned into a lookalike for any other 16-bit
rainiconputcr.
For instance, they can soli lt to you
with an imitative nicroproj;ran that turns it effectively into an IBM 1130. From a marketing point of
view, this effectively means a firm owning an IBM 1130
can replace it with a Meta 4 which runs the same prog r a m s , saves money and gives you in adJition the botton-levcl features of a far more powerful computer.
(Such an under-level program that makes one machine
effectively imitate .mother computer is called an
emulator.) This capacity to emulate other computers
is the "metaphor" alluded to in the machine's name.
The Lockheed SUE ("System User-Engineered
Computer") Is a very interesting and desirable
machine. The central processing unll costs s little
over six hundred and forty dollars: (Thai's without
memory. power supply or card csge. ) It uses a
Grand Dus system of interconnection (se* p. HZ )-
64 bits
16 I
165 nsec
661
(190 read-write)
1650 stripped,
Already microprogrammed to be like
other IIP computers
- - but there ' s
space for y o u r s ,
a* w e l l . 17500.
S8Q00 up ($10,000
for model 3 2 / S ,
stack-oriented).
J1S,000 to J100.000
(heavy upgrade of
Varian 6 2 0 ) .
One nice thing ii
n put together
several cpu'a and different m
semiconductor and ROM- - selecting w
which cpus have what priorities in what memories,
as well as Interrupt*, etc. D a m nice-- especially
considering the upper-level Instruction-set.
Th* microprogram lt comes with makes th*
Lockheed SUE into * sort of copy (7?) of th* PDP-11,
including its eight registers and similar address
mode* (see p. ^ 1.) •
Wa* the name SUE actually Lockhead'a
Impudent challang* to DECT DEC did sue. but no
outcome ha* been publicised.
Interdata 85
^ic«0Pi»C«rc«r TO sesuiu- iijro P » » / M . *
Intel HCS-i
Intel MCS-'
SYS 500
microprocessor*, (Al*o
called Microprogram*
Should b* callad Undarwar*.)
Upper level
•""«»•<•
a r e
Imitate any microsecond mini.
equipment llsclf.
SOFTUHU:
°"°
me times called
cl memory is often
a confusion rcsulcons of the d e v i c e s .
The purpose of microprocessors, you s e e , is
generally to be hidden in other equipment and do
some simple thing over and over; not to have their
programs changed around all the time as on an ordinary computer.
There are exceptions, computers which have a
second level down where you can put microprograms;
and these are called, sensibly enough, microprogramSable computers. They are bought and set up with
regular computer accessories, plus facilities to
change the microprograms. Thus they cost a lot m o r e
but o h , they do so much more for you. You can design
your own computer-- i.e., its in*truetion-sat-- and
then create i t , with a microprogram. (See the Standard Computer and the M e t . - 4 , nearby.)
"
C h i p s
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Second, the machine costs less to Bake than an
ordinary computer. The reason is that the architecture of ordinary computers is designed now (at
last) for programmer convenience. Thus a machine
like the P D P - 1 1 , which in principle does nothing
any other computer doesn't d o , is still more desirable than m o s t , because its instructions arc so
well designed. It is clear and sensible to the programmer, with the result that programming it takes
less time and costs less money.
Microprocessors reverse this trend. The lowerlevel structure of registers and instructions can be
anything that is convenient to m a n u f a c t u r e , whether
-* -**. programmers like i t . Low manufacturing cost
! of' the
' i
i design criteria.
i n C e l
f
A coi.ip.itcr wittily called the Meta 4 (heh lieh)
is a fairly neat machine made by Digital Scientific
C o r p . , 11455 Sorrento Valley Rd., San Diego CA 9 2 1 2 1 .
MicroprO'
to people who
pinball machii
This has •
°
•4r<t-«T,ie-0r!SinaI
The trick that makes this alt work-- whether
for the hidden-away type or the computer type of
microprocessor-- is that the lower level has a ouch
faster memory than the upper l e v e l . This means
that an upper-level word can be taken, and looked
up in the lower l e v e l , and all the lower-level steps
carried o u t , very fast compared to the upper-level
m e m o r y . Many such m a c h i n e s , for instance, have
lower-level speeds in the nanoseconds (billionth:
of a s e c o n d ) , while the upper-level speeds are m e r e ly in the microseconds (millionths of a s e c o n d ) .
Microprocessors should not be called microcomputers , a tern that seems to have captivated
Hall Street lately. "Microcomputer" just means
any teeny computer; but there is an exact and
crucial difference between an ordinary computer
e) and a microprocessor (whatlicroprocessor
lumber of separate
?n„Canrb?,^
" n J c r S S 0 " ' - a " d "»» b e a « e R b l e d
into a full computer.
(Indeed, various firms dtTof-
! to 24 bits
8 bits
Stack-oriented (now
900 nsec
12.5 usee
/aster m o d e l ) .
8 or 16 bits
4 bits
Basic chip $60.
900 nsec
10.8 usee
(Weird but interesting wido microprocessor-- circulates
among many separate activites, rather than branching.
16 577*
S bits
AES-B0 (Auto.
System*, Montreal)
National Semiconductor
IMP-16C (8 1/2 x 11UtC PDP-16M
odd site for computer.
another binary languag*
"(Abbreviations: nsec (nanoseconds,
us«c (microseconds, millionth:
abbreviation).)
S13S0 stripped
for notebook.)
0 . (Compatible
Fill'- 11 Unibus .)
A otcroprogrammablc higgle has been available
for some time. It'* a 36-bit computer manufactured
by Standard Computor Corporation, 1411 *• Olympic
Boulevard, Los Angeles,, CA 90015.
This computer is a serious aachine, it , the
many-hundred-thousand-dollar class, which can be
set up to mimic any other S6-blt machine. It has
been sold in two versions: one a pure FORTRAN machine (that's right, its upper language is pure
Fortran:) and a lookalike for the IBM 709*. Lower
level word length is IS b i t s .
(An interesting puiile is why this outfit has
not gotten together with Lincoln Laboratories, Lincoin Laboratories, outside Boston, has a 36-bit —
perinental machine called the TX-2 which has been
used for coeputer graphics, »iich as Sutherland *
SKETCHPAD system (see p . X»si?) and Baecker * CfcHfc
SYS (see p . > M 29 )• Now, presumably Lincoln Lab*
like most other research outfits, is hurting for
money. Why couldn't they make an arrangement for
Standard to sell it* machine with a TX-2 emulator,
thus making-available such programs as Sketchpad ^
(which ha* never been equalled) to a wider public.
42
STICK
Ml
_ of
S
o
o
% J t $ » T 11)1 fig.
TH»
o
The Stack is a mechanism-- either built
into the computer ("hardware") or incorporated in a program ("software") which allows a
computer to keep track of a vast number of
different a c t i v i t i e s , interruptions and c o m plications at the same t i m e .
B a s i c a l l y , it Is a mechanism which allows
a program to throw something over its shoulder
in order to do something e l s e , then reach hack
over its shoulder to get back what it was
previously working o n . But no matter how many
things it throws over its s h o u l d e r , everything
stays orderly and continues to work s m o o t h l y ,
till it has resumed everything and finished
them a l l .
I have heard no computer more widely
praised among computer people than the B u r roughs SOOO (replaced by the 5 S O 0 ) . The SOOO
was designed about 1960 by Edward Claser and
Bob BaTton. It was designed to be used only
with higher l a n g u a g e s , not allowing programmers access to the binary instructions thems e l v e s . Indeed, it was particularly designed
to be used with A L G O L , which would have been
the standard language if IBM had allowed it
(see p . 3 1 ) and is still the " i n t e r n a t i o n a l "
language.
It goes like this: if the program has
to set aside one t h i n g , it puts that one thing
in core memory at a place specified by a
number called a stack p o i n t e r . Then it adds
one to the stack p o i n t e r , to be ready in case
something else has to go on the s t a c k . This
is called a P U S H .
the H i
r
S
and r e c u r s i v e " programs, meaning programs
hat « , „ . , » „
t h e . s e i , . , .Sen the,
themselves arc in progress.
Stacks are also used for handling "interrupts"
-- signals from outside that require the
computer to set aside one job for a n o t h e r .
Having a built-in hardware stack enables the
interrupts to pile up without .-n fi.tinnn
"ruriT
Because of this a p p r o a c h , its main r e g i s ters were to be hidden from the p r o g r a m m e r ,
and attention centered instead upon the s t a c k ,
a high-level programming device (see box on
S t a c k s ) . H o w e v e r , index registers were added
to make it better for F o r t r a n .
The SOOO was marketed as an " a l l - p u r p o s e "
computer with an operating s y s t e m , anticipating
IBM's 360 of a few years l a t e r . Indeed, after
the 360 was a n n o u n c e d , Burroughs sales picked
u p , because IBM salesmen were at last-promoting
the concepts that customers hadn't understood
when they heard about them from Burroughs
salesmen years b e f o r e .
This even mako . nns^ii.i,. ••
.
.,
meaning „ , b r o u . i „ e . h i , c i i Z ' S
, ? " } " " •
When a p r o g r a m is ready to resume a p r e v ious a c t i v i t y , it subtracts one from the
stack pointer and fetches w h a t e v e r that stack
pointer points t o . This is called a P O P .
F i n a l l y , stack a r i t h m e t i c , like that done on
the B u r r o u g K ^ S b U O , enables arithmetic (and
other algebraic types of activity) to be handled without setting aside registers or space
in core m e m o r y . As a simple-minded example
on a hypothetical m a c h i n e , suppose ve wanted
to handle
On this m a c h i n e , le
to a program and a
this gets compiled
the
The Burroughs Corporation t
be an acknowledged leader in computer d e s i g n .
Apparently their sales force is something else
u n f o r t u n a t e l y . I once spent some time with a
Burroughs salesman who not only knew nothing
about the magnificent structure of the machine
he r e p r e s e n t e d , but would not get me further
information unless I demonstrated that the
company'1 represented (a large c o r p o r a t i o n )
was seriously interested. He wore very fancy
clotHes";
*"
It may not be immediately o b v i o u s , but
this trick has immense p o w e r . For i n s t a n c e ,
we may stack any number of things together-the addresses of p r o g r a m s , data we are moving
between p r o g r a m s , intermediate r e s u l t s , and
codes that show what the c o m p u t e r was doing
previously,
Using s t a c k s , programs may use each other
very f r e e l y . It is p o s s i b I e , for i n s t a n c e ,
to jump among subroutines-- independent little
programs-- w i l l y - n i l l y , using a stack to keep
track of where you've b e e n .
T±}>
Some computer c o m p a n i e s , such as IBM,
resolutely ignore stack a r c h i t e c t u r e , though
hardware stacks have become widely adopted
In this case the stack holds the previous
locations and intermediate d a t a , so that the
program follower can go back where it came
from at the end of each s u b r o u t i n e .
The PDP-11 is not a beginner's c o m p u t e r .
But the power and elegance of its architecture
have established i t , since its introduction in
1 9 7 0 , as perhaps the foreraost smal1 computer
in the w o r l d .
In e l e c t r o n i c s , a " b u s " l
connector that supplies power
and from several d e s t i n a t i o n s .
In computer:
among several
ising carrying a compl ix parallel
The Grand B u s , a
is catching o n . (The
cause the colloquial 1
t rademark.)
well.
There are eight main r e g i s t e r s . T w o ,
though, function specially: the program c o u n ter (that part of the program follower that
holds the number of the next i n s t r u c t i o n ) , and
the hardware stack p o i n t e r , both follow the
s.ime programming rules as the main registers-jn unusual technique. Thus a jump in the p r o gram is simply a " m o v e " instruction, in which
the next program address is "moved" into main
register * 7 , the program c o u n t e r .
A c t u a l l y , t h o u g h , we can't be too sure
about the word " s m a l l . " Because as successive
parts of the line arc u n v e i l e d , it becomes increasingly clear that this line of " s m a l l "
computers has been designed to include some
very powerful machines and coupling techniques
among them; and it would seem that we haven't
seen everything y e t .
In addition, all external devices seem to
the program to be stored in core m e m o r y . That
is, the interface registers of accessories
ri.ive "addresses" numerically similar to core
locations-- so the program just "moves" d a t a ,
,ith MOVt instructions, to doorways in c o r e ,
ilhis is facilitated by the automatic handling
of previously bothersome s t u f f , like Ready,
Wait and Done bits.)
1
idea among c o m p u t e r s ,
m is used here bei, "Unibus," is a DEC
Basically the Grand Bus i
of multiple wires that goes among several
pieces of e q u i p m e n t . So far that's just a
b u s . But a Grand Bus is one that allows the
different pieces of equipment to be changed
and replaced e a s i l y , because signals to any
common piece of equipment just go out on the
This means that the interface problem
is deeply simplified, because any device with
a proper bus interface can simply be plugged
onto the b u s .
It does mean a lot more complexity of
signals. The U n i b u s , for e x a m p l e , has about
fifty parallel strands. But that means v a r ious tricky electrical dialogues can rapidly
give instructions to devices and consider replies about their s t a t u s , in quick and s t a n dardized w a y s .
Prominent grand buses include:
Physically all devices are simply attached
to a great sash of wires called a U n i b u s . (See
Grand Bus box.)
In other w o r d s , DEC's PUP-1
which has already cut into sales
of their PDP-8 12-bit series and
PDP-15 18-bit s e r i e s , may soon c
into its PDP-io 36-blt series-designer Bell unveils (perhaps)
monster PDP-lls in arrays or dou
word-length or w h a t e v e r .
BIBLI0BRAPHV
R.W. S o u t h e r n , PDP-11 Programming
Fundamentals. [Programmed worxo o o V . No price listed.) AlgonJ J . - I college Bookstore, 1385 Wood'..-nue, O t t a w a , O n t a r i o ,
The PDP-11 was designed by C, Gordon Bell
and his associates at Carnegie-Mellon Univers i t y . In designing the a r c h i t e c t u r e , and e s pecially the ins t r u e t i o n - s e t , they simulated
a wide variety of possibilities before the
final design was d e c i d e d . The resulting a r chitecture is extremely efficient and powerful
(see b o x , "The ll's M o d e s " ) .
PDP-11 lookalikes are
sold by Cal D a t a . Other firms
have been scared off by DEC's
a tent, but Cal Data say they
ave a patent too.
E
The Nova hus (nameless) the first?)
PDP-ll's Unibus
rs i n cramp*.), and >u th* basic
uchitactur* ts how to cram Into
•nouqh choices for getting around
Lockheed SUE's Infibus
PDP-g's O m n i b u s .
The idea is great in general. For your
home audio e q u i p m e n t , for instance. Grand Bus
architecture would simplify everything.
Not only t h a t , but Detroit is supposedly
going to put your car's electrical system on
a Grand B u s . This will mean you can tell at
once what is snd isn't w o r k i n g , and hook up
new goodies easily.
-w 11V
In d**lgnlng th* PDP-11, Cordon Bell and hi
-worker* systematically sought • powerful solion, simulating various possible *tructur*s by
•puter piogram, trying out • variety at differ
t combination* and •
Th* eleganc* and power of
littl* abort of braathtaking•
11, th* final design, provide*
type* of indlr*ct addressing.
through table*,
and various oth*
following di*gr*
•olutl
nan* for stepping
1 POP, dispatch tables,
•mming technique*. Th*
int for handy r*f*r*nc*.
tkClawicLJH'C
FI«T OF Tl|f
The IBH 360 (now called 370 because *
ful line of computer in the world.
Is the best. There are those
not their computers.
(si
fu»t»e6»fHrt«|fr,
AJ,. 'loo tsoo.
Control Data's 6600 computer was the
first really big computer. The first one was
delivered around 196S. The machine and its
operating system, CHIPPEWA, were created by
Seymour Cray and his team in hinterland Min-
bought becai
very tough ;
pp.
A strange unseen curse seems to haunt the 360 series; indeed, some cynics even think it results from deliberate policies of IBM! Yet the 360 (and its software) seem somehow o r ganized to make programs inefficient and slow; to make programs
b i g , needing lots of core memory (with numerous enticements for
the programmer to take up m o r e ) ; to prevent the compatibilities
that are so widely advertised, except through expensive options;
to make things excessively complicated, thus locking in both its
customers and the employees of its customers to practices iind
intricacies that are somehow unnecessary on other brands of
lixtreme speed was designed into the computer in a number of w a y s . The main computer
has no input or output at all; this is handled by data channels which have been built up
into full-scale minicomputers or "peripheral
processors" of 18 hits.
7
u
t
&"^ jft
=
=
> =rr ~
C=
^xr*
^I1-
A computer named the LINC, now usually
referred to as "the classic Line," was perhaps
the first minicomputer. It was an important
forerunner of our highly interactive systems of
today, notably including today's graphic displays with double program followers (see p .
ahT,^ ) , which offer the highest interactive
Perhaps most importantly, it was designed
with none of the biases that creep in from the
traditions of business computing.
It was called the Line because it was
designed at Lincoln Laboratories (about 1960),
for "biomedical research"-- actually it was
the sort of computer you'd warl for hooking
up to all sorts of inputs and o-tputs, to
make music, to run your darkroom, but only
medical scientists could afford i t , so that's
what they said it was for.
The LINC had two interesting
It was probably the first computer to be designed with a built-in CRT display (see flip
s i d e ) . It also came with a funny little tape
drive, designed for reliability and high response, that was supposed to perform almost as
conveniently as a disk and be reliable even
in dusty or messy environments. This was the
LINCtape, still offered as an accessory by
company. DEC adapted it somewhat and made
the DECtape, handy pocket tape unit of the
PDP
computer line.
However,
• memory
much slower than the main registers, a trick
is used: program instructions arc drawn from
core into a superfast instruction list 'often
called a c a c h e ) . and any jumps or loops within this seven-word cache can be executed at
unthinkable speeds-- perhaps tens of millions
of times per second.
The design of the 360, which was basically decent.
The architecture of the 360 was quite simil • to the PDP-6
(now the P D P - 1 0 ) , designed about the same time:
general-purpose registers of over thirty bi 1
ising the
16 i
:ithei accumulators or index registers.
i registers i
form of addressing was adopted, called "baseregister addressing." This had certain advantages for the operating system that was planned, and was thought to be sufficiently powerful that you wouldn't need Indirect Addressing. Two
main registers were required, one holding a "base" more or less
equal to the program's starting address, and an "index register,'
whose contents are added to the base to specify an address.
Often a third number, or "offset," is added as w e l l .
It i
:old
, . A do ten
or so were made up specially out Df DEC modules and dealt out to various scientists, and
the genera! hope was that DEC would take the
machine up as part of its product line, but
that's not what happened. DEC instead pushed
its PDP-.. and i
, by : 1 b y .
* IJHC-8
The machine is i
lly geared for
floating-point nurabc
5 9 ) . Because
of the intense speed of the "fas
I instruction
cache, many instructions (such
tion and division of integers)
plishcd faster by a short
they had actually been wi
They 6600 became the St.t of a whole
line, including the 6400, 68( and othersi
The 6400 is used by I'L.VfO (s.
DEC was offered the option of b
Lincoln Laboratories' classic LINC,
ded instead to combine it, in the mid-sixties,
with the already-successful PDP-S. That way
a!] the PDP-8 programs and most of the LINC
programs would work on i t . The result is kind
cf strange, but very popular in biomedical research: two computers in one, handing control
back and forth as needed. You can write programs on the Line with sections for the 8, and
vice versa. H m m . A more recent and slicker
called the PDP-12.
While you might half-think that both
sides of the computer could work simultaneously,
giving you double speed, it doesn't work that
way. There's only one core memory, and that
sets the basic speed; cither a PDP-8 instruction or a Line instruction can be underway at
once, but not both.
The ides of this technique is that programs can be "relocatable," operating anywhere in core memory. A few instructions
at the beginning of each program can ascertain where it is running from, and establish the Base accordingly.
The basic idea of the 360 seems to have been doped out for
multiprogramming, or the simultaneous running of several programs in core, a feature IBH has pushed heavily with this com-
Basically the atory was thlai aome of the
higher people- at D E C , perhaps disaatlsfled
with DEC'a aoft ooll, pochap* out for their
own personal share of thing*, broke out and
i their own corporation. Thoy had in
ie do*inn for a h o t , *olid minicomputer
'ojected design fortV: PtiP-l
iable i
lold i
.rd.
th~ *h~'
Ut i
r
teak
ack,
be built
iua {»t,<s%a'j$ , a design
WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE 360*
The main differences between the 360 and the PDP-6 and 10
represent conscious and legitimate and arguable design decisions.
To fans of the PDP-6 and 10, here are the 360's main drawbacks:
NO INDIRECT ADDRESSING. This was because, within the addressing scheme adopted, indirect addresses could not be adjusted
automatically. (But it also makes programs more inefficient,
thus more profitable to IBM.)
NO STACK. Why? Too expensive, said Amdahl, Blaauw and
Brooks in tha IBM Systems Journal.
Funny, they have stacks on
IS000 P D P - I U - — n j ' it would have saved everybody a lot of
money on programming.
U
Data General (tho company mentioned)
haa u*ed a very interesting marketing strategy- Inatead of bringing out a variety of
new computor* •> time goe* o n , thoy concentrate on making tha Nov* faator and smaller.
Thay began by competing against DEC— e s pecially in "tho UKM market," purchaaer* who
are burying mi ni computer* in larger *<iulpawnt
they in turn make— but mor* recently they
UOOOU
UUOUX
OOOX1
(
And Amdahl, no longer with IBM and now head of the Amdahl
Corp. Is coming down the pike with a super-360 of his own, in
art backed by Japanese money. It will be bigger lhan IBM's
iggast-- and cheaper. (See Hesh Wiener, "Outdoing IBM: th*
Amdahl Challenge," Computer Decisions. March 7 3 , 18-20.)
E
A horrifying and weird picture of an experimental monkey sitting on a POP-12 and making
like the Creature from the Black Lagoon is
to be seen in Tine, 14 Jan 7-J, p . 54. It
looks very scientific.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The classic book: C . Gordon Bell and Allen
Newell, Computer Structures: Readings
and Example?" HcCraw-IIill, lTTT:
Note thst Bell designed various
of the PDPs, and Newell pioneered in
list processing (see p . I t ) Computer Characteristics Review keeps you
^ n " t o u c h with the traits of available
computer* and peripherals. l-25/ye*r_
NO MEMORY MAPPING (axcapt on certain m o d e l s ) . Where the
PDP-6's successor, the PDP-10, automatically takes care of redistributing addresses in core to service evory program •> if
it were operating from location zero on u p , the 360 left this
general problem to local programmers and (on certain levels) to
operating systems.
Handling this automatically in the PDP-10's hardware obviates the complications of base-index addressing and make* possible the efficiencies of indirect addressing.
Nevertheless, we see here the double
structure that plays such an important part
in highly interactive computer displays (see
P- £)*XT> ) . Indeed, Line programmers often
use the machine just that way: the PDP-8 running an actual program, the Line part running
the CRT display in conjunction with i t .
Jump (thu* *n at:
atruction Jump* to loc
Subroutine jump
Increment, skip it **r.
Load AC
Instruction* among reg
i competitor, Digital Computer
•ella a Kova lookalik*. Wheth.
will **11 you It* program* to
, The Architecture and Bngii
Heavier than Boll and Newell. A
catalog of thousands of structures and
tricks, emphasizing the tradeoffs among
1)0
Jt>Ml
D E C ' s P D P - 1 0 i s in s o m e w a y s t h e
c o m p u t e r t h a t t h e I B M 7 0 9 4 w a s in t h e
H e r e , t h e n , are some thumbnail descriptions of some g r e a t , classic or p o p u l a r c o m p u t e r s , e x p a n d i n g OUT basic d i a g r a m s as n e e d e d .
of
Individual
the patterns
computers represent
shown so far.
T h e P D P - 1 0 is e x c e l l e n t f o r m a k i n g h i g h l y i n t e r a c t i v e
s y s t e m s , s i n c e i t c a n r e s p o n d to e v e r y i n p u t c h a r a c t e r
typed by the u s e r .
7U
I t is a f a v o r i t e b i g c o m p u t e r a m o n g r e s e a r c h p e o p l e
and the w e l l - i n f o r m e d .
The A R P A N E T , which connects bia
c o m p u t e r s at s o m e of the h o t t e s t r e s e a r c h e s t a b l i s h m e n t s
is l a r g e l y b u i l t w i t h P D P - l O s . T h e r e a r e P D P - l O s a t M I T '
U . of U t a h , S t a n f o r d , Y a l e , Princeton and Engelbart's snon
( s e e p . Jnu-fc).
T h e -Watkins B o x ( s e e p . » n y > ) h o o k s to a 1 0 .
variations
The p a r t i c u l a r s t r u c t u r e of r e g i s t e r s ,
m e m o r i e s a n d p a t h w a y s a m o n g t h e m is c a l l e d t h e
architecture of a computer (see p . 0 2 , ) . T h e
b i n a r y i n s t r u c t i o n s a v a i l a b l e to the p r o g r a m mer are called the i n s t r u c t i o n - s e t of the
p a r t i c u l a r c o m p u t e r (see p , J 3 ) .
(The w o r d
" a r c h i t e c t u r e " is o f t e n u s c d t o c o v e r b o t h ,
i n c l u d i n g t h e i n s t r u c t i o n - s e t as w e l l . )
The principal variations among computers
a r e t h e w o r d l e n g t h (in b i t s - - s e e " b i n a r y
a n t i
t n e
patterns,"
number and arrangement of main r e g i s t e r s .
T h e n come the d e t a i l s
of the i n s t r u c t i o n - s e t , e s p e c i a l l y the w a y s
in w h i c h i t e m s a r e s e l e c t e d f r o m c o r e m e m o r y
-- the a d d r e s s i n g s t r u c t u r e .
Then the i n s t r u c t i o n - s e t , w h o s e c o m p l i c a t i o n s and s u b t l e t i e s
can be considerable
indeed.
T h e i n d i v i d u a l c o m p u t e r is t h e c o m p l e x
result of all of t h e s e .
If they f i t t o g e t h e r
w e l l , i t is a g o o d d e s i g n .
If t h e y f i t t o
g e t h e r p o o r l y , i t is a b a d d e s i g n .
A bad d e s i g n is u s u a l l y n o t s o m u c h a m a t t e r o f o v e r t
s t i n k y f e a t u r e s as o f r a m i f i c a t i o n s w h i c h f i t
together disappointingly.
( G l i t c h is a t e r m
often used for such stinky features or relat i o n s h i p s .)
5t LTJ)
The IBM 7090 was the classic computer.
I n t r o d u c e d a b o u t 1 9 6 O a n d m o s t l y gorfo b y ' 6 6 ,
it w a s s i m p l e and p o w e r f u l , w i t h c l e a n a n d
decent instructions.
With its daughter the
70941 it became virtually standard at u n i versities, research institutions and scientific establishments.
At many installations
t h a t w e n t o n to 3 6 0 s t h e y l o n g f o r t h o s e
clearminded days.
The 90 had three index r e g i s t e r s and
fifteen bits to specify core addresses.
(This m e a n t , of c o u r s e , that core memory
could ordinarily b e no longer than 32,768
w o r d s ("32K — s e e " B i n a r y p a t t e r n s , "
p.'J'J.)
A later m o d e l , the 94, went u p to 7 index
registers, since there were three bits to
select them with.
n
a
360 up
I*d
Here
they
is w h a t
P D P - 1 0 t i m e - s h a r i n g w o r k s e v e n if y o u d o n ' t h a v e a d i s k ,
using DECtape (DEC's cute little t a p e s ) .
Of course, without
d i s k i t ' s r e a l l y h o b b l i n g , b u t this c a p a c i t y is n e v e r t h e l e s s
noteworthy.
It Grucral °ajuT*« (iT-onUt », J>4« Bey/ho)
*F
fajterl
there?"
6600,
"Personally,
O r i g i n a l l y it w a s t h e P D P - 6 , w h i c h a p p e a r e d a b o u t 1 9 6 4
a n d w a s t h e f i r s t c o m p u t e r to b e s u p p l i e d w i t h a t i m e - s h a r i n g
s y s t e m , w h i c h w o r k e d f r o m t h e b e g i n n i n g , if r o c k i l y .
Now
it's good and s o l i d .
D E C ' S o p e r a t i n g s y s t e m f o r it ( s e e p
4 5 ) is c a l l e d T O P S , b u t B B N s e l l s o n e c a l l e d T E N E X , a l s o
highly regarded.
T h e 10 d o e s t i m e - s h a r i n g , r e a l - t i m e p r o g r a m m i n g and b a t c h p r o c e s s i n g s i m u l t a n e o u s l y , s w a p p i n g to
c h a n g e a b l e areas of core m e m o r y .
(This f e a t u r e s h o u l d soon
be a v a i l a b l e , at l a s t , on IBM c o m p u t e r s ("VS2-2").)
U n l i k e t h e I B M 3 6 0 , w h o s e h a r d w a r e p r o t e c t i o n c o m e s in
o p t i o n s , t h e 10 h a s s e v e n l e v e l s o f p r o t e c t i o n : t h e u s e r c a n
s p e c i f y w h o m a y road h i s f i l e s , run t h e m , c h a n g e t h e m , and do
four other things.
The PDP-10 does have job control c o m m a n d s ,
b u t t h e y a r e n o t e v e n c o m p a r a b l e in c u m b e r o s i t y t o I B M ' s J C L
L a n g u a g e (see p . 3 1 ) , and they are the same for all three
m o d e s of o p e r a t i o n : t i m e - s h a r i n g , real-time and b a t c h .
The machines mentioned here are an a r b i trary s e l e c t i o n .
Some of them are the Great
N u m b e r s , c o m p u t e r s so i m p o r t a n t t h a t folks u s e
their n u m b e r s as p r o p e r n o u n s , w i t h no b r a n d
name:
you have
W h o d e s i g n e d i t is n o t e n t i r e l y c l e a r .
I've h e a r d
p e o p l e a t t r i b u t e it v a r i o u s l y to the M o d e l R a i l r o a d i n g C l u b
a t M I T , to G o r d o n B e l l , a n d o n e A l a n K o t o k .
The PDP-10 has debugging commands which work under timesharing and with all languages, and hugely simplify programming.
The possible ways of organizing
computing
hardware are v a s t , and only partly explored,
(An aside to c o m p u t e r g u y s : o n the I n t e l c h i p
debugging consoles they have an address
trap
(trapping on a presettable e f f e c t i v e a d d r e s s )
and a pass counter (trapping after n p a s s e s ) .
How come we haven't seen these sooner?)
"Do
D i g i t a l E q u i p m e n t C o r p o r a t i o n , a w a r e t h a t its c o m p u t e r
trademark
P D P " c o n n o t e s m i n i c o m p u t e r s to t h e u n i n f o r m e d
n o w w a n t s t h e 10 to b e c a l l e d D E C s y s t e r n - 1 Q r a t h e r t h a n P D P
W e ' l l s e e if t h a t c a t c h e s o n .
rather
a
10 a n d
work
are talking
on
a
a
5500.
about.
Though these were million-dollar m a chines ten years a g o , you now hear of them
being offered free to anyone who'll cart
them away; partly because they needed a lot
of p o w e r , airconditioning and oso o n .
But
they were great number crunchers.
(if y o u
want a 90, I believe that 9 0 lookalikes are
s t i l l a v a i l a b l e f r o m S t a n d a r d M a c h i n e s in
California.)
—
j lit
c
on*
1
Univac's 1106 and 1108 are f a s t , highly
regarded machines.
In d e s i g n i n g t h e c o m p u t e r
Univac did a clever thing: they built an u p graded 7094.
T h i s m e a n t (as I u n d e r s t a n d it)
that all the p r o g r a m s from the o l d 7094 w i l l
run on i t .
But instead of two main registers
they have 2 8 .
I
4
(Where they found the bits in the i n s t r u c t i o n w o r d to s e l e c t a m o n g a l l t h o s e r e g i s t e r s
I can't tell y o u . )
,Nk.)
The PDP-8 ws* designed by Gordon Boll
(in its o r i g i n a l v e r e i o n , t h e P D P - 5 ) a b o u t
I960.
O r i g i n a l l y it c o s t a b o u t $ 2 5 , 0 0 0 ; as
o f H e y 1 9 7 4 t h a t p r i c e lat d o w n t o a b o u t $ 3 0 0 0 ,
o r l o s s t h a n * t h o u s a n d d o l l a r s if y o u w e n t
to b u y t h * circuit* and w i r e it a l l up y o u r •elf.
T u p , h e r e cornea t h a t H e a t h k i t .
The PDP-8 haa boon D E C 1 m hottest seller)
you'll find then in industrial plants and
m u s e u m s , or oven hidden in t h e weirdest e q u i p m e n t , from typesetting devices to b i g disk
drive*.
At universities all over there are
kid* who know them inside o u t .
T o d a y t h e P D P - 8 *eea>* a r c h a i c , w i t h i t s
one accumulator and awkward addressing schemes!
you can only get to 2£6 different addresses in
core memory d i r e c t l y , and i t ' s chopped u p into
pages.
B u t for its t i m e it was a b r i l l i a n t
design, packed like a parachute, and even t o day there are people who swear by i t . (But
look at what Bell'* done latolyi the PDP-11.)
So m a n y programs exist for t h e P D P - 8 ,
t h o u g h , snd so a u c h s e n t i m e n t a l f o n d n e s s , t h a t
lt w i l l b e with u s f o r t h e f o r e s e e a b l e f u t u r e .
T h u s tha " B u c k y ' s W r i * t w a t c h " e x a m p l e (*««»,.
* 1 T ) i s n o t t o t a l l y f r i v o l o u a i w e stay a a s u a e
that a PDP-8 on one or two wristwatch-sized
c h i p s Is only a year o r ao s w a y .
But lot's
h o p e t h e y d o t h e 11 f i r s t .
(Lookslikes available
Controls and Pabri-Tek.t
frost D i g i t a l
Computer
as
T h e 1 1 0 8 is a l a r g e r
marly m a i n r e g i s t e r s .
version, with
twice
T h e P D P - 1 0 h a s 36 b i t s b u t h a s i n s t r u c t i o n s to o p e r a t e
on c h u n k s , or b y t e s , of any l e n g t h .
It h a s s i x t e e n m a i n r e g i s t e r s , as d o e s the 3 6 0 , b u t u s e s t h e m m o r e e f f i c i e n t l y .
T h e P D P - 1 0 also h a s u n l i m i t e d i n d i r e c t a d d r e s s i n g : a n
i n s t r u c t i o n c a n take its e f f e c t i v e a d d r e s s from a n o t h e r l o c a t i o n , w h i c h c a n in t u r n s a y t o t a k e i t s e f f e c t i v e a d d r e s s
e l s e w h e r e , ad i n f i n i t u m .
For your heavy tight elegant stuff.
P e r h a p s m o s t i m p o r t a n t , the 10 has a full set of stack
i n s t r u c t i o n s (see " T h e M a g i c of t h e S t a c k , " p . 4 2 ) , a l l o w i n g
p r o g r a m m e r s to u s e m u l t i p l e s t a c k s for p u r p o s e s o f their o w n .
(The o p e r a t i n g system's o w n stacks are p r o t e c t e d . )
m e r s d o n o t h a v e to s a v e e a c h o t h e r ' s r e g i s t e r s , as on the 3 6 0 .
P r o g r a m m e r s are relatively safe from each o t h e r .
S o m e t h i n k o f t h e P D P - 6 a n d 10 as a g l o r i f i e d 7 0 9 4 ( w i t h
1 8 a d d r e s s i n g b i t s , i n s t e a d o f 1 5 ) . In t h i s c a s e w e m i g h t
c o n s i d e r the 360 a s t r i p p e d - d o w n v e r s i o n of the 6 , since IBM
t h r e w o u t t h e s t a c k a n d in m o s t m o d e l s t h e m e m o r y n a p p i n g .
P D P - l O s are o r d i n a r i l y sold w h e r e the views of scientists
and e n g i n e e r s are c o n s i d e r e d i m p o r t a n t , and comptrollers do
not have first c h o i c e .
N e v e r t h e l e s s , some say that its b u s i n e s s - p r o g r a m m i n g f a c i l i t i e s ( i . e . , C O B O L , d u h ) a r e just as good
as t h o s e o f c o m p a n i e s w h o c l a i m to h a v e d e s i g n e d c o m p u t e r s
tor
all p u r p o s e s . "
First National City Bank of New York has found
t h a t the P U P - 1 0 m a k e s a s p l e n d i d b a n k i n g c o m p u t e r for internal
u s e , p r o f i t a b l e at an i n t e r n a l c h a r g e o f $ 3 . 7 5 a n h o u r p l u s
processing charges.
Prices for a PDP-10 system with disk start
s t a r t a b o u t J S 0 0 . O O 0 , o r ( 1 5 g r a n d a m o n t h , and go up into 'he
millions.
H o w e v e r , DEC salesmen are not like I B M ' s , who can reputedly s e l l E s k i m o s to i c e b o x e s .
For one t h i n g , DEC salesmen are
on s a l a r y .
T h a t fits D E C ' S d e m u r e , a w - s h u c k s i m a g e , but it
doesn't exactly sell big computers.
(For y o u F i r e s i g n T h e a t e r f a n s , the m u t t e r i n g s of the
dying computer on the " B o z o s " album are various PDP-10 system
thingies, artistically juxtaposed.)
It u s e d to b e t r a d i t i o n a l f o r
m a c h i n e s l i k e t h i s to h a v e m a n y m a n y
waTin 3l, ?K
M«hts. showing what
a l l
t h e
m a i n
frLJ"
registers a! any
r
t r a c t i o n of a s e c o n d .
But there's
r e a l l y n o p o i n t in s e e i n g all t h a t
s i n c e a b o u t all y o u can tell from it
is w h e t h e r t h e c o m p u t e r is e o i n e o r
l
n
•MKrrrtet;
C o t e
0
C
i
f
i
t
i n g
n 0 t >
t h e
u
h
t
^
' !
«
* » «
topJ
ped) and other high-level
impressions.
For that reason some big computers,
b e g i n n i n g w i t h the CDC 6 6 0 0 , started
d o i n g a w a y w i t h the fancy lights and
b r i n g i n g w r i t t e n m e s s a g e s to the o p e r a t o r on a CRT s c o p e i n s t e a d (for
lots m o r e on the g l o r i e s of CRTs
see the flip s i d e , p p .
'
MEMORY
Big computers can have multiple
p r o g r a m followers and sets of regist e r s (a p r o g r a m f o l l o w e r a n d i t s
l
n
r e
i s t e r s
a r e
?m .
*
together called a
C P U , Central Processing Unit)
A
c o m p u t e r w i t h t w o C P U s , i.'e., t w o
s e t s of p r o g r a m f o l l o w e r s and r e g i s t e r s t o c a r r y t h e p r o g r a m a 6 u t , is
called a dual processor; a computer
w i t h m o r e t h a n t w o C P U s is c a l l e d a
multi-processor.
Separate independent sections of
c o r e m e m o r y m a y b e p u t in o n e c o m p u t e r ,
allowing separate program
followers
and d a t a c h a n n e l s to w o r k at the sane
time.
( N o t e : a " b a n k " of core m e m o r y
is a n i n d e p e n d e n t s e c t i o n .
E x c e p t in
this s e n s e of " c o r e m e m o r y b a n k " or
" c o r e b a n k , " t h e r e is n o o t h e r c o r r e c t
usage of the layman's vague term
"memory bank."
Computer people only
say " m e m o r i e s , " and distinguish further among core, disk, tape, etc.
N o t e that "data b a n k s " are a separate
issue-- see " I s s u e s , " p.J"?.)
<~<,f, > . «...
M
w.™.
DINOSAURS?
P«rf-4" ..... —..W
^
a
/or of- *P»CB
l,,..
7
Many computer p e o p l e , the author
i n c l u d e d , e n t e r t a i n c e r t a i n d o u b t s about the long-term usefulness of big
c o m p u t e r s , since m i n i c o m p u t e r s are
c h e a p e r , e s p e c i a l l y in the l o n g r u n ,
a n d c a n a c t u a l l y b e in t h e o f f i c e s a n d
h o m e s w h e r e p e o p l e c r e a t e and use the
information.
Big c o m p u t e r s are n e c e s sary for t i m e - s h a r i n g (see p . 45)
and
h u g e " n u m b e r - c r u n c h i n g " jobs (see
"Grosch's Law," n e a r b y ) .
H o w e v e r , it
w i l l s o o n be c h e a p e r to p u t s t a n d a r d i z e d n u m b e r - c r u n c h i n g j o b s in s t a n d alone or a c c e s s o r y h a r d w a r e ; see " M i croprocessors," p. i)^.
I K cor?
A>n » H
«TH em -.-»vy
(?- » "
Fans of big computers also argue
that they are n e c e s s a r y for business
p r o g r a m m i n g , but that only m e a n s traditional business programming-- noninteractive and b a t c h - o r i e n t e d .
For
tomorrow's friendly and clear business
s y s t e m s , networks of minis may be preferable.
B u t m a k e r s of big c o m p u t e r s
m a y be u n w i l l i n g to a d m i t this p o s s i bility.
" T H
iJl.l.or... -TV <U » » ~ J . i l - < .)
T e n d * to happen several times e d a y .
G
l
o
w
'
s
W
M i n i c o m p u t e r s are ao nifty that w e m a y ask
w h y h a v e big c o m p u t e r s at all. T h e a n s w e r is
that there arc considerable e c o n o m i e s , especially
in applications that require m a n y repetitive o p e r ations a n d don't n e e d interaction with u s e r s .
A hypothesis about the e c o n o m y of big
c o m p u t e r s w a a formulated a long time a g o b y
Herbert J . R . G r o s c h , onetime director of I B M ' s
W a t s o n L a b u n d n o w a h e o v y detractor of I B M .
T h u s it is called G r o s c h ' s L a w . T h e idea is
basically that there is a s q u a r e - l a w relationahip
b e t w e e n a machine's size a n d its p o w e r (narrowly
defined in t e r m s of the coat of millions of operations,
a n d without considering the e d v a n t s g e s of interactive
s y s t e m s or other features w h i c h m a y b e of m o r e
ultimate value). A n y w a y , w h e n I a s k e d h i m recently
for his formulation of G r o s c h ' s L a w . 1 got the following:
dssaription*
of some prominent
will be found on ths next four
big
aomputers
pages.
"Grosch's L a w
(formal): E c o n o m y in c o m p u t i n g ia as the
s q u a r e root of the s p e e d .
(informal): If y o u w a n t to d o it ten limes
as c h e a p , y o u h a v e to d o it a h u n d r e d times
as fast.
(interpretive): N o matter h o w clever the
h a r d w a r e b o y s a r e . the software b o y s piss it a w a y !
38
-BIGGIE
Operator's
this
The
console
particular
operator
keyboard
(see
or
may
to
waiting
submitted
use
by
programmers
the
light'-pen
p.
among
of
setup.
select
programs,
various
and
depart-
ments -
The p a r t s o f a computer a r e s e t
up t o be g o t t e n a t , t o be r e f i l l e d and
repaired
T h e i r I n n a r d s swing open
l i k e r e fr i g e r a t o r s .
S i m i l a r l y , the
w i r i n g o f computers i s i n s e p a r a t e sect i o n s o r modules ("module" m e r e l y bei n g toda;y's s t y l i s h t e r m f o r " u n i t " ) ,
h a v i n g v>e r y o r d e r l y c o n n e c t i o n s among
them. I n d i v i d u a l c i r c u i t s a r e on c i r c u i t she>e t s o r " c a r d s " w h i c h p l u g i n
s i d e w a y s and may be r e p l a c e d e a s i l y ,
There's n o t h i n g r e a l l y computerish
a b o u t t h i s , i t ' s m e r e l y s e n s i b l e constructio
but i t i s t r a d i t i o n a l i n
o t h e r f i e l d s t o b u i l d s o m e t h i n g as a
tangle of wires.
(When T V makers f o l low t h e s e r a t i o n a l p r a c t i c e s , t h e y
c a l l i t "space age c o n s t r u c t i o n . " )
—
The
of
operator
Illinois
at
about
$50,000
--
the
in
muses
Chicago
a
month,
parlance
of
at
the
console
Circle.
including
It
is
all
big-computer
of
an
the
IBM
main
370
accessories
people,
a
computer
at
the
model
159, which
and
dozen
a
"medium-sized
or
so
University
rents
for
Why a r e t h e d i f f e r e n t p a r t s so
f a r apart?
So t h e r e ' s room t o swing
them open, r e f i l l o r change them, s i t .
down and r e p a i r them.
Refrigerators
c o u l d , and p e r h a p s s h o u l d , a l s o be
b u i l t i n separate s e c t i o n s , but i t ' s
not t r a d i t i o n a l .
Automobiles can't
be s p r e a d o u t because t h e y have t o endure t h e j o s t l e s o f t h e road. But
computers l i k e t h i s baby a r e n ' t g o i n g
anywhere.
terminals
installation."
This i s a b i g computer.
Also i n t i m i d a t i n g i s the fact
t h a t y o u have t o s t e p up as you e n t e r
a computer room. ~ T n a t s because comp u t e r rooms o r d i n a r i l y have r a i s e d
f l o o r s , p e r m i t t i n g c a b l e s t o be r u n
a r o u n d among t h e p i e c e s o f equipment
w i t h o u t your t r i p p i n g .
I n p r i n c i p l e i t ' s no d i f f e r e n t f r o m a s m a l l one; b u t i t has
b i g g e r memories, more r e g i s t e r s , more p r o g r a m f o l l o w e r s .
There
are more s p e c i a l i z e d p a r t s , and more t h i n g s h a p p e n i n g a t once.
(Thus t h e t e r m " d i g i t a l computer complex" i s sometimes u s e d f o r
a b i g c o m p u t e r . ) I t comes s u p p l i e d w i t h a m o n i t o r p r o g r a m o r
o p e r a t i n g s y s t e m ( s e e p. 4 5 )
d
v a r i e t y of other u t i l i t y programs and language p r o c e s s o r s .
a
n
T
a
B i g g i e s have many ominous and s e e m i n g l y
t h i n g s t o s c a r e t h e layman.
For one t h i n g , where i s t h e computer?
o f r o a r i n g c a b i n e t s . WhicTPis i t ?
Computer rooms a r e g e n e r a l l y l i t
by m i l l i o n s o f f l u o r e s c e n t b u l b s ,
making them g a r i s h l y b r i g h t .
This i s
simply t r a d i t i o n .
incomprehensible
A l l y o u see i s a l o t
B i g computers can have m i l l i o n s
o f words o f c o r e memory. Moreover,
there are u s u a l l y several disk drives
and t a p e d r i v e s , as seen i n t h e p i c t u r e s , used t o h o l d d a t a and programs.
(Some o f t h e programs a r e t h e system
p r o g r a m s , e s p e c i a l l y t h e language p r o c e s s o r s and t h e o p e r a t i n g system-see p . tfS-- b u t o t h e r programs and
most o f t h e d a t a b e l o n g t o t h e u s e r s . )
Answer: a l l o f them. "The c o m p u t e r " i s d i v i d e d among t h e
d i f f e r e n t c a b i n e t s ( n o t e d i a g r a m and c l u s t e r o f p i c t u r e s l o c a t i n g
t h e o p e r a t o r among them, below)..
The e x t e r n a l d e v i c e s o r p e r i p h e r a l s ( s e e p. S"7) a r e u s u a l l y i n s e p a r a t e h o u s i n g s .
Usually
t h e r e i s one s i n g l e box o r " m a i n f r a m e " c o n t a i n i n g c o r e memory,
main r e g i s t e r s , p r o g r a m - f o l l o w i n g c i r c u i t r y , e t c . , as i n t h e mac h i n e i l l u s t r a t e d , b u t t h e s e t h i n g s d o n ' t have t o be i n one b o x ,
and sometimes a r e n ' t .
AN
OPERATOR
IS
NOT
A
PROGRAMMER
C i n d y W o e l f e r is the d a y - s h i f t o p e r a t o r o f C i r c l e ' s b i g c o m p u t e r .
The job mainly consists of changing disks and tapes, starting and s t o p ping different jobs listed on the scope, and restarting the
computer
when the system crashes (gratuitously ceases o p e r a t i o n ) .
very
Ms. Woelfer,
stimulating.
a
thoughtful person, says
She can program, but the
she
job
does not find her job
doesn't involve pro-
granming.
It's also a lonely job.
Non-systems
Daley, aren't ordinarily allowed around.
About
people, except Mayor
the only people to talk
to are the systems programmers
and see whether their programs
to
who
are
stop through
up n e x t .
look
at
the
scope
37
3
(<«
^
>..- 1"-.+ tft-e.- 4 t W
v
r r
.
Dfl
J>
.„
7 / 7 7 /
M A
CHANNEL
C"Ji"tCT M e i s . ^ /idcey "J
There
various
latest
ing
3K
:
J)lKltO€J
overvievr
is great
types
confusion
of small
stupid
term,
to the confusion.
minicomputer
We
or
any computer
registers)
less.
some
Lately,
people
32-bit
computers
as minis.
base
This
A
fact
for p r e v e n t i n g static in y o u r
on the
has also r e -
to a machine
a separate
sold
issue.)
computer
) •
term
mean
less
any tiny
a
being
computer,
of its structure.
computers
in
apparently
will
be
few years.
nothing
near
sparks
as to their
Lexington, M A
computer
term
midi
skirts?
has been
used
larger
than
usual,
by people
16 bits
the
impression
are
bigger
biggies.
biggie)
a
02173
or
for a s little a s $ 2 5 0 / m o . , l o n g - t e r m .
Remember
this
to
their
minis
than
give
machines
and less
the PDP-10
has sometimes
WHER5T«e£rtri
computers
or faster
seeking
that
than
Even
Well,
for
(a
been
A long but incomplete
than
genuwine
called
midi.
l ^ C
-FUKJ
Of
T^L8UGfe|*JGr-
\'0
ie*
T h e
m i n i
c h i m n e y i n g
t o
h i s
REASONABLE
(a s u b s i d i a r y of P e p s i c o )
99 H a r t w e l l A v e .
clarifies
structure
BE
Rental Electronics, Inc.
all
"microcomputers"
This
M A Y
N o v a m i n i c o m p u t e r s a r e leasable f r o m :
regard-
Thus
MINI R E N T A L S
from y o u r fingers.
used
use.
midi
HEY, SOME
won't
z a p p the c o m p u t e r w i t h
microcomputer
to
S p r a y it all
o v e r the r u g , especially
(see p .
can,
static electricity in c a r p e t e d
computer rooms.
the c o m p u t e r , a n d y o u
Two-level
Free
c o m e s s c e n t e d in a s p r a y
l a u n d r y — is s a i d to e l i m i n a t e
without
B u t that's
microprocessor
Crummy
p r o d u c t called C l i n g
—
this
lot of programs.
really
adver-
and even
"minicomputer"
ferred
a
been
24-bit
confusing.
(They
that
or
unfortunately,
have
their
just
hav-
(memory a n d
of 18 bits
tising
is
C«& F .
the
add-
have:
an architecture
main
between
with
mini
Traditionally,
ing
as
computer,
"microcomputer,"
OK
rfji/»f
fit
rA\*i!
(oWa*-
f°y-
m a n i s
like
a n d t w i s t i n g
h i s g o a l —
p r o g r a m .
a
t o
n o t h i s b o d y ,
v^fTU
|^J+
r o c k
s q u e e z e
o f
c l i m b e r ,
t h r o u g h
c o u r s e ,
b u t
list of minicomputer manufacturers
ie at the bottom of p. 7 . 5 ,
\
36
M i n i c o m p u t e r s a r e now b e i n g found
i n highschools; a c t i v e marketing t o
h i g h s c h o o l s i s now b e i n g done by b o t h
DEC and H e w l e t t - P a c k a r d .
^ MINI
C h i l d r e n ' s museums i n B r o o k l y n
and B o s t o n have r e c e n t l y o b t a i n e d PDPl l s f o r the kids t o i n t e r a c t w i t h . I n
the B r o o k l y n c a s e , t h e computer w i l l
even d e m o n s t r a t e t h e e x h i b i t and h e l p
the c h i l d d i s c o v e r t h i n g s about i t , i n
ways w o r k e d o u t by Gordon Pask fsee D
I n t h e f u t u r e , networks o f m i n i s
may be t h e systems t o o f f e r l o w - c o s t
i n f o r m a t i o n s e r v i c e s t o t h e home ( f o r
s p e c u l a t i o n s , see P . 1>V\ £7).
But m i n i s w i l l a l s o s t a r t t o make b i g ger and b i g g e r i n c u r s i o n s on t h e t e r r i t o r y o f t h e b i g machines. For i n s t a n c e ,
one g r o u p p r o p o s e s a t i m e - s h a r i n g system w h i c h w i l l s i m p l y c o n s i s t o f Novas
interconnected i n a r i n g , the so-called
STAR-RING, w h i c h w i l l s u p p o s e d l y compete w i t h b i g time-sharing.
This is a PDP-11, one of the world's beet-designed minicomputers (see p. Y Z J J
The PDP-11 is a 16-bit machine. Shown is Model 45, the fastest PDP-11, which
has various special features. Stripped, with 4K of core memory (that's 4096
locations), it costs about $13 grand. A smaller PDP-11 goes for some $5000.
A m i n i c o m p u t e r s i m p l y means a
s m a l l c o m p u t e r , no d i f f e r e n t i n
p r i n c i p l e f r o m t h e b i g ones ( s e e
n e x t s p r e a d ) , and i t can do a l l t h e
same t h i n g s e x c e p t as l i m i t e d by
speed and memory c a p a c i t y .
( M i n d , we a r e t a l k i n g a b o u t
r e a l computers, n o t the l i t t l e c a l c u l a t o r s you h o l d i n y o u r hand t h a t
j u s t do a r i t h m e t i c .
A r e a l comput e r i s one w h i c h works on s t o r e d
programs and a l l k i n d s o f d a t a ,
w o r k i n g n o t m e r e l y on numbers b u t
on such o t h e r t h i n g s as t e x t , mus i c and p i c t u r e s i f s u p p l i e d w i t h
a p p r o p r i a t e p r o g r a m s ; see f l i p s i d e . )
There i s some argument o v e r
what c o n s t i t u t e s a m i n i c o m p u t e r ;
b a s i c a l l y we w i l l say i t ' s any comp u t e r w i t h a word l e n g t h o f . 1 8 b i t s
o r l e s s (see " B i n a r y P a t t e r n s , " p.
2-7).
(Some companies, l i k e Datac r a f t and I n t e r d a t a , a r e t r y i n g t o
p e d d l e t h e i r w o r t h y computers as
" m i n i c o m p u t e r s " even though t h e y ' r e
24 and 32 b i t s , r e s p e c t i v e l y , b u t
t h a t ' s v e r y odd. I n t e r d a t a says
any computer under t e n t h o u s a n d i s
a m i n i - - w h i c h means a l l computers
w i l l be m i n i s by and b y ; a v e x i n g
t h i n g t o do t o t h e term.)
T r a d i t i o n a l l y minicomputers
come w i t h much l e s s .
I n the o l d
days p r e t t y much a l l t h e programs
you g o t w i t h i t were an assembler
(see p. ys) and a debugger (see p.
J o ) and a F o r t r a n c o m p i l e r ( s e e p.
2 D i f y o u were l u c k y . Today,
though, w i t h minis having h i g h l y
b u i l t - u p s o f t w a r e l i k e (see pp.io-t/?
f o r d e s c r i p t i o n s ) t h e PDP-8, t h e
PDP-11 and t h e Nova, you can g e t a
l o t o f d i f f e r e n t assemblers, t o g e t h e r w i t h F o r t r a n , BASIC, and a
l i t t l e disk or cassette operating
system (see p. H&) t o make y o u r
l i f e a l i t t l e easier.
•
The i d e a o f o w n i n g a c o m p u t e r
may* seem s t r a n g e t o some p e o p l e ,
b u t w i t h p r i c e s f a l l i n g as t h e y a r e
i t makes p e r f e c t s e n s e . Numerous
i n d i v i d u a l s own m i n i s , and as t h e
p r i c e c o n t i n u e s t o d r o p t h e number
w i l l shoot up. For s e v e r a l f a