Computer Lib Dream Machines - 1st edition

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 .

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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 .

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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 .

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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

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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 .

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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.

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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

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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 .

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( 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: ( a luaaiad (-J ai • 3UBiiro 'iiaaA uBAaa 03 dn aaLia) uo )ipa>]3 pooft jo *tanpTATP»I 03 luawrlinba j n aaaai m « Aaqi •Serjaaai "S'n q31« uoiiajoqaitoa ur 'euiaaai 113 -Tfiia 'Xuadiaoa fiujaaax JB3ndaoa a pa3ia3B BABI| Xa-(x ;aaauiBtiq fmiaaaj ay) 03111 ua3)ofi tnwtrfi aai( UOT3ajodjo3 3uaaidTTiha (a3iAia pio poofs ' T I * n ('3uaj 03 qbnoua 67q AuaAaoo iB3ndBoo tfuo ai(3 Buraq BDij iiad arjiai ui m i l nAod laaifi B.HSI) •aiaaX naj a uj antiA la^iaai ou aA*q Xiqaqoid T H A 3T UBB* a»)nC(*oa jo aaaiid fcuillaj aip a^ui* 'Bsiid aaaipmd n n j ail JOJ J(BJBX) 3™ 3ttq ' (MBt *oJJ 3daala) j»3ndnoo a )uaj

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•aibb|q aqs aan oafiui«aqjo sno IABA puTJ P,**q3 '31 asiboid 03 panona ' * A "">, 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.

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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

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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?

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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

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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.

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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.)

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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

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•-*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.)

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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

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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:

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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 ,

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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

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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 .

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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

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' 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

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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

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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.

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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 .

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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.)

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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 .

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( 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). (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