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Univers'tSt Hamburg
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0 * THU * * * ;
Man has created the myth of "the computer" in his own image, or one of them: cold, immaculate, s te rile , "scientific." oppressive. Some people flee this image. O thers, drawn toward it, have joined the cold-sterile-oppressive cu lt, and propagate it like a faith. Many are still sbout this mischief, making people do things rigidly and saying it is the com puter's fault. Still others see computer* for what they really are: versatile gizmos which may be turned to any p u rp o se , in any style. And so a wealth of new stylea and human purposes are being proposed and trie d , each proponent propounding his own dream in his own very personal w ay. This book presents s panoply of things and dream s. Perhaps some will appeal to the r e a d e r ...

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S ? postpaid f r o . H u g o 's Book S e r v i c e , Box 2 6 2 2 , C h ica g o , I ll i n o i s 60690. P a ek aR e o f te n c o p i e s , $50 p o s t p a i d .

THE COMPUTER PRIESTHOOD Any nitwit can understand com puters, and many do. Unfortunately, due to ridiculous historical circum stances, computers have been made a mystery to most of the w o rld . And this situation does not seem to be Improving. You hear more and more about computers, but to most people it's just one big b l u r . The people who know sbout computers often seem unwilling to explain things or answ er y our q ues tions . Stereotyped notions develop about computers operating In fixed w ays-- and so confusion increases. The chasm between lsymen and computer people widens fast and danger ously . This book Is a m easure of desperation, so serious and abysms! Is the public sense of confusion and ignorance. Anything with buttons or lights can be palmed off on the layman as a computer. There are so many different things, and their differences are so important; yet to the lay public they are lumped together as "computer stuff." indistinct and beyond understanding or criticism . Its as If people couldn't tell apart camera from exposure meter or tripod, or car from truck or tollbooth. This book is therefore devoted to the premise that EVERYBODY SHOULD UNDERSTAND COMPUTERS . It is intended to fill a crying need. Lots of everyday people have aeked me where they can learn about com puters, and 1 have had to say now here. Most of what is w ritten about computers for the layman is either unreadable or silly. (Some exceptions are listed nearby: you can go to them Instead of this if you w a nt.) B u t virtually nowhere is the big picture simply enough explained. Nowhere can one get a sim ple, soup-to-nut6 overview of what computers are really about, without technical or mathematical mumbojumbo, complicated examples, or talking down. This book is an attem pt. (And nowhere have I seen a simple book explaining to the layman the fabulous wonderlsnd of computer graphics which awaits us a l l . a matter which means a great deal to me personally . as well as a lot to all of us in g e n e ra l. That's discussed on the flip side.) Computers are simply a necessary and enjoyable part of life, like food and books. Computers are not everything, they are just an aspect of everything, and not to know this is computer Illiteracy, a silly and dangerous igno ra n ce. Computers are as easy to understand as cam eras. I have tried to make this book like a photography m agazine-b re e ry , forceful and as vivid ss possible. This book will explain how to tell apples from oranges and which way la u p . If you want to make c id e r, or help get things right aide u p , you will have to go on from h e r e . I am not a skillful programmer, hands-on person or eminent professional; I am just a computer fa n . computer fanatic if you will. But if D r. David Reuben can w rite about sex I can certainly w rite about computers. I have written this like a letter to a nephew , chatty and p e rso n al. This is perhaps less boring for the re s d e r. and certainly less boring for the w r ite r . who is doing this in a h u r r y . Like a photography m agazine, it throws at you some rudim ents In a m erry setting. Other things are thrown in so you'll get the sound of them , even if the details are e lu siv e. (We learn most everyday things by beginning with vague im pressions, but somehow encouraging these is not usually felt to be re specta ble.) What I have chosen for inclusion here has been a r b itr a r y . based on what might amuse and give quick Insight. Any bright highschool k id , or anyone else who can stumble through the details of s photography magazine, should be able to understand this book, o r get the main id ea s. This will not make you a program m er or a computer perso n , though it may help you talk that t a lk . and perhaps make you feel more comfortable (or at least able to cope) when new machines encroach on your life. If you can get a chance to learn programming-- see the suggestions on p . - - it's an awfully good experience for anybody above fourth g ra d e . But the main idea of this book is to help you tell apples from o ra n g es. and which wsy is up. I hope you do go on from h ere, and have made a few suggestions. 1 am "publiahing" this book myself. In this first draft form, to test its viability, to see how mad the computer people g e t. and to see If there is as much hunger to understand com puters, among all you Polks Out T h e re , as I th in k . I will be interested to receive corrections and suggestions for subsequent editio n s. if a n y . (The computer field is Its own exploding u n iv e rse , so I'll worry about up-to-dateness at that time.) Knowledge is power and so it tends to be hoarded. Experts in any field rarely want people to understand what they do .and generally enjoy putting people down. Thus if we say that the use of computers Is dominated by a priesthood. people who spatter you with unlntelligable answ ers and seem unwilling to give you straight o nes. it is not that they are different in this respect from any o ther profession. Doctors, lawyers and construction engineers are the same w ay. But computers are very s p ec ial. and we have to deal with them everyw here, and this effectively gives the computer priesthood a stranglehold on the operation of all large o rganiza tions. of government bureaux, and anything else that they r u n . Members of Congress are now complaining about control of information by the computer people. that they cannot get the information even though it's on computers. Next to this it seems a small matter that in ordinary companies "untrained" personnel can't gel straight questions answered by computer people; but it's the same phenomenon. It is imperative for many reasons that the appalling gap between public and computer insider be closed. As the saying g o es . war is too important to be left to the gen e ra ls. G uardianship of the computer can no longer be left to a p rie sthood. 1 see this as just one example of the creeping evil of Professionalism .* the control of aspects of society by cliques of i n sid ers. There may be some chance, though, that Professionalism can be turned around. Doctors, for exam ple, are being told that they no longer own people's b o d ie s . "* And this book may suggest to some computer professionals that their position should not be as sacrosanct a s they have thought, cither. This in not to say that computer people are trying to louse everybody up on p u rp o s e . Like anyone trying to do a complex job as he sees f i t . they don't want to be bothered with idle questions and complaints. Indeed, probab ly any group of insiders would have hoarded computers just as m uch. If the computer had evolved from the telegraph (which it just might h a v e ). perh ap s the librarians would have hoarded it conceptually as much as the math and en gineering people have. But things have gone too far. People have legitimate complaints about the way computers a r e u s e d . and legitimate ideas for ways they should be u s e d , which should no longer be shunted aside. In no way do I mean to condemn computer people in general. (Only the ones who don't want you to know w hat's going o n .) The field is full of fine, imaginative people. Indeed, the number of creative and brilliant people known within the field for their cle v er and creative contri butions is considerable. They d ese rv e to be known as widely a s . s a y , good photographers or w r it e r s .

"Computers are catching h^ll from growing multitudes who see them uniformly as the tools of the regulation and suffocation of all things w a rm . moist, and human. The cha rg e s, of course, ' are not totally unfounded, but in their most sweeping form they are ineffective and therefore actually an acquiescence to the dehumanization which they d e c ry . We clearly need a much more discerning evaluation in o rd e r to clarify the ethics of various roles of machines in human affairs."

Ken Knowlton in "Collaborations with A rtists-a Programm er's Reflections" in Nake a Rosenfeld, e d s . , Graphic Languages (North-Holland Pub. C o .), p. 399.

* This is a side point. I see Professionalism aa a spreading disease of the present-day w orld, a sort of poly-oligarchy by which various groups (subway conductors, social w o rk ers, bric kla yers) can b rin g things to a halt if their particular new increased demands are not met. (Meanwhile, the Irrele vance of each profession in creas e s , in proportion to its increasing rig id ity .) Such lucky groups demand more In each go-ro u n d -- but meantime, the number who are permanently unemployed grows and grow s. ** Ellen F rankfort, Vaginal Politics, Q uadrangle B ooks. Boston Women'a Health Collective, Our Bodies, O u rse lv es.' Simon a S ch u ster.

Hamburg

T h isf s i d e o f t h e b o o k . C o m p u t e r L ib p r o p e r ( w h o s e t i t l e i s n e v e r t h e l e s s t h e s i m p l e r ! w a y lo r e f e r lo b o t h h a l v e s ) , i s a n a t t e m p t to e x p l a i n s i m p l y a n d c o n c i s e l y w h y c o m p u t e r s a r e m a r v e l o u s a n d w o n d e r f u l , a n d w h a t s o m e m a in th i n g s a r e i.i th e f ie ld . T h e s e c o n d h a l f o f th e b o o k . D r e a m M a c h i n e s , i s s p e c i a l l y a b o u t f a n t a s y a n d i m a g i n a t i o n , a n d n e w t e c h n i q u e s f o r i t . T h a r h a l f i s r e l a t e d lo t h i s h a l f , b u t c a n b e r e a d fir sL ; I w a n t e d lo s e p a r a t e th e m a s d i s t i n c t l y a s p o s s i b l e .

T h e r e m a r k s b e l o w a l l r e f e r to t h i s f i r s t h a l f , t h e C o m p u t e r L i b h a l f o f Lhe b o o k .

FANDOM W ith t h i s b o o k I am no l o n g e r c a l l i n g m y s e l f a c o m p u t e r p r o f e s s i o n a l . I 'm a c o m p u t e r f a n , a n d I'm o u t l o m a k e y o u o n e . (A ll c o m p u t e r p r o f e s s i o n a l s w e r e f a n s o n c e , b u t p e o p l e g e t c r a b b i e r a e t h e y g e t o ld e r , a n d m ore p r o fe s s io n a l - ) A g e n e r a ti o n of c o m p u te r fane a n d h o b b y is t s i s w ell on Its w a y , b u t fo r th e m ost p a rt th e s e a r e p e o p le w ho h a v e h a d s o m e s o r t of a n I n . T h i s i s m e a n t to b e a n I n f o r t h o s e who d id n 't g e t one e a rlie r. T h e c o m p u te r fa n is som e one w ho a p p r e c ia te s th e o p t i o n s , f u n , e x c i t e m e n t , a n d f i e n d i s h f a s c i n a t i o n of c o m p u t e r s . N o t o n l y le t h e c o m p u t e r fu n in i t s e l f , l i k e e l e c t r i c t r a i n s ; b u t I t a l s o e x t e n d s to y o u a w id e v a r i e t y o f p o s s i b l e p e r s o n a l u s e s . O n c a s e y ou d o n 't k now i t , th e p r i c e of c o m p u te r s a n d o f u s i n g th e m i s g o i n g d o w n a s f a s t a s e v e r y o t h e r p r i c e 1b g o i n g u p . S o i n t h e n e x t few d e c a d e s w e m a y b e r e d u c e d to e a t i n g s o y b e a n s a n d c a r r o t s , b u t w e ' l l c e r t a i n l y h a v e c o m p u te rs .) S o m e h o w th e I d e a i s a b r o a d t h a t c o m p u t e r a c t i v i t i e s a r e u n c r e a t i v e , a s c o m p a r e d . sa y , w ith r o ta t in g c la y a g a in s t y o u r f i n g e r s u n t i l It b e c o m e s a p o t . T h i s i s c a t e g o r i c a l l y f a l s e . C o m p u t e r s i n v o l v e im a g i n a t i o n a n d c r e a t i o n a t t h e h ig h e s t l e v e l . C o m p u ters a re an in v o lv e m e n t you can r e a lly g e t i n t o , r e g a r d l e s s of y o u r t r i p o r y o u r k a r m a . T h e y a re to y s , t h e y a re to o ls , th e y a r e g lo r io u s a b s t r a c t i o n s . So I t y o u l i k e m e n t a l c r e a t i o n , t o y t r a i n s , o r a b s t r a c t i o n s , c o m p u t e r s a r e f o r y o u . I f y o u a r e i n t e r e s t e d in d e m o c r a c y a n d its f u t u r e , y o u 'd b e tte r u n d e r s t a n d c o m p u te rs . A nd It y o u a r e c o n c e r n e d a b o u t p o w e r a n d t h e w a y i t i s b e i n g u s e d , a n d a r e n 't we a ll r i g h t n o w , th e sa m e th in g g o e s .

T h e r e i s a lre a d y a b a c k la s h a g a in s t c o m p u te r s , a n d th e s p i r i t o f t h is a n li- c o m p u t e r b a c k la s h i s c o r r e c t , b u t s h o u ld b e d ir e c te d a g a in s t v e r y s p e c ific k in d s or th in g s . T h e p u b l i c s h o u l d s t o p b e i n g m a d at " c o m p u t e r s " i n t h e a b s t r a c t , a n d s t a r t b e in g m ad a t th e p e o p le w h o m a k e in c o n v e n ie n t s y s te m s . It i s n o t " th e c o m p u te r," w h ic h h a s n o I n t r i n s i c s t y l e o r c h a r a c t e r , w h ic h i s a t f a u lt ; il i s p e o p le w h o u s e " lh e c o m p u te r" a s a n e x c u s e to in c o n v e n i e n c e y o u , w h o a r e a t f a u l t . T h e m e c h a n i s m s of l e g i t i m a t e p u b l i c p r o t e s t - - . s i t - i n s a n d so o n - - s h o u ld p e r h a p s so o n b e tu r n e d to c o m p la in t o v e r b a d and in h u m a n c o m p u te r s y s te m s .

T h e q u e s t i o n i s , w ill t h e c r u m m i e r t r e n d s c o n t i n u e ? O r c a n th e p u b l i c l e a r n , i n t i m e , w h a t g o o d a n d b e a u ti f u l th in g s a r e p o s s i b l e , a n d t r a n s la t e th is re a liz a ti o n in to d n e ffec tiv e d e m a n d ? I do not b e lie v e th is i s a n o b s c u r e o r s p e c ia liz e d i s s u e . Its sh a d o w falls a c r o s s th e f u t u r e of m a n k in d , i f a n y , lik e a g ia n t se q u o ia . E ith e r c o m p u te r s y s te m s a r e g o in g lo g o o n in c o n v e n ie n c in g o u r l i v e s , o r t h e y a r e g o i n g t o b e t u r n e d a r o u n d to m a k e l i f e b e t t e r . T h is i s o n e o f lh e d ire c tio n s th a t c o n s u m e ris m s h o u ld t u r n . 1 h a v e a n a x e to g r in d : I w an t to s e e c o m p u te rs u s e fu l to i n d i v i d u a l s , a n d l h e s o o n e r t h e b e l t e r , w i t h o u t n e c e s s a r y c o m p lic atio n o r h u m a n s e r v i lity b e in g r e q u i r e d . A n y o n e w h o a g r e e s w ith th e s e p r i n c i p l e s is o n m y s i d e , a n d a n y o n e w ho does n o t, is n o t. T H I S B O O K IS F O R P E R S O N A L F R E E D O M . A N D A G A I N S T R E S T R I C T IO N A N D C O E R C IO N , T h a t 's r e a lly a l l i t 's a b o u t. M any p e o p le , fo r r e a s o n s of th e ir o w n , e n jo y a n d b e lie v e in r e s t ric tin g a n d c o e r c in g p e o p le; th e r e a d e r m ay d e cid e w h e th e r h e is fo r o r a g a in s t th is p r in c ip le . A c h a n l y o u c a n t a k e to t h e s t r e e t s : C O M P U T E R PO W ER T O T H E PE O P LE ! DOWN W ITH C Y B E R C R U D !

T H E F U T U R E , IF ANY T H E S O C IE T Y W h ic h b r i n g s u s to o u r n e x t t o p i c . T h e r e I s no q u e s t i o n of w h e t h e r t h e c o m p u t e r w i l l r e m a k e s o c i e t y ; it h a s . Y ou d e a l w i t h c o m p u t e r s p e r h a p s m an y tim es a d a y - - o r w o rs e , c o m p u te rs d e a l w ith y o u , t h o u g h y o u m a y n o t k n o w i t . C o m p u t e r s a r e g o i n g i n to e v e r y t h i n g , a re in te rtw in e d w ith e v e r y t h i n g , a n d it's g o in g to g e t m o r e a n d m o r e s o . T h e r e a d e r s h o u l d h a v e a s e n s e of th e d a n c e o f o p tio n s , th e r e m a r k a b ly d if f e r e n t w a y s th a t c o m p u te rs may b e u s e d : b y e x t e n s i o n , h e s h o u ld c om e to s e e t h e e x t r a o r d i n a r y r a n g e o f o p t i o n s w h i c h c o n f r o n t u s a s a s o c i e t y in o u r f u t u r e u s e o f t h e m . I n d e e d , c o m p u t e r s h a v e w ith a sw oop e x p a n d e d th e o p tio n s of e v e r y t h i n g S i m p l y a s a m a t t e r o f c i t i z e n s h i p , i t i s e s s e n t i a l lo u n d e rs t a n d th e im p a c t an d u s e s of c o m p u te rs i n th e w o rld o f th e f u t u r e , i f a n y : a n d to h a v e a s e n s e o f th e is s u e s a b o u t c o m p u te rs lh a l co n fro n t u s a s a p e o p le-- e sp e c ia lly p r iv a c y a n d d a t a b a n k s , b u t a l s o s t r a n g e ne w a d d i t i o n s lo o u r e conom ic s y s te m (" th e c h e c k le s s so c ie ty ") , o u r p o litica l s y ste m ( h a lf - b a k e d v o te -a t-h o m e p r o p o s a l s ) , a n d s o o n . I r e g r e t th a t t h e r e i s not room to c o v e r th e s e h e r e . V a rio u s c o m p an ies o r e s e e k in g w id e p u b lic s u p p o r t fo r th e s o r t s o f t h i n g s th e y a r e t r y i n g to b r i n g a b o u t . L e g is la tio n w ill b e p r o p o s e d o n w h ic h th e v ie w s o f th e p u b lic s h o u ld h a v e a b e a r i n g . II i s i m p o r t a n t t h a t t h e s e b e u n d e r s t o o d s e n s ib ly b y so m e p a r t of th e e le c to ra te b e fo re th e y a r e m ade to o p e r m a n e n t , r a t h e r l h a n m a d e m a i l e r s o f d u m b a s s e n t . F in a lly , an d moat so le m n ly , c o m p u te rs a r e h e lp in g u s u n d e r s t a n d l h e u n p r e c e d e n t e d d a n g e r of o u r f u t u r e ( s e e " T h e C lu b of R o m e p .^ fl) . T he h u m an r a c e m ay h a v e o n ly a s h o r l tim e le ft o n e a r t h , e v e n if t h e r e i s n o w a r . T h e s e s tu d ie s m ust b e se e n a n d u n d e rsto o d b y a s m any in te l l i g e n t m en of good w ill a s p o s s ib l e .

B u t a v a rie ty o f in c o n v e n ie n t s y s te m s a lre a d y to u c h o n o u r l i v e s , n u i s a n c e s w e m u s t d e a l w i t h a ll t h e tim e ; a n d I f e a r t h a t w o r s e i s t o c o m e , I w o u l d l i k e lo a l e r t t h e r e a d e r , i n n o u n c e r t a i n t e r m s , t h a t t h e ti m e h a s c o m e t o b e o p e n l y a tte n tiv e a n d c r i t i c a l i n o b s e r v i n g a n d d e a li n g w ith c o m p u te r s y s t e m s ; a n d to t r a n s f o r m c r i t i c i s m i n t o a c t i o n . I f s y s t e m s a re b a d , a n n o y in g a n d d e m e a n in g , th e s e m a tte rs s h o u ld b e b r o u g h t to t h e a t t e n t i o n o f t h e p e r p e t r a t o r s . P o l i t e l y a t f i r s t . B u t j u s t a s th e a tm o s p h e ri c p o llu tio n fo s te re d b y GM h a s b e c o m e a m a t t e r f o r c i t i z e n c o n c e r n a n d a t t a c k t h r o u g h l e g i t i m a t e c h a n n e l s o f p r o t e s t , s o too s h o u l d t h e p r o c e d u r a l p o llu tio n o f in c o n s i d e r a t e c o m p u te r s y s te m s b ecom e a m a tte r fo r th e sa m e k i n d s o f c o n c e r n . T h e r e a d e r s h o u ld r e a l i z e h e can c ritic iz e and dem and; T H E P U B L IC D O E S N O T H A VE T O T A K E W H A T 'S B E IN G D IS H E D O U T .

TH ER EFO R E W e lc o m e t o t h e c o m p u t e r w o r l d , t h e d a m n d e s t a n d c r a z ie s t th i n g th a t h a s e v e r h a p p e n e d . But w e , th e c o m p u te r p e o p l e . a r e n o t c r a z y . I t i s y o u o t h e r s w h o a r e c r a z y to le t u s h a v e a l l th i6 f u n a n d p o w e r to o u r s e l v e s .

C O M P U T E R S B E L O N G TO ALL M A N KIN D .

B .A ., p h ilo s o p h y . S w a rth m o re; g ra d u a te s tu d y U. o f C hicago: M . A . , so c io lo g y , H a r v a r d . M o s t l y s e l f - t a u g h t in c o m p u t e r s , M e m b e r o f e d i t o r i a l b o a r d , 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 ; l i s t e d i n N e w Y o r k T i m e s W h o 'a W h o i n C o m p u t e r s ; m e m b e r o f A s s o c i a t i o n f o r C o m p u t i n g M a c h i n e r y s i n c c 196 4 . R e s e a r c h a s s i s t a n t . C o m m u n ic atio n R e s e a r c h I n s t i t u t e , 196 2 -3 . I n s tr u c to r in s o c io lo g y , V a s s a r C o lle g e , 1964-6. S e n i o r s t a f f r e s e a r c h e r , H a r c o u r t , B r a c e W o r ld P u b l i s h e r s , 1 9 6 6 - 7 . C o n s u l t a n t lo B e ll T e l e p h o n e L a b o r a t o r i e s , W h i p p a n y , N . J . , 1 9 6 7 - 8 . C o n s u l t a n t to C B S L a b o r a t o r i e s , S t a m f o r d , C t . , 1 9 6 0 - 9 . P r o p r i e t o r o f T h e N e l s o n O r g a n i z a t i o n , I n c . , N e w Y o r k C i t y , 1 9 6 9 - 7 2 . L e c t u r e r i n a r t , U . o f I l l i n o i s a t C h i c a g o C i r c l e , s p r i n g 1973. L e c t u r e r i n c o m p u t e r e d u c a t i o n , O f f ic e o f 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 , U . o f I l l i n o i s a t C h i c a g o C i r c l e , 1 9 7 3 - 4 . P hoto b y R oger F ie ld .

The obvious consequence Is simply for the computer people to be allowed to take over altogether. It may Indeed be that computer people -- the more well-informed and visionary ones, anyway can see the farthest, and appreciate most deeply the better ways things can g o , and the steps that have to be taken to get th e r e . (And Boards of Managers can at least be partially assured that hanky-panky at the lower levels will be prevented, If men In charge know where the bodies are burled. ) That seems to be how It's going. Examples: The president of Dartmouth College, John Kemeny, is a respected computerman and a devel oper of one of the important computing languages, BASIC (see p . \(, ). The new president of the Russell Sage Foun dation, Hugh Cline, used to teach computing at Columbia. It's probably the same in Industry. In other words, more and m ore, for better and for w o rse, things are b eing ru n by people who know how to use com puters, and this trend is probsbly ir r e versible. In some w ays, of course, this la s sinister portent. In private industry It's not so b ad, since the danger is more of embezzlement and botch-up than of public menace. But then th ere's the problem of the government. The men who manage the Information tools s re more and more In charge of government, loo. And If we can have a Watergate without computers, just w ait. (See "Burning Issue s," p . 5g)

But while computers and th eir combinations grow bigger and b igger, they also grow smaller and sm aller. A complete computer the size of an OreoTwolde Is now available, guaranteed for twentyflve years (and very expensive). But its actual h eart, the Intel m icroprocessor. Is only sixty bucks now, and just wait (see M icroprocessors, p . */ ^ ) . By 19B0 there should be as many pro grammed and programmable objects In your house as you now have TVs, radios and typewriters; that's s conservative estimate. But just what these devices will all be doing ah th ere's the question that has many people talking to themselvea. OTHER COMING THINGS? There are a lot of tall stories about what computers will do for the world. Among lhe most threatening, I think, are glowing reporta of "scientific" politics (don't you believe i t ) . We hear how computers will bring "science to govern m ent, helping, for example, to redraw the lines of election districts. (See C ybercrud, p . $ .) Then you may also have heard that computers are going to be our new mentors and companions, tutoring u s , chatting with us and perhaps lulling us to sleep like Hal in 2001. Worried? Good. (See "The God-Builders," nip s id e .) (t. '^ )

6)o tz ta h i m t n p i r
A college student broke through the security of the Pacific Telephone computer system from a terminal an d , according to Computerworld (6 June 73), stole over s million dollars worth of equipment by ordering it delivered to him! (Penthouse, December 73, claims he was in hlghschool and it was only nine hundred thousand, but you gel the idea.) After serving a few weeks In j a il, he has formed his own computer-securlty consulting compsny. More power to him.

*moe IT'S AT
Computers are where It's at. Recently a bank employee was accused of embezzling a million and a hall dollars by clever computer programming. Hie programs shifted funds from hundreds of people's accounts to his own. but apparently kept things looking Innocent by clever programming trick s. According to the pape rs, the program kept up appearances by redeposltlng lhe stolen amount in each account just as interest payments were about to be calculated, then withdrawing It again just after. ("Chief Teller la Accused of Theft of S i. 5 Million at a Bank Here." New York Times, 23 March 73, p. 1.) The alleged embezzlement was discovered, not by bank audit, but by records found on the premises of a raided bookmaker. In a recent scandal that has rocked the insurance w orld, an Insurance company appears to have generated thousands of fictitious customers and accounts by computer, then bilked other inaurance companies-- those who re-insured the original fictitious policies-- by fictitious claims on the fictitious misfortunes of the fictitious policy-holders. In April of 1673, according to the Chicsgo radio, a burglary ring had a "computerized" list of a thousand prospective victim s. There have been Instances where dishonest university students, nevertheless sble programmers, were able to change their course grades. stored on a central university computer. It is not unheard of for ace programmers to create grand incomprehensible systems that run whole companies, systems they can personally play like a piano, and then blackmail their Arms. A friend of a friend of the author Is an ace programmer at the Pentagon supposedly a private supervising colonels. On days he Is mad at his boss, he s a y s , the army cannot find out Ha strength within 300,000 men. Or three million if he so chooses.

The way to defend ourselves sgalnst computer people la to become computer people ourse lv e s. Which of course Is the point. We must all become computer people, at least to the extent that we have already become Automobile People and Camera People that is , Informed enough to tell when one goes by o r when someone points one at y o u . MANY MANSIONS The future is going to be full of com puters, for good o r ill. Many computer systems are being prepsred by a variety of lunatics, idealists and dream ers, as well as profit-hungry companies and unimaginative clods, all for the benefit of m snklnd. Which ones will work and which ones we will like is another matter. The grand and dreamy ones bid fair to reorganize drastically the lives of mankind. For Instance, Doug Engelbart at Stanford Research Institute has a beautiful system, called N I, that will allow us to use computers aa a generalized postoffice and publication system. From your com puter terminal you just sign onto Engelbart's System, and you're at once In touch with lots of w ritings by other su b s c rib e rs . which you may call to your screen and w rite replies to. (These grander and dreamier applications are discussed on the other side of this book.) But the plain computer visions are grand enough. The great world of tim e-sharing, for Instance. ("Time-sharing" means thst the computer's time is shared by a variety of u sers simultaneously. See p . i ? . ) If you have an account on a time-sharing computer, you can sign on from your terminal (see p. I'f) over any telephone, no matter w here you are, and at once do anylhlng that particular computer allows calling up programs in a variety of computer languages, dipping into data on a variety of subjects as easily as one now consults a chart. For instance, at Dartmouth College-- where time-sharing is perhaps farthest advanced as a way of life the user (any Dartmouth student, for instance) can just sit down at a terminal and write a simple program (In Dartmouth's BASIC language, for Instance) to analyze cenaus data. Since Dart mouth has a complete file on its tim e-shsrlng system of the detailed sample from the 1070 census, the program can buzz through that and report almost immediately the numbers of divorced Aleuts or boy millionaires in the sample, or (more signifi cantly) the relative Incomes of different ethnic groups when categorized according to the queationer's interests. But simple time-sharing la only the beginning. Networks of computers are now coming into being. Most significant of these is the ARPANET (financed by AAPA, the Defense Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency, it is nonetheless nonmtlitary In c h a ra cter). Dozens of large tim e-shsring computers around the country are being tied into the Arpanet. and a user of any of these can reach d ir ectly into the olher computers of the n etw o rk using their program s, data or other facilities. Arpanet enthusiasts see this aa the wave of the future.

The new breed has got to be watched. This is the urgency of this book. Remember that the man who writes lhe payroll program can write himself some pretty amazing checks-- perhaps to be mailed out to Switzerland, next y ear. From here on it's computer politics, computer dirty tric k s , computer wonderlands, computer everything. For anyone concerned to be w here it's a t , then, this book will provide a few suggestions. Now is the Ume you either know or you don't. Enough power talk. Knowledge Is power. Here you go. Dig in.

I N

- W

S S T

I f i H

The greatest hurdle for the beginner (or "layman") is making an effort to grasp particulars of that which he hears about. A. WHAT IS ITS NAME? Every system o r proposal o r project has a name of some so rt. Make an effort to learn i t , or y ou're stuck try in g to refer to "that computerish thing." (And don't be a snob about acronym s, those all-cap names snd terms sprung from the foreheads of other words, like ILLIAC and PLATO and CAI. T here's a need for them. Short w ords are too general to use for names, and long phra ses are too unw ieldy.) B. IN WHAT PARTICULAR WAY DOBS IT EMPLOY THE COMPUTER? For record-keeping? For looking stuff up quickly or fancily? For sesrchlng out combinations? For making up combi nations and testing their properties? For enacting complex phenomena? As automatic typewriters? To play m usic, or just to store the written notes? It is hoped thst you will become sensitive to these distinctions, and be able to understand and remember them after somebody explains them. Otherwise you're stuck just referring to "that computer business," and y ou're In with the rest of the sheep.

This awkward state of affairs, obviously spanning both the American continent and most realms of endeavor, has come about for various reasons. First, the climate of uncomprehenalon leads men in management to treat computer matters as "mere technicalities" a myth as sinister as the public notion that computers are "scientific"-* and abandon the kind of scrutiny they sensibly apply to any other company activities. Second most of today's computer systems are Inherently leaky and Insecure and likely lo stay that way awhile. Getting things to work on them Involves giving people extraordinary and Invisible powers. (Eventually this will change, but watch out for the meantime.)

People a s k me often w here th ey can lea rn about " s c ie n c e ." As In all fie ld s , m aga zines a re u su a lly th e b e s t s o u rc es of g e n e ra l orie n ta tio n . Science D igest Is k in d of h elpful for a s t a r t . alth o u g h unfortunately they p rin t sum m aries of e v e ry fool s tudy that g e n e ra liz es to the h e a rts of all hum anity from two dozen Iowa State fresh m en . Scientific Am erican is the fa v o rite. Some stuff Is h a r d to re a d b u t som e .isn 't; the p ic t u re s and diagram s a r e t e r r i f i c .

T he ex p la n atio n s not y e t fully d eb ugge d are intended for an y b o d y . T he lis tin g s of e x p e n siv e p roducts and se rv ic e s a r e in tended not only as c o rro b o ra tiv e d e ta il, for a gen e ra l s e n s e of w h a t's av a ila b le , b u t also for b u s in e s s people who m ight find them h e lp fu l, for affluent individua ls and Qlubs who w ant to try th e ir h a n d , and finally as a b o x s c o re of how the p ric es a re coming do w n . Because we a re all going to b e able to afford these things p re tty soon.

2 4 f i 5 9 10 11

IT'S AT IH T*|IJ
INTRO " W here I t s At" So u rces of Inf o r ma t i o n CY B ERCRUD Tills MYTH OF T H E C O M PUTER T he Power and the Glory T HE DEEP DARK SECR ET (Computer B a sics Reduced to One Easy Page) T H E NEW ER A INTERACTIVE S Y STEMS TERMINALS C O M PU T E R LANGUAGES: Prelude 1. BASIC 2. T R A C Language 3. APL DAT A S T RU CTURES Binary Patterns C O M PU T E R LANGUAGES: Postscript ROC K BOTTOM: Inner Languages of Computers; Comput e r A r c h i te c t u re BUCKY'S WRISTWATCII, a sample m a ch i n e - l a n g u a g e p r o gram T h e A s s embler Y o u r Basic C om p u t e r Structure: T H E M I NI C O M P U T E R B IG COMPUTERS G R EAT COMPUTERS: Sketches of Some S pe c i fi c Machines List of Mini M a kers M IC R O P R O C E S S O R S (The New T h i r d Kind of Computer) A DV A N C E D P R O GRAMS O P E R AT I N G S Y S TEMS TIM E- S H A RI N G C O M PU T E R PE OPLE Pr ogram N eg o t i a t i o n S u gg estions for W r iters Fun and Games H ow C om puter S t uf f is Bought and Sold H ow C o m pu t e r C o m p a ni e s are Financed, So me t i m es IBM Digital E q u i p m e n t C o r po r a t io n Peripherals for Yo u r Mini S IM U LATION O P E R A TI O N S R ES EARCH GREAT ISSUES MILIT A RY USES OF CO MP U T E RS T h e ABM S y s t e m DNA DAMN THA T COMPUTER! S TUFF YO U M AY RUN INTO T H E CLUB OF ROME

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h s ,o Q ( w - i) Science t T echnology m agazine seem s to me one of th e b e tte r o n e s - - b re e z y , inform a tiv e , not triv ia l. Science m agazine is re a d by most actual s c ie n ti s ts , and if you h av e a lively curiosity an d can g u e s s at the m e a n in g sof w o rd s, w ill tell you an in c re d ib le am ount. (This is a main s o u rc e for th e science artic le s in the New York T im e s , w hich in t u r n . . . ) T h e ir a r tic le s on politics of scie n ce, and the fu tu re , a re v e ry in te re s tin g , im portant, an d d e p r e s s in g . You have to Join Am. A ssn . for th e A dvancem ent of S cience. W ashington, D .C . Daniel S . G r e e n b e rg 's S cience and Governm ent R eport ( s o r r y $35 a y e a r) is w hat re ally tells i t . G re e n b e rg is the man who k now s, both what is s h a p in g up in scie n ce and the in s a n e governm ental confusions and flo u n d e rin g re s p o n s e s and g ra n d s ta n d in g an d p o r k - b a r r e l i n i ti a ti v e s ... G re e n b e rg i s , in cid en ta lly , one of th e finest w r ite rs of o u r time and a gre at h u m o ris t. Science a n d G overnm ent Repor t , Kaloram a S tation (r e a lly ? ) , Box 21123, W ashington, D .C . 20009. T h is is th e w all that th e h a n d w ritin g is o n .

T h is diagram show s the amazing and un iq u e way p ric e s drop in the com puter field. The p ric e s shown a re for the f irs t m inicom puter, th e PDP-5 (a nd its hugely p o p u lar o ffsp rin g , the PDP-8); b u t the p rin c ip le h as held th roughout the field, a n d the dow nw ard tre n d w ill p ro b a b ly accelerate due to the new big Integrated c ir c u its . Another exam ple: an IBM 7090, a v e ry decent m illion-dollar com puter in 1960, was put up for s ale at a m odish P ark e -B ern e t "used com puter auction" in 1970. If I rem em ber a r ig h t, they could not get a $1000 b i d , becau se tod ay 's m achines a re so much sm a lle r, fa s te r and m ore depe n d ab le.

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THE BUCK STOPS HERE 0 E v e ry w h ere in th e w o rld people c a n p re ten d that y o u r ig n o ra n c e , o r p o s itio n , o r c r e d e n tia ls , or p o v e r ty , o r g e n e ra l u n w o rth in e ss , are th e re asons you a r e b e in g p u s h e d a ro u n d o r m ade to feel sm all. And b e c au se you c a n 't t e l l , you have to ta k e it. A nd of c o u rs e w e can do th e same th in g with co m p u ters . Y e s, we ca n do it in s p a d e s . (See " C y b e r c r u d ," p . 8 . ) B ut m any of u s do not want t o . T h e re h a s to b e a b e tte r w a y . T h e re h a s to be a b e tte r w o rld .

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C o m p u t e r . ( F o r m e r l y IEEE C o m p u t e r G r o u p N e w s .) $ 1 2 /y r . T h o u g h tf u l, c le a rly w ritte n a rti c le s on h ig h - le v e l to p ic s . Q u ite a b it o n A rtif ic ia l I n te l lig e n c e ( s e e f l i p s i d e ) . IE EE C o m p u t e r S o c i e t y , 16400 V en tU T a B l v d . , E n c i n o CA 9 1 3 1 6 .

H e re a r e som e o th e r m a g a z in e s th a t m ay in te r e s t y o u . No p a r ti c u la r o r d e r . PC C . T h e r e a r e s e v e r a l m a jo r p la c e s y o u g e t in f o r m a tio n i n t h e c o m p u t e r f ie l d : f r i e n d s , m a g a z i n e s , b in g o c a r d s , c o n fe re n ce s an d c o n fe re n c e p r o c e e d in g s . D e lig h tfu l e d u c a tio n a l/c o u n te r c u l tu r e ta b lo id e m p h a s iz in g c o m p u te r g a m es a n d f u n . O r i e n t e d to B A S IC l a n g u a g e . $ 4 / y r . f r o m P e o p l e 's C o m p u t e r C o m p a n y , P . O . B o x 3 1 0 , M e n lo P a r k , CA 94 0 2 5 .

FRIENDS.
F r ie n d s w e c a n 't h e lp w ith . B ut y o u m ig h t m ake som e a t c o n fe re n c e s . O r jo in a c o m p u te r c lu b ?

T h e b e s t r e v ie w o f w h a t 's h a p p e n i n g l a te ly , b y n o n e o t h e r t h a n M r . W h o le E a r t h C a t a l o g h im s e l f : S t e w a r t B r a n d , " S p a c e w a r : F a n a t i c L ife a n d S y m b o l i c D e a th a m o n g th e C o m p u te r B u m s ." R o llin g S t o n e . 2 D ecem b er 72, 5 0 -5 6 . He v is i te d th e m ost h o ts h o t p la c e s a n d r e p o r t s e s p e c ia l ly o n th e f u n - a n d - g a m e s s id e o f t h i n g s . G ilb e rt B u rc k a n d th e E d ito rs o f F o r t u n e , T h e C o m p u te r A g e . H a r p e r a n d R o w . I g n o re t h e r i d i c u l o u s f u ll t i t l e . T h e C o m p u t e r A g e a n d I ts P o t e n t i a l f o r M a n a g e m e n t ; t h i s b o o k h a s n o t h i n g to d o w i t h m a n a g e m e n t , b u l i s a n i c e g e n e r a l o r i e n t a t i o n to t h e f i e l d . T h o m as H . C ro w le y , U n d e r s ta n d in g C o m p u te r s . M c G ra w -H ill. T h is is th e m o st r e a d a b le a n d s tr a ig h tf o rw a rd in tr o d u c tio n to th e te c h n i c a litie s a ro u n d . J e re m y B e r n s te i n , T h e A n a ly tic a l E n g in e . Random H o u s e , 19 6 4 . H i s t o r y o f c o m p u t e r s , w e l l t o l d , a n d th e w ay th in g s lo o k e d in 1964, w h ic h w a s n 't re a lly v e ry d if f e r e n t. D o n ald E . K n u th . T h e A rt of P r o g r a m m in g , ( 7 v o l s . ) A m o n u m e n ta l s e r i e s , e x c e lle n tly w r i tte n a nd w i d e l y p r a i s e d , f o r a n y o n e w h o w a n t s to d i g in a n d b e a s e rio u s p r o g ra m m e r. T h r e e of (h e s e v e n v o lu m e s a r e o u t s o f a r . a t a b o u t t w e n t y b u c k s a p i e c e . V o l . 1: F u n d a m e n t a l A l g o r i t h m s . V o l . 2: S e m i n u m e r i c a l A l g o r i t h m s . V o l . 3: S o r t i n g a n d S e a r c h i n g . A d d is o n -W e s le y .

MAGAZINES.
T h e p r i n c i p a l m a g a z in e s a r e ( f i r s t few lis te d r o u g h ly b y degT ee o f g e n eral in te r e s t ): D a t a m a t i o n $1 5 a y e a r o r f r e e . T h e m a i n c o m p u te r m a g a z in e , a b re e z y . c le v e r m o n t h l y . L o ts o f a d s . i n t e r e s t i n g a r t i c l e s t h e la y m a n c a n r e a d w i t h n o t m u c h e f f o r t . T w i t s IBM . S u b s c r i p t i o n s a r e $15 i f y o u ' r e n o t a c o m p u te r p e r s o n , f re e if y o u a r e . D a t a m a t i o n . 35 M a s o n S t . , G r e e n w i c h C T 06 8 3 0 . C o m p u t e r D e c i s i o n s . S o m e $7 a y e a r o r f r e e . Som e n ic e lig h t a r t i c l e s . a s w e l l a s h e lp fu l r e v ie w a r ti c le s on d if f e r e n t s u b j e c t s . A v o id s t e c h n i c a l i t i e s . C o m p u t e r D e c i s i o n s . 50 E s s e x S t . . R o s e l l e P a r k N J 0 76 6 2 . C o m p u te r s a n d A u to m a tio n . A v o id s t e c h n i c a litie s b u t q u ite a b it o f s o c ia l -i n te r e s t s tu f f . N obody g e ts it f re e ; s o m e th in g l i k e $ 7 .5 0 a y e a r . B e r k e le y E n t e r p r i s e s , I n c . , 0 1 5 W a s h in g t o n S t . , N e w t o n v i l l e , M a s s . 02 1 6 0 . C o m p u te r w o rld (a c tu a lly a w e e k ly ta b lo id p a p e r ) . Not fre e: $9 a y e a r . M o re u p -to -th e -m in u te th a n m ost p e o p le h a v e lim e to b e . C o m p u t e r w o r l d , C i r c . D e p t . , 797 W a s h in g t o n S t . , N e w t o n , M a s s . 0 21 6 0 . C o m p u tin g S u r v e y s . E x c e lle n t, c le a rl y w ritte n in tro d u c to ry a rtic le s o n a v a rie ty of s u b je c ts . A ny s e rio u s b e g i n n e r sh o u ld d e fin ite ly s u b s c r i b e to C o m p u t i n g S u r v e y s . ( S e e A C M . b e lo w .) C o m m u n ic a tio n s of th e A C M . H ig h - c la s s M i r * *a 1' jo u r n a l a b o u t th e o re tic a l m a tte rs a n d e v e n t s o n t h e i n t e l l e c t u a l s i d e o f th e H eld . (S ee ACM, b e lo w .) C o m p u te r D e s i g n . $ 1 0 / y r . o r f re e . C o n c e n tr a t e s on p a r ts f o r c o m p u te rs , b u t a lso te lls te ch n ica l d e ta ils o f new c o m p u te rs a n d p e r i p h e r a l s . C o m p u te r D e s i g n . C irc u la tio n D e p t .. P .O . Box A , W in c h e s te r. M a ss. 01890. D a ta P r o c e s s i n g m a g a z i n e . O r i e n t e d to c o n v en tio n al b u s in e s s a p p lic a tio n s o f c o m p u te r s . $10. N o rth A m e ric a n P u b l i s h i n g C o . , 134 N . 13 th S t . , P h i l a d e l p h i a , P a . 191 07 .

C o m p u tin g R e v ie w s . P r in t s r e v i e w s , b y i n d i v i d u a l s in t h e f i e l d , o f m o s t o f t h e s e ri o u s c o m p u te r a r t i c l e s . U sefu l, b u t s u b j e c t to i n d i v i d u a l b i a s e s a n d g a p s . (S ee ACM, b e lo w .) T h e N ew E d u c a t i o n a l T e c h n o l o g y . $ 5 / y r . P re s u m a b ly c o n c e n tra te s o n a c tiv itie s o f its p u b lis h e r : G e n e ra l T u r t l e , I n c . , 545 T e c h n o l o g y S q u a r e , C a m b r i d g e . MA 02139: w o n d e r f u l c o m p u t e r t o y s f o r sc h o o ls a n d th e w e l l- h e e l e d . T h e H o n e y w e ll C o m p u te r J o u r n a l . S o m e th in g l i k e $1 0 a y e a r . H o n e y w e ll I n f o r m a tio n S y s te m s , I n c ., P h o e n ix . A riz o n a . S h o w c a se m a g a z in e o t m is c e lla n e o u s c o n te n t; r e a d a b le , n ic e ly e d i t e d . H as u n u s u a l p r a c tic e o f i n c lu d in g m ic ro fic h e ( m ic r o f ilm c a r d ) o f e n t i r e i s s u e i n a p o c k et. IBM S y s t e m s J o u r n a l . S h o w c a s e t e c h n i c a l jo u r n a l of m is c e lla n e o u s c o n te n t , e s p e c i a l l y a r c a n a a b o u t IBM p r o d u c t s . $ 5 / y r . IB M . A r m o n k , NY 1 0 5 0 4 . IBM J o u r n a l o f R e s e a r c h a n d D e v e l o p m e n t . S h o w case te ch n ica l jo u r n a l o f m is ce l l a n e o u s c o n t e n t . $ 7 . 5 0 / y e a r . IB M , A r m o n k . NY 10S04 .

BUMMERS T h is is p e r h a p s a m in o r ity v ie w , b u t I th in k a n y i n t r o d u c t i o n to c o m p u t e r s w h i c h m a k e 6 th e m se e m in tr in s i c a lly m a th e m a tic a l i s m is le a d in g . H is to r ic a lly th e y b e g a n a s m a th e m a tic a l, b u t now t h i s i s s i m p l y t h e w r o n g w a y to t h i n k a b o u t t h e m . S a m e g o e s f o r e m p h a s i z i n g b u s i n e s s u s e s a s if th a t w ere a ll. We w i l l n o t n a m e h e r e a n y o f t h e v a r i o u s d is a g r e e a b le p a m p h le ts a n d b o o k s w h ic h s tr e s s t h e s e a s p e c ts a n d d o n 't m a k e t h i n g s v e r y c l e a r .

J o u r n a l o f t h e A C M . A h i g h l y t e c h n i c a l , m a lh ( " j A C - K 'A o r ie n le d jo u r n a l . H eavy o n g r a p h th e o ry V / a n d p a tte rn r e c o g n itio n . (S ee ACM, b e lo w .) D ig i t a l D e s i g n . $ 15 o r f r e e . A b o u t c o m p u t e r p a r t s a n d d e s i g n s . D ig ita l D e s i g n . C i r c . D e p t . , 167 C o r e y R o a d , B r o o k l i n e , M a s s . 02 1 4 6 . I n f o s y s t e m s . A s p i r i n g m a g . $20 o r f r e e . H it c h c o c k P u b l i c s t o n s , P . O . B o x 30 07 , W h e a to n , 111. 6 0 1 87 . T h i n k . T h i s i s t h e IBM h o u s e o r g a n . P r e s u m a b l y f r e e to IBM c u s t o m e r s o r p r o s p e c t s . IB M . A r m o n k , NY 105 04 . T h e r e a r e a lso e x p e n s iv e (sn o b ?) m a g a z in e s , b ou gh t b y e x e c u tiv e s. C o m p u te r A g e , $ 9 5 /y r . EDP N ew s S e r v ic e s I n c . , 514 1 0th S t . N . W . , W a s h in g t o n D C 20 0 0 4 . C o m p u te r D ig e s t. $ 3 6 /y r . In fo rm a tio n G r o u p , 1309 C h e r r y S t . , P h i l a d e l p h i a PA 191 07 . D a ta P r o c e s s i n g D i g e s t . $ 5 1 / y r . 6 82 0 l a T i j e r a B l v d . . L o s A n g e l e s C A 90 0 4 5 .

K > A B O U T FR E E S U B S C R I P T I O N S . M a n y o f t h e m a g a z i n e s a r e f r e e to " q u a l i f i e d r e a d e r s , u s u a l l y ( h o s e w i l l i n g to s l a t e o n a s i g n e d f o r m t h a t th e y i n f lu e n c e th e p u r c h a s e o f c o m p u t e r s . c o m p u te r s e r v i c e s , p u n c h c a r d s , o r th e lik e . (T h e y a s k o th e r q u e s tio n s o n th e fo r m , b u t w h e t h e r y o u in f lu e n c e p u r c h a s e is u s u a lly w h a t d e c id e s w h e t h e r th e y s e n d y o u t h e m a g a z i n e . ) It i s a l s o h e l p f u l to h a v e a g o o d - s o u n d in g tid e o r c o m p an y a ffiliatio n . B INGO C A R D S . T h e s e a r e little p o s tc a r d s y o u fin d in a ll th e m a g a z i n e s e x c e p t t h e ACM a n d c o m p a n y o n e s . F i ll in y o u r n am e a n d an a ttr a c tiv e title ("S y ste m s C o n su lta n t" o r " c o n s u lta n t" is g o o d - - a fte r a ll, so m e d a y som e o n e may a s k y o u r a d v ic e ) a n d c irc le t h e n u m b e r s c o r r e s p o n d i n g to t h e a d s t h a t e n t i c e y o u . Y o u 'l l b e f lo o d e d w i t h i n t e r e s t i n g , e x p e n s i v e l y p r i n t e d , c o lo rfu l, e d u c a tio n a l m a te ria l on d iffe re n t p e o p le 's c o m p u te rs a n d a c c e s s o r i e s . A n d n o te th a t s e n d e r s d o n 't lo s e : a n y c o m p a n y w a n t s i t s p r o d u c t s know n. H o w e v e r, a p o sto ffice b o x is g o o d , a s it h e lp s to a v o i d c a l l s a t h o m e f r o m s a l e s m e n , w a s t i n g t h e i r tim e a s m u c h a s y o u r s . If y o u a r e in a r u r a l - t y p e a re a w h e re yo u c a n a s s u m e a co m p an y n am e w ith no le g a l d if f ic u l tie s , so m u c h th e b e t t e r .

H e y n o w , h e r e ' s a m a g a z i n e c a l l e d C o m p u t o p i a . O n l y $ 15 a y e a r . U n f o r t u n a t e l y i n J a p a n e s e . C o m p u t e r A g e C o . L t d . , K a s u m i g a s e k l B l d g . , B o x 12 2 , C h i y o d a - K u , T o k y o , J a p a n .

W O s f c C fc ^ fO ^ S '
T h a t t h e f ie l d h a s n o t b e e n p o p u l a r i z e d b y i t s b e tte r w r i t e r s m ay s im p ly c o m e fro m a n h o n e s t d o u b i th a t o r d in a r y p e o p le c a n u n d e rs t a n d c o m p u te rs . I d is p u t e th a t. T h r o u g h m a g a z in e s , m illio n s o f A m e ric an s h a v e le a r n e d a b o u t p h o to g r a p h y . T h ro u g h th e p o p u la r s c ie n c e - a n d -m e c h a n ic s ty p e m a g a z in e s , a n d m o re r e c e n tly th e e le c tro n ic s m a g a z in e s , v a rio u s o th e r te ch n ica l s u b je c ts h a v e b e co m e w id e ly u n d e rs t o o d . So fa r nobo dy has o p en ed u p c o m p u te rs. T h is i s a f i r s t a t t e m p t . If t h i s b o o k w o n 't d o i t a n o t h e r o n e w ill. A n d yo u b e tte r b e lie v e th at P o p u la r C o m p u ters m a g a z in e is n o t v e r y f a r a w a y . Soon a f u lly - lo a d e d m i n i c o m p u t e r w ill c o s t l e s s t h a n t h e b e s t h i - f i s e t s . I n a c o u p l e o f y e a r s . t h o u s a n d s o f i n d i v i d u a l s w ill o w n c o m p u t e r s , a n d m il l i o n s m o r e w i l l w a n t t o . L o o k o u t, h e re we g o .

A n u m b e r o f i n e x p e n s i v e g a d g e t s p u r p o r t to le ac h y o u c o m p u te r p r in c i p le s . M any p e o p le h a v e b e e n d i s a p p o i n t e d , o r w o r s e , m a d e lo f e e l s t u p i d , w h e n th e y l e a r n n o t h i n g f ro m t h e s e . A c t u a l l y t h e b e s t t h e s e t h i n g s r e a l l y c a n d o i s g i v e y o u a n id e a o f w h a t c a n b e d o n e w ith c o m b i n a t i o n s o f s w i t c h e s . F r o m t h a t to l e a r n i n g w h a t c o m p u te r p e o p le re a lly th in k a b o u t i s a lo n g , lo n g w ay.

W o o p s , h e r e it i s . P o p u l a r C o m p u t i n g , $15 a y e a r ( $ 1 2 i f p r e p a i d ) , B o x 2 7 2 , C a J a b a s a s , C A 91 30 2

ACM, the Association fo r Com puting M achinery. T h is is the main com puter professional society; the title only h as m eaning h is to r ically , as m any m em bers a r e conc erned not w ith m achinery its elf, but w ith softw are, la n g u a g e s , th eo rie s an d so o n . If you have any p lan s to s tick with th e s u b je c t, m em bership in the Association for Com puting M achinery is highly recom m ende d. ACM ca lls its e lf "The Society of th e Com puting Com m unity." T h u s it p ro p e rly em braces both professionals and fa ns. Dues fo r official stu d e n ts a r e $0 a y e a r, $35 for o th e r s , w hich includes a s u b s crip tio n to Communications of the ACM, th e official m ag. T h e ir a d d re s s for m em berships and m agazines is ACM, P .O . Box 12105, C h u rch S t. S tation, New Y ork, NY 10249. (T he actual ACM HQ is at 1133 A ve. of the A m ericas, New Y ork. N .Y . 10036.) They h av e stacked th e deck so that if you want to s u b s c r ib e to any ACM m aga zines y o u 'd b e tte r join anyw ay. H ere are th e y e a r pric es: Member Non-Member Communications of the ACM free $35 Com puting S u rv ey s $7 $25 Com puting R eview s $12.50 $35 J o u rn a l of the ACM $7 $30 T he one dra w bac k lo join in g th e ACM is a ll the doggoned m ailing lists it gets you o n . It's u n c le a r w h e th e r th e r e 's an y th in g you can do to p re v e n t th is , b u t th e re oughta b e. SIGs and S IC s. For ACM m em bers with sp ec ial in te re s ts (and we all have th e m ), th e ACM contains s u b d iv isio n s -- c lu b s within th e c lu b , of people who keep in touch to s h a r e th e ir in te re s ts . T he se a r e called SICs (S pecial In te rest Committees) and SIGs (S pecial In te rest G ro u p s). T h e re a r e such c lu b s -- SICs and SIGs in num erous a r e a s , in clu d in g P rogram m ing L anguages, Com puter Usage in Education, e tc . E ncouraging these s u b in te re s ts lo stay within ACM save s a lot of tro u b le for eve ry b o d y and keeps ACM the c e n tral society. AFIPS. AFIPS is th e UN of com puting. They spon so re d th e Joints , and now s p o n s o r the NCC. J u s t as in d iv id u a ls c a n 't join th e UN, they ca n 't join AFIPS, w hich sta n d s for Am erican F ederation of Inform ation P roces s in g S o c ieties. D epending on y o u r special in te r e s ts , tho u g h , you can join a member s o c ie ty . T he constituent societies of AFIPS a r e , a s of J u n e 1973: (If any tu rn you o n , w rite AFIPS for ad d re s s e s : AFIPS, 210 Summit A ve. M ontvale NJ 07645.) ft* ACM: the Association for Com puting M ac h in ery . IEEE, th e Institute of E lectrical and Electronics E n g in e e rs . T h is is the pro fessio n al society of e le ctro n ics g uys. Sim ulation C ouncils. T his is the professional society for th o se in te re s te d in Simulation (se e p . 5 3 ). Association for Com putational L in g u is tic s . (Where lan g u a g e and com puter ty p e s g a t h e r .) Am erican Association of A e ronautics and A s tro n a u tic s . Am erican S tatistical A sso ciation. Instrum e nt Society of A m erica. Society for Inform ation D isplay. (See flip s id e .) Am erican In stitu te of C ertified P ublic A ccountants. A m erican Society fo r Inform ation S cien c e. (This gro u p is m ainly for electronified lib ra ria n s a n d inform ation re trie v a l ty p e s -- see flip s i d e . ) Society for In d u s tria l and Applied M athematics. S pecial L ib ra ries A ssociation. Association for Educational Data S ystem s. IFIP. T his is the intern a tio n a l com puter society. Like AFIPS, its m em bers a re s o c ie tie s , so jo in in g ACM makes you an IFIP p artic ip a n t. IFIP holds conferences a ro u n d the w o rld . F un. E xpense.

CONFERENCES. C onferences in any field a r e e x c itin g , at lea st till you re ac h a ce rta in d eg ree of boredom w ith the fie ld . Com puter conferences have th e ir own heady a tm osphere, com pounded of a se n s e of elitism , of b e in g in the w itc h e s ' c a u ld ro n , and th e s u re sen se of t h e im pact ev e ry th in g you see will have as it all g row s and g ro w s. Plus you get to look at g adge ts. Usually to go for one day d o esn 't cost m u c h , and at th e b ig g e r ones you get lots of free l ite ra tu r e , have salesm en explain th e ir th in g s to y o u , see m ovies, h ea r fascinaling (som etim es) sp e a k e rs . THE JOINTS! The p rin c ip a l com puter confer e n c es have alw ays bee n the S p rin g Joint C om puter C on feren c e, h eld in an E a ste rn city in M ay, and the Fall Joint C om puter C onference, held in a W estern city in November (the infamous S p rin g J o in t and Fall J o i n t , o r SJCC and F J C C ). In 1973, because of poor b u s in e s s the p re v io u s y e a r , the two w ere collapsed into one National Com puter Conference (NCC) in J u n e (U niversal Joint?) The J o in ts have alw ays bee n sponsored by AFIPS (see belo w ). The National Com puter C onference w ill henceforth b e a n n u a l, at least for a w hile. T he cost of atten d in g is h ig h -w hile it's ju s t a couple of d o llars lo look at the e x h ib its , this r is e s to p e r h a p s fifteen d o llars to go to th e d a y 's technical sess io n s o r fifty for the week (not counting lodging and e a t s ) - - but i t 's v e r y m uch w orth it. The lower age limit for attendees is som ething like tw elv e , unfortunately for those with in te re s te d ch ild re n . O ther im portant conferences: the annual ACM conference in the sum m er; BEMA (B usiness Equipm ent M frs. A s s n .) in the fall and s p r in g (no th e o ry , but lots of g ad g e ts); a n d o th er conferencs on special s u b je c ts . held all the time all o v e r . Lists of c onferences and th e ir w hereabouts a re in most of the m agazines; Communications of the ACM an d Com puter Design have the b ig g est lis ts .

CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS. As you may k n o w , conferences la rg ely con sis t of s e p a ra te " s e s s io n s " in w hich d iffe re n t people talk on specific to p ic s , u su ally re a d in g out loud from th e ir notes a n d s h o w in g slid es . C onference p ro c e e d in g s a r e b ooks w hich re s u lt from c o n fe re n c e s . S upposedly th ey contain w hat ea ch guy s a id ; in p ra c tic e p eople say one thing a n d p u b lis h a n o th e r, m ore formal than the actual p re s e n ta tio n . T h is leads to a c u rio u s phenom enon at the main com puter co n fere n ce s (S JC C ,F JC C , ACM and now NCC) . When yo u re g is te r they g iv e you a book (your e actually p a y in g p e rh a p s $15 fo r i t ) , contain in g all the p a p e rs th a t a r e about lo b e g iv e n , nicely tric k e d out by th e ir a u th o r s . If you r u s h to a co rn er a n d look at the book it may change y o u r notion of w hich s e s s io n s to go to. Anyway , th e r e s u ltin g v olum es of conference p ro c e e d in g s a r e a tr e a s u r e trove of i n te re s tin g p a p e rs on an immense v a r ie ty of com puterish an d n o t-so co m p u terish s u b je c ts . G reat for b ro w sin g . E x pe nsive b u t w o n d e rfu l. (H orrible w hen y o u 're m o v in g , th o u g h , as th ey are b ig and h e a v y .) JOINT PROCEEDINGS. P ro ce ed in g s for the S p rin g J o in t and Fall J o in t, from the fifties to 1972. a re ava ila b le from AFIPS P re s s , a s a r e p ro c ee d in g s of th e 1973 NCC. (AFIPS P r e s s , 210 Summit A venue, M ontvale NJ 07645.) T hey cost $20-26 each afte r the conference is o v er; les s in m icrofilm . (At th e Jo in t C onferences, AFIPS P re s s often g iv es d is c o u n ts , at th e ir b o o th , on back Jo in t p r o c e e d in g s .) t > > l f you w ant to sp e n d money to lea rn about the fie ld . P ro ce ed in g s of the Jo in t C onferences a r e a fine b u y . Back ACM P ro c e e d in g s . From the ACM. O ther P ro ce ed in g s Often sold a t co u n te rs at c o n fe re n c e s . Or availa b le from v a rio u s p u b lis h e r s . Join the ACM and y o u ll find out soon enough.

TRY TO GET TO THE NATIONAL JOIN T. J u s t as e v e ry Muslim should go to Mecca, e v e ry com puter fan sh o u ld go to a National Jo in t (National C om puter C o nferenc e, o r N C C ). T h e n ex t two a r e (check the m agazines): May 1974, C hicago May 1975, Son P ranoitao-.

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Kiddie s e t u p s , rum ored to ex is t in Boston and S an F ra n c isc o , a r e g ea re d lo lettin g g ra d e-sc h o o l c h ild re n se e and play with co m p u ters. Also one com pany (G eneral T u r t l e , see p . '5 7 ) is s e llin g com puter toys Inte n d ed to e n c o u ra g e ac tu al pro g ram m in g b y c h ild re n .

M ore a g g r e s s i v e l y , c y b e r c r u d Is a t e c h n i q u e f o r m a k in g p e o p l e d o w h a t y o u w a n t . " T h e c o m p u te r r e q u i r e s i t , " y ou say , and s o p e o p le c a n be m a d e to h a n d o v e r p e r s o n a l I n fo r m a tio n , s e c r e t a r i e s c a n b e in ti m i d a t e d in to s c o u r i n g t h e f i l e s , p a y m e n t s c h ed u le s can b e artificia lly e n fo r c e d . TH E G ENERAL ST A T U S TRICK S t a t u e t r i c k s , c o m b in in g t h e p u t d o w n a n d t h e s e l f - b o o s t , d a t e b a c k to tim es I m m e m o r ia l. B u t t o d a y th e y ta k e new f o r m s . T h e b i g g e s t t r i c k is to e l e v a t e y o u r s e l f a n d d e m e a n lh e l i s t e n e r a t t h e s a m e t i m e , o r , m o r e g e n e r a l l y , th e t e c h n i q u e is m a k in g p e o p le feel s t u p i d w h ile a c t i n g l i k e a b i g c h e e s e . T h u s s o m e o n e o n e m ig h t s a y , " P e o p le m u st b e g in to ge l u s e d to t h e o b j e c tiv e sc ien tific w a y s of d o in g th in g s t h a t c o m p u t e r s now m a k e n e c e s s a r y . But t h e t r a n s l a t i o n s e e m s lo be : " P e o p le m u s t g e t u s e d to t h e I n f l e x i b l e , b a d ly thought o u t, I n co n v e n ien t a n d u n k in d sy ste m s that 1 a nd o th e r s e lf -r ig h te o u s in d iv id u a ls a n d com p a n ie s a r e in flic tin g on th e w o rld ." YOU DO N T ALWAYS G OTTA T h e unin fo rm ed a re b u lld o z e d . a nd e v e n t h e i n f o r m e d a r e p r e s s u r e d , b y th e f o o lis h m y th s of t h e c l e v e r , im p l a c a b l e a n d s c i e n t i f i c c o m p u t e r t o w h ic h t h e y m u s t a d a p t. P e o p le a r e told t h e y h a v e to " r e l a t e to th e c o m p u t e r . " B ut a c t u a l l y t h e y a r e b e i n g m a d e to r e la te lo s y s t e m s h u m a n s h a v e d e s i g n e d a r o u n d I t, in m uc h th e s a m e w a y a s w o r d d a n c e Is d e s i g n e d a r o u n d t h e s w o r d . When e s t a b l i s h m e n t c o m p u te r p e o p le s a y th a t th e c o m p u t e r r e q u i r e s y o u to b e s y s t e m a t i c , t h e y g e n e r a l l y m e an y o u h a v e to l e a r n t h e i r s y s t e m . But a n y o n e w h o t e l l s y o u a m e th o d " h a s to b e c h a n g e d f o r th e c o m p u t e r is u s u a l l y f i b b i n g H e p r e f e r s to c h s n g e th e m e th o d f o r th e c o m p u t e r , T h e r e a s o n s m a y b e b a d o r g o o d . O fte n th e c o m p u te r s a l e s m a n o r I n d o c t r i n a l o r w ill p r e s e n t as "scien tific " te c h n iq u e s w h ic h w e r e d o p e d out o r w h o m p e d u p b y a c o u p le of g u y s i n t h e b a c k room . H e r e i s an e x a m p l e , a s told to m e . A f r i e n d o f m in e w o r k e d in a d r e s s f a c to r y w h e r e ih e y h a d a p e r f e c t l y g o o d s y s te m for b i l l i n g a n d b o o k k e e p i n g . C u a to m e r s w e r e lis te d by nam e a n d k e p t i n a l p h a b e tic a l o r d e r . T h e fast p a c e of th e g a r m e n t i n d u s t r y m e a n t t h a t c o m p a n i e s often c h a n g e d n a m e s , a n d SO v a r i o u s c o m p a n i e s h a d a n u m b e r of d i f f e r e n t n a m e s in th e f i l e . T h i s b o t h e r e d n o b o d y b e c a u s e th e p e o p le u n d e r s t o o d th e s y s te m . T h e n m a n a g e m e n t b o u g h t a s m a ll c o m p u t e r , n e v e r m in d w h a t b r a n d , a n d h i r e d a c o u p le o f g u y s lo come in a n d p u t th e b o o k k e ep in g sy ste m o n it. S t i l l o k a y . I n d e e d , sm a ll p r o g r a m m i n g f ir m s c a n so m e tim e s d o t h i s s o r t o f t h i n g v e r y w e l l , b e c a u s e t h e y c a n w o r k f le x i b ly w i l h t h e p e o p le a n d d o n 't n e c e s s a r i l y fee l c om m itted lo m a k in g it w o rk a c e r ta in w ay.

"If it c a n 't b e d o n e In COBOL, I j u s t te ll p e o p le It c a n 't b e d o n e b y c o m p u t e r . It s a v e s a lo t o f t r o u b l e - " A ttr ib u te d to s o m e b o d y in R o c h e s t e r ( S e e CO BO L , p ^ | . )

A n u m b e r o f p e o p l e h a v e g o tte n m ad a t m e fo r c o i n i n g t h e te rm " c y b e r c r u d , " w h ic h 1 d e fin e a s " p u t t i n g t h i n g s o v e r o n p e o p le u s i n g c o m p u t e r s . B u t a s lo n g a s it g o e s o n w e ' l l n e e d th e w o r d . At e v e r y c o r n e r o f o u r s o c i e t y , p e o p le a r e i s s u i n g p r o n o u n c e m e n t s a n d m a k i n g o th e r p e o p le d o t h i n g s a n d s a y i n g i t s b e c a u s e o f t h e c o m p u t e r . T h e f u n c tio n o f c y b e r c r u d i s th u s lo c o n f u s e . i n ti m i d a te o r p r e s s u r e . We h a v e all got to ge t w i s e to t h i s i f i t i s g o in g to b e c u r t a i l e d . C y b e r c r u d l a k e s n u m e r o u s f o rm s . A ll o f t h e m , h o w e v e r , s h a r e th e p a d n a o f " s c i e n c e " t h a t c o m p u te rs h a v e f o r th e la y m a n . l a ) COMPUTER A S MAGIC WORD T h e m ost d e l i c a t e , a n d s e e m i n g ly i n n o c e n t , t e c h n i q u e I s t h e p r a c d c e o r n a m in g t h i n g s SO a s s p u r i o u s l y to s u g g e s t t h a t t h e y i n v o lv e c o m p u te r s . T h u s t h e r e Is a m a n u f a c t u r e r o f p o t - p i p e s w ith "D a ta " I n Its n a m e . e n d a p p a r e n t l y a p o r n o g r a p h y h o u se w ith a " C y b e r - " . l b ) COMPUTER AS MAGIC INGREDIENT T h e a b o v e s e a m s s i l l y , b u t It i s n o l e s s s il ly th a n t a l k i n g a b o u t " c o m p u t e r p r e d i c t i o n s " a n d " c o m p u t e r s t u d i e s " o f t h i n g s . T h e m e r e f a c t th a t a c o m p u te r i s I n v o l v e d i n s o m e th in g h a s n o b e a r i n g o n its c h a r a c t e r o r v a l i d i t y . T h e w ay t h i n g s a re d o n e w ith c o m p u te r s a ff e c ts t h e i r c h a r a c t e r a n d v a l i d i t y . Ju a t l i k e t h e w a y t h i n g s a r e d o n e w ith o u t c o m p u t e r s . ( I n d e e d , m e r e ly u s i n g a c o m p u te r o f te n h a s no b e a r i n g o n th e w a y t h i n g s a r e d o n e . ) T h i s sa m e t e c h n i q u e i s e a s il y m a g n if ie d to s u g g e s t , n o t m e r e ly t h a t s o m e th in g in v o lv e s c o m p u t e r s , b u t is w h o lly d o n e b y c o m p u t e r s . T h e w o rd " c o m p u t e r iz e p e r f o r m s this fata l f u n c ti o n . When u s e d sp e c if ic a l ly , a s i n c o m p u te r iz e th e b illin g o p e ra tio n , it can be fa irly c le a r: b u t m ake it v a g u e , a s i n c o m p u t e r i z e l h e o f f i c e , a n d it c a n mean a n y t h i n g , " F u ll y c o m p u t e r i z e " i s w o r s e . T h u s w e h e a r a b o u t a " fu l ly c o m p u t e r i z e d " p r i n t s h o p , w h i c h t u r n s o u t to b e o n e w h o s e c o m p u t e r s d o t h e t y p e se ttin g : b u t th e y c o u ld a lso r u n th e p r e 6 6 e s . p a y th e b ill s a n d w o rk t h e c o ff e e m a c h i n e - F o r p r a c tic al p u r p o s e s , t h e r e i s no s u c h t h i n g a s " f u l ly " c o m p u te r iz e d - T h e r e i s a l w a y s o n e m o re t h i n g c o m p u te r s c o u ld do.

In th e movie " F a i l - S a f e , " t h e y s h o w e d y o u l o t s o f f a k e ta p e d r i v e s w i l h l h e r e e l s c o n s t a n t l y t u r n i n g in o n e d i r e c t i o n . T h i s t h e y c a l l e d a " c o m p u t e r . " C a l l i n g a n y s i n i s t e r b o x "a c o m p u te r " i s a w i d e s p r e a d t r i c k . G iv e s p e o p le t h e w illleB , K e e p s 'e m i n l in e .

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P u b l i c t h i n k i n g a b o u t c o m p u t e r s i s h e a v il y t i n g e d b y a p e c u l i a r im a g e w h i c h w e m a y c a l l th e M y th o f t h e M a c h in e . It g o e s a s fo llo w s: ( h e r e i s s o m e t h i n g c s l l e d t h e M a c h in e , w h i c h i s T a k i n g O v e r T h e W o r ld . A c c o r d i n g to t h i s p o i n t o f v ie w T h e M a c h in e i s a r e l e n t l e s s , p e r e m p t o r y , r e p e t i t i v e , i n v a r i a b l e , m o n o to n o u s , i n e x o r a b l e , i m p l a c a b l e , r u t h l e s s . In h u m a n , d e h u m a n iz in g , im p e rso n a l J u g g e r n a u t , b r a in l e s s l y c a r ry i n g o u t re p e titiv e ( a n d o f te n v i o l e n t ) a c t i o n s . S y m b o lic o f t h i s i s o f c o u r s e C h a r l i e C h a p l i n , d o d g i n g th e r e l e n t l e s s . r e p e t i t i v e , m o n o to n o u s , i m p l a c a b l e , d e h u m a n i z i n g g e a r s o f a m a c h i n e h e m u s t d e a l w ith i n t h e film M o d e rn T i m e s . O r d i n a r i l y t h i s v ie w o f T h e M a c h in e i s c o n t r a s t e d w ith a n id e a o f a W arm H u m a n B e in g , u s u a l l y a n id e a l i z e d v e r s i o n o f t h e p e r s o n t h i n k i n g th e s e th o u g h ts . W arm Hum an B e in g B u t c o n s i d e r s o m e t h i n g . T h e m o d e ) o f te n g o e s f u r t h e r t h a n I h i s . T h e M a c h in e i s c o l d , the H u m a n B e in g e m o tio n a l a n d w a r m . Y et t h e r e i s s u c h a t h i n g a s b e i n g to o e m o tio n a l a n d w a r m . T h e r e i s in fac t a t h i r d t y p e i n I h e s c h e m a , th e b e i n g w h o g o e s to o f a r o n t h e s a m e s c a l e . S t r a n g e l y , h e h a s a t l e a s t t h r e e d i f f e r e n t n a m e s , t h o u g h th e p i c t u r e o f him i s a b s t r a c t l y t h e sa m e : ^

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" T h e c o m p u te r i s t h e u lti m a t e R o r s c h a c h t e s t , F r e e d B a le s Ba ld to me t w e l v e y e a r s a g o . D r. B a le s, a H arv ard p sy c h o lo g ist, w as som ew hat p e r t u r b e d b y th e p a p e r s h e w a s g e t t i n g i n h is s e m i n a r o n c o m p u t e r m o d e llin g in t h e s o c i a l s c i e n c e s . S o m e w h a t n u t t y p e o p le I n t h e s e m i n a r w e r e w r i t i n g s o m e w h a t n u t t y p a p e r s f o r h im . A nd tr u e r w o rd s w ere n e v e r sp o k e n . On t h i s p o i n t I f i n d B a le s h a s b e e n t e r r i b l y , t e r r i b l y r i g h t . T h e c o m p u te r is a n In c r e d ib le p r o je c tiv e te 6t: w h a t y o u s e e In t h e c o m p u te r c o m e s r i g h t o ff t h e b a c k w a l l o f y o u r p s y c h e . In o v e r a d e c a d e i n I h e f ie l d I h a v e n o t c e a s e d to m a r v e l a t i h e w a y p e o p l e ' s p e r s o n a l i t i e s e n tw i n e w ilh t h e c o m p u t e r , e a c h m a k i n g il h i s o w n - - o r r e j c c l i n g i t - - In Ills o w n , o f te n u n i q u e a n d p e c u l i a r w a y , d e e p l y r e f l e c t i n g h i6 c o n c e r n s e n d w h a t I s i n h i s h e a r t . Y e s , o d d p e o p l e a r e a t t r a c t e d to ( h e c o m p u t e r , e n d t h e b o n d s th a t h o ld th e m a r e n o t t h o s e o f casual in te r e s t. In f a c t . p e o p le t e n d lo i d e n lif y w ilh i l . In ( h is l i g h t w e m a y c o n s i d e r ( h e o f te n h e a r d re m a r k s a b o u t c o m p u te rs b e in g r ig id , n a r r o w , a n d i n f l e x i b l e . T h i s i s o f c o u r s e t r u e in a s e n s e , b u t I h e f a c t ( h a t so m e p e o p l e s t r e s s it o v e r a n d o v e r i s a n i m p o r t a n t c l u e lo s o m e t h i n g a b o u t t h e m . My o w n i m p r e s s i o n i s t h a l t h e p e o p le w h o s t r e s s t h i s a s p e c t a r e th e c o m p a r a t i v e l y r i g i d , n a rr o w a n d in fle x ib le p e o p le . O th e r c o m p u te r e x p e r ts , no le s s w o r t h y . ( e ll u s t h e c o m p u te r i s a s u p e r t o y . t h e g r a n d e s t p l a y m a c h i n e e v e r to b e d i s c o v e r e d . T h e s e p e o p l e le n d to b e t h e m o r e o u t g o i n g , g e n e r o u s a n d p l a y f u l ty p e s . In a c l a s s i c s t u d y , p s y c h i a t r i s t B r u n o B e tte lh e im e x a m i n e d a c h i l d w h o th o u g h t h e w a s a m a c h i n e , w h o t a l k e d in s la c c a t o m o n o s y l l a b l e s , w a lk e d je rk ily a n d d e c o ra te d th e s id e of h is b e d w ith g e a r s . We w i l l n o t d i s c u s s h e r e t h e p r o b a b l e o r i g i n s a n d c u r e o f t h i s c o m p le x ; b u t w e m u s l c o n s i d e r lh a t i d e n t i f y i n g w i t h m a c h i n e s is a c r u c i a l c u l t u r a l th e m e in A m e r ic a n s o c i e t y , a n a v a i l a b l e th e m e f o r a l l of u s . A n d it w e l l m a y b e l h a t c o m p u te r p e o p l e a r e p a r t a k i n g o f t h i s s a m e s e l f - i m a g e : in a m o r e b e n i g n f o r m , p e r h a p s , a s h i f t o f g e a r s ( a s it w e r e ) from B e t t e l h e i m 's m e c h a n ic a l c h ild , b u l s till on th e sa m e tr a c k .

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O u t s i d e r s a r e o f te n p r e y to c y b e r c r u d th e y d r e a m u p t h e m s e l v e 6 . I o n c e k n e w a c o lle g c r e g i s t r a r ' s o f fic e w h e r e t h e y h a d b e e n g e t t i n g a l o n g f i n e f o r y e a r s w ith p a p e r f o r m s . T h e y e a r b e f o r e t h e c o m p u t e r w a s s t a t e d to a r r i v e , ( h e y s t a r t e d u s i n g file c a r d s Tilled o u t b y h a n d , i n s t e a d . W hy? " W e ll, w e t h o u g h t t h a t w o u ld m a k e i t e a s i e r f o r t h e c o m p u t e r . C o m p u te r s u s e c a r d 9 , d o n 't t h e y ? '

Now , " b u m s , " " n i g g e r s " a n d " h i p p i e s " a r e not re a l p e o p le . T h e w o rd s a r e d e ro g a to ry s la n g f o r ( h e d e s t i t u t e , f o r p e r s o n s w ith a n y A f r ic a n a n c e s t r y , e n d f o r p e o p l e d r e s s i n g in c c r l a i n s t y l e s . B u t t h e r e m a r k a b l e t h i n g a b o u t t h e s l a n g i s th a t a ll t h r e e o f th e s e d e r o g a t o r y t e r m s s e e m to h a v e th e s a m e c o n n o ta t io n i n o u r c u l t u r e : so m e o n e w ho i s d i r t y . la z y a n d l a s c i v i o u s . In o t h e r w o r d s , w h a t e v e r d i s t i n g u i s h e s T h e M a c h in e f ro m th e W arm H u m a n B e in g i s c a r r i e d loo f a r b y th e b u n c h al th e o th e r e n d . In o t h e r w o r d s , t h i s c o n c e p t u a l c o n tin u u m i s a s i n g l e , f u n d a m e n t a l s c a l e in o u r c u l t u r e ; w h y i s u n c l c a r . S i n c e m o st p e o p le c o n s i d e r t h e m s e l v e s - - n a t u r a l l y ! - - lo b e in t h e m id d l e c a t e g o r y , it a c t s a s a 9 o r t o f r e f e r e n c e c o n tin u u m o f tw o b a d t h i n g s o n e i t h e r s i d e . It a l s o h a s a n o t h e r e ff e c t: it s u p p l i e s a d e ro g a to ry w ay of s e e in g . On th e r ig h t- h a n d s id e , it a llo w s m a n y A m e r i c a n s n o t lo s e e , o r to se e o n ly w i t h d i s g u s t , t h e d e s t i t u t e a n d t h o s e w ilh A f r ic a n a n c e s t r y a n d th o s e d r e s s i n g in h i p p i e s t y l e . B u t t h i s b o o k i s n ' t a b o u t th a l. T h e le ft s i d e o f ( h e c o n tin u u m i s o u r p r e s e n t c o n c e r n . T h e r e , t o o . p e o p l e r e f u s e to s e e . W hat p e o p le m a in ly r e f u s e to s e e i s t h a t m a c h i n e s m g e n e r a l a r e n 't lik e t h a t , r e le n tle s s , r e p e titi v e , m o n o to n o u s , i m p l a c a b l e , d e h u m a n i z i n g . O h . t h e r e a r e s o m e m a c h i n e s l i k e t h a t , p a r t i c u l a r l y th e a u to m o b ile a s s e m b l y l i n e . B u t t h e a s s e m b l y lin e w a a d e s i g n e d t h e w a y i t i s b e c a u s e It g e t s ( h e mo6l w o r k o u t o f p e o p l e . It g e t s t h e w o r k it d o e s o u t o f p e o p le b y i h e w a y i t e x e r t s p r e s s u r e . S o h e r e w e s e e t h e s a m e o l d t r i c k : p e o p le b u i l d i n g a s y s t e m a n d s a y i n g it h a s to w o r k t h a t w a y b e c a u s e i t ' s a m a c h i n e , r a t h e r ( h a n b e c a u s e t h a t 's ho w I d e s i g n e d i t . T o m a k e th e p o i n t c l e a r e r , l e t ' s c o n s i d e r so m e o t h e r m a c h i n e s . T h e a u to m o b ile I s a m a c h i n e , b u t it i s h a r d l y th e r e p e titi v e , " d e h u m a n iz e d " th in g w e u su a lly h e a r a b o u t . It g o e s u p h i l l , d o w n h i l l , le ft a n d r i g h t , f a s t a n d s lo w . It m a y b e d e c o r a t e d . It i s th e s c e n e of m a n y w arm h u m a n a c tiv itie s . A nd m ost im p o r t a n t l y , a u lo m o b ile s a r e v e r y m u c h t h e e x t e n s i o n of th e i r o w n e r s , e x e m p l i f y i n g l i f e - s t y l e , p e r s o n a l i t y , a n d id e o l o g y . C o n s i d e r th e B a ja B u g g y V o lk s w a g e n a n d Ih e o s t e n t a t i o u s c u s h y C a d i l l a c . C o n s i d e r th e d a s h b o a r d o rn a m e n t a n d (he b u m p e r s ti c k e r . T h e M a c h in e , in d e e d .

N o te th a t r e f e r r i n g to a c o m p u t e r a s i f it w e r e a l i v i n g c r e a t u r e i s n o t c y b e r c r u d ; to 6 a y t h a t a p r o g r a m " lo o k s a t" a d e v i c e . " I r i e s to e f f e c t a p r o c e d u r e , a n d " g o e s to s l e e p . " a r e a l l c o lo r f u l b r ie f w a y s of d e s c r ib in g w h a t re a lly h a p p e n s . ( S e e G u id e l i n e s f o r W r it e r s a n d S p o k e s m e n . p . V7 )

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Some of the computer high-chool kids I've known. because of Iheir youth. have been even more up-fronl about this than adults. 1 know one bo y . for instance, whose dream was to put a 33ASR Teletype on wheels under radio control, and alarm people at the computer conference by having it roll up to them and clatter out questions impersonally. (If you knew the kid -- aloof and haughty-seeming-- you might think that's how he approaches people in real life.) I know a high-school boy (nol a computer expert) who programmed a computer to type out a love story using the BASIC "print" command, the only one he knew. He could not bring himself lo write the love story on paper. The besi example I can think of. though, took place at the kids' booth (see p .H - 'J ) at a computer conference. One of the more withdrawn girls was silting al an off-line video terminal, idly typing things onto the screen. When she had gone a sentence remained. It said: I love you all. but at a distance.

Cybercrud is, of course, just one branch of THE GREAT GAME OF TECHNOLOGICAL PRETENSE that has the whole world in Its gTasp.

T h e c a m e r a la a m a c h i n e , b u t o n e lh a l a llo w s I ts u s e r to f r e e z e a n d p r e s e r v e t h e v i e w s a n d im a g e s o f th e w o rld he w a n ts . T h e b ic y c le is a m a c h in e , b u l o n e th a t b r in g s y o u i n t o p e r s o n a l a n d n o n - p o l l u t i n g c o n ta c t w ilh n a t u r e , o r a( l e a s t t h a t s t y l i z e d k i n d o f n a t u r e a c c e s s i b l e to b i c y c l e p a t h s .

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(On the other side of Ihis book, Dream Machines, we will carry this matter further. The most exciting things in the computer field are coming from people trying to realize their wildest dreams by computer: artificial Intel ligence. computer music, computer picture* making and so o n .)

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F o rg e t w h a t y o u 'v e e v e r h e a r d o r im a g in e d a b o u t c o m p u t e r s . J u s t c o n s i d e r th is: T he com puter is the most g en er a l m achin e man h as e v e r d e v e lo p e d . I n d e ed , it sh o u ld b e called th e A ll-P u r p o s e M achine, but i s n t , for re a so n s of h is to r ic a l accident ( s e e n e a r b y ) . Computers can c o n tr o l, and r e c e iv e inform ation from , v irtu a lly any oth er m achin e. T he com puter is not lik e a bomb or a g u n , w h ich can o n ly d e s troy , but more lik e a ty p e w r ite r , w h olly n o n committal b etw een good and bad in its n a tu re. T he sco p e of w h at com puters can do i s b r e a th ta k in g . Illustrated are some exam ples (alth ou gh h a v in g all th is h ap p en on on e com puter w o u ld b e u n u s u a l). It can tu rn th ings on and o ff , r i n g b e l l s , put out f i r e s , typ e out on p rin tin g m a c h in e s . Com puters are in c re d ib ly d o g g e d . Com pulers can do th in gs re p e a te d ly fo r e v e r , or an e x a c t, immense num ber of tim es (lik e 4 ,9 0 1 ,2 2 3 ) , d oin g som eth in g o v e r and o v e r , d e p en d in g on w h eth e r it's fin ish ed o r n o t. A com pu ter's a ctiv itie s can b e com bined in rem arkable w a y s . One a c t i v it y , repeated o v er and o v e r , can b e part of an oth er activity repeated o v e r and o v e r , w h ich can b e a part of s till an oth er a c t iv it y , w h ich can b e repeated ad in fin itu m . THERE ARE DEFINITE LIMITATIONS on what com puters can d o , but they are not e a s y to d escr ib e b r i e f ly . A l s o , som e o f them are a rg u e d about among com puter p e o p le .

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C o m p u te rs a r e COMPLETELY GENERAL, w ith n o fix e d p u r p o s e o r s t y l e of o p e r a tio n . In s p i t e of t h i s , th e s t r a n g e m y th h a s e v o lv e d t h a t c o m p u te r s a r e som ehow " m a th e m a tic a l." A c tu a lly v o n N e u m a n n , w ho got th e g e n e ra l i d e a a b o u t a s so o n as a n y b o d y ( 1 9 4 0 s ) , ca lle d th e c o m p u te r THE ALL-PURPOSE MACHINE. ( I n d e e d , the f i r s t b a c k e r of c o m p u te rs a f te r World W ar II w a s a m a k e r of m u l ti - li g h l b u l b s i g n s . It i s a n i n t e r e s ti n g p o s s i b il i t y th a t if h e h ad not b e e n k i l le d in an a i r p la n e c r a s h , c o m p u te rs w o u ld h a v e b e e n s e e n f i r s t a s te x t - h a n d l in g and p i c t u r e - m a k i n g m a c h in e s , a n d o n ly la t e r d eve loped fo r m a th e m a tic s a n d b u s i n e s s . ) We w ould c a ll i t th e A ll- P u r p o s e M achine h e r e , e x c e p t th a t for h i s t o r i c a l r e a s o n s i t h as b e e n s l a p p e d w ith the o th e r n a m e . B u t th a t d o e s n 't m ean i t h a s a fix e d w ay of o p e r a tin g . On the c o n t r a r y . COMPUTERS HAVE NO NATURE AND NO CHARACTER, s a v e t h a t w h ic h h a s b e e n p u t in to them b y w h o e v e r is c r e a ti n g th e p ro g r a m fo r a p a r t i c u l a r p u r p o s e . C o m p u te rs a r e , u n lik e a n y o t h e r p ie c e of e q u ip m e n t, p e r f e c t ly B LANK. A nd th a t is h ow w e h a v e p ro je c te d on i t s o m an y d iffe re n t fa ce s .

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A HELPFUL COMPARISON It h e lp s som etim es to com pare com pu ters with ty p e w r ite r s . Both h and le information a c c o rd in g to so m e b o d y 's own v iew p o in t. N ervou s Q uestion "Can a Computer Write a Poem?" "Can't C om puters Only B eh ave M echanistically?' H elpful Parallel "Can a T yp ew riter Write a Poem?" (S u r e . Your p o em .) "Can't T y p e w r ite r s O nly B eh a v e M ech anistically? (Y e s , but ca r r y in g ou t y o u r in t e n t.) "Aren't T y p e w rite rs Com pletely Impersonal?" (W ell, i t's not lik e h a n d w ritin g , b u t i t's s till what y ou s a y .)

Many ord in a r y p eo p le fin d com pu lers in t u itiv e ly o b v io u s and u n d er stan d ab le ; on ly th e com plication s e lu d e th em . P erh aps th e s e in tu itiv e ly h elp fu l d e fin itio n s may help y o u r intuition as w e l l . 1. T hin k o f th e com pu ter as a WIND-UP CROSSWORD PUZZLE. 2. A COMPUTER IS A DEVICE FOR TWIDDLING INFORMATION. (S o . w h al k in d s o f inform ation are th ere? A n d what are th e tw id d lin g op tion s? T h e s e m atters are what th e com pu ter fie ld c o n s is ts o f . ) 3. A com pu ter i s a com p letely g en er al d e v i c e , w h o s e method o f op eration may b e c h a n g e d , for h a n d lin g s y m b o ls in any s p e c ific w a y .

"Aren't C om puters Com pletely Impersonal?'

THE MAGIC OF THE COMPUTBR PROGRAM The basic, central magical Interior device of the computer we shall call a program follower. A program follower ia an electronic device (usually) which reads symbols specifying operations, carries out the step each specifies and goes on to the n e x t. The program follower reads down the list of instructions In the program , taking each Instruction In turn and carrying It out before It goes on to the next. Now , there are program followers that Just do that and nothing more; they have to stop when they get to the end of the list of Instructions.

The computer does things over and over by changing a stored count, then testing the stored count against another number which Is what the count should get to , and going to the beginning If th e desired count has not been re s c h e d . This is called a loop. (If th ere's no way 11 can ever get out, that's an endless loop.) (Actually, the program loop Is done the same way as a program branch: IF a certain count has not been reac h ed , It branches BACK to the start of the loop.) Other things besides program s msy be stored In the memory. Anything besides program s are usually called d a ta .

**

A true computer, however, can do several things m ore.

11 can Jump back to an earlier point In the program and go on from there. Repeating the program In this fashion Is called a loop.

The Instructions of programs use the data in different w ays. Some program s use a lot of data, some use a little, some don't use any. It is one of the fascinating and powerful things about the computer that both the instructions of a program . and the data they work o n , are stored as patterns of bits in Ihe same memory, where they can be modified as needed. Indeed, the program can modify its own patterns of b its, a very Important feature. WHAT DO PROGRAMS LOOK LIKE? In what forms are these programs s to red , you ask? Well, they are written by people in computer languages, which are then stored in some form in the computer's fast core memory, where the program follower can act on them. But what does a computer language look lik e , you ask? A h a ...

It can perform tests on symbols In the memory for Instance. to see if a loop has been done enough times, or If some other part of the Job has been finished and Jump to some other program depending on these symbols. This la called a b ra n ch . Finally, the computer can change the Information stored in memory. For Instance, It can place an answer In a specific part of memory. WHAT, THEN. IS A (Digital) COMPUTER? A device holding stored symbols In a changeable memory, performing operations on some of those symbols in the memory. In s sequence specified by other symbols In the memory. able to change the sequence based on tests of symbols In the memory, and able to change symbols in the memory. (For example, do arithmetic and store the result In the memory.) Rather than try to slip It to you o r prove it In some fancy w ay, let's Just state baldly: the power of such a machine to do almost anything surpasses all previous technical tricks in human histo ry . HOW CAN A COMPUTER CONTROL SO MANY DIFFERENT THINGS? Answer. Different as they may seem, all devices are controlled In the same way. Every device has an Interface, that la, its own special connection setup, and In this Interface a re the device re g iste rs . These device re g iste rs look the same to the computer: the computer program simply moves Information patterns Into them o r moves information patterns from them to see what they contain.

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(If you want to see what the bottom-most level looks lik e, with all the bits and things, skip ahead to p.ST.)

WHATEVER IT MAY DO tN THE REAL WORLD, to the computer program its just another device.

ANALOG COMPUTERS DISPOSED OF T here are two kinds of computers: analog and digital. (Also h y b rid . meaning a combination.) Analog computers are so unimportant compared to digital computers that we will polish them ofT In a couple of paragraphs. "Analog" Is a shortened form of the w ord "analogy." Originally an "analog" computer was one that represented something In the real w orld by some other sort of physical enactment for Instance, building a model of an economic system with tubes and liquids: this can demonstrate Keynesian economic principles remarkably w ell. However, the term "analog" haa come to mean almost exclusively pertaining to measurable electrical signals, and an "analog computer" is a device that creates or modifies measurable electric sig n als. Thus a hi-fi amplifier Is an analog computer (It multiplies the s ig n al), a music synthesizer is an analog computer (it generates snd reshapes analog s ig n als). Thus the term has deteriorated: almost anything with wires is an analog computer. Analog computers cannot be truly programmed, only rew ired. Analog equipment le useful, important and Indispensable. But it is simply not In the same class with digital com puters, henceforth called "computers" In this book, which manipulate symbols on the basis of changeable symbolic program s. "Analog computer" also means any way of calculating that involves measuring approximate re ad in g s, like a slide r u l e .

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particular symbolic signals the device needs

r heart patient oil refinery musical Instrument display screen disk memory

The computer, being a machine, doesn't know or care that device register 17 (say) controls a hog feeder, or device register 23 (aay) receives Information from smog detectors. But what you choose, in your program, to put Into device register 17, controls what the hogs eat, and what comes into device register 29 w ill tell your program, you hope, about smog conditions. Choosing how to handle these things in your program la your business.

12
j FICTIONS ABOUT WHAT COMPUTERS DO

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It'* awfully aay to tool p o ^ l* wlUl w ord*. let olona buffalo them with w eird taehnlcal-*undlng g a b . The thing about tach talk la that II can rea lly be applied to any a n a . { Ill tric k 11 In th i arrangem ent of b o ic a r adjective noun*. and In the vague uae of windy term * Ihtf have connotation* In ana* p a rticu la r .- ..I- .) a n a - - e ay , th e apaca prJgTUD. Ju ai s m l d t r . o r garden sp ad e-H* might call e common

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Many p e o p l e s u p p o se t h e r e I s n o t h i n g c o m p u te rs c a n n o t do ( s e e p . 4 S ) ; s o a e p e o p l e , in d e e d , t h i n k t h e r e i s n o t h i n g com p u t e r s do n o t a l r e a d y do. A c o u p l e o f y e a r s a g o , a le a d i n g p i c t u r e m a g a z in e c a r r i e d a p i e c e a b o u t S t a n f o r d 's A r t i f i c i a l I n t e l l i g e n ce L a b o r a t o r y , c l a i a i n g t h a t one " S h a k e y th e R ob ot h a d b e e n d e v e lo p e d t o n e a r - h u o a n i n t e l l i g e n c e an d c a p a b ilitie s. T h is was p u r e b o s h , s i n c e r e p u d i a t e d i n Cho c o m p u te r m a g a z in e s , b u t a l o t o f p e o p le O ut T h e r e i n R e a d e r la n d b e l i e v e d I t . (S e e "The G o d -B u ild e rs ," f l i p s i d e . ) Once I had a lo n g d i s c u s s i o n w ith a som ew hat w i l d - e y e d young woaan who b e l i e v e d t h a t th e g o v e r n a e n t was n o n it o r l n g h e r b r a i n w ith c o m p u te r s . I t h i n k I p e r s u a d e d h e r t h a t e ven I f t h i s w ere f e a s i b l e i t w ou ld c o s t th e g o v e rn m e n t t e n s o f th o u s a n d s o f d o l l a r s t o do i t , an d t h a t p r o b a b ly no e x i s t i n g g o v e r n a e n t a g en c y was t h a t i n t e r e s t e d in h e r th o u g h ts . I ' a n o t su re she vas p e rsu a d e d .

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A new e r a i n c o m p u te rs i s dawning. The f i r s t , o r C l a s s i c , co m p u te r era i s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d eq u ip m e n t and voTk* >n s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d p r o b le m s .

A PERSONALIZED BARTH-MOVDIG BQUIWENT MODULB A UINHHAIOOICAL MINI-TRANSPORT A PBHSONALIZHD STRATEGIC TELLURIAN COMMAND AND CONTROL MODULB AN AIR-TO-OROUND DfTBRFACB CONTOUR ADJUSTMENT PROBB A LEVRRAQBD TACTILE-FEEDBACK OEOUAS8 DELIVERY SYSTEM A MAN-MACHINE ENERGY-TO-STRUCTURB CONVERTER A ONE-TO-ONE INDIVIDUALIZED GEOPHYSICAL RESTflUCrURJZER A PORTABLE UNTT(ZED EARTHWORK SYNTHES 13 SYSTEM AN ENTRENCHING TOOL (Ftraetgn T beatar A ZBRO-8UM DIRT LEVEL ADJUSTER A FBEDBACK-ORIENTED CONTOUR MANAGEMENT PROBE AND DIOQtNQ SYSTEM A 0 RADIBNT DISEQUIUBRATOR A MASS DISTRIBUTION N8CBNTROPR1ZHB

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Input typ la ta (als o called keypunch operators) are clerka who copy I n to n a t io n Into lha computer (on te n t n a l a ) (punch cards, aegnetlc d is k , e tc . ) nOTt: thaaa Job* way end in a few yeerm whan nothing ele e haa to be coplad anywor becauee usera put things In t h ^ e l v e e .

bvnnci m v m .

But a change i s c o a i n g . No one coa* pany o r f a c t i o n i s b r in g in g i t a b o u t, a l th o u g h s o a e a a y f e e l I t i s n o t i n t h e i r in te re s t. I w ou ld l i k e to c a l l i t h e re t h e DIAPHANOUS ag e o f th e c o a p u t e r . Coaputer p r o g c sm re By " d ia p h a n o u s " I r e f e r b o th to the tr a n s p a r e n t , u n d e rs ta n d a b le c h a r a c t e r of th e s y s t e a s t o c o a e , and t o t h e l i k e l i hood t h a t e o n p u t e r s w i l l b e sh ow ing us e v e r y th in g ( d l a - . a c ro s s e v e ry th in g , p h a l n e i n . to sh o w ). I n t h e f i r s t p l a c e , COMPUTERS RILL DISAPPEAR CONCEPTUALLY, w i l l b eco ae " t r a n s p a r e n t " , i n t h e s e n s e o f b v in g p a r t s o f u n d e r s t a n d a b l e w h o le s . More o v e r, th e " p a r t s " o f a c o m p u te r s y s t e a w i l l hav e CLEAR CONCEPTUAL HEANING. In o t h e r w o r d s , COMPUTER SYSTEMS WILL BE UNDERSTANDABLE. I n s t e a d o f t h i n g s b e in g c o m p l i c a t e d , th e y w i l l b e co a e Now, many p e o p le t h i n k c o a p u t e r s a r e by t h e i r n a t u r e in c o m p r e h e n s ib le and c o a p l l c a t e d - u n f o r t u n a t e l y , t h a t ' s b e c a u s e th e y h a v e be en M ADE TO BE. U s u a l ly t h i s i s u n i n t e n t i o n a l , b u t I f e a r n o t a lw a y s . EXAMPLE. I n s t e a d o f b e in g t o l d , " t h i s i s t h e m y s t e r i o u s XYZ c o n p u t e r , i t h as to have t h i n g s J u s t s o , y ou h a v e t o f i l l o u t th e s e DM f o r a s t o go i n t o t h e V 3 4 . . . " { Q you w i l l h e a r s u c h s u r p r i s i n g l y s i n p l e t h i n g s a s " T h is s y s t e a i s s e t up f o r k e e p in g t r a c k o f who owes w h a t to t h e c o a p a n y . On th e s c r e e n you c a n g e t l i s t s o f a c c o u n ts and o u t s t a n d i n g b i l l s and who owes t h e a ; i f you p o i n t a t one w ith th e l i g h t p e n , t h e p r i n t i n g a a c h i n e o v e r h e r e w i l l p r i n t a b i l l a l l s e t t o go in t h e e n v e l o p e .' In o t h e r w o rd s , s y s t e a s w i l l i n c r e a s i n g l y h a v e UNDERSTANDABLE PARTS WITH UNDERSTANDABLE INTERCONNECTIONS.-

S p ad ai. not w o rd * . ih M ld be uaed for Iw e llln g . But v o rd a ahould help ua unearth Co^mter repairwan, or " f i e ld engin eer*," f l a c o a p u tt n and chair accesaorlee whan soaathlng goaa wrong e le c tr ic a lly or In the gears. Thr alwaya wear t i e c lip s , ao aa not to get pulled Into r o ta tin g achlnry.

f w h *"*h* Pl*n" than chlngc ehcs t i l l thay work.

In lhe com puter H eld, the earn* thing* a n often called by d ifferen t o aaee (for Inatanee. the IBM 1B00, a (airly o rdinary m lnlcanpuler, la called by them lhe *1BM 1B00 Data A cquisition and Control System ) , d ifferin ' thing* a re often called by the aame nam es, and things can be Inalde-out and upalde-dow n versions of each other In ex trao rd in ary v a rie ty . (Indeed, compu* le r people mey find Ihla book Inslde-out. which la okay with me. Life Is e Klein b o ttle.) Sorting th in g s o u t. th en , means having a few basic concepts c lea r In your m ind, and knowing when you see eiam plea and variations of there.

A NAIVE USER (no elfanaa) Is an ordin ary parson who doamnt naad to know any of th .a a ehlnga In ordar to do aoMthlng uaaful wlch th* r Creating programs to halp h U la lha from oF ccacuttna.

Computt r p t o p l t o f t t n t a y t h a t to u n d e r s t a n d o o m p u t t r t you h a o t t o h a v t a l o g i c a l m i n d . T h t r t ' t no t uo h t h i n g . Bu t t a y i n g su e h t hi ng * i n t i m i d a c t t many, t t p t e i a l l y t h o t t who h av t b u n t o l d t h t y do n o t havt, " l o g i e a l m i n d t . " W ist i s s e a n e , a c t u a l l y , i s i n d t t d i m p o r t a n t : i n w o rk in g u ie h a o m p u t t r t yo u m u t t o f t t n uo rk o u t t h t t x a o t r a m i f i e a t i o n t o f t p t e i f i e oombin a tio n i o f th i n g t , w ith o u t tk i p p i n g s te p s . But t h t o t h t r modi o f th im k in p , t h t i n t u i t i u t , ha s i c e p l a c t i n th e a o m p u t t r f i t l d t o o . V h i a h t v t r y o u r h a b i t u a l t t y l t o f mi nd , oewpute; o f f t r yo u f o o d - - a n d u t t n t i l t - - f o r t h o u g h t . WHAT YOUVB SEEN PROBABLY WASN'T -A COMPUTER.." 0*1 out of y our head th e notion thal eotne one *yalem you've seen showed you what Computer* A n Really L ike. Computer a y eim e can be as different e ite m a lly a s bat* and whalea (Yet It'* lha aame kind of h a artb aa l, b u t Uial'e no halp In daaling with them .) Then what la It com puiar people know . you may a sk , that leada them lo understand new ay stem* quickly? A ha. Computer people eliiipty adjuat faster to w hole new w orlda. THE AUTOMOBILE ANALOGY ( a o r e ) "The I n t e r s t a t e w*s b u a p e r > to - b u a p e r , b u t a f t e r we h ad lu n c h a t th e r e s t s t o p i t c l e a r e d up t i l l we g o t to th e t o l l b o o t n . Then H a r r y g o t l o s t on t h e I n t e r c h a n g e , a n J we had t o d o u b le b a c k on th e s e r v i c e How in c o m p r e h e n s ib le to so a eo n e f r e a 19 05 . Y et how s i a p l e - a l n d e d when you u n de rstan d i t . T h a t ' s how t i s w ith com p u te rs . C o n p u t e r t a l k so u n d s s o s t r a n g e and i n c o a p r e h e n s i b l e to y ou f o l k s o u t th e re * * y e t t o us i n h e r e I t ' s o f t e n as s im p le a s t h e l i n e s above** i_f y ou knew t h e fund** m e n ta l c o n c e p t s . And n o t h i n g in th e n o r a a l e v e ry d a y w o rld w i l l h a v e p r e p a r e d you f o r t h e a . I t s n o t ja rg o n , b u t th e s i a p l e s t way t o e x p r e s s th o u g h ts in t h e s e a r e a s .

HORRIBLE MISUNDERSTANDING!} Sana people think of o o a p id an aa thing* ihow m yatarl^ualy d lg w t and aaabnllale ed g e. *Ju a t lead ll (o lha o x n p u ta r, * 1 j Ihem o o o . But w hal you faad into th a computer fuat ails th e n u nlcaa th a ra 'i a p r a g r a a . "How would you do that by a m p u ta r? * I* a q u aetlai p v p la o ftu i a ak. Th* quactkm should b* . *how would you do that ai all?* If lh a ra la a method fo r doing aoaw lhlng which can be broken down Into sim ple a tap * , a id n q v l M no human Judgment, than mayba we c a t take thoaa n e p a t d program th a n on * m p u t e r . But mayba we can also Ihlnk of * d m p U r way to gat th a n d o n a. Than Uwra i* Lha Ida* th al a eo D p n lif la Bathing you aak q u a rta n * . This aaaum as, I g u w , th e e arlla r prvm laa, thal th e computer ha* altaady dlgaeU d and aaaimllatad * lot of stuff and c o t elin g it b ack al you In

USINd A COMPUTER SHOULD ALWAYS BE EASIER THAN NOT USING A COMPUTER. U It la n 'l. you (o r y our s m p a n y , o r your stale) may have been aold a bill of good*. OR ihay may have decided yo u r Inconvenience I* l * t Im portant than acn ath ln g alee. In any c a se , you have a rig h t to aak h a rp queation*.

WHAT IS THIS SYSTEM ABOUT? Handy queationa to *ls* up whai a c o o p u tar la aupptmad to be doing. Whai daia doe* It eon la in ' W hen I* th* data stored? What o ther data w ill II link up to? Whai Information do you auppoae can raaaoiubly be derived from thal? Whai a n the key Input and output device*? In whai fora* doe* information go In and oul? Whai do you auppoae Ihay m ight want to know?

Fo r on e t h i n g , s m a l l e r a n d s m a l l e r com p a n i e s a r e b u y in g c o a p u t e r s e r v i c e s , and t h e y w o n 't s t a n d f o r r i d i c u l o u s c o m p l i c a t i o n s . F o r a n o t h e r t h i n g , a number o f p e o p l e i n t h e c o a p u t e r f i e l d h a v e g o t t e n s i c k o f s y ste m s t h a t Bake t h i n g s h a r d f o r p e o p l e . F in a lly , t h e p r i c e o f c o m p u te r s , e s p e c i a l l y m ic r o p r o c e s s o r s ( s e e p . f ' j ) a r e c o n in g down s o f a s t t h a t th e y c a n b e t a i l o r e d t o f i t p e o p l e , r a th e r th a n v ic e v e r s a . B u t m ost o f a l l , i t ' s ) u s t vt i a e , t h a t ' s a l l .

Vji.

BIBLIOGRAPHY C .L . F r e i t a s , "M aking t h e B e s t Buy f o r th e S m a ll B u s i n e s s . " C o a p u te r D e c i s i o n * . March 7 3 , 2 2 - 2 6 . Compares t h e r e l a t i v e c o s t s o f m in ic o m p u te r s a n d tim e * s h * T ln g ; c o n c lu d e s t h a t m in i* a r e t h a b a s t b u y . B u r to n L. K a t i , "M akin g M in ic o m p u te r s Work i n a M t d l u m - s l t e d B u s i n e s s . " D ata P r o c e s s i n g . W i n te r 19 7 1 , 9 - 1 1 . S tre s s e s th e p o in t t h a t w e ll-d e s i g n e d c o m p u te r s y s t e a s c a n be u s e d by e x i s t i n g p e r s o n n e l o f * f i n , w i th o u t e x ce ssiv e c o m p lic atio n . F r e d e r i c G. u i t h i n g t o n , " C o sm e tic Pro gram m ing ." D a t a m a tio n . Mar 7 0 , 9 1 - 9 S . How to a ak* s y s t e a s f r i e n d l y on t h e o u t s i d e .

Actually w hat n u * l hap p an, to get quasU ais* an sw e rad , la thla: tb e ra must be program thal pu ta Input m aterial into a data a tru c tu n . (Baa "Data B tru c tu rw .') Than you need program * th a l w ill m uni and trw * . o r w h alaw r, th ro u g h th e data stru c tu re In way* T ^ d M ir a . T h a i you na*d a way to M art tlwaa trad n g -a n d -a aa rc h ln g program a going through th e dMa atru ctu ro In w ay* you w ant. So you n * d a program accap d ag Input b o n a keyboard, * , h l t *Tg ' atartln g th* o th er p i^ w n n
mo*

THE DAWED LIE " C o o p u te rs a r e r i g i d and Inh um an ." A BETTER APPROXIMATION P e o p le a r e so m e tim es ( a l l {o o o f t e n ) r i g i d and Inhum an. (M ac h in e s and n l a a l s a r e nonhu a a n - - t h e t a r a " i n human" a p p l i e s o n ly t o p e o p l e . ) " R i g i d a n d in h u a a n " c o m p u te r sy ste m s a r e t h e c r e a t i o n o f r i g i d a nd In h u a a n pe o p le .

THE MOST IMPORTANT COMPUTER TERMS FOR THE '7 0 s

X m E ltf c C fiV C S Y S 1 E M 5
Used to b a t h a t o r d i n a r y p e o p le had to d e a l w i t h c o m p u te rs by f i l l i n g o u t i n t r i c a t e f o rm s, w h ic h w ere t h e n t r a n s l a t e d i n t o pu nch c a r d s . T h e f o rm s p u t t h i n g s i n w e i r d c a t e g o r i e s ( s e e "Cod ed-Down D a t a , " p .T v .'- V .) No l o n g e r . Anyway, n o l o n g e r n e c e s s a r y . C o a p u t e r s y s te m s c a n now j i v e y o u a c t i o n , e x c ite m e n t- - and e x p la n a tio n s . T h i s i s d o n e t h r o u g h t h e m a gic o f th e TERMINAL. T e r m i n a l s c o n e i n tw o c o n s p ic u o u s f l a v o r s ( t y p e w r i t e r and s c r e e n o r "bo o b tu b e " ) and a l s o h a v e tw o l e s s - n o t i c e a b l e d i v i s i o n s ( " T e l e t y p e " o r " i n d u s t r y " v e r s u s "IBM t y p e . " ) Anyway, a t e r m i n a l i s s o m e th in g t h a t a llo w s a p e r s o n a n d a c o a p u t e r to ty p e a t eac h o th e r. Now, c o m p u te rs a r e a e r e l y g a d g e ts f o r t w i d d l i n g i n f o r n a t i o n . They no more u n d e r s t a n d E n g l i s h , o r human p s y c h o l o g y , th a n p u p p ie s c an r e a d a u s i c . (S e e " A r t i f i c i a l I n te llig e n c e , p .l t - I D But t h e c o m p u t e r ' s p r o g ram c a n , f o r i n s t a n c e , d i r e c t t h e c o m p u te r to t y p e o u t a s im p le q u e s t i o n , and com pare th e u s e r ' s a n s w e r w i t h a s im p le s e t o f a l t e r n a t i v e s . Fo r e x a n p l e , s u p p o s e th e u s e r i s v i s i t i n g a h o s p ita l. A c o m p u te r c an s i g n h im in w i t h o u t th e a b r a s i v e n e s s o f a r e c e i v i n g n u r s e , and w i t h f a r a o r e p a t i e n c e . The f o l l o w i n g m ig h t be a sa m ple d ia lo g u e . (H e r e t h e c o m p u te r t y p e s w h a t 's in c a y s , a n d t h e use rt> r e p l i e s a r e in lo w e r - c a s e - ) DO YOU JIAVE AN ACUTE PAIN? ( t , N, DX) dk YOUR ANSWER I S : DK FOR "DON'T KNOW." DOES THAT MEAN YOU'RE NOT SURE WHAT 'ACUTE' MEANS? (ANSWER A) A PAIN COMES AND GOES? (ANSWER fl) YOU HAVE A PAIN SORT OF ON THE BORDER? (ANSWER C) IS THIS PAIN IN AN EXACT PLACE YOU CAN IDENTIFY? (Y,N,DK) An i n t e r a c t i v e s y s te m o f t h i s k in d i s c a l l ed a c o n v e r s a t i o n a l s y s t e m , i n t h a t i t " c o n v e r s e s " w ith th e u s e r . The s e c r e t i s t h a t t h e a l t e r n a t i v e s i n t h e c o m p u te r p r o g ra m a r e few and c a r e f u l l y w ork ed o u t b e f o r e h a n d : t h e r e a r e g r e a t p i t f a l l s when t h e r e a r e to o many a l t e r n a t i v e s , as when su c h c o n v e r s a t i o n a l s y s te m s a r e u se d f o r te ac h in g (see pp. tC -i1 ) . H ere i s a s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d e x am p le: a s y s t e n I w ish I h ad f o r b a l a n c i n g a c h e c k b o o k . Note t h a t t h e i n n e r p r o g ra m f o r t h i s c o n v e r s a t i o n a l s y s te m c o u l d b e w r i t t e n I n any o f t h e t h r e e l a n g u a g es p r e s e n t e d l a t e r . W IIAT PROGRAM WOULD YOU LIKE TO RUN? ckbk CHECKBOOK PROGRAM STARTS. DO YOU W ANT TO PROOF THE NEW STATEMENT FOR MARCH? y PLEASE LIST T1IE CHECKS TIIAT HAVE COME IN. 2 3 1 , 2 3 9 , 2 4 0 , 24 2 , 24 4 , 245. SUM OF INCOMING CHECKS IS $ 3 4 5 .7 2 . DO YOU WANT BREAKDOWN? n PRESUMABLY BANX IS CHARGING YOU .6 0 FOR SIX CHECKS. ALSO MONTHLY CHARGE OF FIFTY CENTS (PLEASE CONFIRM), y ARE THERE ANY OTHER BANX CHARGES T1IIS MONTH? n ARE THE FOLLOWING DEPOSITS ON THIS STATE MENT-- MARCH I SALARY, *8 5 4 .0 0 ? y GIFT FROM AUNT AGATHA, 14 MARCH, $ 2 5 .0 0 ? n TOTAL ON STATEMENT SHOULD BE I 1 7 S 3 .2 1 . PLEASE CONFIRM, y YOUR CURRENT FLOAT IS 1 6 5 6 . 7S. DO YOU W ANT BREAKDOWN? y CURRENT FLOAT AS FOLLOWS-NO. 241 IRVING'S RECORDS 7 MARCH $ 6 .7 5 NO. 243 SINISTER MALADROIT (LEGAL FEES) 12 MARCH $ 6 0 0.0 0 NO. 246 DOGGIE HAIRDRESSERS 12 MARCH 5 20.0 0 NO. 247 SAM GRONK (REPAYMENT) 14 MARCH i 30.0 0 TOTAL $ 6 5 6.7 5 ARE YOU DONE WITH CHECKBOOK PROGRAM? y (T h e p a r t show n above i s e a s y . T h in k in g o u t t h e w ays f o r t h e u s e r t o c o r r e c t h i s r e c o r d s , a n d / o r t h e b a n k , i s t h e to u g h p a r t . ) I I

H ere a r e some p h r a s e s t h a t w i l l c o u n t i n t h e new e r a o f c o m p u tin g , when we w i l l r u n i n t o a o r e and more c o m p u te r s y s te m s s e t up f o r p a rti c u la r purposes. c o n n c c t e d t o a f u n c t i o n i n g c om pute i ( N o t e t h a t t h e c o m p u te r may be i n 1 ty p e w rit e r o r desk i t s e l f . ) M o tto 1 f o r t h e new o r a : USING A COMPUTER SHOULD ALWAYS BE EASIER THAN NOT USING A COMPUTER. M ott o 2 f o r t h e new e r a : THE NEW FRONTIER IN COMPUTERS IS CONCEPTUAL SIMPLICITY AND CLARITY.------------------------------P e o p le who d e l i g h t i n i n t r i c a c y a r e g o in g to h a v e t o l e a r n some new t r i c k s . I n t e r n a l i n t r i c a c y i s f i n e , a s long a s th e u s e r d o e s n ' t have to d e a l w ith i t . M ott o 3 f o r t h e new e r a ( t o c om pute r p e o p le ): MAKING THINGS KASY IS HARD. M ott o 4 f o r t h e new e r a ; ANY SYSTEM FOR A SPECIFIC PURPOSE SHOULD HE TEACHABLE IX TEN MINUTES OR LESS. t e r m in a l o r k e y s c o p e ( s e e p . DM 104 >. I t a l i e n s th e c o m p u te r p l a y games u i t h y o u , q u i a you f o r i n f o r A "COOB-Gl-Y SYSTEM1 Anyone who h a s b e e n t a u g h t t h e u s e o f some f i x e d - p u r p o s e c o m p u te r s y s t e n , su c h as an a i r l i n e r e s e r v a t i o n s y s t e n , may d o u b t t h i s . B ut p e rh a p s t h i s bo ok w i l l c l a r i f y t h i n g s som ew hat.

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T) t h i n g s up f o r pr< ra c tiv e ___ ____ __ . . . i c c t e d , b u t r e s p o n d i n g to you. I n t e r a c t i v e s y s te m s a n d p r o g ra m * c a n r e s p o n d t o y o u r c h o i c e s an<l r e q u e s t : c l a r i f y w hat t h e y w ant from y o u , e t c , rem ote r e f e r r i n g t o s o m e th in g f a r a w a y, a s d i s t i n c t fro m 1 _ 1, A compui sk. e .g ., f r o n t end ( n . ) , f r o n t - e n d l a d j . ) w h a t e v e r s t a n d s b e tw e e n you and a s y s te m . A f r o n t end c a n b e th e t e r i a i n a l i n y o u r o f f i c e , f o r e x a m p l e , A f r o n t - e n d p ro g ra m i s one w hic h m e d i a t e s b e tw e e n a u s e r and some o t h e r s y s t e m o r p r o g r a m , p e r h a p s c o l l e c t i n g d a t a f o r i t by q u i i i i n g y o u . d e d ica te d s e t up f o r o n l y one u s e . A b ig c o a p u te r a t a c o m p u tin g c e n t e r h a s to h a v e many u s e s ; a l i t t l e c o m p u te r in y o u r o f f i c e c a n be d e d i c a t e d . D e d i c a t e d c o m p u te rs a r e now h i d d e n i n a l l s o r t s o f t h i n g s : c a s h r e g i s t e r s , f o r exam ple ( s e e " M ic r o p ro c e s s o rs ," p. 4 4 ) . tu rn k ey ( a d j.) t u r n e d on w i t h a ke y . E s p e c i a l l y , t u r n k e y s y s t e m s , sm a ll c o a p u t e r s y s te m s t h a t c a n j u s t be tu r n e d on (k e y o r n o t ) a nd a r e f u l l y s e t u p , r e a d y t o r u n ,

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ANY M AN OF COM ON SENSE CAN M DESIGN A COMPUTER SYSTEM FOR A PURPOSE IMPORTANT TO HIM: th e d a t a s t r u c t u r e , t a r n s of in f o r n a ti o n , g e n e ra l o p e ra t i o n s , r c c o rd - k e c [ iin p ., and B ut f o r some r e a s o n t h i s g e n erally kepi a s c c r c l. is

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on th e mighty Dartmouth tlne-ah* rln g sys tem, dtss . (s.< p . y r . i r e s p o n d i n g t o e v e n t s in t h e w o r l d a s n c c d c t w ith o u t d e la y s . Com puter s y s te m s t h a t c o n t r o l m a c h i n e r y , make a i r l i n e r e s e r v a t i o n s , p r e d i c t th e w e a t h e r o r r e s p o n d to n a i v e use arc re a l-tim e . Syste m s l h a t c a n c a t c h up o v e rn ig h t a re n o n - r e a l - l i n e . ''in te lli g e n t te rm in al s t u p i d te rm r e f e r r i n g t o any o b j e c t t h a t d o e s more t h a n a c t l i k e a p l a i n t e r m i n a l . The te rm i s s t u p i d b e c a u s e i t c o n f u s e s d istin ctio n s. Some " i n t e l l i g e n t t e r m i n a l s ' have e x t r a c i r c u i t s f o r v a r i o u s p u r p o s e s ; o t h e r s c o n t a i n t h e i r own m i n i c o m p u t e r s ; s t i l l o th e rs a rc o rd in ary te rm in a ls con n e c t e d to f r o n t - e n d p r o g r a m s , u se r-o rie n te d s e t up Tor " u s e r s " - - p e o p l e who a r e n o t progra m m e rs o r i n p u t t y p i s t s , b u t who a c t u a l l y n e e d s o m e th in g d o n e , u se r level ( n .) . u s e r- le v e l ( a d j.) " w h e r e th e u s e r i s " m e n t a l l y ; h i s l e v e l o f in v o l v e m e n t . U se r - l e v e l s y s t e m , s y s te m s e t up f o r p e o p l e who a r e n o t t h i n k i n g a b o u t c o m p u te rs b u t a b o u t t h e s u b j e c t o r a c t i v i t y t h e c o m p u te r i s s u p posed to h e lp w ith , n a iv e u s e r ( n . ) , n a iv c - u s e r ( a d j . ) e r s o n who d o e s n ' t know a b o u t c o m p u te r s u t i s g o in g t o u s e t h e s y s t e m . N a i v c u s e r s y s te m s a r e t h o s e s e t up t o make t h i n g s e a s y and c l e a r f o r s u c h p e o p l e .

in div idual n m J Jo* Turkey User. This e s timable personage knows hardly anything think* hr undaratanda what you t e l l hin whon ha d o e sn 't. tends to h i t Che wrong keys on iho term in al, and in general tends But cha motto up th ere ia : I f i t ' s not aimple enough for Joe Turkey User i t a too complicated. DTSS la a good-guy syatea.

c o a p u t e r a t the Chicago C i r c l e Canpul U niversity o f I t l i n o i 'Jhat each p e r s o n doe t

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V O FIRST COM OR PUTER CONTACT COMPANIES THAT WILL SET UP NIIOLE LITTLE BUSINESS SYSTEMS A nu m b er o f c o m p a n ie s make m in i c o m p u t e r s ( p a r t i a l l i s t on p . 4 } ) ; h o w e v e r, com panies who w an t b u s i n e s s s y s te m s b u i l t a ro u n d m i n i c o m p u te rs may w a n t t o i n v e s t i g a t e com panies t h a t w i l l p u t t o g e t h e r w hole b u s i n e s s s y ste m s f o r them a ro u n d m i n i s . ( I t i s hoped t h a t one c o n t r i b u t i o n o f t h i s book w i l l b e t o g i v e th e r e a d e r a b e t t e r i d e a o f w h a t t o a sk f o r . ) Two co m p an ies t h a t seem t o be i n t h i s b u sin e ss a re : G e n e s is One C o m pute r C o r p o r a t i o n , 99 P a r k A v e . , NY 10016. A ppea rs t o u s e BASIC l a n g u a g e ( s e e p p . 1 6 - 1 7 ) . Q a n t e l C o rp . ( o f f i c e s i n f i v e m a jo r c i t ie s ). S e l l s a m in ic o m p u te r o f t h e i r own m a n u f a c t u r e , u s i n g a la n g u a g e c a l l e d QIC ( Q a n te l I n t e r a c t i v e C o d e ) , w h ic h a s a le s m a n t e l l s me i s " j u s t l i k e BASIC" ( s e e p p . 1 6 - 1 7 ) . M in i mum s e t u p i n c l u d e s a d i s p l a y t e r m i n a l , p r i n t e r , c o m p u te r and 6-mi 1l i o n - c h a r a c t e r d i s k , a t 5 3 1 ,0 0 0 . Whan you f i r s t a l t a t a ccvputer term inal, tin fe e lin g ia on* o f sh ear te r r o r . S w a t and c h ills , jun>lneaa and sudden c liauy nervous potions, lu n a tic abaentsdndadneaa and s i m r i n f fear and awkwardness in te r f e r e with your a b ility t o function or underatand the persen who Is helping you. I t ' s p e rfec tly normal.

t i n e o r o t h e r ; i t ' s n o t h i n g t o be ash am ed o f . T hough some c om pute r p e o p l e se em to th in k It i s . ) id io t-p ro o f n o t s u s c e p t i b l e to b e i n g l o u s e d up by a n a iv e u s e r . The h o s t i l i t y in t h i s te r m may in some c a s e s be r e a l . C om pute r p e o p l e som e tim es f o r g e t , o r do n o t w is h t o t o l e r a t e , t h e d e g r e o o f c o n f u s i o n t h a t n a iv e u s e rs b r in g to th e k e yboard. T h is a t t i tu d e i s n o t j u s t t h e i r p r o b le m b u t e v e r y b o d y s , s i n c e th e y l a y i t on u s . goo d -g u y s y s te m te rm to be u s e d h e r o f o r n a i v e - u s e r s y s tems t h a t a r e f r i e n d l y , h e l p f u l , s im p le a nd c l e a r , s t a n d - a l o n e s y s te m s y s te m ( r o g a r d l e s s o f p u r p o s e ) w h ic h d o e s n ' t h a v e t o be a t t a c h e d t o a n y t h i n g e lse . (May c o n t a i n i t s own c o m p u t e r . )

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You would think t h e fu ndam enta l dichotomy among compu ter terminal* w as betw een th ose that p r in t o n ppr and thoae lh a t ahow you muff on . s c r e e n . Bul It l a n 't. (T h at's lik e th e difference between people and w halea -- much g r e a le r outside lhan In eld e.) Actually the fu ndam enta l d is tinction between term inals la between ASCII (pro nounced "Aakey") and IBM te rm in als. ASCII is a code and scheme o f organization which was a d opte d by "the Indus try un d er th e b le aslng of th e National Bureau o f Standard s. But IBM ha s poin te dly Ignored ihlB s ta n d a r d . T h e prin ci pal te rm in al o f th e ASCII ty p e . In sh e er n um bers , Is Ihe model 33-ASR Teletype (trademark of Tel etype C o r p . ) . so th is k in d of terminal Is called th e "33 ASR ty p e ," o r "Teletypet y p e . o r We ev en sa y a g iv e n te rm inal "looks to the computer like a T e l e ty p e ."

All are ASCII-type unle ss oth e rw is e noted. Nole: th e re a r e hundreds of ty pes and b r an d s of te rm inals a vail able . T h ese a r e Just some th oughts.

If you'r e seri ous about keeping u p with developm ents In th e te rm inal a re a, you might wanl lo su bsc ribe to T erm inals Review (1 2 6 /y r.). highly apoken of by Datamation. (GML C o r p . . 594 Marrotl Rd. . Lexington. MA 02173.) A "CRT S urvey" Listing cha racte ristic s of 110 CRT dis plays (in cludin g both video te r minals and fancier picto ria l dla pla ya-- see flip side ! this book) Is available for len bucks postpaid from Dalapro R esearch Corp. , One Corporate C e n te r, Route 38, Moorestown, NJ 08057.

PRINTING TERMINALSMISCELLANEOUS BEST BUY? The model 38 ASR Teletype giv es you uppe r and lower case, and la oth erw is e sim ilar to the standard model 33. $70 a month from RCA Servic e Company . Data Communications Dlv, (offices in major c itie s ) ; SlS/m o. f o r th e couple r. 30- day cancellable but cosls $50 to p u t In , $24 to ta k e out. T h ere i s a c u te le rm lnal thal be have s Just I lka (he 33 ASR, bul Is faster and u s e s NCR p r e ssu r e pa per o r a r ib b o n , Interc hange ably. T h e Emlel S e rie s A te le prin ter from Exte l C o r p . , 310 Anthony T r a il , N ort hbro ok. III. 60062. If you like Sele ctrlcs, b u t want t o go to ASCII, the re Is o ne weird possib ility . A firm called Tycom System s Corporation (26 Ju st Road, Fairfield NY 07006) of fe rs an Inte resting alte rna tive , it happen s thal a ll SelecI rlcs ( anyw ay. Model 1 and Mbdel 11) ha ve a seam a ro und the midriff a t which I he ly p e w rli e r can be unsc re w ed into two se ctions. C lev e r Tycom! They make s devic e which fils b e tw e e n , looks io the bottom lik e the top of ihe S e le c tric , and looks to (he top like th e bottom. A ls o, it t u r n s the S ele ctric into a term in al, receiv ing ASCII codes from whatever com puter you attach it to and c au sin g th e compuier to type th e m , o r a endln g out whal you ty pe lo Ihe com puter In ASCII. Vario us firms r e n t term in al s, some on a Short- lc rm ba sis. (Some term inal companies are ba d new s, keepin g up their equipment ba dly and offeri ng poor s e rv i c e , so watch i t.) (T he day will come, le t's hope it's so on, th al you c a n r e n t a term in al o ve rnig ht o r for a w eekend lik e a movie earners. But till people get a se nse of how far and fast th in gs a r e m ovin g, we'll co n tin u e to sc hlock along h a p h a z a r d ly ,) U nfortunately renta l people a re ha rd io fin d, since (hey a re usually lo cal , and th e Yellow Pages idiotically lum p togeth er every possib le form of com puie r sa les and s e rv ic e unde r "Dala Processing E quipment and Supplie s." and few firms f u rth er sp ecify th e i r b usin e ss In the lis ting. Here are some names (n either e ndorse d nor criticize d): Com pute r P lannin g I Supply, Chicago T T S Syste m s, LA Vardon k A ssociates. Dallas A good outfit, lhal r enis both ASCII and IBM -type term in als of the ir own m a nufa cture , is A nderson Ja cobson Co. (1065 Morse A v e ,, Sunnyvale . Calif. 94066. and major c itie s ) . They have a Se le ctric term in al, for in stan c e, which r e n ts for about $100 a month (about th e same as Ihe s ta n d a r d IBM 2741) but is porta bleT o pro v id e a memory with y o u r ASCII o r JBMIBM-type term in al, an odd machine c alled the T e c h tr a n 4100 (about $1000 from T echtr an Indus tr ie s, 580 Jeff erson Rd. . Roc hester. NY 14623) can be used for offline storage. It use s s magnetic c asse tte , Here are some th in gs you c an do with il: t y p e stu ff into Ihe Techtr an. la te r squirt It lo a computer a t high sp eed r e c eiv e stuff from a computer at high sp e ed , la ter ty pe It back automatically on t h e terminal ty p e into ( h e T e c h tr a n . c orrec t it, a nd ihen have It typed back automatically-no com pute r, T he question of whet her the T echtr an can be used with Ihe Digi-Log has noi been publicly resolved. It ha ppens lhal Anderson Ja cobso n (above) will r e n t you ih e ir 2741-type Sele ct ric te rm in al, with a T ec h tran , for about $220 a monlh lotal. But they w on't rent th e Tec htr an s e p a r a t e ly , A 2741-type Selectric te rm inal with memor y, offe ring th e se same capabilit ie s, is now availab le from IBM! II is th e Communicaling Mag Card Executive (CMC). Since Ihe Mag Card Executive, to which they have added Ihe communication featu re, c o sis ove r $200 a monlh, fig ure ihe communication feature could cost an oth er $100 o r 30 m onth ly, o r pr obably half again a s much as the Anderso n-Jacobso n . Honeywell (Honeywell Information Syste m s, Wellesley H ills, M aas.) ha s recentl y made a vailable a Braille program to be used with " sta n d ard te rm in al s" In their syste m s. (T his may be Ihe ada plslio n developed at MIT lo do Braille on the 33 ASR.) i f you have no objection to IT T . they offer a porta ble video term inal wilh b u ilt -i n modem and couple r, the Asciecope. for $65/monlh. Supposed ly ih e re 's a long w alling lis t. (ITT Data Equipment and System s D iv is ion, East Union A v e . . East Rutherfo rd, NJ 07073.) For th ose of us lit erary type s who warn uppe r and lower case bul are Stuck with 33ASRS. a LOWER-CASE CONVERSION KIT is avail able from Dala Term inals and Communications. Campbell, C a lifornia .

961 f. f. n).
1U VTOP, ^300.
VIDEO TERMINALS WITHOUT THE VIDEO A ve ry hot Item r lg h i now Is a terminal called Ihe "Digi- Log"-- a ctu ally se v er al different models-- available from Digi-Log Sysie m s, I n c ., 666 Davisvllle Rd. , Willow G ro ve, P*. 19090. T h is de vice fits in a br ie fcase. Basically Il is a keyboard with a socket for ihe phone, and an antenna w ire. You phone the compu ter, drop ihe phone handsel In th e slo t, and clip the w ire lo (he an tenna of a TV s e l , Presto! On ihe TV set appears whal you and Ihe computer type at each oth e r. T his is especia lly good for trav elling salesmen (to communicate wilh their offices and orderin g system via tim e-sharin g computer) and executives who do compuier work from the r o a d . Also for people who want to show off remote computer sysiems. Disadvantage: on ly 42 c h arac ters p e r line, which is awkw ard for some th in g s , suc h a s programming In F o r tr a n . Price: $1200 to $1400, They ala o le ase , al rates as low a s $40/month (3 y e a r s ).

IBM. how ever, aeema to l ik e ch an gin g Its syste m s aro u n d a lot. for In sta n ce c hangin g Its codes when It b r in g s out s new compuier, (Fortunstely. It Just happens lhat they a lso Sell sd aple rs between them. W hew.) So IBM-type term inals are different by de sign . T h ere Is on e main ty p e , how ev er, exem plified by the IBM model 2741 te rm in al. T hus we say a terminal Is an "IBM-type" o r "2741-type" term in al.

Curio usly, IBM ha s giv e n its b le ssin g to th is a rrangem ent, meaning you can have (h is sa ndwich deal done to a Sele ct ric you r e n t from IBM , and se rv iced unde r beefed-up IBM mainten ance a gre em ents ($72 per y e a r , o r $16.50 p e r hour, as of 1970).

DISPLAY TERMINALS ( s e c r P - l,M 2 0 - 1 ) T lie r e a r e n a n y b r a a . l s . Sn tic .is c v i d e o . T he e a rlie r video te rm inals camo wilh dr ea dfu l s ty lin g , like a 1940s science-fic tio n movie. But as an exam ple of how th e market Is develo ping, one of the handsomes t video te rm inals I s th e $1300 Mini-Tec from TEC Incorpora te d. 9800 North Oracle R o a d , T u c s o n . A rl*. 85704. It comes covered with w ood-g rain contact pa per a nd looks ve ry nic e. (You sh o u ld have seen the ir e a r ly models.) The Hazeltlne 1000 video te rm in al rents for $4 9/mo. on s l - y e a r c ontra ct. LOWER-CASE OPTION; modem and c ouple r ap p aren tly nol inclu ded. (Ha zelline, G re en la w n. NY 11740, wilh offices all o v e r .)

Also available on ren ta l, suppose dly , from Westwood Associates, Inc. . 50 Washington T e r r a c e , East Orange, NJ 07017. Ann A rbor T erm inals , Inc. (Ann Arb or. Mich.7) is said lo offer a sim ilar unit lhal i s

Both T elety pe- an d IBM-type terminals coma In e ith er vld eo-a creen o r p r in ting models, from a v a rie ty Of m a n ufa cture rs . Indeed, even th e S e le ctric (IBM trademarly. ? - [' ty p in g mechanism a ppears in some T elety p e-ty p e te rm inals T h e r e Is s ve ry Impo rtant performance difference between ASCII a n d IBM terminals. The ASCII terminal can se n d each charac te r typed by the u se r- - eac h " k ey stro k e - - lo th e o>mpuier immediately. T h is means lhat highly responsive prog rams can be w ritte n , w h ic h examine the u s e r 's Input and can r e p ly In sta n tan e o u sly . It need b e , after anyth in g th e u ser ty p e s. IBM-type te rm in als. h o w eve r, requir e "line feed" ch arac te r o r an "end of transm is sio n ch arac te r lo be typed b y th e u s e r to make it Ihe compu ter'a t u r n , This lo cks th e keyboard so (he person can 't use 11. T h e n the computer must type some)hing, e n d in g with lla o w n "unlock" signal thal makes It the p e rso n 's tu r n aga in . Why this unw ie ld y de sig n ? Supposedly it r esults from the c urious d e c is i o n . in the design of IBM's 380 com puier. to make a ll devices remble th e c a r d rea d e r a s far as ih e computer Is conce rned. Ju st as ih e c a r d r e a d er rea ds punched carda till the la st one Is d o ne , the IBM terminal la designed to se n d and rec eive charac te rs until a "finished" condition Is reached.

T he equival ent IBM-type te rm in al-- key b o ard , coupler a nd d i p to the T V -- Is the IPSA-100, offered by I.P . Sharp Associates, Inc. (Brid ge Administration Building, Bridge Plaza, O g d e n sb u r g , NY 13669). Unfortunately it's much la rg e r than the Digi-Log-- ll comes In a medium-size su ll csse -- end more expensive ($1700 up), How ev er, they offer ihe APL c h arac ter-ae t (see APL un der "Magic Languages ," s an option even a model with bolh normal and APL c harac ter-sela as a switch-selectable option (costs even more). Re cently, of all th ings , pla ns for a do-ityourself unit of rhis ty pe w ere announced in a popular electronics magazine (Don L ancas ter, "TV T ypew rite r," Radio-Electron Ice, Se p t. 1973, 43-52), Thia does nol in clude the full p la n s, which a re available for $2 from TV TYPEWRITER , Radio-Electronic s , 45 E. I7lh S i . . New York . NY 10003Supposedly this can b e built tor "around $120"-- probab ly a deal more- - if you a r e a skil le d ele ctronics builder or te chnicia n. But lhal looks to include a great deal of labor. T he finished unit holds up to 32 charac ters pe r line and up to 16 lines on the sc re en ; a second memory can be added , lo hold a second altern ative sc reen ful.

see Kustom E le ctronics, Inc. ( a r e n 't they the rock -am p pe ople ? ). Data Communications Division, 1010 West Chesln ut, Chanute , Kanss s $6720. T h ey 'v e already sel up tr avelling term in als (or the mobile constab ulary of Kansas City (M o.), Palm Beach and Nashville. (Communications. J a n . 73, ad p. 47. ) Now . of c o u r s e , you'll need a whole stationary radio se tu p to ru n t h a t , ..

TVPE R IG H T E fL
T h e J fo g ic
A num ber o f d i f f e r e n t s y s t e m s a r e c o n in g on t h e m a r k e t t o a i d y o u i n e r r o r - f r e e t y p i n g . IBM w o u ld h a v e y o u c a l l t h e s e " w o r d p r o c e s s i n g s y s t e m s , s i n c e t h a t makes them s o u n d o f - a - p i e c e w i t h t h e i r d i c t a t i o n e q u i p m e n t . Ac tu a lly th e y re t e x t r e g u r g ita tio n sy ste m s, but l e t ' s j u s t c a l l th e m M a g ic T y p e w r i t e r s . P r i c e s o f t h e s e t h i n g s t e n d t o r u n b e tw e e n $100 and $250 a m o n th . G en e ra lly t h e s e a r e b e in g so ld a s s e c r e t a r i a l a i d s , p a r t l y b e c a u s e t h e y t e n d t o b e to o u n g a in ly f o r u se b y w r i t e r s th e m se lv es . A p r i n c i p a l u s e h a s b e e n i n l a r g e law o f f i c e s , w h ere c o n t r a c t s , w i l l s a n d s u c h a r e s t o r e d a s " b o i l e r p l a t e " ( s t a n d a r d s e c t i o n s o f D ocum ent) and th e n m o d i f i e d s l i g h t l y by t h e l a w y e r t o j u s t i f y th e le g a l f e e s . Such sy ste m s a l l b a s i c a l l y c o n s i s t o f th re e th in g s : A t y p e w r i t e r , c o n n e c t e d t o sotae s o r t o f m a g n e tic m em ory. su c h as a t a p e , c o a te d c a r d o r d i s k , and e d i t i n g c i r c u i t r y , w h ic h r e s p o n d s t o v a r i o u s a c t s by t h e u s e r . W HAT THEY DO: a l l o w y o u t o t y p e s t u f f i n , w h ic h i s b o t h t y p e d o n t h e papeT a nd a t t h e s a n e t i m e s to re d t h e m a g n e t i c w h a t e v e r . S m a ll e r r o r s yo u c o r r e c t a s y o u t y p e a l o n g , g e n e r a l l y by backspacing.

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When y o u w a n t a c l e a n c o p y - - P r e s t o W a i t - o ! P u t in c l e a n p a p e r , s t a r t th e m a g n e tic w h a te v e r a t th e b e g i n n i n g , and th e t y p e w r i t e r r e t y p e s i t w ith o u t a m is ta k e . I f y o u ' re lucky. U n f o r t u n a t e l y sotae o f t h e s e s y s t e m s a r e q u i t e b a d ly th o u g h t o u t. I n o n e o r tw o c a s e s I an n o t s u r e w h e t h e r t h e y a r e d e s i g n e d a s t h e y a re a c c i d e n t a l l y o r on p u rp o se . N e ith e r i n t e r p r c t a t i o n T s n a t t e r i n g t o th e m a n u f a c t u r e r . I h a v e h a d e x t e n s i v e e x p e r i e n c e w i t h tw o o f t h e s e s y s t e m s , t h e IBM Hag T a p e S e l e c t r i c a n d t h e IBM Mag C a r d E x e c u t i v e . S u ffic e i t to s a y t h a t i f I b e lie v e d t h a t th e s e sy ste m s w ere a s c um bersom e a s t h e y a r e by a c c i d e n t , t h e n t h e s e c t i o n s i n t h i s b o o k o n IBM a n d i t s p r o d u c t s m ig h t ha v e a v e ry d i f f e r e n t s l a n t . As i t i s , th e s e s y ste m s r e q u ir e a t r a i n i n g p e rio d o f (say ) a w eek, and r e q u i r e su c h c o n tin u o u s a t t e n t i o n t o t h e i r c u r i o u s ta c c h a n i c s t h a t t h e u s e r i s g iv en l i t t l e o p p o r tu n ity to t h in k o f a n y th in g e lse . In b o t h c a s e s , i n my o p i n i o n , t h e s u p e r f i c i a l p l a u s i b i l i t y o f th e i n i t i a l d e s ig n prem i s e s k n o ts i n t o ta n g l e d r a t i f i c a t i o n s w h ic h v e r g e on t h e p r e p o s t e r o u s . Much o f t h i s b o o k w as w r i t t e n o n a Mag C a r d E x e c u t i v e - - a n d I * n da mned s o r r y I b o t h e r e d . Some s y s t e m s o f t h i s ty p e a re :

T he IBM Mag T ape S e l e c t r i c C om poser (MT/SC. MTSC) . P r o d u c e s l o v e l y r e s u l t s w i t h t h e S c l c c t r i c Com poser, a very fancy S e l e c t r i c . But has c o m p l i c a t i o n s w e l l be y o n d t h o s e o f t h e Mag T a p e S e le c tric . liv e n n o r e v a r i a b l e w i j t h s t h a n Mag Card E x e c u tiv e . U ses same n a g - f i l m c a r t r i d g e s a s MTST. K ( N o t e : f o r t h o s e who l i k e t h e o u t p u t from th e above d e v i c e s , b u t a p p r e c ia te a ls o th e r e l a tiv e d i f f i c u l t y o f th e i r u s e , th e re is A v ailab le a c o m p u t e r p e r i p h e r a l d e v i c e w h ic h r e a d s a n d w r i t e s t h e s e 16mm mag t a p e c a r t r i d g e s . I d o n 't know who m a k e s i t , u n f o r t u n a t e l y . ) IBM's l a t e s t i s c a l l e d t h e M a g n e t i c Memory T y p e w r i t e r , a n d se e m s t o s t o r e up t o o n e p a g e i n a h i d d e n memory. A p p a r e n t l y you c a n ' t s e t i t a s id e , lik e th e c ard s o r ta p es. A f i r m c a l l c d R e d a c t r o n makes m a g ic t y p e w r i te r s u sin g e i t h e r c a s s e tte s (a u d io -ty p e ) o r mag c a r d s ( l i k e t h e Mag C a r d E x e c u t i v e ) . A f i r m c a l l e d S a v i n d o e s t h e sa m e t h i n g , u s i n g a T ycom S e l e c t r i c S a n d w ic h ( s e c u n d e r " P r in tin g T e r m in a ls ," ne arb y ). O l i v e t t i h a s one c a l l e d t h e S - 1 4 W ord P r o c e s s i n g S y s tem . T h eir c a r tr id g e (a d is k ? ) s t o r e s , t h e y s a y , ISO p a g e s o f t y p i n g . Two o t h e r o u t f i t s a nd Q u i n t y p e . N oops! R e m in g t o n ? ) in t h e f i e l d a r e T r e n d o t a (S p e rry

T he IBM Mag T a p e S e l e c t r i c (MT/ST o r MTST). R e c o r d s o n s p r o c k e t e d 16mm n a g f i l m o f t h e t y p e u s e d f o r m o v ie s o u n d r e c o r d i n g , a n d y o u h a v e two d i f f e r e n t t a p e s t o g e t c o n fu s e d b e tw e e n . The IBM Mag C a r d E x e c u t i v e . R ecords on a p l a s t i c H o l l e r i t h c a r d ( s e e p . 2 & ) c o a te d w ith m a g n e tic o x i d e . V a ria b le w id th o f c h a r a c te r s p rese n ts f a s c in a tin g d if f i c u l t i e s .

H e r e com es S p e r r y R e m in g t o n ! T hey h a v e one to o .

For th o s e in te r e s t e d in t h i s s o r t o f th in g , t h e r e i s a n I n t e r n a t i o n a l Word P r o c e s s i n g A s s o c i a t i o n ( M a r y l a n d R o a d , AHS B u i l d i n g , W illo w G r o v e , PA 1 9 0 9 0 .) S e e a l s o t h e F l i p S i d e o f t h e b o o k f o r more h ig h -p e rfo rm a n c e te x t sy ste m s.

are what make compute rs go 'r o u n d . IF you r c om pute r only did one th in g , then to s ta r t It y o u 'd o n ly ne ed one button to press. If y o u r c om pute r only did th in g s , without va ria tio n s , then let each operation bo sta rte d by one o f th e Keys o f th e te rm inal, would be lhat. two dozen you could pressin g and thal

T h e s e la n g u a g e s h a v e b e e n c h o s e n b e c au se th e y a re im p o r ta n t, v e ry d i f f e r e n t from e a c h o t h e r , v e r y p o w e r f u l , i n f l u e n t i a l and h i g h l y r e g a r d e d i n t h e f i e l d , i n t e r a c t i v e f ro m t i m e - s h a r i n g s y s t e n s , a n d v e r y s u i t a b l e f o r m a k in g i n t e r a c t i v e p r o g r a m s and " g o o d -g u y s y s t e n s . " Each u ay b e u se d t o c r e a t e p ro g ra m s m e [QUICKIE] B ecause th e s e la n g u a g e s can be u sed fro m a t e r m i n a l , a n d t h u s l e a r n e d q u i c k l y , we m ig h t c a l l th e m Q u i c k i e l a n g u a g e s . N o t e : i n t e r a c t i v e l a n g u a g e s m e an y o u , th e p ro g ra m m e r, can c h an g e y o u r p ro g ra m from t h e t e r m i n a l ; i n t e r a c t i v e w ro c r a m s a r e t h o s e w h ic h i n t e r a c t w i t h u s e r s , w h ic h is d iffe re n t. H o w ev e r, t h e s e l a n g u a g e s a r e q u i t e s u i t a b l e T or b o t h . Another reason for these three: they r e p r e s e n t. In a w ay. se veral major ty p e s, BASIC is a widesp read and fairly sta n d ard la nguage -- lhal i s , it is available on c om pute rs e v ery w h e re. Mor eove r, ll looks r a th e r like F o r tr a n , which is th e most im portant "scienti fic" computer language. TRAC Language, though w ell-know n among re se a r c h e r s, ha s mighty p o w ers that a re not so well know n. Moreover, it a ch ie v es it s pow ers th rough lha simple and highly consis te nt following ot a few simple p rin cip les , a n d is th u s b oth v e ry eaay to le a r n and an elega nt inte llectu al triu m p h for Its in vento r. Moreove r, il ia a so-ca lle d "lisi la n g u a g e ." meaning thal it can handle Information havin g extremely varied and c hangin g form -- a v e ry Important feature lo those of ua in te rested in computer applications like p ic ture-m a king and text handling, which use am orphous and busy types of data. (See "Data S t r u c tu r e s . p p - 2 & - > APL i s a noth er elegant la n g u ag e , a ls o worked oul handsomely from certa in ba sic ide as by a v e ry th oughtful and in sp ire d inve ntor. In the contemplation of these th r e e la n gua ges you may be gin lo see th e influ ence o f th e Individual human min d in th e com p u te r fie ld, q uite c o n tra r y to th e s te r e o ty p e . I w ould like lo str e s s h e r e lhal each of th e s e th r e e la n g u ag e s r e p r e s e n ts somebody's I ndiv id ua l p e rso n a l a c h ievem ent. and i s in t u r n a foundation upon which o th e r s , w riting p r o g r a m s , c a n b u ild Two o f t h e s e l a n g u a g e s p e r m i t t h e c r e a t i o n o f i n t e r a c t i v e p r o g r a m s t h o t w ork o n a l i n e - b y - l i n e b a s i s ; i n a d d i t i o n , TRAC L an g u a g e ( p p . 1 8 - 2 1 ) p e r m i t s t h e c r e a t i o n o f sy ste m s t h a t r e a c t t o a ny c h a r a c t e r th e u s e r ty p e s i n , r a t h e r t h a n w a i t i n g f o r th e c a r r i a g e r e t u r n a t th e en d o f a l i n e . T h is p e rm i ts y ou t o p ro g ra m u s e r - l e v e l sy ste m s t h a t a r e e v e n more r e s p o n s i v e . IF YOU'RE SCARED. Don't w o r r y , ll'a not a te s t. Flip the pa ges a n d look a t lh e exam ple s. (In p a rti c u la r , you mig ht look for lhe same program which a ppea rs in e ach la ng uage: a program to cause th e com pute r to prin t "HELP, I AM TRAPPED IN A LOOP" f o r e v e r . ) This book Is org an iz ed s o you c an look al It or sk ip ll In any o r d e r , s o th e r e is no pa rti cula r reason you have lo f ig ht th r o u g h the next th ree c hapte rs If you wani to p r e s s o n . But if you w ant to s tu d y these I s n g u a g o s , b y all means do 80. Languages lhal can be use d from a te rm in al are called o n -lin e la n g u a g e s , T h e r e a rc a n u m ber of o th e r popular o n -lin e la n g u ag e s: JOSS (lhe o r ig in a l) . FOCAL. LOGO. SPEAKEASY. Im ju sl s o r ry th e re 's no room for the m h e r e . Some p o p u l a r n o n - i n t e r a c t i v e la n g u a g e s a r e b r i e f l y d e s c r i b e d on p p . 3 0 - 3 1 .

But th a t's not what i f a about. We ha v e lots of different th in gs lhAt we want compute rs 10 d o . and we want one com mand lo w o rk on d if feren t v arieties of d ala . o r on the r e s u l ts o f a p rev io u s command. or even lo chew on a noth er command Itself; a n d so e computer la n g u ag e Is a c o n lr lv ed method of g iv in g commands to a com puter lha t allows th e commands lo b e en lw ln ed In a complex fashion, E veryone 9hould have some b r u s h with computer pr ogra mming, ju s l lo see what it Is and is n 't, Whai ii is: c asti ng mystical spe lls in arc ane te rm inology, whose exac t de ta ils have exact ramifi ca tions. Whai II is n ' t : ta lk in g o r typing to the computer in some way that re q uir es Intelligence by lh e machine. Whai ll la: an in tr ic ate technical a n . Whai it isn 'l: sc ie nce. Why th r e e la ng uage s? Because one would look loo much alik e . Only by p e ru s i n g several do you get any se nse of th e v a rie ty th e y ta ke. T h is means h a v in g basic o pe ra tions that can b e bu ilt into b ig g e r o p e ra tions (routin es, su b ro u tin e s, su b p r o g ra m s, p ro g ra m s). T h u s a c o m p u t e r la n g u a g e i s r e a l l y a m e th o d b y w h i c h a u s e r c a n t i e t h e s e p ro g ra m s t o g e t h e r . C o m p u te r la n g u a g e s a re b u i l t a cc o rd in g to c o n triv e d s e t s o f r u l e s f o r t y in g p ro g ra m s t o g e t h e r . Such r u l e s a r c l i m i t e d o n ly by th e im a g in a tio n of t h e i r c o n t r i v e r s . Each co m p u ter la n g u a g e h a s i t s own c o n t r i v e d s y s t e m o f r u l e s , a n d i t may b e c o m p l e t e l y d i f f e r e n t from t h e c o n t r i v e d r u l e s t y i n g t o g e t h e r any o t h e r c o m p u t e r l a n g u a g e . ( T h a t ' s one reason lo r h e re p r e s e n tin g th r e e d i f f e r e n t c o n p u t e r l a n g u a g e s , t o show so me o f t h e mad v a r i e t y t h a t c a n e x i s t . ) C o m p u te r l a n g u a g e s t e n d t o l o o k l i k e n o t h i n g e l s e y o u ve e v e r s e e n . T hus c o n p u t e r p r o g r a m s , w h ic h o f c o u r s e h a v e t o be w r i t t e n i n t h e s e c o m p u te r l a n g u a g e s , look p r e t t y w e i r d . Some p r o g r a m s lo o k lik e o ld t r a i n sc h e d u le s ( in n u l t i p l e c o lu m n s). Some l o o k a l i t t l e l i k e p r i n te d p o e t r y . I n a n y c a s e , a COMPUTER PRO GRAM NO MORI: LOOKS LIKE IT S RESULT THAN THAN THE WORD "COW" LOOKS LIKE A COW. One o f t h e c e n t r a l c o n c e p t s o f t h i s boo k i s t h a t o f a ' " p r o g r a m f o l l o w e r , a d y n a m ic e n t i t y w h ic h somehow f o l l o w s a p r o g ra m . ' . f e l l , EVERY LANCUAGE HAS A PRO GRAM FOLLOWER FOLLOWING ITS OWN PARTI CULAR RULES. T h e s e r u l e s a r e c o n t r i v e d fo r c o n v en ie n ce , s u i t a b i l i t y to a p u rp o se, and " a e s t h e t i c s " o f a s o r t - - o f t e n s o a e fo rm o f s t a r k c o m p r e s s i o n . (T h e p r o g r a m f o l l o w e r s w i r e d i n t o c o m p u t e r s a r c some w hat m o re a k i n t o o n e a n o t h e r ; s e e "R o c k B o t to m , " p . 3 2 . ) A b o u t a l l we c a n s a y la n g u a g e s h a v e i n common i s : EVERY COMPUTER LANGUAGE ALLOWS LOOPS. TESTS AND BRANCHES, AND COMMUNICATION WITH EXTERNAL DEVICES, a s m e n t i o n e d on p . 1 1 . Beyond th a t th e d i f f e r e n c e s a re i n c r e d i b l e . So t h e b a s i c s e c r e t o f c o m p u te r p e o p le is t h i s : i t ' s n o t th a t th e n e c e s s a r i l y know s o m u c h , b u t t h e y c a n a d a p t t o a w h o le new w o r l d o f p o s s i b i l i t i e s more T h e s e t h r e e l a n g u a g e s make i t p o s s i b l e i n p r i n c i p l e f o r you t o l e a r n c o m p u te rs w i t h no c o a c h i n g . A ll you n e ed ( i n p r i n c i p l e ) i s y o u r own t e r m i n a l , a n d t i m e - s h a r i n g a c c o u n t s w i t h f i r m s r u n n i n g BASIC (M o st o f t h e n d o ) , TRAC L an g u a g e ( f o r a v a i l a b i l i t y s e e p , 2 1 ) , a n d / o r APL ( f o r p a r t i a l l i s t o f so u rces see p . 25). Why theae three? Severa l good r ea so n s. One, they can be use d from a te rm in a l, which means lhal you could in p rin cip le g e t a te rm inal In yo ur home and play wilh th e c om pute r from ove r lhe tele phone. Bui this is e x p en siv e , and al worsl fra ught with accidental financial lia bilities, so th e possibi lity Is minor r ig ht now, N eve rthele ss, il should be practical a n d in e x pensiv e fairly soon.

T i l l more and so re you g e l th e f e e l of I t . Anil f in d yo urself w ritin g proKraa lh a t work

T E to r U V to H A

to g e t h e r th e f u n d am e n ta l o p e r a t i o n s o[ la n g u a g e f i t s t o g e th e r a c c o rd in g to i t s

s o n a l l t y and p r e o c c u p a tio n s o f t h e p e rs o n o r p e o p l e who d e s i g n e d i t . Mo dern c o m p u te r l a n g u a g e s g e n e r a l l y c a n h a n d l e a l l t h e m a in k i n d s o f p r o g r a n m i n g s c o a t h a n d l i n g , n u .a ber c r u n c h i n g , s t o r i n g f i l e a on d i s k memory a n d g e t t i n g th e m b a c k ,

PROGRAMS VS. SYSTEMS: A Vague Guideline lo a Vague Distinction A " pro gram '- r u n s on an o rd in ary compute r, without n e ce ssarily in te rac tin g with lhe oulalde world; a "sy ste m " Inv o lv es a whole se tu p , o f which th e co mpute r and a p rogra m In It are Jusl th e c entr al th in g s .

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The t e x t i s u s u a l l y s c u r v u a s a s e r i e s o f a l p h a b e t i c a l a n d p u n c t u a t i o n c o d e s i n t h e com p u t e r ' s c o r e m e m ory. T he a r e a i t o c c u p i e s in t h e c o r e memory i s c a l l e d a c o r e b u f f e r . The p r o g r a m g e n e r a l l y g i v e s t h e u s e r a n im a g in a r y " p o i n t e r , " a m a rk e r s p e c i f y i n g w h at p o i n t i n t h e t e x t th e p ro g ra m i s c u r r e n t l y c o n ce rn e d w ith . What i s t h e p o i n t e r f o r ? I t s p e c i f i e s w h e r e th e o p e r a t i o n s a r e t o t a k e p l a c e . " I n s e r t, for exam ple. I f t e x t i s i n s e r t e d , i t w i l l go i n t o th e p la c e p r e s e n tly p o in te d a t. Many o f t h e commands a r e c o n c e r n e d w i t h c o n t r o l l i n g th e c u r r e n t p o s i t i o n o f th e p o i n t e r , m o v in g i t b a c k w a r d o r f o r w a r d b y a s p e c i f i c num b er o f c h a r a c t e r s ( in c lu d in g p u n c tu a tio n nark s and s p a c e s ) o r l i n e s (know n t o t h e p r o g r a m by t h e c a r r i a g e - r e t u r n c o d cs i n t e r s p e r s e d i n th e t e x t ) , N umerous i n t e r a c t i v e p r o g r a m s e x i s t f o r e d i t i n g t e x t a t co m p u te r t e r m i n a l s - - i n o t h e r w o r d s , f o r d o i n g w h a t M a g ic T y p e w r i t e r s d o , b u t u s in g a c o m p u te r i n s t e a d o f a sm a ll s p e c i a l pu rpose m achine. U n f o r t u n a t e l y m ost o f t h e s e s y ste m s a r e d rea d fu l. D r e a d f u l , th B t i s , f o r o r d i n a r y hunan b e i n g s . What c o n p u t e r p e o p l e se em t o th in k o f a s a p p ro p r ia te s y ste m s f o r h a n d lin g t e x t a r e t o t a l l y u n s u i t a b l e f o r p e o p l e who c a r e a n d t h i n k a l o t a b o u t t e x t , a l t h o u g h t h e y may be good i o r c o m p u t e r p r o g r a m m e r s . Such s y s t e n s allo w y o u t o i n s e r t t e x t ( w i t h s a n e d i f f i c u l t y ) , d e l e t e ( w i t h so me d i f f i c u l t y ) , and r e a r r a n g e ( n a y b e ). O r d i n a r i l y th e u s e r m ust l e a r n an e x p l i c i t command l a n g u a g e , some s y s t e m o f a l p h a b e t i c a l commands t h a t h a v e t o b e t y p e d i n t o e f f e c t a n y change i n th e m a t e r i a l . Program m ers t h i n k t h i s i s g o o d f o r y o u a n d to u g h e n s t h e n i n d . c W u tc v ? - s m e sy rre in .

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In th is sim p lifie d i l l u s t r a t i o n , th e p o in t e r c a n b e moved f o r w a r d a n d b a c k w a r d i n t h e t e x t b y v a r i o u s commands. T y p in g " B " m oves t h e p o i n t e r t o th e b e g in n in g . "Ii " t a k e s i t t o t h e end. " L " moves i t t o t h e b e g i n n i n g o f t h e l i n e i t ' s p r e s e n t l y o n , a n d t h e commands C" a n d " L , w hen g i v e n w i t h n u m b e r s , t e l l t h e p o i n t e r t o move f o r w a r d o r b a c k t h e s p e c i f i e d n u m b e r o f p o sitio n s. For i n s t a n c e : 3C 4C 2L -2L Move Move Move Move f o rw a rd 3 c h a r a c t e r s backw ard I c h a r a c t c r s f o rw a rd 2 l i n e s backw ard 2 l i n e s

and s o o n . N o te t h a t t h e s e o p e r a t i o n s a r e n o t g o d - g i v e n , b u t t h a t t h e p a r t i c u l a r s o f how t h e y b e h a v e a n d w ork t o g e t h e r a r e d e t e r m i n e d b y t h e p e r s o n a l q u i r k s o f who progra m m e d th e m . A n o t h e r f e a t u r e many o f t h e s e p r o g r a m s h a v e i s c a ll e d a "c o n te x t e d ito r f e a tu r e . S o -c alled c o n t e x t e d i t i n g moves t h e p o i n t e r f r o m i t s p r e s e n t p o s i t i o n to th e n e x t o c c u rre n c e o f a s p e c i f i c s t r i n g o f c h a r a c t e r s : f o r i n s t a n c e , th e n e x t o c c u r r e n c e o f t h e w o rd CHIAROSCURO. O f t e n s u c h commands p e r m i t y o u , by g i v i n g t h e command p r o p e r l y , t o r e p l a c e any g i v e n w ord o r p h r a s e w i t h an y o t h e r . I t w as d r i l y r e m a r k e d j t a r e c e n t c o n f e r e n c e t h a t t h i s w o u ld a l l o w a w r i t e r t o change e v e r y o c c u rre n c e o f " o r" in h i s w r i t i n g to " a n d ." Y e t p r o g r a m m e r s se em t o t h i n k t h i s i s a f e a tu r e w r i te r s w an t. (F o r p rogram m ers' p u rp o se s t h i s i s a v e ry g o o d f a c i l i t y ; i n d e e d , a w h o le c o m p u t e r la n g u a g e SNOBOL, i s b u i l t a r o u n d i t ; - - s e e p . 3 1 . But i t h a s n o th in g to do w ith norm al t e x t . ) T h is ty p e o f t h in g i s t o t a l l y u n s u i t e d f o r t h e l i t e r a r y t y p e s o f p e o p l e who c a r e m o s t a b o u t t e x t and i t s c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s ( c o n n o t a t i o n s , t w i s t s ) w h i c h c a n n o t b e f o u n d by d e f i n a b l e stru c tu re d search , ftnd who s h o u l d n o t b e f o r c e d t o d e a l w i t h e x p l i c i t co m p u te r la n g u a g e s b e c a u se i t te n d s to in t e r f e r e w ith th e th o u g h t p ro c e sse s t h e y a r e s u p p o s e d t o b e p u r s u i n g , i f n o t make th e m p h y s i c a l l y i l l .

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W h en a n d if th e p r o g r a m f o llo w e r g e te lo t h i s command, th e t e r m in a l w ill p r i n t o u t HAIL CAESAR . BIRD THOU NEVER WERT T h e GOTO c o m m a n d ( p r o n o u n c e d "Go 2 " ) T h e GOTO c o m m a n d t e l l s th e p r o g r a m fo llo w e r the n u m b e r o f the n e x t c o m m a n d f o r It to d o , f ro m w h ic h It w ill go o n . E xam ple: 02 GOTO 90

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T h e BASIC l a n g u a g e , a ls o c a ll e d D a r t m o u t h - B u t e , u i n t r o d u c e d In th e s i x t i e s a t D a r tm o u th C o lleg e b y J o h n K a n e n y a n d T h o m a s K u r t * . I t w a a I n te n d e d to b e a s im p le a n d e a s y - t o - l e * m I n tr o d u c t i o n to c o m p u te r p r o g r a m m i n g , y e t p o w e r f u l e n o u g h to d o u s e f u l t h i n g s . It h a s g r o w n i n u s e , I n r e c e n t y e a r s , b o th a s th e f o re m o s t b e g i n n e r 's l a n g u a g e , a n d a s a p e r f e c tly fine l a n g u a g e f o r d o in g m a n y s im p le k i n d * of w o r k lik e c u s to m b u s i n e s s a p p l i c a t i o n s , s t a t i s t i c s , a n d " g o o d - g u y " s y s te m s f o r nfliv u s e r s os d i s c u s s e d e l s e w h e r e In t h i s b o o k . K snvsny Is no w p r e s i d e n t of D a r tm o u th , a n d K u r t z r u n s t h e i r h lg h - p o w e r t i m e - s h a r i n g c o m p u te r c e n t e r , so BASIC h a s p e r m a n e n t h o m e b a s e t h e r e . Note lh a t th e n am e BA SIC d o e s n o l r e f e r to t h e b o tto m l e v e l o r e lo n e n t a l la n g u a g e s o f c o m p u te r s . BA SIC h a s b e e n c o n t r i v e d s p e c if ic a l ly to m a k e p r o g r a m m i n g q u i c k e r a n d e a s i e r . II la n ot " b a s i c " to a ll c o m p u te rs ; s u c h b otto m la n g u a g e s a r e c a ll e d " m a c h in e l a n g u a g e o r " a s s e m b le r la n g u a g e " ( se e P P . j 2 .-_jl T h e sim p lic ity o f t h e l a n g u a g e b e g in s s t th e p r o g r a m I n p u t , o r e d i t i n g , l e v e l . E a c h c o m m a n d r f BASIC m u s t b e o n a s e p a r a t e l i n e , a n d e a c h l i n e m u st h a v e s s e p a r a t e lin e n u m b e r . S u p p o s e y o u a c c id e n t a ll y ty p e in SO IMPUGN Y

w h ic h m e a n s th a l w h e n a p r o g r a m f o llo w e r g e t s to command #02, i t m u s t n e x t Jum p lo 06 a n d g o o n f ro m t h e r e , u n le s s th a l h a p p e n s to b e t h e END s ta t e m e n t . A SIMPLE SAMPLE PROGRAM T h e s e a r e e n o u g h c o m m a n d s lo w r i t e a sa m p le p r o g r a m . 43 87 ee PR INT "HELP , I AM CAUGHT IN A LOOP" GOTO 43
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T h e p r o g r a m w ill s t a r t a t t h e f i r s t I n s t r u c t i o n , w h ic h h a p p e n s in t h is c a s e to b e i n s t r u c t i o n n u m b e r 43. T h a t one p r in ts a m e s s a g e . T he n e x t c o m m a n d , b y lin e n u m b e r, i s 67. T h i s te lle th e p r o g r a m f o llo w e r lo g o b a c k to 43, w h ic h i t d o e s . 43 67 08 PRIN T GOTO END "HELP , I AM CAUGHT IN A LOOP" < -1 4 3 --------------------------------------------------------- 1

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w h e n y ou m a an t "IN PUT " I n s t e a d of "IM PU GN ." You m a y r e p l a c e th a t c o m m a n d a t a n y tim e b y t y p i n g th e sam e lin e n u m b e r a n d th e n e w v e r s i o n o f th e l i n e , 50 INPUT Y

T h e s e tw o b o y s h a d n e v e r s e e n a c o m p u t e r b e f o r e , b u t I lo a d e d It u p w ilh t h e BASIC l a n g u a g e p r o c e s s o r , s h o w e d th e m a few b a s i c c o m m a n d s a n d to ld th e m to t u r n It off w h e n t h e y w e r e th r o u g h . 1 got b a c k te n h o u r* la t e r a n d t h e y w e r e S t ill a t i t . T oo b a d k i d s h a v e s u c h s h o r t a t te n tio n S p a n 9 .

T h e r e s u l t Is th a t y o u r te r m i n a l w ill p r i n t HELP , 1 AM CAUGHT IN A LOOP H E L P . I AM CAUGHT IN A LOOP HELP , I AM CAUGHT IN A LOOP I n term in ab ly , or u n til you g e ts to the END s t a t e m e n t . d r a s t i c a r e u s u a lly to hold ty p e C , o r hold d o w n b o th If y o u h a v e th e m , a n d ty p e d o s o m e th in g d r a s t i c . I t n e v e r (T w o s t r a t e g i e s f o r d o in g s o m e th in g d o w n t h e CONTROL b u tto n a n d CONTROL a n d S H IFT b u t t o n s . P . O n e of th e s e u s u a l l y w o r k s . )

w h ic h a u to m a tic a lly r e p l a c e s th e p r e v io u a ly lin e 5 0 . if yo u w o nt to g e t r i a of th e l i n e e n t i r e l y , y o u ty p e 50 a n d a n e n d - o f - l i n e c o d e , a n d th e w h o le lin e I s g o n e . E x am p le o f a BA SIC c o m m a n d : 153 LBTX=Y VARIABLES T h e BA S IC l a n g u a g e , lik e a n u m b e r of o t h e r la n g u a g e s , a l l o w s y o u lo s e t a s id e p la c e s in c o re m e m o ry a n d g iv e th e m n a m e s . T h e s e p la c e s m a y h o ld n u m b e r s . T h e y c a n be u s e d to c o u n t th e n u m b e r of tim e s th a t t h i n g s a r e d o n e (o r n o t d o n e ) , to h old o n s w e r s , n u m b e r s to t e s t a g a i n s t , n u m b e r s to m u ltip ly by a n d so o n . I n B A S IC , th e s e p la c e s a r e g iv e n n a m e s of o n e a l p h a b e t i c a l l e t t e r . T h a i m e a n s you c a n h a v e up to 20 of th em . E x a m p le s : A E I 0 U so m e tim es Y even X

T h e LET c om m and T h e LET c om m and p u t s s o m e th in g In to a v a r i a b l e . E xam ple: 43 LET R = 2 .3

You c a n c h o o se a n y lin e n u m b e r s y o u w a n t , b u t t h e l i n e s a r e a u to m a tic a lly p u t Ln t h e o r d e r o f t h e i r n u m b e r s . S i n c e w h e n yo u w r i t e a p r o g r a m y o u d o n 't u s u a lly k n o w a t t h e o u t s e t w h a t i t w ill lo o k l i k e l a t e r , y o u t r y to l e a v e e n o u g h g a p s In th e n u m b e r s s t t h e s t a r t to fit in th e I n s tr u c ti o n s y o u m ig h t w a n t to p u t b e t w e e n th e m la t e r .

Whal Is on the r ig h t sid e of th e e q u a l s s i g n in t h e l o s t s t a t e m e n t , In t h i s c a se 2 .3 . Is s tu f f e d Into w h a t e v e r l o c a t io n of c o r e m em ory Is d e s ig n a t e d on th e le ft s i d e . I n t h i s c a s e a p la c e know n to y o u o n ly a s R . With th e r e s u l t t h a t s o m e p la c e In c o r e m em ory i s

THE SETTING T o b e g in w i l h . t h e r e m u s t b e a c o m p u t e r , a n d it m u s t h a v e a p r o c e s s o r f o r th e BASIC la n g u a g e , th a t i s , a p r o g r a m f o r c a r r y i n g o u l th e o p e r a tio n s o f D a r tm o u t h BASIC We w ill a s s u m e th a t t h i s BASIC p r o c e s s o r i s a ll s a t u p in c a r e m e m o ry r e a d y to g o .

B e c a u s e th e s e n a m ed s p a c e s in m e m o r y m a y b e u s e d s o m e th in g l i k e th e w ay l e t t e r s a r e u s e d i n a l g e b r a , w e ^11 th e m v a r i a b l e s . In f a c t , e a c h o n e I s a p l a c e w ith a

T he LET s ta te m e n t i s a n e x a m p l e of a n a s s i g n m e n t s t a t e m e n t , w h ic h m o st c o m p u te r la n g u a g e s h a v e ; a n a s s i g n m e n t s ta te m e n t a s s i g n s a s p e c if ic p ie c e of I n fo r m a tio n ( o fte n a n u m b e r , b u t o f te n o t h e r t h i n g s ) to so m e n a m e ( o fte n s t a n d i n g f o r a p a r t i c u l a r p la c e In c o r e m e m o r y ) . T h e LET c om m a nd Ln BA S IC c a n a ls o b e u s e d t o d o a r i t h m e t i c . E x am p le; 14 LET M = 2 .3 + (1 2 * 7 0 0 9 .1 )

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(Note: T h is i s how It lo o k s In a m in i c o m p u t e r . On a t i m e - s h a r i n g s y s te m t h e r e ' s a lo t of i r r e l e v a n t o th e r stu f f g o in g o n , w h ic h w e 'l l le a v e o u t . ) A n d we w ill a s s u m e , a s p r e v i o u s l y m e n tio n e d , t h a t y ou h a v e som e k i n d frf a t e r m i n a l - - th a t I s , a d e v ic e w ith a k e y b o a r d , some k in d o f p la c e the c o m p u t e r c a n se n d m e s s a g e s t o y o u a n d v ic e v e r s a , a n d i s m o r e o r l e s s s t a n d a r d . Now th e n : a il th a t t s n e e d e d i s f o r y o u to u n d e r s t a n d t h e BASIC la n g u a g e , a n d y o u c a n p r o g r a m t h i s c o m p u te r w ith in th e c o n fin e s of B A S I C . I t la o n e of th e s t r a n g e a s p e c ts of t h i s f ie l d t h a t la n gu a g e s c a n b e t a u g h t I n d e p e n d e n t l y erf d i s c u s s i o n s o f th e m a c h in e its e lf .

CMklrvb if y o u u s e the n a m es B ,C a n d D f o r v a r i a b l e s in y o u r p r o g r a m , t h e BASIC p r o c e s s o r w ill a u to m a tic a ll y s e t u p p la c e s f o r th e m to b e s t o r e d .

(T h e a s t e r i s k h a s to b e u s e d f o r m u l t i p l i c a t i o n b e c a u s e tr a d i tio n a lly te r m i n a l s d o n 't h a v e a t i r o e s - s i g n .) BASIC w ill w o r k t h is o u t from r i g h t to le ft a n d s t o r e th e r e s u l t In M. T h e INPUT c om m and T h e INPUT s ta te m e n t a s k a th e p e r s o n s t t h e t e r m in a l for a n u m b e r a n d th e n s h o v e s it in to a v a r i a b l e . E x am p le: 41 INPUT Z

w h ic h c a u s e s t h e t e r m in a l to t y p e a q u e s t i o n m a r k , a n d w a i t . W hen th e u s e r h a s t y p e d ln a n u m b e r fo llo w e d b y a c a r r i a g e r e t u r n , th e BASIC p r o c e s s o r s tu f f s the n u m b e r in to t h e v a r i a b l e a n d p r o c e e d s w ith th e p r o g r a m . H e r e Is a p r o g r a m u s i n g th e INPUT s ta t e m e n t .

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BASIC i s a v e r y se ri o u s la n g u a g e . A d v an c ed v e rs i o n s o f BASIC h a v e in s t r u c tio n s t h a t allow u a e r s to p u t In a lp h a b e tic a l I n fo rm a tio n , an d s to r e and r e t r ie v e a ll k in d s of Inform ation from d is k s o r ta p e . In o th e r w o r d s , BASIC c a n b e u se d fo r t h e f a ir ly sim p le p ro g ra m m in g of a v a a t r a n g e o f p ro b le m s a n d " g o o d -g u y s y s te m s " m e ntio ne d e ls e w h e r e . Com plete BASIC sy ste m s a llo w in g comple x a l c u l a t i o n s c a n be had for p e r h a p s 63000; a g e n e r a l- p u r p o s e c o m p u te r r u n n in g BASIC w ith c a s s e tte o r o th e r m a ss s to r a g e , f o r b u a ln e e a o r o th e r p u r p o s e s , c a n now b e had for some 66000. A llow ing a few th o u sa n d d o lla r s for p r o g ra m m in g sp e cific a p p lic a tio n s In BASIC , sim p le s y s te m s c an b e c re a te d for a v a rie ty o f p u r p o s e s th a t som e c o m p an ies m ight s a y y o u n e ed e d a h u n d r e d - th o u a a n d - d o lla r sy s te m f o r. T h is Is s e r i o u s b u s i n e s s . L an g u a g ea lik e BASIC m u st b e c o n s id e r e d b y pe op le w ho w a n t s im p le sy ste m s to d o u n d e r s t a n d a b le th in g s In d ir e c t w a y s th a t a r e m e anin gfu l to t h e m . a n d lh a t d o n 't d ie ru p t Ih e lr c o m p an ies o r th e ir liv e s. T h is h a s b e e n a v e ry h a s ty a n d b r i e f p r e s e n ta tio n In w h ic h I h a v e t r ie d lo c o nv ey the fee lin g o f Ih ls Im p ortan t l a n g u a g e . If y o u h a v e the c h an c e lo le a r n I I . b y all m eans do. SOME FUN THINGS TO TRY IN BASIC

AtWYS,
(av a ila b le n BASIC, APL a n d m a n y o t h e r la n g u a g e s) A r r a y s a r e In form a tio n s e t u p s w ith n u m b e re d p o s it io n s . T h e p o sitio n s c a n c o n ta in a ll s o r t s of d iffe re n t t h i n g s , h o w ev e r: n u m b e r s , le tte r s o r o th e r d a ta , d e p e n d in g o n th e d a ia s t r u c t u r e s a llo w ed in th e I s n g u a g e .

88

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T h la le ate v a r ia b le M to s e e If i t c o n ta in s the n u m b e r 40. If M la in d e e d 4 0. th e p r o g ra m follow er ju m p s to lin e 63. If n o t , It g o e s r ig h t o n a n d ta k e e the n e z l h ig h e r I n stru c tio n a f te r 88. T h e IF c an te et o th e r r e la tio n s lh a n e q u a li ty , I n c lu d in g " le a s l h a t . " " g r e a t e r t h a n . " " n o t e q u a l , " " le s s th a n o r e q u a l t o , e tc . Fo r in s t a n c e . 89 IF Q 7 th e n 102

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W rite a p r o g ra m th at p r i n t s c a l e n d a r s . w ill s e n d th e p r o g ra m f o llo w er to command 75 If v a r ia b le q c o n ta in s a n u m b e r le s s t h a n 7. (Note th a l d if f e r e n t BASICS fo r d if f e r e n t c o m p u te rs may h a v e s lig h tly d if f e r e n t r u le s h e re .) W rite a p r o g r a m lh at c o n v e r ts a n I n p u t nu m b e r to Rom an N u m e ra ls. W rite a d ia lo g u e e y s to n th a t w elcom es the u s e r to the s a n ita r i u m , a s k s him q u e s tio n s , Ig n o re s the a n s w e r s a n d I n s u lts him . (Use lhe INPUT stste m e n t for r e c e iv in g n u m e ric a l a n s w e r s . Since th e a n a w e r a a r e I g n o re d th ey c a n a ll b e s to r e d In o n e v a r i s b l e .) WHERE TO GET IT (F e a tu r e s o f t h e BASIC la n g u a g e v a r y c o n a ld e ra b ly from sy s te m lo s y s t e m . W hich o n e s offe r the h ig h ly d e s ir a b le a lp h a b e tic c o m m and s a n d m a ss s lo r s g e h a v e to b e c h ec k ed o ul I n d iv id u a lly . ) BASIC i s o ffe re d on many If not m ost lim e - s h a rin g s e r v i c e s , so y o u c a n u s e il from y o u r home on a t e r m in a l. (Bui n ote Ihst th ia c a n b e e x p e n s iv e an d e v e n d a n g e r o u s . If y o u re p a y in g y o u r s e l f ; th e r e a r e n o t p r e se n tly a d e q u a te cost s a f e g u a r d s lo p r e v e n t y o u from r u n n in g u p h u g e b i l l s .) T H U E 6 - .b 1 M I M ln o N H

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T h e BASIC l a n g u a g e , d e v e lo p e d s i D sr tm o u th , m u st not be c o n fu se d w ilh th e u n d e r ly i n g b in a ry la n g u a g e a of I n d iv id u a l c o m p u te ra ( se e "Rock B o tto m , p .3 <V ). T h e s e u n d e r ly i n g c o d e s s r e c a ll e d " m aeh ln e la n g u a g e s " ( o r . In e d r e s e e d - u p fo rm , e a s ie r to u s e for p r o g r a m m e r s , " a s s e m b le r l a n g u a g e " ) . T h e s e a r e th e b a s ic la n g u a g e s . d iffe re n t for e a c h m a c h i n e . D artm o uth BASIC , o r Jut p la in B a sic , Is a w id e ly s v a ila b le . s ta n d a r d i z e d . sim p le b e g i n n e r 's Isn g u a g e .

ANOTHER PROFOUND EXEMPLARY PROGRAM LET Z = 25 PRINT Z . " BOTTLES OF BEER tN THE WALL LET Z = Z - 1 IF Z = 0 GOTO 74 GOTO 1 0 ---------------------------------------------------------

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BEST BUY? Rum ors p e r s i s t of a tim e - s h a r in g s e r v i c e so m e w h e r e th s t o f fe rs BASIC for $5 an h o u r , to ts l, w ith d isk sto r a g e th r o w n I n . I ha v e not b e e n a b le to v e rify I h ls . DEC o f fe rs m in ic o m p u te r - b a se d s y s te m s w h ic h llm es h a r e BASIC am on g s e v e r a l te rm in a ls sim u lta n e o u s ly . (Bui y o u h a v e to b u y th e w hole b ig s y s te m . ) T h e o n e s th at r u n o n th e PD P-8 a r e m a rk e te d m a inly to a c h o o ls, and fo r th la r e a s o n a r e c a l l e d , som ew hat p e c u li a r ly . EDUSYSTEMS T h a l r m ultlle rm ln a l syste m for lh e PDP-11 Is c a lle d R5TS (p ro n o u n c e d " R l a s t l a s ," ) a n d Is m a rk e te d m ainly to b u s i n e s s e s . H e w le tt- P a c k a r d o ffe rs BA SIC, I b e lie v e , on all of Its m in ic o m p u te r s. Of sp e c ia l I n te r e s t Is s n o dd co m p u te r c a lle d th e S e r ie s 8800 Model 3 0. Y o u 'r e o n ly allow ed to p r o g ra m In BASIC. ( It's a ctu a lly a m ic r o p ro c e s s o r; se e p .iv .) Many o th e r m inicom p uter m a n u fa c t u re rs now offer BASIC . D sta G e n e r a l's NOVA Is o n e . S u p p o s e you h a v e a o n e -d im e n s i o n a l a r r a y n am ed SAM. T h e n in a p r o g r a m y o u c a n usu a lly a sk for th e t h i r d elem ent In SAM b y r e f e r r i n g lo SA M (3). B e tte r th a n lh a l: y ou c a n r e f e r b y tu r n s to e v e r y e lem en t of SAM b y u s i n g a c o u n tin g v a ria b le a n d c h a n g in g its v a l u e . SAM (JO E) c a n be a ny on e o f th e e lem ents of th e a r r a y , if we s e t the v a lu e of JO E . th e c o u n tin g v a r i a b l e , lo ihe nu m b e r o f th e p o sitio n we w ant to p o in t to . F o r a r r a y s h s v in g m o re lh a n o n e d im e n sio n . Ih e p r in c i p le i s lhe s a m e . You m ay r e f e r in a p r o g ra m to a n y sp a c e in th e a r r a y b y g iv in g a n u m b e r in p a r e n t h e s e s , o r s u b s c r i p t . s p e c if y in g th e s p a c e 's po sitio n in e a c h d i m e n s io n . S u p p o s e y ou h a v e a n a r r a y n am ed PR ICES , w h ic h g iv e s Ihe p r ic e s o f . s a y . v a r io u s s iz e s a n d b r a n d s of TV s e t s .

T h e p r o g ra m w ill s t a r t ty p in g th u sly :

n . u n t i l Z h a s r e a c h e d 0; th e n It w ill ty p e

A o n e -d im e n s io n a l a r r a y i s lik e a r o w , a tw od im e n sio n a l a r r a y is lik e a la b le to p , a th r e e d im e n sio n a l a r r a y Is lik e a b o x , a n d for m ore d im e n sio n s yo u c a n 't v is u a liz e . A r r a y s a r e h a n d y f o r w o r k i n g w ilh a lot of d ifferen t t h i n g s one al a lim e. T h e y c a n b e give n n am es j u s t lik e v a r ia b le s .

a n d th e n it w ill sto p . You w ill no te th a t t h is p r o g r a m , lik e th e o n e th a t p r in t e d "HELP. 1 AM CAUGHT IN A LO OP." h a s a lo o p , th a t i s , a r e p e a te d se q u e n c e of o p e ra tio n s . T h e f ir s t one w a s a n e n d l e s s lo o p , w h ic h r e p e a te d f o r e v e r . T h la lo o p , h o w e v e r . Is m ore w e l l-b e h a v e d (b y som e p s p l e ' s s t a n d a r d s ) . In th a t it a llo w s a n e s c a p e w h e n a c e r ta i n c r it e r i o n ha s b e e n r e a c h e d - * In th is c a e e , p r in tin g a lin e o f t e a t 25 tim es w ith v a r i a n l e . T h e r e a s o n w e a r e a b le lo e sc a p e from th la lo op is th a t w e h a v e s te s t I n s tr u c ti o n , IF slste m e n t n u m b e r 62. It Is v e r y im p o rta n t f o r lh e p r o g ra m m e r lo In clud e te s ta w h ic h allow th e p r o g ra m to g e l o u t o f a l o o p . T h is may b e c o u c h e d aa a m otto, v i z .: LEAK BEFORE YOU LOOP.

BIBLIOGRAPHY K em eny s n d K u r t c , BASIC P r o g r a m m in g . W iley, 1967. DEC'S E d u sy sie m Handbook la a v e r y nic e Introd uctio n to BASIC, q u ite ple asa n t a n d w h im sica l; It may be a good I n tro d u ctio n e v e n 1/ y o u 'r e u s i n g o th e r p e o p le 's BASIC s y s te m s . I t's $5 from D EC, C om m unic ations S e r v lc e a . P a r k e r S t . . M a y n a r d , M a sa. 01754. T h e r e ia a lso a p r o g ra m m e d te x t o n BASIC b y A lbrec h t ( p u b lis h e d b y W ile y ) . F o r th o se o f u s w ho fre ez e a t n u m e ric a l- lo o k in g m a n u a l s , p r o g ra m m e d te x ts c a n ta k e aw a y a lot o f a n x i e t y .

AN AUTOMATIC LOOP I n d e e d , for p e o p le w h o a r e b ig on p r o g ra m lo o p s. BASIC p r o v i d e s a p a ir of I n s tr u c ti o n s w h ic h h a n d le th e p r o g ra m lo op c o m p le te ly . T h e s e a r e th e FOR a n d NEXT I n s t r u c t i o n s . We w o n 't sh ow th em h e r e , b u t t h e y 'r e not v e r y h a r d . U s in g th e FOR c o m m a n d . y o u c a n eaaU y d ir e c t th e c o m p u te r lo do so m e th in g a m illion a n d o n e lim e s, a ay . T h la c a n b e e i h l l a r a t l n g . Y ou c an e v e n d ir e c t it lo In clu de th a t p r o g ra m in so m e th in g to b e d o n e a b illio n tim e s . r e s u l tin g In s p r o g ra m lo op lh a t w o u ld b e c a r r i e d o u t o v e r a tr ill io n l i m e s . A ll In a s h o r t p r o g ra m ! Bui of c o u r s e th is i s J u st p o w e r o n p a p e r ; w e w a n t o u r p r o g ra m s lo b e u s e f u l , and f in la h t h e ir jo b a In lhe p r e s e n t c e n t u r y , a n d so s u c h flig h ts a r e J u s t m e n ia l e x e r c i s e s . FAST ANSWERBACK WITH BASIC (In some v e r s i o n s ) If y o u w e n t a te at a n s w e r to a n u m e ric a l q u e s t i o n . y o u c a n do It w itho ut th e lin e n u m b e r s . t y p in g In PR INT 3 .1 4 1 6 * 7 1 2 4

M f r . M f r . M fr. M fr. MY COMPUTER LIKES ME (when I s p e a k In BASIC) . T h is book h a s e v id e n tly b e e n p u l to g e th e r by th e P e o p le 's C o m p uter Com pany , a n d h a s som e Id ea listic f e r v o r b e h in d i t . $1 .1 9 from D y m a x , Box 310. Menlo P a r k , C a l. 94025.

T h i s is P R IC E S(3 ,2 ) b e c a u s e il 's th e item in row 3. colum n 2. S u p p o s e you h a v e a tw o - d im e n sio n a l a r r a y g iv in g t h e te le p h o n e n u m b e r s , s a la r ie a a n d a g es o f s e v e r a l d if f e r e n t e m p lo y e e s of a c o m p a n y . You h a v e d e c id e d lo call t h e a r r a y WHAM.

w ill c a u s e BASIC to p r i n t lh e a n s w e r r ig h t o u l a n d fo rge t th e w to l e t h in g .

TEXT STRINGS IN BASIC T h e d e l u i e v e r s i o n s o f th e D artm ou th BASIC l a n g u a g e h a v e o p e ra tio n s f o r h a n d lin g te x l- o r w h at co m p u te rfo lk c all " s t r i n g s , th a t la . s t r i n g s of a lp h a b e tic c h a r a c t e r s a n d p u n c tu a t io n . T h e s e o p e r a tio n s le n d to b e g in w ith $ (s ta n d in g f o r " S tr in g ? ) a n d I h e r e 'a n o room f o r th em h e r e . Bui w h a t th e y m ean i s th a t BASIC c a n ty p e l e t t e r s , c o u n t the n o u n s In G one With T h e W in d, o r p r i n t o ut th e n in e h u n d r e d m illion n a m es o f G od. If y o u w rite

BASIC Is a good e x am p le o f a n " a lg e b r a ic " ty p e o f la n g u a g e , th a t I s. o n e f o rm u lated m o re o r le s s to lo ok lik e h lg h - sc h o o l a l g e b r a an d p e rm it e a sy c o n v e r s io n o f c e r ta i n a lg e b r a i c fo rm u las in to a c tu a l r u n n a b le p r o g r a m s . T h e m osl w l d e ly - u s e d la n g u a g e o f t h i s ty p e is FORTRAN ( s e e p .3 l ) . T h u s BASIC Is ofte n r e f e r r e d to a s a " F o r tr a n - ty p e la n g u a g e . T h e k lc k e r o o a n d If y ou u n d e r s t a n d th is I t's ha lf lh e b a ttle Is th a t a lin e of BASIC o r FORTRAN d i r e c ts a c e r t a i n e v e n t to ta k e p la c e , w hile a sta te m e n t In a lg e b r a J ust d e s c r i b e s r e la tio n s . T h e s l r a n g e r e s e m b la n c e b e tw e e n th e d e a c rip tlv e l a n g u a g e ( a lg e b r a ) a n d th e p r e s c r i p tiv e I s n g u a g e ( F o r tr a n o r B a sic ) Is th a t a lg e b r a i c o p e ra tio n s (w h ich a r e J u s t re c o m b in a tio n s a n d r e s t a te m e n ts ) c a n b e m im ick e d b y the c o m p u te r la n g u a g e , a n d th is e a r ly o b a e ssio n o f m a thy co m p u le rfo lk le d to m a k in g the c o m p u te r la n g u a g e look lik e a d e s c r ip ti v e a l g e b r a . E sp e cia lly w ith th e w e i r d u s e o f th e e q u a l e - s l g n to m ean " Is r e p la c e d now b y . " In h i n d s i g h t th is w a s s r id ic u lo u s id ea; som e of lh e m o re r e c e n t la n g u a g e a ( s u c h a s APL) u s e a le ft-p o in tin g a rr o w In ste ad o f a n e q u a l s - a l g n . s h o w in g th a t a n a c tio n Is b e in g c a lle d f o r . r a l h e r th a n a r e la tio n s h ip b e in g d e scrib e d .

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You c a n r e f e r lo a n y s in g l e e n t r y In t h i s a r r a y aa W HAM(IR V,JO E), w h e r e IRV a n d JO E a r e two c o u n tin g v a r ia b le s y o u 'v e d e c id e d to s e t u p . If y o u s e t IRV a n d JO E b o th to 1, WHAM (IR V , JO E ) is re a lly W H A M ( l.l) , w h ic h r e f e r s y o u lo th e te le p h o n e n u m b e r o f e m ploy e e A. If y ou c h a n g e JO E lo 2 . lh a t g iv e s y o u WHAM ( 1 ,2 ) . g iv in g y o u B s p hone; w h ile WHAM( 2 .1 ) w ou ld be A 's s a l a r y . T h e s e a r e J u s t th e m e c h a n ic s . What you ch o o se to d o w ilh th is s o r t of t h i n g Is y o u r ow n afTalr. C o u n tin g a r o u n d in a r r a y a ( a n d c o re m e m o ry , w h e r e t h e y 'r e s t o r e d ) Is c a lle d in d e x in g .

(he p r o g r a m .

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In th e w e ll-th o u g h t-o u t ra m ifica tio n s of its b a s ic concept, th e TRAC L anguage is s o elegan t a s to c on stitu te a w ork of art. It b eautifully fu l f i l ls th is rule: . . th e f a c i li t i e s p rovid ed by the language sh ould be con stru cted fr o m a s few b a s ic ideas as p o s s ib le , and . . . th e s e sh o u ld b e g e n e r a l-p u r p o s e and In terrelated ln the language ln a w ay which avoided s p e c i a l c a s e s w h e r e v e r p o s s i b l e . " (H arrison, D a ta -S tru ctu re s and P r o g ra m m in g , pub. Scott, F o r esm a n , p. 2 5 1 .) The fu n dam ental id e a of TRAC L anguage, which has b een worked out in d e ta il with the d eep est c a r e , thought and c o n s is te n c y , Is th is:

A m ild -m an n ered m an ln C am bridge, M a s s a c h u s e tts , who owns his own very s m a l l b u s in e s s , i s th e c r e a t o r o f on e o f the m o st extraordin ary and pow erful com pu ter langu ages th e r e Is, ttough lots of p e o p le ln th e fie ld don't r e a l iz e It. T h e language Is fa ir ly w ell-k n ow n am ong p r o f e s s io n a ls , but i t s re a l power Is hardly s u sp e c te d . If BASIC Is a fa ir ly con ven tion al p r ogram m in g langu age, s tr o n g ly r e s em b lin g FORTRAN, TRAC (Text R eck onin g and C om piling) Language i s fa ir ly unusual. The n am e o f it is "TRAC L a n g u a g e," not ju st TRAC b e c a u s e It's a r e g is te r e d brand nam e (like K leen ex T i s s u e s ). Within the r u le s , th e w ord T R A C " is an a d jective and not a noun. Thus TRAC i s its f i r s t n am e, Language is its la s t; s o w e can r e fe r to "TRAC L anguage" instead of having to p r e c e d e it with th e. It is included h ere fo r s e v e r a l re a s o n s . 1) It is e x tre m ely e a s y to lear n , at l e a s t fo r b e g in n e r s . E x p erien ced p ro g ra m m er s often have troub le with It. 2) It is ex tre m ely p ow erfu l fo r n on-nu m eric ta s k s . In fa c t, it is ideal fo r b uildin g you r own p erso n a l langu age. 3) It o ffers p erh ap s the b est con trol of m a s s s to r a g e , and your own s t y l e of input-output, of any language. 4) It Is su perb ly d ocu m en ted and explained with th e new "The B egin ner's Manual fo r TRAC Language" which is now available. 5) It is likely to ca tc h on on e of th e s e d ays. (S ome la r g e corporations have b een in vestigatin g it e x t e n s i v e l y .)

A L L IS TEXT. That Is, a ll p ro g r a m s and data a r e sto r e d as s tr in g s of c h a r a c te r s , in th e s a m e m an n er. They are la b e lle d , s to r ed , r e tr ie v e d , and o th e r w is e treated in the s a m e w a y , as s tr in g s of text c h a r a c te r s . Data and p r o g r a m s a r e not kept in binary fo r m , but r e m a in s to r e d in c h a r a c te r fo r m , much the way they w e r e o r ig in a lly put in. T he p r o g r a m s are exam ined fo r execu tion a s text s tr in g s , and th ey c a ll data In th e form of te x t s tr in g s . T his g iv e s r i s e to ce rta in in ter estin g k in d s of com patib ility. a) C om plete c o m p atib ility e x is ts in th e com m and s tr u c tu re: th e r e s u l t s o f on e com m and can b e co m e another com m and o r can b e c o m e data for another com m an d. ALMOST NOTHING CREATES AN ERROR CONDITION. If enough Inform ation Is not su pplied to e x e cu te a com m and, th e com m and is ig n o r ed . If too much inform ation i s su pp lied, th e e x tra i s ignored . b) C om plete c o m p atib ility e x is ts in the data: l e t te r s and n um bers and s p a c e s m ay be fr e e ly interm ixed . S p e cia l te rm in a l c h a r a c te r s (like ca r r ia g e returns and b a ck s p a c es ) a r e handled ju s t lik e o th e r ch a ra c te r s , giving th e program * m e r co m p le te co n tr o l of th e arrangem ent of output on the p age. c ) C om plete com p atib ility a lso e x is ts fr o m o n e com puter to another, s o that w ork on on e com puter can b e m oved to an oth er with e a s e . By th e tradem ark TRAC, M ooers g u aran tees it an Innovation. COMMAND FORMAT

It is not so much the b asic idea of TRAC L an g u ag e, bul the neatness with which th e idea h as beerr^elaborated, thal is so nice. As a s id e p o in t, h e re is an im portant motto for thinking in general about com puters (and about o ther things in general): MAKING THINGS FIT TOGETHER WELL TAKES A LOT OF WORK AND THOUGHT. Let C alvin M ooers' TRAC Language be a sh in in g exam ple.

A TRAC com m and has the follow in g form . T he c r o s s hatch o r s h a r p -s ig n is th e way th is language id e n tifies a com m an d's beginning. #(NM, arg2, a rg 3 , a r g 4 , . . ) NM is the nam e of any TRAC com m and. It counts a s the f i r s t " arg u m en t," o r p ie c e o f information su pp lied. A rg2, arg3, etc. a r e w h a te v er e l s e th e command n eed s to know to be c a r ried out. We w ill look f i r s t at ex a m p le s that u s e the a rith m e tic com m ands of TRAC L anguage, not b ecau se It is p a rtic u larly good at arith m e tic, w h ich it isn 't, but b ecau se th ey 'r e the s i m p le s t com m an ds. T he arithm etic com m ands a r e AD (add), SU (subtract, M L (m ultiply), DV (divide). Each a rith m e tic com mand ta k es th ree argum ents, th e com mand nam e and two n u m b e rs. E xam ples: # (A D ,1 ,2 ) is a com mand to add th e n um bers 1 and 2. #(SU, 4 ,3 ) i s a com mand to su b tr a c t th e num ber 3 from th e num ber 4. #(ML, 6 3 2 ,5 2 1 ) Is a com m and to m u ltiply 632 by 521. #(DV, 1 0 0 ,1 0 ) Is a com mand to d iv id e 100 by 10. Now c o m e s the I n ter estin g part. The w ay TRAC com m an ds may be com bin ed p ro v id e s th e langu age's e x traor d in ary p ow er. T his i s b a s e d on the way that th e TRAC p r o c e s s o r ex a m in e s the p r o g r a m , which Is a s tr in g of c h a r a c te r c o d e s . Watch as w e co m b in e two AD in stru ction s: #(AD, 3, #(AD, 2 ,5 ) ) T he an sw er i s 10. M ir a c u lo u s !

TRAC Language i s g r e a t fo r cr ea tin g highly In teractive s y s t e m s fo r s p e c i a l p u r p o s e s, Including turnkey s y s t e m s for inexperien ced u s e r s and "good-guy" s y s t e m s . It com b in es th is with good fa c i li t i e s fo r handling text, and what i s needed along with that, te r r if ic con trol o v er m a s s s to r a g e . It is a ls o e x c ellen t for s im u la tin g com plex o n -o ff s y s t e m s ; rum or h as it that TRAC L anguage w as u sed for sim u la tin g a m ajor com pu ter b efore it w a s built. Again st th e s e ad vantages w e m ust b alance TRAC L anguage's l e s s fortunate c h a r a c te r is tic s . F o r n u m eric a l o p eration s it is e x t r e m e ly s lo w , If not te r r ib le , com pared to the m o st popular la n g u a g es . The s a m e ap plies to handling n u m eric al a rrays and co n tr o llin g loop s, which a r e co m p a r a tiv e ly awkward in TRAC L anguage. Fin ally, m any p r o g r a m m e r s are in cen sed by the num ber of p a ren th ese s that turn up in TRAC p ro g ra m s ; ln th is it r e s e m b le s the lan gu age LISP. But th is is an a esth e tic judgem ent. The TRAC L anguage has b een thought out in g re a t d eta il for total c o m p atib ility of a ll p a rts. (M oreover, by stan dardizin g the lan gu age e x a c tly , M ooers h e r o ic a lly a s s u r e s that p r o g ra m s can be m oved from com p u te r to com pu ter without d if f i c u l t y .)

How can th is b e? * TRAC is a r e g is te r e d s e r v i c e marie of R ockford R e s e a r c h , Inc. D escrip tion of T R A C Language p r im itiv e s adapted by p e r m iss io n from "TRAC, A P r o c e d u r e - D e s c r ib in g Language f o r the R eactive T y p e w rite r" , copyright 1966 by Rockford R e s e a r c h , Inc. r I am grateful t o C . A . R . K agan, of W estern E lec tric Engineering R esearch C e n te r , for h is extensive (and finally su cc es s fu l) efforts to in te re s t me in TRAC Language. A comma ends an argum ent in the TRAC language? A h , that all argum ents could b e ended so e a s i ly . My g ra n d fa th e r.

T h e s e c r e t o l co m b in in g T RA C c om m a n ds Is lhat e v ery co m m a n d , w h en e x ec u ted , la re p la c e d by its a n s w e r : and w h a te v e r m a y r e s u l t Is In tu r n e xec u ted . T h e r e Is an e x a c t p r o c e d u r e f o r th is :

f e l t s Ojfgh i t s f ilr h M lti/j

SCAN FROM L E F T T O RIGHT U N TIL A RIGHT PARENTHESIS; [ RE SOLVE TH E CONTENTS O F TH E * PA IRED COMMAND PARENTHESES I (ex ecu te an d r e p la c e by th e c o m m a n d 's re su lt); | STARTING AT THE BEGINNING O F T H E RESULT, K E E P SCANNING L E F T -T O -R IG H T |______ UN TIL A RIGHT PAREN TH ESIS. j WHEN YOU G E T TO TH E END, WHATS L E F T . PRIN T OUT

IT SU 'S KKliM Xf evM

H E L P; I AM T R A P P E D IN A PROGRAM LOOP so It p r in ts th a t. If It had sa id H E L P , I AM T R A P P E D IN A PROGRAM LOOP ihe PR IN T STRIN G com m and w ould only have p r in te d H ELP s in c e a c o m m a e n d s an a rg u m e n t In TRAC language. Chugga chu gg a. Now, th e PR IN T STRING c o m m a n d le a v e s no r e s u l t, so 1116 v a p o rU e d ; a ll we have le fl In th e w ork a r e a Is (CL, PROGRAM) T h is Im p lic it c all Is the t r ic k th at a llow s p e o p le lo c r e a t e t h e i r ow n la n g u ag e s v e ry q u ic k ly . In not v e iy long, you c ould c r e a t e y o u r ow n c o m m a nd s s a y Z A PP , M ELVIN and s o m e m o r e ; and w hile at f i r s t ll Is m o r e convenie nt lo typ e In the T RA C f o rm a t whic h Is now sc an n e d . But t h a l 's a n o th e r C A L L , and when It Is e x ec u ted by f etc h in g the o b je c t c alled PROGRAM, Its re p la c e m e n t In (he w o rk a r e a Is (PS, H E L P; 1 AM T R A P P E D IN A PROGRAM L O O P W C L , PROGRAM) a nd g u e ss w hat. We done It again . *(Z A P P , (MELVIN)) ll Is v e ry U tile tro u b le In TRAC L anguage to c r e a t e new s y n ta x e s o f y o u r own Ukc Z A P P ! MELVIN th a l a r e I n te r p r e te d by (he T RA C p r o c e s s o r a s m e an in g th e s a m e thin g. 2B. F IL L IN G IN HOLES. T h is language is m arvelously su ited lo data ba se management. management information sy ste m s, in teractive q u e ry system s, and the b ro ad spectrum of "b usin ess" program m ing. For la rg e -sca le scientific num ber c ru n c h in g , not so good. With one exception: "Infinite p recisio n" a rithm etic, when people w ant thin gs to h u n d re d s of decimal places.

T h e b eauty p a r t Is how It a ll w o rk s so good. An a r it h m e t ic e x a m p le s o you get the p r o c e d u re . *(AD ,2, MAD, 3 ,4 )) ___________ f i r s t r ig ht p a re n th e s is found. e x ec u te w h a t's In lhe c o m m an d p a re n th e s e s & rep la ce w ith th e ir a n s w e r , le avin g; s c a n to next r ig ht p a re n th e s is

*7 *(AD, 2 ,7 )

e x ec u te & r e p la c e fin d no m o r e p a re n th e s e s p r i n t oul w h a t's le ft.

You m igh t tr y th is y o u r se lf o n a lo n g e r exam ple: ((AD, *(SU, *(AD, 3 ,4 ) , *(SU, 7 , 3 ) ) , 1) H ere la an I n te r e s tin g c a se : (AD,1) T h e r e 's r o th ir d arg u m e n t to a dd to th e 1 tw t th a ts okay In TRAC L an gu age. 1 It r e m a in s . PULLING IN O T H E R ST U F F T he c o r e m e m o r y a v ailab le lo th e u se Is d ivided Into two a r e a s , w hic h w e may c a ll WORKSPACE and STANDBY.

(Another e x am p le of TRAC L an g u a g e's c o n siste n cy : su p p o se 11 e x e c u te s the com m an d (CL, EBE N E Z E R) w hen th e r e Is no s tr i n g c a lle d E B E N E Z E R . T he r e s u l t Is nothing; so th at com m an d d is a p p e a r s , le avin g no r e s i d u e . )

(ML,*(AD,7,3),#(SU,ie,9))

WORKSPACE STANDBY S trin g s with N am es ~|

A n o th e r (hln g the C A LL c o m m a n d In TRAC L anguage d o e s Is fill In h ole s th al e xls( in f o rm s . L et u s r e p r e s e n t a h ole a s follow s:

T H E FORM COMMANDS L et u s b e a U tile m o r e p r e c i s e . T h e Standby a re a Is re a lly c alled by M o oe rs " form s s to r a g e , and a s tr in g w lth -n am e lh at is kept th e re Is c a lle d a lo r m , O ne r e a s o n f o r th is te rm in o lo g y Is th al th e s e s t r in g s c a n c o n s is t of p r o g r a m s o r a rr a n g e m e n ts th a t we may want to fit to g e th e r and c om b in e . T h u s (hey a r e " f o r m s " . 1. CREATING A FORM

I I
Now s u p p o se ( h e r e is a TRAC f o rm with a hole In l(, like t h is .

Cw0RDN i

it!

The Standby a r e a c o n tain s slrln gB of c h a r a c te r s w ith n a m e s. Here could b e s o m e e xam p les: na m es [ haroldI \5 4 3 2 I 1 s tr in g s

A ddition al a rg u m e n ts in (he c a ll get plugged into h o le s In th e f o r m . E x am p les : c a ll result HT HOT HAT HOOT

To c r e a t e a fo rm , you u s e the D EFIN E STRING com m and: *(DS, fo rm n a m e , c o n te n ts ) T h e a rg u m e n ts u s e d by DS giv e a n am e to (he f o rm and sp e cify wha( you want (o have s ( o r e d in II. E xam ple:

(CL, WORD) (C L . WORD.O ) (WORD, A ) (W ORD.O O)

Now, a f o r m can have a n u m b e r of d ifferen t h o le s. L c( us de n o te th e s e by

[program )-!
(/( P S . H E L P: 1 AM T R A P P E D IN A LOOP)#(C L, PR OGRA m T] [GALOSH E S | |I MUS T N 'T FORG E T MY G A L O S H E sJ T h e r e Is an I n str u c tio n th a t m o v e s things f ro m the Standby a r e a to th e W o rk sp a ce . T h is Is th e C A LL In struction . (CL, w h a te v e r) The C A L L I n s tr u c tio n p u lls In a copy of the n am ed s tr i n g to r e p la c e 11, the c a ll I n stru ctio n , In the w o rk a r e a . T h e s tr in g n a m ed In the c all I n stru c tio n a lso s ta y s In th e Standby a re a until you w ant to get rid of It. E xam ple: *(CL, HAROLD) would b e r e p la c e d by 54321 Suppose w e s a y In a p r o g ra m # ( A D ,1 , (C L , HAROLD))

*(DS, ELVIS, 1234) c r e a te s a form na m ed ELVIS w ith contents 1234. ( e l v Is L

(11 [21 [3| HJ . ..

Now su p p o se w c have a form [ W Q R D > - ^ r ------------------ n ---------- 7 U )H |2 )T 1 3 )] w h ich w e m igh t c all n u m e ro u s w ays: c a ll (WORD, W, I, E) re su lt WHITE

_ ,^ 4l234[
(Note lha l (o gel a p r o g ra m into a fo rm without Its bein g ex ec u ted o n the way r e q u ir e s s o m e p r e p a ra tio n . F o r th is , " p ro te c tio n " Is u se d ; s e e end o l a r t i c l e . ) It tu r n s oul lh a t D EFIN E STRIN G is the c lo s e s t TRAC L anguage h as to an a ssig n m e n t sta te m e n t (as In BASIC, L E T A - W HATEVER). If you want to u s e a v a r ia b le A, s a y , to s t o r e the c u r r e n t r e s u l t of so m e th in g , In TRAC L anguage you c r e a t e a f o rm n a m e d A. *(DS, A, WHATEVER) W henever the va lue of A Is c h an g e d , you re d e fin e f o rm A. 2. CA LLING A FORM.

*(WORD, , OO, OWL) HOOTOWL (Note lh al p u llin g n o th in g b etw een (wo c o m m a s m a d e noth in g the a rg u m e n t. ) *(WORD, ( W 0 R D , .0 ) S , 0 ) HOTSHOT

P e r h a p s you c a n think of o t h e r e x am p les. T h is f ll l - l n technique is o b viou sly u se fu l f o r p r o g r a m min g. If a f o rm c on tain s a p r o g r a m , Its ho le s c a n b e m ade to a c c e p t v a ry in g n u m b e rs , f o rm n a m e s, te x t s t r i n g s , o th e r p r o g r a m s . E x am p le: Su pp ose we w ant to c r e a t e a new TRAC co m m a n d , ADD, lh a t adds th r e e n u m b e rs in stea d of Just tw o. F a i r enough:

As note d a lre a d y , #(CL, ELVIS) w ill th e n b e r e p la c e d by

T hen the r e s u l t Is: 54322 Now l e t 's do a p r o g ra m lo op u sin g th e CA LL. ty pe In to o u r TRAC p r o c e s s o r (CL, PROGRAM ) It sh o u ld ty pe H E L P ; I AM T R A P P E D IN A PROGRAM LOOP H E L P ; I AM T R A P P E D IN A PROGRAM LOOP H E L P ; I AM T R A P P E D IN A PROGRAM LOOP In defin it ely . W hy Is t h i s ? L e t 's go th ro u g h th e s te p s . If we

1234 B ut a w ond erfu l ex ten sio n of th is , lh at h a s n 't b e en m e ntio ne d y e t, Is 2A. THE IM PL IC IT CA LL.

[ddK a ^

______
and t h e r e you a re .

^ S^"*)*IAPU ]i *(A D ,| 2 | , jjijl)]

T h is b r in g s up a n o th e r e x a m p le o l how n ic ely TRAC L an gu age w o r k s out. S uppose you have th e follow in g In l o r m s s to r a g e :

You d o n 't e v e n have lo s a y C L lo c a ll a f o rm . If the f i r s t a rg u m e n t of a c om m an d th a l Is, th e f i r s t s tr i n g In side the c o m m a n d p a r e n th e s e s Is not^ a c o m m a n d known to TRAC L ang uag e, why, the T R A C p r o c e s s o r conclu des lh a t the f i r s t a rg u m e n t may b e the nam e of a f o rm . So row 11 y ou ty pe *(AD, * (HAROLD), * (ELVIS)) T r y a c tin g lhl6 on e o ul w ith p e n c il and p a p e r . typ e In *(ZOWIE, 5 ,7 ) It h a ppens th a l the a rg u m e n ts 5 and 7 w ill b e p a s s e d neatl y f ro m ZOWIE to Z IP to ZA P to th e fin al e x ec u tion of th e AD; a ll th ro u g h the s m o o th plu g ging of t o le s by the im p licit call and the M agic S can p r o c e d u r e of th e TRAC p r o c e s s o r . Su pp ose you

We note d th a l In o u r Standby a r e a w e had a s tr i n g nam ed PR OGRAM w h ic h c o n siste d o l '( P S , H E L P ; I AM T R A P P E D IN A PROGRAM LO OP)(C L, PROGRAM) The T RA C p r o c e s s o r s c a n s a c r o s s It to th e f i r s t r igh t p a re n th e s is . (PS, H E L P j J AM T R A P P E D tW A PR OGRAM LO OP)*(C L. PROGRAM) and now e x e c u te s thllsT ~~~ ^

It w ill f i r s t no te, on rea c h in g lh e r l g h t- p a r e n o f the HAROLD co m m a n d , th a t s i n c e HAROLD Is 54321, you evid en tly w anted th is : (AD, 54321, I (ELVIS))

V *

r e s c a n of r e s u l t

and th en w ill do th e s a m e w ith ELVIS: #(AD, 543 21,1 234)

II ha pp ens th a t PS Is th e P R IN T STRING in stru c tio n . PR IN T STRIN G p r in ts out Its se c o n d a rg u m e n t, and forg e ts Ihe r e s t . But th e o nly a rg u m e n t a f te r P S Is

so th a t p r e tt y so o n I t'll ty pe f o r you 55555

an interpretive language (each step carried out directly by the processor without conversion to another form first); an extensible language (you can add your own commands for your own purposes); a list-processing language (for handling complex and amorphous forms of data that don't fit in boxes and arrays). It Is one of the few such lan guages that fits ln little computers.

TEST COMMANDS IN TRAC LANGUAGE There are te s t commands In TRAC Language, but like everything e l s e they work on strings of characters. Thus they may work on numbers o r text. Consider the EQ command (test if equal): #(EQ, firstth in g, secondthlng, Uso, ifnot) where "firstthing' and "secondthlng" are the strin gs being compared, and Uso and if not are the alternatives. II fir st thing is the s a m e as secondthlng, then Uso Is what the TRAC p ro ce sso r d oes, and if not Is forgotten. Example: #(EQ, 3, #(SU, 5, 2), HOORAY, NUTS) If it turns out that 3 Is equal to #(SU, 5,2), which It is, then all that would be left of the whole strin g would be

3.

DRILLING THE HOLES

HOORAY while oth erw ise the TRAC p rocessor would produce NUTS. To most com puter people this looks com pletely insldeout, with the thing to do next appearing at the center of the test instruction. Others find this feature a t-trac-tlve.

The holes (called by M ooers segm ent gaps) are created by the SEGMENT STRING Instruction. #(SS,form nam e,w hateverl, whatever2 . . . ) where 'Yormname" Is the form you want to put holes in and th e whatevers are things you want to replace by holes. Example: Suppose you have a form I INSULTf ^ ______________________ jYOU ARE A CREEP]

DISK OPERATIONS Now for the juicy disk operations. Storing things on disk can occur as an ordinary TRAC command. #(SB, n a m e .fo r m l, form 2,form 3 . . . ) creates a p lace out som ewhere on disk with the name you give it, and puts in It the forms you've sp ecified. Example: #(SB, JUNK, TOM, DICK, HARRY)

You make this more general by means of the SEGMENT STRING instruction: #(SS, INSULT, CREEP) resulting in flNSULTk _______________ _ ^ YOU ARE A [ ]|

and they're stored . #(FB, JUNK)

If you want them later you say

which can be filled in at a m ore appropriate tim e. and theyre back. Fuller example. Suppose w e type into the TRAC p roce ssor the following: #(DS, THINGY, ONE FOR THE MONEY AND TWO FOR THE SHOW) #(SS, THINGY, ONE, TWO, ) ^-------note space We have now created a form THINGY and replaced parts of it with segm ent gaps. Since each of the later arguments of SEGMENT STRING s p ecifie s a differently numbered gap, w e will have gaps numbered [ l j , [2], and [3j. The gap [1] will have replaced the word ONE, the gap [2] will have replaced the word TWO, and a lot of gaps numbered [9] will have replaced all the sp aces ln the form (since the fifth argument of SS was a sp ace). The resulting form Is: [t h i n g y J ([ ll [ ^ F b Ri3iTHE[3]MONEYr3]ANDf3][2][3lFORf3lTHE[3jSTOW^ We can get It to print out Interestingly by typing #(CL, THINGY, RUN, HIDE) (since after the call, the plugged-ln form will s till be in the form s s to r a g e .) This is printed: RUNFORTHEMONEYANDHIDEFORTHESHOW o r perhaps, if w e u se a carriage return for the last argument , we can get funny resu lts. The call # (THINGY, NOT A FIG, THAT, [carriage return] should result in NOT A FIG FOR THE MONEY AND THAT FOR THE SHOW TEMP. (I (RESTART]))! Ifvfkt FI. __ _ 1---------^ N*(DA)*(FB,MARVEL)i>fPS. WELCOME O MASTER)! In this example, however, you may have noticed more parentheses than you expected. Now for why. PROTECTION AND ONE-SHOT The last thing we'll talk about is the other two syntactic layouts. We've already told you about the main syn tactic layout of TRAC Language, which Is
#( )

B ecause you can mix the disk operations In with every* thing e ls e s o n icely, you can chain programs and changing environments with great ea se to travel smoothly among different s y s te m s , circum stances, setups. Here Is a stupid program that scans all incoming text for the word SHAZAM. If the word SHAZAM appears, It cle a rs out everything, calls a whole nother disk block, and welcom es its new master. Otherwise nothing happens. If you have a c c ess to a TRAC system (or really want to work on it), you may be able to figure It out. (RESTART must be In the w orkspace to b eg in .) /RESTART I .________________________________________ . ------------ 1 |(DS, TEMP, *(RS))*(SS. TEMP. )*(RPT)| IrptT ^ ^ ^ ,____________________________________________ |*(EQ. SHAZAM. *(TEST). (#(EVENT)))#(RPT)1

It turns out that two more layouts are needed, which w e may call PROTECTION and ONE-SHOT. Protection is simply
( )

which prevents the execution of anything between the p arentheses. The TRAC p rocessor str ip s off these plain parentheses and moves on, leaving behind what was in them but not having executed it. (But it may com e back. ) An obvious u se Is to put around a program you 're designing: # (DS, PROG, (#(AD,A, B))) stripped In TRAC Language, every command is replaced by Us result as the programs execution proceeds. This is ingenious, weird and highly effective. stripped

but other u s es turn up after you've experimented a little. The last TRAC command arrangement looks like this
**( )

and you can put any command in it, except that Its result w ill only be ca r ried one level l#(CL, ZOWIE, 3 ,4 ) results In (using the form s we defined ea r lie r),

# (Z IP ,3 ,4 )

m. e
INPUT. RS

P R im n v 1s f

which Is allowed to s u rv iv e as Is, because the moving finger of the TRAC sca n n e r does not r e - s c a n the r e s u lt . It Is left to the v e ry curious to try to fig u re out why this Is needed.

OUTPUT. P S ,s trin g PRINT STRING: prints out th e s econd argum ent.

V
W h a te v e r c a n b e e x e c u t e d Is r e p la c e d by Its r e s u l t . T h is m ay o r m ay not y ie ld s o m e th in g w h ic h is In t u r n e x e c u ta b le . W h en n o t h i n g le f t I s e x e c u t a b l e , w h a t ' s le ft is p rin te d o u t. T h a t s t h e T R A C l a n g u a g e ,

READ STRING: this com m and is re p la c e d by a s t r i n g of c h a ra c te rs typed ln by the u s e r , w hose end is sig n alled by a changeable "m eta" c h a ra c te r. CM, arg2 CHANGE META: f i r s t c h a ra c te r of second arg u m en t becom es new m eta c h a ra c te r. May be c a r r l a g e - r e t u r n code. RC READ CHARACTER: this com m and Is re p lace d by the next c h a ra c te r the u s e r types in. P e r m its highly re s p o n siv e i n t e r active s y s te m s . DISK COMMANDS. S B ,b lo c k n a m e ,fo rm l,fo rm 2 . . . STORE BLOCK: under block nam e supplied, s t o r e s fo rm s llstc FB , blockname FETCH BLOCK: contents of nam ed block a r e quietly brought in to form s s to ra g e from disk. MAIN FORM COMMANDS. DS, form nam e, contents DEFINE STRING. D iscu sse d In text. CL, form nam e, plu g l,p lu g 2 , plug3 . . . CALL: brings form from fo rm s s to ra g e to w orking p rogram . P lu g l is fitted Into every hole (segm ent gap) num bered 1, plug2 Into e v e ry hole num bered 2, and so on. SS, form nam e,punchoutl, punchout2 . . . SEGMENT STRING: this com m and re p la c e s e v e ry o cc u rre n ce o f punchoutl with a hole (segm ent gap) num bered 1, and so on. INTERNAL FORM COMMANDS. (All of these use a little p o in ter, o r fo rm p o in te r, that m ark s a plac In the form . If th e r e is no fo rm re m ain in g a fte r the pointer, these instructions act on th eir la s t argum ent, which is o th erw ise i g n o re d .) IN, form nam e, s trin g , default Looks for specified s trin g IN the fo rm , s ta rtin g a t pointer. If not found, pointer unm oved. (NOTE: s trin g s e a r c h can also be done nicely with the SS c o m m a n d .) CC, form nam e, default CALL CHARACTER: brings up next c h a ra c te r In form , moves poin ter to a f te r it. C N ,fo rm n a m e,n o .o f c h a ra c te rs ,d e fa u lt CALL N: brings up next N c h a r a c t e r s , m oves p o in ter to a fte r them . CS, form nam e, default CALL SEGMENT: b r i n ^ up everything to next segm ent gap, m oves poin ter to it. CR, form nam e CALL RESTORE: m oves p o in ter back to beginning of form . MANAGING FORMS STORAGE LN, divider LIST NAMES: replaced by a ll fo rm nam es In fo rm s s to rag e , with any d iv id er between them . D ivider is optional. DD, n a m e l, nam e2 . .. DELETE DEFINITION: d e s tro y s nam ed fo r m s In fo rm s s to ra g DA DELETE ALL: gets rid of a ll fo rm s In fo rm s s to rag e . TEST COMMANDS. EQ, firstthing, secondthlng, If so, Ifnot T e s ts if EQual: If firs tth in g Is s a m e as secondthlng, w hats lefi is Ifso; If not equal, w h a t's left Is ifnot. GR, firstthing, secondthlng, ifso, Ifnot T e s ts w hether firstth in g is n u m eric ally G R eater than sec o n d thing. If so , w hat's left is ifs o ; if not, w h a t's left Is ifnot. OH YEAH, ARITHMETIC. (All these a re handled in decim al a r ith m e tic , a c h a ra c te r al a tim e, and defined only fo r two in te g e rs . E verything e ls e you w rite y o u r s e lf as a shorty p r o g r a m .) AD -v > m entioned In text. DI

\
FAST ANSWERBACK IN TRAC LANGUAGE TRAC Language can be used fo r fa s t answ erback to s im p le pro b le m s. Typing ln long executable TRAC e x p r e s sions c a u s e s the re s u lt, If any, to be p rin ted back out Im m ediately. F o r naive u s e r s , however, the s p ec ial advantage is In how e a s ily TRAC Language m ay be u sed to pro g ram la s t a nsw erback environm ents of any kind. A SERIOUS LANGUAGE; BUT BE WILLING TO BELIEVE WHAT YOU SEE TRAC Language .Is, besides being an easy language to le a rn , v ery powerful fo r text and s to ra g e applications. Conventional com puter people do n 't n e c e s s a rily believe o r like It. F o r instance, as a consultant I once had p rogram m ed, ln TRAC Language, a s y stem fo r a ce rta in Intricate form of b u sin ess application. It w orked. It ra n . Anybody could be taught to u se It In five m inutes. T he client was c o n sid e rIng expanding It and installing a com plete sy stem . They asked another consultant. It couldn't be done In TRAC Language, s a id the o ther consultant; th at's so m e kind of a " u n iv ersity " language. End of p ro je c t. HOW TO GET IT T h e re have been, until recently, ce rta in difficulties about getting acce ss to a TRAC p ro c e s s o r. O ver the y ea rs, M ooers has worked with his own p ro c e s s o rs in C am bridge. E x p e rim e n te rs h ere and there have trie d th e ir hands at pro g ram m in g It, w ith little com patibility In th eir re s u lts . M ooers has worked with s e v e ra l la rg e c o rp o ratio n s, who said s a id they wanted to try p ro c e s s o rs to a s s e s s the value of the the language, but those endeavors brought nothing oul to th e public. FINALLY, how ever, TRAC Language s e r v ic e is publlcally available, In a fastidiously ac cu rate p ro c e s s o r and with M ooers' blessing, on C om putility tim esharlng serv ic e . They run P D P-10 s e r v ic e ln the B oston-to-W ashington a r e a . (From e lse w h ere you have to pay long d i s t a n c e .) The c h a rg e should ru n $12 to $15 p e r hour In business hours, le s s elsew hen. But this depends to so m e extent on what y o u r p ro g ram does, and Is hence unpredictable. A licensed TRAC Language p ro c e s s o r m ay be obtained from M ooers fo r y o u r own favorite P D P-10. P ro c e s s o rs fo r o th e r com p u te r s , including m in is , a r e In the p lanning s tage. TRAC Language is now nicely docum ented ln two new books by M ooers, a beg in n e r's m anual and a standardization book (see B ibliography). Since M ooers o p e ra te s a s m a ll busin ess, and m ust m ake a livelihood from It, he has adopted the standa rd b u sin ess techniques of s e r v ic e m a rk and copyright to p ro te c t h is In te re s ts. The s e r v ic e m a rk "T R A C " s e r v e s to Identify his product in the m ark etp lace , and Is an a s s u r a n c e to the public that the product exactly m ee ts the p ublished s tan d a rd s By law, th e " T R A C m ark may not be used on p ro g ram s o r p roducts which do not com e from R ockford R esea rc h , Inc. Follow ing IBM, he is using copyright to p ro te c t his docum entation and p ro g ra m s from copying and adaptation w ithout authority. M ooers also sta n d s ready to accom m odate academ ic s tu d en ts and e x p e rim en ters who w ish to try th e ir hands at p ro g ra m m in g a TRAC p ro c e s s o r. An ex p e rim e n te r's lice n s e fo r u se of the copyright m a te ria l m ay be obtained fo r a few d o lla rs , provided you do not Intend to u s e the r e s u ltin g p ro g ram s com m ercially. F o r Inform ation o f all kinds, Including lis ts of lates t li te r a tu r e and application n otes, contact: Calvin N. M ooers R ockford R es ea rc h , Inc. 1 40-1/2 Mount Auburn S tree t C am bridge, M ass. 02136 T el. (617)676-0776

BOOLEAN COMMANDS. (Several exist ln the language, but could ro t p ossibly be understood from this w r ite u p .)

* D escription of TRAC language p rim itiv e s adapted by p e r m is s io n from "TRAC, A P ro c e d u re-D esc rib in g Language f o r the R ea ctiv e T y p e w riter, " copyright 1 9 6 6 by R ockford R e s e a rc h , Inc.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Calvin N. M ooers, The B eginner's Manual fo r TRAC Language. 300 p ages, $10.00, from R ockford R e s e a rc h , Inc. (See "W here to Get I t . ") Calvin N. M ooers, Definition and S tandard f o r TRAC T -64 Language, 86 p ages, $5.00, from Rockford R e s e a rc h , Inc. Calvin N. M ooers, "TRAC, A P ro ce d u re -D e s c rib in g Language fo r the R eactive T y p e w rite r," C om m unications of the ACM. v .9 , n .3 , pp. 215-219 (M arch 1966). H is to ric p a p e r, out of p rin t. This p ap e r is copyrighted, and the copyright is owned by R ockford R esea rc h , I n c ., through leg a l assig n m e n t from the A ssociation fo r Computing M achinery, Inc. And fo r those who want to understand the depth o f the s ta n d a rd iz a tion pro b le m , M ooers o ffers freeb ie r e p rin ts of: C alvin N. M ooers, "Accom m odating S tandards and Identification of P ro g ra m m in g L an g u ag es," C om m unications of the ACM. v . l l , n. 8, pp. 574-576 (August 1968).

22

TWO-SIDED OPERATORS In old-fashioned notations, such as o rdinary arithm etic, we a re u sed to the idea of an operator between two t h in g s . Like 2+ 2 o r in a lg e b r a ,
t X y

SAME SYMBOLS WORK BOTH WAYS Now, one of the fascinating kickers of APL is the fact that most of the symbols have both a one-sided meaning and a two-sided meaning; but, thank goodness, they can be easily kept straight Here is a concrete example: the symbol T or "ceiling." Used o n e-sid ed , the result of o perator |" applied to something numerical is the in teg er ju st above the num ber it is applied to: p 7.2 is B. Used tw o-sid e d , the result is which ever of the num bers it's between i larger: 10 f 6 is 10. (There is also , floor, which you can su rely figure o u t.) Now, when you s tr in g things out into a long APL e x p re ssio n , Iv erso n 's notation determines exactly when an operato r is one-sided and when it is two-sided: As you go from rig h t to le ft, another thing?) OP THING another op? I*^___ _____________ _

sta rk. r i-ic v e ie ^

AfL
Some people call it a "scientific" language. Some people call it a "mathematical" language. Some people a re most s tru c k by its use for in te r active system s, so to them it1s an interactive language. But most of u s ju st think of it as THE LANGUAGE WITH ALL THE FUNNY SYMBOLS, and here they are:
p u n a c iw t |a \= 0 ;r V M " - <K fi2 := >)v: i _ ( + T - m ~ 0 ? 1 -

T h e se , too, occur in APL; in d ee d , APL can also n est tw o-sided op erato rs that is , put them one in sid e the other, like the leaves of a cabbage. Old-fashioned notations nest with p a re n th e s e s . But APL nests leftw ard . It works according to a v e ry simple rig h t-to -left r u l e .

i x

the resu lt of this^, is operated on by th e next thing and o p e ra to r, y ielding another resu lt which is in tu rn operated on by the next thing and o p e ra to r, yielding final re s u lt. ONE-SIDED OPERATORS We a re also u sed to some o n e -sid ed operators in our prev io u s life. For instance:

123B46S7]9.BF[ UN+ITOQD-t
PRVC AZ* WYE MQ /XL,S JG KH

Enthusiasts see it a s a language of incon ceivable power with extraord in ary u s e s , Cynics rem ark that it has all k in d s of extraordinary powers for inconceivable u s e s that is, a weird eleg an ce, much of which h as no use at a ll , and some of which gets in the w a y . This is probably w rong. APL is a terrific and beautiful triumph of the m ind, and a very useful programming language. It is not for every body , but neither is c h e s s . It is for brig h t chil d re n , mathematicians, a nd companies who want to build interactive system s b u t feel they should stick with IBM. APL is one of IBM's better products, probably because it is principally the creation of one m an, Kenneth Iverso n . It is mainly ru n on 360 and 370 com puters, though implementations exist for the DEC PDP-10 and p erh ap s other popular machines. (Actually iverson designed the lan guage at Harvard and programmed it on his own initiative after moving to IBM; added to the p ro duct line by popular demand, it was not a planned product and might in fact be a hazard to the firm , should it catch on b ig .) APL ia a language of a r r a y s , with a fascinat ing notation. The a rra y system and the notation can be explained s e p a ra te ly , and bo they w ill. Let's ju st say the language works on things modified successively by o p e ra to rs. Their ord er and result is based upon those fiendish chicken scratches, Iverson notation. THAT NIFTY NOTATION The first thing to und erstan d about APL is the fiendishly clever system of notation that Iverson has worked out. T h is system (sometimes called Iverson notation) allows extremely complex relations and com puter-type events to be expressed sim ply, densely and co n sisten tly . (Of c o u rse , you c a n 't even type it without an IBM Selectric ty p ew riter and an APL ball. Note the product-line t ie - in .) The notation is b ased on operators modifying th in g s . Let's use alphabetic symbols for things and play with p ictures for a minute.

you generally start with a thing on the right. Then comes an o p e rato r. If the next symbol is another th in g , then the o perator is io be treated as a twosided operator (because its between two th in g s). If the object beyond the firs t operator is another o p erato r, however, that means APL is supposed lo stop and c a rry out the f ir s t operator on a one-sided b a s is . Example:

means the negation of 1; - ( - 1) means negating th a t. APL can also nest one-sided o p e ra to r s . Conclusion: Its tw o-sided. Interpretation: "su b tract B from A." A + - B rator is

<> ^A

Bs

resu lt is worked on by fourth o p e ra to r, yielding final result.

* th in g, op, op stop . Conclusion: The firs t op erato r is o n e -s id e d . Interpretation: "negate B ." Then take n ex t s y m b o l.

A U tlR J) e x w t e , T HEif* w i t h r u e K .w io V
Ju st for k ic k s , let us make up a notation having nothing to do with computers, u sin g these Iverson principles: 1) If an operator o r symbol ia between two names of th in g s , c a rry it out tw o-sidedly. If not, c a rry it out o n e-sidedly. Go from rig h t to left. A
a
0)

r-

^ ___ | -I
.

90} b

90} 90}

rj
B

[jl ~ ]

2)

90} A 90} B

The best sim ple example I can think of involves file cards on the table (named A, B, C . . . ) and operators looking like this: 0) 45} 90} 180) 455 90T 1005

455 A 90) B

:c
1

455 A 90} 90) B ^

z >

o-A

to which we may assig n the following meanings: B 0 ) 45) A

A r

ONE-SIDED: 0} A 451 A 90^ A

ROTATION OPERATORS do nothing to A rotate A clockwise 45* rotate A clockwise 90 e tc .

C 45) B 0) 90) A

t au/ f t i f -

In considering the su c ce ssiv e meanings of thiB reb u s we a re proceeding from right to left, aa you note, and each new symbol adds meaning. This is the general id ea. You will note, in th is example, the curious arrangement w hereby you can have several p ictu res, or o p e rato rs, in a row. This is one of the fun features of the language.

TWO-SIDED: STAPLING OPERATORS B 451 A staple A (thing named on the right) to B (thing named on th e left) at a position 45* clockw ise from middle of Bs c e n terline.

It's h ard to believ e, but th e re you a re . This notation seems adequate to make a whole lot of different stapled p a tte rn s . Exercise! Use this nutty file c a rd notation to program the making of funny p a tte rn s . Practice with a friend and Bee if you can communicate patterns through these p ro g ra m s , one person uncomprehendingly c a rry in g out the o th ers program and being s u r p r i s e d . The point of all th is has been to show the powerful but somewhat s ta rtlin g way that b rief s c rib b les in notations of t h i B type can have all sorts of r e s u lts .

W -T
sllp/t (o -

And equivalently for other angleB. Now, u sin g these r u le s , and lettin g o ur things be any file c a rd s that a re h a n d y , h e re a re some resu lts:

H e r e la a n o t h e r e x a m p l e s h o w in g h o w w e c h u g a lo n g t h e r o w o f s y m b o l s a n d t a k e i t a p a r t . A g a i n , th e a lp h a b e tic a l e n title s r e p r e s e n t t h i n g s .

SOME A PL O PERATORS It w o u ld b e i n s a n e to e n u m e r a t e th e m a l l , b u t h e r e I s a s a m p l i n g o f A P L 's o p e r a t o r s . T h e y ' r e a ll on th e pocket c a r d s ( s e e B ib lio g ra p h y ) . F o r o ld t i m e s ' s a k e , h e r e a r e o u r f r i e n d s : (A n d a c o u s i n t h r o w n i n f o r s y m m e t r y . ) +A A+B p la in A ( w h a t e v e r A s h o u l d h a p p e n to b e ) A p lu s B ( w h a t e v e r A s h o u l d h a p p e n to B . heh heh) n e g a ti o n of B A m in u s B th e s ig n of B ( e x p r e s s e d a s - 1 .0 o r 1) A ti m e s B A PL T H IN G S , T O GO W IT H Y OUR O PE R A T O R S A s w e s a i d , A PL h a s o p e ra to r s ( a lr e a d y e x p la in e d ) a n d t h in g s T h e th in g s c a n b e p la in n u m b e r s , o r A r r a y s ( a l r e a d y m e n tio n e d u n d e r B A S IC ). T h i n k o f th e m a s r o w s , b o x e s a n d su p e rb o x e s of n u m b e rs : 2 4 6 8 10 a o n e -d im e n sio n a l th in g

E (| >
^ ______ f i r s t o p e r a t i o n (o n e - s i d e d ), s e c o n d o p e ra tio n (tw o -sid ed ) T r y d i v i d i n g u p th e s e e x a m p l e s :

2 4
3 5 a tw o - d i m e n s i o n a l th i n g

( p ROMEO ELEANOR < 2 > SAM SUSIB

-B A -B aB A iB

X
0 8 a th re e -d im e n s io n a l th in g , s e e n f ro m t h e f r o n t . M ayb e w e b e t t e r lo o k a t t h e l e v e l a s i d e b y sid e : 13 2 4 5 7 6 6

O n e m o r e t h i n g n e e d s to b e n o t e d . N ot o n ly c a n w e w o r k o u t th e s e q u e n c e s o f o p e r s t l o n s . fro m l i g h t to l e f t . b e t w e e n th e s y m b o l s ; t h e c o m p u te r c a n c a r r y th s m o u t i n a s t a b le f a s h i o n . W hich i s o f c o u rse e s s e n tia l.

A n d h e re a re som e g n io v le s: !A A! B fa c to ria l A ( 1 * 2 * 3 . . . u p to A ) th e n u m b e r o f p o ssib le c o m b in a tio n s y o u c a n g e t f ro m B ta k e n A a t a tim e a ra n d o m I n te g e r ta k e n f ro m a r r a y A ta k e s o m e I n t e g e r s a t r a n d o m f r o m B . How m a n y ? A .

A PL c a n h a v e T h i n g s w i t h f o u r d i m e n s i o n s , f iv e a n d s o o n , b u t w e w o n 't t r o u b l e y o u h e r e w i t h p i c t u r e s . O h y s s . a n d A n a l ly a n o - d l m e n s l o n a l t h i n g . E x a m p le : 7 5 .2 It i s c a l l e d n o - d ltn e n s t o n a l b e c a u s e t h e r e I s o n ly o n e o f i t , s o i t Is n o t a r o w o r a b o x . S e r i o u s l y , t h e s e a r e a r r a y s , a n d I v e r s o n 's A PL w o r k s th e m o v e r , t u r n s th s m I n s i d e o u t , t w i s t s a n d s a p s t h r o u g h to w h s t e v e r t h e a n s w e r s a r e . A s In BA SIC a n d T R A C , t h e a r r a y s o f A PL a r e r e a l l y s t o r e d l n th e c o m p u t e r 's c o r e m e m o r y , a s s o c i a t e d w ith t h e n a m e y o u g i v e t h e m . T h e a r r a y s m ay b e o f a l l d i f f e r e n t s i t e s s n d d im e n s i o n a lit y : ________________ H oe/ , --------' l 2 . 5 7 .1 8 8 .0 0 6 ^ /n o ra ] [ w o o p s l e l } ^ * 1 * ) [ab cd efl [ ( (. W ) ISA M

INSIDE T h e t r u t h o f t h e m a tte r i s th a t A PL l n th e co m p u te r Is a c o n tin u in g su c c e s s io n of th in g s b e in g o p e ra te d o n a n d re p la c e d In th e w o rk a r e a . firs t th in g . . . UG ^ I [ I jZf ' y A R G ^ th in g w h ic h r e s u lts f ro m o p e r a t o r $ d o n e o n YAAOH,

?A A ?B

B u t, of c o u rs e . A PL goes o n a n d o n . T h e r e a r e d o z e n s m o r e ( I n c l u d i n g s y m b o l s m a d e o f m o re t h a n o n e w e i r d APL s y m b o l , p r i n t e d o n to p o f e a c h o t h e r to m a k e a n e w s y m b o l ) . C o n s i d e r t h e I n c r e d i b l e p o w e r . S i n g l e APL s y m b o l s g i v e y o u l o g a r i t h m s , tr ig o n o m e t r i c fu n c tio n s , m a trix fu n c tio n s , n u m b e r sy ste m c o n v e r s i o n s , l o g s to a n y a r b i t r a r y b a s e , a n d p o w e r s o f e (a m y ste rio u s n u m b e r o f w h ic h e n g in e e r s a r e f o n d ) . O t h e r w e i r d t h i n g s . Y ou c a n a p p l y a n o p e r a tio n to a l l t h e e l e m e n ts o f s n a r r a y u s i n g t h e / o p e r a t o r : + /A I s t h e s u m o f e v e r y t h i n g I n A , >/A i s t h e c o m b in e d p r o d u c t o f e v e r y t h i n g In A . A n d so o n . W h e w . A s y o u m a y s u s p e c t , A PL p r o g r a m s c a n b e I n c r e d i b l y c o n c i s e . ( T h i s Is a f r e q u e n t l y - h e a r d c r i t i c i s m : th a t th e c o n c i s e n e s s m a k e s th e m h a r d to u n d e r s t a n d a n d h a r d to c h a n g e . ) MAKE YOUR OWN F i n a ll y a n d g l o r i o u e l y . t h e u s e r m a y d e f in e h is ow n fu n c tio n s , e ith e r o n e -s id e d o r tw o - s id e d , w ith a l p h a b e t i c a l n a m e s . F o r i n s t a n c e , y o u c a n c r e a t e y o u r o w n o n e - s i d e d o p e r a t o r Z O N K . a s ln ZONK B

t h i n g t h a t r e s u l t s f ro m o p e r a t i o n Lv d o n e to th a t b y UG V a n d ao o n . W hat le e f f e c tiv e ly h a p p e n i n g i s t h a t t h e APL p r o c e s s o r i s h o l d i n g w h a t i t ' s w o r k i n g o n in a h o l d i n g a r e a . T h e w a y It c a r r i e s o u t t h e B ean o f t h e A PL l a n g u a g e , t h e r e o n l y h a s to b e o n e t h i n g in th e re a t a lim e .

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(a z e r o - d i m e n s i o n a l a r r a y , s i n c e i t ' s o n ly o n e n u m b e r . ) E a c h a r r a y I s r e a l l y a s e r i e s o f m e m o r y l o c a t io n s w ith I ts l a b e l a n d b o x i n g I n f o r m a tio n d i m e n s i o n s a n d l e n g t h s s t o r e d s e p a r a t e l y . O n e v e r y n ic e t h i n g a b o u t A PL i s t h a t a r r a y s c a n k e e p c h a n g i n g th e ir s iz e s f re e ly , a n d th is n e e d b e of no c o n c e rn to t h e A PL p r o g r a m m e r . ( T h e a r r a y s c a n a l s o b e b o x e d a n d r e b o x e d l n d if f e r e n t d i m e n s i o n s j u s t b y c h a n g i n g t h e b o x i n g in f o r m a t io n w ith a n o p e r a t o r c a lle d " ra v e l ." )

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a n d e v e n a lw o - 8id e d Z O N K , A ZONK B w h ic h c s n th e n g o r i g h t i n I h e r e w ith t h e b i g b o y s : A $ ZONK B

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S t a r l i n g a t t h e t i g h t o f t h i s u s e r p r o g r a m , th e m a in A PL p r o g r a m p u t s Z i n t o t h e w o r k a r e a . T h a t 's th e f i r s t t h i n g . T h e n , s t e p p i n g le ft l n th e u s e r p r o g r a m , t h e A PL p r o c e s s o r f o llo w s t h e r u l e s a n d d i s c o v e r s t h a t t h e n e x t o p e r a t i o n m a k e s It

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A n A PL m a c h i n e . a m in i t h a t d o e s n o t h i n g b u t A P L . I s n o w a v a i l a b l e f ro m a C a n a d i a n f ir m f o r th e m e r e p i t t a n c e o f TH RBE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS , th e p r i c e o f m a n y a m e r e te r m i n a l . T h is a c c o r d i n g to C o m p u t e r w o r l d . 10 O ct 7 9 . R u n , d o n 't w a l k , to M ic ro C o m p u te r M a c h i n e s , I n c . , 4 i A n s l n g S q . . W illow d a l e . M2J 1 T 1 . O n t a r i o , C a n a d a . T h a t $3500 g e t s y o u a 16K m e m o r y , t h e A PL p r o g r a m , k e y b o a r d a n d n u m e r i c a l k e y b o a r d , a n d p la s m a d i s p l a y . C a s s e t t e ( w h i c h a p p a r e n tly s to r e s a n d r e tr ie v e s a r r a y s b y nam e w h e n c a lle d b y th e p r o g r a m ) i s $1500 e x l r a . RUNS ON B A T T E R I E S . S o r r y , n o g r e e n s t a m p s . (Note th a t t h e A PL p r o c e s s o r t a k e s u p m o st o f t h e 16 K , b u t y o u c a n g e t m o r e . )

w h i c h h a p p e n s to m e a n , " t h e n e g a ti o n o f Z . " S o it c a r r i e s th is o u t on Z a n d r e p la c e s Z w ith th e r e s u l t , - Z . T h e n , c o n t i n u i n g to s c a n l e f t w a r d , t h e APL p r o c e s s o r c o n t i n u e s to r e p l a c e w h a t w a s l n t h e w o r k a re a w ith th e r e s u l t of e ac h o p e ra tio n in th e s u c c e s s i v e l i n e s o f t h e u s e r p r o g r a m , tLU t h e p r o g r a m i s c o m p le te d . A PL Prt>cV S V r

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T h e r u m o r t h a l IBM h a s A PL o n a c h i p , i n s i d e a S e l e c t r i c w h i c h t h e r e f o r e d o e s a l l t h e s e t h i n g s w ith n o e x t e r n a l c o n n e c tio n to a n y ( e x t e r n a l ) c o m p u te r - * r e m a i n s u n s u b s t a n t i a t e d . T h e r u m o r h a s b e e n a r o u n d f o r s o m e tim e. B ut i t 's q u ite p o ssib le . T h e t h i n g i s , It w o u ld p r o b a b l y d e s t r o y I B M 's e n t i r e p r o d u c t l i n e - - s n d p r i c i n g e d if i c e .

Few p e o p le Know a ll of APL. o r w ould w an t to . T h e o p e r a tio n s a r e d lv e re e a n d o b e c u r e . a n d m a n y o f them a r e c o m p re h e n s ib le o nly to p e o p le In m ath em atical field s. H ow ev e r, if y o u know a dozen o r so y ou c an r e a l l y g e t off Ihe g r o u n d .

H ere is a n APL p r o g r a m th a l ty p e s o u t b a c k w a r d s w hat y o u ty p e I n . F i r s t lo ok a t the p r o g r a m , th e n th e e x p la n a tio n be lo w . V REV

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I v e r s o n 's nota tion is built around the c u r io u s p r in c i p le o f h a v in g the same symbols mean tw o th in g s d e p e n d in g on c o n tex t. (Goodness k n o w s h e u s e s en o u g h d ifferent symbols; doubling u p s i le ast m e an s h e d o e sn t need any more.) It t u r n s o u t th a t ih ia nota tion r ep rese n tsT c on sisie ni s e r i e s o f o p e r a tio n s in a sto un ding combinations. T h e o v e ra ll APL la n g u ag e , rea lly , la the c a r r y i n g t h r o u g h of th is nota tion to create an Im m e n sely p o w e r f u l p rog ram m in g la nguage. The im p e tu s o b v io u s l y came from the de sire lo make v a r io u s i n tr ic a t e m athematical operations easy to c o m m a n d. T h e r e s u l t , h o w ev e r, le a programming l a n g u a g e w ith g r e a t pow er for sim pler tasks as well. N ow . t h e c o n se q u e n c e s o f ihls o verall Idea w e r e nol d e te r m in e d b y God. They w ere worked o u l b y I v e r a o n . v e r y th o u g h tfu lly , so a s lo come o ul s y m m e tr ic a l-lo o k ln g a n d e asy lo remember. What we se e i s th e c le v e r exploitation o f apparent b u t Inex a ct s y m m e lr le s In the Id ea s. Often APL'a o n e - s i d e d a n d tw o - s id e d p a ir s o f operato rs a re m ore s u g g e s tiv e ly sim ila r th a n really th e same I h in g . When I v e r s o n s sslg n 6 on e -a ld ed an d twos id e d m e a n i n g s to a sy m b ol, often the two meanings m ay look n a t u r a l o n ly b e ca u se Iverson Is su c h sn a r t i s t . E xsm ple: tw o - s id e d AX B A tim es B o n e -sid ed a B the sig n o f B

A* In BASIC , y ou c an u s e s u b s c r i p t s to get a t s p e c if ic e lem en ts In a r r a y s . R e f e r r i n g to th e e x a m p le s a b o v e . If yo u typ e JO E [ 2] yo u get b a c k o n y o u r t y p e w rit e r Its va lu e 7 .1 a n d If y ou ty p e NORA

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E x p la n a ti o n . T h e d o w n - p o l n lln g tr ia n g le s ( " d e ls " ) sy m b o lize t h e b e g i n n i n g a n d e n d o f a p r o g rs m . w h ic h In th is c a a e w e h a v e c a lle d REV. On L in e 1. th e " Q u o te -Q u a d " sy m bo l (on th e r ig h t ) c a u s e s th e APL p r o c e s s o r to w all for a lp h a b e tic a l i n p u t. P re su m a b ly Ih e u s e r w ill ty p e so m e th in g . T h e u s e r ' s lin e o f I n p u t Is stu f f e d Into th in g o r a r r a y 1. T h e u s e r ' s c a r r i a g e r e t u r n te lls th e APL p r o c e s s o r h e h a a f i n is h e d , s o It c o n tin u e s in th e p r o g ra m . On Ihe s e c o n d l i n e . APL la k e s a r r a y 1 a n d doea a o n e - s i d e d to II. w h ic h h a p p e n s to m ean tu r n in g il a r o u n d . L e f t- a r r o w in to Ihe q u o te -q u a d sy m bo l m e an s p r i n t II ou t. B e ca u se of A PL 'a c o m p a c tn e s s , in d e e d . Ihls m a g nifice n t p r o g ra m c sn e ll g o o n o ne line: ^ REV

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T h e r e a r e b a sic a lly fou r k ln d a of In fo rm atio n u se d b y A PL . a n d a ll of them c a n be p u t In a r r a y s . T h r e e o f th e s e ty p e s a r e n u m e ric a l, a n d a r r a y s of th em look lik e Ih ls o n pa per: I n te g e r a r r a y e ; 2 4 - 6 6 10 2040

S c a la r a r r a y s : 2 .5 -3 .1 4 16 0.0 01 2705333.1 (a e c s la r Is som e th ing th a l c a n b e m e a su r e d on a r u l e r - l t k e s c a le , w h e r e th e re a r e a lw ay s p o in ts i n b e tw e e e n .) L og ical a r r a y e ; 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 ( th es e a r r a y s of o n e s s n d z e r o e s a r e c a lle d "lo gic al" fo r a v a rie ty of r e a s o n s ; In Ih ls caa e we c o uld c a ll them " lo g ic a l" sim ply b e c a u se th e y a r e u se d fo r p ic k in g a n d e ho oaln g a n d d e c i d i n g .) T h ea e t h r e e n u m e ric a l ty p e s o f I nform ation may be fre ely In te r m ix e d In y o u r a r r a y e . One m o re ty p e , h o w e v e r. Is a llo w e d . Its h a rd to f ig u r e o u t from the m s n u a la . b u t e v id e n tly th ia ty p e c a n 't b e mixed In w ith th e o th e r s too f r e e l y . We r e f e r lo Ihe a lp h a b e tic a l o r "lite r a l" a r r a y , a s in T h e q u ic k b r o w n fox Jumped o v e r th e la zy d o g . Now . p r e - w r i t t e n APL p ro g ra m s c an p r in t out lite r a l In fo rm a tio n , a n d acc ep t It from a u s e r a t a te r m in a l. w h ic h Is why APL Is good for th e c re atio n of s y s te m s fo r na iv e u e e r s (see "Good-G uy S y s te m s . p . i j ) . L ite ra l v e c to r s may b e p ic k ed a p a r t . r e a r r a n g e d a n d assem b led b y all th e r e g u l a r APL o p e r a to r s . T h a t 's how we tw idd le o u r te n t. CRASHING THE SYMBOLS TOGETHER

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F irst th e in p u t g o e s in to I . t h e n Ih e p r o c e s s o r d oes s 1 ( r e v e r s a l) a n d p u ts it o u l. A nd h e re Is o u r o ld f r i e n d . th e fo rtu n e - c o o k ie

T h is m ak es s e n s e . T o a r g u e th a l It ia in h e re n t in " ta k i n g a w a y h a lf th e id ea o f m u ltiplic ation ." h o w e v e r, i s d u b io u s . 1 0 0 - 'H ELP. I AM CAUGHT IN A LOOP1 1 Some sy m m e tr ie s I v e r so n h s s m anaged to come up w ith a r e tr u ly r e m a r k a b le . T h e a r r o w , f or I n sta n c e . T h e le ft a rro w :

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On lin e 1 th e p r o g ra m p r i n t s o u t w h a l e v c r 's In q u o te s. And lin e 2 c a u s e s It to go b a c k a n d do lin e 1 a g a in . F o r e v e r .

A aaig nm ent sta te m ent; B (w hich m ay hav e b e e n com pute d d u r i n g Ih e le ftw a rd sc a n ) ia a s s ig n e d the name o f A: a n d Ihe r lg h l a rr o w :

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II sh o u ld b e m e n tio n e d a t th is p o in t tha t b ra n c h in g te s t s a r e c o n d u c te d in APL p r o g ra m s b y sp e c if y in g c o n d itio n s w h ic h a r e e ilh c r tr u e or f als e, a n d A PL's a n s w e r is 1 if i r u e . 0 if f als e. (T h is is s n o lh e r th in g th e s e log ic a l a r r a y s a r e f o r . ) Exam ple:

T h e Jump sta te m en t, w h e r e B (w hich may h a v e b e e n com p u te d d u r i n g th e le ftw a r d s c a n ) Is a sta te m ent n u m b e r: th e p r o g ra m now go e s a n d e x e c u t e s th a t lin e . T h is sy m m etry Is m y stica lly i n t e r e s t in g b e c a u s e the a saig n m en l a n d Jum p sta te m en ts a r e so b a s i c to pro g ra m m in g O r c o n s id e r this :

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It w o r k s o n a r r a y s , sin g ly a n d In p a i r a . a c c o rd in g to th o s e fu n n y -lo o k in g sy m b o l s . a s th e APL p r o c e s s o r s e a n a r l g h t- to - le f t. IVERSON'S TAFF Y-PULL A n u m b e r o f b a sic APL o p e ra to r s h e lp yo u a tr e tc h . a q u le h a n d p u ll a p a r t y o u r a r r a y a . C o n sid er th e low ly comma (called " r a v e l , " w h ic h m eans t h e aam e a s " u n r a v e l " ) . A A .B f o rg e l A 's o ld d im e n s io n s , m ake It o n e -d lm e n a lo n a l. m ake A an d B on e long o n e -d im en sio n al a r r a y .

T h is o p e ra tio n le s v e s th e n u m b e r 1. b e c a u s e 3 is g r e a te r th a n 2. So yo u c o u ld b r a n c h o n a test w ith som e thing lik e

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THE APL ENVIRONMENT A sid e from th e APL la n g u a g e its e lf , to p r o g ra m in APL y ou m ust le a r n a lo t of " sy ste m " c om m ands, a lp h a b e tic a l c om m a nd s b y w hic h lo tell t h e APL p r o c e s s o r w h a t y o u w a n t to do ln g e n eral w hal to s to r e , w hat lo b r i n g forth from a to ra g e . a n d so o n. O rd in a rily yo u h a v e a w o r k s p a c e , a co lle c tion o f p r o g ra m s a n d d a ta w h ic h y o u may summon b y nam e. When il c o m e s- - th a t i s . w h en th e com p u te r haa fetc h ed th ia m a te ria l a n d a n n o u n ce d on y o u r te rm in al lh a t It ia r e a d y - - y o u c an r u n the p ro g ra m s a n d u s e th e d a ta ln y o u r w o rk s p s c e . You c a n a lso h a v e p a s s w o r d s f o r y o u r d ifferen t w o rk s p a c e a , so o th e r s a t o th e r te rm in a ls c an no t ta m p e r w ilh y o u r stu ff. T hia i s not th e p ie c e to g o in to the sy ste m co m m and s. If y o u 'r e s e r i o u s , y o u c a n le a r n them from th e b o ok o r t h e APL s a le s m a n . T h e r e a r e m a n y . m an y d if f e r e n t e r r o r m e saa g es th a t th e APL p r o c e s s o r c s n se n d y o u . d e p e n d in g o n th e c ir c u m s t a n c e s . It Is p o a slb le lo m ake m a n y , m any m is ta k e s in APL. a n d th e r e a r e e r r o r m e s s a g e s for a ll o f I h e m . All of th e m , th a t I s , lh a t lo ok to th e c o m p u te r like e r r o r s ; If y o u d o so m e th in g p e r m i s s ib le th a t's n ot w h at y ou i n te n d e d , th e c o m p u ie r w ill not te ll y o u . But It is a te rm in a l l a n g u a g e . d e s ig n e d to h e lp p e o ple m u d d le t h r o u g h . (one way of w ri t i n g . "Jum p lo A if B Is t r u e " ) Is a sp e cia l c a s e o f th e '' c o m p re s s io n " o p e r a t o r . ( B e rr y 360 p r i m e r . 72 a n d 16 5 .) T h is i s v e r y h a r d to u n d e r s t a n d , a lth o u g h it se em s c l e a r w h i l e y o u 'r e r e a d in g il. On Ihe o th e r h a n d , th e r e i s e v e r y in d i c a t i o n th a l APL la ao d e e p y o u k e e p f in d in g new t r u t h s i n i l . (L ike th e a b o v e p a r a g r a p h . ) T h e w h o le th in g is Just u n b e lie v a b le . H ooray fo r a ll t h a t .

H ere la how w e m ake t h in g s a p p e a r a n d d is a p p e a r . ( " C o m p r e s s i o n .") A /B A must be a o n e -d lm en a lo n al a r r a y o f on e s and t e r o e s . T h e r e s u l t l a t h o s e e le m e n ts o f B s e lec te d b y th e o n e s . Exam ple: 1 0 1 / c a 1 r e s u l ts In c t

T he o p p o s ite s l a s h h a s th e o p p o site e ff e c t. I n s e r tin g e x t r a n ull e lem ents w h ere th e re a r e zaroea: 1 1 0 l\3 r e s u l ts in 3 5 0 9

5 B

APL FOR USER-LEVEL SYSTEMS (See "Good-G uy S y a te m e ." p .

H e r e 's a n o th e r se le c to r . T h is o p e ra to r ta k e s th e f i r s t o r la s t few o f A. d e p e n d in g o n siz e and sig n o f B: Bt A an d B ^ A Is th e o p p o site. If y o u w a n l to know Ihe re la tiv e p o s itio n s of n u m b e rs o f d if f e r e n t s iz e s In s o n e -d im e n sio n a l a rra y . ^ (nam e o f a r r a y )

B e ca u se APL c a n s o licit te x t Inp ut from a u s e r a n d a n a ly z e I t. th e la n g u a g e ia p o w erfu l fo r Ih e c re a ti o n of u s e r - l e v e l e n v iro n m e n ts a n d s y s te m s - - w ith the d r s w b a c k , u n i v e r s a l to a ll IBM te r m in a l s , th a t in p u l linea m u st e n d w ith s p e c if ic c h a r a c t e r s . In o th e r w o rd s , It c a n 't b e aa fully I n te r a c tiv e a s c o m p u te r la n g u a g e s th a t u a e ASCII t e rm in a ls . N ee d le ss to s a y . Ih e m athe m atica l e le g a n c e and p o w e r of the s y ste m Is com p le tely u n n e c e s s a r y fo r most u s e r - le v e l s y s te m s . But I t 's n ic e to know i t ' s t h e r e . APL Is p r o b a b ly b e s t f o r s y s te m s w ith w e ll-d e fin e d a n d s e g r e g a te d fileB-* " a r r a y - t y p e p r o b le m s ," lik e p a y ro ll , a cc o u n ts an d s o o n . Il Is not s u ite d fo r m u c h l a r g e r a m o rp ho us and e v olutio na ry stu ff, the w ay lis t la n g u a g e s lik e TRAC a r e . D on't u se APL If y o u 'r e g o in g 10 s to r e la r g e e v o lv in g te x ts o r h u g e b ro k e r a g e data b a s e s , lik e w hal ta n k e r a a r e f r e e in th e M e d ite rran e an . T h e q u ic k e s t p ay oR may lie in u s in g APL to r e p la c e b u s in e s s form s s n d h a ate n the flow o f I n fo rm a tion th r o u g h a c o m p a n y . A sa le s m a n on the r o a d w ith an APL te r m in a l. fo r In sta n c e . c an a t once e n te r h is o r d e r s in th e c o m p u te r from the c u sto m e r's o ffice, c hecking in v e n to r y d i r e c t l y . If th e p r o g ra m i s u p

w ill te ll y o u . It g iv e s y ou th e p o s it io n s . In o r d e r of s iz e , o f t h e n u m b e r s . And 4 d o e s It fo r d e s c e n d in g o r d e r .

T hese a re Just sam ples. The lin g o e s on

WHERE TO GET IT IBM d oe sn 't se ll APL s e rv i c e s . T h e ir time* sh a ri n g APL is a v a ila b le . h o w e v e r. from v a rio u s s u p p li e r s . Of c o u r s e , lh at meana you pro bably hav e to have an IBM-type te rm in a l. u n le ss you find a s e rv ic e lh at offers APL to Ihe o th e r h in d - - an add itio n whic h seem s to be becoming fashionable . Usual c h arg e la about te n bucke a n hour o>nnect c h a r g e , g lu e p ro c e ssin g , whic h de pends on w hai y o u 'r e ckilng. It can easily r u n o v e r $15 an h o u r , th ou gh , a n d more for heavy c ru n c h in g o r p r in to u t. eo watch I t. T h e aale sm an w ill come lo y o u r ho use o r o fn c e . ve rify th at y o u r te rm inal w ill w o rk (or te ll y o u w h ere you c an ren l o n e ) . p atiently show yo u how to sign o n . le ach you th e la n gu ag e (or maybe an h ou r if h e 's a nice g u y . sn d proffer ihe c o n tra ct. P L s e rv ic e s a r e prob ab ly sa fe r lo sig n ^A o n to . In lerm e of r is k e d e x p en se s. tha n moat oth er tim e - sh a rin g s y ste m s. (Though of co u rse ell tim e - sh a rin g Involves financia l r i s k . ) Because th e syste m is r e s tric te d only an d exactly to APL. y o u 'r e not pa ying for capabilities you w on 't be u s in g , o r for m assive d isk s to ra g e (which y o u 'r e not allow ed In moel APL a erv lce s a n y w a y ) . or for a c r e s of co re memory you mlghl b e temple d to f ill. ]n o th e r w o rd a . APL is a comparatively str a ig h t p rop ositio n, sn d h ighly recom mended if you ha v e a lol of tnalh o r sta tistics y o u'd like lo do on a fairly small n u m b e r of e s s e s . Also good for a v a rle ly of o the r th ln g a . th ou gh . Inclu ding fun . Different v e n d o rs offer in te resting v srlslio n s on IBM's baalc A P L \ 360 p ackag e, as note d b e lo w . In o th e r w o rd s. th e y \o m p e le with each olhe r in p a rt by a d ding fea tu res lo the baalc A P L \3 8 0 p r o g r a m , v ying for y o u r b u sln e e s . Each of Ihe v e n d o r s lis ted also o ffe rs v a rio us p ro gra m s In APL you can u se interactiv ely al an IBM-type te rm inal, In many c ase s u s in g a n o rd in ary lypeball and not se e in g the funny c h a r a c te r ! ; though how c le a r and e asy iheBe p ro gra m s a r e will v a ry . And r em e m b e r. of c o u rse , th at yo u can do y o u r own th in g . o r h a v e o lh e rs do II for y o u , u sin g APL. APL Is also a vailable o n the PD P-10. and presum ably o th e r non-IBM b ig m achines. THE VENDORS and the same goes for far le aa com prehensible stuff like 1 ^ ^ ^ ? 1 2 3 4 (ca rria ge r e tu r n ) Scie ntific T im e -S h a rin g C orporation (7316 Wiscon s in A v e .. Belh eada MD 20014) call s He v e rsion A PL'PLUS. T hey 'll se n d you a nic e pocket c a r d summ ariz ing the commends. APL*PLUS offers o ver tw entyflve co ncentrators a ro un d th e c o u n try , p e r mitting lo cal-call se rvice s In suc h m etr o politan c e n te rs aa Kalamazoo a nd R ochester. (Firms with offices In both c itie s . ple ase n ote.) T hey also have en "AUTOSTART" featu re w hic h perm lis Ihs c hainin g of pro gram s Into g r a n d comple xes, so you don't have lo call them all Individually. APL*PLUS charges the following for sto ra g e, if you can dig It: $10 PER MILLION BYTE-DAYS. (A byte Is usually one c h a r a c te r .) T he census Is pro bably taken o nce a d a y . T h is firm also se rv ice s ASCII te r m in als. w hic h some people will con sider to b e a b ig h e lp . Thai means you can have Inte racli ve u a era of APL p rog ra m s at ASCII te rm inals, and that you ean also program from (he few APL terminelB lh at a r e n 't of th e IBM t y p e . Tim e Sha ring R e sou rce s. Inc. (17? N orthern B l v d .. Great N eck. N .Y . 11022) offers a lot of APL s e rv ic e . Includ ing text syetem s and verlo us k in ds of file hen d lln g , u n d e r lhe name TOTAL/APL. Among the Interesting featu res Time S h a rin g Reaourcee. Inc. have added ia a n EXECUTE command, whic h allow s an APL sir in g e n tered al the k e y bo ard In u a a r o n -lin e mode to be executed as alraig ht APL. T hla I b heavy. P e rh ap s the most v e re atile-a o un dlng APL se rvice rig h t now is offered b y . of all p e o p le . a su b sid iary of th e American Can Com pany. American Information Serv ices (Am erican Lane. G re enw ic h CT 06630) c alls Iheir v e rsio n VIRTUAL APL. meaning lh at It can ru n In " v ir tu a l mem ory"-- a p opula r mienomer for virtually unlim ited memory and c onsequently lhe program m er Is h a rdly subje ct to spa ee lim itations at a l l . M oreover, f iles on th e A1S system a re com patible with o the r IBM la n g u a g e s, so you c an use APL lo iry things oul q uickly and th e n c o nv ert lo Fortran, Cobol o r w h atev e r. ( O r. c o nv ersely , a company may go from those o lh e r la nguages to APL wllhoul chang in g Ihe way th e ir files a re sto red on th is s e r v i c e . ) APL may Indeed In term it w ith th ese oth e r la n g u ag e s, how is u n c lea r. And th e p ric e s look especially good: $8.75 a n h o u r c o n n ec t. f IS a m onlh minimum (actu ally th e ir minimum d isk spa ce ren tal - - 1 IBM c y lin d e r so for lhat am ount you get a lot of s to r a g e ) . But rem em ber the re a re etill c o re c h a r g e e , a nd $1 p e r thouaand c h a r a c te r s prin te d o r tr a n s fe rr e d lo sto ra g e. In the Weei. a b ig v e n d o r la P ro p rie tary Computer Syste m s. I n c . . Van N u y s. California. Power a nd sim plicity do not oflen go t o g e th e r . APL Ib an extrem ely powerful language for methemallca, p h y sic s, sta tistic s , simulation a n d so o n . H ow ever, It Is not exactly sim ple. It's not easy to d e b u g . Indeed. APL p ro gra m s s r e h a rd to u n d e rsta n d becauee of th e ir d e n s ity . And th e APL language doea not fit ve ry well on TERMINALS F o r an APL term inal, yo u m ight Juat w anl a 2741 from IBM (about a h u n d r e d a m o n lh . b u t on a y e a r c o n tra c t ) . O r se e Ihe lis t u n d e r " T erm in a ls" ( p . \ H ) . o r aak y o u r f rien d ly APL com pany when y ou s ig n u p . Tw o m ore APL te rm inals m entioned he re Inste ad of u n d e r "T erm inals" fo r no apeclal reason: T ek tro n ix offers one o f ils gree n le g r a p h ic s term inals (Bee n ip sid e ) to r APL (the model 4013). T h is perm its APL to d raw p ic tu r e s for y o u . 11 seems lo be an ASCII-type u n i l . Com puter D evices. Inc. su pp ose d ly makes an an APL te rm in al u sin g the nic e NCR th erm al p r i n t e r . w hic h Is much faster a n d q u ie te r lh an a mechanical ty p e w rit e r . Spo o k ier, th o u g h . And lhe special pa p er coals a lo t of money.

ROUND (n o b sc u re a n d d onnish Joke) p , th e G re ek le tte r " rh o ," Is an APL operato r / for (eating th else of a rr a y s . Whan used In the o ne -e lded form at. II f iv e s lha s it e s of e ach dim ension of an a r r a y . T hu s M . when A Is Is 2 2 . And now n 'YOUR BOAT' I equala 0, sin c e th e re a re 9 letters in the a rr a y 'YOUR BOAT': 'YOUR BOAT' Is 1, since p 9 la 1. and M 'YOUR BOAT' ' Is likewise 1.

*[;}]

If'

BIBLIOGRAPHY Iverson h a s a formal bo ok . Ig no re ll un le ss y o u 'r e a mathematician: Kenneth E. Iverson. A Program min g L ang uag e. Wiley. 1662. Paul B e r r y . A P L \3 6 0 P r im e r . Slu dent T e n t. A vailable "thro ug h IBM b r a n c h o ffices." or IBM Technic al Publications Department. 112 East Post Road. While P lain s . NY 10601. No IBM p ub lication nu m b er on It. whic h Is so rt of o d d . 1966. - + T h ls Is o ne o f lhe most beautifully w ritte n , sim ple, clea r com pute r manuale lhat Is lo be found. Such a sta te ment may a stound r e a d e r s who have se en o lhe r IBM m a n u als, but I t's Iru e . A .D . Falkoff a nd K .E . I v e rso n . A P L \3 6 0 U sers' M anual, AIbo a vailable from IBM. no p ub lication num ber. POCKET CARDS (giving v e ry com pressed sum m a ries) a r e available from both: Scie ntific Time S h a r in g Corp. (see WHERE TO GET IT) Technic al Publications D e p t., IBM, 112 Eesi Post Road. While P lain s. N .Y . 10601. ABk for APL Reference Data card S210-0007-0. May cost a q u a r te r o r something. Paul B e r ry . A P L \ l l 3 0 P r im e r . Adeplcd from 360 m e n u al. Same p u b . Bui (o r v e rsion of APL th a t r u n s on the IBM 1130 minicomputer. Roy A . S y k e s . "The Use an d Mieuse of APL." $2 from Scientific T im e -S h a ring C o r p . , 7316 Wisconsin A v e .. Belheada MD 20014. A Joker for you msth ( re e k s. T re n c h a rd More. J r . . "Axioms and T heorem e for a T heory o( A r r a y s ." IBM J o u rn al o( Reach- 4 D evi. . MBi-ch 73. U S-157. T h is Is a h igh-le vel th in g , a so rt of m assiv e eel theory of APL. Intended lo make APL o p e ra to rs apply lo a r r a y s of a r r a y s , and le ad ultim ately to the prov ab ility o( p ro gram s. "Get o n T arg e t with APL." A sug ge stiv e c irc u la r sa les t h ln g y . IBM GS20-2439-0. IBM has a vid eota ped c ourse In APL by A ,J . Rose. (Done 1966.) ^ > W h a l you really need to gel elerted la B e r ry 's Prim er. Felkoff end Iv erso n 's m anual, an d a pocket c a r d . PIub of c ou rse lhe syetem an d the (riend to

T h is la n gu ag e Is su p e rb for "scientific" program m ing, Inclu ding heavy n u m b er c ru n c h in g a n d exp er im entation with dif ferent formulae on small dale b a se s. (Big d sia ba ses s r e a p ro blem .) It Is a lso not b ad for s v a rie ty of simple b u sine ss a p p lic atio n s, suc h a s p a y ro ll, accounting, b illin g a n d In v en to ry .

PAST ANSWERBACK IN APL If you want quic k a n a w e rs. the APL term inal Just g iv e s you Ihe r e iu l t o f w hatever you typ e In. For In slsn c e. 3i 4 will cause It to p r in t oul 12

ty pe d-ln array PROGRAMS IN APL But lhe -larg er function of APL Is lo create p ro g ra m s th a t ean be e to re d . named and c arried oul at a la te r lime. For t h i s . APL allow s you to define p r o g ra m s. a line al a tim e. The p ro g ra m s rem ain sto red In the system s s lo ng sb you w anl. Using the "Del o p e ra to r ( V ) you tell the system th al you wanl lo p u t In a p rog ra m . Del cauaes the te rm in al to help you alo ng In v a rio u s w a y s . A nic e feetu re is lh al you can lock y ou r APL p r o g ra m s, lh at Is, make them Inaccessible and u n rea d ab le by o lh e re . w hether Ihey are p ro g ra m m e rs o r n o t. In th la case y ou define a p rog ra m s ta r tin g w ilh ihe mystical sig n del-tlld e ( l ^ i ) Instead of del ( V ) an d Invoke Ihe names of d a rk s p ir its .

APL, like BASIC, can b e c lassed a a a n "algebraic" la n g u a g e -- but ih le one la bulll to pleeee rea l mathematicians, wilh high -lev el stuff only th ey know abo u t, like Inn er an d O ute r Prod uc ts. P a rad o x ic ally , Ihls makea APL te rrific for teachin g the ae de ep e r mathematical c on ce pts, help in g y ou se e the c onsequences of o pe ra do ns and tha un d e rly in g s tr u c tu re of mathematical th ln g a . Matrla a la e b ra . for Insta nce , c an be v lau allced a lol b e tte r b y w orking u p to It w ith le ase r concepta (like v e ctors and Inn er p ro d u cts ) en acted on an APL te rm inal. It w ould b e really sw ell If eomeone would p u t to g e th e r a tou r-gu id e book of h ig h e r mathem a tic s a t the gTad e/h lg hschool level for people w ith access to APL. In te r e stin g ly . Alfred Bork (U. o f C a l. a t I rvin e) is tsk ln g a sim ilar approach to teachin g p h y s ic s , u sin g APL a a a fundamental la ng uage In his ph y sic s c o u rse s.

APL ia not Just a prog ram m in g lang uage. It le a lso u se d by some people a s a definition o r deecrlpllon la n g u ag e , th at la , a form of notation for sta lin g how thlnga w o rk (la w s of n a tu re , algeb raic sy ste m s, com pu lers o r w h s le v e r ) . For In sta n c e , w hen IBM's 360 compute r came o u l . Iv erson a n d his f rie n d s did a v e ry h lg h -clae a a rtic le d e s c r ib in g formally in APL Juat w hat 360s do (the m a chln e'e a rc h ite c tu r e ). Bui of c o u rs e th is w as e v en le s s com prehensib le lhan the 360 program m ing m a n u a l. Falkoff. A . D .. K .E . Iv erao n and E ,H . S u sae n gu lh . "A Formal Deecrtp don o f S yete m /3 60." IBM System s J o u r n a l. v . 3 no. 3, 1964. The form al de scrip tio n in APL. IBM System /3 60 O p eratin g System: A ssem ble r ta n g u a g e . Document Number C26-6S14-X ( w h e re X Is a num ber sig nify in g th e la te st e d itio n ) . IBM Technic al P u b lica tio ns, While Plalne New Y o rk . The M anual.

SNEAKY REPEATER STATEMENT IN APL? O ne o f th e APL o p e ra to r s . "lota" ( i ) . seeme lo make Its own pro gra m loop w ithin a line. When u se d o n e -sid ed , ll fu rn ish es a se rie s of a sce n d in g n um b e rs u p to lh e n um ber I t's operating o n . T h is u n til th e laat o n e la reach ed. You typ e : I n APL r e p lie s : 3 T 6 9 12 15 18 21

In o th e r w o rd s , o n e -sid ed lota looks to be d o in g Its ow n little lo op, Increasing Its sta rtin g nu m b er b y 1. u n til II g e ts to th e va lu e on Us r i g h t . a n d chug* o n down th e line with each. V ary sneaky way of d oin g a lo op. However! II isn 't rea lly loopin g, e x ac tly . What the Iota doea Is croa ie a one-dim ensional a r r a y . a row o f Integ ers from 1 u p lo th* n um ber o n Its r ig h t . T hla rea ult la what the n moves on le ftw a rd .

FAST-CHANCING DATA An a r r a y (a ls o c a ll e d a t a b l e ) la a se ctio n or co r. m w . 1 * * 0 P W " < = lo r I I* P " * " < P> f * m ' P lh s P ^ C E H Cl) SPENCER is th e n am e o f I h e a r r a y , th e n SPENCER (1) f . T . . m e m o ry . l o , in I I. S P ^ C E < 2 , I . Ihe c ec o n tl. a n d . o o n u p lo h o w e v e r b ig it I . . O ne o f t h e u s e s of s u c h slr u c lu re s is in s t r a n g e ty p e s o f p r o g ra m s w h ere Ihe Interconnec tio n s o f in fo rm atio n a r e c h an g in g quic kly and u n p r e d i c t a b l y . S u c h o p e ra tio n s happen fast In c o r e m e m o ry . In t h i s k in d o f programming (for w h ic h l a n g u a g e s lik e LISP. SNOBOL and TRAC L a n g u a g e a r e e sp e c ia l ly c o n v e n ie n t), th e pointers a r e c h a n g e d b a c k a n d forth In c ore memory, every w h ic h w a y , all th e lim e . Presum ably according to Ihe p r o g r a m m e r 's fie n d ish m a ste r plan -- if he's go tte n th e b u g s o u t . (See D eb ug gin g, p . 3 0 ,)

jW A ^ T P O C T O ^
IM F O R M P 0 * 1 i c t v r s
O n e o f th e commonest a n d most d e s tr u c ti v e rov t h . a b o u t c o m p u te rs Is the Idea th a t th e y "o nly " e l w ith n u m b e r s . " T h is Is TOTALLY FA L S E . Not o nly Is i t a gh a stly m is u n d e r s ta n d in g , b u t It is often an I n ten tio n al m is re p re s e n ta tio n , a n d a s s u c h , not o nly i s It s m is re p re se n ta tio n b u t It Is s d sm n e d l ie . a n d a n y o n e w h o telle il Is u s in g " m ath em a tic s" a s s w et n oo dle to b e at th e r e s d e r w ith . C o m p u te r s deal w ith sy m bo ls s n d p a t t e r n s . C o m p u te r s de al w ith sym b ols o f a n y K ind-* l e t t e r s , m u sic a l n o te s . C h in ese id e o g ra m s , a r r o w s . le e c re a m f la v o r s , an d of c o u rs e n u m b e r s . (Num b e r s com e a lso In v a rio u s f la v o r s , s im p le e n d b a r o q u e . S e e choeola te b o a , p. 2.1 . Data s t r u c t u r e m eans a n y sym b o ls s n d p a t t e r n s Bet u p f o r u se In a c o m p u te r. It m e an s w hat t h in g s a r e b e in g ta k e n in to a cc o u n t b y a c o m p u te r p r o g ra m , a n d how th e se t h in g s a re se t u p w h at sy m b o ls a n d a rr a n g e m e n ts a r e u s e d to r e p r e s e n t them . T h e p r o b le m , obvio u sly . Is R e p r e s e n tin g T h e In fo rm a tio n You Want J u s t T h e Way Y ou Want ft. In all Us t r u e c o m p le x itie s. T h e c o n te n ts o f a r e c o r d , o r un ifie d s e l of fieldB . c a n ge t p u l in to a n s r r s y . T he p r o g ra m c a n th e n p ic k in to it f o r s e p a r a t e v a r ia b le s , 1 d e s i r e d , o r j u s t le a v e them / t h e r e to b e w o rk e d o n . T h e n y o u tw id d le y o u r v a r ia b le s w ith y o u r pro g ra m s s d e s i r e d . When y o u 'v e d o n e o n e r e c o r d , yo u r e p e s l. T h a is how lots of b u s i n e s s p r o g ra m s g o. Some o th e r r o u tin e k i n d s , too. FANCY STRUCTURES Many form s o f a d v a n c e d p ro g ra m m i n g are b a s e d on Ihe id e a th a t t h i n g s d o n t h a v e lo be s to r e d n e x t lo e ac h o t h e r , o r In a n y p a r t i c u l a r o r d e r . If th in g s a r e n 't n e m to e a c h o l h e r . we n e ed a n o th e r w ay Ih e p r o g ra m c a n te ll how th e y b e lon g t o g e th e r. A p o in te r . t h e n - - so m e tim e s c a lle d a lln k - 1s s pie ce of d a ta th a t te lle w h e r e a n o th e r p ie c e of d a ta I s, In som e form of m em ory . P o i n te r s often c on nec t p ie ce s o f d a la . P o inter (You c an g e t a feel f o r ho w t h is o r d in s r i l y r e la te s lo in p u t from o u t s i d e - - s e e "How D ata C o m e s. C o e s , s n d S i t s , " n e a r b y . ) T h e c o n te n ls of a n u m e r i c a l f i e l d , o r p ie c e o f d a ta c o m in g I n , c a n sim p ly b e stu ffed b y Ihe p r o g ra m m e r in to a v a r i a b l e .

FANCY FILES But th e s e s t r u c t u r e s a r e not restric te d to d a ta in c o re m e m o r y . C om plex a n d changeable f iles c an b e k e p t o n d i s k in v a rio u s ways by the sam e k in d o f th r e a d i n g (called "chaining " on mass s to r a g e ) . CHAINED FILE ON DISK

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B ut th e se te c h n i q u e s , y o u s e e . may be used In b o th fast a n d slo w o p e r a t i o n s , a n d for any pur* p o s e . so t r y in g lo c a te g o ri z e th e m te n d s not to be h e lp fu l. (Note a lso th a t ih e se te c h n iq u e s w ork w h e t h e r y o u 'r e d e a li n g w ith b i t s , o r c h a r a c te r s , o r a n y o lh e r form o f d a t a .)

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( T h is Is often f o rb id d in g ly s ta te d a s "m ak ing a m athe m atica l model"*- b u t t h a t 's u s u a lly in lite r h e t o r i c a l , fa r -f e tc h e d a n d s s t r s l s e n s e in w h ich a ll r e la tio n s a r e " m athem atical a n d l e t t e r s of Ihe a lp h a b e t a r e c o n sid e r e d lo be s sp e cia l d is to rte d k in d of n u m b e r . ) Now it h a p p e n s th at th e re a re m an y k in d s of d a ta s t r u c t u r e , a n d th e y a r e In te r c h a n g e a b le in in tr ic a t e w a y s. T h e sam e d s ta . w ith a ll its r e la tio n s h ip s s n d i n t r i c a c i e s , c s n be se l up in a v a st v a r i e t y o f a r ra n g e m e n t s a n d a ty le s w h ich a r e i n s i d e - o u t and u p s id e - d o w n v e rs io n s o f e s c h o th e r. T h e sam e th in g ( s a y . th e s e ri a l n u m b e r. 24965, of a n a uto m o b ile) may be r e p r e s e n te d in o n e d s ta s tr u c t u r e by a s e t o f sy m bo ls (such a s Ihe de cim al d ig its 2. 4 , 9 . 6 . S in Ih st o r d e r ) , sn d in a n o th e r d sla s t r u c t u r e b y th e position of so m e th in g e ls e (su ch as t h e 24965th n am e in a iis l of autom ob ile o w n e r s r e g i s t e r e d w ith Ihe m a n u fa c tu re r) . F u r t h e r m o r e . many d ifferen t form s o f d a ta may b e co m b in e d o r tw isted to g e th e r in th e sam e o v e ra ll s e t u p . T h e d s ta s tr u c tu r e c h o s e n g oe s a lo n g w ay in im p o s in g te c h n iq u e s a n d s ty l e s o f o p e r a tio n on Uie p r o g r a m . O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , th e co m p u te r la n g u a g e you u s e h a s a c o n sid e r a b le efTect u po n t h e d a ta s t r u c t u r e s y o u may ch o o se. L an g u a g es t e n d to Impose s ty l e s o f h a n d lin g In fo rm a tio n . T h e d e c i sio n to p r o g r a m a give n p ro b lem in a s p e c if ic la n g u a g e . s u c h a s BASIC o r COBOL o r APL o r TRAC L a n g u a g e . e ith e r locks y ou in to s p e c if ic ty p e s of d s ta s t r u c t u r e , o r e n e r is c o n s id e r a b le p r e s s u r e lo do it s c e r t a i n w a y . In most c ase a y ou c a n 't s e t It u p Ju st a n y w ay yo u w a n t, b u t h a v e to a d ju a t to Ihe l a n g u a g e y ou a re u s in g - - a ltho ug h to d a y 's la n g u a g e s te n d to allow more a n d m o re t y p e s of d a ta. P l a i n l y . t h e n , It is th e s e o v e ra ll s t r u c t u r e s th a l w e r e a lly c a r e about; b u t to u n d e r s t a n d o v e r all s t r u c t u r e s , we n e e d an Id ea o f all th e d ifferen t form s o f d a ta th a t may be p u t in th e m . VARIABLES AND ARRAYS T h e e a r lie a t d a ta s tr u c t u r e s in c o m p u t e r s , a n d s ti ll th e p re d o m in a tin g o n e a , e r e v a r ia b le s a n d a r r a y s . (We met them e a r l i e r u n d e r BASIC , s e e {P-lfc-17' a n d A P L , s e e q . ) A v a r i a b l e i s a sp a c e o r lo catio n in c o re m e m ory. ( F o r c o n v e n ie n c e , m ost p r o g ra m m in g l a n g u a g e s allow th e p r o g ra m m e r to c all a v a r ia b le b y a n a m e , s o th a t h e d o e sn 't h a v e to k e e p t r a c k of ita n u m e r i c a l a d d r e a s .) o n n _ n

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A p o in te r c a n b e a n a d d r e s s in c o r e m em ory; il c a n b e an a d d r e s s on d is k (d l s k p o i n l e r )i It can p o in t to a w hole s t r i n g e t d a ta . s u c h s s a n a m e . w hen th e re is n o w ay o f k n o w in g in a d v s n c e how lo ng ihe s tr i n g may b e (s l r i n g p o l n t e r ) . A s e r i e s of p ie c e s o f d a ta w h ic h point to each o th e r in s c o n tin u in g s e q u e n c e i s c a lle d s th r e a d e d

F or th is r e a s o n Ihe h a n d lin g o f d a ta h e ld to g e th e r by p o in te r s - - e v e n th o u g h it m ay m ake all s o r ts of d ifferen t p s l t e r n s - ' is c alled l is t p r o c e s s i n g . (The (T h e te rm " list p r o c e s s in g m ig h t seem to go ag a in sl common s e n s e , a s it m igh t su g g e s t som e th in g lik e . s a y . a la u n d ry li s t , w h ic h is s t r u c t u r e d in a v e ry sim ple b lo c k lik e form . But th a t 's w h al we calf i t . ) Prom inent l i s t- p r o c e s s i n g la n g u a g e s inc lu de SNOBOLi I 6 a nd LISP ( se e p - 3 1 > T h e r e i s s r g u m enl a s to w h e th e r TRAC L a n g u a g e ia a l is t- p r o c e s s in g la n g u ag e .

Note: By d e c e n t s t a n d a r d s Of E n g lis h , the w o rd da la sh o u ld be p lu r a l , datu m s i n g u la r. Bul ihe m a tte r i s too far gone: d a ta is now u tte rly s in g u l a r , lik e " c o r n an d " in fo rm a tio n." a g r a n u la r co llective w hic h may b e sco o ped, p o u r e d o r co u n ted . But I d raw Ih e lin e al m e d ia . a re m a ny , "m edia" i s plural! Media

H ere a r e some I n te r e s tin g s t r u c t u r e s th a t p r o g ra m m e rs c re a te b y lis t p r o c e s s in g : RINGS (o r c y c le s ) . T h e s e a r e a rr a n g e m e n ts o f p o in te r s th a t go a ro u n d in a c ir c l e to th e ir f irst item a g a in .

" C om p ute rs p u t e v e r y t h i n g into p i g e o n h o le s .'' W rong. Pe op le p u t t h in g s into p i g e o n h o le s. And d e s i g n e r s o f c o m p u te r p r o g r a m s c a n se t u p lo usy p ig e o n h o le s . If y o u le t 'e m . More s o p h is tic a te d p ro g ra m m i n g c a n often a v oid p ig e o n h o le s e n t i r e l y .

T RE E S. T h e s e a r e s t r u c t u r e s lh a t fan o u t . ( T h e r e a r e n o r in g s in a tr e e s t r u c t u r e , te ch n ica lly sp e a k in g .)

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People w ho w a n t to feel With It o c ca sio n ally u s e th e te rm "bU " for a n y old c h u n k of in fo rm atio n , lik e a n am e o r a d d r e a s . T h i s is W ron g. A Bit i s th e s m a lle s t p ie e e of b in a ry I n fo rm a tio n , an Item lh a t c a n b e one of tw o th in g B , lik e h e a d s o r t a ils , X o r O , o n e o r ze ro ; a n d a ll o lh e r in fo rm ation c a n b e p a c k e d in to a c o u n tab le n u m b e r o f b i t s . (How many may d e p e n d o n t h e d a ta s t r u c t u r e c h o s e n .) A s a h a n d y r u l e of thumb: e v e r y le tte r of th e a lp h ab e t o r p u n c tu a tio n m a rk la e ig h t b its (ae e ASCII b o x ) ; f o r h e a v y s to r a g e of e v er y d a y decim al n u m b e r s , e v e r y nu m e rica l d ig it c a n b e f u r t h e r p a c k e d d ow n (to f o u r b its in BCD c o d e ) .

GRAPH STRUCTURES ( so m e tim e s c alled p l e x e s ) . H ere the w o rd " g r a p h i s n ot u s e d in the o r d i n a r y w a y , to m ean a d ia g ra m m a tic s o r t o f p ic tu r e , b u t to m ean a n y s t r u c t u r e o f c o n n e c te d p o in ts . R ing s a nd t r e e s a r e s p e c ia l c a s e s of g r a p h s tru c tu re s.

G ra p h s t r u c t u r e s c a n go a n y w h ic h w a y .

A CONCRETE EXAMPLE. S u p p o s e we w an t to r e p r e s e n t th e g e n e a lo g y o f (he m o n a rc h s o f Eng* E n g la n d , bo f a r a s Is k n o w n . In a c o m p u te r da ta S t r u c t u r e . NOTE THAT A DATA STRUCTURE IS DIFFERENT FROM A PROGRAM: If s e v e r a l p r o g ra m m e re a g r e e b e fo r e h a n d o n a d a ta s t r u c t u r e . th e n ( h e y c a n go s e p a r a t e w a y s a n d e a c h c a n w rite a p r o g ra m (o d o so m e th in g d if f e r e n t w ith it If th e y h a v e r e a lly a g r e e d o n a com plete a n d e x a c t la y o u t, w h ic h th e y may o n ly th in k th e y 'v e do n e .
F i r s t we c o n s id e r th e s u b je c t m a tte r . G en e alo g y Is c o n c e p tu a lly sim p le to u s , b u t a s d a ta i s n o l a s tr iv i a l a s It m ig h t se em a t f i r s t . E v ery p e r s o n h a s tw o p a r e n ts a n d a s p e c if ic d a te of b i r t h . Each p a i r o f p a r e n ts c a n h a v e m o re th a n o ne c h ild , an d In d iv id u a l p a r e n ts c a n at d iffe re n t tim es a h a r e p a re n th o o d w ith d if f e r e n t o th e r I n d iv id u a ls . P r e s u m a b ly we w o u ld like a d a ta s tr u c tu r e th a l allo w s a p r o g ra m to f ln d o u t w ho w as a g iv e n p e r s o n 's p a r e n t , w ho w e r e a g iv e n p e r s o n 'a c h il d r e n , w hat b ro th e rs a n d s iste rs each p e rso n h a d , a n d s im ila r m a tte rs (so f a r a s is kn ow n b y h is t o r ia n s - - a n o th e r d if f ic u lty ). Note th a t Juat b e c a u s e It ia sim p le to p u t th is In form a tio n in a w all c h a r t , lh at d o e s n ot m ean ll la s im p le to f ig u r e out a n a d e q u a te d a ta s t r u c t u r e . N ote to o . th a l a n y a s p e c t o f th e d a ta w h ic h Is le ft o u t c a n n o t th e n b e h a n d le d b y Ihe p r o g r a m . W hat's n ot th e r e i s nol t h e r e . T h e e a s y w ay o u l Is to u se a la n g u a g e lik e , s a y , TRAC L an g u a g e , a n d u se Its b a s ic u n its (In t h is c a s e , "fo rm a 1 ) lo m ak e u p a d a ta s tr u c t u r e 1 w h o se i n d iv i d u a l s e c tio n s w ou ld sh ow p a r e n ta g e , d a l e a , b r o t h e r s a n d s l a t e r s an d s o o n . T h e b r a v e r a p p r o a c h ie to tr y to a et it up f o r so m e th in g lik e FORTRAN o r BASIC, la n g u a g e s w h ic h t r e a t c o re m em ory m ore lik e a n u m e ric a lly a d d r e s s e d a r r a y o r b l o c k , a s doee ro ck -b otto m m a ch in e la n g u a g e . Let ue assu m e th a t we h a v e d e c id e d to u s e an a r r a y - t y p e da ta s t r u c t u r e , f o r In sta n c e to go w ith a p r o g r a m In th e BASIC la n g u a g e on a 16b lt m in ic o m p u te r . We d o not h a v e m u ch room in c o re m e m o r y , so for e ac h p e rs o n In o u r da ta s t r u c t u r e w e a r e g o in g lo ha ve to s to r e a s e p a r a te r e c o r d on a d i s k m e m o r y , a n d call It into c o re m em o ry a s r e q u i r e d . A fte r m uch h e a d - s c r a t c h i n g , we m igh t come u p w ith so m e th in g lik e th e fo llo w in g . It la n o t a v e r y good d a la s t r u c t u r e . It la no t a v e ry g oo d d a la s t r u c t u r e o n p u r p o a e . It u s e s a bloc k o f 28 w o r d s , o r 448 b its , p e r i n d i v i d u a l , not c o u n lin g th e le n g th o f h is n a m e , w h ic h Is an a d d itio n a l 6 b its p e r c h a r a c te r o r s p a c e . H o w e v e r, th is In I tse lf Is n e i t h e r go od n o r b a d . I t's more lh a n y o u might e x p e c t, b u t le s s th a n y o u m ight n e e d . ( I n c id e n ta lly , o ut o f c o n ce rn for sto r a g e s p a c e , some d a ta flelda s r e p a c k e d more th a n on e lo e 16-blt c o m p u te r w o rd . T h is Is s c o r n f u lly c a lle d b it- f id d lin g b y c o m pu te rfo lk who w o rk o n b ig m a chln ea a n d d o n 't h a v e to w o rr y a b o u t s u c h m a tte r s .) 1 2 3, 4 5 6 7 6 9 10 ll 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 m o na rc h n o . (If a n y ) se rial ho. a tri n g p o in te r ------------(tw o 16-b it w o rd s lo n g ) 0 . s e r i a l no.. _ 1 a e r ia l n o . _ ^ s e r ia l no. 1

H era a r e some a ae u m p tio n s 1 h a v e e m b od ied I n th ia d a la s t r u c t u r e . T h a t i s , I h a d th e m In m in d . ( T h e p a r t s y o u d i d n 't h a v e In m in d a re w h at get y o u l a t e r . ) P a r e n ts a n d c h ild r e n o f m o n a rc h a a r e in c lu d e d , a s w ell a s m o n a rc h a . All m o n a rc h s ha ve a s e p a r a t e m o n a rc h n u m b e r. No m o n a rc h r e ig n e d m o re th a n tw ic e . (?) No m o n a rc h o r p a r e n t of a m o n a rc h h a d m o re th a n flv e c h ild r e n of one sex . (Note th e d a n g e r o f th e s e a s s u m p tio n s .) We a r e no t i n te r e s t e d In g r a n d c h i l d r e n o f m o n a rc h s u n le s s th e y a r e a lso m o n a rc h a . o r a lb lin g s . o r p a r e n t s o f m o n a rc h a . T h e in fo rm atio n a bo ut the d iffe re n t p e o p le c an b e I n p u t in an y o r d e r , a s th e y e a r s o f r e ig n c a n b e ste p p e d t h r o u g h b y a p r o g r a m lo And the o r d e r of re ig n . If th ia se em s lik e too much b o th e r , th a l is In a w ay the p o in t. D ata s tr u c tu r e s m ust be th o u g h t o u t . S in c e c o m p u le rs h a v e no I n tr in s ic w ay of o p e r a tin g o r of h a n d lin g d a ta (tho ug h p a r t i c u l a r la n g u a g e s w ill r e s t r ic t y ou in p a r t i c u l a r w a y s ) , yo u w ill h a v e to w o rk a ll Ih ls o u t, a n d a c a r e l e s s l y c h o s e n d a la s t r u c t u r e w ill le a v e s o m e th in g o u t. o r fail to d is t in g u is h am o ng im p o r ta n t d if f e r e n c e s , o r o th e rw is e h a v e Its r e v e n g e . (F o r i n s t a n c e , if y o u h a v e n 't n o tic e d yel: we le ft o u t le g itim a c y . F o r many p u r p o s e s we w an t lo know w h ic h k i n g s w ere b a s t a r d s . ) (Self-teBl: i s flv e b its lo n g e n o u g h to e x p r e s s Ihe g r e a te s t n u m b e r of m o nths a n y E n g lish m o n a rc h r e ig n e d ? - - se e " B in a ry P a t t e r n s . " O r do we h a v e to fix t h is d a ta s t r u c t u r e on th a t s c o re a lso ? )

" T h e r a is a g r o w in g fee lin g th at d a ta p r o c e s s in g p e o ple w o u ld b e n efit if th e y w e r e to a cc ep t a r a d ic a l ly new p o in t of v ie w , on e th a t w ou ld lib e r a te Ihe a p p lic a tio n p r o g r a m m e r 's th in k i n g from the c e n tr a l is m o f c o re s t o r a g e a n d allow him th e freedom lo a ct a s a n a v ig a to r w ith in a d a ta b a s e . T h la r e o r le n ta l lo n w ill c a u s e a s much a n g u is h am ong p r o g ra m m e rs a6 th e h e lio c e n tr ic th e o ry d id am on g a ncie n t a s tr o n o m e r s a nd t h e o lo g i a n s . C h a r le s W. Bachm an (p iec e c ite d in B i b lio g r a p h y )

R em em ber th e s o n g th a t had a p o in te r d a ta s tr u c tu re ? ( in a lp h a b e tic a l o r d e r )

T o g iv e yo u a s e n s e of the s o r t of p r o g ra m th is d a la s tr u c t u r e allow s: A p r o g ra m lo a s c e r t a in how many k in g s w ere th e s o n s of k in g s w ould look a l e ac h e n try th a t h a d a m o n a rc h n u m b e r , te at w h e t h e r th e m o n a rc h w as m a le , a n d i f m ale, w ould look al th e m ale p a r e n t 's s e r i a l n u m b e r. T h e n It w ould look u p lh a t p a re n t'B e n t r y , a n d se e w h e t h e r il in tu r n h a d a m o n a rc h n u m b e r , a nd if s o . add on e lo t h e c o u n t it w as m a k in g . T h e n il would go b a c k to the e n lry il h a d b e e n loo king a l. a n d s te p on to the o n e a fte r th a t. T h i s is a ctu a lly a p re tty lo u sy d a la s t r u c t u r e . T h e c lu m s in e s s o f th is a p p ro a c h to s u c h d a ta - - a n d y ou a r e w elcome to th in k o f a b e tte r o n e - - s h o w s some o f Ih e d ifficu ltie s of h a n d lin g com plex d a la a bo ut th e r e a l w o rl d . T h in g s like le n g th s o f na m es a n d n u m b e rs o f r e la tiv e s p r o d u c e g r e a t i r r e g u l a r i t i e s , bu t m ake th e s e k in d s of d a ta n o le s s w o rth o f o u r a tte n tio n . We c o uld a d d lotB o f th in g s to o u r da la s t r u c t u r e (a n d so m ak e il more u n w ie ld y ) . For , a e In - ta(n c el, we m igh t w a n t to m a rk e ach s e r i a l x s- lb n u m b e r sp e c ia lly if it r e f e r r e d to som eone w ho w as Ihe o f fs p r in g o f a m o n a rc h . We c ou ld s im p ly s e l a p a r t i c u l a r b it to 1 in th e s e r i a l n u m b e r for th em (ca lle d a f la g o r la g ) . We c o u ld a lso fla g d a le s a n d g e n e a lo g ie s lh a l a r e r e g a r d e d a s u n c e r ta i n . T h e r e is n o lim it lo th e e x a c tn e s s an d c o m p le x ilv w ith w h ic h in form ation may b e r e p r e s e n te d , But d o in g ll rlg h l c a n . a s a lw a y s , b e tr o u b le so m e . A lo t o f c o m p u te r pe o ple w an l to avoid d e a li n g w ith c om plex d a ta ; p e r h a p s y ou c a n b e g in to s e e w h y . o u t w e m ust d e al w ith lh e tr u e c o m p le x itie s o f in fo rm atio n ; th e re f o re la n g u a g e s a n d s y ste m s lh a l allow c om ple x in fo rm a tio n s t r u c t u r e s m ust becom e b e lte r - k n o w n a n d e a s ie r lo u s e . THE FRONTIER: COMPLEX FILE STRUCTURE T h e a rr a n g e m e n ts o f w hole f lie s g r o u p s o f r e c o r d s o r o lh e r info c h u n k s - - s r e u p to th e p r o g r a m m e r . T h e s t r u c t u r e o f flleB I s c a ll e d , nol s u r p r i s i n g l y , file s t r u c t u r e , a n d It Is u p lo th e p r o g ra m m e r to d e c id e how hla file s sh o u ld be a r r a n g e d . H a b its d ie h a r d . T h e notion of s e q u e n c e - e v e n f a l s e , im p o s ed s e q u e n c e Is d e e p In Ihe r a c ia l u n c o n s c io u s of c o m p u te r p e o p le . An i n t e r e s t i n g c o n c r e te te rm sh o w s th is n ic e l y . B e ca use c o m p u te r p e o p le o f te n th in k an y file s h o u ld h ave a b a s ic s e q u e n c e , (h ey u s e Ihe te rm in v e r t e d f ile fo r a file th a t h a s b e e n c h a n g e d from its b a s ic s e q u e n c e (o a n o th e r s e q u e n c e . B ut in c r e a s i n g l y , a ll th e s e q u e n c e s a r e fala e a n d a r ti f i c i a l . W here now a r e I n v e r te d flies? All flle a s r e In v e r te d If t h e y 'r e a n y th in g . F o r t u n a t e l y , th e f in al f ro n t ie r o f d a ta s t r u c t u r e la now I n c r e a s in g ly r e c o g n iz e d a s th e c o n tro l o f com plex s t o r a g e o f f lie s on d i s k mem o r y . T h e la te st fa n c y te rm f o r th is Is d a ta b a se s y a le m . m e an in g p la n n e d - o u t o v e ra ll s to r a g e lh al yo u c a n se n d y o u r p r o g r a m s to lik e m e s s e n g e r s . T h e facl th a t IBM now h a s moved in to th is a r e a (w ith Its I n tr ic a te " a c c e s s m e th o d s" a n d all t h e i r I n itia la ) m e an s c o m p lex s to r a g e c o n tro l has filia lly a r r i v e d , a lth o u g h th e p io n e e r in g w o rk w aa d o n e b y B achm an at GE som e y e a r 6 ag o (ae e b ib li o g r a p h y ) . T ill th e la s t few y e a r a , e x te r n a l s to r a g e , w ith p o in te r s a n d e v e r y th in g , h a s n o t b e e n c o n v e n ie n tly u n d e r the p r o g ra m m e r's c o n tro l e x c e p t in c r u d e w a y s . F inally we a r e s e e in g s y s te m s b e g in n in g lo ge l a ro u n d th a t a u to m a tic ally h a n d le c om plex file s t r u c t u r e s in v e r s a t i l e w ay s th a t p r o g ra m m e ra c a n u s e more e a s il y .

ANKLE BONE BACK BONE FOOT BONE ----- > H t A U BONE HIP BONE KNEE BONE NECK BONE SHIN BONE SHOULDEII B< THIGH BONE

Malcolm C . H a r r is o n , D s ia -S tr u c tu r e s a n d P r o g r a m m in g . S c o n , F o r e sm a n . 1973. - T h is book c a n be r ec o m m e n ded to a m b itio u s b e g i n n e r s . It h a s u se fu l s u m m a ri e s o f d iffe re n t la n g u a g e s , a s w ell as fu n d am e n ta l tre a tm e n t of d a ta s t r u c t u r e s a s Ihey In te r tw in e w ith s p e c if ic ls n g u e g e s . An o b s c u r e a n d in tr ic a t e stud y of th e in t e r c h a n g e a b ility o f d a la s t r u c t u r e s - - how Ihey fu n d am e n ta lly in te r c o n v e r t h a s b e e n th e lon gtim e r e s e a r c h o f one A nalol H o lt, who callB h is w o rk M e m -T h e o ry , Mem la from m e m o r y . a nd a ls o , c o n v e n ie n tly , s H eb rew l e tte r . T h is Is an e x tre m e ly a m bitiou s s t u d y , a s it in p r in c ip le e m b ra c e s n o l Ju s t m u ch o r a ll of c o m p u te r s c ie n c e , b u t p e r h a p s m a the m atics Itse lf. Math f r e a k s a tte n tio n : Holt h a s sa id he in te n d e d to d e riv e a ll of sy m b o lic logic a n d m ath em atics from r e la tio n a a n d p o in te r s t r u c t u r e s . L e t's h e a r It for t u r n in g R u ss ell on h is h e a d . I d o n 't know if Holt h a s p u b lis h e d a n y th in g on it in t h e op en l i t e r a t u r e o r n o t. H o w ev e r, h e d oe s h a v e a gam e a v a ila b le w h ic h se em s w e ird ly to em body th e s e p r in c i p le s . T h e game o f Mem Is a v a ila b le for $6.5 0 p o stp a id ($ 6 .8 6 to P e n n s y lv a n ia n s ) from S t e ll e d a r, I n c . . 1700 Walnut S t . . P h lla . PA 19103. It h a s b e a u ti fu ll y c o lo re d p le c e a , lo o ks d e c e p tiv e ly s im p le , a n d Is u n lik e a n y th in g , e x c e p t d i s c r e t e a b a lr a c tiv e th in k in g its e lf . Recom m e n d ed . C h a r le s W. B a chm an. " T h e P ro g ram m er a s N av i g a t o r . " CACM Nov 1973. Bachm an w a s th e p rim e m o v e r In the d e v elo p m en t of l a r g e lin k e d d i s k d a la s y s te m s at G e n e ra l E le ctric ; h e la th e P io n e e r. T h i s is a bout b ig n - d lm e n slo n a l s tu f f . D av id L efk o v itz. F ile S t r u c tu r e s to r O n-L in e S y s te m s . S p a r ta n - H a y d e n Bo ok s, $12. A lfonso F . C a r d e n a s . "E valu a tio n of File O r g a n iz a t io n - - a Model a n d S y s te m ." CACM S e p 7 3. 540-548. Not s u r p r i s i n g l y , it t u r n s o ut th a l d if f e r e n t file o rg a n iz a t io n s h a v e d if f e r e n t a d v a n ta g e s . E d g a r H . Sibley a n d R o b e rt W. T a y l o r . "A D ata D efin it io n a n d M app in g L a n g u a g e ." CACM D ec 73. 750-759. E xam ple of c u r r e n t so p h is t ic a te d a p p ro a c h e s : a w h ole la n g u a g e fo r n a ilin g t h e d a ta Ju sl th e w ay it sh o u ld b e . H as h e lp fu l f u r t h e r c ita tio n s.

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D a l a Is p u n c h e d Into c a r d s a c c o r d i n g to so m e p l a n a s s o c i a t e d w ith th e p r o g r a m . B e y o n d th o s e s im p le m a tte r s t h e r e I h no p r e o r d a i n e d a r r a n g e m e n t f o r In fo rm a tio n on a p u n c h c a r d ; It ail d e p e n d s on w h a l th e p r o g r a m c a l l s f o r - B ut e a c h a e P 8 r a le p i e c e o r se c ti o n o f I n f o r m a tio n - - e a c h b u n c h o f c o n s e c u tiv e c h a r a c t e r s t h a l t o g e t h e r h a v e a s p e c if ic m e a n i n g - - a re c alled a f ie l d . A f ie ld c a n b e a n a m e , a n u m b e r , an a m o u n t o f m o n e y , a n a lp h a b e tic a l c o d e r e p r e s e n tin g so m e th in g , a n u m e rica l code r e p r e s e n t i n g s o m e th in g , o r o l h e r s tu f f . When th e c a r d s go Into t h e p r o g r a m , i h e p r o g r a m c an p ic k ofT th e In fo r m a tio n it n e e d a o n e f ie ld a t a ti m e p u l l i n g t h e f ie ld ln c o lu m n s 1 lo 17 In to one p r o g r a m v a r i a b l e , t h e f ie ld from c o lu m n s n in e to te n Into a n o t h e r p r o g r a m v a r i a b l e , a n d so

MAGNETIC STORAGE T h e s e m e p r i n c i p l e of fie lds applies in o t h e r d a ta m e d ia , e s p e c ia l ly magnet ic ta pe and d i s k . We m ay e x t e n d th e notion of a field to e x p la i n r e c o r d s a n d f ile s . A f i e l d , g e n e r a ll y s p e a k i n g , Is a section of p o s i t i o n s o n so me mediu m r e s e r v e d for one p a r t i c u l a r p ie c e o f in f o r m a t io n , o r lha data In || , A r e c o r d i s a b u n c h of fie lds stored on som e m e diu m w h ic h h a v e so me organiz ed use. ( F o r I n s ta n c e , t h e a c c o u n tin g Information held b y a n e l e c t r i c u til ity com pany a bout a particula r c u s to m e r Is lik e ly to b e s to r e d a s a r ec o rd with a t l e a s t th e s e fie l d s : a c c o u n t n u m b e r; Iasi name; I n itia ls ; a d d r e s s ; a m o u n t c u r r e n t l y ow ed.) A Ole i s a w h o le b i g com ple te b u n c h of in f o r m a tio n lha l Is Bt o re d s o m e p la c e . In many a p p lic a ti o n s a file I s co m p o sed o f num ero us s i m i l a r , c o n s e c u tiv e r e c o r d s . F o r I nsta nce, a n e l e c t r i c c o m p a n y m a y well s to r e ihe re c o rd s f o r a l l o f i t s c u s to m e r s o n a m a g n etic la p e, o r d e r e d b y a c c o u n t n u m b e r ( ac co u n t 000001 firs t). S t o r i n g s e q u e n c e s of sim ila r r e c o rd s In lo n g f ile s is ty p ic a l o f b u s i n e s s p r o g r a m s , th o u g h p e r h a p s t h i s sh o u ld b e g in lo change. I t 's e s p e c ia l ly s u i t e d to b a tc h p r o c e s s in g , t h a t i s , h a n d lin g m a n y r e c o r d s In ihe same w ay a t th e sa m e tim e . (S e e " S y ste m P ro g r a m s.") N ow , th e d i v i s i o n s o f f i e l d , r e c o r d and f ile a r e c o n c e p tu a l: th e y a r e w h a t th e p r o g ra m m e r t h i n k s a b o u t, b a a e d on th e Information n e e d s o f a s p e c if ic c o m p u te r p r o g r a m . ftt-t

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D ata u s u a lly h a s to b e m a r s h a l l e d Into r o w s , o r e v e n r e g im e n ts a n d b a t t a l i o n s , be fo r e It c a n g o In to a c o m p u te r. (So m e p e o p le Ju s t g e t t h e i r d a t a i n to a c o m p u te r b y s it tin g a t a te rm in a l s n d ty p i n g it I n . p e r h a p s a n s w e r in g q u e s tio n s t y p e d to them b y a f r o n t - e n d p r o g r a m . But t h e y 'r e th e lu c k y o n e s . Most o f u s h a v e lo ge l th e d a t a s e l up on so m e Kin d o f h o ld in g s u r f a c e b e f o r e i l g e ts fed I n . T h a t 's an I n p u t m e d iu m . ) DATA MEDIA A d a l a m edium ( "m ediu m " Is t h e s i n g u l a r o f " m e d i a " ) Is a n y th in g th a l h o ld s Ihe m a r k s of d a ta o u t s i d e Ihe c o re m em ory of a c o m p u i e r . T h u s p u n c h e d c a r d s a n d p u n c h e d p a p e r lape may b e u s e d aa In p u t m e d i a . u s e d f o r p u tti n g In fo r m a tio n Into a c o m p u te r. (E ach m e diu m n e e d s a c o r r e s p o n d i n g I n p u t o r o u tp u t d e v i c e , to w h i s k a c r o s s th e a u rf a c e a n d I r a n a l a le it s m a r k s o r h o le s Into t h e c o r r e s p o n d i n g e le c tr o n ic p u lse s.) T h e r e a r e th r e e t y p e s of d a ta m edia ; In p u t, o u t p u t a n d s to r a g e m e d ia . A n in p u t m e d iu m c a r r i e s th e d a la I n . A n o u tp u t m ediu m r e c e i v e s th e r e s u l ts o f a p r o g r a m ; f o r i n s t a n c e , a s h e e t o f p a p e r coin in g o u t o f a p r i n t i n g d e v ic e Is a n o u t p u t m ed iu m , a s Is a p u n c h e d c a r d o r p u n c h e d p a p e r tap e. S t o r a g e media a r e o u tp u t m e d ia t h a t may be u s e d a s in p u t media la t e r o n . T h u s p u n c h e d c a r d s a n d p u n c h e d p a p e r la p e c a n b e s to r a g e m e d ia . B u l Ih e b e t t e r s to r a g e m e dia u s e m a g n e tic r e c o r d i n g (w h ich Is f a s t e r a n d l e s s b u l k y ) , lik e m a g n e t ic ta p e a n d d i s k s , o r Ju s t p la in " d i s k s " a s w e g e n e r a ll y call the m . (S e e f u lle r lis t o f m a g m e d ia u n d e r " P e r i p h e r a l s . " p . 5 7 ) T h e u n i t s a n d a r r a n g e m e n ts of d a l a u s e d fo r i n p u t . o u tp u t an d s to r a g e a r e In p r i n c i p l e n o t n e c e s s a r i l y ih e tr u e o n e s of th e d a l a s t r u c t u r e u s e d b y th e p r o g r a m . T h e b lo c k s a n d r e c o r d s o f s t o r a g e , f o r i n s t a n c e , may h a v e i r r e g u l a r d a ta w i t h p o in le r e sit tin g in th e m . ( U n f o r tu n a te ly t h e r e i s so m e c a r r y o v e r , in t h a t p r o g r a m m e r s a r e te m p te d to u se d s t a s t r u c t u r e s w h ic h a r e e a s y lo s lo r e a n d r u n in a n d o u t . r a t h e r th a n h a n d l i n g th e tr u e co m p le x itie s o f t h e s u b je c t . T h i s i s a lw a y s a te m p ta tio n .) L et u s c o n s i d e r th e u n its a n d a r r a n g e m e n t s f d a ta u s e d l o r In p u t a n d o u tp u t a n d s t o r a g e . T h e s e a r e , r e s p e c t i v e l y , f ie l d s , r e c o r d s , f lie s an d b lo c k s . THE PUNCH CARD L e t 's b e g in w ilh a fun e xam ple; th a t h o a r y o ld m e d iu m for i n p u t a n d o u t p u t , th e pu n c h ed (or "p u n ch ") c a r d . T h e p u n c h c a r d w ill s h o w u s w h at a field i s . T h e p u n c h c a r d Is g e n e r a ll y b e l i e v e d lo h a v e b e e n I n v e n te d b y H erm an H o lle rith ( a l th o u g h t h e a u t h o r ' s I n -l a w s h a d b i t t e r r e c o l l e c tio n s io th e c o n t r a r y ) . It w a s f ir s t u s e d o n a b r o a d s c a le to c o u n t u p th e c e n s u s o f I9 6 0 , a n d la t e r b e c a m e a n e a r ly c o r n e r s t o n e o f IBM, b u t t h a ts a n o t h e r s t o r y . T h e p u n c h e s o n a c a r d r e p r e s e n t s row o f In fo r m a tio n ( s u c h aa a row o f ty p e d l e t t e r s ) , th i s la n o t o b v io u s b e c a u s e th e c a r d la a r e c ta n g le r a t h e r lh a n a li n e . H o w e v e r, t h e le n g th o f ih e c a r d 1b a c tu a lly d iv id e d in to e i g h t y p o sl b o n a , e a c h o f w h ic h may h o ld o n e n u m b e r , a lp h a b e tic c h a r a c t e r o r p u n c tu a t io n m a r k . T h e s e p o s it io n s a r e a c tu a lly n a r r o w c o l u m n s , e ig h ty o f th e m , w ith d if f e r e n t p o s it io n s I n w h ic h h o le s m a y b e p u n c h e d . O ne ho le In a c o lu m n r e p r e s e n t s a n u m e ra l; w h ic h p o s itio n i n th e co lu m n s p e c i f i e s w h a t n u m b e r . T w o h o le s In a c o lu m n g e n e r a l l y mean a le tte r of th e a l p h a b e t , th r e e h o le s i n a c o lu m n m e an a p u n c tu a t io n m a rk .

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C o d e s a r e p a l l e m e o r s y m b o ls w h ic h a r e a s s ig n e d m e a n i n g s . Som etim es we m ake u p s p e c ia l c o d e s lo c u t d o w n Ih e s m ount o f in f o r m a tio n tha t h a s to be s t o r e d . On y o u r d r i v e r ' s L ic ense, f o r i n s t a n c e . Ihey m ay r e d u c e y o u r h a i r c o lo r lo on e d e cim al d ig i. ( fo u r b its o f in f o r m a t io n ), s in c e t h e r e a r e le a s lh a n n in e p o s s ib i liti e s fo r q u ic k id e n tif ic a ti o n of h a ir - c o lo r a n y w s y . O b v i o u s l y . c o d e s c a n b e an y d a r n thing*, an y s e l o f s y m b o ls lh a t i s l e s s th a n w h a i y o u s t a r t e d w i t h . But b y c o m p re a s ln g In fo rm a tio n th e y lose in f o r m a tio n , s o th a t s u b tl e ti e s d is a p p e a r ( c o n s i d e r th e u s e of le lte re A lo F to g r a d e s t u d e n t s ) . When y ou d iv id e a c o n tin u u m in to c a t e g o r i e s , not Ju st lh e f e w n e s s o f th e c a t e g o r i e s , b u t the p la c e s y o u d r a w th e lin e - - c a lle d " b r e a k s " o r " c u t l l n g - p o i n t s " - - p r e s e n t p r o b le m s . Suc h c h o p p in g f re q u e n t ly b l u r s o u l I m p o rtan t d i s tin c tio n s . C o d in g Is a lw a y s a r b i t r a r y , f r e q u e n tly d e s t r u c t i v e a n d s t u p i d .

T r o u b le I s , th e a rit h m e t ic Is h a r d e r to w ir e f o r th is k i n d , b e c a u s e t h e r e a r e tw o z e r o e s ( p lu s a n d m in u s ) b e tw e e n 1 and -1 . ADDABLE NEGATIVE t h i s sy s te m d o e s s s o r t of Q lp a n d b e g in s a n e g a ti v e n u m b e r w ith a il o n e s . It m e an s th a l th e m a c h in e d o e s n 'l h a v e to h a v e s u b t r a c tio n c ir c u itr y : y o u J u s t a d d t h e Q lp p e d n e g a ti v e v e r s i o n of a n u m b e r , a n d th a l a c tu a lly s u b t r a c t s I t. T h is h a s now c a u g h t o n g e n e r a ll y . ( I t 's u s u a lly c a lle d " tw o s co m p lem en t n e g a t i v e , " w h ic h h a s som e o b s c u r e m a th e m atica l m e a n in g .) BCD ( B in a r y - C o d e d D e c im a l) -- lh e a c c o u n t a n t 's n u m b e r i n g s y s te m . U se d b y COBOL ( se e p . 3 1 ) . I t 's p la in o ld d e c im a l, w ith e v e r y n u m e ra l s to r e d i n f o u r b its ; t h e m a ch in e o r la n g u a g e h a s to a d d th e m one n u m e r s l a t a t im e . I n s te a d o f c r u n c h in g to g e th e r full b i n a r y w o r d s . FLOATING P O IN T -- t h e s c i e n t i s t 's n u m b e r t e c h n i q u e f o r a n y th in g th a t m a y not com e o u t e v e n . E x p r e s s e s a n y q u a n tity s s a n am o un t a n d a s iz e .

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D ata h a s to g e t I n s id e Ih e m a ch in e so m e h o w , a n d r e s u l t s h a v e to g e t b a c k o u l. T w o m a in ty p e s of c o d e s - - th a t I s , s t a n d a r d i z e d p a t t e r n s - - e x i s t , a lth o u g h w h s l fo rm s o f d a ta p r o g r a m s w o rk o n in s i d e v a rie s c o n sid e ra b ly . ( T h e I n p u t d a ta c an b e c o m p le te ly tr a n s fo r m e d b e f o r e I n te r n a l w o rk a l a r t s . ) 1. A SCII ( p r o n o u n c e d " A s k e y ," A m e ric a n S t a n d a r d C od e fo r I n fo rm a tio n E x c h a n g e . T h i s allo w s a ll th e k i n d s o f n u m b e r s a n d a lp h a b e ts y o u c o u ld p o s s ib l y w a n t (fo r in s t a n c e , S w a h ili) f o r g e ttin g I n fo rm a tio n In a n d o u t o f c o m p u te r s . ASCII i s u s e d lo a n d from m ost T e l e ty p e t e r m l n s l s a n d k e y s c o p e a . H o w e v e r , ASCII Is a ls o u s e d for I n t e r n a l s t o r a g e o f a lp h a b e tic a l d a la In m a n y no n -IB M s y s te m s , a n d lt Is a ls o the r u n n i n g f o rm o f a n u m b e r of p r o g ra m m i n g l a n g u a g e s , s u c h a s TRAC l a n g u a g e (see p . \ 3 ) , TBCO a n d GRASS (see p .* 3 i) . IB M 's d e lib e r a te u n d e r m i n in g o f the A SC II c o d e Is a s o u r c e o f w i d e s p r e a d a n g e r . (S e e IB M , p . 5*2..) 2 . EBCDIC ( p r o n o u n c e d " E b s a d lc k , " ) E x te n d e d B i n a r y C od e d D ec im a l. T h i s w as th e c o d e IBM b r o u g h t o u t w ith th e 360, p a s s i n g A SCII b y . (IBM s e e m s to th in k of c o m p e t lb llll y a s a p r i v i l e g e th a t m u sl be e a r n e d , i . e . . p a id f o r . ) EBCDIC a lso a l low s n u m b e r s , Ihe E n g lis h a lp h a b e t , a n d v a r i o u s p u n c tu a t io n m a r k s . T h i s i s u s e d to a n d f ro m m o st IBM t e r m in a l s ("2741 ty p e " ) .

Lola o f w a y s now e x i s t to h a n d le w r i t te n In fo rm a tio n b y c o m p u te r. T h e s e often p r e s e n t b e t t e r w a y s lo o p e r a te lh a n b y u s in g c o d e s of t h i s ty p e . Bui m a n y c o m p u te r p r o g r a m m e r s p r e f e r to m ake y o u u s e c o d e s . (NOTE: t h e r e s r e tw o o th e r s e n s e s o f " c o d e u s e d h e r e a b o u ls : 1) th e b i n a r y p a t t e r n s m ad e to s ta n d for a n y I n fo r m a tio n , e s p e c ia l ly on in p u t a n d o u tp u t; 2) w h a t c o m p u te r p r o g r a m s c o n s is t o f. lh at i s , lin e s of c o m m a n d s .)

T h e " a m o u n t" p a r t c o n ta i n s Ihe a c tu a l b i n a r y n u m e r a l s . Ih e " e ls e " Is Ih e n u m b e r o f p la c e s In f ro n t o f o r a fte r th e d e c im a l p o in t lh a t th e n u m b e r s t a r t s . V e r y im p o r ta n t f o r a s tro n o m ic a l a n d in f in ite sim a l m a tte r s , s in c e s f lo a t in g - p o in t n u m b e r c a n be b i g g e r , s s y , th a n 9 ,8 7 6 ,5 4 3 ,2 1 0 .0 0 0 o r s m a lle r th a n .00000001234S67 F o r some p e o p le e v e n t h is i s n ' t p r e c is e e n o u g h , s o I h sy p r o g r a m u p " in f in ite p r s c l s l o n a r i t h m e t i c ." w h ic h c a r r i e s o u t a rith m e tic to a s m any p la c e s a s th e y w a n t. II la k e s m ue h l o n g e r , th o u g h .

"L o gica l d e d u c ti o n " r e a lly c o n s is ts of te c h n iq u e s f o r f in d in g o u l w h a t 's a lr e a d y i n a d a la s t r u c t u r e . "L o gica l I n c o n s i s te n c y " m e a n s a da ta s t r u c t u r e c o n tr a d ic ts i t s e l f . R a r e ly d o e s It h a p p e n I J u t c o m p u te r h e lp s y o u d is c o v e r so m e th in g n e w a b o u t a su b je c t th a l y o u d i d n 't s u s p e c t o r s e e c o m in g w ith o u t lh e c o m p u te r; a fte r a l l . y o u h a v e lo s e l u p a stu d y In s u c h a w a y a s to m a k e room to find th in g s o u l . a n d y o u c a n o n ly m ak e ro om to f in d some t h i n g s o u l .

WHAT'S AVAILABLE IN MACHINES AND LANGUAGES Som e m a c h i n e s . lik e th e 360 . a r e m o r e - o r - l e s s w i r e d u p lo h a n d le s e v e r s l n u m b e r ty p e s : b i n a r y , f lo a tin g p o i n t , BCD. L ittle m a c h in e s u s u a l l y o n ly h a v e p la in b i n a r y . s o o t h e r ty p e s h a v e to b e h a n d le d b y p r o g r a m s b u ilt u p from th a l fu n d am e n ta l b in a ry . L a n g u a g e s m a k e u p f o r th le b y p r o v i d i n g p r o g r a m s to h a n d le n u m b e r s in s o m e o r a ll o f t h e s e f o rm a ts. T h e r e a r e l a n g u a g e a th a t o f fe r e v e n m o re k i n d s of n u m b e rs-IMAGINARY n u m b e rs (tw o -p a rt n u m b e rs f o llo w in g c e r t a i n r u l e s ) QUATBRNIONS (U ke I m a g in a r y n u m b e r s b u t w o rs e) a n d goo d n ess know s w hat e lse . O n lhe o t h e r h a n d , so m e la n g u a g e s r e s t r i c t w h a t n u m b e r f a c ilitie s a r e a v a il a b le fo r s im p li c i t y 's s a k e . B A 9 IC , for i n s t a n c e , d o e s n 't d i s t i n g u i s h b e tw e e n i n t e g e r s (c o u n ti n g n u m b e r s ) a n d th o s e w ith d e c im a l p o in ts ; a ll n u m b e r s m ay h a v e d e cim al p o in ts . TRAC L a n g u a g s o nly g i v e s y o u I n t e g e r s to s t s r t , s in c e I t 's e a sy e n o u g h to p r o g r a m o th e r k i n d s o f n u m b e r b e h a v i o r In ( lik e in f in it e p r e c i s i o n ) .

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P u n c h c a r d s a r e n o t in lr in s l c a U y e v il. T h ey h a v e s e rv e d many u se fu l p u r p o s e s . B ut t h e p u n c h - c s r d m e n ta lity i s s till a r o u n d . T h i s w ill b e s e e n In (he p r o g r a m m e r w ho h a b itu a lly s e t s t h in g s u p s o w e h a v e to u se p u n c h c a r d s ( w h e n o t h e r m e d ia , o r I n t e r a c ti v e t e r m i n a l s , w o u ld b e b e t t e r ) ; w h o in s i s t s o n t h e u s e r o r v ic tim p u tti n g d o w n n u m b e r s ( w h e n w ith a lit tle m ore e ff o rt th e p r o g r a m c o u ld h a n d le t e x t , w h ic h i s e a s ie r t o r t h e h u m a n , o r e v e n lo ok u p lh e I n fo r m ation in d a ta It h a s a l r e a d y ) ; w h o I n s is ts t h s t p e o p le s l a s t n a m e s b e c u t do w n to e le v e n l e t t e r s b e c a u s e h e d o e s n 't fee l lik e l e a v i n g a lo n g e r f ie ld o r h a n d lin g e x c e p tio n s i n h i s p r o g r a m ; w h o I n s is ts o n Ihe o u t s i d e r c u t t i n g h i s in fo rm atio n in to s n a r f y lit tle c o d e s , w h e n s u c h d i g e s t i o n , i f n e e d e d a t a l l , c o u ld b e b e t t e r d o n e b y th e p r o g r a m ; a n d s o o n . T h e p u n c h c a r d m e n ta lity i s r e s p o n s i b le f o r m a n y o f t h e w o e s th a t h a v e b e e n b la m e d on " c o m p u te rs ."

HOLLERIT H, m e a n i n g l h e c olu m n p a t l e m s t h s t g o in o n p u n c h e d c a r d s . ( T h e y c a n a ls o come o u t th a t w a y , If yo u w a n t th e m lo .) CARD-IMAGE BINARY. If f o r some rea so n yo u w anl exact b in a ry p a tle m s fro m y o u r p r o g r a m , th e y c a n b e p u n c h e d o u t a s r o w s o r c o lu m n s on p u n c h c a r d s . ST E R LIN G . J u s t lo sh o w y o u how c o m ic al t h i n g s c a n g e t , I h s o r i g i n a l PL/I s p e c if ic a t io n s ( se e p - 3 p a llo w ed n u m b e r s to b e I n p u l a n d o u tp u t in t e r m s of P o u n d s , S h i llin g s a n d P e n c e (12 p e n c e to t h e s h i l l i n g , 20 s h i l l i n g s to t h e p o u n d ) . No p r o v is i o n w a s m a d e f o r G u in e a s (th e 2 1 - a h llU n g u n i t ) , o r f s r t h l n g s . u n f o r t u n a te ly .

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A c o m p u te r l a n g u a g e ia sya iepi for c a s t i n g s p e lls . T h i s ! n o l m e t a p h o r b u t t n e x a c tly t r u e s ta te m e n t . Each la n g u a g e h w a v o c a b u l a r y of c o m m a n d s, lh a l I s , d if f e r e n t o r d e r * y o u c a n g i v e t h a t a r e fundam e nta l lo lhe I s n g u a g e , a n d a i y n l , t h a l i s . r u l e s a bout h o w to g iv e th e c om m ands r i g h t , a n d h o w y o u m ay fit them to g e th e r a n d e n t w i n e ih e m . L e a r n in g to w o r k w ilh o n e la n g u a g e d o e s n 't m e an y o u 'v e le a r n e d a n o t h e r . You le a r n th e m one a l a rim e, bu t a lte r to m e e x p e r i e n c e il g e ls e a s i e r . T h e r e a r e c o m p u te r l a n g u a g e s f o r te s tin g r o c k e ts h ip s an d c o n tro llin g o il r e f i n e r i e s a n d m a k in g p i c t u r e s . T h e r e a r e c o m p u te r l a n g v - g e s for so c io lo gic al s t a t i s t i c s a n d d e s ig n in g a u to m o b ile s. A n d t h e r e a r e c om pute r l a n g u a g e s w h ic h will d o a n y o f th e s e t h i n g s , and m o r e , b u l w ilh m o r e difficu lty b e c a u s e th e y h a v e n o p u r p o s e b u ilt i n . (D ul e a c h o f th e se g e n e r a l - p u r p o s e la n g u a g e a le n d s to h a v e its ow n o u tlo o k .) Most p r o g r a m m e r s h a v e a f a v o r ite la n g u a g e o r Iw c, an d th is i s n o t o r a t i o n a l m i l l e r . T h e r e a r e m a n y d if f e r e n t co m p u te r l a n g u a g e s in fact th o u s a n d s b u t w h a t th e y all h a v e In c om m on i s a ctin g on Beries of i n s t r u c t i o n s . Be y o n d lh a t , e v e r y la n g u a g e i s d if f e r e n t. S o f o r e a c h la n g u a g e , lhe q u e stio n * a r e WHAT ARE THE INSTRUCTIONS? HOW DO THEY FIT TOGETHER? Most c o m p u te r la n g u a g e s in v o lv e som ehow ty p in g in th e co m m a n d s o f y o u r s p e ll lo a com pute r s e t u p f o r tha t la n g u a g e . ( T h e c o m p u te r i s se l u p b y p u ttin g i n a b i g g e r p r o g r a m , called th e p r o c e s s o r for lha l l a n g u a g e ) 1 W A>

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(In f a c t , c o m p ile rs le n d to b e v e r y slo w p r o g r a m s ; b u t th a l d e p e n d s on th e amount o f " o p tim isin g " th e y d o , t h s t i a , ho w effic ient th e y t r y lo m a k e the o bje ct p r o g r a m . ) A n i n t e r p r e t i v e la n g u a g e w o r k s d if f e r e n t l y , T h ere s i t s in c o re a p r o c e s s o r for the la n g u a g e call ed an in t e r p r e t e r ; t h i s g o e s t h r o u g h th e p r o g ra m o n e s te p al a tim e , a ctu a lly c a r r y i n g out e ach o p e ra tio n In th e lis t and g o in g o n to th e n e x t . TRAC and APL a r e i n t e r p r e t i v e : it s a good way to d o q u ic k ie la n g u a g e s. I n t e r p r e t e r s a r e p e rh a p s Ihe eaBler method of th e tw o lo g r a s p , sin c e th e y seem to c o r r e s p o n d a little b e tte r lo t h e w ay many p e o p le t h in k of c o m p u te rs . T h a t d o e sn 't m e a n t h e y 'r e b e lte r . For p r o g r a m s that have to b e ru n o v e r a n d o v e r , com p ilin g is u s u a l l y m o re econom ical In lh e lo n g r u n ; b u t for p r o g ra m s tha t ha v e to be r e p e a te d ly c h a n g e d , i n t e r p r e t e r s a r e ofte n s im p le r lo w ork w ilh . A BLACK ART M a kin g l a n g u a g e p r o c e s s o r s , e s p e c ia l ly c o m p ile rs , i s w id e ly r e g a r d e d a s a b la c k a r t . Some pe ople have ( ri c k s l h a t a r e v i r t u a l tr a d e m a r k s ( s e e b e lo w ) . A c t u a ll y , th e d e s i g n of a l a n g u a g e - - e s p e c ia l ly lhe s y n t a x , ho w i t s com m a nds fit t o g e t h e r - - s tr o n g ly in f lu e n c e s th e d e s ig n o f i t s p r o c e s s o r - BASIC a n d APL. for i n s t a n c e , w o rk l e f t - l o - r ig h t on e a c h l in e , a n d to p - to - b o tto m On a p r o g r a m . Both a ct o n som e th in g s t o r e d in a w ork a r e a . T R A C , o n th e o th e r h a n d , w o rk s leM -IO -rlght on a te x t s t r i n g lh a t c h a n g e s s iz e lik e a r u b b e r b a n d , O th e r la n g u a g e s e x h ib it c o m p a r sb le d if f e r e n c e s . MIXED CASES AND VARIATIONS (for lh e w h im sica l) T h e r e a r e a lot of m ix ed c a s e s . A l o a d - a n d - g o c o m p ile r ( s u c h a s WATFOR) i s p u t into th e c o m p u te r w ith t h e p r o g r a m , c o m p ile s I t , a n d th e n s t a r t s it g o in g im m ed ia te ly . An i n t e r p r e t iv e c o m p ile r lo oks up w h a t lo do w ith a g iv e n in s t r u c tio n b y i n t e r p r e t i n g it inlo a s e r i e s of ste p s , bul com p ilin g th e m in s te a d of c a r r y i n g the m Out. (A firm call ed D ig itek i s wel l know n for m a k in g v e r y good c om pile rs of I h is t y p e . ) An I n c r e m e n ta l c o m p ile r ju s l r u n s a lo ng c om pilin g a command at a tim e; t h i s c a n b e a lot f a s t e r b u l h a s d r a w b a c k s . BIBLIOGRAPHY. D avid G r l e s . C om piler C onstru c tio n for D ig ital C o m p u te r s Not for b e g i n n e r s , but a be autiful book. Good on a b s tr a c t th e o ry of la n g u a g e s, too.

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T h e n , a fte r v a r i o u s S t e p s , you ge l lo t r y y o u r p r o g r a m . O n ce y o u k n o w a la n g u a g e you con c a s t s p e l l s in il ; b u t lh a l d o e s n 't m e a n i t ' s e a s y . A s p e ll c ast in a c om pute r la n g u a g e w ill m a k e th e co m p u te r do w h a t you w a n l - IF i l ' s p o s s i b l e lo d o ll w ith l h a l c o m p u te r; IF i l ' s p o s s i b l e lo d o it in l h a t la n g u a g e : IF y o u u s e d t h e v o c a b u la ry an d r u l e s o f Ihe la n g u ag e c o rre c tly ; an d IK y o u la id o u l in th e spe ll a p l a n l h a l w o u ld effectively d o w h a i y c j h s d in m in d . BUT i f you m a k e a m is ta k e in c a s tin g y o u r s p e l l , l h a t is a BUG. (Aa y o u s e e fro m th e iFs a L o v e, m a ny ty p e s of b u g a re p o a s i b l e . ) P r o g r a m b u g s call c a u s e u n f o r t u n a te r e s u l t s . ( S u p p o s e d ly a b i g NASA r o c k e t failed in ta keoff on c e b e c a u se of a m is p l a c t d do lla r s ig n in a p r o g r a m . ) Getting [he b u g s o u t of a p r o g ra m i s Called d e b u g g in g . It'S v e r y h a r d . DESIGNING COMPUTER LANGUAGES E v er y p r o g r a m m e r w h o 's d e s ig n e d a l a n g u a g e , a n d c re ate d a p r o c e s s o r f o r i i . h a d c e r ta i n ty p ic a l u s e s in m in d . If you w ant lo c r e a t e y o u r own la n g u a g e , you f ig u r e oul w h ai a o rls of o p e r a t i o n s y ou w o u ld lik e lo h a v e b n ba sic. In l l , a n d ho w y o u w o u ld lik e i l all lo f it to g e th e r s o as Id allow th e v a r i a t i o n s y o u h a v e in m in d . T h e n y o u p r o g ra m y o u r p r o c e s s o r ( w h i c h i s u s u a lly v e r y h a r d ) .

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R e s e a r c h a n d h o b b y ty p e s h a te COBOL o r i g n o r e I t , b u t i t ' s t h e m a in b u s i n e s s p r o g r a m m i n g la n g u a g e . Y o u r In c o m e l a x , y o u r c h e c k i n g a c c o u n t , y o u r a u to m o b ile l i c e n s e - - a ll a r e p r e s u m a b ly h a n d l e d b y p r o g r a m s i n I h e COBOL la n g u a g e . CO BO L , o r CO m m on B u s i n e s s O r i e n t e d L a n g u a g e , w a s m ore o r le s s d e m an d e d b y th e D ep a rt m e n t o f D e f e n s e , a n d b r o u g h t I nto b e i n g b y a c o m m itte e c a l l e d C O D A SY L , w h ic h i s a p p a r e n t l y s t i l l g o i n g . CO BO L u s e s m o stly d e c im a l n u m b e r s , is d e s ig n e d b a s ic a lly for b a lch p r o c e s s in g (d e s c r ib e d e ls e w h e re ) , a n d u s e s v e rb o s e a n d p lo n k in g c o m m a n d f o r m a ts . J u s t b e c a u s e I t 's s t a n d a r d f o r b u s i n e s s p r o g r a m m i n g d o e s n 't m ean i t ' s t h e b e s t o r m ost e f f ic ie n t l a n g u a g e f o r b u s i n e a s p r o g r a m m i n g ; I 'v e t a l k e d to p e o p le w h o a d v o c a te b u s l n e s a p r o g r a m m in g ln F O R T R A N , B A S IC . T R A C a n d e v e n A P L . B ul th e n y o u g e l in to th o s e e n d l e s s a r g u m e n t s . . . a n d i t t u r n s o u t th a t a l a r g e p r o p o r t i o n o f b u s i n e s s p r o g r a m m e r s o n ly k n o w C o b o l , w h ic h p rag m a tic ally s e ttle s th e a rg u m e n t. T h e r a a r e p e o p le w ho s a y t h e y 'v e h i d d e n b e a u t i e s i n COBOL; f o r I n s t a n c e , a s p l e n d i d l a n g u a g e f o r c o m p le x p o i n t e r ( s e e D ata S t r u c t u r e s , p . Xlff ) T h a t 's h o rse r a c in g . d isc o v e re d th a l I t 's m a n ip u la tio n w h a t m a k es

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a re basic a . Ignore Ihelr l A X W aJ W Computersroomful of ally r inlik ecabinet* may S ppearances: a roa g have a g r e a t deal In common with a sm all blin king bo a; Indeed, Ihey may have the aame arc hite cture , o r s tr u c tu re , and there fore be Ihe same com puter. T he stru c tu re of c om pute r* , In ih e lr glorious sim ila rities and fiu d n a t in g dif ferenc e*, is called computer a rc h ite ctu re . (For the a rc hitectu re of a b e g in n e r 's com p u te r , see p . J * ; to r (he a rc h ite ctu r e of some famous com pule rs, se e f p .1 -} .) Computer a rc hitectu re c o v ers th ree main th ings: register* (place* w here so meth in g ha ppen s to Information); memories (pla ces w here nothing ha ppens to Information); th e ir Interconnections; and machine la nguage, oil lhe bottom -l ev el I n stru c tio ns (for (hi* la st see "Rock Bottom," p . 3 2 , ) . REGISTERS AND MEMORIES Com puters are ma de, ba sic a lly , of two thing*: regis te r* snd m em orie s. A r eg is ter is where som ething happens to Information: a memory is w here nothing ha ppens lo inform atio n. Let's go ov e r lhal alowly. A r e g is te r 1* a pla ce w h e r e som ething h appens to Information: lhe information ean be flippe d aro u n d , te ste d, c hanged by arithm etic, o r w h atever. (We noted e a r lie r lhal r egis te rs a re whai connect a computer 10 it s a cc essorie s. T hey a re also prin cipal p a rts of the computer its e lf .) A memory la a pla ce w here nothin g hap pens to Information. A progra m pula the Infor mation th e re , end th e re ll a lays IUI some p r o gram pulls 11 out again o r r ep la ce s it. A main or general r e g is te r (often called lhe acc um ula to r, for no good r ea so n ) Is w here the program b rin g s Ihings lo b e w orke d o n . t e ste d , compared , added lo and so o n . T here can be se veral of them In a co mpute r. Oth er regis te r* perform oth e r functions In the computer; * giv en c om pute r's d e sig n , o r a rc hi t e c t u r e . is larg ely lhe arr ange m e nt of r egis te rs a nd lha operations lhal lake pla ce betw een them. The reason we do n't Juat ha v e aU regis te r* a nd no memories *t a il 1 thal r e g is te r s tr a d i * tiona lly coal more lhan memories. (However, some machines a re bein g trie d lhat have aU working r e g is te r s Inste ad of memory. See ST ARAN. p . H J . ) Memories come In all s iz e s and apee da . So lola of compulers have big slow memories , su ch a s d is k memories, along with Ihelr small faat memories.

B asic ally II co nsist* o f two pacific regis te rs , th e Program C ounter (usually abbreviated PC) and th e I nstr ucti on R e gis te r (usually abbre via te d IR ), and o th e r electr onic R uff, loosely te rm ed " d e o id l n g lo g ic . (Sinc e we a re a lr e ady visual icing the progra m fo llow er aa a Uttle h a n d . 1*1'* think of the in de x f in g e r aa the progra m counter and Imagine tha t th e thum b e a n (Up an Instruction inlo a little c u p . the Instr ucti on R e g u la r o r CR. Whai lhe h e c k .)

Bre ry e m p u l a r U w ir e d to accept *pm *yn*m o f command*. When lh**e commands i n rto r*d In th* c o m pute r'* memor y, *nd lh c m p u t a r ' r p n g r m follower gala lo thm. Ihay cause U to resp o n d direc tly by electr onic refle x. Thi* la caUed mac h in t la n g u ag e lhe v a ry la n gua ge of (ha machine Itaalf. in moat available m m p u le r e th machine lang uage * are b in a ry , m e an in g composed of only two *lt*m*liv* symbol*- B in ary because It* * sensible w*y o f o rg anis in g th a machine'* str u c ture; It p a m i l * progrero* lo b e reduced to * Ingle common form of Information, sn d permits pr ogra ms to be *iored In b in a r y memory- Each Individual ln*1ruction o r command ordin aril y occupies ana memory *lot. th o u g h some compu ter* have ann manda of v a ry in g length . Different romp u t e r i ha v e different machine la n g u ag es, b u t th* in stru c tio n s of all computers are basically sim ila r. Big cxnnputer* have more commands, with more v a ria tio n s . and carry them out Faaler; b u t Ihoee v a r i a t i o n are Jusl e x tra way* of sa v in g ste p * , n o t qualitatively d ifferent feature*. Ths deep-down o p e ra tion* ARE ALL THE TKINO3 THE COMPUTER HVER DOES. However. In th e ir comblnallcst* lhe*e lnatr ucti one can be woven Into chain s and d isd a in s of complex a cti ons. ALL COMPUTER PROGRAMS ARB EVEN TUALLY WRITTEN OR ENACTED IN THE MACHINE'S PARTICULAR BINARY LANGUAGE, Now, ll Is en tirely p o ssib le lo write your prog ram* si th is leva], c o n sid e r in g aAd a rr a n ging rock-bottom commands. T h is Is called machine-language p ro g ra m m in g (an d assembly pr ogramming: see eaam ple s a little la le r on). In dee d, working al this le vel Is v e ry highly reapeeted In some quart e r a . Other* avoid ll. Thla Is a v e ry se rio u s m a ile r o f ta ste and whsl y o u 'r e working on. Hig her-le vel la n g u a g e s , se en on e a r li a r p a g es, have more convenient form s for people, but must be ir m s U te d , e ith e r ahead of lima or on a ru n n in g b a s is , lo Ih e bottom-m ost codes thal make things happen lh th e machine. All of them are built out of machine la n g u ag e. Writ in g (he lang uage p r o c e s s o r s , p rogra m s lhal enact o r transla te these h ig h e r- le v e l la nguag es. Is considered a black a r t . (Bee p . J O . )

i*o*r*W 71 A core memory ha s a defin ite rhyth m or c y c le . Into which tl div ide* the p a s s in g time. T h e memory cycle of a core memory Is s o Im p orta nt that it s durati on is often called the c ycle lime of (he c o n fe r. A reque st lo ih e core memory mde a t lhe begin n in g of th e cycle i s honored al lhe end of the c ycle . Core cycles a re v e ry fast, bein g th ese day* about one m ic rosecond, o r millionth of * second. A core memory can on ly pe rform one act ( sto re o r fetch) d u r in g one memory c y cle . Core cycle* d u r in g which n o th in g la r e q u e s te d of Ihe memory sim ply go b y . One la st point about core mem orie s. T he n u m b e r which specifies an a d d re s s to lh e mem o r y i s a b in a ry p a tte rn - - Jusl like all th e olh e r Information (see "Bin ary P a tle m s ," p , 3 } ) . (Or more ex ac tly , w hateve r bina ry p a tte rn Is su p p lie d lo Ihe memory as th e a d d re ss to sto r e or from which to fetch, thal pattern will be tr eate d a s the a d d re ss to sto re o r from w hic h to fetch, t h a t p a tte rn will be tr eate d as a b in a ry num be r w h eth er it w as suppose d to be o r n o t. It could be (he a lphabetic w ord ORINCH w hic h got there by mis take (see "Debuggin g." p . ) . bul Ihe memory will tr ea t 11 a s an a d d re s s n u m b e r and go to the a d d re ss specified by lhat p a tte rn .

WHEN a progra m la se t into ope ration, tiw bina ry p a tte rn spe cif yin g Ha Ural addreaa in memory 1* p u t Into lhe progra m counter. T h e n the in stru c tio n *1 lhal addre ss Is fetched lo the progra m follower (lhal 1*. pul in the I nstr ucti on r e g i s t e r ) , decoded and carri ed

THEN THE PROGRAM COUNTER AUTOMAT ICALLY HAS ONE ADDED TO IT , SO IT POINTS TO THB NEXT INSTRUCTION. T he in struc tion p ulle d from memory ia held in th e command o r Instruction regis te r and th e re decoded by the syste m 's electronic*. II Is of no conce rn to lhe programmer how thia la d o n e ele c in x ilca U y . (And Indeed elec tronic s Is g e n erally of little conce rn lo computer pe ople , u n le s s ihey a re tr y in g to desig n o r o p timise c om pule rs o r o th e r device* themselve*. In dee d, lh e e le c tr onic technique* a re constantly c h a n g in g .) All we ne ed lo know Is that an electrical decodin g sy ste m (called th e logic c ir c u its) c a r r i e s out lhe spe cif ic in stru c tio n for In stance, by h u tti n g off th e pa th to Ihe memory, tu rn in g on the a d d in g c irc u it, and ope nin g path* th rou gh Ihe a d d in g c irc u it and back lo the main r e g is te r . Now lhat th e progra m c ounte r ho lds (he number o f th e n e a t Instr ucti on it In tu r n 1* accord in gly retched and execute d.

T he w ord length (num ber of b it-sp a ce s In a main r e g is te r and memory slot) T he num be r of main r e g is te r s and what (hey can do; i . e . . how th e y a re se l up and w hat o pe ra tions can lake pla ce In and among them: i.e ., the Instruction Sel (see n e a r b y ); T he amount of memory; T he accessorie s o r p e rip he rals ; T he cycle time.

And so It continues. When an in struc tion call s for a Jump o r branc h In th e pr o g ra m , whai ha ppens? T h e ju mp command c au se s a new nu m b e r lo be stu ffed Into the progra m cou n te r, th at's w hat, and so ( h at's w here Ihe program goes n e x t. ALTERNATING CYCLES Many Instr ucti ons (ell the program follower (o take a da ta w ord (also a bin ary p a tte rn ) from memory a n d p u t It In a main r egis te r o r vice

Every programmable de v ic e h as a "machine la n g u ag e." o r rock bottom code system thal acti vate* the th in g directly; ita p ro g ra m follower responds ele ctr ic ally 10 th e se co d es, and enacts them m e in stru ctio n al a tim e . T ru e compulers a re programmable devices th al can modify th e ir own Inal r u c ti o n s , change Ih elr se quen ce of op era tio n s an d do olh er ve rsa tile stuff.

A memory consis ts of num e rous holding places o r stor age location*, each holdin g one s ta n d ard pie ce of Information f o r Ihe co mpute r, a word ha vin g a specific num be r of b its (eee p . .) We must Blress: a "COMPUTER WORD" HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ENGLISH WORDS OR ALPHABETICAL CHARACTERS. T he term refer* to * specific machine's sta n d ard memory slot, havin g a Axed num ber of bit position*. One Important reason (or I h ls sta n d ard isa tion I* lhal each hold in g p la ce , o r memory loca tio n , can bo given a num ber o r a d d re * * . If e v e r y slot in the memory ha* an a d d r e s s , Infor mation can be stored In sp ecific place*:

Su ch an Instructi on Is tr ansla ted by the decoding logic Into a reque st to (he memory. H ere's the com pute r, Ihen. in ail Its glory: a de vic e with a symbolic pr o g ra m , sto r e d In a memory, b e in g ste pped th rough by a progra m f o llo w er, T he commands of the progra m c a u se the progra m follower to c a r ry oul th e in div idual s te p s req u e ste d by each command of th e program . Instr ucti on cycle (fetch (he next) Dala cycle (d ala goes to o r from m e m o r y ) , Instr ucti on cycle , Data cycle, Since a core memory can only d o one thin g d u r i n g one of Its c y c le * , th e n e x t in s t r u c tion In lh e p ro g ra m cannot be fetched un lll the date ha s moved to o r from lh e memory.

R J^tM lA rL of T MmM X A0W

V AS c 9 T T o O ftJ ? O l , YOUR BASIC COMMANDS. NOW ( C o a p u ta n exist which d o Uttle more lhan th ese, and yet they can In p rin cip le do any th in g f o n d e r computer* can d o . ) TO BE BHOWN; Th* ta llowing a r e the rock-bonotn basic op eration* of co m p u te r* , available aa a pacific Inal ructi ons In a ll computers (with some v ariation). The Br*t se v en lis te d below will be use d in th* e xte nded example In the next s p rea d . LOAD a b in ary p a tte rn from co re memory to a main reg la te r.

NOT TO BE SHOWN: Here a r e th e r e s t of lhe utterly fundamental commands o f computer*. (T hese are not use d In th e forthcoming

SUBROUTINE JUMP "Go to a noth er p a r t of th e progra m b u t remeroernber th is pla ce because y o u ll be coming back on y o u r ow n." RETURN FROM SUBROUTINE"Oo ba ck lo w h e r e v e r it w as in lhe progra m thal you la st came fro m ." PUSH (on Stack mach ines o n ly , see p . ) ta k e * b in a ry pa tte rn and pul It on top o f the Stack. POP (an Stack machine* only , aea p . ) ta k e w hateve r bin ary p a tte rn la now on th e lop of (he Slack. ADD ONE ( o r "INCREMENT") (Useful w hen y o u 'r e c ounting the num ber of time* so me th in g ha* be en d one .) SUBTRACT ONE (or "DECREMENT." nol " e x c re m e n t" )- - (Also useful when y o u 'r e c ount ing the num ber of time* som ething has beei d o n e .) ASTRONOMICAL/INFIN1TBSIMAL ARITHMETIC (or "FLOATING POINT" a rit hm etic )-- o p e ra tes on a certa in num ber of Significant Digits and keepa se parat e tr ac k of lhe decimal poin t- - actually a Binary Point, sin ce ll'a r a r e l y If e v e r don* decimally. V e r y Important In the ph ysical s c ie n c e s. Almost any opera tions can be "buill i n " ." T he s k y is of c ourse the lim it, sin ce any elec tr onic opera tion ean be added to a compu t e r ' s In structi on-set If d e s ir e d * a y , " tu rn o n Ihe ele ctr ic b le nder" o r "m ulti ply q u a t e rn io n s " but the form er is mere eaaUy do ne aa an output instruc tion, and lhe la tte r aa p a rt of a p r o g ra m .

TEST ONE SPECIFIC b ln sry p a tte r n , and branc h in lhe program dependin g on th e result. SET AN ACCESSORY IN OPERATION/TURN IT OFF. REVERSE ( o r "COMPLEMENT") a b in a ry p a t t e r n c hsngln g aU lh* X* to O'* a n d vice v e rsa . SLIDE (or "SHIFT") a bina ry p a tte rn eldelong th rough a r e g i s t e r . FLIPPER (or "LOGICAL") o pe ra tions betw een (wo b in a ry pa tte rn*, esp ec ially -OR ( o r "INCLUSIVE OR" o r "tOR ) ~ r esu lt Is an X w h ere e ithe r orig in al pa tte rn w aa an X. AND (or "MASK") r e s u l t 1* an X

Somehow LOADING. STORING, MODIFYING AND TESTING BINARY PATTERNS DOESN'T SEEM TERRIBLY FRAUGHT WITH POSSIBILITIES: bul the e ndle s* variation* and ramifications make chea s look like ll c - tac - to e.

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A nd p a r t of the p ow er, of c o u rs e , la in \ Ihe grea t s p e e d , Ihe te eny fract io n o f a second \ e ach alep ta kes; five h u n d r e d operation* y e( 1 lake only a bout a th ou sa n d th of * se co n d . So I no matter how Intr ic ate th e enactment lo w hic h / th ese liny ste p s a re buU t. It atill h a p p en s J awfully f a s t. /

FANCY OPERATIONS STORE a b in a ry p attern in c o re memory from a main reg is ter. T he following opera tions a re d e sir a b le bul nol atrlcUy n e ce ssary , and many com pute rs , e s pe cially minicomputer*, d o n 't have them all. SUBTRACT. (Can also be do ne If n e ce ssary with combination of a dds and f lip s .) ADD TWO b in a ry pa ttern * to g e th e r. (Thl* cause* them to be tr e a te d a* n u m be r*, w hether they w ere lo b e g in with o r no t.) MULTIPLY. (Can also be do ne if ne ce ssary wilh combination of a d d s, shifts and te sla .) DIVIDE, (Con also be done if n e c e ssa r y with combination of s u b tr a c ts , ahlft* a n d te a l s .) MORE FLIPPER ("LOGICAL") opera tions: XOR - (or "EXCLUSIVE O R ") resu lt la a n X only w h e r e one pattern had an X, but not both. NAND-- reve rse d AND. NOR-- reve rse d OR.

A c o m p u te r, the n, in te m a U y Ju st c o n sis ts of certa in pla c e s to w ork on information (main r e g i s t e r s ) . c e r ta i n places lo ke ep ll lhe rea l o f the time (m em ories), c ertain pa th w ay s and in t e r connections betw een th em , a n instru c tio n -se t havin g c e r ta i n p o w er s w hose Instruction* c an b e o pera te d on oul of memory, a n d * p ro g ra m fol lower that c a r r i e s oul th e I nstr ucti o n * o f th a t In struct ( o n -s e t.

INSTRUCTION-SET. T ha sy stem o f command p a tte rn * d e sig ned and w ir e d into a p a r ti c u la r c o n p u te r , each with its exac t r e su lt* . (The in stru c tio n s In th* se l a r e th* v o c a b u la ry of a m a chine l a n g u a g e .)

Go to a noth er p a r t o f (he pr ogram end forget you w ere h e r e . TEffT TWO b in a ry p a tte rn s a g ain st each oth er, a n d b r a d i o r not in (he p rogra m depen d in g on th a resu lt.

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. .. pattsm pattern selecting selecting w h e n to perform operation) operation) OPCODE y j ADDRESS OPBRATION CALLED FOR

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U yv u want Information on lha machine language and aaaanb ly Language of m y given machine, w rite Ihe manufacturer for Uie g n r arammlng ma nual. T h ar a may also be a pockel c a r d .

We look at l u t at whal really bap pa n t Im M* given computer. It mult be a specific computer because tha ra la no single Innar li guage tor all computer*. For simplicity's aaka Olka moat Introductory te ats) we hereby pre sent a fictitious machine.

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CLEAR AC Thia instruction causes the AC to be filled with eeroes. 0 0 XO 0 C ADD (from memory lo AC) This adda Ihe contents of Ihe speci fied memory location io the conlenta of lha AC. Reaull remains In the AC. Whatever was In the memory before Is etlll there. This Instruction is also used lo brin g e new psttem to the AC. copying 1 from ihe 1 specified memory location; bul you have to CLEAR the AC fi rs t, ao youre adding II to

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An occult asp ect of compuier deaign la the matter of how lo pack Into the so-many bi ts of an Inaiructlon word all the options Ihe [

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(Faithful Instrument. Domesticated and Obliging). Tha FIDO la a Iwelve-bll macKin*. The main ragla ier (ll haa only ona) la twalva blia long, and ever y memory slot la twalva blls l n g . Bvary Inaiructlon la twelve blia long; va ry dala word la twalva blta long, though of course muh longar placaa of data can be pul Bge tber by taking n o n lhan ona twelve-bll word. Some rudlmantary inalmctlone of lha FIDO a n Uatad In a nearby box. Tha Inelmcllone of lha FIDO a r t of two types: plain onee thal Just uaa tha main raglalar (like CLBAR). and Ihe divided onea, which select a memory alot or output device. On the FIDO lhaee a re divided Into an operation code (opcode) of Ave blta lha blta thal tell (lie program follower whal Ihe operation Is to be; and an addreaa of le ven blta. specifying which memory elot (or ei le m al device) la lo be operated on. These a tv sn blta allow exactly 120 differ ent p a tle m a, (from OOOOOOO lo XXXXXXX). which means we can s e ls d among exactly 128 different memory alow. (See Binary Patterns,

i*jT tvcivs

STORE This Instruction copies ihe contents of Ihe AC lo lha specified memory toc al lm. Whatever waa In Ihe memory location Is destroyed. Whatever X X0 0 0 o address goes here n the AC Is silll there

For no pa rti cu la r reason the Instruction select bits sr e usually on the left, the address bits on Ihe ri g h t. and option blls (no room for them In this book, unfortunately) In the middle. The number of bits In the address d et er mines the numbe r o f places In Ihe memory lhat the programmer can choose among. IS bite in the addreaa means a choice of 32,768 memory lo cations. 7 bits meane a choice of only 128, (See "Binary P st te rn s." p . 3 3 .) Generally a specific n m p u ie r haa more lhan one instruction layout. Deciding what the Instruction layouts are lo be hinges on the architectural deaign of the computer (eee p . 72. ) and ihe In slr ucllon-sel. It all gets worked out together, Its ultimately a matter of deaign elegance, bul Ihe consequences a re very concrete. An elegant Inslrucllon-sel Is easy lo use and the re fore savea a lot of time and money. (Anyone Inlereated in studying the matter might want lo compare the PDP-11, a 16-bll compuier wilh a brilliantly designed inslrucllon-sel. wilh some other 16-blt computer,)

INPUT* Thle Instruction copies the contents of a specified device regis ter io Ihe AC. OUTPUT* This Inaiructlon copies Ihe contents of Ihe AC lo a specified device register. JUMP This Instruction makee the program follower lake Its nexl Instruction al ihe specified addreas and go on from there. TEST. SKIP IF EQUAL** This la a common leal Inaiructlon, permitting the program lo branch depen ding on various conditions. The contents of the AC are compared wilh the specified core memory location. If they are not the eame. Ihe program continues snd takes ihe neat Instruction In Ihe normal fashion. IP Ihe two patterns are Ihe ti m e , the pro gram follower SKIPS the next Inaiructlon and goea on lo the one after. Whatever the noxl Instruction is. the n, determines Ihe course of events If the two pstterns l u m oul to be Ihe For Instance, lhat middle Inatrucan be a JUMP Inaiructlon. taking i whole nother part of lory and s new aeries of even's

addreaa goes here

p . .) ( H k R*.>
Tha Fide cornea wilh one row of llghta and switches; the row of lights can ehow the conlenta of any speclAe working regis ter or memory alot. When Ihe computer la slopped, Ihls la helpful for debugging programs (sa Ah, if only we could lell you all about lh< FIDO here! lie many more Instructions. The option blta In the commands lhal allow fancy varlatlona, or ihe option bits In the Inlerfeces. spoken of e ar lie r, which allow Ihe program to give different commands lo external devices.

sddress goes here

O O O X e

GUESS WHAT! The FIDO is nothing bul a stripped-down version of lhat beloved family pooch of compulerdc

f t

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If you buy a PDP-8 from Digital Equipment Corporation, you get all Ihls and more. (Except for the external d e v ic e s. ) And ihc PDP-8. of co urs e, allows much bigge r memories ihsn 128 slola. bul that's too complicated for h e r e . ) Arf.

efficient

Thl* br in g s up some Iniereellng f a c u . Actually computers with small ward lengths like these sr<i called mlnlcomputera. Big computers have much bigger word lengths. The IBM 360 ha* a 32-bll word la ngth. The Control Dala 6600 haa a 60-bll word. Now, It is an Interesting facl lhat nol only r e co np uie r memories divided up Inlo *loit, or locations, of equal length. CERTAIN NUMBERS ARE SPECIAL because they a re Ihe number of things lhal can be specified by a cer tain number of b its. Special number 2 4 0 10 32 64 one bit Q two bite cm thr ee bll* rm four blls n i t ~j five bit* r r i I r*\ six bits seven blls 128 tk eight blls 250 nine blls 612 1024 len bits ("ONE K" Is 1024: memories and everything else c-amo in K's. o r multiples of 1024.)

a re what Ihe computer operatee on deep down. "Binary* Just mean* (bat only two symbols a re uaed (Just as "decimal1 Beau* lhal ten symbols a re u a e d ) . Patterns of binary symbol* ha ppe n lo be electrically omve nle nl. t o thats how computers are bulli . bul that would change If tome mere convenient at of symbols came Binary patte rns a re va ry systematic and May to deal with. Consider Ihe number of bina ry symbols you csn have In Just four sp aces. LET'S USB THE LETTERS X AND 0 . AND PUT THEM IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER. SO YOU'LL SEE THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT PATTERNS , RATHER THAN NUMBERS. O O O O O 0 |Q X

o o xlo
0 X X 0 X can b e found. And these numbe rs a re bina ry.

However, we will have lo stop u sin g these X's and 0 ' s . It's not really done, so we will switch to Ihe more usual way of writing binary patterns with l ' s and ta ro e s. (Apologies to reader* who hate numbers; but remember that these patterns while we may write them cu t a* l ' s and zeroes, may repr ese nt wholly non-numerical kind s of Information.) Thai means the letter Q is

M ilo l- W W I
but It's n l l l the letter Q. Of co urse, blta may alao rep resent numerical Information. And so we pa ss on te BINARY NUMBERS. These a re the same old binary paiterne, bul when we decide to treat them as numbers, they a re binary numb era . Let's count. Note thal these a re Ihe eame atmblnahona of bit* as be fo re . merely pul In the more usual notation

lw 0o ,'0
o o X 0X 0 0 X X X 0 o X 0 X X X o XXX You csn see thal the pattern repe ats In certain fntarestlng w a y s . Each column repe ats Itself a s you r v d down; add ing a new position lo the left doubles ll* number of possible pattern* you can have in the Th es e a re lha Infamoua "blia" you have heard of. Aa you a n see. the re 1* nothing h a rd or compli cated about them. The number of bit* In a thing i n the number of space s which can b e either X or

olxjx

Many forma of Information a re kepi In binary patterns which a ra nol numb ers . For Instance, letters of the alphabet a re usually stored aa 8bit p stt er ns .

Actually Ihs term " k ." standing for " k i l o - s h o u l d mean one thou sa n d , and the term BK, o r Binary K, 1a used by fuss y people to sta nd for Ihe ve ry Important near by num be r 1024. Bul computer people generally use ex pr e ss io n s ending In K (or th e following special numbera: THAT'S HOW MANY NUMBER COMBINATIONS FIT IN 2048 ("2K ) eleven blls 4000 ("4K") twelve bits 8102 ("OK") thirt een bits 16,304 ("16K") fourteen bile 32,708 ("32K") (lfleen b lls. Abovs thl* nu mber they Increase v e ry fast , and we generally hav e to look th a n u p , bul Ihe Idea la Ihls: the num be r of bits us e d lo select something limits the nu mb er of thing s ou can select among. For I n sta n ce, If you have a computer memory wilh 32K dUTereni locations, you need fifteen bit* eiaclly ID specify a location Ln memory. Hare ai him ramifications:

U I |o | |o |o |o M

All compute can In principle do Ihe eame things, eotne (eater. However, some a n loo alow or too small ever lo do whal olher* can. though Ihe types of Ihelr operations a re slmllsr. Some computers (and Ihelr languages and fadlltlee) are much mere convenient for programmer* lhan o i h e n . because ihelr InMruction-set* Th is Is no small mailer. (But ll'e a big matter of laata and argument among computer people.)

Now, the moat basic facl about an y computer Is He word len gth; thal I s . Ihe number of spaces In a stan dar d momory elot of thal computer. IZ -V T O '- t 'V

a i l i i i i n m
It-m M'-.r't-*- we*A

l 1 M I I I Cl I I 1T T I
A *11-1111 conp utar* u i u lha PDP-8) haa moaery v o t f a that are all twelve blta long. A "16-bll o m p u tc r (like lha PDP-11) haa memory word* thal are all l e b l t a U*ig-

decimal number binary number 0 000 1 001 2 010 3 Oil 4 100 6 101 6 110 7 111 08 1000 00 1001 10 1010 11 1011 12 1100 13 1101 14 1110 15 1111 A> y o u o bse rve , the highe r n u m w n need more and n o r * blls lo hold l h a n .

T he wo rd length of a compuier determines hew la rge a number ll can hold. A compuier wilh a twelve -bit w o rd can only hold number up to 4006 tn one memory location (since we u se 000 000 000 000. the fi r st combination, to stand (or zero); If wo want lo u s e longer numbe rs we have lo set si de two or more word locellons per number. (A 16-bll com pute r can hold number up lo 6S.63S In one memory location.) ln de sig nin g dala s tr u c tu re s . If you use bina ry cod es (rBlher tha n, s a y, alphabetical ch ar ac te r s) . you hav e to allow enough bi ts (or all ihe allemaUve* lhal might tu r n up. In Ihe des ign of Ihe wir ed- In Instructions for a c o m p u ie r , there fo re. Ihs number of bits sel aside to s pecify an a d d re ss In core determines whether thal Ins tr uct io n can select from ihe whole memory. o r Juat a p a ri of It.

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T h e r e ia a c e r ta i n folk h e ro w hom the pe op le a ll c a ll B u c k y . It le e a ld th a l h e w e a r s th r e e w rla tw a tc h e a : o ne to r w h e r e h e a n o w . on e f o r w h e r e h e w ill b e n e x t, a n d o n e th a t M ils w h a t tim e It i s a t blfl h o m e Well n o w . H e r e 's a n e x a m p le o f a lit tle p ro b le m o n w h ic h to tr y o u r FIDO c o m p u te r . L e t 's w ir e u p a magic w rl e tw a tc h to r B uck y t h e F o lk H e r e , o n e th a t w ill u s e a te e n y FIDO o n a c h i p ( th e c om in g t h i n g ) . a tta c h e d to th r e e r o w s o f n u m e ric a l r e a d o u ts (lik e th o s e on p o c k e t c a lc u la to r s ) . T h i s a p p lic a tio n le n o l so a b s u r d a s y o u m igh t t h i n k . It ia o b v io u s l y qu it e si m p le In p r i n c i p l e . It * u i le t u a s e e ew oe o f th e w a y s th a t th e ro c k - b o tto m m ach ine l a n g u a g e s of c o m p u te rs a re u s e d . Note t h a t I n t h i s f lo w c h a r t

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N a t u ra lly th is got s a v e d fo r l a s t , a n d w h at la p r e s e n t e d h e r e sh o w s ll. T h e e x a m p le waa m eant to be a c a s e o f n o t- v e r y - n u m e r ic a l p r o g ra m m in g th a t w o u ld ahow th e a b s t r a c u i e a e o f it e l l . T h e p r o g r a m I tse lf h a s n o in tr i n s i c q u a lity r e la te d to th e problem ; lh a t m u ch sh o u ld be v is i b le . A n y h o w . I p ro g ra m m e d t h i s m y se lf a few w eek e a g o in th e FIDO la n g u a g e , a n d w a s v e r y p le a se d w ith I t , b u l the n d is c o v e r e d a c o u p le o f a p p a ll in g b u g s . As dm e c lo sed In on t h is p r o je c t I a s k e d my f rie n d Mike O 'B rie n t o cod e t h s p r o g r a m , a n d h e k in d ly c o n s e n te d , t a k in g tim e o ut o f h ie p r e v io u s w ee k en d p la n s . H e r e Is M ik e 's p r o g r a m , fo r w hich I am g r a te f u l. H ow E V e r, a fte r ll w a s e et In t y p e , Mike r e a ll t e d th a l 11 loo ha a some g r o s s flaw s a n d w ould n o l w o rk aa h e r e p r e s e n te d . We th o u g h t of h a v in g c h o co la te c h ip cookie c o n te st f o r c o r r e c tio n s , e e n d in g o ul ch oco late c h ip c o o k ie s lo e n t r a n t s f ix in g ll u p , b u l w e d o n 't h a v e e u c h a c o m p u te r a n d we w o u ld n 't r u n th e p r o g ram U w e h a d o ne an yw a y . s o se e If y o u c a n gel lh e b a s i c id e a o f i t . an d If y o u a r e a r e a l w le e gu y Ax t h e p r o g ra m for y o u r ow n s a tie fac tio n, a n d th a t w ill be th a t. T h e b a s i c Id e a le th a t w e h ave a FID O . p r e s u m a b ly on a s in g le I n te g r a te d c ir c u it c h ip , a tta c h e d to t h i r t e e n e x te r n a l d e v ic e s ( o r p e r i p h e r a l s , o r I n p u t- o u tp u t d e v ic e s , o r I/O d e v ic e s o r w h a t e v e r ) . T h e s e de v ice s a r e a tim e r o r c lo c k , w h ie h r e a c h e s zero on c e p e r m in u te th le Is a c o m p u te r c lo c k , m e a n in g a ti m e r , not som e th in g lh a l p e o p le c an r e a d - - a n d th e t h r e e ro w s of n u m e r i c a l rea d o u ts th a t a r e th e d e s i r e d S u p e r w a tc h . F o r s im p lic ity 's sa k e w e assu m e h e r e th a t e ach n u m e ra l le in te r fa c e d to d o e ith e r In p u l o r o u tp ul; t h u s ih e FIDO com p ute r c a n a s k an y g iv e n n u m e r a l w h a t i t s a y s , a n d c h a n g e Its c o n te n ts . T h e f in is h e d W rlstw atc h Is g o in g to g iv e d m e o n a t w e n ty f o u r - h o u r b a s i s , nol tw e lv e , lik e a l NASA a n d s u c h lik e p la c e s . A fter 12: $9 com es 13:0 0. A ft e r 2 3:59 comes 01:0 0.

- 3

neans, ' s t u f f the n ia b e r 3 i n t o th e v a r i a b l e A.* A v a ria b le la a n a n d lo c atio n In co re M n r y .

t e s tin g w h e t h e r t h e rig h tm o s t d igit 1b a nin e. (ll o n ly h a s lo le s t o n e . s in c e m lnules a r e lhe sam e r o u n d th e w o r l d . ) If I t's nol n in e , il j u s t a d d s o n e lo e a c h a p a r i o f Ihe program c a lle d ADMIN, s t a r t i n g a l XXO 0 X 0 . If il's n in e , h o w e v e r, ll s e ls t h e lln a l d ig its all to z e r o , a n d th e n te s ts Ihe le n s d ig it to se e If Il's a f i v e , m e a n in g th e e n d of a n h o u r . (The num b e r f iv e h a s b e e n I n g e n u o u s ly s to r e d in a loca tio n w h ic h M ik e h a s c a ll e d FIVE, w hic h assem b le d lo slo t n u m b e r X 0 X 0 0 X 0 . If you look ( h e r e , y ou w ill s e e lh a l Ih e slo t d o e s . Indeed, c o n ta in Ihe b in a r y p a tte r n to r th e n u m b e r S.) Whai a p ily t h e r e is n o lime to la ke you on a g u id e d lo u r o f th is p r o f o u n d , m agnif icenl p r o g r a m . If y o u d ig th is s o r t of th in g , h ow ev er, yo u m ig hl J u s l b e a b le to d o p e il outA n y w a y , y o u 'v e h a d y o u r ta s te . w ant m o re. Hope yo u

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T h e b u l k o r lh e p r o g ra m la o c c u p ie d w ith te s tin g th e n u m e ra l* a n d c h a n g in g th e m . How e v e r , in p r o p o r t io n s of a c ti v ity , th e p o o r th in g la g o in g to s p e n d m ost o f its d m e s a y in g . "la ll lime ye t? I s li d m e yet? Ia It d ise y e t? " ( T h a i's th e s e c o n d , t h ir d a n d fou rth I n s t r u c t i o n .) B e c a u se t h e FIDO se le c ts th e p a r t i c u l a r in p u t- o u lp u t d e v ic e w ith th e la at se v en b its of a n in p u t o r o u tp u t in s t r u c tio n , th is haa b e e n d o n e w ith " a d d r e a s m odif ic atio n" a rithm etic: c r e a ti n g a n o u tp u t I n str u c tio n to a d d r e s s a p a r tic u la r d e v ic e b y a d d in g (he I n str u c tio n to th e nam e o f th e d e v i c e . T h is ia an a n c ie n t a n d - h o n o rab le p ro g ra m m i n g tr i c k . In s e v e r a l c a s e s , the p r o g ra m c h o o s e s a d e v ice lo e x a m i n e , o r f ill, b y ta k in g a b la n k i n p u t o r o u tp u t I n str u c tio n (k ep t al lo c atio n s X OXO XOX a n d X OXO XXO. re a p e c tlv e ly ) a n d j d g j i t . In t h e A C , to a c o u n tin g n u m b e r th a t la b e in g u s e d to e te p a ro u n d In th e a r r a y o f n u m e ra ls . ( T h is c o u n tin g n u m b e r la " N ," o r e d in lo c a tio n X OXO X X X.) ( T h ese I n a tr u c d o n s w e r e p u l In to th e slo ts In o c tal fo rm , aa 60MB" a n d "6 2M B " r e s p e c t iv e l y . T h e s la s h e s a w m e an t lo d is t i n g u i s h z ero es from O h s The endw.(ln ** aM em bly U siln g ) m e an s ' tr a n s la t e t b . s e n n n b . to B l n u y . u u , th .m i h r e , b l i . , , , ttM - H l l cm n ea o u t to XXO OOO OOO O O O .)

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Thl * whal O' p ro g ra m looks lik e in Ihs com p u te r's co re memory. (A prlnloul like th e following la called a machlnelaniruagB H atin g . ) Since all ihe a d d re s s e s a r e filled I n , thia p ro g ra m la sa id lo be In absolute b i n a r y . Lf they w e r e n 't filled I n , It would be call ed relo catable b i n a r y . H ac hin e-language lis tin g s come In different f la v o r s. A b in a ry lis tin g (or dump) Ifl ge n erall y In o n e s and z e r o e s. An octal lis tin g g r o u p s (he bits by threea and s u b stitu te s the n um bers zero th ro u g h se v en fo r ihe different com bination a of th r e e b lls . T he olh e r main k in d , Ihe hexad ecim al listing o r dump (an IBM th in g ) , groups Ihe blls b y fo u rs a n d substi tu te s th e num be r* 0-9 an d the le tte rs A to P. for the six tee n differen t combinations of fo ur b lia.

T hia la What the progra m looks like when you sel ii up for ihe A sse m b le r , which la the easie r w ay. A progra m laid oul like Ihle la call ed an Assembly L isting. S tudyin g ll may he lp you de bug (see p . J O ) . An easy-lo -re m e m ber alphabetical code i s use d to r ep rese n t each final I n str u c tion dee 1red . Such an abbreviation Is called a mnemonic; usually th e y 'r e more c ry ptic. The mnemonics arc tu r n e d by Ihe assem ble r Into the bina ry opcode. You do n'l have lo know ihe actu al a d d re s s e s In core memor y. you ju s t use a lp h a betical names o r la b e l s , and th e Ag ue mbler fig ures oul w here th e y r e a lly go and pu t* in the bin a ry a d d re s s e s . D esire d num bers , su c h as B, a re plugged Into Ihe a d d re ss p a rts o f In structi ons. YOUR OWN COMMENTS (here se t off with sla shea) can stay he re too. ln Ihls FIDO exam ple, ihe Assembler follows two common practices: il recogniz es a label because II ends In a comma, and rec ognizes a comment be ca use It begin s with a slash .

B u etsi
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OOX OOX OOX OOX oox OOX oox OOX 0X 0 0X0 0X0 0X 0 0X 0 0X0 0X 0 0X0 OXX OXX OXX OXX OXX OXX OXX OXX XOO XOO XOO XOO XOO XOO XOO XOO XOX XOX XOX XOX XOX XOX XOX XOX XXO XXO XXO XXO XXO XXO XXO XXO XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX X OOO X OOO K OOO X OOO X OOO X 000 X OOO X OOO X OOX X OOX X OOX X OOX X OOX X OOX K OOX X OOX XOXO X 0X 0 X 0X 0 X 0X 0 X 0X 0 X 0X 0 X 0X 0 X 0X 0

ooo oox oxo oxx xoo xox xxo XXX OOO OOX 0X 0 OXX XOO XOX XXO XXX OOO OOX 0X 0 OXX XOO XOX XXO XXX OOO OOX 0X 0 OXX XOO XOX XXO XXX OOO OOX 0X 0 OXX XOO XOX XXO XXX OOO OOX QXO OXX XOO XOX XXO XXX OOO OOX 0X 0 OXX XOO XOX XXO XXX OOO OOX 0X 0 OXX XOO XOX XXO XXX OOO OOX 0X 0 OXX XOO XOX XXO XXX OOO OOX 0X 0 OXX XOO XOX XXO XXX OOO OOX oxo OXX XOO XOX XXO XXX

XXXXXOOOOOOO xxoooooooooo ooooxxooxxox xoxoooooooox xxooooooooox ooooxxoxooxx xoxoooxxooxo XXXXXOOOOOOO XXOOXOOOOOOX XXOOXOOOOXOO XXOOXOOOXOOX XXOOOOOOOOXO OOOOXXOXOOXO XOXOOOXXOXXX XXXXXOOOOOOO XXOOXOOOOOXO XXOOXOOOOXXO XXOOXOOOXOXO OOXOOXOXOXXX OOXOOXOXOXOX OXXOOOXOOOOX OOXOOXOOXXXO OXXOOOXOOXXX OXXOOOXXXXXO XXXXXOOOOOOO OOXOOXOXOXXX OOXOOXOXOXXO OXXOOOXOXXOX OXXOOOXXOOOO OXXOOOXXXXOX OOXOOXOOXXXO OXXOOOXOXOXX OXXOOXOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOXXOXOOXX XOXOOOXOOXOX XOXOOOXXXXOO OOOOXXOXOOOO XOXOOOXOXKXX OOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOXXOOXXXX XOXOOOXOXXXX XXXXXOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOO OOXOOXOOXXXO OOOOOOOOOOOO XOXOOXOOOOOX OOXOOXOOXXXO OOOOOOOOOOOO XOXOOXOOOOOX OOXOOXOOXXXO XXOOXOOOOOOX XXOOXOOOOXOX XXOOXOOOXOOX XOXOOOOOOOOX OOXOOOOOXXXO XXOOXOOOOOXO XXOOXOOOOXXO XXOOXOOOXOXO XOXOOOOOOOOX XXXXXOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOO OOXOOXOOXXXO OOOOOOOOOOOO XXXXXOOOOOOO OOXOOXOXOXXX OOXOOXOXOOOX OOOOXXOXOXOO XOXOOXOOXOXX XXXXXOOOOOOO OOXOOXOXOXXX 00X 00X 0X 0000 OXXOOXOXOXXX XOXOOOOOOOOX OXXOOXOXOXXX XOXOOOOXOOXO OOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOX 0000000000X 0 OOOOOOOOOOXX 000000000X 00 oooooooooxox 00000000X 0X 0 OOOOOOOOXXXX XXOOOOOOOOOO XX0 0 X 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 OOOOOOOOOOOO

CLEAR INPUT 0 TEST ZERO JUMP CHKCL INPUT 1 TEST NINE JUMP ADMIN L a y ? CLEAR M TT ^ 5 3 OUTPUT 1 -O' OUTPUT 4 T OUTPUT 8 INPUT 2 TEST FIVE JUMP AD2TEN CLEAR OUTPUT 2 OUTPUT 6 OUTPUT 10 ROUND. ADD N ADD INPUT STORE INI ADD ONE STORE IN2 STORE IN2P1 CLEAR ADD N ADD OUTPUT STORE OUT1 STORE 0UT1P1 STORE 0UT1P2 ADD ONE STORE 0U T2 STORE OUT2P1 IN I,# TEST NINE JUMP PAST JUMP AD10HR PAST. TEST THREE JUMP INCHR 1N2.0 TEST TWO JUMP INCHR CLEAR OUT2.0 ADD ONE OUT1.0 JUMP INCN INCHR. ADD ONE OUT1P1.0 JUMP INCN ADMIN, ADD ONE OUTPUT 1 OUTPUT 5 OUTPUT 9 JUMP CHKCL AD2TEN. ADD ONE OUTPUT 2 OUTPUT 6 OUTPUT 10 JUMP CHKCL AD10HR, CLEAR 0UT1P 2, 0 1N2P1, 0 ADD ONE OUT2P1.0 INCN. CLEAR ADD N ADD FOUR TEST FTEEN JUMP STORN CLEAR ADD N ADD THREE STORE N JUMP CHKCL STORN, STORE N JUMP ROUND ZERO, 0 ONE. 1 TWO. 2 THREE. 3 FOUR, 4 FIVE. $ NINE. 9 FTEEN, IS INPUT. 6000B OUTPUT, 6200B N, 0

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/CLOCK IS I/O SLOT IOOOOOOO. /A NEW MINUTE? /N O, CHECK CLOCK AGAIN. /Y ES. READ MINUTE SLOT OF 1ST WATCH. / i s IT A 9? /N O . GO TO MINUTE INCREMENTEH /Y ES. SET EACH /TEN-MINUTE DIGIT /TO ZERO, /CHECK TEN-MINUTE DIGIT, /NEW HOUR? /NO. GO TO TEN-MINUTE INCREMENTER, /Y ES. SET EACH /TEN-MINUTE DIGIT /TO ZERO. /GET CLOCK-NUMBER COUNTER /AND FORM INPUT INSTRUCTION /PUT IT WHERE IT BELONGS. /FORM OTHER INPUT INSTRUCTION. /P UT IT WHERE IT BELONGS. /HERE TOO. /GET COUNTER AGAIN. /AND FOHM OUTPUT INSTRUCTION. /PUT fT HERE WHERE IT BELONGS. /AND HERE. /HERE TOO. /FORM OTHER OUTPUT INSTRUCTION. /PUT IT WHERE IT BELONGS. /HERE TOO . /BECOMES "INPUT N" /IS HOUR DIGIT A 9? /N O . TEST AGAIN /Y ES. GO FLIP IO-HOUR DIGIT /IS HOUR DIGIT A 3? /N O . GO INCREMENT HOUB. /BECOMES "INPUT N *l." /IS TEN-HOUR COUNTER A TWO? /NO, INCREMENT HOUR NORMALLY /Y ES, IT WAS 23: S9. SO SET /TIME TO 01: 00. ''OUTPUT N ln IS HERE. /S ET AC TO 1. /AND "OUTPUT Nn HERE. /GO INCREMENT CLOCK-NUMBER COUNTER /ADD 1 TO HOUR /BECOMES "OUTPUT N". /GO INCREMENT CLOCK-NUMBER COUNTER /ADD 1 TO MINUTE DIGIT. /AND PUT IT /IN ALL /THE MINUTE DIGITS. /THEN GO BACK TO CLOCK-WATCHING. /ADD 1 TO TEN-MINUTE DIGIT /AND PUT IT /IN ALL /THE TEN-MINUTE DIGITS. /THEN GO BACK TO CLOCK-WATCHING, /FIRST CLEAR /HOUR DIGIT (BECOMES "OUTPUT N") /THEN GET TEN-HOUR DIGIT /AND ADD 1 TO IT. /BECOMES "OUTPUT N+l". /ROUTINE TO GET NEXT CLOCK NUMBER. /ADDING FOUR TO CLOCK NUMBER /TAKES US TO NEXT CLOCK. /HAVE WE RUN OUT OF CLOCKS (N=1S)? /NO. GO STORE N AND RETURN /Y ES. SET /N=3 /AND RETURN /TO START OF PROGRAM /(WE'VE DONE CHECKING CLOCKS). /STORE NEW CLOCK-NUMBER COUNTER /AND SERVICE NEXT CLOCK . END OF MAIN PROGRAM . / THESE ARE CONSTANTS.

T en m in utes aftor sta rling 10 progra m In Machine Lan guage you will pr obab ly want Assem bly Language. Its a pain tr y in g 10 tJe< 811 lhe o nc s and zeroes r ig h t. (xj Ot} H* It's a p a in tr y in g to keep track of bin a ry num be rs for w here th in g s a r e slored. SO: le l'9 giv e Ihetn alphabelical names. Thats assem bly la nguage . (And the conversion program we p u l o u r a lp h a b e tic a l Into, 10 tu rn them back into ih e b in a ry p a tte rns lhat really r u n ih e m achine-- lhal conversion progra m ia call ed ihe A sse m ble r.) An a ssem ble r is a dir ect and n on-tr ic ky tr an s lato r, inte nded mainly lo ha ndle the details of exact tr anspositio n betw een inst ru ction code w ord s and th e ex actly c orresponding machinela nguage progra m tha t you inte nd. IT WORKS LIKE THIS: T he a ssem ble r s c a n s through th e assem bly -l an guage p r o g ra m , te stin g th e su c ce ssiv e alp hab etical c h a r a c te r s. A fter finding the key punctu at io n m ark s o r d elim it ers (sh ow n as comma and sla sh for the FIDO a sse m b le r ) , it sc a n s for the alphabelical in stru ction mnemonics, and tran ala le a the m by a ta ble in c o re memory Into the c orresponding b in ary c o d e s . (It Ignore s e veryth in g on a line after a s l a s h , w hic h i s luc ky, sin c e ln the comments you may u se w ord s which a r e the same as in stru c tio n mnemonic s.) T he a ssem ble r also counts th e instruc tions, and ( sta rtin g w h e r e v e r yo u say) f ig ures where in core me mory th e Instr ucti ons (an d any data o r sp a ce s you put In) g o . Then it makes a Hat of the se a d d re sse s , called a symbol ta ble (also called e name Hal al le s s elega nt pla c e s) . An assem ble r Is ih e simplest form of co mpiler (see p . 3 o ) . Basically it tr anslates an ss sem bly -la nguage program , which cannot be ru n d ir e c tly . Into a bina ry program which can, Then from th is symbol table ll fills Ihe resu ltin g b in a ry a d d re sses Into Iho b in a ry com mands of th e program. A re n 't you glad you do n'l have lo? Cenerally the assem ble r then se n d s oul the b in a ry program lo some external d e vice , suc h as a dlak memory o r paper tape punch. Than It c an be pul Into core memory when you wanl to ru n l l , (You c an pul a pr ogram Into core memory one bit at a lime through lha fro nt-p anel sw itches; but nobody likes doing th is except for le eny p r o -

(Nole: an a ssem ble r for one co mpute r (say th e PDP-B) lhat ru ns on a different com puter ( s a y . ihe 380) Is called a c ross a sse m b le r . )

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Minicomputers are now being found in highschools; active marketing to highschools is now being done by both DEC and Hewlett-Packard. Children's museums in Brooklyn and Boston have recently obtained PDP11s for the kids to interact with. In the Brooklyn case, the computer will even demonstrate the exhibit and help the child discover things about it, in ways worked out by Gordon Pask (see p.
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In the future, networks of minis may be the systems to offer low-cost information services to the home (for speculations, see 51). But minis will alsA start to make big ger and bigger incursions on the terri tory of the big machines. For instance, one group proposes a time-sharing sys tem which will simply consist of Novas interconnected in a ring, the so-called STAR-RING, which will supposedly com pete with big time-sharing.

Thia is a PDP-11, one of the world's best-designed minicomputers (see p. I f*). The PDP-11 is a 16-bit machine. Shown ie Model 45, the fastest PDP-11, which has various special features. Stripped, with 4K of core memory (that's 4096 locations), it costs about $13 grand. A smaller PDP-11 goes for some $5000.

A minicomputer simply means a small computer, no different in principle from the big ones (see next spread), and it can do all the same things except as limited by speed and memory capacity. (Mind, we are talking about real computers, not the little calculators you "hold in your hand that just do arithmetic. A real compu ter is one which works on stored programs and all kinds of data, working not merely on numbers but on such other things as text, m u sic and pictures if supplied with appropriate programs; see flip side.) There is some argument over what constitutes a minicomputer; basically we will say it's any com puter with a word length of.18 bits or less (see "Binary Patterns,1 p. * 27). (Some companies, like Datacraft and Interdata, are trying to peddle their worthy computers as "minicomputers" even though they're 24 and 32 bits, respectively, but that's very odd. Interdata says any computer under ten thousand is a mini-- which means all computers will be minis by and by; a vexing thing to do to the term.) Traditionally minicomputers come with much less. In the old days pretty much all the programs you got with it were an assembler (see p, 35) and' a debugger (see p. J o ) and a Fortran compiler (see p. 5 - if you were lucky. Today, 4) though, with minis having highly built-up software like (see pp. Y0 -y for descriptions) the PDP-8, the PDP-11 and the Nova, you can get a lot of different assemblers, to gether with Fortran, BASIC, and a little disk or cassette operating system (see p . t fS') to make your life a little easier.

The idea of owning a computer may* seem strange to some people, but with prices falling as they are it makes perfect sense. Numerous individuals own minis, and as the price continues to drop the number will shoot up. For several families with children to pool together and buy one for the kids makes a lot of sense. One friend of mine has an 8 , another is contemplating an 1 1 . (I've been trying to get ray own for years; perhaps this book...) A n y how, the general price range is now $3000 to $6000 plus accessories, and that's dropping fast. Rental is usually a great mistake: prices are very high and after six months or so you'll have paid for it with out owning it. (But names of rental places will be found in this book, and some of them may offer good ar rangements.) Minis may now be had in quantity for $1000 each-- price of the PDP-8A in May 1974-- and soon that will be the consumer price. Unfortunately, the price of the computer itself is dropping faster than that of the accessories, such as the basic terminal you'll need, which still weighs in at $1000-5000. Moreover, as soon as you want to do anything serious you'll need a disk (starting around $4 500) or at least a cassette memory (starting around $1500). But these prices too will come way down as the consumer market opens. Some of us minicomputer freaks see little real need for big computers. Minicomputers are splendid for inter active and "good-guy" systems (see P* 13) as personal machines, to han dle typing and bookkeeping; even for business systems, if you recognize the value of working out your own in BASIC or, say, TRAC Language. Minicomputers are being put in side all manner of other equipment to handle complex control. (However, for repetitive simple tasks, the lat est thing is microprocessors (see p. t l , which cost less but are harder f f) to program.)

Here's that selfsame PDP-11 in its overall setting. With peripherals shown, plus the magnificent Vector General display (shown later on in book, & elsewhere), this setup cost well over a hundred grand. (This is the Circle Graphics Habitat, oth erwise known as the Chemistry Department Computer, U. Illi nois at Chicago Circle. Why do chemists need such things? See p. 1.)

The good o V PDP-8, perhaps the most popular minicomputer (12 bits). Full PDP-8b now cost about $3000, "kits" less. Shown here with a Sykes cas sette tape deck a nice, rather reliable unit and a screen display (see ppPn2Z~3) Courtesy Princeton University , & H.E.S.I.S.T.O.R.S. (see p.

Kids love computers. They belong together. This lad flips panel switches on a Nova, perhaps the third most popular mini after the 8 and 11 (26 bits; see P . * ij . f

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There is g r e a t co nfusion as between various types of small computer, with the latest stupid term, "microcomputer," a dd ing to the confusion. We have: minicomputer or mini Tradit ion all y, any computer hav ing an a rch itecture (memory and mai n registers) of 18 bits or less. Lately, unfortunately, some p eop le hav e been adver tising their 24-bit and even 32-bit c omp ute rs as minis. This is just confusing. (They bas e this on the fact that "minicomputer" has also re fe rred to a machine sold without a lot of programs. But that's re ally a se par ate issue.) microprocessor Tw o - l e v e l c omputer (see p. ) microcomputer Cr umm y t e r m apparently being used to m e a n any t iny computer, rega rd less o f its structure. Thus all com put ers w i l l be "microcomputers" in a fe w years. This clarifies no t h i n g as to their structure or use. midi c omputer R e m e m b e r m i d i skirts? Well, this term h a s b e e n used for computers larger tha n 16 bits or faster than u s u a l , b y p eo ple seeking to give the i m p r e s s i o n that their machines are b i g g e r than minis and less than bi ggies. E v e n the PDP-10 (a genuwine biggie) h a s sometimes been called a midi.

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H E Y , SOME MINI RENTALS MAY BE REASONABLE N o v a m in ic o m p u t e r s a r e l e a s a b l e from: R e n ta l E l e c t r o n i c s , I n c . (a s u b s i d i a r y o f P e p s i c o ) 99 H a r t w e ll A v e . L e x i n g t o n , MA 02173 fo r a s l ittle a s $ 2 5 0 / m o . , l o n g - t e r m .

A long but incomplete list of minicomputer manufacturers is at the bottom of p. L 5 j

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Operator's c onsole of this particular setup. The operator m a y use the keyboard or light^-pen (see p. J M 2 3 ) to select among w aiting programs, submitted by various programmers a nd d epa rt ments .

The parts of a computer are set up to be gotten at, to be refilled and repaired. Their innards swing open like refrigerators. Similarly, the wiring of computers is in separate sec tions or modules ("module" merely be ing today's stylish term for "unit), having very orderly connections among them. Individual circuits are on cir cuit sheets or cards" which plug in sideways and may be replaced easily. T h e r e s nothing really computerish about this, i t s merely sensible con struction; but it is traditional in other fields to build something as a tangle of wires. (When TV makers fo l low these rational practices, they call it "space age construction.")
The operator muses at the console of the main computer at the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle. It is an IBM 370 model 156, which rents for about $50,000 a month, including all accessories and a d oze n o r so terminals in the parlanc e of big-computer people, a "medium-sized installation."

Why are the different parts so far apart? So there's room to swing them open, refill or change them, sit down and repair them. Refrigerators could, and perhaps should, also be built in separate sections, but it's not traditional. Automobiles can't be spread out because they have to e n dure the jostles of the road. But computers like this baby aren't going anywhere. Also intimidating is the fact that you have to step up as you enter a computer room. That"^ because co m puter rooms ordinarily have raised floors, permitting cables to be run around among the pieces of equipment without your tripping. Computer rooms are generally lit by millions of fluorescent bulbs, making them garishly bright. This is simply tradition. Big computers can have millions of words of core memory. Moreover, there are usually several disk drives and tape drives, as seen in the p i c tures, used to hold data and programs. (Some of the programs are the system programs, especially the language p r o cessors and the operating system-see p. ^5*-- but o t h e T programs and most of the data belong to the users.)

This is a big computer. In principle i ts no different from a small one; but it has bigger memories, more registers, more program followers. There are more specialized parts.and more things happening at once. (Thus the term "digital computer complex is sometimes used for a big computer.) It comes supplied with a monitor program or operating system (see p. ^5) and a variety of other utility pr o grams and language processors. Biggies have many ominous and seemingly incomprehensible things to scare the layman. For one thing, where is the computer? of roaring cabinets. Whicli is it"? All you see is a lot

Answer: all of them. "The computer" is divided among the different cabinets (note diagram and cluster of pictures locating the operator among them, below).. The external devices or peri pherals (see p. 5*7) are usually in separate housings. Usually there is one single box or "mainframe" containing core memory, mafn registers, program-following circuitry, etc., as in the m a chine illustrated, but these things d o n t have to be in one box, and sometimes aren't.

AN OPERATOR IS N OT A PROGRAMMER Cindy W oe lfe r is the day-shift operator of Circle's big computer. The job mainly consists of changing dinks and tapes, starting and stop ping different jobs listed on the scope, and restarting the computer when the system crashes (gratuitously ceases oper ati on) . Ms. Woelfer, a thoughtful person, says she very stimulating. S he can program, b u t the job gramming. It's also a lonely job. Non-systems Daley, aren't ordinarily allowed around. About to are the systems programmers who stop through and see whether their programs are up next. does n o t find h er job doesn't in volve p r o people, e x cep t Mayor the only p e o p l e to talk to look at the scope

C o a t m em o ry

Ii used to be traditional for machines like this to have many many rows of blinking lights, showing what was in all the main registers at any fraction of a second. But there's really no point in seeing all that, since about all you can tell from it is whether the computer is going or not (if it's not, the lights are stop ped) and other high-level impressions. For that reason some big computers, beginning with the CDC 6600, started doing away with the fancy lights and bringing written messages to the op erator on a CRT scope instead (for lots more on the glories of CRTs, see the flip side, pp. |)P\ 2.1<
u ^ lo sg - - p ------1 T o r i, B i g computers can have multiple program followers and sets of regis ters (a program follower and its main registers are together called a C P U , Central Processing Unit). A computer with two CPUs, i. e., two sets of program followers and regis ters to carry the program^5ut, is called a dual processor; a computer with more than two CPUs is called a multi-processor.

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Separate independent sections of core memory may be put in one computer, allowing separate program followers and data channels to work at the same time. (Note: a "bank" of core memory is an independent section. Except in this sense of "core memory bank" or "core bank," there is no other correct usage of the layman's vague term "memory bank." Computer people only say "memories," and distinguish fur ther among core, disk, tape, etc. Note that "<Iata banks" are a separate issue-- see "Issues," p .J? .) DINOSAURS? Many computer people, the author included, entertain certain doubts about the long-term usefulness of big computers, since minicomputers are cheaper, especially in the long run, and can actually be in the offices and homes where people create and use the information. Big computers are neces sary for time-sharing (see p. 45) and huge "number-crunching" jobs (see "Grosch's Law," nearby). However, it will soon be cheaper to put standard ized number-crunching jobs in stand alone or accessory hardware; see "Mi croprocessors," p. 4^. Fans of big computers also argue that they are necessary for business programming, but that only means tra ditional business programming-- nonmteractive and batch-oriented. For tomorrow's friendly and clear business systems, networks of minis may be pref erable. But makers of big computers may be unwilling to adroit this possibillty.

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M i n i c o m p u t e r s a r e s o n i f t y l h a t w e may a s k w h y h a v e b i g c o m p u t e r s at a l l . T h e a n s w e r ie th a t t h e r e a r e c o n s i d e r a b l e e c o n o m i e s , e s p e c i a l l y In a p p l i c a t i o n s t h a t r e q u i r e m a n y r e p e t i t i v e O p e r a tio n s a n d d o n 't n e e d I n t e r a c t i o n w ith u s e r s . A h y p o th e s is a b o u t th e e c o n o m y o f b ig c o m p u t e r s w a s f o r m u la t e d a l o n g tim e a g o b y H e r b e r t J . R . G r o s c h , o n e tim e d i r e c t o r of IB M 's W ats on Lab a n d now a h e a v y d e t r a c t o r of IBM . T h u s I t i s c a ll e d G r o s c h 's L a w . T h e id e a is b a s i c a l l y th a t t h e r e i s a e q u a r e - I a w r e l a t i o n s h i p b e tw e e n a m a c h i n e 's s i z e a n d Its p o w e r ( n a r r o w l y d e f i n e d in t e r m s o f th e c o s t o f m il lio n s o f o p e r a t i o n s , a n d w i t h o u t c o n s i d e r i n g th e a d v a n t a g e s o f i n t e r a c t i v e s y s t e m s o r o t h e r f e a t u r e s w h i c h m a y b e o f m o re u lti m a t e valu^). A n y w a y , w h e n I a a k e d h im r e c e n t l y f o r h i s fo rm u la tio n o f G r o s c h ' s Law , I got th e f o l l o w in g : "G r o s c h ' s Law ( fo r m a l) : E c o n o m y in c o m p u t i n g i s a s t h e s q u a r e r o o t o f th e s p e e d . ( i n f o r m a l) : I f y o u w a n t t o d o it te n lim e s a s c h e a p , y o u h a v e t o do it a h u n d r e d tim e s a s fast. ( i n t e r p r e t i v e ) : N o m a t t e r how c l e v e r t h e h a r d w a r e b o y s a r e , th e s o f t w a r e boys p i s s It a w a y ! "

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H e r e , t h e n , a r e som e th u m b n a i l d e s c r i p t i o n s o f som e g r e a t , c l a s s i c o r p o p u l a r c o m p u t e r s , e x p a n d in g o u r b a s i c d ia g ra m s a s n e e d e d . In d iv id u a l o f th e p a tte r n s c o m p u te rs r e p r e s e n t v a r i a t i o n s show n so f a r .

T h e P D P -1 0 i s e x c e l l e n t f o r m a k i n g h i g h l y i n t e r a c t i v e s y s te m s , s in c e i t can resp o n d to e v ery in p u t c h a ra c te r ty p e d by th e u s e r . I t i s a f a v o r i t e b i g c o m p u t e r am on g r e s e a r c h p e o p l e and th e w e ll-in fo rm e d . T h e ARPANET, w h i c h c o n n e c t s b i g c o m p u t e r s a t so m e o f t h e h o t t e s t r e s e a r c h e s t a b l i s h m e n t s , i s l a r g e l y b u i l t w i t h P D P - l O s . T h e r e a r e PD P * 10 s a t MIT, II. o f U t a h , S t a n f o r d , Y a l e , P r i n c e t o n a n d E n g e l b a r t s s h o p (see p . ) T h e W a t k i n s B ox ( s e e p . ^ -* } ) h o o k s t o a 1 0 . D i g i t a l E q u ip m e n t C o r p o r a t i o n , a w a re t h a t i t s c o m p u te r t r a d e m a r k "PD P" c o n n o t e s m i n i c o m p u t e r s t o t h e u n in f o r m e d , now w a n t s t h e 10 t o b e c a l l e d D E C s y s t e r n - 10 r a t h e r t h a n PDP. W e 'l l s e e i f t h a t c a tc h e s o n . Who d e s i g n e d i t i s n o t e n t i r e l y c l e a r . I 'v e he ard p e o p l e a t t r i b u t e i t v a r i o u s l y t o t h e M o d e l R a i l r o a d i n g C lu b a t M IT , t o G o rd o n B e l l , a n d o n e A la n K o to k . O r i g i n a l l y i t w as t h e P D P -6 , w h ic h a p p e a r e d a b o u t 1964, a nd w as th e f i r s t c o m p u te r to b e s u p p li e d w ith a tim e - s h a r in g s y s t e m , w h ic h w o rk e d fro m t h e b e g i n n i n g , i f r o c k i l y . Now i t ' s g o o d and s o l i d . D E C 's o p e r a t i n g s y s t e m f o r i t ( s e e p . 4 5 ) i s c a l l e d T O P S , b u t DBN s e l l s o n e c a l l e d TENEX, a l s o h ig h ly re g a rd e d . T h e 10 d o e s t i m e - s h a r i n g , r e a l - t i m e p r o g ra m m in g a n d b a t c h p r o c e s s i n g s i m u l t a n e o u s l y , s w a p p in g to c h a n g e a b l e a r e a s o f c o r e m em ory. (T h is f e a tu r e sh o u ld soon b e a v a i l a b l e , a t l a s t , o n IBM c o m p u t e r s ( " V S 2 - 2 " ) . ) PD P -1 0 t i m e - s h a r i n g w o rk s e v e n i f y o u d o n ' t h a v e a d i s k , u s i n g D E C ta p e ( D E C 's c u t e l i t t l e t a p e s ) . Of c o u rs e , w ith o u t d is k i t s r e a lly h o b b lin g , b u t t h i s c a p a c ity is n e v e rth e le s s n o te w o rth y . T h e P D P -1 0 h a s d e b u g g i n g c o m m a n d s w h i c h w o r k u n d e r t i m e s h a r i n g a n d w ith a l l la n g u a g e s , a n d h u g e ly s im p lif y p ro g ra m m in g . U n l i k e t h e IBM 3 6 0 , w h o s e h a r d w a r e p r o t e c t i o n c o m e s i n o p t i o n s , t h e 10 h a s s e v e n l e v e l s o f p r o t e c t i o n : t h e u s e r c a n s p e c i f y w h o may r o a d h i s f i l e s , r u n t h e m , c h a n g e t h e m , a n d d o fo u r o th e r th in g s . T h e P D P -1 0 d o e s h a v e j o b c o n t r o l c o m m a n d s , b u t t h e y a r e n o t e v e n c o m p a r a b l e i n c u m b e r o s i t y t o IBM s JCL L a n g u a g e ( s e e p . 3 1 ) , a n d t h e y a r e t h e sa m e f o r a l l t h r e e m odes o f o p e r a t i o n : t i m e - s h a r i n g , r e a l - t i m e and b a t c h .

The p a r t i c u l a r s t r u c t u r e o f r e g i s t e r s , m e m o r i e s a n d p a t h w a y s am o n g th e m i s c a l l e d t h e a r c h i t e c t u r e o f a c o m p u te r ( s e e p . O Z, ) . The b in a ry i n s t r u c t i o n s a v a il a b le to th e p ro g ra m m er a re c a l l e d t h e i n s t r u c t i o n - s e t o f th e p a r t i c u l a r c o m p u te r ( s e e p . 3 3 ) . (T he w o rd " a r c h i te c tu r e " i s o f t e n ^ s e d to c o v er b o th , in c lu d in g th e i n s t r u c t i o n - s e t as w e l l.) T h e p r i n c i p a l v a r i a t i o n s am o n g c o m p u t e r s a r e t h e w o rd l e n g t h ( i n b i t s - - s e e " b i n a r y p a t t e r n s , " p . 3 ^ ) * n d t *'e n u m b e r a n d a r r a n g e m e n t o f m a in r e g i s t e r s . T h e n com e t h e d e t a i l s o f th e i n s t r u c t i o n - s e t , e s p e c i a l l y t h e w ays i n w h i c h i t e m s a r e s e l e c t e d f r o m c o r e m e m ory - - th e a d d re s s in g s t r u c t u r e . Then th e i n s t r u c t i o n - s e t , w hose c o m p l i c a t i o n s and s u b t l e t i e s can be c o n s id e r a b le in d e e d . T he i n d i v i d u a l c o m p u te r i s t h e c o m p le x r e s u lt o f a ll o f th e s e . I f th e y f i t t o g e t h e r w e ll, i t is a good d e s ig n . I f th e y f i t to g e th e r p o o T ly , i t i s a bad d e s ig n . A bad d e s i g n i s u s u a l l y n o t s o m u ch a m a t t e r o f o v e r t s t i n k y f e a t u r e s a s o f r a m i f i c a t i o n s w h ic h f i t to g e th e r d i s a p p o in ti n g ly . ( G litc h i s a te rm o fte n used fo r such s tin k y fe a tu r e s o r r e l a ti o n s h i p s .) The p o s s i b l e w ays o f o r g a n iz in g c o m p u tin g h a rd w are a re v a s t , a n d o n ly p a r t l y e x p lo r e d . (A n a s i d e t o c o m p u t e r g u y s : o n t h e I n t e l c h i p d e b u g g in g c o n s o le s th e y hav e an a d d r e s s t r a p ( t r a p p i n g on a p r e s e t t a b l e e f f e c t i v e a d d r e s s ) and a p a ss c o u n te r (tr a p p in g a f t e r n p a s s e s ) . How co m e we h a v e n t s e e n t h e s e s o o n e r ? ) The m a c h i n e s m e n t i o n e d h e r e a r e a n a r b i tr a r y s e le c tio n . Som e o f th e m a r e t h e G r e a t N u m b e rs, c o m p u te rs s o i m p o r t a n t t h a t f o l k s u s e t h e i r n u m b e rs a s p r o p e r n o u n s , w i t h no b r a n d nam e: "D o y o u h a v e a 360 u p th e re ? "

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S t L1J) The I B M 7090 was the classic computer. Introduced about I960 and mostly gorte by '66, it was s imple and powerful, with cle a n and decent instructions. With its daughter the 7094, it b e c a m e virtually standard at u n i versities, research institutions and scien tific establishment*. At man y installations that went on t- 3 6 0 s they long for those clearminded days. The 90 h a d three index registers and fifteen b i t s to specify core addresses. (Thia mesnt, of course, that core memory could o r dinarily be no longer than 32,768 word* (a3 2 K B see "Binary patterns,* p. 7 3.) A later m odel, the 94, went up to 7 index registere, sin c e there were three bit * to eelect t h e m with.

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Though these were million-dollar a a . chinee ten year* ago, you now hear of them being offered free to anyone who'll cart them away) p artly because they needed a lot of power, airconditioning and oso on. But they were great number crunchers. (If you want a 90, 1 believe that 90 lookalikes are still available from Standard Machines in California.)

U n i v a c 's 1106 a n d 1108 a r e f a s t , h i g h l y reg a rd e d m a c h in e s. In d e s i g n i n g th e c o m p u te r U n iv a c d i d a c l e v e r t h i n g : t h e y b u i l t a n u p g rad ed 7094. T h is m eant (a s I u n d e r s ta n d i t ) t h a t a l l t h e p ro g ra m s fro m th e o l d 7094 w i l l ru n on i t . B u t i n s t e a d o f tw o m a in r e g i s t e r s t h e y h a v e 2B . ( W h e re t h e y f o u n d t h e b i t s i n t h e i n s t r u c t i o n w o r d t o s e l e c t am o n g a l l t h o s e r e g i s t e r s I c a n 't t e l l y o u .) The PDP-8 warn d esigned by Gordon Bell (in it* original version, the PDF-5) about I960. Originally it c ost about $25,000| am of May 1974'that p r i c e ia d o n to about $ 3 0 0 0 , or learn than a th o u s a n d dollar* lf you want to buf t he eircuita a n d wire It all up yourIf* Top, her* come* that Bsathkit. The PDP-8 b aa b o o n D E C * hottest seller) you'll find t h a in industrial plant* and M o a i , or oven h i d d e n in the weirdest eq u i p at, from typesetting devices to b i g disk drive*. At univer s i t i e s all over the r e are kids who loo t h a I nside out. Today the PDP-8 s e w archaic, with its ons a e c w l a t o r a nd awkward addressing ickeatti you can only get to ZS6 different addresses in core a a o r y directly, a n d it's chopped u p into page*. But for i ts t i m e it was a brilliant design, packed l ike a parachute, and even t o day there are p e ople w h o swear by it. (But look at what B e l l s d o n e latelyi the PDP-11.) So m a n y p rograms exist for the FDP-fl, tlwwigh , and so m e h sentimental fondness, that It will be with u s f or the foreseeable future. Ttaa the teclcy's W r i s t v s t c h 1 example ( s e e n , dl-ft is not t o t ally frivolousi we m a y aeaume that a PDP-8 on o n e o r two wristwatch-sized chips is only a y e a r o r so away. But let's hope t hey do t h e 1 1 first. (Look*likes a v a i l a b l e f rom Digital Coa p u t e r Controls and Pabrl-Tek.) The 1108 i s a l a r g e r v e r s i o n , w i t h a s m any m a i n r e g i s t e r s . tw ic e

T h e P D P -1 0 h a s 36 b i t s b u t h a s i n s t r u c t i o n s t o o p e r a t e on c h u n k s , o r b y t e s , o f an y l e n g t h . I t h a s s i x t e e n m a in r e g i s t e r s , a s J o e s th e 3 6 0 , b u t u s e s th e m m ore e f f i c i e n t l y . T h e P D P -1 0 a l s o h a s u n l i m i t e d i n d i r e c t a d d r e s s i n g : a n I n s t r u c t i o n c an ta k e i t s e f f e c t i v e a d d r e s s fro m a n o t h e r l o c a t i o n , w h ic h c a n in t u r n s a y t o ta k e i t s e f f e c t i v e a d d r e s s e ls e w h e re , ad in fin itu m . For your heavy tig h t e le g a n t s t u f f . P e r h a p s m o st im p o r t a n t , t h e 10 h a s a f u l l s e t o f s t a c k i n s t r u c t i o n s ( s e e "T h e M a g ic o f t h e S t a c k , " p . 4 2 ) , a l l o w i n g pro g ra m m e rs to u se m u l t i p l e s t a c k s f o r p u r p o s e s o f t h e i r ow n. ( T h e o p e r a t i n g s y s t e m ' s ow n s t a c k s a r e p r o t e c t e d . ) Program * m e rs d o n o t h a v e t o sa v e e a c h o t h e r ' s r e g i s t e r s , a s o n t h e 3 6 0 . P ro g ram m ers a r e r e l a t i v e l y s a f e fro m e a c h o t h e r .

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So m e t h i n k o f t h e P D P -6 a n d 1 0 a s a g l o r i f i e d 7 0 9 4 ( w i t h IB a d d r e s s i n g b i t s , i n s t e a d o f 1 5 ) . I n t h i s c a s e we m i g h t c o n s i d e r t h e 3 6 0 a s t r i p p e d - d o w n v e r s i o n o f t h e 6 , s i n c e IBM t h r e w o u t t h e s t a c k a n d i n m o s t m o d e l s t h e m e m o ry n a p p i n g . P D P -lO s a r e o r d i n a r i l y s o l d w h e r e t h e v ie w s o f s c i e n t i s t s an d e n g i n e e r s a r e c o n s i d e r e d i m p o r t a n t , an d c o m p t r o l l e r s do n o t have f i r s t c h o ic e . N e v e r t h e l e s s , so m e s a y t h a t i t s b u s i n e s s - p r o g r a m m i n g f a c i l i t i e s ( i . e . , COBOL, d u h ) a r e j u s t a s g o o d a s t h o s e o f c o m p a n ie s w ho c l a i m t o h a v e d e s i g n e d c o m p u te rs " f o r a l l p u r p o s e s ." F i r s t N a t i o n a l C i t y B a n k o f New Y o r k h a s f o u n d t h a t t h e P D P -1 0 m a k e s a s p l e n d i d b a n k i n g c o m p u t e r f o r i n t e r n a l u s e , p r o f i t a b l e a t an i n t e r n a l c h a r g e o f J 3 .7 S an h o u r p l u s p r o c e s s in g c h a rg e s. P r i c e s f o r a P D P -1 0 s y s t e m w i t h d i s k s t a r t s t a r t a b o u t $s00,000, o r $ 1 5 g r a n d a m o n t h , a n d g o u p i n t o t-he m illio n s . H o w e v e r , DEC s a l e s m e n a r e n o t l i k e I B M ' s , w ho c a n r e p u t e d l y s e l l E sk im o s to i c e b o x e s . F o t o n e t h i n g , DEC s a l e s m e n a r e on s a l a r y . T h a t f i t s D E C 's d e m u r e , a w - s h u c k s i m a g e , b u t i t d o e s n 't e x a c t l y s e l l b ig c o m p u te rs . (F o r you F ire s ig n T h e a te r f a n s , th e m u tte rin g s o f th e d y i n g c o m p u t e r o n t h e " B o z o s " a l b u m a r e v a r i o u s P D P -1 0 s y s t e m th in g i e s , a r t i s t i c a l l y ju x ta p o s e d .)

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The IBM 360 (now c a l l e d 370 beca use we r e In th e 70s) is th e c o B o n w t and most s u c c e s s f u l l i n e o f c o a p u te r In t h e world T hi s d o e s n o t n e c e s s a r i l y mean I t Is th e b a s t . Th er e a r e th o se who a p p r e c i a t e IBM t y p e w r it e r s b u t no t t h e i r c o ^ u t o r s . 360s a r e bought beca use th e r e p a i r s e r v i c e 1s g r e e t i be* c a u se IBM h a s v e ry tough sa le s m en ; and p o s s i b l y f o r o t h e r r e a so ns { s e e pp . S Z - 6 ) . A s t r a n g a un se en c u rse seems to ha u n t th e 360 s e r i e s ; I n d e e d , s o u c y n i c s even th in k i t r e s u l t s f r o a d e l i b e r a t e p o l i c i e s o f IBM! Yet th e 360 (and i t s s o f tw a r e ) s e e n soaehow or* f a n ! t e d t o s a k e p r o g r a a s I n e f f i c i e n t and slo w ; t o aa ke p r og ra as b i g , n e e d i n g l o t s o f co re memory (w it h n ua ero us e n t i c e a e n t s f o r th e pro gramm er t o te k e up mor e); to p r e v e n t th e c o a p a t i b i l i t i e s t h a t a r e so w id e ly a d v e r t i s e d , ex ce pt thr ou gh e x p e n si v e o p t i o n s ; t o a i e th i n g * e x c e s s i v e l y c om p li c a t e d , thus J o c l i n g in froth I t s c u st o m e rs an d th e employees o f I t s c u s t o a e r s t o p r a c t i c e s and i n t r i c a c i e s t h a t a r e somehow un ne ce ssa ry on o t h e r b ra nd s of c oapute r. ~

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C o n tr ol D a t a 's 6600 c o a p u te r was th e f i r s t r e a l l y b i g c o a p u te r. The f i r s t one d e l i v e r e d aro un d 194S. The a a c h in e and i t s o p e r a t i n g s y s t e a , CHIPPEWA, were c r e e t e d by Se ya ou r Cray and h i s t e s a i n h i n t e r l a n d MinE i t r e a e sp e ed was d e si gn ed I n to th e coi p u t e r i n a number of ways. The a a l n coap uti has no in p u t o r o u tp ut a t a l l ; t h i s i s hand le d by d a t a ch an n e ls which have been b u i l t u) In to f u l l - s c a l e a inic oapute rs or " p erip h e ra l p r o c e s s o r s '' o f l g b i t s .

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A c o a p u t e r named the L1NC, no* u s u a l l y l i n e , " was pe rh a ps was an im p o r ta n t f o r e r u n n e r o f out h ig h l y I n t e r a c t ! ' e s y s t e a s of t o d a y , n o t a b l y In c lu d i n g t o d a y 's gi a p h ic d i s p la y s w i t h do ub le p r o g r a a f o l i c ----. . \ >.L> . CCar .V . k i . k . i t a c t? ie Pe rh ap s a o s t i a p o r t a n t l y , i t was d e si g n ed w it h none of tb e b i a s e s t h a t c re e p in f r o a the t r a d i t i o n s o f b u s i n e s s computing. I t was c a l l e d th e Line be ca us e i t was d e s ig n e d a t Lin c ol n L a b o r a to ri e s (a bo ut i 9 6 0 ) , f o r "b io m e d ic a l r e s e a r c h - - a c t u a l l y i t was t h e s o r t o f computer you d wan*, f o r hoo king up to a l l s o r t s o f in p u ts and o > t p u t s , t o a ake a u s i c , t o run y o u r d a rk r o o a , b u t o n ly a e d i c a l s c i e n t i s t s c e u ld a f f o r d I t , so t h a t ' s what th e y s a i d i t was f or . The UNC had two ire s tin g in n ova tions. c o ap ut e r to be des* I t was p r o b a b ly th e f 1: d i s p l a y ( see f l i p Igned w it h a b u i l t - i n i side ). I t a l s o c aae wj a funny l i t t l e ta p e > i l i t y and h ig h r c s d r i v e , d e s ig n e d f o r re: p on se , t h a t was suppos< is k and be r e l i a b l e even in d u s ty o r 'B e s s y e n v l r o n a e n t s . T hi s was th e LINCtape, s t i l l o f f e r e d as an a c c e ss o r y by one coap an y. DEC ad ap te d i t soaewhat and Bade i t th e DECtape, handy po c ke t ta pe u n i t of th e PDP com pu ter l i n e . I t was nev er s o l d c o a a e r c i a l l y . A do ie n o r so wer e Bade up s p e c i a l l y o u t o f DEC n o d u l e s and d e a l t ou t t o va ri o u s s c i e n t i s t s , and th e g e n e r a l hope was t h a l DEC would ta k e the n a ch in e up as p a r t o f i t s p ro d u ct l i n e , b u t t h a t s no t what ha ppened. DEC I n s t e a d pushed i t s PDP-8 and aave us i n s t e a d , by and by,

ffO tU K u l .

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n tn g s p e ed , nuch f a s t e r than th e u su a l Micro se con d or t o . However, s in c e c o re a ea o ry is nuch slow er tha n th e a a l n r e g i s t e r s , a t r i c k i s us ed : p r o g r a a i n s t r u c t i o n s a re drawn f ro a c o r e I n t o a s u p e r f a s t i n s t r u c t i o n l i s t f o ft e n c a l l e d a c a c h e ) , and any Juap s or lo op s w l t h in t h i s se ven-word cache can be e x ec u te d a t u n t h i n k a b l e s p e e d s - - pe rha ps te n s o f a i l l i o n s of t i n e s p e r secon d. The d e s i g n o f th e 360, which was b a s i c a l l y d e c e n t , Is gen e r a l l y a t t r i b u t e d t o Amdahl, Blaauw and Brooks. Those who ha te i t , and t h e r e a r e many, base t h e i r co m pl a in ts l a r g e l y on the r e s t r i c t i o n s and c o m p li c a t io n s a s s o c i a t e d w ith i t s o p e r a t i n g s y s t e a OS, wh ic h i s n o t o r i o u s l y I n e f f i c i e n t ( s e e p . <15 ) . The a r c h i t e c t u r e o f th e 360 was q u i t e s i a l l a r t o th e PDP-6 (now t h e PD P -1 0) , d e si gn ed ab o u t th e sa a e t i a e : s i x t e e n a a ln g e n e r a l - p u r p o s e r e g i s t e r s o f over t h i r t y b i t s , and u s in g the 16 a a l n r e g i s t e r s as e i t h e r a c c u a u la to r s or inde x r e g i s t e r s . A c u r i o u s f o r a o f a d d re s s in g was a do p te d , c a l l e d "b as e r e g l s t e r a d d r e s s i n g . 1 Th is had c e r t a i n a d v an ta ge s f o r th e o p e r a t i n g s y s t e a t h a t waa p la nn ed , and was th ou gh t to be s u f f i c i e n t ly p o w e r f u l t h a t you w o u ld n 't need I n d i r e c t A d d re ss in g . Two a a l n r e g i s t e r s w er e r e q u i r e d , one ho ld in g a " b a se " a o r e o r le s s e qu al t o t h e p r o g r a a ' s s t a r t i n g a d d r e s s , end an " l n d e i r e g i s t e r , " whose c o n t e n t s a r e added to th e base t o s p e c if y an a d d r e s s . O ft en a t h i r d n u a b e r , o r o f f s e t , " la added a s w e l l . The machine i s e s p e c i a l l y ge ar ed f o r f l o a t i n g - p o i n t numbrrs ( see p . 9 S ) Because I o f th e i n te n s e spe ed o f th e f a s t i n s t r u c t i o n c a c h e , aany i n s t r u c t i o n s (su ch as n u l t t p l i e a p l i s h e d ( a s t e r by a sh o r t p r o g ra a tha n i f They 6600 beca ae ilie s t a r t of a whole l i n e , in c lu d in g th e 6400, 6800 and o th e rs * The 6400 i s u se d by PLATO ( se e p.JMI ifl.

* (ilC -8
(it V It. fir-8 HC- )

( i t i^ i) DEC was o f f e r e d th e o p ti o n of b u i l d i n g Lin c ol n L a b o r a t o r i e s c l a s s i c LINC, b u t d e c i ded I n s t e a d to c o at u n e i t , in th e n l d - s k x t i e s , w it h th e a l r e a d y - s u c c e s s f u l PDP-8. Th at way a l l th e PDP-8 p r o g ra n s and n o s l of th e LINC p r o g ra a s would work on i t . The r e s u l t i s kind o f s t r a n g e , b u t very po p u la r in b i o a e d i c a l r e s e a r c h : two c o a p u te r s in on e, ha nd ing c o n t r o l back and f o r t h a s ne ede d. You can w r i t e p r o g r a a s on th e Line w it h s e c t i o n s f o r Ihe 8, and v e r s i o n i s c a l l e d th e PDP-12. H h il e you e i g h t h a l f - t h l n k t h a t both s i d e s o f th e comput er cou ld o r i j l m u l t a o e o u s l y , g iv i n g you doublo s p e e d . I t d o e s n ' t work t h a t way. T n e r e ' s o n ly one core a e a o r y , and t h a t s e t s th e b a s i c sp e ed ; e i t h e r a PDP-9 i n s t r u c t i o n o r a Line i n s t r u c t i o n can be underway a t o n c e, b u t no t b o th . N e v e r t h e l e s s , we se e he re th e double s t r u c t u r e t h a t p la y s such an im po r ta nt p a r t In h ig h l y i n t e r a c t i v e c o ap ut e r d i s p l a y s (s ee P< )* I nd eed , Line p r o g r a a n e r s o f t e n use th e n a c h in e J u s t t h a t way: th e PDP-8 r u n nin g an a c t u a l p r o g r a a , th e Line p a r t ru nn in g th e CRT d i s p l a y in c o n ju n c t io n w it h i t .

Tli* i d e a o f t h i s te ch n iq u e I s t h a t p r o g r a a s c an be " r e l o c a t a b l e , ' 1 o p e r a t i n g anywhere In co re a e a o ry . A few i n s t r u c t i o n s a t t h e b e g i n n i n g o f each program can a s c e r t a i n where i t i s run* Ding f r o a , and e s t a b l i s h th e Base a c c o rd in g l y . The b a s i c i d e a o f the. 360 se ea s t o have been doped ou t fo r B u l t i p r o g r a n i n g , o r th e sim u lta n eo us ru n n in g o f s e v e r a l p r o grams i n c o r e , a f e a t u r e IBM h as pushed h e a v i l y w i t h t h i s coaHAT'S W RONG HITH THE 360T The m a in d i f f e r e n c e s be tween th e 360 and th e PDP-6 sn d 10 r e p r e s e n t c o n s c i o u s and l e g i t i m a t e and a rg u a b le d e s i g n d e c i s i o n s . To f a n s o f t h e PDP-6 and 10, he re a re th e 3 6 0 's a a l n drawbacks: NO INDIRECT ADDRESSING. T hi s was b e c a u s e , w i t h i n t h e ad d r e s s i n g sc hem e a d o p t e d , i n d i r e c t a d d re ss e s co u ld n o t b e a d j u s t e d a u to m a tic ally . (But i t a l s o makes p r og ra as more i n e f f i c i e n t , th us more p r o f i t a b l e to IBM.) NO STACK. Why? Too e x p e n si v e , s a i d Amdahl, Blaauw and Brook* I n t h * IBM S y s te a s J o u r n a l . Funny, the y hav e s t a c k s on ISOOO P D P - l l s - - an d i t wouia nave saved everybody a l o t o f money on pro gra mm in g. HO MEM ORY MAPP1NC ( ex c ep t on c e r t a i n a o d e l s ) . Where the PD P -6 's s u c c e s s o r , t h e PDP-lo, a u t o a a t l c a l l y ta k e s c a r e o f r e d i s t r i b u t i n g a d d r e s s e s i n c o re t o s e r v i c e ev er y prog ram a* i f i t w er e o p e r a t i n g f r o a l o c a t i o n t e r o on up , th e 360 l e f t t h i s g e n e r a l p r o b le m t o l o c a l p r o g r a n e r s and (on c e r t a i n l e v e l s ) to o p e ra tin g system s. H a n d l i n g t h i s a u t o a a t l c a l l y i n th e PDP-10 s he rd w ar e ob v i a t e s t h e c o m p l i c a t i o n s o f b a s e - ln d e c a d d r e s s in g and makes p o s s i b l e t h e e f f i c i e n c i e s o f I n d i r e c t a d d re s s in g . The beaic design of tha and alaple four maio r(Ul well-designed Inetructiooa. think) the flret eoput< Grand Bus (o , < d e a ig a wbich haa caught an rather widely. Data General (the coapuj mentioned) haa used a vary Interesting marketing atrate*y. Inatead of bringing oat a variety of new eonputere aa tine gone on, they eoaceatr<t on makiitf tk* leva /#ter aad jaaJler. They began by competing against PEC es pecially In *the OgM Market, purchasers 4 o t are burying minicomputers In larger equipment they ia turn eake but more recently they here actually started to market asalnat IBM w ith taislaeaa eyateaa. la reeeat aD tk, Data General ado have ridiculed tbe complex* Ity and mystery of IBM aystws, arguing quite rightly that minicomputers progressed la BASIC are a reaaonable alternative for a wide variety of business applioatons. Tbe lova's instructloo-set Is oleaa tad straightforward. Hey examples (first bits only)! 00000 00001 OOOIO OOOIX OOI 0X0 X Jump (thus an allaero inatruetloa Jumpe to loo 4) Su b r o u ti n e Jump lacraait, skip if aero Doormasnt, skip if aero Load AC Stare AC Instructions among registers.

A h o r r i f y i n g and w e i rd p i c t u r e o f an e x p e r i m e nt a l monkey s i t t i n g on a PDP-12 and making l i k e th e C r e a tu r e f r o a the Black Lagoon i s to be s e e n in Time. 14 Ja n 74, p . S4. I t lo o k s v e ry s c i e n t i f i c . BIBLIOGRAPHY The c l a s s i c book: C. Gordon B e ll and A ll e n N ewe ll, Computer S t r u c t u r e s : Readings and E xaa ple s . RcGraw-lll 11 , I TTT Note t h a t Be ll de si g n ed v a r i o u s o f th e PDPs, and Newell p io n e e r e d In l i s t p r o c e s s i n g ( see p . Z f c ) . Computer C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s Review keeps you in tou c n w u n in a t r a i t s o f a v a i l a b l e c omputers and p e r i p h e r a l s . $Z S/y ear (3 I s s u e s ) GH. C o r p ., S94 M a r r e t t Rd., L ex in gt o n , M 02173. A O th er f i r a s , such a s Au erb aeh , o f f e r s o r e ex pe n siv e s e r v i c e s o f th e sa ae n a t u r e . B. B e l t e r , The A r c h i t e c t u r e and E n a l n e e rl n a of D l a l t a l iQBPUter~CoBpTeesT t*ienua T'tbss T 2 v o T s . 7 J*0 . H ea v ie r than B e ll and N ew e ll. A c a t a l o g o f th ou sa nds o f s t r u c t u r e s and t r i c k s , s a p h a s l t i n g th e t r a d e o f f s among them.

360 l o e k a l l k e s were s o l d by RCA and Un iva c. Now t h a t RCA no l o n g e r makes co m p u te rs , Univac i s s e r v i c i n g th e on es they made. And Amdahl, no l m g e r w it h IBM and no* he ad o f th e Amdahl C o r p . . 1* co ming down th e p i k e w it h a s u p e r - 360 o f h i s own. in p a r t b a c k e d by J a p a n e s e n ose y, i t w i l l be b i g g e r th a n IBM's b i g g e s t - - a n d c h e a p e r . (See Heah N ie n e r , "Ou td oin g IBM: th e Amdahl C h a l l e n g e , Computer D e c i s i o n s . March 73, 1 0 -2 0 .)

One competitor, Distal C<pnter Con trols, aella a Bora looksLike. Whether Data taertl will soil yon its profrana to run os it is another ae*tioo.

6000
' 1,5*00The S t a c k i s a m e ch a ni sm - - e i t h e r b u i l t in to th e c o ap u te r ("h a rd w a re ") o r In c o r p o ra t e d i n a p r o g r a a ( " s o f t w a r e ) w h ic h a l l o w s a c o a p u t e r t o keep t r a c k o f a v a s t n u a b e r of d i f f e r e n t a c t i v i t i e s , I n t e r r u p t i o n s and c o a p l i c a t i o n s a t the s a ae tim e. B a s i c a l l y , I t I s a a e c h a n i s a w h ic h a ll o w s a p r o g r a a t o th ro w s o a o t h i n g o v e r I t s s h o u l d e r i n o r d e r t o do s o a e t h i n g e l s e , t h e n r e a c h hack o v e r i t s s h o u l d e r t o g e t b a c k w h at I t was p r e v i o u s l y w or k in g o n . B ut no n a t t e r how aany t h i n g s i t th ro w s o v e r i t s s h o u l d e r , e v e r y t h i n g s t a y s o r d e r l y an d c o n t i n u e s t o wo rk s a o o t h l y , t i l l i t ha s r e s u a e d e v e r y t h i n g and f i n i s h e d thea a l l . p r a i s e d aa on g co mp ute r p e o p l e t h a n Che Bur ro u g h s 5000 ( r e p l a c e d by th e 5 5 0 0 ) . The 5000 v a s d e s i g n e d a b o u t 1960 by Edward G l a s e r and Bob BaY ton . I t was d e s i g n e d t o be u s e d o n ly w ith h ig h e r la nguage s. not a llow ing p ro g ra aE 7 7 a c c e s s t o th e B i n a r y I n s t r u c t i o n s them se lv es . I n d e e d , I t was p a r t i c u l a r l y d e s i g n e d to be u s e d w i t h ALGOL, wh ich wo uld h a v e been th e s t a n d a r d la n g u ag e I f IBH ha d a l l o w e d i t ( s e e p . S t ) *d i s s t i l l th e " i n t e r n a t i o n a l " language. B e ca u se o f t h i s a p p r o a c h , i t s s a i n r e g i s t e r s w er e t o be h id d e n f r o a t h e p r o g r a n e r , and a t t e n t i o n c e n t e r e d i n s t e a d upo n Che s t a c k , a h i g h - l e v e l p r o g r a a a i n g d e v i c e ( s e e box on S t a c k s ) . However, in d e x r e g i s t e r s w e r e added t o a a k e i t b e t t e r foT F o r t r a n . The S000 was a a r k e t e d a s an " a l l - p u r p o s e " c o a p u t e r w i t h an o p e r a t i n g s y s t e a , a n t i c i p a t i n g IBM's 360 o f a few y e a r s l a t e r . Indeed, a fte r th e 360 was ann o u n ced , Bu rr ou gh s s a l e s p ic k e d up , b e c a u s e IBH s a l e s a e n wer e a t l a s t - p r o a o t i n g th e c o n c e p t s t h a t c u s t o a e r s h a d n t u n d e r s t o o d when th e y h e a r d a b o u t t h e a f r o a B u r r o u g h s s a le s a e n y ears be fore. 6500, When a p r o g r a a i s r e a d y t o r e s u a e a io u s a c t i v i t y , i t s u b t r a c t s on e f r o a t h e s t a c k p o i n t e r and f e t c h e s w h a t e v e r t h a t j p o i n t e r p o i n t s t o . T h is i s c a l l e d a POP. I t goe s l i k e t h i s : i f t h e p r o g r a a has t o s e c a s i d e one t h i n g , i t p u t s t h a t one t h i n g i n c o r e a e a o r y a t a p l a c e s p e c i f i e d by a n u a b e r c a l l e d a s t a c k p o i n t e r . Then i t adds one t o t h e s t a c k p o i n t e r , t o be Teady i n e a se s o a e t h i n g e l s e h a s t o go o n t h e s t a c k . T h is i s c a l l e d a PUSH. T h is Bakes p o s s i b l e " r e - e n t r a n t " p r o g ra a s a e a n i n g s ub u t i n e s t h a t c a n be u se d s i a u * r o *' ' t a n e o u s l y by d i f f e r e n t p r o g r a a s w i t h o u t b I xud and r e c u r s i v e " p r o g r a a s . Meaning p r o g r a r t h a t a a n a g e t o c a l l t h e a s e l v e s when the y th e a se lv e s are in n r D i r x c

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S tacks a re a ls o used for h a n d lin g " in te rr u p ts " s i g n a l s f r o a o u t s i d e t h a t r e q u i r e th e c o a p u t e r t o s e t a s i d e one Jo b f o r a n o t h e r . Havi ng a b u i l t - i n ha rd w ar e s t a c k e n a b l e s th e i n t e r r u p t s t o p i l e up w i t h o u t c o n f u s i o n :

F i n a l l y , s t a c k a r i t h m e t i c , l i k e t h a t done on th e B u r r ou gh s S55B, e n a b l e s a r i t h m e t i c (and o t h e r a l g e b r a i c t y p e s o f a c t i v i t y ) t o be h a n d l e d w i t h o u t s e t t i n g a s i d e r e g i s t e r s o r s p a ee i n c o r e a e a o r y . As a s i m p l e - a l n d e d e x a a p le on a h y p o t h e t i c a l a a e h i n e , s u p p o s e we wan te d t o h a n d le 2 7 3 t h i s g e ts c o ap lled

On t h i s a a e h i n e , l e t ' s s a y , t o a p r o g r a a and a s t a c k :

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The B ur ro ug hs C o r p o r a t i o n c o n t i n u e s to be an ack no w le dg ed l e a d e r i n c o a p u te T d e s i g n . A p p aren tly t h e i r s a le s fo rc e i s s o a e th i n g e l s e , u n fo rtu n ately . 1 once s p e n t so a e t i a e w i t h a B u r r o u g h s sa le s m a n who n o t o n l y knew n o t h i n g a b o u t t h e M a g n i f i c e n t s t r u c t u r e o f t h e a a c h ln e he r e p r e s e n t e d , b u t would n o t g e t a e f u r t h e r I n f o r a a t i o n u n l e s s I d e a o n s t r a t e d t h a t th e c oa pa ny' I r e p r e s e n t e d (a l a r g e c o r p o r a t i o n ) was s e r i o u s l y i n t e r e s t e d . He wore v e r y fan c y

I t aa y n o t b e l a a e d i a t e l y o b v i o u s , b u t t h i s t r i c k h a s i a a e n s e p ow er . Fo r i n s t a n c e , we a a y s t a c k any n u a b er o f t h i n g s t o g e t h e r - th e a d d r e s s e s o f p r o g ra m s , d a t a we a r e moving b e tw ee n p r o g r a a s , i n t e r m e d i a t e r e s u l t s , and c o d e s t h a t show wh at th e c o a p u t e r was d o in g prev io u sly . Using s t a c k s , p r o g r a a s Bay u s e e ach o t h e r v ery f r e e l y . I t is p o ssib le , for instance, t o j u a p aao ng s u b r o u t i n e s - - in d e p e n d e n t l i t t l e p r o g r a a s - - w i l l y - n i l l y , u s i n g a s t a c k t o keep t r a c k o f where y o u 'v e b e e n .

Then t h e o p e r a t i o n s a r e c a r r i e d o u t on th e sta ck i t s e l f :

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I? I M T E ^ i U G L t D .
I n t h i s c a s e th e s t a c k h o ld s t h e p r e v i l o c a t i o n s and i n t e r m e d i a t e d a t a , so t> p r o g r a a f o l l o w e r ca n go ba ck w h er e i t f r o a a t th e end o f e a c h s u b r o u t i n e .

S t a c k p r o g r a a a i n g te n d s t o be e f f i c i e n t , p a r t i c u l a r l y in i t s u s e o f c o r e a e a o r y . Soa e l a n g u a g e s , su ch a s A l g o l and TRAC L an g u a g e, r e q u i r e s t a c k s . Soa e c o a p u t e r c o a p a n l e s , s u c h a s IBM, r e s o l u t e l y Ig n o re s t a c k a r c h i t e c t u r e , tho ugh h a rd w a r e s t a c k s ha v e be co a e w i d e l y a d o p te d i n th e f i e l d .

The PDP-11 i s n o t a b e g i n n e r ' s c o a p u t c r . But th e power an d e l e g a n c e o f i t s a r c h i t e c t u r e have e s t a b l i s h e d i t , s i n c e i t s i n t r o d u c t i o n i n 19 70, a s p e r h a p s t h e f o r e a o s t sm a ll com pu ter in th e w o r l d . A c t u a l l y , th o u g h , we c a n ' t b e to o s u r e a b o u t th e word " s a a l l . " Because a s s u c c e s s i v e p a r t s o f th e l i n e a r e u n v e i l e d , i t b e co a es i n c re asin g ly c l e a r th a t t h i s lin e of " s a a ll" co m p u te rs h a s b e e n d e s i g n e d t o I n c lu d e soa e v e ry p o w e r f u l a a c h i n e s and c o u p l i n g te c h n i q u e s aaon g t h e a ; an d i t would s e e a t h a t we h a v e n ' t se e n e v e r y t h i n g y e t .

B a s i c a l l y i l i s a 1 6 - b i t M ach in e, w i t h most i n s t r u c t i o n s o p e r a t i n g on 8 - b i i d a t a a s w ell.

In e l e c t r o n i c s , a " b u s " i s a co aa on c o n n e e to r t h a t s u p p l i e s power o r s i g n a l s t o and f r o a s e v e r a l d e s t i n a t i o n s . In c o a p u te rs , a " b u s " I s a c o aa o n c o n n e c t i o n aao ng s e v e r a l p o i n t s , u s i n g c a r r y i n g a c o a p le x p a r a l l e l s ig n a l. The Gra nd Bu s, a new id e a aao ng c o a p u t e r s , is catch in g on. (The t e r i I s u s e d h e r e b e cau se t h e c o l l o q u i a l t e r a , " U n i b u s , " i s a DEC trad e aa rk .) B a s i c a l l y t h e Grand Bus i s a c o n n e c t o r o f M u l t i p l e w i r e s t h a t goes aao ng s e v e r a l le c e s o f e q u l p a e n t . So f a r t h a t ' s j u s t a u s . But a Grand Bus i s one t h a t a l l o w s t h e d i f f e r e n t p i e c e s o f e q u l p a e n t t o be ch an g e d and r e p l a c e d e a s i l y , be c a u s e s i g n a l s any c o n o n p i e c e o f e q u l p a e n t j u s t go o u t on th e bus.

11
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T h e r e a re e i g h t a a i n r e g i s t e r s . Two, th o u g h , f u n c t i o n s p e c i a l l y - t h e p r o g r a a c o u n t e r ( t h a t p a rt o f the p r o g ra a fo llo w er t h a t h o ld s th e nu a be r o f th e n e x t i n s t r u c t i o n ) , and th e ha rd w ar e s t a c k p o i n t e r , b o t h f o ll o w th e sa a e p r o g r a a a i n g r u l e s a s t h e a a i n r e g i s t e r s - an u n u s u a l t e c h n i q u e . Thu s a j u a p i n t h e p r o g r a a i s s i a p l y a na o v e" I n s t r u c t i o n , i n w h ic h th e n e x t p r o g r e a a d d r e s s i s " a o v e d i n t o a a i n r e g i s t e r 17, t h e p r o g r a a c o u n t e r . In a d d i t i o n , a l l e x t e r n a l d e v i c e s s e e a t o th e p r o g r a a t o be s t o r e d i n c o r e a e a o r y . T h at I s , th e I n t e r f a c e r e g i s t e r s o f a c c e s s o r i e s have " a d d r e s s e s " n u a e r i c a l l y s i m i l a r t o c o r e l o c a t i o n s - - so th e p r o g r a a j u s t " a o v e s " d a t a , w ith M OVE i n s t r u c t i o n s , t o do or wa ys i n c o r e . ( T h is I s f a c i l i t a t e d by t h e a u t o a a t l c h a n d l i n g o f p r e v i o u s l y b o t h e r s o a e s t u f f , l i k e R ead y, H a l t and Done b i t s . ) P h y s ic a lly a l l d e v ice s a re s la p ly a tta c h e d to a g r e a t sash of w ires c a l l e d a Unibus. (See Grand Bus b o x . ) BIBLIOBRAPHY ........ ........... , _________ Ming F u n d a m e n t a l s . (. F r o g ra aa ed work b oo k. no p r i c e l i s t e d . ) A lg o n q u i n C o l l e g e B o o k s t o r e , 138S Koodr o f f e A v en ue , O t ta w a , O n t a r i o , Canada 12G-1VB.

T h is Beans t h a t th e i n t e r f a c e p r o b l e a I s d e e p ly s i a p l i f i e d , b e ca us e any d e v i c e w i t h a p r o p e r bus I n t e r f a c e c a n s l a p l y be p l u g g e d on to t h e b u s . I t d o e s k b d a l o t a o r e c o m p le x it y o f s i g n a l s . The U nl bua , f o r e x a a p l e , h a s a b o u t f i f t y p a r a l l e l s t r a n d s . But t h a t a e a n s v a r io u s t r i c k y e l e c t r i c a l d i a l o g u e s c an r a p i d l y g i v e i n s t r u c t i o n s t o d e v i c e s and c o n s i d e r r e p l i e s a b o u t t h e i r s t a t u s , i n q u i c k and s t a n d a r d i z e d w ays . P r o a l n e n t g r a n d b u se s i n c l u d e : The Nova bus ( n a a e l e s s ; th e f i r s t ? ) PDP-1 l ' s Unibus Lo ck he ed SUE'S I n f i b u s P D P -S 's Omnibus. n e r a l. For your t t a n c e , Gra nd Bus a r c h i t e c t u r e w oul d s i m p l i f y e v e r y t h i n g . Not o n l y t h a t , b u t D e t r o i t i s s u p p o s e d l y g o in g t o p u t y o u r c a r ' s e l e c t r i c a l s y s t e a on a Grand B u s. T h i s w i l l a e a n you ca n t e l l a t once w ha t I s an d I s n ' t w o rk i n g , and hoo k up mw goodies e a s i l y .

I n o t h e r w o r d s , DEC's PDP-11, which ha s a l r e a d y c u t i n t o s a l e s o f t h e i r PDP-8 1 2 - b i t s e r i e s and PDP-15 1 8 - b l t s e r i e s , aa y soon c u t i n t o i t s PDP-10 3 6 - b i t s e r i e s - - as d e sig n e r B e ll u n v e ils (perhaps) a o n s t e r P D P -l ls i n a r r a y s o r do ub le w o rd -len g th o r w h atev e r. The PDP-11 was d e s i g n e d by C. Gordon B e l l and h i s a s s o c i ; # s a t C a r n e g ie -M e ll o n U n iv e r sity . I n d e s i g n i n g th e a r c h i t e c t u r e , and e s p e c i a l l y th e I n s t r u c t i o n - s e t , th e y s i a u l a t e d a wide v a r i e t y o f p o s s i b i l i t i e s b e f o r e th e f i n a l d e s i g n was d e c i d e d . The r e s u l t i n g a r c h i t e c t u r e i s e x t r e a e l y e f f i c i e n t an d p o w e r f u l ( s e e bo x, "The l l ' s Modes ) .

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PDP-11 l o o k a l i k e s a re s o l d by C a l D a t a . O t h e r f i n s have be en s c a r e d o f f b y DEC's s t e n t , b u t Cal D a t a s a y th e y ave a p a t e n t t o o .

NiniOMputere a re crasi p r o b la in a in l a rc h lte c tu r the In stru ctio n enough chol In daal^ninq the POP-11, Gordon t e l l and hU eo-^rorkere sy stem atically sought a powerful molution. lim ile tin q varloue peaalble stru c tu re s by c ^ u t a r program, try in g out a v a rie ty of d if f e r ent r f felnatlonm and e tru c tu ree . The elegance and pornr o f tha aolutlon are l i t t l e ehort o f hroath tah ln g . Basically the PDP11, the f in a l design, provides aeven d iffe re n t type* o f In d irect addreaaing. The e c ^ u te r 'e main re g ls ta r e may be ueed both to ooarata on Information (the usual technique, here ealled mode s e re ) . or to p o in t to location* to b . o p treted < (In d ire ct medee 1 through 7). Thee* a> provide eatrem ely e f f l e l . n t means for atepplng t h r a s h ta b la s , TUSH and POP, dlapatch ta ble*, and various other p rogram ing technique*. The following dlagra 1* a ia n t for handy reference.

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*Blg flaaa have U t t l e fleae th a t b it* 'em And a t forth. I n f i n i t e .* Proverb M ic r o p ro c e s s o r s e re w h a t 's h a p p e n in g . C o a p u te r) c o s t s e v e r a l th o u sa n d buc ks on up. Microprocessors c o s t s e v e r a l hundred on u p , and t h a t p r i c e ra n g e I s f a l l i n g f a s t . So ae a lc r o p r o c e s s o r s a re a l r e a d y on I n t e g r a t e r i r c u l t s . p o sta g e s t a a p - s i z e d e l e c t r o n i c F a n c ie s t h a t a r e s l a p l y p r i n t e d and b a k e d , r a t h e r th a n w ir e d up; t h i s a e a n s th e r e i s e f f e c t i v e l y no b o t t o a l l a i t to th e p r i c e of a l c r o p r o c e s s o r s . B f F T K I T w e l l " I t Beans t h a t in a few y e a r s t h e r e w i l l be a m i c r o p ro c e s s o r in y o u r r e f r i g e r a t o r y o u r t y p e w r i t e r , y o u r la w nao w er, y o u r c a r , and p o s s i b l y yo u r w a l l e t . ( I f you d o n ' t b e l i e v e t h i s , lo o k w hat happened lo poc ket c a l c u l a t o r s in th e l a s t c o u p le o f y e a r s . The c h ip t h o s e a re b u i l t a ro u n d c o a t* f iv e b u c ks. But n e x t coae th e n r o a r a a a a b l e c h i p s , th e a l c r o p r o c e s s o r s .) M ic r o p r o c e s s o r s sh o u ld not be c a l l e d a l c r o r o a n u t e r a . a t e n t h a t se e a s to have c a p t i v a t e d Wall S t r e e t l a t e l y . " M lc ro c o a p u te r " j u s t aeans any te e n y c o a p u t e r ; b u t t h e r e i s an e a a c t and c r u c i a l d i f f e r e n c e b e ta e e n an o r d i n a r y c o a p u te r (w h a te v e r i t s s i i e ) and a a l c r o p r o c e s e o r (w ha t ever i t s s i t e ) . A a i c r o p r o c e s s o r i s a tw o - le v e l c o a p u t e r . You w i l l re a e a b e r f r o a th e "Rock B o tto a " s e c t i o n (p p . 32-3) t h a t e v e r y c o a p u te r has an I n t e r n a l la n g u ag e o f b i n a r y p a t t e r n a o r " n ac h in e la n g u ag e " ( I l l u s t r a t e d In horre n d o u s d e t a i l tn th e p r o g r a a c a l l e d "Buckys R r l s t w a t c h , " p p . 3 5 - 4 ) . But s i n c e a l c r o p r o c e s s o r s ha ve two s e p a r a t e l e v e l s , th e y o f t e n have two s e p a r a t e word l e n g th s i th e u p p e r- l................................l o w e r - l e v e l . - e v e l and th e

The h i s t o r y books te n y e a r s f r o a now, i f any, w i l l n o te t h a t th e f i r s t c o a p u te r - o n - a - c h i p was pro duced by I n t e l . I n t e l , an a s t u t e l y aanaged coapany, chose to sa k e a a i c r o p r o c e s s o r t h a t would be s u it e d to p la c e a e n t i n o t h e r s ' a a c h in e s a t low c o s t. This a e a n s t h a t i f you aake a fanc y b u l l d o z e r or bakeo v e n, and want i t to have soae f o r a of i n t r i c a t e p r e - p la n n e d b e h a v io r , y o u ' l l p u t " t h e I n t e l chip" A c t u a ll y th e I n t e l c h ip Is a n u a b er of se p arate c h i p s , which s t a r t low in c o s t - - a f a i r l y c oople to s e t can be had f o r u n d e r $S00-- and can be assea ble d i n to a f u ll co ap u te r. ( In d e e d , v a r io u s f i r a s do o f f e r c o a p l e t e c o a p u te r s b u i l t o u t o f I n t e l e h ip s . In c lu d in g one th e s i z e o f an Oreo c o o k ic , guara nteed f o r 2$ y e a r s . ) The o r i g i n a l I n t e l c h ip s a re th e MCS-4 and MCS-S, v i z . : The t r i c k t h a t Bakes t h i s a l l w ork-- w hether f o r th e hld den-a w ey ty p e o r t h e c o a p u te r ty pe of a i c r o p r o c e s s o r - - I s t h a t th e low er l e v e l has a nuch f a s t e r a ea o ry th a n th e u p p e r l e v e l . T h is Beans t h a t an u p p e r - l e v e l word c a n be ta k e n , and looked up in th e low er l e v e l , and a l l th e lo w e r - l e v e l s te p s c a r r i e d o u t , v e ry f a s t c o a p a r e d to th e u p p e r - l e v e l a e a o r y . Many suc h a a c h i n e s , f o r i n s t a n c e , havo l o w e r - l e v e l spe eds In th e na nosec onds ( b i l l i o f a s e c o n d ) , w h ile th e u p p e r < ly in th e a ic r o a e c o n d s ( a i ip o r t a n t c h a r A l a s t p o i n t . One o f t h e a o s t : t e r i s t l c s of an a r d l n a r y c o a p u te r n g th , t h a t i s , I lie n u a b er o f b i n a r y pos u s u a l chunk o f 1t s I n f o r m a tio n . Upper l e v e l MCS-4 MCS-8 Lower l e v e l b its nanoseconds) b its nanoseconds)

4 b its B o r 16 (1 0 .8 (900 a ic r o s e c o n d s ) 8 b its 8 to 24 (12.& (900 a ic r o s e c o n d s )

W hile th e s e i n d i v i d u a l c h ip s c o s t under a hundred d o l l a r s e a c h , a c a o r i e s and o t h e r n c c e s s a r y s e c ti o n s c o s t e x t r a . For p e o p le who want to de velo p s y s te a s around th e s e c h i p s , I n t e l has c a n n il y p r e p a re d a nuab e r o f se tu p s. I f you want to go 4 - b i t , you ge t the " I n t c l l e c 4 , " {2200, whic h a l s o needs a T e l e ty p e . T h is g iv e s yo u v a r io u s d i s p l a y l i g h t s and debugging f e a t u r e s . M eanwhile, you c an a s s e a b le and s i o u l a t e on s i n u l a t l o n p r o g ra a s o f f e r e d on n a t i o n a l t i o e - s h a r in g . I f you want to go 8 - b i t , you g e t th e " I n t e l l e c 8" f o r $2400 ( a l s o w i t h o u t T e l e t y p e ) , and b e n e f i t ad d i t i o n a l l y f r o a th e f a c t t h a t you c an p r e p a re the undcrw are in P L / I . and c o a p i l e i t on n a t i o n a l t i a e C r a f ty and c l e v e r I n t e l , which has c a p tu r e d ouch o f th e o v e r a l l a a r k e t a l r e a d y , has now b ro u g h t out au ch f a s t e r v e r s i o n s o f th e s e c h i p s . Rail.

W e ll , a a i c r o p r o c e s s o r has two l e v e l s . It has an u n p o r - l o v e l p r o g ra a f o llo w e r w i t h i t s r b in a r y p r o g r a n ; b u t each I n s t r u c t i o n o: u p p e r - l e v e l p r o g r a a i s in tu r n c a r r i e d p r o g r a a f o l l o w e r runnin g a p r o g ra a a t i l e v e l - - c a l l e d a a ic r o p r o g r a a . M ic r o p ro c e s s o r s a r e u s u a l l y s o ld in q u a n t i t y , to pe ople who a r e b u i l d i n g s u p e r - c a s h - r c g i s t c r s or p i n b a l l a a c h in e s o r th e l i k e . So t h e i r n c n o r ic s coae In aany s i z e s and s p e e d s , to be t a i l o r e d to an a p p l i c a t i o n . You sh o u ld know th e d i f f e r e n c e s b e tw een-ROM-* Read-Only Menory. C o n te n ts c a n ' t be changed, c o s 's l e s s th a n c h an g e ab le ( a t any g iv e n S p e e d ). RAM Rapid -A ccess Menory. A ls o c a l l e d re a d -w r i te n e n o ry . Saco as c o re acniory: May have I t s c o n t e n t s c hange d. NOTt: I f you s i a u l a t e so a e c o a p u t e r w ith a a i c r o p rogra B , i t s s i n u l a t e d " r e g i s t e r s are u s u a l l y lo c a t i o n s in th e lo w e r - l e v e l RAM . RMM-- Read-Mostly Meaory. You can (jet out i t s c o n te n t s f a s t , h u t change th e n o nly ve ry Slowly. F i r s t o f a l l , i t aeans t h a t th e u p p e r - l e v e l b in a r y la n g u ag e can be a n y th in g you w a n t- - t h a t I s , any f e a s i b l e c o a p u te r la n g u a g e - - b e c a u s e each of I t s i n s t r u c t i o n * , in t u r n , w i l l be c a r r i e d o u t by T h is a e a n s , f o r I n s t a n c e , t h a t a a c h in e s can be c r e a t e d which aay be pr o g ra a a e d d i r e c t l y in soa e h i g h e r - l e v e l la n g u ag e , such a s APL ( n o te Canad ian a a c h in e d e s c r i b e d on p . 2 . 1 ) o r BASIC ( n o te one of th e H e w le tt- P a c k a r d a a c h in e s d e s c r ib e d on p . J 7 ) The c h a r a c t e r s in th e u p p e r - l e v e l p r o g r a a (APL or BASIC), s te p p e d th ro ugh by th e u p p e r - l e v e l p r o g ra a f o l l o w e r , c a u s e th e l o w e r - le v e l p r o g r a a f o llo w e r to c a r r y o u t th e o p e r a tio n s o f th e la nguage . S e c o n d , th e a a c h in e c o s t s l e s s t o a a k e th a n an o r d in a r y c o a p u t e r . The r ea so n Is t h a t t h e a r c h i t e c t u r e o f o r d i n a r y c o a p u te rs i s d e s ig n e d now ( a t l a s t ) f o r n r o a r a a a e r c o n v e n ie n c e . Thus a a a c h in e l i k e th e P u r - u , wnicIT in p r i n c i p l e doe s n o th in g any o t h e r c o a p u t e r d o e s n 't d o , Is s t i l l a o re d e s i r a b le th a n n o s t , be ca use I t s I n s t r u c t i o n s a r e so w e ll d e s i g n e d . I t i s c l e a r and s e n s i b l e to th e prog r a a a e r , w i t h th a r e s u l t t h a t p r o g r a a a in g I t ta k e s l e s s t l a e and c o s t s l e s s aoney . M ic r o p r o c e s s o r s r e v e r s e t h i s t r e n d . The lowerle v e l s t r u c t u r e o f r e g i s t e r s and i n s t r u c t i o n s can be a n y th in g t h a t i s c o n v en ie n t t o a a n u f a c t u r e , w hether o r n o t p r o g r a a a e r a l i k e I t . Low a a n u f a c t u r i n g c o s t la one o f t h e B a in d e s ig n c r i t e r i a . The p u r p o s e o f a l c r o p r o c e s s o r s , you s e e , la g e n e r a l l y t o be h id d e n In o t h e r e q u lp a e n t and do s o m s i a p l e t h i n g over and o v e r; n o t t o have t h e i r p r o g ra a s ch an g e d aro und a l l th e t t a e a s on an o r d i n a ry c o a p u t e r . t t i e r e a r e e x c e p t i o n s , c o a p u te r s w hic h have a second l e v e l down where you c an p u t a i c r o p r o g r a a s ; and th e s e a r e c a l l e d , s e n s i b l y enough, a i c r o p r o g r a a a a b le c o a p u t e r s . They a re b ought and s e t up w ith r e g u l a r c o a p u t e r a c c e s s o r i e s , p lu s f a c i l i t i e s to change th e a i c r o p r o g r a a s . Thus th e y c o s t a l o t a o r e ; b u t oh, th e y do so Mich a o re f o r you. You c an d e s ig n y o u r own c o a p u t e r - - i . e . , i t s I n s t r u c t i o n - s e t - - and t n e s c r e a t e I t , w ith a a i c r o p r o g r a a . (S e a th * Stan* d a rd C o a p u te r and th e M eta -4, n e a r b y .) (The l o w e r - le v e l a en o ry i s s o a e t i n e s c a l l e d " p r o g r a a a e a o ry " and th e u p p e r - l e v e l n c ao ry i s o f te n c a l l e d " d a t a a e a o ry , b u t t h i s i s a c o n fu s i o n r e s u l t ing f r o a c e r t a i n t y p i c a l a p p l i c a t i o n s o f th e d e v ic e s , r a t h e r th a n t h e i r i n h e r e n t n a t u r e . You can have p r o g ra a s a t b oth l e v e l s . ) BIBLIOGRAPHY Rayaond M H olt and Manuel R. L ea as , " C u r re n t . M lc rocoa puter A r c h i t e c t u r e . " C oapute r D esig n . Feb 74, 6 5 -73. S u a a a r iz e s n i n e te eny a a c h in e s now on th e a a r k e t ( s o a e 1 - l e v e l ) . Good bib l io g r a p h y a l s o .

A ijo u p j te r w i t t i l y c a l l e d th e Meta 4 (heh heh) i s a f a i r l y n e a t a a c h in e aade by D i g i t a l S c i e n t i f i c C o r p ., 1 MS5 S o r r e n t o V a l le y R d., San Diego CA 92121. I.ower a e a o ry : 16 h i t s , 90 na nosec onds ( o r 35 n a n o sec o n d s, p r o g r a m e d by a c a r d ( on which you d a rk e n th e sq u a re s .) Upper menory: 16 b i t s , 900 nan o sec o n d s. What t h i s i s i s a v e ry hig h -p o w er n i n i c o a p u t e r : i t c an be t u r n e d i n t o a lo o k a l i k e f o r any o t h e r 1 6 - b i t n i n i c o a p u t e r . For i n s t a n c e , th e y c an s e l 1 I t t o you l i v e l y i n t o an IBM l l J o ! Froa a a a r k e t i n g p o i n t o f v ie w , t h i s e f f e c t i v e l y means a f i r a owning an IBM 1130 can r e p l a c e i t w ith a Meta 4 which r u n s th e s a a e p r o g r a a s , sa ves aoney and g iv e s you in a d d i t i o n th e o o tt o n - l e v e l f e a t u r e s o f a f a r n o r e po w erfu l c o a p u t e r . (Such an u n d e r - l e v e l p r o g r a a t h a t a a k e s one a a c h in e e f f e c t i v e l y i a i t a t e a n o t h e r computer i s c a l l e d an e a u l a t o r . ) T h is c a p a c it y to c a u l a t c o l h e r c o a p u t e r s i s th e "a e tn p h o r " a llu d e d to i n th e a a c h i n e ' s n a a e .

The Lockheed SUE ("Byetem Uaer-Englnaered Conputer") Is a very Inlenating and dealrable machine. The central proceealng unit coala a little over els hundrvd and forty doUare! (Thal'a without menory. power aupply or card cage.) It ueea a Grand Bus ayaten of lntarannection (aeia p . H Z ) ll'a a microproceaaor. The tower-levl cycle time la 90 nenoaeconda. eo ll can be programmed to Imitate any microsecond mini.

o w e N iic < e p * p m K n 4 B u S ta n d a rd C onputer Meta 4 Burro ughs 1700 Lockheed SUE H e w le tt- P a c k a r d 2100

d p fc fo re a s .* Big ( Lxpensive. Up to 32 ha rdware r e g i s t e r s . Coaes w ith c a s s e t t e h o ld in g v a rio u s e m ula to rs. *650 s t r i p p e d . Already a lc r o p r o graa ac d to be l i k e o t h e r IIP c o a p u te r s -- but th e r e 's space f o r y o u r s . as w e l l . )7$00. $8000 up (110,0 00 f o r a o d e l 32/S , sta ck -o rien ted ). $15,000 to 1100,000 (heavy upgrade o f V aria n 62 0 ).

19 b i t s 36 b i t s 16 b i t s 16 b i t s 90 or 3S nsec 900 nsec 16 b i t s 24 b i t s 60 nse c 666 nse c 36 b i t s ? 16 b i t s 16 b i t s

One nice thing la lhat you can put together eaveral cpu'e and different memoriae-- c o re , eemlconductor and ROM-- aala din g with aw Itches which epua have what prleritlee In what memories. as well aa Interrupts, etc. Darn nice-- eapedally coisldering the upper-level InetnicUon-eel. The microprogram it comes with makee the Lockheed SUB Into a eo n of copy (??) of ihe PDP-11. Including Its eight reflelera and similar address modes ( e e e p . r U . Was the name SUB actually Lockheed's impudent challenge to DEC? DEC did aue. bul no outcome haa been publicised,

M lc r o d a ta 3200 V arla n 73 IBM 360 a o d e l 25 P r la e 200 I n t e r d a t a 8S

32 b i t s 135 nsec

16 b i t s

64 b i t s 16 b i t s 16S nsec, 660 n se c (190 r e a d - w r l t e ) ? 16? 64 b i t s 16 b i t s 160 nse c 7S0 nse c 32 b i t s 16 b i t s 160 nsec 320 nse c

123,000 A a i c r o p r o g r a a a a b l e b i g g i e has be en a v a i l a b l e ' f o r so a e t i a e . I t s a 3 6 - b i t c o a p u t e r o a n u f a c tu r e d by S ta n d a rd C o a p u te r C o r p o r a t i o n , 1411 W O ly a p lc . B o u le v a rd , Los A n g eles, CA 90015. T h is coapute r. I s a s e r i o u s a a c h i n e , in th e a a n y - h u n d r e d - t h o u s a n d - d o lla r c l a s s , which c an be s e t up to a i a i c any o t h e r 3 6 - b i t a a c h i n e . I t has been s o l d In two v e r s i o n s : one a pure FORTRAN e a ch in e ( t h a t ' s r i g h t , i t s u p p e r la n g u ag e i s pure F o r tr a n .') and a lo o k a l i k e fOT th e IBM 7094. Lowerl e v e l word le n g th i s 18 b i t s . (An i n t e r e s t i n g p u z z le i s why t h i s o u t f i t has n o t g o t t e n to g e th e r w ith L in c o ln L a b o r a t o r i e s . L in c o ln L a b o r a t o r i e s , o u t s i d e B o sto n , ha s a 3 6 - b l t exp e r l n e n t a l a a c h in e c a l l e d th e TX-2 which h a s be en u se d f o r c o a p u te r g r a p h i c s , su ch as S u t h e r l a n d 's SKETCHPAD s y s t e a ( se e p . JUsZ?) and B a e c k e r s GENESYS ( s e e p . > h 2 ? ) . How, p r e s u a a b l y L in c o ln Labs, l i k e a o s t o t h e r r e s e a r c h o u t f i t s , i s h u r t i n g for a o nay. Why c o u l d n 't they aake an a r r a n g e a e n t f o r S t a n d a rd to s e l l i t s a a c h in e w i t h a TX-2 e a u l a t o r , th u s a e k l n g - a v a i l a b l e suc h p r o g r a a s as Sketc hpad (which h a s n e v e r been e q u a l l e d ) t o a w id e r p u b l i c ?

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computer p n g r m a underp io frana for mlcTuproceaaor*. CAlao called Mlcrpprograma. Should be called U nderw an.)

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6 to 24 b i t s 8 b its S t a c k - o r i e n t e d (now 900 n se c 12 .5 usee / a s t e r a o d e l). 8 o r 16 b i t s 4 b its Basic c h ip $60. 900 n se c 1 0 .8 usee SYS 500 (H e lr d b u t I n t e r e s t i n g wid e a i c r o p r o c e s s o r - c i r c u l a t e s aaong aany s e p a r a t e a c t i v l t e s , r a t h e r th a n b r a n c h i n g .) M lc r o d a ta 16 F iT s 8 b its Mic ro goo 220 n se c 1 .1 use e Mic ro 1600 200 n se c 1 use e ( re a d -w rlte) AES-80 (A u to . E l e c t r i c 12 b i t s 8 b its $9S0 w/o a ea o ry S y s t e a s , M o n tr e a l) 240 n se c 240 n se c o r 1 usee N a t io n a l S e a ic o n d u c to r $1380 s t r i p p e d IMP-16C (8 1/2 x 11-- odd s i z e f o r c o a p u t e r , c o n v e n ie n t f o r n o te b o o k .) DEC PDP-16M 8 b its 16 b i t s $2000. ( C om pa tible w. PDP-11 U n ib u e .) A tr on 601 16 b i t s 16 b i t s 260 n s e e 1 use e ^ ( A b b r e v i a t i o n s : nse c ( n a n o s e c o n d s , o r b i l l i o n t h s ) ; usee (alc ro sec o n d s, B i l l i o n t h s ; usual v e ird a b b r e v i a t i o n ) .)

i ;
B a s i c a l l y , an o p e r a t i n g ays t e a i s a p r o g r a a t h a t s u p e r v i s e s a l l tn e o t h e r p r o grams Ln a c o o p u t e r . For t h i s r e a s o n l l i s a l s o c a l l e d a su^rv l_so r o r a n o n i t o r . Because t h e o p e r a t i n g s y s t e a i s suppose d to be In c h a r g e , aan y c o a p u te r s now o f f e r s p e c i a l w i r e d - i n i n s t r u c t i o n s t h a t o n ly th e o p e r a t i n g s y s t e a can u s e . T h is p r e v e n ts o t h e r p r o g r a a s f r o a ta k in g c o a p l e t e c o n t r o l o f t h e a a e h in e . O p e r a t in g s y s t e a s cone in a l l s i z e s . The b i g g e r one s ta k e up a l o t o f c o a p u te r t l o e b e ca u se th e y have to do a l o t . The s a a l l e s t k in d ,w h ic h a r e r e a l l y k in d of d i f f e r e n t , a r e J u s t to h e l p a s i n g l e pro* i r i n e r aove q u ic k ly betw een h i s b a s i c progra as. (A t y p i c a l such s y s t e o i s DEC's DOS, o r D is k O p e r a t in g S y s t e a , whic h you c an g e t w ith th e PDP-11.) T his s y s t e a is r e a l l y a k in d o f b u t l e r t h a t ke eps t r a c k of where your b a s i c p r o g r a a s a r e s t o r e d on d is k and b r i n g s t h e a in f o r you q u i c k l y . A s t e p up i s th e Batc h M o n it o r, o r op e r a t i n g s y s t e a s e t up f o r Batc h P r o c e s s i n g ( s e e p.&~!!>tr). In b a tc h p r o c e s s i n g , p r o g r a a s go th r o u g h th e c o a p u te r as i f on a co n v ey e r b e l t , one a t a t i n e ( o r in soa e y s t e a s s e v e r a l a t a t i n e ) . The o p e r a t i n g s y s t e a sh e p h e r d s th e a . Uatch p r o c e s s in g i s use d when p r o g ra a s d o n ' t need any i n t e r a c t i o n w ith huaan u s e r s . (O r, and t h i s i s a o r e c o a a o n , when huaan u s e r s want t i n e - s h a r i n g b u t c a n ' t g e t i t ; se e b e lo w .) A a u l t i p r o e r a a a l n e o p e r a t i n g s y s t e a i s one t h a t a llo w s s e v e r a l d i f f e r e n t ro g ra n s ( o r e o n v e y o r - b e lt se q u en c es of a tc h p r o g r a u s ) to o p e r a t e a t one t i n e . (T h is Is how b o s t IBH 160s a re u s e d .) W HERE TO GET IT No way c an we h e re g e t i n t o th e pro se and cons ( both s e n s e s ) o f th e a y r i a d t i a e - s h a r i n g s e r v i c e s t h a t a r e a v a i l a b l e . An e x c e l l e n t suamary o f f i f t y s i i d i f f e r e n t t i a e - s h a r i n g s e r v i c e s ( v a r i o u s l y u s i n g c o n p u to rs by Honey w e l l , IBM, DEC, U niva c, CDC, X e r o i and Burroughs) appea re d in th e F e b r u a r y , 1973 Conputer D e c is io n s ( " P i e c i n g Out th e T in e sh a r in c Puz z le " by Jolin R. I l i l l e g a s s , pp. 24- 32). T h is s u a n a r i t e s i n f o r n a t i o n a v a i l a b l e f r o a D atapro Re se arch C o r p ., M oor estow n, NJ. The a r t i c l e c a u ti o n s a g a i n s t th e p o t e n t i a l high c o s t of t i n e - s h a r i n g s e r v i c e s , and urges you to g e t a l l th e a d v ic c you c an b e f o r e commit t i n g to a t i n e - s h a r i n g s e r v i c e .

I q th e eaTly th r o e s o f c o a p u te r e p th u a i a s a , i t i s easy to supp ose t h a t a n y th in g c an be done by c o a p u t e r ' - t h a t I s , a n y th in g In v o lv in g th e chew ing o r d id d l i n g o f in f o r m a t io n . T his I s d e c id e d ly n o t so . Fo r I n s ta n c e , i t I s e a sy enough, and o f t e n p r a c t i c a l , to have a c o a p u te r do s o a e th i n g a few a l l l i o n t l a e s . But I t i s a l a o s t n e v er p r a c t i c a l to h av e a c b a p u te r do s o a e t h i n g a t r i l l i o n t l a e s . Why? W ell , l e t ' s sa y ( f o r th e sa ke of s l a p l l c i t y ) t h a t a c e r t a i n p r o g r a a loop ta k e s 1/1000 o f a seco n d . To do i t a th o u sa n d t l a e s , th e n , -would ta k e one se co n d , and t o do I t a B i l l i o n t i a e s would tak e a th o u sa n d s e c o n d s , o r a bout se v e n te e n a l n u t e s . . But to do i t a t r i l l i o n tia e s now, would p eaa doin g I t IT j O j OOO a l n u t e s , o r OO ov e r t h i r t y y e a r s . Now, you w i l l n o te t h a t even i f you spe ed uj t h a t loop to 1/ 1 , 000,000 o f a se co n d , a t r i l l i o n r e p e t i t i o n s w i l l ta k e a l a o a t tw e lv e d a y s , which i s o b v io u sly goin g to need so a e j u s t i f y i n g , even assumin g t h a t I t I s o th e rw is e f e a s i b l e . (Fo r p r o b le a s o f t h i s ty p e p e o p le b e g in t h i n k i n g a b o u t b u il d i n g s p e c i a l h a rd w a r e , any way. I t w i l l be n o te d , f o r i n s t a n c e , t h a t the PDP-16-- see p . y \ l e t s you c o a p i l e y o u r own s p e c i a l e q u lp a e n t f o r p r o b l e a s t h a t ne ed e t e r nal re p e titi o n s . COMBINATORIAL EXPLOSIONS One k in d o f th in g t h a t ' s to o auch to do I s g e n e r a ll y c a l l e d a c o a b i n a t o r l a l e i p l o s l o n - t h a t I s , a p r o b le a t h a t " e x p lo d e s " i n t o to o aan y th in g s to do. Fo r i n s t a n c e , c o n s i d e r the g aae o f c n e s s . J u s t b e ca u ae you can w r i t e a p r o g r a a to look ahead a t a l l th e p o s s i b l e outco a e s o f , s a y , t i c - t a c - t o e , t h a t d o e s n 't aean you c an c o n s id e r a l l th e p o s s i b i l i t i e s o f c h e s s . To lo o k a t " a l l " th e p o s s i b i l i t i e s j u s t a few a o v es ahead In v o lv es you i n t r i l l i o n s o f c a l c u l a t i o n s . Reneaber a b o u t t r i l l i o n s ? And i t tu r n s o u l t h a t th e r e a r e a l o t o f p r o b le a s lik e th a t.

BIBLIOGRAPHY M.V. W iik e s , T i n e - S h a r in g Co nputer S y s t e a s , M a cD onald/A nencan E l s e v i e r p udi is h i n g C A l1 About T l n e s h a r i n e S e r v ic e Conganie ^. D atap ro Re se arch (1 C o rp o rate c e n t e r , Moorestown, NJ 0 0 0 5 ? ). $10.

IKTKBS ro* DOIHC THINGS A a n are really clear braids a *ahat c a^ u tera can do." 1%a preblM is always to think 19 t j a j i for doing things by n e u t e r . (Also called a la m r lu .> l u i a l l y what can ba dene by tablatop with allpe of paper-- c ^ k a ring, e a p flv t, sorting, marhin?. doing u l t M U t aad handing allp a of paper So the q in U M should w n be, ' t v aowld you do th a t by coapuur?* but 'can you CMok o( a Mthad (or acca^lleh log that?* The ' c o l t e r ' la really irrele v an t, (or i t has no oaeure and aetely tw iddles Information on ta a n d .

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\\ \\n n H H u i ||| UTSS i s th e D artn o u th T in e -S h a r in g S y s to n , and l e t i t be an example to us a l l . , * y f I I t was c r e a t e d by Keneny and K u r t : , who c r e a t e d th e BASIC la nguag e to be use d on i t ( se e p. It, ) . T h e i r c o o p u te r a r r i v e d in f a l l '6 3 , T h e i r t i a e - s h a r i n g s y s i e n w e n t in to op e ra t i o n in s p r i n g ' 6 J , pr o e r a a n e d n o s t l y by Dartmouth s t u d e n t s . and nas grown and lmproved c o n tin u o u s ly s i n c e Chen. On t h a t b a s i s : p ro g ra a n e d by s t u d e n t s .

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MULTICS was announced in 196S as the T im e -Sha rin g S y s te n o f A ll T in e , to be c r e a te d j o i n t l y by MIT, G enera l L l e c t r i c and Bell Labs. Il took a l o t lo n g e r to g e t going th a n they e x p e c te d - - I hnvc a 1968 (?) b u tto n t h a t s a y s , YOU NHVER OUTC.ROH YOUR FOR MULTICS - - b u t now i t ' s a v a i l a b l e f r o n Jloncywcl 1. Tcople sa y i t ' s the g r e a te s t, a l l r ig h t- - i t s fasc in a tin g f a c i l i t i e s in c lu d e th e a b i l i t y to cxccutc p a r t s of o th e r p e o p l e ' s p rogra m s, i f you have p e r m i s s io n - - b u t i t ' s a l s o s a i d to be aw f u lly e x p e n siv e . I n t e r e s t i n g l y , th e MULTICS o p e ra tin g sy ste m i s l u r g v ly programmed in th e PL/1 languag e ( se e p. ). Sys te n s ,^200 Sm ith S t r e e t , M 06 1 . K a l th a a , Mass. 0 J1 J4 . S

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Then t h e r e i s t i a e - s h a r i n g . .Then th e r e Is th e p r o b l e a o f " T u rin g la p o s s l b l l l t y . T urin g was a a a t h e a a t i c i a n who d ls c o v e i e d t h a t so a e t h i n g s c an be done s e q u e n t i a l l y In a f i n i t e a a o u n t o f t i a e , and soae th in g s c a n ' t , su ch a s p ro v in g c e r t a i n ty p e s o f a a t h e a a t i c a l t h e o r e a . In o t h e r w ord s, a n y th in g t h a t ha s to do t h i n g s in se q u e n c e - w hether a c o a p u te r o r a a i n d o f God, I f any-cannot p o s s ib l y know a n y th in g which i s n o t T u r in g -c o a p u t a b le . A n o th e r I a p o r t a n t l l m i t a tlo n . On a a o r e p r a c t i c a l l e v e l , th ough, th e r e a re J u s t l o t s o f t h i n g s w hic h nobody has f i g u r ed o u t how to do In any f e a s i b l e way, o r are J u s t now f i g u r i n g o u t d i f f e r e n t s y s t e a a t i c ways o f do in g . (For a f a v o r i t e su ch a r e a o f n i n e , co ap a re th e d i f f e r e n t c o a p u te r h a l f - t o n e ia a g e sy n th e s is s y s t e a s d e s c r i b e d on pp. DM H to ON M .) Thus you s e e t h a t f l g g e r l n g o u t wavs of doing s t u f f i s s t i l l one o r th e p r i n c i p a l a s p e c ts 01 th e c o a p u te r f i e l d . (Vnole j o u r n a l s a re d e vote d to I t , such a s CACM, JACM and so o n .) But th e n o f c o u r s e , e v e r y few y e a r s th e re coae s a new a o v e a e n t i n t h e f i e l d t h a t bodes to aake us s t a r t a l l o v e r. One su ch tr e n d I s c a l l e d s t r u c t u r e d p r o g r a a a in g . b e in g p r o a u lg a te d by a Dutch r e s e a r c h e r named D l j k s t r a , aaong o t h e r s . The I d e a of s t r u c t u r e d p r o g ra a a in g I s t o r e s t r i c t c o a p u tln g langu ages In c e r t a i n ways and " e l l a l n a t e th e G TO," i . e . , no lo n g e r ha v e lu a p s to l a b e l e d O p la ce * l a p r o g r a a s . By d i v i d i n g c o a p u te r progr a a s up o n ly I n c e r t a i n w ay s, goes t k l s sc h o o l o f th o u g h t, th e p r o g r a a s c an p e rh a p s be proven w o rk ab le , I d th e a a t h e a a t i c a l s e n s e , r a t h e r th a n J u s t d e m o n strated to w o rk , as th e y a r e now-a n o to rio u sly e rro r-p ro n e s i t u a t i o n . I f th e D l j k s t r a sc h o o l la c o r r e c t , we aay ha ve to s t a r t a l l ov e r a g a in w ith a new bunch o f p r o g r a m i n g la n g u ag e s. These r e a a r k s g iv e you th e f l a v o r o f soae r e s t r i c t i o n s and l i n e s o f d e v e lo p a e n t . The r e s t o f t h i s page i s d e v o te d to The G re a t S oftw are P r o b le a - - t h e O p e r a t in g Syste m . T i n e - s h a r i n g means th e s i u u l t a n c o u s use o f one c o a p u te r by s e v e r a l d i f f e r e n t u s e r s a t o n c e. I t ' s b a s ic a lly a c o n p lci fo ra of a u ltip ro g ra n n in g . In p r i n c i p l e t h i s is l i k e a la z y su sa n . The c e n t r a l c o o p u te r works on one u s e r ' s p r o g r a a f o r a w h i l e , th e n on a n o t h e r ' s . . . u n t i l i t i s back to the f i r s t u s e r . There a r e b a s i c a l l y two k in d s o f t i a e s h a r i n g : t i n o - s h a r i n g where you can o nly use c e r t a i n f a c i l i t i e s o r l a n g u a g e s , snd t i u c s h a r i n g where you c an use a l l th e f a c i l i t i e s o f t h e c o n p u te r ( i n c l u d i n g p r o g r a a a in g in th e c o m p u te r's a ssem bly la n g u a g e ). E x aa p le s o f r e s t r i c t e d t i a e - s h a r i n g a re th e v a r io u s a i n i c o a p u t e r s y s t e n s t h a t arc a v a i l a b l e whic h l i n e - s h a r e th e BASIC la nguage. (Nova and PDP-11 and H e w le tt- P a c k a r d , for Soae examples o f u n r e s t r i c t e d t i a e s h a r i n g a r e t h e PDP-10 ( s e e p. i o ) , D a r t m o u th 's DTSS, H oneyw ell'S MULTICS, IBMs TSO, and G ene ra l E l e c t r i c ' s HARK I I I . Bigger I s not n e c e s s a r i l y b e t t e r . For in s t a n c e , t h e r e a r e t i n e - s h a r e d v e r s i o n s o f BASIC t h a t run on b i g IBM c o a p u t e r s . How e v e r , i t a ay ve ry w e l l be t h a t b ig IBM i n s t a l l a t i o n s c an sa ve noney by e l i a i n a t l n g t h i s f u n c ti o n and buyin g I n s t e a d a s a a l l H ew le tt- P a c k a r d a i n i c o a p u t e r to run t h e i r BASIC o n , th e re b y s u p p ly i n g BASIC t o a o re u s e r s a t l e s s c o s t and f r e e i n g th e 160 f o r w h a te v e r i t I s IBM s y s t e a s do b e t t e r . R e s t r i c t e d t i a e - s h a r i n g , w ith o nly one o r a few la nguage s o f f e r e d , i s auch e a s i e r to p r o v id e f o r th a n f u l l t l a e - s h a r l n g . P u l l t i a e - s h a r i n g Is a lw ays s h a re d w ith b a t c h , ln o t h e r w ords , th e c o a p u t e r , d a r t i n g aaong u s e r s , s t i l l f in d s so a e t i a e to de vote t o th e b a tc h s t r e a a . T l a e - s h a r l n g i s s e l f - l l a l t i n g . T hat i s , th e a o re u s e r s a re sig n e d o n to a t l n e - s h a r l n g s y s t e a a t a g iv e n a o o e n t , th e a o r e slo w ly th e s y s t e a r e sp o n d s to a l ] o f th e a . O p e r a t in g s y s t e a s a r e b i s and ha rd to p r o g r a a . They ta k e a l o t o T t t i e c om pute r7* t i n e : l o r I n s t a n c e , D a r t a o u t h 's t l a e - s h a r l n g o p e r a t i n g s y s t e a , ta k in g a s auch a s 211 o f th e c o a p u t e r ' s t l a e . I s c o n s id e r e d e f f i c i e n t . The la p o r t a n c e o f t i a e - s h a r i n g Is n o t In t e r a s o f "ra w " e f f i c i e n c y , t h a t i s , th e c o s t o f each o i l l i o n o p e r a t i o n s , b u t In t e r n s o f huaan e f f i c i e n c y , th e a b i l i t y o f eac h u s e r to g e t so auch a o r e o u t o f th e c o a p u te r by u s in g I n t e r a c t i v e p r o g ra a s and la n g u a g e s. OPERATING SYSTEMS TRICKERY Swapping aeans t r a n s f e r r i n g one u s e r ' s r o g r a a o u t o f c o re a e a o ry In o r d e r t o aove n soaeb ody e l s e ' s p r o g r a a . T h is c an happen v e ry r a p i d l y , and even when i t ' s done to you e v e r y t u r n , y o u r t e r a i n a l a ay s e e a to respond a s though you are In c o n tin u o u s p o s s e s s io n o f th e e n t i r e c o a p u te r

i s l i k e a l i b r a r y : i t s s e r v i c e s sh o u ld be T ree lo a i l in a community, p a id for th rough so a e g e n e r a l fund. S t u d e n ts and f a c u l t y a t D artn outh use i t f r e e . (U nless they have g r a n t s . ) You csn use i t to o , i f you pa y. The r e s u l t : eve rybody a t D artn o u th uso s th e c o a p u t e r . I t S always ru nnin g, (alien) s i x days a week. There a re a lm ost two hundrod t e r n i n a l s around th e campus; peak a f t e r n o o n usa ge i s about a hundred and f i f t y . F rc shnen le a r n BASIC f i r s t t h i n g , a f t e r which th e c o a p u te r i s a sta n d in g f a c i l i t y , to be used in c o u rs e s e n g in e e r i n g o r w h a t e v e r; f o r inde pende nt r e s e a r c h ; o r j u s t f o r fun and ganes and The e n t i r e Dartmouth s y s t e o i s b u i l t f o r s i a p l i c i t y and c l a r i t y , w ith e x p la n a t i o n s o f a l l th e f a c i l i t i e s a v a i l a b l e a t te rn i n a ls . (The command e x p la i n JCK c a u s e s th e t e r a i n a l to ty p e out a p i c t u r e of K eneny.) Many f u d d y -d u d d ie s i n s i s t t h a t c o a p u te r usa ge sh o u ld be b i l l e d , as i t i s on most c o l l e g e c a n p u s e s . T h a t i s e s s e n t i a l l y th e C a l v i n i s t v ie w . But what i f we t r e a t e d l i b r a r i e s l i k e t h a t ? I t would p r o b a b ly c o s t S10 j u s t to borrow any book. The p o i n t i s t h a t 11 w e ^ e l i e v e tK a l c e r t a i n c o n d i t i o n s a re a s o c i a l good, th e n >e should be f l e x i b l e a b o u t how to i s p l e n e n t th e a . (See Art h H. Luehraann and John M. N evison, " C onpute r Use unde r a P re e-A cc ess P o l ic y , S c i e n c e . 31 May 7 i , 9S7-961. T h is a r t i c l e c o n tin u e s th i l i n e o f a rg u n e n t and f u r t h e r d e s c r i b e s th e Dartmouth b i l l i n g s y s t e a . ) Anyway, Dartmouth w i l l s e l l you i t s t i l s h a r i n g s y s t e a f o r a b o u t S7S00 a a o n th (an d y o u ' l l ne ed a c o a p u te r s e tu p t h a t b e g in s a t $ 1 7 ,S00 a a o n t h ) . T h a t ' l l run SO t e r a l n a l s . A b i g g e r s e t u p w i l l c o s t a o r e . Bul t h a l gel you F o r t r a n , COBOL, SNOBOL, e t c . , H i b e s t BASIC In th e whole w o r l d , g a a e s , f i n a n c i a l s y s t e a s , and a y r i a d o t h e r p r o g ra a s t h e y 'v e b u i l t a t D a r ta o u th . F u r t h e r a o r e , Mr. A doini t r a t o r , i t a e a n s t h e s y s t e a w i l l be a v a l l a b l to u s e r s w ith a a i n i a u n of c o a p l i c s l i o n and b o th e r. A n u a b er o f c o a p a n ie s have b o u g h t. In c lu d in g t h e U.S. Naval Acadeny a t A n n a p o l is , which o f f e r s D a r t n o u t h - s t y l e computing to i t s a id sh ip n e n . Connect c h arg e i s $2 to $9 an hour de pendin g on yo ur t e r a i n a l s p e e d , p l u s p r o c e s s in g c h a r g e s . C o n t a c t: DTSS, INC., Hanover Nil 037SS. ( S e v e r a l com mercial f i r a s a l s o o f f e r DTSS t e u s e r s , In c lu d i n g C onputer S h a r in g S e r v i c e s , I n c . Denve r; Gruanan Data S y s t e n s , Woodbury, NY; PolyCoa S y s te n s L t d . , T o r o n to .)

Soae t i a e - s h a r i n g s y s t e n s a rc l o c a l , o th e rs c i t i e s lo log i n t o th e a w ith lo c a l te le p h o n e calls. Perhap s th e a o s t f a r - r e a c h i n g t i n e - s h a r i n g s y s t e n , though, i s G enera l [ i l c c t r i c ' s M ARK I I I , w ith c o n c e n t r a t o r s in many o f th e majo r c i t i e s o f t h e w orl d ( n o s t l y L u r o p c) . The n a in com p u t e r i s in O hio , b u t th e o v e r a l l s y s t e a aay be th o u g h t of as an oc to p u s a ro und th e g lo b e , b e s i d e s hundreds o f c i t i e s in th e USA, The Gb sy ste m o f f e r s l o c a l a c c e s s in A u s t r a l i a , A u s t r i a , nc lgium , Canada, D cnaark, F i n la n d , Fran ce, I t a l y , J a p a n , N e t h e r la n d s , Norway, P u e rto R ico, Sweden, S w i t z e r l a n d , U n ite d Kingdom and West Germany. What t h i s b a s i c a l l y nc ans i s t h a t i f a conpany has o f f i c e s in th e s e p l a c e s , i t can do i t s i n t e r n a l com m unic atio n thTouch C e n tr a l E T e c t r i c ' s c o a n m c r sys t e a . T his p r e s e n t s ob v io u s m e r i t s and d i f f i c u l t i e s , which t h e r e i s no roon to d i s c u s s h e r e . The s e r v i c e i s s a i d to be e x p e n s iv e . They a l s o o f f e r a t o l l - f r e e n u a b er fo r C o n t a c t: G en e ra l E l e c t r i c I n fo r n a t i o n S e r v ic e s B u sin e ss D iv is i o n , 401 N ort h W ashington SI., R o c k v i l l e , Md. 208S0.

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' o r O S/3 60, o r OS He have no sp a c e h e r e to d i s c u s s OS, th e o p e r a t i n g s y s t e a o f t h e IBM 360 and 370, whic h i s J u s t as w e l l : i t l a a n o t o r i o u s l y h eavy-handed s y s t e a , e l a b o r a t e d w ith what so a e would c a l l d e v a s t a t i n g a e s s l n e s s . Kinds o f co n v en ie n ce ta k e n f o r g r a n t e d by u s e r s of su c h c o a p u te r s y s t e a s a s t h e Burroughs S000, t h e PDP-10, DTSS and o t h e r s a r e n ' t t h e r e . The p r o g r a a a e r h as t o c o n ce rn h i a s e l f w ith i n t r i c a c i e s h a v in g n a a e s l i k e ACONs, VCONs, TCBs, ECBs, and t h e c o a p l l c a t i o n s of JCL. (While th e s e o t h e r s y s t e a s a ay have e q u i v a l e n t c o m p l i c a t i o n s , th e p r o g r a a a e r ne ed n o t a e s s w ith t h e a t o c r e a t e e f f i c i e n t p r o g r a a s , a s th e 360 d e a a n d s . ) The p r o g r a a a e r a u s t even s e t a s i d e t h e p r e v io u s p r o g r a n e r ' s I n fo r m a tio n i o "SAVE AREAS," w h ic h i s l i k e a r e s t a u r a n t g u e s t h a v in g to c l e a r th e d i t t y d i s h e s o n s i t t i n g down-and r e t u r n t h e a when he l e a v e s . S e v e r a l of th e 3 6 0 's s i x t e e n g e n e r a l r e g i s t e r s a r e con f i s c a t e d . T i a e - s h a r i n g r e q u i r e s i t s own JC L -ty p e le o g u a g e . Ana s o on. IBM sa y * i t s f o rth co m in g o p e r a t i n g s y s t e a , OS/VS2-2, w i l l be b e t t e r . BIBLIOG&APKY A .L . S c h e r r , "The D esign o f IBM OS/VS2 Re le a s e 2 . " P r o c NCC 7 3 , 3B7-394.

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IBM's "TSO", f o r T in e -S h a r e d O p eratin g S y s te n , i s an odd s o r t o f t i n e - s h a r i n g they have cone up w ith f o r th e 370. I t i s a s o r t o f i n t e r a c t i v e b a tc h pro g r a n a ln g . T hat I s , i t a llo w s t h e u s e r a t a t e r a i n a l to c o a a u n lc a te w ith p r o g r a a s r u n n in g in b a tc h node . While t h i s i s a f o r a o f t r u e t i a e - s h a r i n g , (th ough i t s d e t r a c t o r s te nd to c o ap a re i t w ith what they c a l l " t r u e " t i n e - s h a r i n g , such as t h a t on th e PDP-10) , i t ha s a number o f draw b a c k s. For i n s t a n c e , on t h e nodeL 1SS, a f a i r ly la rg e n a c h ln e ( c a . 150,000 a a o n th - - see p . 3 8 ) , TSO n o r n a l l y a llo w s o n ly twenty The bad f e a t u r e o f TSO n o s t o f t e n nentio n e d i s i t s slow r e s p o n s e t i n e . That i s , r e s p o n s e nay be s o n e t i n e s good, s o a e ti n e s e x ec ra b le. IBM i s u r g in g i t s f a n s to b e l i e v e t h a t i t s n e i t o p e r a t i n g s y s t e a , c a l l e d OS/VS2-2, w i l l be auch b e t t e r .

Tha nest enjoyable aaaalon a t tha 197* National Coaputar Conference vaa tha Noitalgla session on tha Dartaouth Syataa, DTSS. The Old Hande wra th tr a - luye who * kids workad on tha original tlaa-aharlng systea, and have now become grewmp* of one sort or An elaralng statement wee aada a t that eaealon by Jerome B. Wiener, who said he had been tha liaison man between the Dartwuth e ffort aad the c v p u ttr manufacturer (net I1H). He steted that ha had been ordered by hie company te atop the Dartmouth "eapert* aant" any way he could, or lea his Job in three months. Re did no auch thin g, and (he said) a fte r being fired continued to help the Derianath e ff o rt , holding weekend aaetlnge with ethers ir oa th a t com pany ln hie b < . Ke deserves the Prencee O. Kelsey we-de-owr-rnal-Job a d e l .

P a e ln a i s one o f t h e G re a t A b str u se P r o b le a s o t aodern o p e r a t i n g s y s t e a s . The p r o b l e a i s t h i s : y o u 'v e always g o t f a s t e x p e n s iv e a e a o r y and c heap slow a e a o r y . How can th e o p e r a t i n g s y s t e a s t o r e a o s t o f your p r o g r a a in c heap slow a e a o ry and s t i l l p r e d i c t w hic h p a r t s y o u ' l l need soon enough to g e t th e a In t h e r e f o r you? I n t h e h o t t e r s y s t e a s , in d e e d , t h e o p e r a t i n g s y s t e a t r i e s to p r e d i c t w h a t 's a o s t i a p o r t a n t and aove i t to a f a s t l i t t l e a e a o ry c a l l e d a c a c h e . T h is a r e a i s so b i i a r r e and c o a p l l c a t e a i p r e f e r n o t to t h i n k a b o u t i t . "M ln la f o r a e , " s a y s Mr. N atu ral.

"For M I t always coses dw n to a personal c h allenge: noC j u s t to c re a te a prograa th a t ae ti the sp e c if ic a tio n s , but to do I t In a way that I fin d a e s th e tic a lly p le a sin g ."

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C o a p u te r p e o p le a re a a y s t e r y to o t h e r s , who s e e t h e a a s s o a e v h a t f r i g h t e n i n g , s o a e w h a t r id ic u lo u s. T h e ir c oncerns se e a s o ' p e c u l i a r , t h e i r h o u rs so b l i a r r e , t h e i r lan g u ag e s o i n c o m p re h e n s ib le . C o a p u t e r p e o p l e a a y b e s t be t h o u g h t o f s a new . e t h n i c g r o u p , v e i y a u c h u n t o th e m s e l v e s . Now, i t i s v e r y h a r d t o c h a r a c t e r i z e e t h n i c g r o u p s I n w o r d s , and c e r t a i n t o g i v e o f f e n s e , b u t i f I h ad t o c h o o s e one w o rd f o r t h e a i t w o u ld b e e l f i n . Ife a r e l i k e t h o s e l i t t l e p e o p l e down aaong t h e a u s h r o o a s , s k i t t e r i n g a ro u n d c o a p le te ly p re o c c u p ie d w ith u n f a t h o a a b l e c o n c e r n s and s e e a i n g l y i n d i f f e r e n t t o n o r a a l h u m a n ity . In th e a o o n l i g h t ( i . e . , p r e t t y l a t e , w i t h s n a c k s a ro u n d t h e e q u ip m e n t) y o u Bay h e a r o u r a u s l c . M ost l a p o r t a n t l y , t h e f i r s t r u l e I n d e a l in g w i t h l e p r e c h a u n s a p p l i e s e* h y p o t h e s l t o c o a p u t e r p e o p l e : when one p r o a i s e s t o 00 you a a a g i c a l f a v o r , k e e p y o u r e y e s f i x e d on h i a u n t i l h e h a s d e l i v e r e d , ffr you w i n g e l wHat you d e s e r v e . P ro g raa ae rs' p ro ais es a re n o to r io u s l y u n k e p t. But th e d ip p y g l o r i e s o f t h i s w o r l d , th e e a r n e s t n e s s a n d w h i a s y , a r e s o m e th in g e l s e . A r e a l c o a p u t e r f r e a k , i f you a s k h i a f o r a p ro g ra a to p r i n t c a le n d a rs , w i l l w rite a prog r a a t h a t g i v e s you y o u r c h o ic e o f G re g o r i a n , J u l i a n , O ld R u s s i a n and F r e n c h R e v o l u t i o n a r y , i n e i t h e r s a a l l re fe re n c e p r i n t o u t s o r b ig o n e s you c a n w r i t e i n . C o a p u t e r p e o p l e ha ve a a n y o r d i n a r y t r a i t s t h s t show u p i n e x t r a o r d i n a r y w a y s - - l o y a l t y , They dogged n e s s and c o n s t r a i n e d f a n t a s y t h a t e n a b l e t h e a t o p r o d u c e i n t h e i r w o rk . (Onc e a t l u n c h I asked a t a b l e f u l l o f p r o g ra a a e r s w hat p la n e f i g u r e s t h e y c o u l d g e t o u t o f one c u t th r o u g h a cube. 1 g o t about th re e t ia e s as aany a n s w ers .a s I t h o u g h t t h e r e w e r e . ) U n f o r t u n a t e l y t h e r e i s no r o o a o r t l a e t o go on a b o u t a l l t h e s e t h i n g s - - s e e B i b l i o graphy-- b u t In t h i s p a r t i c u l a r a re a o f f a n t a s y an d e a o t i o n I h a v e o b s e r v e d s o a e i n t e r e s tin g th in g s . One c o a a o n t r a i t o f o u r t i a e s - - t h e t e c h n i q u e o f o b s c u r i n g o n e s e l f - - n a y be a o r e com a o n a ao n g c o a p u t e r p e o p l e t h a n o t h e r s ( s e e " T he Myth o f t h e M a c h in e , p . ? , and a l s o " C y b e rc ru d ," p . J ). Perhaps a c e r t a i n d l s g r u n t l e a e n t w i t h t h e w o rl d o f p e o p l e f u s e s w i t h f a s c i n a t i o n f o r (and e nvy o f ? ) a a c h i n e s . Anyway, a t n y o f u s who h a v e g o t t e n a l o n g b a d l y w ith p e o p le f i n d h e re a r e a l a o f a b s t r a c t i o n s to in v e n t and c h o re o g ra p h , p r i v a t e l y and w ith c o n tin u in g c o n t r o l . A s t r a n g e h o u se f o r t h e e ao tio n s, t h i s . L ik e H e g e l, who b e c a a e a o s t e l o q u e n t a n d a r d e n t when he w as l e c t u r i n g a t h i s a o s t t h e o r e t i c a l , i t i s i n t e r e s t i n g t o be a ao n g c o a p u t e r f r e a k s b o i s t e r o u s l y e x p l a i n i n g th e c r o s s - ta n g le d r a t i f i c a t i o n s o f soae s y s te a t h e y h av e s e e n o r w o uld l i k e t o b u i l d . (A s y n d r o a e t o p o n d e r . I ha v e s e e n I t a o r e th a n o n c e : t h e t e c h n i c a l p e r s o n w ho, w i t h soaeone he c a r e s a b o u t, can n o t s to p t a l k i n g bout h is Id ea s f o r a p r o je c t. A p o ig n a n t ty p e o f F r e u d i a n d i s p l a c e n e n t .) A s a d a s p e c t o f i h l s , i n c i d e n t a l l y , i s by no a e a n s o b v i o u s . T h i s i s t h a t t h e s a a e com p u t e r f o l k s who c h a t t e r e l o q u e n t l y a b o u t s y s t e a s t h a t f a s c i n a t e t h e a te n d t o f a l l d a r k and s i l e n t w h i l e sott 'e one e l s e i s e x p o u n d in g h i s own fasc in a tio n s. You w ould e x p e c t t h a t t h e p e r s o n w i t h e f f u l g e n t t e c h n i c a l e n t h u s i a s a s w o u ld r e a l l y c l i c k w ith k in d red s p i r i t s . In ay e x p e r i e n c e t h i s o n l y h a p p en s b r i e f l y : h o s t i l i t i e s an d d i s a g r e e m e n t s b o i l o u t o f no w h ere t o c u t t h e g o o d a o o d . My o n l y c o n c l u s i o n i s t h a t t h e s a a e s p i r i t t h a t o r i g i n a l l y d r i v e s u s m u t t e r i n g i n t o t h e c lo c k w o r k f e e l s t h r e a t e n e d when o t h e r s s t a r t a o n k e y in g w i t h w h a t h a s b e e n c o n tro lle d and p r iv a te fan ta sy . T h i s c a n b e summed up as f o l l o w s : NOBODY WANTS TO HEAR ABOUT ANOTHER GUY'S SYSTEM. H ere a s e l s e w h e r e , t h i n g s f u s e t o b l o c k h u a a n c o a a u n i c a t i o n : e n v y , d i s l i k e o f b e i n g d o m in a t e d , r e f u s a l t o r e l a t e e a o t i o n a l l y , and w h a t ever e ls e . W h a te v e r c o a p u t e r p e o p l e h e a r a b o u t, i t s e e a s th e y i a a e d i a t e l y t r y t o to p . Which i s n o t to sa y t h a t c o a p u t e r p e o p l e a r e s e r e c l o c k w o r k le a o n s o r B e t t e l h e i a i a n ro b o t-c h lld re n . But th e t e n d e n c ie s a r e t h e r e .

Robert B. Jones IV, a heavy p r o g ra a e r a t ChrysleT P r a c t i c e s a y i n g t h e a l o u d l y and f i r a l y to y o u rself. T h a t way you w o n 't f r e e z e when t h e y ' r e p u l l e d o n y o u . THAT S NOT HOW YOU DO IT THAT'S NOT HOW YOU USE COMPUTERS THAT'S NOT WHAT YOU DO WITH COMPUTERS THAT'S NOT HON I T 'S DONE THAT'S NOT PRACTICAL HOW M UCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT COMPUTERS? WITH YOUR BACKGROUND, YOU COULDN'T UNDERSTAND IT LE T 'S CALL IN SOMEONE W HO KNOWS THIS APPLICATION ( g e n e r a l l y a s h i l l ) IT ISN 'T DONE (you know t h e a n s w e r t o t h a t o n e ) a nd t h e one I ' v e b e e n w a i t i n g to h e a r , I F GOD HAD INTENDED COMPUTERS TO BE USED THAT WAY, HE WOULD HAVE DESIGNED THEM DIFFERENTLY. U n f o r t u n a t e l y t h e r e i s no r o o a h e r e to c o a c h you on how t o r e p l y t o a l l t h e s e . Be a s s u r e d t h a t t h e r e i s a lw a y s a r e p l y . The b r u te - f o rc e b razen coaeb ack , e q u a lly d ir ty , i s j u s t to say s o a e th i n g l i k e DIDN'T YOU SEE THE LAST JOINT PROCEEDINGS? OH YEAH7 W HAT ABOUT THE x W ORK USING A y? ( w h e re k i s a n y p l a c e on t h e map on p . S" , a n d y i s any c u r r e n t c o a p u t e r , s u c h a s a P D P -10. )

f |E G 0 H T e U
A very im portant kind of d iscu ssion takes place between people who want c o ^ j t a r p r o ^ a s , b u t c a n 't w rite th e a , and people who can write t h w . b u t d o n 't want to . Or. th a t I s , who don 't want to g e t caught having to do a l o t o f unneces sary work i f i t could be done or s la p ly . P r o g f n e g o tia tio n , then, Is where the ac u i t s a c " ~ he aay a c tu a lly be the boss-* saye, *1 want a prograa ch at w ill do s ^ a n d - s o , ' and th e p r o g ra n e r sa ys. ' I d ra th e r do i t th is way.* In a s e rie s of req u e sts and c o u n te r o f fe rs th e e u stea er e x plain s what he wants and the prog r in r e sp la ln s why he would ra th e r do I t a d i f f e re n t way. I l e s s e n t ia l fo r both elde to aake theaselves c a s p le te lv c l e a r . Often the custner thinks he wants one th ing but would be q u ite s a tis f ie d w ith ano ther th a t I s auch e asie r to prograa. Often the p ro g ra m e r can aake help f u l suggestions o f b e tte r ways to do I t th a t w ill be e a s ie r fo r h ia . Very bad thin gs csn happen i f prograa nego tia tio n I s n e t done c a r e f u lly and h on estly enough. The p r o g ra n e r can a isu nd erstand and c re a te s e e th ing th a t was not wanted, o r the c u i t a s r can c a r e le s s ly a is s ta te h ia a e lf and ash for tha wrong th in g . Or w orst o f a l l the p r o g r a m r can de lib e r a te ly k lsh e ar and do so w th ing d if f e r e n t, saying, 'T h e re , t h a t 's what you w an ted,' a s he hands ever s o u th i n g th a t i s n ' t what was r e a lly asked f o r. And the poor custoswr nay even believe I t (see Cybercrud, p, 8 ) . Prograa n e g o tia tio n should be B r a widely acknowledged aa a d i f f i c u l t and p a in fu l business. I t is exhausting and fra u g h t with s t r e s s i people (on both sid es) g e t a l l k inds o f p sy c h o so u tic s y s p to n (lik e a b d n ln a l p a in s, t i c s and c h ills ) . The fa c t th a t p e o p le's c a r e e rs o ften depend on

r , e n Clvde e p atretai cp ue lr a, r v q nugaelfiut il n es s, s aas n d eslol , o 6 f. a e w

. . . p r o g ra m m e rs, in my ex p erien c e . te nd lo be p a in sta k in g . lo gical. Inhib ited, cauti ous, restra ined, defe nsiv e, methodical, and rit u a listic. Ken Know lton, Collaborations with Art iste -A Program m er's Reflections," In Nake a Roeenfeld ( e d s.) . G ra phic Languages (North-Holiand Pub. C o .) . p . 396.

than fo ste rin g the thorough and sym pathetic coop e ra tio n which is e s s e n t ia l . If t

USEFUL. AND POSSIBLY EMBARRASSING QUESTIONS If lhe Computer P n e sls s u r t to pick on yo u. he re are seme hclplul ph rase s that w ill give you stre n g th . I do not wanl to give the im pression thal the G uardians ol the Machine arc alw ays bad g uy s. N evertheless, sad to relale, they a rc not always good g uy s. Like everyone oul 10 bo lster his position, including the plum ber and ihe elec trician , Ihe compuierman haa learned how easy it is to intimidate the layman. Now. these people a re often rig h l. Bul if

a consumer advocale o r w h atev e r-- you are probably cnlitied to slrsig h i answ ers thal w ill help settle the m atter honestly . without puldow ns , Any honest man will a g re e . Now, iheae helplul q u estion s, honesily answ ered, may elicil long m ysterious a n sw e rs. Be patienl and conlident. Write down w hais aaid and sil down wiih ihe glossary in this book until you understand the answ er. Then you can ask more questions, I am not inviting the read er to make irouble flippantly. 1 am suggesting lhal many people have th ere may be some discomfort al f ir s t. HOW DOES IT WORK? (T his question may have to be backed up as follows: 'T h e re are no computer systems whose w orkings cannoi be clearly described to someone who u nd e rstan d s Ihe basics, I INSIST THAT YOU MAKE A SINCERE ATTEMPT.- ) WHY DO YOU CLAIM IT HAS TO BE THIS WAY? (SPEAK MORE SLOWLY , PLEASE.) WHAT IS THE DATA STRUCTURE? COULD YOU EXPLAIN THAT IN TERMS OF THE DATA STRUCTURE? WHO DESIGNED THIS DATA STRUCTURE? And can I talk 10 him? WHAT IS THE ALGORITHM? WHO IS THE PROGRAMMER? And can I talk to him? WHY DO WE HAVE TO USE A CANNED PROGRAM FOR THIS? WHY IS THE INPUT LANGUAGE SO COMPLICATED? WHY DO WE NEED CARDS? WHY CAN'T PEOPLE TYPE IN THEIR OWN INPUT? WHY NOT HAVE A SIMPLE-MINDED FRONT END THAT LETS USERS CONTROL IT THEMSELVES? WHY HAVE FORMS TO FILL OUT? WHY NOT HAVE A DIALOGUE FRONT-END ON A MINI? WHY CAN T IT BE ON-UNE? AvJ *. O C T J f c w k . f r / l O M L O '^ ) T WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE THAT BRAND OF COMPUTER? WHY NOT GET A SYSTEM WITH LESS OVERHEAD? WHY SHOULD ALL COMPUTER OPERATIONS BE CENTRALIZED DON'T THEY GET IN EACH OTHERS WAY? WHY DOES IT ALL HAVE TO BE ON ONE COMPUTER? WHY NOT PUT PART OF IT ON A DEDICATED MINI? WHY CANT WE DO THIS PARTICULAR THING ALL ON A MINI? WOULDNT IT COST LESS IF WE GOT A MINICOMPUTER FOR THIS TASK? WHY CAN'T THIS BE PROGRAMMED IN SOME LANGUAGE LIKE BASIC? YOU KNOW AND I KNOW THAT COMPUTERS DONY HAVE TO WORK THAT WAY. WHY DO YOU CHOOSE TO DO IT THAT WAY? If these suggestions seem u n n e ce ssarily contentious, il is because m t of these guys like to pick on people, and you may have is be re a d y . And you may need all the su pp ort you can g e l, if. s a y . you lake a stand like one of Ihese: *U Ihe Information is in th e re , I do n't see why w e c a n 't gel it out." You have no rig h t to aak q u estion s like th is, sn d if the program req u ire s i l , change the program . * Remember. ILLEGITtMIS NON CARBORUNDUM (d on 't lei the b a sta rd s g rin d you down) ' I CANT BEAR HEAT.* REMARKED LAKCW1DERE

THE M EETING OP THE HINDS The CustOHr, Halve Advocate The E x p e rt'

BIBLIOGRAPHY G e r a l d M. W e i n b e r g , The P s y c h o lo g y o f C o a n u t e r P r r * " V T i T N o s t r e n d R e ln E o T T T -------v e in . S y s te m a tic t r e a t a e n t in a r e l a t e d

= ---------------------------------------------------------------1 d o n 't see why What yo u'v e g o tta since I t ' s a c ^ ^ u t e r . . . understand i s th a t th e re These a re n o t d e ta i le a re p ro b lea s in v o lv e d ... th a t eencern a e . . . I t c a n 't be th a t These a re ju s t w a y ... 1 n a n a c a p u ta r can do a l l th ese thin gs, be j u s t what you w a n t...

This ease i s so c la s s ic I t ' s a l n s t a Punch uri Judy shew. One o f the n a s t i e s t people I have evr a ct a s the head of s e c u r ity fo r a b lg - c ^ ^ u t e r i s i t a l l a t l o i . Several people agree w ith ae th a t d e lig h ts la te l l i n g paep le they can t de ip e cifle thin gs a t the c e n t e r , M re ly fo r the lake of r e s t r ic tin g th M . Anyway, a t th i s s m in s t a ll a ti o n th e re was p r o g r a ^ r , l e t ' s c a l l h ia h . wbo d isllk w ) euiharley, and d is lik e d t h i s d ir e c to r of s e c u rity , Let'e c a l l h ia B, w ith a aocdy passion. B spent such o f h is t b a in te n se ly , ^ e e s s ively r n n f p la tin g poesLbls ways th a t uaere Ight break in to th e t y i t a , a id e lab o rately jrogram ing defanaee and eoim term asures in to :he sem it a r . Ha I lino* th is ? I knew th is C ra a , who co n stan tly went through B 's w astelasket. a s t i l l p laits In ce ssan tly fo r tha day 1 w ill g e t a big ta u n tin g p r in to u t, casing una ^ c t a d l y to h ia o f f the aachin e, th a t showe ila a l l h is se c re te a re known. I

C f uppancai the e u sto w r w ill g e t what he deserves. Horali I f you want something, y o u'd b e tte r daan w ell n ego tiate i t a t the d e ta i le d le v e l.

The a trtn g e language of com puter people makes more aenae than laymen necessarily realize. Il's a ge n ersliied analy tic al way of looking at ti n e , spa ce and a cti vity. Co nsi der the following. "THERE 18 INSIGNIFICANT BUFFER SPACE IN THE FRONT HALL." (Buffer; pla ce to put something te m porarily.) "BEFORE 1 ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR INTERRUPT. LET MB TAKE THIS PROCESS TO TERMINATION. "COOKING IS AN ART OF INTERLEAVING TIME-BOUND OPERATIONS." ( I . e . . d o i n g pa rte of se parat a Joba In the r ig ht o r d e r with an eye on Ihe c lo c k .)

R .w .iJ .T -e .iy .

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THe

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to w n of K.B.S.I.S.T.O.R.S. in eza su tiu t saion, A tlantia City

lU F O R lh T lK fr

L auren. 14. was talking to another g irl ol lhe ACM 70 con feren ce. A p a sserb y h eard h e r explaining lh e differences among lhe languages BASIC. POHTRAN. COBOL and TRAC. "How long have you been programming' " h e asked in s u r p ris e . "O h. almost a m onlh." she said .

Their name makes people think iho y' rc a war prtitcal g ro up , but actually lh e R . E .S .1 .S . T . O . H . S . o l Princeton. N . J . a re o bunch of kids who play with compulers. The y're all young; members are purged when ihey finis h hig h school. Their clubroom Is st Princeton U n iv e rs ity , bu t Ihe initiative Is strictly th e ir s. The name sta nds for "Radically Emphatic Students Interested in Science, Technology and Other Research Subj ec ts." Compulers are not all (hey d o th ey 'v e also golien Inlo aloi rac in g and tho game of Diplomacy but compulera are whai the y'ro known for. The Reals tor s ( le i's spell ii the shorl way) exhibit reg ularly at lhe computer con fe re nc es, and hi ve startled numerous people wilh the hig h q u a li ty of Ihelr work. T hey 'v e been invited to various conferonces a bro a d . They have built various language pro ce sso rs and done g r a p h ic s; lately Ihelr fad Is working wilh lhe LDS-1 In Princetons Che mistry Department.

They have v aried backgrounds. The father of one is s b utcher, lhe father of an o th er is one o f ihe country9 foremost intellectuals. (None or thal matters to lhe k id s .) I have dined in a number ot their homes, and find (his in common: Iheir p arents show them great r e s p e c t. love and t r u s t, indeed. Resistor p aren ts liuvc expressed some su rp rise lo le arn lhat their c h ild ren 's work is al lhe full-fledged professional le vel. Tho Important ih in g , lo lhe paren ts, ia lhal the k id s a r e w orking on constructing (hings they e njoy.

I was driv in g some Resistors a round Princclon; they were y ellin g contradic tory d riving instructions "I demand triple r e dundancy in th e directions." I sa id . "Right u p oheud you turn rig h t right a w a y ," said a spokesman.

Since (here was a lol of e x cc ss capacity. (he Rcsis(ors got a fre e account on a national tim e-sharing system . Though they d id n 't have to p a y , the system kept ihcm informed on what (hey would have owed. In a y ear o r so they r u n u p funny-m oney bills of severol hundred thousand dollars.

ft.e.S.I.S.T.O.f.S. after infamous Onega cirew m /.

Did (hey ra(e free subscriptions lo computer magazines? I asked, Could Ihey chiim Ihey really "make decisions affecting Iho p urchase of computers"? "Of co u rse we do!" w as lhe r e p ly . "All logc(hcr: shall Resistors (in unison) "NO!"

The iruUe p ress is ambivalent toward th the one hand they moke good copy. (Al one S| had the only working tim e sh a rin g demo-- on a phone booth .) On the o th e r, they Ramclimes pub licity-h u n g ry , like many cclc b rilie s. (At anol Joinl Ihey d u g up an IBM Songbook and serenaded lhe g u y s at lhe IBM pavilion, who had to a ct nice about i l . ) So ihey d on'l got w ritten u p In computer m agazines so much anymore. I first met the R esistors in 1970. aril sto n e d hanging around with them for Iwo reasons, F i rs t. Ihey a rc p crf:lly d elightful: enth usiastic In the way lhat most Adults forego, and v e ry w itty. To them compute r lulk was nol u thing a p a rt, a s it is fur both out sid e rs and m ony professionals. Secondly, and this wos lhe self-seeking n sp c cl. 1 noted that those k id s w ere q uite e x p e rt, and inte rested in giv in g me advice w here computer professionals would nol- They got inte rested in helping me with my (perhaps quixotic) Xuiiudu1 project (see "1 flip s id e ) . T h is w os enough to keep mu v isiting for a vouple of y e a r s , Now, some people a r c loo proud lo ask c h ild ren for Informa tion. T h is Is du m b . Information is w here you find il. T h e last I h e ard , the Resistors w ere M work in ,i COUOL l compiler for th e PDP-11. hoping il would snvc the local high school from lhe d isa stro u s (lo Ihcm) p urchase of a n 1IIM 1130. (Since the school's in tent was to leueh business programming, they hoped lhal th e availability of COUOL would cnceurngc lhe school (o buy lhe more powerful and less expensive PDP-11.) T h e Rcsislor6 re few, bui I think (hey lire v e ry important in p rin cip le, u n existence proof. They show how silly and artificial Is o u r edifice o f pedagogy , with all its scqucnccs and sterilizations, and how onybody c un learn unyIhing in lhe r ight a tm osphere, stripped of ils pomposities. T h e Resistors a r e nol obsessed with computers; Ih eir love of compute rs is purl of Ih eir love of ev ery th in g , ond e v ery th in g is what compute rs a rc for.

Where do Ihey le arn It *11? They loach each other, of c ours e. Newcomera ha ng a ro u n d , learn computor lolk, work on projects, and (ease each o lh e r. T h ey K in use the Informal trade ch an nels, subscribing to magaz ines and filling oul Information request cards un de r su ch company names as Plebnay International Signal Division and Exca ll b u r Wax Fruit. The grea l Ih ing about these klda Is th eir la n y flippancy . They've ne ver failed, th e y'v e never beon afraid for th eir Jobs, snd so the y co mb ine the zest of lhe young wilh Ihoir cupcrtlso. Their forma of e xp re ss io n are as sla n lln g to professionals as they are lo o u ts iders; do n't say anything ponderously If 11 can be said pla yfu lly . Don'l say "bit field If you can say "funny bits;" do n 'l say "alpha numeric buffer" If you can say "quick brown fai bo*: " dont say "Interrupt signal" if you can Coll il s "Hey Charlie; " don't say " re ad dr es sing logic" If you can say "whoopco bos."

T heir o riginal advisor, whom we shall call Gaston . is mis chievous in h is own rig h t, II w as meeting-lime at G oslon's place o n a b rig h t S a tu rd ay , and I was on the fawn w orking on Xanadu with Nat and Elliou when Gaston in te rru p ted to say lhat an unwelcome salesman of b u rg lar alarms was about lo a rr iv e . "L ei's have a little fun wilh h im ," said Gaslon. The k id s w ere to b e introduced as Gaston's c h ild ren , I was an uncle. We took our stations. T h e salesman may hove realized he w os walking inlo a Irap from a ll the slrangcly beaming adolescents (hot siood in the living room, lie gol oul h is w ares and s ta rted lo demonstrate the burglar alarm , bul il d id n t go right- P e te r, stan d in g in fron( o f (he equip ment wilh a demonically vacuous g r in , hud rev e rse d a diode behind h is back so that lh e alarm r an g continuously u n less you broke lh e light beam. " I l u m p f s a i d Gaston, "you want to Bee a real security system?" We trooped Inlo lhe kilch o n , w h ere Gaston- kepi a Teletype ru nning, ANY NEWS? typed Goslon. CREAM YEMAW JMJICK PULLED INTO DRIVEWAY . replied lh e T elety p e. JEIISEY LICENSE PLATE . . . (and lhe salesman's license n u m b er), und finally. OWNER OK RECORD NOT KNOWN. John was ty p in g th is from ihe o th e r Teletype in the b a rn . The salesman stared al (he T eletype, lie looked around a l o u r ch eru b ic smiling faces, lie looked al Ihe T eletype. "Thai's all r ig h t. suid lh e salesman. "Hut now I'd like lo show you a r e a l security system . . ." And it w as back to the old b u rg lar

group lik e you doing a t a Jo in t lik e th is?

4 . A tte m p t Co f i n d o u t how e l s e c o m p u te rs a r e u s e d i n t h e p a r t i c u l a r a r e a , anH- m e n tio n th e s e t o h e lp o r i e n t t h e re a d e r .

W R IT E R S

Te s a in t e e a f l o K e Sc i et so weh i as/ l\gl fo eha v ea gwhens t weh w antx ctlou sbiavlil syth otoe n d e n so m e th in g . I t i s a n a t t e r o f c o n s c i e n c e , an im p o rta n t one . 5. q u e stio n s to ask: What a r e t h e p r e a i s e s o f y o u r p r o gram? What i f p e o p l e t u r n o u t t o ne ed What c o u l d go wrong? And most I m p o r t a n t : What i s t h a t ? IMPORTANT DISTINCTIONS I t i s o n l y by c l a r i f y i n g d i s t i n c t i o n s th a t p e o p le a r e e v e r g o in g to g e t a n y th in g stra ig h t. 6 . Do n o t s a y " t h e c o m p u te r" when y ou aean " th e syste m " o r " t h e p r o g ra a ." 7 . D o n 't s a y " a a a 1 f u n c t i o n i n g c o n p u t e r " ( h a r d w a r e e r r o r ) i f t h e c o m p u te r f u n c t i o n e d as i t was d i r e c t e d o n an i n c o r r e c t p r o g r a a (so ftw a re e r r o r ) . (And re a em be r t h a t t h e b e s t p r o g r a a a e r s make m i s t a k e s , s o t h a t a c a t a s t r o p h i c bug i n a s y s t e a i s no s i g n t h a t i t was p r o g r a a e d by a n in c o m p e t e n t , o n ly th a t i t i s n t f in is h e d .) 6. (A p a r t i c u l a r p o i n t a b o u t g r a p h i c s . Se e f l i p s i d e . ) D o n 't s a y "TV s c r e e n " i f a c o n p u t e r s c r e e n I s n o t TV, i . e . , S25 h o r i z o n t a l l i n e s t h a t y ou c a n s e e on t h e s c r e e n i f y o u lo o k f o r th e m . (S e e p . V \ 6 v e r s u s p . >*21 . ) HOW ABOUT: " v i s u a l d i s p l a y s c r e e n " ? - - you c a n a d d , " o n w h ic h t h e c o a p u t e r c a n draw a o v i n g l i n e s , " o r w h a t e v e r e l s e t h e p a r t i c u l a r syste m does. 9 . D o n ' t assume t h a t y o u r a u d i e n c e i s c o a p u te r-illite ra te . 1 0 . Don t assum e t h a t i t c a n ' t a l l be s a i d s i a p l y . O n ly l a 2y o r h a r d - p r e s s e d w r i t e r s a re u n c lea r. 1 1 . Do n o t u s e c u t e s y - t a l k , p a r t i c u l a r t h a t w hic h s u g g e s t s t h a t c o a p u t e r s h a v e a n i n t r i n s i c c h a r a c t e r . By " c u t e s y I a e a n s e n te n c e s l i k e " S c i e n t i s t s hav e r e c e n t l y t a u g h t a c o n p u t e r t o p l a y c h e s s , " M is - L e ad s l i k e "Whet d oes a c o m p u te r so un d l i k e ? " (when t a l k i n g a b o u t m u s l e c o n s t r u c t e d by a p a r t i c u l a r p r o g r a a i n a p a r t i c u l a r w a y ) , and a w e - s t r u c k d e s c r i p t i o n s l i k e , " A t l a s t t h e S p a c e Age h a s come t o t h e r e a l e s t a t e b u s i n e s s . . . 1 2 . Do n o t u s e t h e g a rb a g e t e r m ^compu t e r i z e d , " u n le s s th e re i s a c l e a r sta te m en t o f w h ere t h e c o m p u te r i s i n t h e s y s t e a , w hat th e c o n p u t e r i s d o i n g end how. A " c o m p u t e r iz e d t r a f f i c s y a to m ," f o r i n s t a n c e , c o u ld be any damn t h i n g , b u t a " s y s t e m o f t r a f f i c l i g h t s under c o a p u te r c o n t r o l , u sing v a rio u s tim in g te c h n iq u e s S t i l l unde r dev elo p m en t, sa y s so a eth in g . 13. D o n 't p u t i n c l i c h e s a s f a c t , f o r exam ple by t h e u s e such t e r a s a s " n ath e n a t l c a l " o r "com puter s c i e n t i s t u n le s s th e y r e a l l y a p p ly . Do n o t im p l y an y a a t h e a a t i c a l c h a r a c t e r u n l e s s you know t h e s y s t e m p o s s e s s e s i t : many p r o g ra m s c o n t a i n no o p e r a t i o n s t h a t can f a i r l y be c a l l e d m a t h e a a t i c a l . S i m i l a r l y , a " c o m p u t e r s c i e n t i s t " i s some one w i d e l y o r

de ep ly v e rs e d in co m p u ters o r s o f tw a r e , n o t j u s t a p r o g ra m m e r. (Anyway, i f s o m e th in g h a s b e e n program me d by a n e n t o m o l o g i s t , i t i s p r o b a b l y a o r e i n t e r e s t i n g t o r e f e r t o him a s i n e n to m o lo g is t th a n a s a " c o a p u te r s c i e n t i s t . " ) 14 . Do n o t r e f e r t o a p p a r e n t i n t e l l i g e n c e o f t h e c o m p u te r ( u n l e s s t h a t i s a n i n t e n d e d f e a t u r e o f t h e p r o g ra r^ . C r e d i t r a t h e r t h e i n g e n u i t y o f t h e s y s t e m s c r e a t o r . Do n o t s a y " t h e c l e v e r c o m p u t e r . " I f any body i s c l e v e r i t i s t h e prog ra m m e r o r p r o g ra m d e s i g n e r , and i f you t h i n k s o , s a y s o . T hese g uy s d o n ' t g e t th e r e c o g n itio n th e y d e s e r v e . 1$. N ev e r, n e v er sa y " te a c h th e c o n p u te r" a s an e l l i p t i c a l way o f s a y i n g " w r i t e c o m p u te r p r o g r a m s . Prog ram m in g means c r e a t i n g e x a c t and s p e c i f i c p l a n s t h a t c a n b e a u t o m a t i c a l l y f o llo w e d by t h e e q u i p m e n t . To s a y " t e a c h " when yo u mean " p r o g r a m " i s l i k e " p e r s u a d i n g " a c a r i n s t e a d o f d r i v i n g i t , o r making a t o i l e t " c r y in stea d o f flu sh in g i t . ( T h e r e a r e s y s t e n s , d e s c r i b e d on t h e f l i p s i d e , w h ic h s i m u l a t e i n t e l l i g e n t p r o c e s s e s and a a y t h u s ' be s a i d t o " l e a r n " o r " b e t a u g h t . " B ut n e i t h e r p ro gra m m in g n o r s i m u l a t e d l e a r n i n g s h o u l d be d e s c r i b e d i n a s l i p s h o d f a s h i o n t h a t s u g g e s t s t h e c o m p u te r i s some s o r t o f t r a i n a b l e b a b y , puppy o r d e a o n . ) 1 6 . Do n o t im p ly t h a t s o a e t h i n g i s " t h e l a s t w o r d , " u n l e s s y ou h a v e c h e c k e d t h a t i t i s .

T h * p u b l i c i s th o r o u g h l y c o n f u s e d a b o u t c o m p u t e r s , an d th o p r e s s a n d p u b l i c i s t s a r e s c a r c e ly fre e fro a b la a e . I T S TIME FOR EX PLANATIONS. P e o p l e w a n t t o know w h at c o a p u t e r s y s t e a s r e a l l y d o no a o r e o f t h i s " l a t e s t s p a c e - a g e te c h n o l o g y " g a r b a g e . H r. B u s i n e s s m a n , H r . W r i t e r , a r e y o u a an e nough t o s t a r t t e l l i n g i t stra ig h t? Tho c o a p u t e r p r i e s t h o o d , u n f o r t u n a t e l y , o f t e n w a n t s t o awe p e o p le w i t h , o r u n d u ly s t r e s s , th e n o tio n o f th e c o ap u te r b ein g in v o lv ed in a p a r t i c u l a r th in g a t a l l . I t is t i n e f o r e v e r y b o d y t o s t o p b e i n g i m p r e s s e d by t h i s a n d g e t on w i t h t h i n g s . Don t j u s t c o p y e d i t w h a t t h e y g i v e y o u . Hose a ro u n d and r e a l l y f i n d o u t , t h e n w r i t e i t lo u d s n d c l e a r . T hese s ia p le r u l e s a r e ay s u g g e s tio n s f o r b r i n g i n g on a o r e i n t e l l i g e n t d e s c r i p t i o n s t h a t w i l l h e lp e n l i g h t e n th e p u b l i c by o s a o s i s . 1. FIND OUT AND DESCRIBE THE FUNDAMEN TAL APPROACH AND PHILOSOPHY OF THE PROGRAM. T h i s c a n i n v a r i a b l y be s t a t e d in t h r e e c l e a r E n g lis h sen ten c es o r l e s s , but not n e c e s s a r i l y b y t h e p e r s o n who c r e a t e d I t . THIS I S W HAT WRITERS ARE FOR: i t i s yo u r d u ty to p r o b e un t i l t h e n a t t e r ha s b e co n e c l e a r .

Examples" T h is c h e ss- p la y in g p rogra n e v a lu a te s p o s s i b l e aoves in t e r a s o f v a rio u s c r i t e r i a f o r p a r t i a l s u c c e s s , and makes t h e no v e w h ic h has th e h ig h e s t a e r i t acc o rd in g to th e s e ra tin g s." "T h is n u slc-co ap o sin g p ro g ra a o p e ra te s on a se a l-ra n d o a b a s i s , sc re en in g p o s s ib le n o t e s f o r v a rio u s k in d s o f a t t r a c t i v e n e s s . . . "T h is a rc h ae o lo g ic al c a ta lo g u in g keeps tr a c k o f a v a rie ty of ob je ctiv e o f e a c h a r t i f a c t , p l u s i n f o r a a t i a n on i t w as, in c lu d in g lin k a g e s i n d i c a t i n g o t h e r a r t i f a c t s were n e ar i t . " sy ste a fea tu res w here w h at

BIBLIOGRAPHY E r n e s t G o w er s, P l a i n W o rd s. T h i s w o n d e r f u l l i t t l e b oo k sh ow ed E n g lish c i v i l Se rv an ts " b u re a u c ra tic w r i t i n g " was t o t a l l y u n n e c e s s a r y . Its p r e c e p t s - - n a in ly c o n cern ed w ith c a l l i n g a sp a d e a sp a d e ( s e e p . ) - - tran s p o s e e x a c t l y t o th e c o n p u te r w o rld .

What o r whose c o a p u t e r i s u se d t o d o a t h i n g i s o f a l a o s t no c o n c e r n ( u n l e s s i t I s o n e o f u n u s u a l d e s i g n , o f w h ic h t h e r e a r e com p a r a t i v e l y few ) . Not t h o n a k e o f t h e c o a p u t e r , b u t t h e GENERAL IDEA OF HOW THE PROGRAM OPERATES, i s t h e a o s t i a p o r t a n t t h i n g . O f c o u r s e , i f yo u a r e b e i n g p a i d by a h a r d w a r e a a n u f a c t u r e r , y o u ' l l h a v e t o name t h e e q u i p m e n t o v e r and o v e r ; b u t r e c o g n i z e t h a t y o u r r e a l d u t y I s p u b l i c u n d e r s t a n d i n g , and p u t the ta c t s acro ss. ( I f you t h i n k i t c a n 't b e d o n e , r e a d t h e s p l e n d i d Kodak a d s i n t h e S c i e n t i f i c A m e ric a n . ) 2. Keep g e e - w h i z z i n g r e s t r i c t e d t o t h e d e s c r i p t i o n o f a s y s t e a 's p s y c h o lo g ic al e f f e c t on r e a l p e o p l e . (What l a p r e s s e s y ou a a y t u r n o u t t o be o l d h a t . ) 3. Look f o r a n g l e s s p e c i a l t o w h at y o u ' r e rep o rtin g . P ursuing d e t a i l s i s l i k e l y to b r i n g u p b e t t e r s t o r y p e g s and a o r e hu a a n i n te re st. I n s te a d o f s a y in g "co m p u ter s c i e n t i s t s h a v e d o n e s o m e t h i n g , you a i g h t f i n d s o m e th in g m o r e i n t e r e s t i n g f o r y o u r l e a d ; how a b o u t "The u n l i k e l y te am o f a b i o p h y s i c i s t and a t e e n - a g e a r t s t u d e n t . . . o r - - f i n d i n g w h a t s s p e c l a l - '' N e v e r b e f o r e ha s t h i s be en done o n a c o m p u te r s o s m a l l , th e s i z e o f a p o r ta b l e ty p e w r i t e r ( a n d h a v i n g o n l y s o a e 4000 w or ds o f m e n o r y ) . . .

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A ll k i n d s r f d u m b J o k e s a n d c a r to o n * c i r c u l a t e a m o n g th e p u b l i c a b o u t o m p u t a r a . T h e n o u r f r i e n d * r e g a l e u a c o D p u tcrfo lK w ilh th e s e J o k e s a n d c a r t o o n s , a n d b e c a u s e w e d o n 't l a u g h th e y s a y w e h a v e n o s e n a e o f h u m o r . O h w e d o , w e d o - B u t w h a t w e l a u g h a t la r a l h o r m o r e c o m p lic a t e d , a n d r e l a t e s to w h a t w e t h i n k of a s th e r e a l s t r u c t u r e o f th i n g * o f th e b a s t h u m o r In th e f ie ld 1* r u n In D a t a m a tio n ; a n a n th o lo g y c a ll e d F a i t h , H o p e a n d P a r ity r e r a n a lo t of U w lr b e st p i e c e s tr a m t h a e a r l y s i x t i e s . C l a s s i c w a s th e K lu d g e s e r i e s , a r o m p d e s c r i b i n g v a r i o u s a c t i v i t i e s a n d p r o d u c t s <rf t h e K lu d g e K o m p u te r K o r p o r a tlo n , w h o se f o ib le * d i a illl e d m a n y at th a m o r e Id io tic th in g e t h a t h a v e b e e n d o n e l n t h e f i e l d . ( " K l u d g e . " p r o n o u n c e d " k l c o j . " I s a. c o o p u t e r m a n 'a te r m f o r a r i d i c u l o u s m a c h i n e . ) D a t a m a tio n 's h u m o r o u s t r a d i t i o n h a s c o n t i n u e d In a p o n d e r o u s b u t e x t r e m e l y f u n n y s e r i a l t h a t r a n In '7 2 c a l l e d A ls o S p r s c h v o n N e u m a n n , w h ic h In m e llif lu o u s a n d e l l i p t i c a l e u p h e m i s m s d e s c r i b e d th e a u t h o r ' s a d v e n t u r e s a t t h e " a i r s h i p f o u n d r y " a n d o t h e r c o n f u w d c o m p a n i e s t h a t h a d h im d o in g o n e p r e p o s t e r o u s th i n g w ith c o m p u te r a a f t e r a n o t h e r .

F o r a lo n g lim e th e g u ilt y p r o g r a m c o u ld not be f o u n d . F in a lly it w a s d i s c o v e r e d t h a t t h e b o m b w aa h i d d e n In a n old a n d v e n e r a b l e s t a t i s t i c s p r o g r a m p r e v i o u s l y b e lie v e d to b e c o m p le te l y r e l i a b l e . T h e r e a s o n th e p h a n to m d i d n ' t a lw a y s s t r i k e w a s t h a t th e B om b p a r t q u e r i e d th e s y s te m c lo c k a n d m a d e a p s e u d o r a n d o m d e c is i o n w h e t h e r (o bom b t h e s y s te m d e p e n d i n g o n th e I n s ta n ta n e o u s s e t t i n g of t h e c l o c k . T h i s i s w hy i t to o k s o lo n g to d i s c o v e r ; th e p r o g r a m u s u a l l y b id e d i l s tim e a n d b e h a v e d p r o p e r l y . A p p a r e n t l y th ia w a s th e r e v e n g e o f a d i s g r u n t l e d p r o g r a m m e r , lo n g s in c e d e p a r t e d . Not o n ly t h a t , but h i s r e v e n g e w a s t h o r o u g h : ih e Bom b p a r t of th e p r o g r a m w a s to ta lly k n itt e d in to th e r e s t o f i t . it w a s a v e r y i m p o r t a n t p r o g r a m lha t h a d to b e r u n a lot w ilh d if f e r e n t d a t a , a n d n o d o c u m e n ta tio n e x i s t e d , m a k in g it f o r p r a c t i c a l p u r p o s e s im p o s s ib le lo c h a n g e . T h e f in a l s o l u t i o n , s o th e a t o r y g o e s , w a s ih ls : w h e n e v e r th e r o w d y p r o g r a m h a d to b e r u n . th e r e s t o f t h e m s c h in e w a s c l e a r e d o r p u t on p r o t e c t , ao il r a n a n d h a d ita fits in m a je alic s o l i t u d e .

A G r a n d F a d a m o n g c o m p u te rf o lk In th e la s t c o u p le of y e a r e h a s b e e n t h e ga m e o f " L ife ," in v e n te d b y J o h n H o rto n C o n w a y . T h e r u l b s a p p e a r e d l n t h e S c ie n tific A m e ric an In O c t o b e r 1970, in M a rtin G a r d n e r ' s ga m es c o lu m n , a n d th e w h o le c o u n t r y w e n t w i l d . G a r d n e r w a s sw am p ed w ith r e s u l t s (m any p u b l i s h e d In F e b . 71); a fte r a c o u p le m o r e i s s u e s G a r d a e r w a s h e d h i s h a n d s of i t , a n d It goea on in I ts o w n m a g a z in e . T h e g a m e Is a s t r a n g e m o d e l of e v o lu tio n , n a tu r a l s e l e c t i o n , q u a n tu m m e c h a n ic s o r p r e t t y m u c h w h a t e v e r e l s e y o u w a n t to s e e in i t . P a r t o f it a in itia l f asc in a tio n w a s t h a t C onw ay d i d n ' t k n o w i t s lo n g - te rm o u tc o m e s, a n d h e ld a c o n te s t ( e v e n tu a l ly w o n b y a g r o u p fro m M I T ) . T h e r u l e s a r e d e c e p t i v e l y sim ple : s u p p o s e y o u h a v e a b i g c h e c k e r b o a r d . E a c h c e ll h a s e ig h t n e ig h b o r s : th e c e ll a n e x t to it u p , d o w n a n d d ia g o n a l ly . T im e flo w s In th e g a m e b y " g e n e r a t i o n s . " T h e p a t t e r n o n th e b o a r d i n e a c h g e n e r a U o n d e l e r m i n e s th e p a tte r n o n th e b o a r d In th e n e x t g e n e r a t i o n . T h e gam e p a r t sim p ly c o n s i s t s of t r y i n g o u t new p a t t e r n s a n d s e e i n g w h a l t h i n g s r e s u l t In th e g e n e r a t i o n s a f t e r i t . E ac h c e l l I s e i t h e r OCCUPIED o r EM PT Y . A c e ll b e c o m e s o c c u p i e d ( o r " i s b o r n " ) i f e x a c tly t h r e e o f l l s n e i g h b o r s w e r e f u ll In th e p r e v i o u s g e n e r a t i o n . A c e l l s t a y s o c c u p ie d if e i t h e r tw o o r t h r e e o f its n e i g h b o r s w e r e o c c u p ie d in th e p r e v i o u s g e n e r a t i o n . A ll o t h e r c e l l s b e co m e e m p ty ( " d i e " ) . T h e s e r u l e s h a v e th e fo llo w in g g e n e r a l e ffect: p a t t e r n s y o u m a k e w ill c h a n g e , r e p e a t , g r o w , d l a a p p e a r In w i l d c o m b i n a t i o n s . Some p a t t e r n s m o v e s c r o s s t h e s c r e e n In s u c c e e d i n g g e n e r a t i o n s ( " g l i d e r s " ) . O lh e r p a t t e r n s p u l s a t e s t r a n g e l y a n d e je c t g l i d e r s r e p e t i t i v e l y ( g i l d e r g u n s ) . Som e p a t t e r n s c r a s h to g e th e r in w a y s t h a t p r o d u c e m o v i n g g l i d e r g u n s . W eird . W hile t h e g a m e of L i f e , aa y o u c a n s e e fro m t h e r u l e s . h a s n o th in g to d o w ith c o m p u t e r s i n t r i n s i c a l l y . o b v i o u s l y c o m p u te r s a r e t h e o n ly w a y to t r y o u t c o m p le x p a t t e r n s in a r e a s o n a b l e le n g th of tim e .

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T h e t i m e - s h a r e a t th e L a b s , n e v e r m in d w h ic h L a b s , k e p t g o in g d o w n . M is c h ie f w a s s u s p e c t e d . Mis c h i e f w a a v e r if ie d : a p r o g r a m c a l l e d RH BOMB, s u b m i t t e d . b y a c e r t a i n p r o g r a m m e r w ith t h e in it ia l s R . H . . w a s r e s p o n s i b l e , a n d t u r n e d oul a l w a y s to b e p r e s e n t w h e n t h e te rm in a l s p r i n t e d T S S HAS GONE DOWN. It w a s v e r i f i e d b y ( h e s y s t e m s p e o p le l h a t th e p r o g r a m c a l l e d RHBOMB w aa in fac l a Bom b p r o g r a m , w ith no o l h e r p u r p o a e th a n lo ta k e d o w n t h e l i m e - s h a r i n g s y s t e m . R . H . w a s s p o k e n to s t e r n l y a n d il d id n o t h a p p e n ag a in . H o w e v e r , so m e m o n th s l a l e r a sn o o p y s y s te m s p r o g r a m m e r n o te d th a t a (lie c e ll e d RHBOMB h a d be en s t o r e d o n d i s k . R a l h e r lh a n h a v e R . H . s c a lp e d p r e m a t u r e l y , h e t h o u g h t h e w o u ld c h e c k t h e c o n te n t s . He s a t dow n a t Ihe te rm in a l a n d t y p e d In t h e com m a n d , PR INT RHBOMB. B u t b e f o r e h e c o u ld s e e it s c o n t e n t s , (he t e r m in a l t y p e d I n s te a d T S S HAS GONE DOWN B u t t h i s w a s i n c r e d ib le ! A p r o g r a m s o v i r u l e n t th a t If y o u J u s t t r i e d to r e a d ils c o n t e n t s . w ith o u t r u n n i n g i t . it s t i l l b o m b e d th e s y s te m ! T h e s y s t e m s man r u s h e d from th e ro om to s e e w h a t h a d g o n e w r o n g , He d id ao p r e m a t u r e l y . T h e c o n t e n t s o f th e ne w file RHBOMB w e r e s im p ly T S S HAS GONE DOWN f o llo w e d b y t h o u s a n d s of n u ll c o d e s , w h i c h w e r e s i l e n t l y b e i n g fed (o th e T e l e t y p e , 10 p e r s e c o n d , p r e v e n t i n g it fro m s i g n a l l i n g th a l it w a s r e a d y for th e n e x t I h in g .

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P r a n k s a r e a n i m p o r t a n t b r a n c h o f h u m o r In t h e f ie l d . H e r e a r e so m e th a l w ill g i v e y o u a s e n s e o f it. ZAP THE 94 O ne o f th e m e a n e r p r a n k s w a s a p r o g r a m t h a l r a n oir Ih e o ld 7094. It c o u ld fit o n o n e c a r d (In b i n a r y ) , a n d p u t th e c o m p u te r In a n I n e s c a p a b le l o o p . U n fo r tu n a te ly th e u s u a l "ST O P " b u tto n w a s d is a b le d b y t h i s p r o g r a m , so to sto p Ihe p r o g r a m o n e w o u ld e v e n tu a lly h a v e to p u ll th e b i g e m e r g e n c y b u t t o n . T h i s b u r n t out all th e m a in reg is ters. TIMES SQUARE LIGHTS One o f t h e w e i r d e r p r o g r a m s w aa th e o p e r a l o r - w a k e r u p p e r so m e b o d y w ro t e f o r t h e 7094. It w a s a b i g p r o g r a m , a n d w h a t It d i d w as DISPLAY ALPHABETICAL MESSAGES ON THE CONSOLE L IGH T S, s l i d i n g p s s l l ik e th e n e w s in T im e s S q u a r e . You p u t I n t h i s p r o g r a m a n d f ollow ed it w ith th e m e ea ag e ; th e c o m p u t e r ' s c o n so le b o a r d w o u ld lig h t u p a n d th e n e w s w o u ld g o b y . S in c e th e l i g h t s u s u a l l y b li n k In u n i n t e r e s t i n g p a t t e r n s , t h is w a s v e r y s t a r t l i n g . T h i s p r o g r a m w a s e x tr e m e ly c o m p le x . S i n c e th e 94 d i s p l a y e d th e c o n te n t s o f a ll main r e g i s t e r s a n d t r a p , a rit h m e t ic a n d o v e rf lo w l i g h t s , it w a s n e c e s s a r y to d o v e r y w e i r d th in g s in th e p r o g r a m to t u r n th e s e l i g h t s on a n d off a t (h e r i g h t d m e e .

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NON-OBVIOUS RESULTS OF SOME SIMPLE PA TTERN S: acme d i e . one b l i n k s b a c k a n d f o r t h , o t h e r s b e c o m e s t a b l e . ( C o n w a y 's Game of Life p r o g r a m m e d f o r PL A T O b y D a n n y S l e a t o r . )

BIBLIOGRAPHY D o n ald D . S p e n c e r . G am e P l a y i n g w ith C o m p u t e r * . ( S p a r t a n / H a y d e n , $ 1 3 .) T h i s i n c l u d e s f lo w c h a r ta . p ro g ra m s an d w h at-h a v e-y o u for som e 25 g a m e s , a n d s u g g e s t i o n s f o r m o r e . A c o n tin u in g s e r i e s o f g a m e p r o g r a m s (m o stly o r a ll in BASIC ) a p p e a r s in P C C , a n e w s p a p e r m e n tio n e d e a r l i e r . S t e w a r t B r a n d 's m a r v e l o u s S p a c e w a r p i e c e , a ls o m e n tio n e d e a r l i e r . I s h ig h l y r e c o m m e n d e d . n r i i e r t c . Garmaill, "An e x a m i n a ti o n o f T ic - T a e - T o e l i k e G a m a .* P r o c . NCC 7 4 , 34 9-355. E xamines s t r u c t u r e o f s im p le gamea (ep. 3D t i e - t a c - t o e o r guBIC) w here f o r c e d w in s a r e p o a B ib le i and progra m s t r u c t u r e ! t o p la y th e a . T he Game o f L i f e . " T i n e , 21 J a n 7 4 , 6 6 - 7 . (L i f e l i n e , s a i d t o be p u b l i s h e d by R o b e r t 1 W ain w rlg ht o f W i lto n , C o n n e c t i c u t .)

THE TIME-WASTER In o n e c o m p a n y , f o r so m e r e a s o n , it w a s a r r a n g e d th a l l a r g e a n d l o n g - r u n n i n g p r o g r a m s h a d p r i o r i t y o v e r s h o r t q u ic k o n e s . V e r y w e ll: so m eone w r o t e a c o u n t e r a t t a c k p r o g r a m o c c u p in g s e v e r a l b o x e s o f p u n c h c a r d s , to w h i c h y o u s d d e d th e s h o r t p r o g r a m y o u r e a lly w a n t e d r u n , a n d a c a r d s p e c if y in g h o w l o n g y o u w a n te d ih e f ir s t p a n of th e p r o g r a m to g r i n d b e f o r e y o u r r e a l o n e a c tu a lly s t a r t e d . T h is w o u ld b l i n k l i g h t s a n d s p i n ta p e s I m p r e s s i v e l y a n d le n g th e n t h e r u n o f y o u r p r o g r a m to w h a t e v e r ' y o u w a n t e d . BOMBING THE TIME-SHAAE One o f th e c l a s s i c b a d - b o y p r a n k s la to bom b ti m e s h a r i n g s y s i e m s - - t h a t i s . fo u l th e m u p a n d b r i n g th e m to a h a l t . Many p ro g T am m era h a v e d o n e th is ; o n e h a a t o ld me i t ' s a w o n d e r f u l w a y to g e t r i d of y o u r a g g r e s s i o n s . Of c o u r s e , it c a n d a m a g e o t h e r p e o p l e ' s w o r k ( e s p e c i a ll y if d i s k s a r e b o m b e d ); a n d It a lw a y s g e ts t h e s y s te m p r o g r a m m e r s h o p p i n g m a d , b e c a u a e It ro eana y o u 'v e d e f ie d t h e i r a u th o r i ty a n d m a y b e f o u n d a h o le th e y d o n 't know a b o u t . H e r e a r e a c o u p le o f e x a m o l e a . G am ea w ilh c o m p u te r p r o g r a m * a r e u n i v e r s a l l y e n jo y e d In th e c o m p u te r c o m m u n ity . W h e r e v e r t h e r e a r e g r a p h i c d i s p l a y s t h e r e la u s u a l l y a v e r s i o n o f t h e g a m e S p a c e w a r . ( s e e S t e w a r d B r a n d 's S p a c e w a r p i e c e I n R o l lin g S t o n e , m e n tio n e d e l s e w h e r e . ) S p a c e w a r , l i k e m a n y o t h e r c c o ip u t e r b a s e d g a m e a , I s p la y e d b e tw e e n p e o p l e , u s i n g th e c o m p u te r a s a n a n im a te d b o a r d w h ic h c a n w o r k o u t th e r e s u l t s of c o m p le x r u l e s . S om e I n s ta lla tio n s h a v e c o m p u t e r g a m ea y o u c a n plo y a g a i n s t ; y o u a r e e f f e c tiv e ly " p l a y i n g a g a i n s t t h e h o u s e , " t r y i n g to o u tfo x s p r o g r a m . T h i a i s r a r e l y e a s y . A v a r ie ty o f t e c h n i q u e s . h i d d e n f ro m y o u , c a n b e u s e d . W hen " a c o m p u te r " p l a y s a g a m e , a c t u a l l y s o m e b o d y s p r o g r a m la c a r r y i n g o u t a s e t of r u l e s t h a t th e p r o g r a m m e r h a s l a i d o u t ln a d v a n c e . T h e p r o g r a m h a s a n a t u r a l e d g e : i t c a n c h e c k a m u c h l o n g e r s e r i e s o f p o s s i b i l i t i e s i n lo o k in g f o r th e b e s t m ove ( a c c o r d i n g t e t h e c r i t e r i a In th e p r o g r a m ) . T h e r e Is a m o r e c o m p lic a t e d a p p r o a c h : th e c o m p u te r c a n b e p r o g r a m m e d to te s t f o r t h e b e s t s t r a t e g y i n a g a m e . T h i s la m u c h m o re c o m p lic a t e d , a n d I s o r d i n a r i l y c o n s i d e r e d a n e x a m p l e o f " a r tif ic ia l in te l l i g e n c e " ( s e e " T h e G o d - B u l l d e r s , " e l s e w h e r e in t h i s b o o k ) .

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One of th e s tr a n g e r p rojects of the s ix tie s w as a game played by the most illu s tr io u s program m ers at a w e ll-k n o w n place of research ; th e p la c e cannot b e named h e r e , nor the true name of th e p r o je c t, b ecau se fu n ds w ere ob tained through sober c h a n n e ls , and th ose who approved w e re unaware of the tr u e n atu re of the p ro je ct, a gam e w e sh a ll call SURF1T ("SU Rvival of th e FIT test".) E very d ay after lunch the g u y s w ould solem n ly d e liv e r th eir p rogram s and see who w o n . It w as a s o rt of an alogy to b io lo g ica l e v o lu tio n . The program s w ould attack each o t h e r , and the s u r v iv o r s would m ultiply u ntil o n ly o n e was l e f t . It w orked lik e t h i s . Core memory w as d iv id ed up into " pens," on e for each p rogram m er, p lu s an area for the monitor.

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Each p rogram , o r " a n i m a l c o u l d b e loaded a n yw h ere In its p e n . T he oth er p rogram s knew the s iz e of th e pen but not w h ere the anim al w as in it . Under su p e r v is io n of the s p ecia l m on itor, th e anim als cou ld b y tu rn s b ite into the other p e n s , m eanin g that th e con tents of c o r e at several co n s ec u tiv e lo ca tio n s in th e other pen w as b rou ght b ack , and ch a n g ed to z e r o in its orig in a l p e n . Your anim al cou ld th en "digest" that i s , a n a ly z e the contents b itte n . T h e n th e other animal got h is tu rn . If he w as s till a liv e that i s , i f the program cou ld still function it cou ld sta y in play; o th erw ise the anim al who had bitten it to d eath cou ld m ultiply its e lf into the other pen. T he w in n e r w a s th e g u y w h ose animal occup ied all pens at the en d of th e r u n . If he won s e v e ra l tim es in a row he had to r e v e a l how h is program w orked. A s the gam e w e n t o n , more and more sop h istication was poured into th e a n a ly tic r o u tin e s , w h ereb y the anim al analyzed the program that w a s its victim ; so the program m er could attack b etter n ex t tim e . T he program s got b ig g e r and b ig g e r . Finally th e gam e cam e to a c l o s e . A cr eatu re em erged who could not b e b e a te n . T h e program mer had re in v e n ted the ger m . H is w in n in g cr ea tu r e w as aU te e th , w ith no diagnostic ro u tin es; and th e first th in g it did w as m u ltiply itself through th e e n tir e ty of its own p e n , a s s u r in g that no matter w h ere It m ight ju st h ave b een b itte n , it w ould s u r v iv e .

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For Ihe most p u l . big computer* have always been rented or lo w e d , r a th e r than te u g h t o u trig h t. T hera are v a rio us reaso ns (or thl*. From the customer'* point of vie w. It make* (he whole thing tax-d eductib le without amortization problems, and means lhat It's pos sible to change pa rt of the pa cka ge the model of compuier o r the accessorie s-* more easily. And big amounts of money don't have lo be shelled out st once. Pram the m anufa cture r's point of view (and of course we are speaking mostly of IBM). It Is sdvaniageous to work the le asing game for several reasons. Cash Inflow Is ste ady. The manufacturer is In continuous communication with the customer, and ha s h is e a r for change* and improvements costing more. Competitors are st a disadvantage because th e Immense cspltal base needed lo gel Into the se llln g-andleaslng game makes compelltllion Impossible. Basically, leasing raally may be thought of as having two parts; the sale of the computer, and bank ing a loan on It; essentia lly the lease payments are Installment paym ents, and the real profits come alter the customer ha s effectively paid the real purchase pric e and is still forking

While In prin ciple ihcrc would seem lo be every advantage in b uyin g use d computers, there a re certain draw backs. Service is the main one: the manufacturer Is not ve ry helpful about fixing discontinued machines, and you may have to know how to do it yourself. Even with machines still available, you may have tr ouble getting onto a scrv ice contract from ihe manufacturer, since it "msy have been mis treate d." (American Used Compuit-r, in Boston, will usually guarantee llial ils merchandise will be accepted back into manufa cture r's contract s e rv ic c .) A final draw back is pr ice: a popula r machine may cost as much use d as new. since th ey'r e savin g you the waiting pe riod. It's kind of unfortunate: olherwise usable machinea gel wasted. (Bul h e re 's waste for you: certain well-known laborato rie s, owned by a profit-m aking monopoly, smash their used com p u te rs if nobody wants them wilhin the lab. They claim they can't rese ll them becpuse they would then be "competing wilh the manufacturers. I wish ihe conservationists would gel on thal one.) (Nolis front all over: il sccm6 lhat all the s u rviv in g numbe rs of the Philco compuier. a nlcc machine but ve ry much discontinued, have ei th e r gone to ihe slate of Israel or lo Pratt Insti tute in Brooklyn. When I spoke at Pralt they showed me Iheir Philco ma chines, chugging hofilIh lly. and said ihey had 0 think) some four more Philcos in crslcs, dona ted by their original owners.) ANNOUNCEMKNTS An ecccntric aspect of ihe computer Held is ihc Announcement, th e statement by a company (or even individual) that he is planning to make o r sell a certain computer o r program. Some v e ry odd things happen wilh announcements In ihis field. (None of (his is unique to computer dom, but It goes to unusual extremes h e re .) Under our syslcm il is permissible for any pers on or firm lo announce lhal he will make or sell any particula r th in g , and even If he 's lying thro ugh h is leelh, it's nol ordinarily considered fra ud unle ss money change s hands. Talk is cheap. Thus ii Is common practice In American in dustry for people to say lhat Ihcy will soon be selling hundred-m il c-on-h our automobiles, tapioca-powered rockcis hip s, anligravity bc lu . Okay. In Ihc computer world Ihc same th in g happens. Thi strategy depends on the announcer's market position. The little guys are often bluffing w istfully, hoping someone will gel interested enough lo put up the money lo finish the proje ct, or the like: Ihe big companies a re often "testing Ihe w ater." looking lo sec whether there are potential cuslomcrs for whal they haven'i even aticmptcd lo develop. Announce ments by big companios a lto have strategic value: if they announce something a smaller guy has ulrcady announced, lliey muy cut him off at the puss, even 'hough they hi.vc no intention of de livering. T hat's just one example. The anal ysis of IBM's announcements is s parlor game in (lie field. II ha s been alleged, for instance, lhal IBM announced ils 360 compuier long befcre it was ready lo cul off in curs io ns on ils c u s tomers by oilier firms; Control Data, in a recent suil . alleged thal the Model 90 numbers of the 160 were announced, and then developed, simply to destroy Control Dalu and ils own big fssl n,Lchines. These a rr just examples.

SOFTWARE Computer program s. o r " softw sre ." used (O come f rie wilh the com pute r. Bul IBM turned sround and " unbundle d." mean ing you ha d io buy It separately , and Ih ere has been some fol lowing of this example. H owever, for U6crs who arc buyin g s computer wilh some canne d program for s psrlic u lsr p u rpose, p r ic e s a rc obviously for the whole package: It's people who use Ihe ssmi- compuier for a lot of d if ferent th in gs lhal have to pay for Individual p r ogra m s. There are many smell software companies. For the cost of a le tterhead anyone can sta r t one; the question is w het her he ha s anyth in g special lo se ll. Some people whomp up progra m s on their own which tu rn out lo be qu ite use fu l. (For Insta nce, one Benjamin Pitman offers a magnificent program In Fortr a n lo generate te x tu al garbage. It's so good it can be used lo e xpand proposals by h u n d r e d s of p a ges. He calls il Simplified Integrated Modular Prose (SIMP and It sells for 110. His a d d re s s is Compuier Cente r. University of G eorgia , Athens GA 30602?) O bviously, lo cre ele b ig sy stems for in tri cate management purposes r e q u ir e s a grea t deal more effort. TradilionHlly these a rc do ne by vast programmer teems w ork in g in COBOL or the like, constantly fighting with monitor program and chewing up millions of d o lla r s. However, the new Quickie Languages (th r ee shown pp. may ofTer great simplification of su ch programmini

Many firms olher than IBM pre f e r to sell Ihelr computers outr ig ht. Minicomputers are almost always sold rath er th a n r ente d. However, for those who believe in renti ng o r leasi ng, ihe so-calle d "leasing firms" have a ppea re d, effec tively performing a banking function. They buy the computer, you rent or le ase il from them, and they make the money you would've saved If you'd bought. IBM, now requir ed lo se ll ils computera as well as lease them, keeps making changes In Its syste ms which cynics think s r e done pa nly lo sc are companies sway from le asing, sincc If you've bought the eompuler you can't catch up. (Large computers bought from companies Ihsl like lo sell them, such as DEC and CDC. do not seem lo hsv e this problem .)

A p r a c t i c a l problea of iB en se is f n r ta n c a Is 'a atnce nanc e. w an in g r e p a ir and upkeep of coaputers and t h e i r a ccessorie s. I ^ ts o f ?uys in Boston and L.A. are having Cun asking ea^ >utere, bul he re you are stuck in Squeedunk snd i t d o e sn 't work anywore. Trying t e fin d people who w ill fl* these th in gs on a sta ble You can sig n a aalntananee contract* with the manufacturer, which I s s o r t of lik e breakdown insu rance: whatever happens h e ' l l ( i a . Eventually. I f you own e qulp M nt (row d if f e r e n t have to be maintained too.) Thia i s th a b l u e s t poin t In favor of IBH. superb. Thei r maintenance is

Programs arc protected by c opyrig ht-Ihal's Ihe only way th e re can be a software In d ustr y at a ll-- but aincc th e r e has been no court litigation in ihe field, nobody knows what the law really is or wh<.t il c o v e r s. Everybody agre es that traditional c opyrig ht precedent covers a lol of ground-- " deriv ative w ork s" definitely violate copyright, even stu dy guid es lo texlbooks-- bul no one knows how far this goes. Same for pate nts. T he Patent Officc has granted pr ogram pate nts, notably the one on ihe sorting pr ogram of A pplied Data Rese arch , I n c .. but The Patenl Officc has a profound d is taste for this potential e xte nsion of ite. dutie s, an<1 it- telling cvi-rycnc that progra m s a re n 't p alem ab lc . even though Ihcy cle a rly fell wilhin its mandate as uniq ue, o rig in a l p roce sses . People who only road the he adli nes think thal ihe Supreme Court s tr u c k down llic pate nt ability of progra m s. No such th in g. In ihis light ihe pate nts ih sl the Unlvereily of Utah ha s gotten on Ihc ha lftone image synth esis programs of Wamock and Wylie and Romney (sec p. ) are of co nsiderable in te r e st. These palcnls use the "softw a rc-as-ha rdw are " ruse : the program is describ ed in de tail as ta king plBcc in a fictitious machine shown in many detailed draw ings whose ne bulous c h a r a c te r Is not rea dily seen by the uninitiated: e vents vaguely taking place in "mlcroprogrammablc mic ropro cess ors" have been neatly foiMed on the Patent Officc as detailed technical d ia closure. It's a gr eat game. The Idea Is lhat the claims a rc so draw n as lo eover n o t j u s l the fictitious machine, bul any program tliat should happen to work the same w ay. Bul su ch a pproaches, th ough common to provto us.pate nt p r actices, have not ye t been litigated In this field.

w h o 'l l c o n tra c t to keep a l l your hardware working. Raytheon are In to th a t.

RCA and

THE SEVEN DWARVES AND THEIR FRIENDS The com pute r companies are often called "Snow White and the Seven D w arves, even though the se ven keep ch an gin g. Here are some main ones beside IBM. I hope I haven't left anyone oul. Reau iescan l In Face; G en eral Electric Sperry Rand Univac (sold oul lo Honeywell) Honeywell RCA (sold out lo Univac) Burroughs Phllco Control Data Corporation (CDC) G en eral Foods National Cash Re gister (NCR) I o th e rs beyond recollection. Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) Xerom Dala System s (XDS; formerly Scientific Dsta Systems (SDS)) H ewlett-Pa ckard (HP) Data Ocneral I nie rdala . Inc. Vsrlan Data Machines Lockheed

Uatbmation ran several good articles on buyin g compuier stuff In its Septem b e r. IS. 1970 issu e. "Software Buying" by Howard Bromberg (35-40) and "Contract Caveals" by Robert P. Bigelow (4144) a re ve ry helpful warnings about nol getting bu rned. Another. "Project Management Gam es," by Wemer W. Leuierl (2434) is an absolutely brilliant, blood c urdli ng strategic analysis of the ploys and dangers involved in bu y ing and sellin g very expensive things, such as computers and software. ANYONE INVOLVED IN COMPUTER MANAGEMENT SHOULD READ THIS MACIIIAVELUAN PIECE WITH THE GREATEST CARE. Anyone Interes ted In the theory of ahowdqwn and negotiation can read 1 with a dlffer1 --------ent slant.

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T h o s e o f u s w h o w e r e a r o u n d w ill n e v e r fo rg e t t h e D a y s o f M a d n e s s (196B -9). C o m p u te r s to c k s w e r e b o o m in g , an d th e i r b u y e r s d i d n 't know w h a t i t w a s a b o u t; b u t e v e r y w h e r e t h e r e were fin a n c ia l p e o p le t r y i n g to b a c k n e w c o m p u te r c o m p a n ie s , a n d e v e r y w h e r e the s m a r t c o m pu te r p e o p le w h o 'd m is s e d o u t on G e ttin g T h e ir s w e r e lo o k i n g f o r a d e a l. D a ta m a tio n f o r N o v e m b e r 1969 w as a n in c h th ic k , th e r e w e r e th a t m any a d s f o r c o m p u le r s an d a c c e s s o r ie s . A t th e F a il J o i n t C o m p u te r C o n f e r e n c e th a t y e a r i n L as V e g a s , I h a d to c o v e r th e h ig h l i g h t s of the e x h i b i t s i n a h u r r y , a n d I t Look me all afte rn o o n , m u c h o f it p r a c tic a l ly a t a t r o t . T h e n , after c lo s in g ti m e , I fo u nd out t h e r e h a d b e e n a w hole o t h e r b u i l d i n g . I t is i m p o r ta n t to look a t how a lo t o f t h e s e co m p an ies w e r e b a c k e d , th e b e t t e r to u n d e r s t a n d how i r r a ti o n a li ty b lo o m e d In th e s y s t e m , a n d made th e co llap B e o f th e s p e c u la t iv e s to c k s in 1970 q u ite I n e v i ta b le . A n u m b e r of c o m p a n ie s w e r e s t a r t e d at the in i ti a t iv e f i t p e o p le w ho knew w h a t t h e y w e r e d oin g a n d h a d a c l e a r i d e a , a n e w te c h n i q u e o r a good m a r k e ti n g s l a n t . T h e s e w e r e in t h e m in o r ity , I f e a r . M ore com m on w e r e c o m p a n ie s s t a r t e d at the in i tia tiv e o f so m e b o d y w ho w a n te d to s t a r t "a n o th e r X " - - a n o t h e r m in ic o m p u te r c o m p a n y , a n o th e r te r m in a l c o m p a n y , e x p e c t in g th e p r o d u c t so mehow to b e s a t i s f a c t o r y w h e n t h r o w n t o g e th e r by h ir e d h e l p . P e r h a p s th e s e p e o p le s a w com p u te r c o m p a n ie s a s s o m e th in g li k e go ld m in e s , p u ttin g o ut a c om m on p r o d u c t w ith i n t e r c h a n g e a b l e commodity v a l u e . T h e d e a l , a s som e of th e s e Wall S t . h a n g e r s on w ou ld e x p l a i n i l , w a s most i n t r i g u i n g . T h e i r id e a w as to c r e a t e a c o m p u te r c o m pa n y on low cap ita l, " b r i n g i t p u b l i c " (g e t c l e a r a n c e f ro m th e SEC to s e ll s t o c k p u b l i c l y ) , an d th e n m a k e a k illin g as t h e s h e e p b o u g h t it a n d the p r i c e w e n t u p . T h e n , i f y o u c o u ld ge t a " t r a c k r e c o r d " b a s e d on a few f a s t s a l e s , th e in c r e a s i n g p r i c e of y o u r s to c k ( th e s e a r e th e d a y s o f m a d n e s s , re m e m b e r) m a k e s it p o s s ib l e to b u y u p o t h e r com p an ies a n d b e c o m e a c o n g lo m e ra te .

It w a s v e r y d iffic u lt t o ta lk lo theB e p e o p l e , j a r t i c u l a r l y if y o u w e r e t r y i n g to g e t s u p p o r t f o r a le g itim a te e n t e r p r i s e b u i l t a r o u n d u n u s u a l i d e a s . ( E v e r y b o d y w a n ts to b e s e c o n d . ) A n d w h a t's w o r s e , th e y t e n d e d t o h a v e th a t m ost r e p r e h e n s ib le q u a lity : t h e y w o u l d n t l i s t e n . D id th e y w a n t t o h e a r w h a t y o u r i d e a a c tu a lly w a s ? " I 'l l get m y te c h n ic a l p e o p le to e v a lu a te i t " a n d t h e y s e n d o v e r Jo e w h o o n c e to o k COBOL. I fin a lly f i g u r e d o ut th a t s u c h p e o p le a r e im p o s s ib le to ta lk to i f y o u 'r e s i n c e r e i t 's a q u a l i t y t h e y fin d u n f a m i li a r a n d t h r e a t e n i n g . I d o n 't th i n k t h e r e '6 a n y w a y a p e r s o n w ith a g e n u in e id e a c a n c o m m u n ic a te w ith s u c h W h e e le r - D e a le r s ; th e y j u s t fix y o u w ith a p i e r c i n g g l a n c e a n d s a y " Y e a h , b u t a r e w e ta l k i n g ab o u t h a r d w a r e o r s o f tw a r e ? " ( th e two w o r d s th e y k n o w i n t h e fie ld ).

T h i s i s all lh e s a d d e r b e c a u s e lh e co m p a n ie s lh a t a c h ie v e im p o r ta n t t h i n g s in t h i s fie ld , as f a r a s I c a n s e e , a r e t h o s e w i t h 'a u n i f y i n g id e a , c a r r i e d o u t u n s l i n l i n g l y b y t h e m a n o r m e n w h o b e lie v e in i t . I th in k o f O l s e n 's D igital E q u ip m e n t C o r p o r a ti o n , D ata G e n e r a l , E v a n s an d S u th e r l a n d C o m p u te r C o r p o r a ti o n , V e c to r G e n e r a l. T h is i s n o t to sa y th a t a good id e a s u c c e e d s w ith o u t g oo d m a n a g e m e n t o r go o d b r e a k s : f o r in s t a n c e , V i a t r o n , a firm w h ic h w a s th e d a r l i n g o f lh e c o m p u t e r h ig h - f l y i n g s t o c k s , h a d a p e r f e c tly s o u n d i d e a , if n o l a d e e p o n e : to p r o d u c e a v i d e o t e r m i n a l lh a t c o u ld b e s o l d f o r a s liltle a s $100 a m o n th . But t h e y go t o v e r e x t e n d e d , a n d h a d m a n u f a c tu r in g t r o u b l e s , a n d th a t w a s th a t . (You c a n now g e l a v i d e o te r m i n a l fo r $49 a m o n lh , l h e H a z e l t i n e .) O f c o u r s e , a lol o f id e a s a r e h a r d t o e v a l u a t e . A m a n n a m e d O v s h i n s k y , f o r i n s t a n c e , n a m e d a w h o le n e w b r a n c h o f e l e c t r o n ic s a f t e r h i m s e lf ( " o v o n i c s " ) , a n d c la im e d it w o u ld m a k e i n t e g r a t e d c i r c u i t s c h e a p e r o r b e t t e r th a n a n y b o d y e l s e 's . S co ff, s c o f f . Now O v s h in s k y h a s h a d t h e la st la u g h : w h a t h e d i s c o v e r e d som e n o w c a l l " a m o r p h o u s s e m i c o n d u c to r t e c h n o l o g y ," a n d h i s c i r c u i t s a r e b e in g u s e d b y m a n u f a c tu r e r s o f c o m p u te r e q u ip m e n t , A n o t h e r e x a m p le i s o n e F r a n k M a r c h u k , w h o s e " l a s e r c o m p u te r " w a s a n n o u n c e d s e v e r a l y e a r s a g o b u t h a s n 't b e e n s e e n y e t - M any com p u t e r p e o p le a r e u n d e r s t a n d a b l y s k e p l i c a l . T h i s i s s t il l a fie ld w h e r e i n d i v i d u a l s can h a v e a p r o f o u n d in f lu e n c e . B ut th e w r o n g w ay to t r y it i s th r o u g h c o n v e n ti o n a l c o r p o r a t e f in a n c i n g . G e t y o u r o w n c o m p u te r , d o it i n a g a r r e t , a n d t h e n ta lk a b o u t w a y s o f g e tt in g il o u t to t h e w o r l d .

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T h e j o k e r i s lh a l i f y o u m is s e d o u t o n a ll t h i s y o u w e r e m u c h b e t t e r o ff. A n y o n e w it h a g e n u in e id e a i s b e i n g s e t u p f o r tw o C e e c in g s : th e f i r s t b i g o n e , w h e n t h e y te ll y o u y o u r i d e a s , s k i lls a n d l o n g - t e r m in d e n t u r e a r e w o r th 2J% (if y o u 'r e l u c k y ) c o m p a r e d lo t h e i r im m e n s e c o n tr ib u t i o n s o f " b u s i n e s s k n o w h o w ," a n d lh e s e c o n d , w h e n y o u g o p u b li c a n d th e u n d e r w r i t e r g e t s v a s t ra k e o f f s f o r h i s in c o m p a r a b le s e r v i c e s . Whai is moBt l i k e l y to g e t lo s t in all t h i s i s a n y o r i g in a l o r s t r u c t u r e d c o n tr i b u ti o n to t h e w o r ld th a t th e c o m p a n y w a s in t e n d e d , in y o u r m i n d , to a c h ie v e .

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J o h n B r o o k s , T h e G o-G o Y e a r s . & T a l le y . $10.

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Vea, it's real. Life imitates art on Route 46, N.J.

I n p a r t t h i s i s b e c a u s e a n y o n e w i th t e c h n ic a l k n o w le d g e i s a p p a r e n tl y l a b e lle d S illy T e c h n ic ia n i n th e fin a n c ia l c o m m u n ity , o r Im p o s s ib le D r e a m e r ; i t is e n t r e n c h e d d o c t r i n e a m o n g m any p e o p le t h e r e th a t t h e man w ith t h e o r i g i n a l id e a c a n n o t b e a llo w e d to c o n tr o l lh e d ir e c tio n of the r e s u l t i n g c o m p a n y . In o n e c a s e k n o w n lo m e , a m an h a d a b e a u ti f u l in v e n ti o n (no t e l e c tr o n ic ) th a t co u ld h a v e d e e p l y im p r o v e d A m e ric a n i n d u s t r y . It w a s in e x p e n s i v e , s im p le to m a n u f a c t u r e , p r o f o u n d ly e f f e c tiv e . H e m ade h is d e a l a n d th e c om p a n y w a s s t a r t e d , u n d e r h ia d i r e c t i o n . B u t i t w a s a t r i c k . When th e s e c o n d i n s ta ll m e n t o f f i n a n c i n g c a m e d u e (no t th e se c o n d r o u n d , m in d y o u ) , th e b a c k e r s c a lle d f o r a n e w d e a l, a n d he w a s s k e w e r e d . R e su lt: n o s a l e s , n o e f f e c t on th e w o r l d , no n o th in g to s p e a k o f.

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ll is Important to note Brat of all thal IBM is In many resp ect s the ve ry model of a ge ner ous and dutiful co rporat e c it ii e n . In a m m u n ity relatione .* In donations to colleges snd un i ve rs iti e s. In generous rele ase of the time of Its onploye es for charitable and civic un de rtakings . It Is almost certainly the most pub lie-sp ir ite d corporation in America, snd pe rh a ps on the face of the ear th. They have been gener ous about many public Interest projects, from Braille tr a n s c r ip tion lo donating photogr ap hers sn d facilit ies for films on child development. The corporation spo nsors worthwhile cul tu ral ev en ts, "Don Quixote" wilh Hex H srrls on o n TV was te rrific, Katharine H ep b u r n 's "Glass Menagerie* was marvelous.

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They offer many com puter p r o gram s (or a v arie ty of p u r p o s e s .

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IBM's enlightenment sn d benevole nce to w ard its employees le pe rh a ps be yond tha t of any company an yw here . They ha ve rigorously up grade d the position of women sn d olh er minor ity employees; the opportunities for women may be greater there than an yw here e lae, They have up grade d rep air of their eyelems. at any level, to white-collar sta tus, and tool kite a re disguised as br iefc as es. This innovation, making a r ep a ir man inlo a "field en gin ee r," Is one o f th e cle v e r est pu bllc -re la llo ns snd employment policies av er Institut ed. They are openhanded 10 stnployeea who wanl to ru n for office, evidently r e g a r d l e s s of platform. In the a lin e s the re were peace candi dates who worked for IBM. and e viden tly got lime off for 11. More rec en tly. Fra n Youngsieln. an IBM marketing Instructo r, was a 1973 cand i date for Mayor of New York on the ticket of the Fre e Libertarian Par ty, opposing all laws againal victim lesa crimes ( e .g . prostitution and odd se x ), as wall aa Day Care and welfare. They also rarely fire people. Once yo u're in, and within cer tain broad ou tli ne s, it' s e x trem ely sale employment. For those who tur n out not lo fit in well, they have a tr ad ition of cer ta in gentle pr es a u re -pra ctic e s like moving you around tha country repeatedly at IBM ex pe nse. This encour ages leaving, b ul also e x po se s the lets-w an te d employee lo a varie ty of opp or tuniti es he might nol o therw is e s e e . without the trauma and anxiety of dismissal. (II la said thai th e re a re IBM flrlngB, but they are rar e and formidable. Hey wood Gould's de scription of an IBM firing (Corporati on F r e a k , p p . 113-115). for which he does n ot claim au thenticity, Is ne verthel ess blood curdling .) IBM's Inlernetlonel man ners (In lls 115 co untries) a re likewise prBise worl hy. Compared to the perfidious behavior of some ol ou r other multinational corpor ations, they are sweetness and light and hlghschool civic s. Sens itive to the feelings of people a b ro ad, ihay are Bald to ope rate car efully within a rra ng ements made to satisfy each country. They train nationals for rea l corporat e responsibility rathe r lhan bringing in on ly outside people. And they a re sensitive to issuea: for Instance, they rec entl y refuse d to eel up an A ptr thei d computer in South Africa. ONE THING IS PERFECTLY CLEAR: IBM haa no monopoly on un d e rs tan din g o r sophistication,

A company o r governmental agency The co u rs e s Indoctrinate with the IBM can get Immense amounts of *help* outlook, a n d the planted people spr ead and Information" from IBM, which ll . Mor eover, both mechanisms help offers fre e c o urs e s, ev en IBM IBM spot the people they ca n work with people on "released time" lo look to make a big aale- - and (it ie alleged over the pr ob lem s on the p rem ise s. b y some) those who st a nd In the w a y . IBM offe rs varioua k in d s of com patibility among Its systems. IBM equipment Is rugged and d urable , and the ir repairmen or 'f ie ld eng inee rs " struggle with gree t diligence and alacrity to ke ep It r u nn in g . It always seems to cnat extr a .

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1. SOCIAL ASPECTS OF IBM . It is pe rh aps In the social realm. Including its Ideological c h ar ac te r . lhal a lot of people a re tur ned off by IBM. IBM ha s tradi tionally bee n th e paternalistic corporation. (Paternalistic corporations w ere some kin d of b ig philosophical Issue lo people In lhe fifties, but nobody cares anymore. Anyway, lhe r e s t were pe rhaps Inconsequential compared to IBM,) Big IBM towns not only have a Country Club (no booze) . but a Homestead for the comfort of important corporate g uests. The re are dresa codes (allhough non-whito s h ir ts and below-thecollar hair are now allowed). and ye s. codes of privat e behsvior (now sub du ed ) . Thes e Irr ita te people with liberlarian c o nce rn s. They do nol bother employees, evidently, be cause employees knew whai they were getting Into. Generalizations about IBM people obviously cannot be ve ry stro ng . Obviously the re Is going to be immense variation among 2E5.000 people. half of whom have college de grees: bul of co urse one of lhe great tr u th s of sociology Is lhal any non-random group haB tend encies. More tha n tha l In IhiB case . In a way IBM people are an ethnic grou p. Im pr essiv e indeed a r e lhe ge ner al en ergy an d slnglemi ndedness of th e people, galvanized by Ih elr cer tainty that IBM is tr u e , good and r ig h t, and lhat the IBM way is lhe w ay . This righte o usn es s Is of course a big tur n-off for a lol of p e o p le . Perhaps 11 leads In tur n to the most -heard s lu r s about IBM people, lhat they are bralnwsBhed or provincial.

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IBM,* everyone knows, is the trade mark of th a Interna tiona l Budns** Machines Corporation, an Immanta company cent*rod in Armonk. N .Y ., bul Extending to over t h un dr ed countries and amploylng vail over a qua rt e r of a million people. IBM dtanlnstes two In du it rla s. computers and a lac tr ie ty pe w riter s. To many people. IBM ta synonymous with computers. Some ol the public. Indeed, be lieves them to be the only coa p ute r manufact urer. In cam era s and film. Uiere Is Kodak. In automobiles. th e re I* General Motors. And In the computer field the re l( IBM. IBM se ll a some 65 to 70% of all lha com p u te rs and prog ra m s that s r e so ld . In thla r e s pect. the b alanc ed near-monopoly, Ihay a re like Kodak a n d CM. But th e re a re Important differences. Eveverybod y knows what a camsra 1b. or an auto mobile. But to ma ny, If not moat, people, a computer la what IBM say* II Is. The Importsncs of Ihls firm, for good or HI. cannot b e overstated: whose legend 1* so thick, whose stock pr ices have doubled and r e doubled, ten Limes over, to Us mu lliblllion-dollsr mass: whose l e a n i n g Infallibility-- at least, as se en by o u ts i d e r s - - have been the stuff of legend, whose style has prolif erated acro ss the world, a sty le which has In a way Itself become synonymous with 'c omputers:* whose name aymb ollies for many people rem arkably, both those who love It and those who hate It-- the New Age. T h e r ig id it y associated In the public mind with "the computer* may b e related In some deep way to th la organizat ion. As a corpor ation they are u se d to desig ning systems that people have to uae In Ihelr joba by flat, and thus th e re are few e xter nal limitations on the compiles Ilona to our liv es tha t IBM can create. Many p tn p le mistake IBM for "]ual another big com pan y. and he re lies the d sn ge r. IBM's position In the world Is so ex tra or dina ry , go caref ully poise d (aa a result of various anti tr ust pro ce ed in gs snd precsutiona) Just outside of total monopoly of a vitally important snd allpenetrating field, that much of what they do has Implications for all of u s. Ralph Nader' s co n tention that Gene ral Motors Is too powerful to function a s a n independent government su rely applies ev en more to IBM. General Motora is not in a position to pers ua de the public thsl ev ery car has Id hav e ten wheals and a snowplow. IBM m a i l in s a n e wsys to hiv e molded compu te rs in l u own image, and then pers ua de d tha world tha t th la la th e way they have to be. But IBM la de eply sensitive, in Its w ay . to public r ela tio ns , and has woven an ex ten sive ayatam of political ti e s and legends (if not mythology) which have kept 1 almost completely 1 aaempt from the critical attention of concerned citizens. T h us It i t ne ce ssa ry h e re , simply a s a matter of ro v e rin g the field al an Introductory level , to r ais e some questions and criticism* that oc cu r to p w p le who are concerned about IBM. IBM presu m ab ly will nol mind having these m atte rs raised; their pub lic -aplrlted con ce rn in so many a re as as su res lha t when someUUng so p ublic ly important as the c ha rac ter of their own po w er la concerned, occasional sc rutiny ahould be welcane.

THEN WHY SUCH A RANGE OF FEELINGS TOWARD IBM? Among computer people, feelings toward IBM ran ge from wors hip lo furious hale (depen ding only In part on whether you w ork th e r e ) . Many, many are of course employed by IBM. and the davotlon with which the y embrace the corporation and lls sp ir it ie a w ond er of the w o rl d . But the spir itual community of IBM extends f u rt h e r . (Jpper-managemeni typos, especially Chairmen of Boards and compiroJIers, seem to ha ve a reverence (or IBM tha l ia no t of this worl d, some amalgamated vision whic h entwines Images of eternal stock and d iv idend growlh with an ideellted nodon of manage ment efficiency. Many others use and live with IBM's equipment, and view IBM as anything from "the g r ea le s t company In the world lo "a fact of life" o r even "a n ece ss ar y ev il ." In some pla ce s whole colo nie s of use rs mold themselves in ll s image, so lha l a round IBM computers the re a re many "lltile IBMs." full of people who Imitate the p ers onali ties and style of IBM people. (RCA. before its computer operation (all to piece s. Imitated not Juat the design of IBM's 380 com puter, bu t a whole ran ge of titles and departmental names from out of IBM. Tho sincer eet form of flat tery .) But outside ihls pa le -- beyond the s p ir i tual community of IBM-- the re are quite a few olher computer people. Some simply igno re IBM. being concerned with their own stuff. Some like IBM but happen to be els ew h e re . Othe rs dislike or hale IBM (or a va ri e ty of r ea so ns, bu si n e ss and social. And thia smoldering hatr ed Is surely far different In c h a r a c te r from an yb od y's attitude toward Kodak o r CM. While It is nol the intent h e re to do any kind of an anti-IBM number, it Is ne ve rthe le ss n ece ss ar y to attempt to round oul Ihe one-a ided pic tu re lhal Is projected outside Ihe computer w or ld. In what follows the re ia no room to try to give a balanced pic ture. Because IBM can speak (or Itself, and does so with many voices, It Is me re Important lo Indicate h e re the kinds of criticisms which are commonly made ol IBM by sophisticated people within Ihe in d u s i ry . bo lha t IBM-worshipers will have some Idea ol what bo th e rs people. Bul of co urse no attempt can be made he re to Judge these matters : Ihls Is Jusl intended ae source material foT concerned c iti z en s.

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Tha same alick ma rketing could b e applied to any o th e r in d ust ry But ll wouldn't be IBM. Nowhere else could the m yst ery of lha su bje ct be met and enhanced with so many more m y st e r ie s.

PROVINCIAL? There would aan to be no quaMlon that IBM people are comparatively conservative and convantlHial. Thl* partly because ihai'e who IBM hire* (though they reportedly urge tolerance ol the unusual employee In a trai nin g O la , 'T h e Wild Duek"). A hu ge number of IBH people ne ver worked for anybody elee: obviously thia affects the perspective. like etaylng at one university all your life, o r In one c ity . II a a y aleo be that becauee IBM place* u c h a premium on dependability and obedience, new ideas (and (be ab ilities ne eded to generate them) naturally ru n Into a little tro u b le . Some critics llod among IBM people e heavy concern with con* vantiatal symbols td achievem ent, and (unfor tunately) eati ng th a world etuck all over with conventional labels and Middle American stereo*

I hope to be able to report in future edlli ie of this book lhat IBM has moved firmly and credib ly toward making its sys tems clear and simple lo uee. without rerequlr ln g la borious attention to needless complications and oppressive rltuale, I t's still possible. One of the things we often forget Is that public-sp ir ited corporations can be reached, they do listen; and IBM le nothing If not public-spir ited-- except when it comes lo the design of Its systems. I hope that this book will help people who are Inconvenienced by compuier systems to understsn d and pinpoint whal they think Is wrong with the sysiems In Ihelr dala str uctu re, Interactive properties, or other desig n featu res- - and that they will iry to e ap r ess their discontents Intel ligently snd constructively to those res ponsible. Including, where appropriate, International Business Mschlnes Corporation. 1 Armonk. NY.

"When we went from IBM to National C u h Re giste r. II was like Ihe difference between nlghl and day." Retired ha rdware executive, talking eboul Inventory programs

(Incidentally. II is amusing to note thal even In Ihis remaining company, in lorm* of "performance pe r d olla r." the managers survey ed (and surviv in g Ihe weedoul) ranked the lop three companies as DEC, Burroughs end Control Uata. IBM was worst oul ol 8. Obviously service counts for e lot.) An Interesting view on IBM's sa le s ethics was expre ssed recently by Ryal R. Poppa, president of Pertec C o r p . "In Ihe past, when Ihere have been sslee situations where 'you can't honor the policy and win the de sl.' IBM ha s violated the policy with the practice, he sa id ."

S u e of the m a t amuelng material on thle o n e * from an odd source: e w ri te r named Haywood Could wbo, all unprepared, bocame a consultant to IBH. e arned unconscionable amount* of money (M0.000 in six m onths). and lived lo write a very funny and obse rv ant book about It (see Bibliogr aphy ). But 11 le necessary on thsse matters to tee bow difficult th in gs can be lor IBH p v p l e . To be Identified t s an IBM pars on is soaeth ing like wear* Ing a ring Id yo ur nose, a yarm ulkaor a halo: an enirapmsnt In a social role lhat makes ths Indi v id u a l^ position ewkward among outs ider!. IBM p o p l e often have to take guff i t pa rlies, unless Ihsy are IBM p a rties. Defenslvsnss* n a y account for some of the Overdo, and some of the d a n n lsh -

II i9 IBM's alleged misbehavior in pursuit of sales that has drswn some of the strongest criticism within the in dustry, as well as consid erable litigation, Their "predsiory pricing* (a terro use d by the ju dge In the recent Telex decision), and olher mean practices, are (whe ther tr ue or false) folklore within the in dustry , These accusations are well summsrited by "Anonymous In a recent arUcle (see Biblio gr aphy). Basically Ihe accusations agalnal IBM's sales pr aciices are that they play dirty: If you, say, the computer manager in b business firm, wanl to buy equipment from Bnother out fit. IBM (so the story goes) will go over your head to yo ur boss, accuse you o( incompetence, try to get you fired if you oppose them, and Heaven knows whal e ls e. Anonymous claims lhal various forms of threat, Intimidation, "hard sell sc are tactics" snd "behind-the-s cenes man ipulation' a re actually Blandard practice in IBM sales: he or she alleges various insiancos in c erts in municipalities. Such behsvlor is emphatically denied, though not in relation lo thBt article, by Board Chairman C ary. In a recent teller lo Newsweek (see Bibliography). Cary emphasizes the impor tance of IBM's 76-psge business Conducl Guide lines. Whether these are publicly examinable is not sta ted. Thes e charges were also taken up con cretely in a recent survey ol computing managers done by UalamBlion (summarited by McLaughlin in "Monopoly Is Nol a Came: see Bibliography). In Datamation'* analysis oi this survey, the menegera did not seem to agree wilh these charges against IBM. However, il must be noted-- snd ihis se riously calls into question the entire survey as analyzed-- thst oul of 1100 panelists lo the questionnaire. Datamation only considered 389 responses "usable." partly (It is ststed) because many did nol give dais allowing themselves to be identified, Considering the widespread fear of I8M in Ihe field, ihls may have strongly biased the poll in favor ol IBM

However, he believes thal situation Is changing unde r IBM's new management, so that Ihe gu id e lines will be obse rved in the lutu re. ("Poppa Seea Several IBM Changes ." Computerworld, 21 Nov 73. 29.) The people who lake these ma ilers ol IBM sa les practices most seriously** IBM's competi tors-- now have their own organization, the Computer Industry Association. This Is an a sso ciation of computer companies, which has as ils intention ihe "establishment and preservation of a sound and viable U-S. computer in d u stry , ba sed o n . . . free and open competition." Empha sis the irs. Translation: ihey're out lo gel IBM. President Dan L. McGurk, iormerly of Xerox Oata Sysiems. has blood In his eye. Member ship is open only to compuier companies, bul Ihelr newsletter On Line is available to indivi duals (see B ibliography). Anyone se riously interested in these matters is referred to them.

BHAINWASHSD? II I* tr ue that IBM people are essentially In their own worl d, One theory Is thit comparla en u iliatlo n within the firm (ra th er vlelble in tbair deslgne) may tend lo stifle. Indeed, because IBM people can expect lo be briefed and schooled in every technical n a tte r they will need to know for a given aselgnment. Ihe incentive to follow technical d e v elo p m ent through oulslde magazines and societies may be reduced. Between Think magaslne and corp orals brie fin gs, it Is possible for IBM p w p ls to be comparatively (or even com pletely) unawere of innovations elsewhe re In the field, except as these new developments are p rw enie d to th e n wilhin the organization, in thle light ll le easy to understand Ihe Ibmere' sense of certainly thet Ihelr flr m invented every* thing and le al the forefront. Of cours e many fine rese arch efforts do go on th sre. In eonelderebie awarenese of whate hap pening elsew he re Particular Individuals st IBM havs done excellent reeearch on everything I n n conputer hidden-l in e imaging to the structu re o( the genetic code and computer-synthesized holog r u n t . APL Itself (see p p . t l . - 3 ) . ss developed by Iverson Bt Harvard and iBter programmed by him at IBM. Is another esample of sophisticated individual creativity th ere. So it'a entirely possible. But IBM certainly has no monopoly on un derstand ing o r c rsstlv lty. and IBM-haters sometimes talk a s If the reve rse is tr ue.

3. TECHNICAL DECISIONS AND DESIGNS A. Prologue. Part of the mylh of lOM's corporate pe rfec tion 1s based on ihe notion ihsl technical mailers somehow predominate In IBM's decisions, and thal IBM's product offerings and designa thus emerge naturally and necessarily and inevitably from the se considerations. Thia is rath er lar from the Irulh. IBM presents many d( Ihelr actions as tsc hnical, even as technical breakthroughs, whon in lact they are strategic maneuvers. The an nouncement ol a new computer, for example, such as the 360 or 370. is usually made to sound as if they have invented something special, while in (act they have simply made certain de cisions as to "which way they intend lo go" and how they plan to market things in ihe next

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me V M A M * U C tCHAU'CS
IBM conirole the Industry principally by controlling Its custo mers. Through varioua mechanisms, ii seems lo enforce ihe principle that "Once an IBM customer, always an IBM customer .* With an e atr ao rdln a ry degre e of control, surely poseeeeed In no olher field by any other organize Hon In Ihe free world, 1 1 dictates whal Ils customers may buy. and whal they may do with what they get. More than this: the elections of loyalty levied upon IBMs cueumers are sim ila r. In kin d and degre e, U whai u damande of Ils own employees. IBM makes the c u s u m e r 's employees more and more like Ils own employees, committing ih e o as Individuals, and eOectively committing the coopany lhat b u y s frno It. to IBM se rv ice In perpetuity. Hare are some of the ways thle systo n of control s e m e to work . He are not saying here thal this Is n ece ssarily how IBM pla ns It: rather, the se are the vir tu al mechanics, virtual 10 lha old sense: this is how it might a s well be working. In Ihe anthropological sense this Is i 'functional* a n aly sis, showing the tie-ins rathe r than Ihs actual detailed thought processes lhal occu r. And even If Iheee ere really the mechanics, perh aps IBM doeen't mean them to be. 11 a lg h t Just somehow be a continuous accident. A. Interconnection and compatibilities.

Now, the re are many m anulacturers who think Ihls Is very wrong o( IBM: who beliove they should have ihe rig ht to sell accessories and p a n s - - especially core and disk memorieB-lo plug onto IBM's computers, ll ha s been generally possible lor the se other manufacturers lo work IheBe Interconnections oul awhile after Ihe computer comes out on Ihe mark et, bul it' s gelling more difficult. Thus tha Telex Decision of September 17. 1S73. in which II was decreed by ihe judge that IBM would have to aupply complete interlace information promptly when Introducing a new computer, was s source of great Jubilation in Ihe computer field. However, lhal pa ri of the Judgment has since been cancelled. Much the same problem exists in ihs soltware area. IBM Is less than in terested In hslplng ils competitors write pr ograma lhal hook up lo IBM programs, to the details of program hookup are not alwsys made c le ar. Here. too. many smaller companies Insist thsy should be made to do It'. B . Control and guidance of what the customer can get. To e remarkable degre e, if you are an fBM cusiomsr, you practically have to buy whst they tell you. This IBM manages by an in tr i cate system of fluctuating degre es of salea and suppor t and contractual dealing. The IBM cus tomer alwsys ha s several optlone: but the se are like forced c ard s. IBM is alwsys Introducing and discontinuing products, and changing prices snd contractual e rrangoienl* and aofiwere op tions in an elaborate choreography, which applies calculated pressure s on the custo m er. IBM has s finely-tuned system of customer inc entives by which il controls product phssln g. to uae the pollle term, or planned obsolescence, as some people call It. (Ryal R. Poppa, presi dent of Pertec Corp.. pred ic ts lhal IBM cuitomere will now be re quir ed to switch over to new pr oducts every five or six years, rath er than every seven, which Poppa contende haa been the figure. ("Poppa Sees Several IBM Change*," Computerw orld, 21 Nov 73. 28.) Programs, especially, are available wilh different degre es of approval fr<m IBM. The technique of "support* Is the concrete manifes tation of approva l. A supported program le one which IBM promise* to f li when bugs turn up. With an unaupported program, you're on your own, Cod has forgotten yo u. Becauee so much of IBM's virtue lies in the strength and fervor of its aupport, the uee ol unsupported programs, or unsupported features of supported programs, is a difflcull and r is ky mailsr . like driving without a map and a epare tire , or even going Into the Himalayas without gloves. Effec tively ihe withdrawal of support le the death knell of any big program, such a s TSS/360. even though c u e im e r e may wanl lo go on using

Availability of products is in general a metier ol exquisite dc gra c. It's nol so much thai you csn or can'l gel a particular thing, bul thal Ihe pricing and available contracts al a given time ^xerl 6lrong pressure to pul you whero they have chosen wilhin their currently featured product line . Moreover, extremely strong hints are Biways available: the salesmsn will tell you whal model of Ihelr computers is likaly lo be a dead end. o r . on the other hand, whet model Is likely lo offer various options and progre ssiv e developments in the near future. Some th ings sre hall-available, eilhor ss "RPQs" (an IBM term for special orders-Hequeet Price Quotation), or available lo sophisticated customers al IBM's discretion. With all the degrees of availability. II Is easy for IBM to open or close by degrees various avenues in which customsrB are inte r ested . Also, different siz es of conputer wilt or won't allow given programs or de sirable program features. Many IBM cuatomers have io get bigger computers lhan ihsy would otherwise want becsu se a given program-- for instance, a COBOL compiler with certain capabilities-- is not offered by tBM for the amaller machine. Indeed, an elaborate sizing scheme exis ts for matching the machine to the customsr -- o r. s cynic might say, assu ri ng lhai you can 't get the program features you ought lo be able to get unlesB you gel b la rg er compuier than you wanted. What It boils down to Is that you. ihe customer, have few genuine options, especially if your firm Is alread y committed to doing c e r tain things with e compuier. And when IBM brin gs out a new computer, the prlcee and other Influencea are exaciingly calculated lo make mandatory the Jump they have in mind to the new model. (This planning oi customer transitions does nol always work. When the 370 was intr o duced. for Instance. IBM had In mind lhal com panies with a certain size of 360 would trade up to a bigge r 370. In some cases u se rs traded down to a amaller 370. which was able to do the same work for lees money, to the acule bother of IBM.)

Elleclively the IBM customer lends to be frequently trapped In a cage of restrictions, whether this cage is intentionally created by IBM or not One is reminded of Ihe mollo of T .ll. white's anthill in The Once and Future King: THAT WHICH IS NOT FOROlDDLN IS COMPULSORY. The degree to which these restrictions are manipulated or intentional Is. ol course, a mailer of debate.

I).

Captive bureaucracies running in place?

Perhaps the most unfortunate Ihlng about IBM (from an outs ider's point o( view) is ihsl effectively their systems can only be use d by bureaucracies whom ihey have tr ained. From koypunch operator up lo installation manager, all are elleclively enslaved to cu rious complex ities thal keep ch an gin g. The ever-chsnglng str uc tu re of OS. and Ils quaint access methods. Is Just one example. II might even seem lo ihe oulslde observer lhal IBM's gems, Intentional or not. is to keep things difficult and intricately fluid io retain utter control. In other words, ll Is a s though they fostered s continual turnover ol unne cessary complications to keep a cspllve bureaucracy running In pla ce. People who they have indoctrinated lend nol io buy opponents' computers. People who are Immersed in Ihe peculiarities of IBM sysisms. and busy keeping up with mandatory changes, do not get uppity. They are too bu sy , and the Inveatment of ihelr time and effort is too high for them io went to Anti-IBM cynics say lhat a lot ol Ihe work Involved in working with IBM computers Is se lf 'generate d. arising from the unnecessary complexities ol OS/360. JCL. TCAM and so on. Bul of course lhal cannot bo evaluated here . PROSPECTS Theae rem arks ahould clarify ihe bleakness of the prospect for mBn's luture among computers If IBM's system of control really does work this way, and if it is going to go on doing so . Be cause it means Ihe future that some of us hope for-- the simple and cbbubI availability io indi vidua ls of cleBr and simple computer systems with extraneous complications edited sw ay-- may be forecloaed II they can help It. Lei's all hope. th en. Ihsl these things turn out not lo be really tr u e . " . . . IBM In Its Infinite wisdom has decreed lhal Ihle is Ihe way we must go." Cynical compuier Installation manager, quoted In Comulen*orld, i t Aug 73. p. 4.

IBH acts s s If It does not wanl competitors to be able lo connect ihelr acceeaorles id Its ccmputers. Ii's s s th ou gh CM could design the roede so as lo p revent Ihe peesage of olher vebleles than lia o w n . Thia la done e sv eral w ay s. First. IBM has soBsOmss use d con tractual techniques to prevent such intarconnecllone u l u a y ata sa, either forbidding e th e r th in gs to be attached (or al least clapping on extra se rv ice charges if they a r e ) . or declari ng lhat ll would not be responsible for overall performance of such t se tu p, effectively withdrawing the ha rdware I liar anise lhat le su ch a strong selling point. Secondly. IBM doee not tall all lhat neede lo bfe known In o r d e r to make Iheee intercon nection*-- ihe deUUa of the hard w are interfaces. -Finally. IBM can simply d e cree , perbape claiming technical necessity, thst Interconnection la impossible. For Insta nce. IBH sa id for a time thal their latest b ig progra m . "VS.* or Virtual SysjBB, wou ldn't work (translation: would not b e allowed) If competitive memories were used, on the c om pute r.

C.

Having to do things )usl Ihelr way,

IBM sysiems and programs are set up lo do things In perticu la r w ay s. To a remarkable de gre e, it Is difficult io use them In ways not planned or app ro ved by IBM. and difflcull to tie syste ms end programs together. Programs and features which ihe casual obse rv er would suppose ought io be compatible, lend not to be. For some reason compatibility always lends to cost e x tra . II Is s s though Ihe compatibility of equipment end programs w ere planned by IBM as much as Ihelr product line .

Finally, Ih er e Is the popular doctrine of IBM's inf allib ility . T h is , mo. is a ways from the t r u th . T he most conspicu ous example waa something called TSS /3 60 . An I nter esting example ol an IBM nonhro ak th rou gh v u lhe dram atic announcement In 1984 of tho 380 c o m p u te r, | r tr a y e d aa a machine which would at last c a n bine the function# of both "buBlness" cam p a t a r s and "scientiflc" com pu te rs . But oth er compan ie s. such aa B urro u gh s (with tha 5500) had b e en doing thla for some Mm. T h e qu a in t se p aratio n o( power* between scientific co mpute rs (w ith a ll-b in ary itn r a g e of number#) and bu alnea a ccmputBm (decimal tcra g e) w a t ba ae d on ly on tr adi tion and ma r keting co ns ideratio n*, and waa otherw is e unde s ir a b le . in am algamating the "two ty p e * . " IBM was on ly re sc in d in g th e ir own p rev ious u n n e e s a r y d is tinct ion. The drama of the a n nouncement d e riv e d In la r g e meas ure from the str e s s ihey ha d p rev io u s ly laid on the divis io n, (For tune ran an In te re st in g piece on the decision str u g g le s pr ec w lin g th a Introduction of th e 360 Ct D pu ter , and the Inter nal arg uments a s to w he the r th e re should be one line of Mxnputers o r two. See th e flve-b ll ll on -do ll a r gamble piece . Biblio g raph y.) Thl* tie* in c lo sely with another I n te r e a tin g aspect of th e IBM im age, th e pub lic notion tha t IBM la a gr ea t in n ov a to r, bringing oul novel technologies all ihe time. It i s well known In th e field tha t th e y a re not: IBM usu ally does not b rin g o ut a new ty p e of p r o d u c t until aoma olh er ax n p an y haa pio neer ed i t . (Again remembe r the e ar li e r point, lh a t the pr oduct offering Is a atrateglc m a n e u v e r.) But of cou rse such facta do not appea r in lhe promotional lit erature , no r a r e they v olu nteere d b y the sa le s m an . The e x pre salo n for thla In the field ia th st IBM make* th in g s res pect ab le .* That la , c ustom ers gel thal r e a s s u r e d leallng, when IBM a d d s other peo p le 's in novation* to ihelr pro du ct Ilna. and decide I l' s o k a y to go ahead and ren t o r bu y auch a p r o d u c t. (Thia aleo sometimes kick* bus lneas ba ck to the original m anu fa ct ure r. ) A few e xa m ple s of things that were a lre ad y on the ma rket when IBM bro ug ht them o u t, often making them sound comple tely new: irsn alstorU ed co mpu le rs (first of fered b y Fh ilc o). virtua l mem o ry ( B u r ro u g h s ) , mic ro program ming (Introduced com mere [ally by Bu nk er-R am o) . T h is Is not to sa y thst IBM ie Incapab le of Innovation: merely lha l Ihey are ne ver In a h u r ry ab ou t i t . T h e Introduction ol IBM p r o ducts 1 o r ch e str ate d like a military campaign, a and what IBM b r i n g s oul i s alw ay s s carefullyplanned. p r o fi t-or ie nted ste p Intended not lo dislocate it* p roduct li n e . This Is not to say that they don'l h a v e ne w stuff in the back room, a potential arsenal of s u r p r i s e s of many types, But ll Is probable tha t most ol them will ne ve r be seen. T h is Is b e c a u se of IBM's "Impact1 ' problem. TSS/300 w as s tim e-sh arin g s y s ta n - that ia . the control prog ra m to go v e rn one model of the 350 as a tim e-sh arin g computer. Acc ordin g to Datamation ( IBM Phase s Out Work on Showcase TSS E f fo r t. ' Sept. 1, 1971, 56-9). ove r 400 people wo rked o n It at once for a total of some 2000 m a n -y e a r s of effort. And It was s c ra pp ed , a writeoff of some 100 million do lla ra In lost development c os ts. Tha system never worked well e n ough . Reputedly u se rs had to wait much too long for the compu te r's r e s p o n se s, and the system could not really compete with those offered e ls ew h e re . The fail ure and abandonment of th is p r o gram i s thus r esp o n sib le for IBM's p r e s e n t non competitive position In tim e-sharin g; custo mers are now a ssu re d b y IBM that other th in g s are more Im po rtan t. IBM -h at ers thank th eir s ta r s that thla h a p p e n e d . C y n ics think it conce ivable tha t h lg h-po w er tim e-sha ri ng w as dropp ed by IBM i n o r d e r to shoo Its customer base toward areas It controlled more completely. Two oth e r co ns picuous IBM cata stro phes have been specific compute rs: the 360 model 90 in the lste six ties , and a machine call ed the STRETCH Bomewhat e a r lie r . Both of th e se machines worke d and w ere deliv ere d to c u sItaners. (Indeed, the STRETCH Is said b y some to have be en on e of the be st machines e v e r , ) But they were d is c ontinue d by IBM ae no t su f ficiently p r o fita b le . T here in la said to have been tho " fa il ure." (Ho wev er. It has be an al leged In c ou rt c a se s th a t these w ars knockout" machines de signed to clobb er the competition at a pla nn ed loss .) B. Negative views of IBM systems. In the te chnical rea lm . IBM Is widely u n loved because many people think some o r all of their computers an d prog ra m s a re eith e r p o or, o r far from what they should be , T h e rea so ns S a n e ol th e pe op le feeling th is way a re IBM c u sto m e rs , and for a time they had a n o r ganized lobby, called SHARE (which also facil itated sh a ri n g of p r o g ra m s) . Recently, ho wever, SHARE has become IBM-domlna led, a sor t of company union, a c c o rd in g to my source s. T h e de sign of the 380, while wide ly a c cepted as a fact o f li fe . Is s h a rp l y criticized by m any. (See "W ha t's wrong with th e 3807", P- 11-) IBM's p r o g ra m s , while they are avail able for a bro ad va ri e ty of p u r p o s e s , a r e often no to r iously cumbersome, a wkw ard and Inefficient, and sometimes dovetai l v e r y b a dly. However, tha le s s efficient a prog ra m la . the more money they make Irom it . A program lhal has lo be ru n for an ho ur g e n e r a te s twice as much rev enu e than if Ii did il s w ork in th ir ty minutes: a p r o gram tha t has to b e r u n o n a computer w ith, sa y . a million sp a ce s of c o re memory gen erate s ten times the rev e n u e it would in two hun dred thou sand ,

QUKJnt HISW.1
o f
IBM app ea re d In 1911 aa th e convalidation ol a numbe r of small companies making light e qu ipment, un d e r th e name C-T-H Company ( Compu te r-T abulating R e cord). T h i s waa p r o p h e ti c , co n sid e r in g how ap ti y i t d e scrib e d the com p a n y 's fu tu re b u sin e s s , and e spec ially prop hetic c o n sid erin g that to d ay's Btored-program co mp uter was undreamed of at lhat time. Accordin g to Wililsm Rodgers' definitive company blogTBphy T h i n k , the company's c r e a to r w as a sh r ew d ope ra to r named Ch a rle s R. Flint, dash ing e n tre p r e n e u r and former gun r u n n e r to Ihe Soulh Americ an r ep u b li cs, who In his sh r e w d n e ss b ro u g h t In to r u n the company an in c re d ib ly talented, f ir e- b re ath in g an d s e lf -r ig h te o u s in di vidua l named Thomes J . Watson, even though Walson st tha t time w as un der p r is o n se ntence for his sa les practicBB at another w el l-k no w n c o m pa ny. The senten ce waa n e v e r se rv e d , a n d Watson went on to p r esid e for many ye a r s ov e r a corpor at ion to which he gave his un ique stamp. Watson a ris e s from lhe pa ges of T h in k ae a sa nctim onious ty r a n t , ha rd as na ils yet r e v e re n tly prin ciple d i n his words; the p il lar of f ervid , aggre ss iv e cor po rate pie ty. IBM was tota lly Watson'a cre at io n. T h e cm npany became what he admired in o th e rs , a mechanism totally obedient to his will and imple menting his forcef ul and ln sp lrl n gly rationalized co nv ictions wilh a l a c r i t y , As the Ch urch is sa id to be the b r id e of Chrla t. IBM m ig ht b e ch ar ac te riz ed aa the B r id e of Watson, molded to th e sty le s of de m an dlng ness. p r e s s u r e , eff iciency and pietism which BO c h a r acteri zed that ma n. B u t the Ideas flowed from Watson a lo ne, exce pt for a few confidantes who r ec eiv e d his nod. T h e company is va st ly big ge r now, and sl ig h tl y mo re co lorfu l, in a muled so rt of way: b u l it i s atill Lhe stiff and deadly e a r n e s t battalion of his dream. Because of Watson 's ba ckg round bb sa les man, he ma de Sales the apeji of the corp orat io n . T h a salesm en had the most p r e s t ig e w it h in the company and could make the most money; below tha t was adm in is tra ti on , below th a l. technical staff. WaLaon elimina ted the meat -slici ng m achi nes, and pu sh e d th e pr o du ct line ba se d on p u n c h ed c a r d s developed by IBM's (Ir sl Chief e n g in e e r . Herman H olle rith. A c c o r d l n g t o R o d g e r s . l t was impetus from lhe D e p r e s sio n , and lha new bookkeep ing r e q u ir e m e n t s of Roosevelt's r e m e d ie s , th a t s k yrock e te d the firm un iq ue ly d u r in g th e d e p th s of ge neral economic c a ta str o p h e , til) Watson came lo d r a w the hi gh e st a a la ry of a n y man i n th e n a tio n . In 1934 h is income was 1364.432 (Will Rog ers, nol the au th o r of T h i n k , w as se co nd wilh S324.314). Watson ha d ne at ly a rr a n g e d to ge l 5% of IBM's net p rofit.

While IBM pa rticipate d In the c re ati on of cer ta in e a r ly c txnp utera. It i s In te re st in g thal Walson dism issed E ck e r t a nd Mauchly whan they came a ro u n d after World War II tr in g to get ba ck in g for their ENIAC de sig n . In c er ta in waya the Aral tr u e elec tronic c om pu te r. Eckert and Mauchly went lo Remington Rand, and tha rea ultin g Univac waa the f lr st canm erc lal c o m p u te r . However, IBM bounced ba ck v a r y w e l l. If th e re was on# ih in g they k ne w how to do It waa aell, and when th e y brou gh t oul their compulers It w as pr ac ti c al ly cle a r sailing . (T he Univac I waa Ihe f ir st of many compu t e r s to be delaye d and boggle d in tha completion at It# software, and th is c on sid era b le se tback helped IBM ge t the le ad v a ry quickly; ihey have n e v e r lost It since.) In the early sixties th e IBM 7090 and 7094 w ere virtu a ll y unch allenged aa Lhe le ad in g scientific computers of th e c o u n tr y , But IBM in th e late al xUes almost rel inq uis he d the fi elds of v e r y big computers and lim e- sh ari ng to ot her companies, and th eir compu t e r s are not rega rd e d a s In n ov at ive N ev ert h el ess , IBM's Systems 360 and 370. de sp ite va rious crit ic ism s, ha v e be en v e ry suc ce ss fu l; th ou sa nds of them are In ope ratio n a roun d the g lo be , far more than all Ih elr r iv a l s ' big c om pule rs all put to gether. This d e s pite the fact that some of these syst e m s hav e failed, inc luding the big Modal 91 (an economic (all ure) and the TSS /360 tim e-sh a ri n g p ro gra m , a te chnical cat ast ro ph e. They hav e from time to time be en accused of unfair tacd ca. a n d v a rio u s a ntitruat and other actiona ( see "Legal Milestones" boa) have r e q u ir e d IBM to change Its a r r a n g e ments In va rloua w a y s . One d e c r e e r e q u ir e d them lo aell lhe c a n p u te re that before they had only rente d; ano th er deci si on , lo. " u n b u n d le . " or se ll co mpute rs separat ely from th eir prog ra m s ( p revious ly "g iven" away w it h the co mpu te rs th e y ran o n ) , Is widely believed to hav e pr ev e n te d govern m ent acLon on the same m a tte r. Showing char ac te ris tic fin es se . IBM th ere up on lowered the computer p ric e s almost I m pe rcep tibly, th e n sl apped heavy p r ic e - ta g s on th e prog ra m s thal ha d pr ev io u sly b e e n free. Recent movea b y tho go v e rn m e n t ha ve sug ge sted an esp ec ially se rio u s a n d f ar -r e ac h in g a n ti - tr u st su it ag ain st IBM, po ssib ly one that might b r e a k the compan y up . with it s se p arate d iv is io n s g o in g variou s waya. How ever, in t o da y's climate of co ay rela ti o n s be tween bu sine ss and g ov e rn m e nt. It is ha rd to imagine that such matters would not be settled lo IBM's li kin g. T h is le n d s a cu rio u s ti n t to a r e m a r k one IBM pe rson haa made to the a u th or, to wit. that maybe IBM want a to be b r o k e n up. That might be on e way of r e d u c in g the unw le ldlness an d I n te r dep en d ency of It# p ro du ct li ne; in a ddition to redu c in g Its vast, u n d e r u til ized pe rs onnel b a se. (Another angle: Acdng Attorney Gene ral Bo rk has e x p re ssed the vie w that IBM Is big only becs use its prod ucts and management are wo nderf ul, so the a n titr u st e ss e ma y simply evap orate d u r in g the rump day s of th e Nixon in c um be ncy .)

Unique In IBM's position is the problem of filling new prod ucts in to the market alo ngsid e Its old o n e s. Its p rob lem Is much w or se, sa y, than thal of Procter 6 Gamble. T he problem is not me rely ita sit e an d Lhe d ive rs it y of Its products, bu t the (set Lhat they may inte rfe re wilh each other ( impact" each ot her, th e y say) In v e ry co npllc aied w a y s , A pr og ram like their Datalexl, for ex am p le, which allow s c e r tain kinds of text i n p u t and rev is ion from te rmlnaia, may affect Its type w ri ter Una, Th es e are no small matters: the da nger Is thal some new combination of p r o d u cts will gave the c u s tomers money IBM would otherw is e b e g e nin g, innovstlons must e x p an d the amount IBM la taking In. o r IBM lose s b y making them. T h ese complications of th e p rod uc t line in a way prov id e a counte rbalanc e to IBM's f e a r some power. The c o rp or at ion haa an immense Inertia based on lla exis ti ng pro duct line and cuB tm a r baae. and o n w ay s of th inkin g which have been caref ully p ro mulgated and explai ned th roughout ita huge r a n k s , that cannot be revlaed qu ickly or flip pa ntly. Nevertheleaa it la remark ab le how at every t u r n noUbly when people think IBM will be sat back -- th e y manage Lo make policy decision* or strategi c moves which f u rt h e r con solidate their po sit ion. Often these seem to involve r es tr ic tin g lhe way the ir co np u te rs will be used (see boa. "IBM's C o n t ro l.' ) (The most Ironic su c h countermove b y IBM occu rre d a few y e a r s ago with th e ao-called u nb un dli n g" de claion. IBM at last agre ed (on nanp lal nt (ram other so ftware firms) lo stop giving lia pro grams away to people ren ti ng th e hard w ar e. Glee w as w id e sp re ad In th e ln dua lr y. which expected IBM to lo w e r co n p u te r p r ic e s in pr oportion to whai 11 would now c h a r g e for the so ftw are . Mot at a l l . IBM lowered Ita m putar p r ic e s by a m in uscu le amount and slapped heavy new price a on th e softw ar e- - often c harges of tho usand s of d o lla r s p e r month.)

The complex tr ai ning and r e stri c ti on s that go with IBM p r o g ra m s seem to have in te res ting fu nct ion s. (See box, "IBM's C ontr ol." ) C. T heo rie s of IBM de sig n .

The que stion l e . how could a company like IBM cre ate an y th in g like the 380 (with it s severe defic iencies) and l ls o pera tin g system or control pro gram OS (w ith Its sp raw li n g compli cati ons. not p r e s e n t In competitors' sy stems) ? T hree sn sw e rs a r e w idely pr oposed: On Purpose (the consp ir ac y t h e o r y ) , By Accident (the b lu n d e r t h m r y ) , and T h a t 's How T h e y 're Sat Up (the Management Science th e o ry ). Thea e view s are by no mean s mutually exclusive, T h e Management Scie nc e th e ory of IBM de sign is the only one of ihese we ne ed take u p . The e xtens iv e use committee de cisio ns may de sign compromises with a imle ssn ess, r a th e r than simple str u c tu re s. (See c hap te r. The M e e ti n g .' of gr o u p d is cus sion and lend lo c re ate a w kw ard a c er ta in intr in sic inc is iv e ly distinct and Gould's marvelous 58-80.)

T h ei r use of imm ense teams m do big pr og ramm in g jo b s, r a t h e r than highly motivated and esp ec ially talented g r o u p s, is widely viewed ae cou n te rp ro du cti v e. For Insta nc e. Barn et A. Wolf/, i n a letter to Datamation (Se pt. 1, 1971. p . 13) sa ys a p a rt icula r pro gram "re ma ina in e f f ic ie n t, pr obab ly be ca u se of IBM's un fo rtunate ha bit of usin g tr ai nee s f re sh out of school to w rite th e ir system s code.* T h ere may aleo be some thing in th e way th a t pr ojects are Initiated and laid out from Ihe top down, ra th e r than a c q u ir in g dir ec tio n from knowledgeable people at the technical le ve l, tha t cre ate s a ten denc y tow ard perf un ct orl n ess and clunk y str u c tu re .

A pe rs ist an t ru mor Is th a t IBM fires all Ita salesmen In a g e o gra p hic a rea if a key or p r e s t i g e sale ia 'l o a i . as when M . I . T . ' s Project MAC switched over to Genera l Electric e m p u t a r s in the s ix t ie s , o r when Western Ele ctric E ng in e erin g Re se arch Ce nte r pass ed ov e r IBM co mpute rs to get s big PDP-10. Much aa some people w ould like to believe these s t o r i e s , t h e r e seems lo be no d ocumen ta tion. You would think one auch victim would write an article about It U ll w ere t r u e .__ j

T h u s the re may v e r y well be no iniantional po lic y of u n ne ce ssary complication (see Box. "IBM's C o n tro l" ) . B u t the way i n which goals are eel and technical decisi on s delegated may gen erate this u n n e c e ssa r y complication.

lHWfS'K*Y
It la u nfor tu na te tha l Rodgera' remark ab le book doea not follow the de tails of IBM's c om pute r de sign s sn d politics In lha c o n p u t e r ag e, i . e . . since 1955. Lat er w o r k , pe rh a p s helped by some Penta go n P a p e rs , will ha ve to relate th e d ecisi on proce ss es that o c c u r re d in thla un ique nadonal institu tion to lhe ayBtema i t has pr od uced and the stamp It haa p u t on th e w orl d. _________________________

An In te re st in g aspect or IBM pu blicity Is lla s t r e s s on sta tu s. Publici ty photograph# often show s s u b o r d in a te se ek in g a d v ic e from a su p e ri o r. IBM ada appeal lo lh e c orp orat ion p r e s i d e n t in all of u a-- eith e r Going It Alone ( ta k in g a lo n g walk o v e r a n Bxe cut ive Decision) o r so be rly d ir e c tin g a le s s e r em ployee. In one e x tr a o r d in ar y c ase , we saw w ors hip fu l c on vict # a l th e feel of a T ea ch e r Implaualbly aituaied In th e c o rn e r o f a p r is o n yard .

IBH a n n o u n c e d a n u m b e r o f w o r t h y o b j e c t i v e s w h e n t h e 360 l i n e w as a n n o u n c e d i n 1 9 6 4 . IBM s h o u l d c e r t a i n l y b e t h a n k e d f o r a t l e a s t t h e i r l i p s e r v i c e to th e s e n o b le g o a ls . 1. 'O n e m a c h i n e f o r a l l p u r p o s e s , b u s i n e s s a n d s c i e n t i f i c . ' (Thus t h e n a m e " 3 6 0 , f o r t h e " f u l l c i r c l e o f a p p l i c a t i o n s . ) By " b u s i n e s s " t h i s m a i n l y m e a n t d e c i m a l . a t f o u r b i t s a d i g i t . A c t u a ll y t h i s m e a n t g r a f t i n g 4 - b i t d e c im a l h a rd w a re to an o th e r* w is e n o r m a l b i n a r y c o m p u te r , a nd m a k in g b o t h t y p e s o f u s e r s s h a r e t h e sa m e f a c i l i t y . 2. ' I n f o r m a t i o n s t o r a g e and d a rd iz e d .' T he 360 w as s e t u p t o a t i a e , 8 b i t s a t a tim e , 16, 32, p r e c e d i n g s t a n d a r d h a d b e e n 6 , 18 tra n sm h a n d le a n d 64 a n d 36 is s io n w i l l b e sta n * in fo rm a tio n 4 b i t s a t b i t s a t a tim e . (T h e b i t s a t a tim e .)

3. 360s w i l l a l l lo o k a l i k e to th e p ro g ra m ; c a n b e m ove d f r e e l y f r o m m a c h i n e t o m a c h i n e . '

th u s

p ro g ra m s

U n f o r t u n a t e l y t h i s c o m p a t i b i l i t y h a s b e e n u n d e r m i n e d by num e rous f a c t o r s , e s p e c i a l l y th e v a r i e t y o f o p e r a t i n g s y s te m s , i n c l u d i n g h a l f a d o 2e n m a j o r t y p e s , a n d t h e l a n g u a g e p r o c e s s o r s , i n t r i c a t e l y g r a d e d a c c o r d i n g to c o m p u te r s i z e . D o th t h e s e f a c t o r s t e n d t o m a k e c h a n g e s n e c e s s a r y t o move p r o g r a m s b e t w e e n com p u te rs . W h ile one e f f e c t o f t h i s " s t a n d a r d i z a t i o n " h a s i n d e e d b e e n to f a c i l i t a t e t h e m o v in g o f p r o g ra m s fro m s m a l l c o m p u te rs t o b i g o n e s , a m o r e i m p o r t a n t e f f e c t h a s p e r h a p s b e e n make i t h a r d t o move f r o m a b i g c o m p u t e r t o a s m a l l e r o n e . N o te th e u s e f u l n e s s o f t h i s a p p a r e n t p a r a d o x t o IBM s n a r k c t i n R . T h e s c c r e t o f i t a l l , o f c o u r s c , l i e s i n ID M 's k e e n u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f how t o s e l l b i g c o m p u t e r s . The c o m p t r o l l e r , o r som ebody l i k e h im , g e n e r a l l y m akes th e f i n a l d e c i s i o n ; a n d i f h e i s t o l d t h a t th e o n e c o m p u te r w i l l ru n " a l l k i n d s " o f p r o g ram s, th a t n a t u r a l l y sounds lik e a s a v in g . S h a d e s o f t h e F111. ( B u s i n e s s m e n ' s t r u s t a n d r e s p e c t f o r IBM i s d i s c u s s e d e lse w h e re in t h i s a r t i c l e . )

I n t h e i r 3 6 0 l i n e , IBH a l s o r e p l a c e d t h e i n d u s t r y s s t a n d a r d A S C II c o d e w i t h a s t r a n g e a l p h a b e t i c a l c o d e c a l l e d EBCDIC ( " E x te n d e d B i n a r y Coded D ec im a l I n f o r m a t i o n C o d e " ) , o s t e n s i b l y b u i l t u p f r o m t h e 4 - b i t d e c i m a l c o d e (B C D ) , b u t b e l i e v e d by* c y n i c s t o h a v e b e e n c r e a t e d c h i e f l y t o m ake t h e 360 i n c o m p a t i b l e w ith o t h e r s y s te m s and t e r m in a l s .

THE FUTURE

THe BKrQOesTioMS
B e tw e e n t h e t r a d e p r e s s a n d d o z e n s of a c q u a in ta n c e s In th e H e ld , a lm o s t e v e r y t h i n g I h e a r a b o u t IBM a n d Its p r o d u c ts le n e g a t i v e ( s a y f iv e o r te n to o n e ) - - e x c e p t from pe o p le w h o w o r k o r h a v e r e la tiv e s t h e r e . P e r h a p s I t 's J u a t s o u r g r a p e s . O r th e a u th o r i ty b a tin g c h a r a c t e r o f r e s e a r c h t y p e s . O r se le c tiv e r e a d i n g . O r p e r h a p a t h e r e r e a l l y le som e th in g s i n i s t e r . T h a m a jo r q u e s t i o n s a r e t h e s e . 1 . How c l e a n la t h e i r s a le s m a n sh ip ? 2. A r e t h e i r s y s t e m s u n n e c e s s a r i l y d ifficu lt or c u m b erso m e o n p urpose? 3 . How d e e p I s t h e i r sy s te m o f e n tr a p m e n t and f a r c e d c o m m itm en t of t h e c u sto m e r? How n e c e s s a r y a r e t h e d e - s t a n d a r d lz a t io n a and th e c o n s t a n t c h a n g e s ? 4 . Do th e y h a v e a f in a l l i b e r a ti n g v is ion? Do th e y r e a l l y , a f t e r a l l . in te n d to b r in g a b o u t a d a y w h e n lif e i s e a s i e r for p e o p le? When th e d i f f i c u l t i e s o f p r e s e n t - d a y c o m p u te r s y s te m s , e e p e c l a l l y t h e i r s , w ith e r aw a y? I th i n k th a t h i s t o r y ' s Ju d g m e n t on IBM in o u r time m a y n a r r o w d o w n to th a t sim p le q u e s tio n .

Whal w ill IBM d o ne xt? S p e c u la tio n I s a lm ost f u tile , b u t n e c e s s a r y a n y h o w . T h e p r o s p e c t s a r e f a s c in a tin g if nol te r r i f y i n g . No o n e c a n e v e r p r e d i c t w h a l IBM will do; b u t t r y i n g to p r e d i c t IBM's a c tl o n e - - IB M -w atc hing is som e th in g lik e K r e m li n - w a tc h i n g - - Is e v e r y b o d y 's h o b b y In th e f ie l d . A nd Its c o n s e q u e n c e s affect e v e r y b o d y . With 60 m a n y th in g s p o s s ib l e , and d e te r m in e d o n ly in th e v a g u e s t w a y by te c h n ic a l c o n s id e r a tio n s , th e q u e s tio n of w h a t IBM c h o o ses to do n e x t Is p r e t t y s c a r y . B e c a u se w h a te v e r th e y do w e 'll b e s lu c k w ith . T h e y c an d e a ig n o u r llv e e for th e f o r e s e e a b l e f u t u r e . We know ihBt ln th e f u lu r e IBM will a n n o u n c e ne w m a c h in e s e n d s y s t e m s , p r i c e c h a n g e s (both up a n d dow n) In f a s c in a tin g p a t t e r n s , r e a r r a n g e m e n ts of w hat th e y will " s u p p o r t , n a n d c h a n g e s In the c o n tr a c t s th e y of fe r ( s e e b o x . " IB M 's C ontrol" ) . O cc asional h l g h - p u b l l c i t y s p e e c h e s b y IBM h ig h ofllc er6 w ill c o n tin u e to b e w a tc h e d w ith g r e a t c a r e . B ut m a in ly we d o n t k n o w . I BM's s li c k m a n u fa c t u ri n g c a p a b ilit ie s mean t h a t p r a c tic a ll y a n y m a ch in e th e y w an ted to m a k e . a n d p u t on a s in g l e c h i p , th e y c o u ld , and in a v e r y s h o r t tim e. ( T h e g r a p e v i n e h a e it lh a t th e C om p onents D iv is i o n , w h ic h m a kee the c om pute r p a r t s , ha6 b r a g g e d w ith in th e c om pany th a t It d o e e n 't r e a l l y n e e d th e o th e r d i v is io n s a n y m ore - - it e ould Ju s t p u l w hole c o m p u te rs on te e n y c h ip s 11 il w an ted t o . ) In th le time of th e 370, t h i n g s a re for th e moment s ta b le . T h e 370 c o m p u te r lin e is sti ll th e ir main m a rk e tin g t h r u s t . H aving s o ld a lot of 370 c o m p u te rs ( b a s i c a lly s p e d - u p 3 6 0 s ) , th e i r Idea is a t th e m om enl to e e ll c o n v e r s io n jo b s to a d a p l th e 370 to r u n Ihe ne w " V i rt u a l S y s tem " c o n lro l p r o g r a m (VS o r O S/V S o r v a r io u s o t h e r n a m e s ) . T h is sy ste m (w h ich i s . I n c id e n ta lly , w id e ly r e s p e c t e d ) m a kes c o re m e m o ry e ffec tiv e ly m u c h l a r g e r lo p r o g r a m s th a t r u n o n i t . T h is eff ecU vely e n c o u r a g e s p r o g r a m m e r s to u s e to n s of c o r e , b y m e an s o f v ir tu a l m e m ory; eeB s n lie lly g e ttin g p e o p le In th e h a b it of p r o g r a m m i n g ae if c o r e w ere in f in it e . T h i s e x te n s i o n of a p p a r e n t m e m o ry siz e d is t r a c t s fro m a n y I n ef ficie n cies of b oth lo c ally w ritte n p r o g r a m s a n d IBM p r o g r a m s , th u s t e n d in g to I n c r e a s e use and ren ta l c h a r g e s . When thBt m a r k e tin g im p e tu s r u n s out w e 'll s ee th e n e x t th in g . T h s o t h e r new IBM I n itia tiv e Is w ith s m a lle r m a c h i n e s , th e S y s tem 3 a n d S y s tem 7, b e in g p u s h e d for r e la tiv e ly sm a ll b u s l n e e s e s . T h s t Is w h e r e th e y s e e a n o th e r new m a r k e t . How e a s y and u s e fu l th e ir p r o g r a m s a r e In t h i s a r e a will b e a n I m porta nt q u e stio n . With th e S y s tem 7 . a 1 6 - b lt m inicom puter l o r $ 17,0 00, IBM h a s a t la s t g e n u in e l y e n t e r e d th e m in ico m p u ter m a r k e t . (.Bala ncin g Its s p e e d a n d c oat a g a i n s t c o m p a r a b l e m a c h i n e s , we c a n f ig u r e t h e IBM m a r k u p ae b e in g a b o u t 50%, w hic h la t y p ic a l.) In a d d itio n . It Is r u m o r e d t h a t IBM m ighl p u l o u t a tin y b u s i n e s s m in i , to s e l l out of OPD. (D atam a tio n . D ec 7 2 . 13 9 .) B ut r e a lly , who k n o w s . In a d d itio n to th is h u g e -m e m o r y s t r a t e g y for I ts b ig m a c h i n e s , a n d t h s s t a r t i n g fora y Into s p e c ia liz e d min i s y s t e m s , th e r e i s th e office s t r a t e g y and "w ord p r o ce ssin g ." IBM h a s c o n c e p tu a l ly c o n s o lid a te d Ils v a rio u s m a g i c - t y p e w r l t e r a n d t e x l s e r v i c e s u n d e r th e na m e of " w o r d p r o c e s s i n g , " w h ic h m e an s a n y h a n d lin g of te x t th a t g o e s th r o u g h th e ir m a c h i n e s . T h is s u p e r f ic ia l ly u n i t e s th e i r OPD e ff o rts ( ty p e w r i t e r s a n d d ic ta tio n m a c h in e s) w ith t h in g s g o in g on In DPD, s u c h a s D a ia te x i. a n d a lla y s i n te r d lv la lo n a l r i v a l r i e s for a w h i le . A lso , b y s t r e s s ing th e u n ity of th e s u b j e c t m a tte r , ll l e a v e s th e d o o r o p e n for la t e r a n d m o r e g la m o r o u s In itia tiv e s , s u c h a s h y p e r t e x t s y s te m s ( se e " C a rm o d y 's S y s te m ." flip s i d e ) . In o th e r w o r d s , th e foot Is i n Ihs d o o r . M r. B u sin e ssm a n h a s th e id e a th a t a uto m a tic ty p in g a n d th in g s lik e t h a t a r e IBM 's s p e c ia l p r o v in c e . H erb G ro e c h . now e d ito r ia l d i r e c t o r of C o m p u te r w o r l d , I s p e r h a p s IBMs w o rs t e n e m y . O n c e h e w o r k e d for old m an W atson, a n d w a s th e o n ly IBM e m plo yee a llo w e d to ha v e a b e a r d . N ow , am ong o t h e r t h i n g s , h e g i v e s s p e e c h e s a n d te stim o n y w h e r e v e r p o s s ib l e a b o u t th e M enac e of IBM, a t c o n f e r e n c e s , at g o v e r n m e n ta l h e a r i n g s , a n d In l e t t e r s to e d i t o r s . Yet IBM 's m a in c o m p u te r s a l e s s tr a te g y to d a y i s to s l r e s s th e a d v a n ta g e s of big c o m p u te r s w ilh lots of c o r e m em ory ( a n d p e r s u a d e you you d o n 't w a n t h ig h ly I n te r a c ti v e s y s te m s o r I n d e p e n d e n t m in i c o m p u t e r s ) . And th e f u n d a m e n ta l r u l e e la t in g th e a d v a n ta g e s of b i g c o m p u te rs Is c a ll s d G r o s c h 's L aw , f o rm u lated y e a r s ago b y n o n e o t h e r . Se e p .

, Even if ll is t r u e , a s A nonym ous s a y s ( se e B ib lio g r a p h y ) t h a l IBM In tim id a te s p e o p le a n d k e e p s Its e n em ies from g e ttin g Jo b s a t IB M -o rien te d e s ta b l is h m e n ts , t h a t 's n o t th e e n d o f th e w o r l d . I C r o s c h , G o u ld , n o d g e r s a n d M c G urk a r e a liv e a n d w o rk i n g , j E x tr a m u ra l h a r a s s m e n t lik e th a t em p lo y e d b y CM a g a in s t N a d e r, for e x am p le . h a s not been r e p o r te d .

END OF THEDINOSAURS? T o a v e r y g r e a l e x t e n t , IBM'e c o m p u ie r m a r k e t Is b a s e d on big c o m p u te rs r u n In ba tc h m ode , u n d e r a v e r y o b t r u s i v e o p e r a tin g s y s te m . Many p e o p le a r e b e g in n in g to n o tic e , ih o u g h , th a l m a ny t h i n g s a r e m o re s e n s ib ly d o n e o n sm a ll c o m p u te rs th a n on b ig o n e s , e v e n in c o m p a n ie s t h a t h a v e b ig c o m p u t e r s . T h a i w ay th e y c a n be done r i g h t a w a y r a t h e r th a n h a v in g to w a it in l in e . Is th i s th e mammal tha t will e at th e d i n o s a u r e g g s ? On th e o lh e r h a n d , a v e r y u n f o r t u n a te tr e n d i s b e g in n in g to a p p e a r , a n im plic it feud w ithin l a r g e o r g a n i z a t i o n s , w h ic h may b e n e f it IBM 's big c o m p u te r a p p r o a c h . T h o s e who ad v o ca te m in i c o m p u te rs a r e b e in g o p p o s e d by m a n a g e r s of th e b ig c o m p u tin g in s t a ll a ti o n s , who s e e th e mini6 a s th r e a t e n i n g th e i r ow n p o w e r a n d b u d g e t e . T h is m a y for a lo n g tim e h old t h e m in is b a c k , p e r h a p s w ilh Ihe h e lp a n d a d v ic e of co m p u ie r s a le s m e n who feel lik e w is e th r e a t e n e d . B u t th e r e will b e no ho ld in g b a c k th e m in is a n d th e ir m y r ia d o f f s p r in g , th e m i c r o p r o c e s s o r s (see p . ^ ) . A nd Ihe i n r o a d s sh o u ld b e g in soo n . ( O t h e r s a r e g r o w i n g to know a n d lo ve tr u e h ig h - c a p B c ity t i m e - s h a r in g a s a w ay of lif e , like lha t o f fe re d f o r DEC. GE a n d H oneywell m a c h i n e s . T h i s , to o, m s y b e g in lo h a v e d e r o g a to r y e ffec ts on IBM 's m a r k s t s . ) F i n a ll y , it m u st b e n o le d th a t a lm ost all big c o m p a n ie s h a v e c o m p u te r s , u s u a lly IBM c o m p u te r s , a n d so an e r a of m a rk e tin g may wel l h a v e e n d e d . It m ay be p o s s ib l e for IBM io go on se llin g b i g g e r a n d b i g g e r c o m p u te rs lo Ihe c u s to m e rs w ho a lr e a d y h a v e th e m , b u t o b v io u s l y t h i s g ro w th c a n no lo n g e r b e e x p o n e n ti a l.

(In t h le l i g h t i t I s not h a r d to u n d e r s t a n d IBM's s t a n d o n s o f t w a r e c o p y r i g h t s v s . p a te n t s . IBM Is a g a l n e t p r o g r a m s b e in g p a te n t a b le , w h ic h w ould c o v e r a b s t r a c t e d p r o p e r t i e s , b u t Brgue s In f a v o r o f c o p y r i g h t , w h o s e p r o te c tio n Is p r o b a b ly m o r e lim ite d to th e p a r t i c u l a r s of a g iv e n p r o g r a m , lf t h e y h a v e th e t r w a y . i t w ould b e a s s u r e d l h a t IBM c o u ld u e e a n y in g e n io u s n ew p r o g r a m m i n g t r i c k s w lth o u l c o m p e n sa tio n , w h s r e a e a ll u n n e c e s s a r y c o m p lic atio n s of b u lk y , c u m b e r so m e s o f t w a r e w o u ld b e c o v e r e d In e n tir e ty b y c o p y r i g h t .) F i n a l l y , i t h a e n o t b e e n d e m o n s tr a t e d th a t IBM ha a a n y g e n e r a l a b l l l l y to m a k e s y ste m s c o n c e p tu a l ly s im p le a n d e a s y to u s e . (Two go od e x a m p l e s o f h a r d s y s te m s a r e ih e Mag T ap e S e le c t r ic a n d D a t a t e x t - - e a s y f o r p r o g ra m m e re , b u t h a r d l y f o r s e c r s l a r i e e . ) T h e r e eee m s to b e n o e m p h a s i s o n e le g a n c e o r c o n c e p tu a l s im p lic ity a t IBM. T h o s e w h o a d o p t s u c h a p h ilo s o p h y ( s u c h s s K e n n e th I v e r s o n ) do so o n th e i r o w n . A s m e n tio n e d e a r l i e r , thle h a e som e th in g to d d w ith th e f a c t t h a t i n d iv i d u a ls g e n e r a ll y u s e IB M 's s y s t e m s b e c a u s e th e y h a v e to , b e in g a m p lo y e ee o r c l i e n t s o f t h e O n u s lh a t r e n l IBM e q u ip m e n t, s o t h e r e le n o Im p etu s to d e s ig n p r o g r a m s o r s y s t e m s to r u n on sim p le or c l e a r m in d e d p r i n c i p l e s , o r d r e s e o u l in tr ic a t e s y s te m s so th e y c a n b e u s e d e a a i l y . 4 . THE IMAGE. It I s h a r d to a n a l y z e im a g e s , c o rp o r a t e o r p e r s o n a l . T h e y a r e o f t e n r e c e iv e d In s u c h d if f e r e n t w a y s b y d i f f e r e n t p o p u l a t i o n s . B ut th e r e may be a c o m m o n a lity to t h e IBM Im age a s g e n e r a ll y s e e n . T h e Im ag e o f IBM I n v o l v e s so me k i n d of co ld m a gic , a b r o o d in g s e n s e o f s t e r i l e e f f ic ie n c y . B u t o th e r t h in g s a r e p e r c o l a t i n g I n th e r e . If w e s li d e th a t c o n n o ta tio n o f e f f ic ie n c y a s i d e , ih e IBM Im age se e m s to h a v e tw o o t h e r p r i n c i p a l c cm pone nts : a u th o r i t a r i a n i s m a n d c o m p l a c e n c y . It I s this m ix t u r e th a t l o n g h a l r s w ill n a t u r a l l y f in d r e v o l t i n g . T h is sa m e c o m b in a tio n , h o w e v e r , m a y b e e x ac tly w h al It le t h a l a p p e a l s to b u s in e s s - m a n a g e ra e n t ty p e s .

IP YOU REALLY WANT I T . .. you c ap g e t c h arac ter-b y -c h ara cte r re s p o n d in g sy ste m s on D M c o m p u te rs. T h e n e w S t o c k E x c h a n g e sy s te m u s e s a " T e le c o m m u n ic a ti o n s A c c e s s M ethod" p e r m i t t i n g n o n - IB M te rm in a l s to r s s p o n d c h a x a c t e r - b y - c h a r a c t e r . J u s t a s sy ste m s fo r n o n -co m p u ter-p e o p le s h o u ld . T r y i n g to u s e t h i s i n p u t- o u tp u t p r o g r s m o n y o u r lo c a l IBM a m p u t e r 1s a n o t h e r p r o b l e m , t h o u g h . A s id e f r c n p r o g r a m r s n t a l c o s t s , ih e r e Is t h e p r o b le m o f I t s c o m p a t ib ilit y w ith th e whole l i n e o f IBM a o f t w a r e . A d a p t a ti o n s and r e p r o g r a m m i n g w o u ld p r o b a b ly be n e c e s s a r y u p a n d d o w n th a l i n e . I

Few fir m s a n y w h e r e h a v e t h e co n fid e n ce to a d v e r t i s e g e n e r ic a lly a p r o d u c t whic h la m a de b y o t h e r s a s w e l l, a s in IBM'e "T h in k o f t h e c o m p u te r a s e n e r g y " s e r i e s .

A LITTLE GEM FROM THE IBM SOMGBOOK (Who saya IBM doesn't nc o u rtg Individualism? To lha lune ol "Pa ck Up Your Trouble* In Your Old Kli Bag.*) TO THOMAS J . WATSON. P resid ent. IBM" Pack up your tr ouble *-- Mr. Walaon'e harel And amlle, amlle. smile. He le the geniue In o u r IBM H e'i lha man worth while. He's In sp ir in g *11 the time. And very ve ra atl le -- ohi Ha U our strong and abla Pre sidenil H it amlla'e worth while. *Graal organis er and a fri end eo true.* Say all we boy*. Ever he Ihlnka of Ihlnge to aay and do To Increea* our Joy*. Ha la building e v e r y day In hla outa undln g a ty la -- ao Pack up your trouble *. Mr. Wataon'* bare And Sulla*- Smile-- Smile. (A* a nostalgic public aervies Advanced Computer Technlq uee. I nc., of Boaton. gave away LP* of IBM songa at the '68 SJCC. They might juet hava eoae l a d . ..)

BIBLIOGRAPHY "THERE IS A WORLD ELSEWHERE." -- Corloltnua There Is no way to esca pe IBM enUrely. IBM madialea our contact* with government and medi cin e. wilh lib rarl e*. bookkeeping eyaieme, and bank balancaa. Bul thaaa InUueione are etlll lim ited. and mo*l of ua dont have to live th ere. Thera are many computer people who refuse to have anything to do with IBM sy*tem*. Other*, nol ao emphatic, will tell you pointedly that they p r tf e r to elay a* far away from IBM computers a* po*eible. If you aak w hy, they may tell you they don't care to be both ered with reeir lcilv e. unwieldy and unne caaaary conpllcatlon* (Ihe JCL language le ueually m entioned). T hia 1* one reaaon that quite a few people atlck with mlnlcomputa ra. or with flrma using la rg e computare of other brand*. It i* poMlble to work pro ductively In lha c onpute r Held and completely avoid having to work with IBM-atyle aystama. Many people do. Harvey D. Shapiro, "l.B.M . and al) the dw arfa," New York Times Magazine. July 29. 1073, 10-36. An objective, (actual a rti cle , sympa thetic lo IBM-- although it drew at leaal one ir ala letter from an Ibmer who d id nt think It sympathetic enough. "IBM: Time to THINK Small?" ber 1. 1971. 60-64. Neweweek. Octo

Prank T . C ary, letter to the e ditor. Neweweek. Oct. IS 73. p . 4. A enap pla h reply lo the above by Ihe IBM Board Chelrman, who evldenUy did n't like the article ve ry much. Robert Samuelaon. "IBM'a Melhoda.* New York Times Sunde y financial section, June 3, 1973, p . 1. - T h le article give* a unique glimpse of some ol the Interesting thlnge lhat came to light In the Control Data suit against IBM-- citing tria l documenta never publicly releaaed. a William Rodgare, T h in k , Stein a nd Day, 1990. Subtitled A Biography ol Ihe Waiaone end IBM. Concentrate* on Ihe day* before computera. Fasc inating profile of Waieon. a busin ess tiger: but ihe view of ihe cor poration In an evolving nation Is general Americana that tr ansce nds fiction. Would you believe Rodgers aaya Wataon waa the kingmaker wo put General Ike in th e White Houee? Unfortunately, the book hae rele tlvely le es on Ihe computer e ra . *o the Inalde story o( many of the ir msne ntoua de cis ions since then remains to be told. Heywood Gould, Corporation P r e a k . Tower (paper back.) Marvelous; ha rd to get; Gould Ihlnke IBM quietly bought up all the copies. The muting* ol a so phis tic ate d. cleve r and obaervant cynic who began knowing nothing about IBM. Gould's w ide-eyed ob se r vation ol Ita corporate sty le and atmoaphere la a jolt Id ihoee ol ue who've gotten ueed to 11. And he thought It w as juet another big company I Anonymoue, "Anti-Trust; A New Persp ec tive." Deiamatlon, Oct 73, 163-196. Richard A. McLaughlin, "Monopoly la Not a Game," Datamation. Sept. 1973. 73-77. Questionnaire eurve y Intended to te st truth ol common accueatlon* against IBM. (Discussed in te at above.) W.David G ardner, "The G overnm ents Four Yeara a nd Four Months In Purault of IBM." Data mation. June 1973, 114-11S. Almost any iaaue of Comguterworld o r Datamation, the two main in dualry newa publications, c a r rie s arilclee mentioning c anpla ln ts about IBM from va rious q u a rte rs on varloua la iu e * . DatamaUon'e le ttera a re also aotnetlmee Juicy on the topic. Any lasue ol On Line. * new* sh eet ol the Computer Industry Association, te n buck* a year, (CIA-- no relation to the Intelligence agency - 182SS Venture B lv d .. Encino. CA 01316.) T .A . Wlee. " l.B .M .'s SS.000.000.000 Gamble." Fortu ne. Ocl 1966. Danlal J . S lotn le k, 'U nconventional S y s t a s .' Proc. SJCC 1967. 477-401. I n t e r t s t l n g , aaeng oth e r reaso ns, for tha heaviness of th e earcaaa d ir e c te d a t IBH and i t a la rge r c ^ ^ u t e r s . 0 N i l l t a a R o d g e r s , "IBH on T r i a l , " H arper' s . May 1974, 7 9 - 8 4 . C o n t i n u e s w h ere T h in k l e f t o f f ; c i a a i n o s s o a e o f t h e d i r t t h a t c a a e out i n th e T o lc x c a s e , a n d o t h e r t h i n g s . T he author regret* n ol bein g able to Hat more article s and books favorable lo IBM, but Ihea* do nol eeem to l u m up to m uch. How ev er. he re a re a few . A Computer Perspective, by th e office of Charles and Ray Eamee, H arvard U. Preaa. S13. Angelina Pantagea, "IBM A broa d," Datamation. December 1972, $4-57. For an example of the kin d of a dula don of IBM baaed on faith, see Henry C. Wall!ch. "T ru st -B ustin g lha U . S . A . , ' Newsweek 1 Ocl 73, p . 90. The IBM Songbook, any y e a r -- they ha vent been le iu ed alnce the fifties-- le definitely a collectible.

L G 5 H
T he lamoua Consent Decree of Ja nuary 19S6. (In a conte nt d ecree, an accueed pa tty admit* no gulll bul a gre es id behave In c erta in way* the re e/ter.) In rea ponsa to a federal antl-tr uai suit . IBM agreed to: aell as well aa leese Its compute rs, and repa ir thoae owned by others: permit attachmante lo ita le eeed computera; nol requir e certa in package deal*: llcente va rious patents; not buy up used mechlnea: and ge l oul of Ihe bualn asa ol supply ing computer serv ices. I . e . . programming and hourly renta ls. Unbundling decision, Isle sixtie s. While ihls was nol a government aellon bul a an Internal policy decisi on by the company, It some how hBd a publlc-relalions appeara nce of official compulsion. Beset by pressu re s (ram makers of look-alike machines, u se rs of competitive equipment, and ihe th rea t ol a n tl-lr usl action, IBM decided lo change its policy and sell programs without computers and computers without progra m s. Delight amongst the indust ry tu rned to c hagrin as ihis became rec ognized as a pr ic e hike. T he Telex Decielon. September '73: Tele* Cor p. of Tulsa waa awarded S3S2.SOO.OOO In trip le damage* (since reduced) lor loaaea attributed 10 IBM's "predatory" pricing and oth e r marketing practices. Much more important. IBM was requir e d to dlaclose Ihe detailed electronlca requir ed to hook thlnge to their computers a nd acceaeorlea within e iity daya of announcing a n y . Thia w as a great reli ef lor Ihe whole Industr y. E ssentially it meant IBM could no longer dictate whal you attach lo th e ir machlnee. Unfortunately. 11 le not clear whether thia will ata nd. But what w e're waiting to he at about i* w hether ihe Mxon Justice Department la . or ia nol. going to pr ea a the big a n tl-tr uat suit which haa been long brew in g. at the peralatant request of other flrma in the in dua try.

NEW CHIPS... IBM cen pul pr ett y much anything on a aingle chip , to make a functioning machine the size of a po a u g e stamp: but ao can a lot of other companies. The question really become* whether what goes on thal chip I* * worthw hile machine that doea what people went. . . . BUT THE SAME OLD BLOCK? II I* by no meane cle a r thal IBM haa any general ability u make computer aystama easy to Thle Ii i psychological problem . A* e corporation they e r e use d to deelgnlng eyaieme thal people have to uee by Dal. and muet be trained to uaa. contri buting to the captivity and Inertia of tha euatomer b a ae . Thus the notion of making thlnge deeply and conceptually eiralghtforward. without epeclal Jargon or trainin g, may not be e concept the a m p a n p le ready l o r .

"THINK OP THE COMPUTER AS ENERGY." saya a recent aeries of IBM ads. But In term s of monopoly, p r ic e , end the w orl d's convenience. Ih ere would seem only one wey to complete the analogy, via.: "THINK OF THE COMPUTER AS ENERGY. "Think of IBM as King Fu isal."

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For a long tim e, d urin g the alxtlee, IBM'a h ig h pric e* provided an environment tha t m ade i t easy for other campaniee to come Into the field and eel) c tn p u te re and p e riphe rals. Theee high pric e* w ere referred to ea "the IBM umbrella.* However, th ia era haa e nded . IBM now cut* prlc e e In whatever are as It'e th rea te ned. A b r ie f flourlahlng ol c on panlee making a dd-on diak and core memorlea for IBM con p u ter* haa becooe precario us: nol only will IBM now cut p rice s, bul they have ehown lhaaeelvee still dis posed to inve nt new reeir lc ilv e e rran g e n en t* (the recent "virtual memory" announcement (or Ihe 370 claimed tha t the program will only work on IBM dle k and c o r e ) .

SOMB DIVISIONS OP IBM you may h a a r about

Office Product* Division. T ypew rite rs, copier a. Data Proceeding Division. Computera and acceaaorle*. Polar*] System* Dlvtalon, Big government contracts: NASA etuB. and who know* whal. ASDD Advanced Syatame Development Dlvlalon. Vary secret . Components Dlvlalon. Make* pa rt* for tha o th e r g u y a , Including Integrated c lrc u lte . SRA Selene* Reaearch A aaoclatee, Chicago. Publishes textbooks and learnin g kit*. Waiaoii Lab T . J . Wataon Rese arch L aborato ry , Westchester County, north of New York C lly . Theoretical and lookahead re a e a rc h .

OPD DPD PSD

Digital E quipm ent C orporati o n, in r e s p o n s e to th e " B ne rg y C r is i s " ol 1973, d id n 't h i m out th e ir C h r is t m a s t r e e . InBlead they ho ok ed it u p to a w a t e r w h e e l they hap p en e d lo h a v e . T y p ic a l.

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T h is po li c y has made (or alow b u t ste ad y g row th. In e ff ec t. Digital bu il i a nationa l c u s tomer b a se am ong th e most soph is tic a te d c li e n ts , T he k id s who aa u n d e rg r a d u a te s and h a n g e r s -o n b uil t In te r f a c e s and k lu d g e y a r r a n g e m e n ls . now aa pr o je c t h e a d s b uil d b i g fa n c y sy s te m s a ro u n d DEC e q u ip m e n t. T he pla ce s that know c o m p u te rs u su a lly h a v e a v a rie ty of DEC equipment a ro u n d , u su a ll y d r a s t ic a lly modified. B e ca u se of th e grea t s u c c e s s of Its small c o m p u le rs , e sp e c ia lly lh e PD P -0 , ev en ma ny com p u t e r pe op le th in k th e y on ly make sm all com pu t e r s . in (acl t h e i r b ig c o m p u ie r, th e PD P-10, Is one of th e most su c c e ssf u l tim e - sh a rin g c o m p u le ra . An exam ple o f i ts g e n e r a l estee m in lh e field: It is th e h ost c o m p u te r o f ARPAHET, th e national c ompu te r n e tw o rk among sc ie ntif ic in st al lat ion s funded b y t h e D ep artmen t o f Defens e; ba si ca ll y t h i s me ans ARPANET is a n e tw o rk of PDP -lOs. DEC'S c om p ule rs ha ve alw ay s be en de sig n ed by p r o g r a m m e r s , f o r p r o g r a m m e r s . T h is made for c o n sid er a b le s u s p e n s e w hen th e PDP-11 di d not a p p e a r , e ven th ough th e h ig h e r n u m b e r s d i d , and the- g r a p e v in e had it t h a t Ihe 11 w ou ld be a s ix t e e n -b i t m a ch in e, ll p ro ved to be well w aili ng for ( se e p . 2 2 ) , and has s in c e becom e t h e s ta n d a r d so p h ist ic a te d 16- b lt mach in e In th e ind u stry . An a r e a DEC h a s e m p hasize d from th e f ir st h a s be en co m p u te r d is p l a y ( d is c u sse d at le n g th on th e fl ip s i d e ) . T h u s il i s no s u r p r i s e thal ih e lr in te r a c tiv e anim ated c om puie r d i s p l a y , th e GT40 (see p . M i ) i s an o u ts tan d in g d e sig n and su c c e s s . (And the U n iv e rsity of U ta h, c u r r e n t ly lhe m other c h u r c h of co m p u te r d i s p l a y , r u n s ll s g r a p h i c sys te m s from PD P -l O s.) In t h i s p lu c k y , hom esp un c om pan y, w h er e e v e n p r e s i d e n t O ls e n i s k no w n by h i s f ir st na m e ( K e n ) , It Is u n d e r s t a n d a b le lhal m a rk e ti n g p iz az z ta k es a ba ck se at. T h i s a p p a r e n tl y w as th e view of a g r o u p o f r e b e l s , led by vic e p r e si d e n t Ed d e C a s tr a , w h o b r o k e off In th e lale s ix t ie s to s la r l a new co m p u te r c om pan y a ro u n d a 16-bll com p uie r d e s ig n called Ihe Nova r u m o r e d lo ha v e b e en a r eje cted d e s i g n for th e PDP-11. T h e c o m pa ny th e y s ia r te d , Daia G en e ra l, h a s not be en afraid lo u s e lh e h a r d s e l l , an d b e tw ee n th e i r h a r d se ll a n d sou nd ma ch in e line t h e y 'v e se ri o u sly c h all eng e d l h e p a r e n t co m pan y . But Digital m a rc h e s o n . tltc O r - p u t e r Kur.'s c om puie r c o m p a n y . If IBM is c o m pu te rd c m 's Kodak, w h ose o v e r p r ic e d b u t q u it e re li a b le go od s h a v e v a rio u s d r a w b a c k s . DEC is N ik o n, w il h u m ix - a n d -m a tc h a sso rt m en t of wlmi th e ho is h ots w an t. T h a t 's p lu r alis m for y ou . P D P -2 , 0 o r 13 .)

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T h e c o m p u te r companies a re of ten r e f e r r e d to In Uie f ie l d aa "Snow White and th e Se v e n D w a r f s " - - a p h r a s e tha t s ta y s the same e v e n as th e l e a s e r o n e s (l ik e RCA and G enera l E le ctr ic ) gt o u t o f th e b u s in e s s one by one . T h e p h r a s e s u g g e s t s th a t th e y r e all a lik e . T o a n exte n t; b u t t h e r e Is o ne company suffi ciently d if f e r e n t, a n d I m p o r ta n t en ou gh both In it s h is to ry a n d Ita c o n t i n u i n g e m in e n c e , to r e q u i r e e x po sitio n h e re , T h i s I s D ig it a l E quipment C o rp orati on , u su a ll y p r o n o u n c e d " D e c k t h e people who f ir st b r o u g h t ou t th e m in i c o m p u t e r and c ontin ue to ma k e One etufT for p e o p le who know w h at th e y are d o in g . O t h e r c o m p u te r compani es hav e mim icked IBM. T h e y h a v e bull! b ig co m p ute rs a n d I tie d to se ll th e m to b ig corp oratio n s (or t h e i r b u s in e s s d a ta p r o c e s s i n g , o r big "s ci en tific " m a ch ines an d t r i e d to se ll the m lo s c ie n tis ts . DEC w anl about il dif f er en tl y , a lw ay s d e s i g n i n g f o r th e people who kn ew w ha t th e y w e r e d o i n g , a n d a lw ay s going lo grea t le n g th s lo te ll y o u e x a c t l y w h a i th e i r eq uipment did. F i r s t th e y made c ir c u it s for pe op le w ho w a n t e d lo tie dig it al eq uipment to ge th e r. T h e n , s i n c e th e y ha d the c ir c u it s any w ay , ih e y manu f a c t u r e d a c o m p u te r (the PD P -1 ). T h en more c o m p u t e r s . I n c r e a s in g the lin e slo w ly , b u t a lw ay s t e l l i n g p o te n ti a l u s e r s as muc h ss t h e y co uld p o s s i b l y w a n t lo know. T h e sam e for it s m a n uals. Pe ople w ho w ro t e for Informa tion from Digital would oflen g e l . no t a su m m ar y ahee l r e f e r r i n g you t o a loc al s a l e s o f f i c e , b u l complete manual ( s a y , for th e P D P - 8 ) , In c lu d i n g c h a p te rs on p r o g ra m m in g , ho w lo b u i l d inle rfa ce a lo I t , and th e en ac t t i m i n g a n d d is t r i b u t i o n o f Ih e main I n te r n a l p u l s e s . T h e eff ec t o f Ihls w as tha t soph is tic a te d u a e r s - e s p e c i a l l y in u n iv e rs itie s a nd r e s e a r c h e s t a b l i s h m e n t s s t a r t e d b uil d in g th e ir o w n . T h e i r o w n in l e r f a c e a , I h e ir ow n modifications to DEC c o m p u t e r s , t h e i r own or ig in a l sy st e m s a ro u n d DEC c o m p u t e r s .

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H o w e v e r. I do ha ve g r ate f u l rec oll e cli o ns of th e w arm th and c o u rte sy w it h w h ic h peo ple from Digital E quipm ent Co rp orati o n h a v e ta k e n p a in s lo e x p la i n th in g s lo m e , h o u r a f lc r h o u r , c on fe re nce a fte r c on fe re nce . In th e e a r ly six t ie s ih e y ha d o n e ma n in on e small office to s e r v i c e an d se ll all of New J e r s e y a n d New York C l ly . But lha t one g u y . D av e D en n isto n , sp e nt c o n s id e r a b le time r e s p o n d i n g to my que sti o n s and r e q u e sts o v e r a p e rio d of a cou p le o ( y e a r s , and i n th e n ic e s t p o ssib l e w a y , ev en th o ug h th e re w a s n o way I co uld bu y a n y th in g . You d o n 't fo rget tr ea tm e n t lik e th at.-

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\ <T 'C 's . ? * * TIKE, 14 Jan 74, 50. \ ^ * a r c u se d (or trusa s to r a g e o f symbolic ( d i g i t a l ) o f s to r a g e . movable media") e r e Of a l l s o r t s . EFFECTIVELY STANDARDIZED BY IBM 3 /4 - in c h magnetic ta p e . Pre-1965: 6 t r a c k s d a t a , 1 tr a c k p a rit y . Po st-1 965: 8 trac ks d a t a , 1 tr a c k p a rit y . 2741 d is k St ac k o f remova ble p l a t t e r s s i z e of a la y e r c ak e. 3330 d is k d is k c artridge P l a s t i c c a s e , s i z e o f c o o lie h a t , en c l o s in g d i s k , floppy diak F l e x i b l e , c a r d - t h i n d is k e n c lo se d in gquare 8" en v el o pe. th is m o d lT d tsk d riv e . The b r o u n - c o a t e d d i s k i t s e l f i s h i d d e n i n th t p l a s t ic case, never t h e l e s s , th e y s o m e t in e i g e t e o ra tc h e d o r break. A d i s k c o s t s $7S a n d h o ld s up to 2 ,4 0 0 ,0 0 0 n a tio n ( 1 .2 m i l l i o n PD P-1 1 u o r d s , u h i c h a r e IB b i t s e a c h ) . P r i n t s som e iOO l i n e s a n in u te ( fa s te r i f th e l i n e s a r e n a r r o w ) . P r ic e around S I S , 000. P l a s t i c s t r i p s p u l l e d o u t o f wedgeshaped tu be s arr an g e d In a r o t a t i n g c y lin d o r . S t r i p i s p u lle d o u t o f th i a c a r o u s e l , whipped a roun d a drum t o make temporary drum memory, r e tu r n e d t o c as eEFPECTIVELY STANDARDIZED BY OTHERS LINCtape 3/4 - in c h ta p e on a 4- in c h r e e l ( f i t s in p o c k e t) , s p e c i a l l y c o a te d a g a i n s t f r i c t i o n , deve lope d a t L in c o ln Labs f o r LINC cu n p u te r ( se e p . 41 ). S w s l z s and r e e l b u t d i f f e r e n t l y f o r matted f o r DEC stachinea ( v a r i e s with n d e l ) . Very r e l i a b l e . A p e rs o n a l fav o r i t e o f many p ro g ra c n e rs . JH CARTRIDGE The Sc o tc h -tap e peo ple aay th e c a a s a tt e ia u n r e l i a b l e , and o f f e r aa an a l t e r n a t i v e a b e l t - d r i v e n q u a r t e r - i n c h baby, co s tin g maybe $1000 w i th o u t I n t e r f a c e . CRAM (Card Random Access Memory) r a r e Big p ie c e s o f p l a s t i c (ab out f o u r Inchea by two f e e t ) p u l l e d by n o tc h e s o ut o f a c a r t r i d g e and whipped around a drua . N atio n al Caah R e g i s t e r . HARDLY STANDARDIZED AT ALL ' C a s s e t t e s P h i l i p s - t y p e a u d io -t y p e c a a a e tte . Used b y v a r io u a m a nu fa cture rs i n v a rio u s ways, S ykes, S y c o r, DEC, Data General and o t h e r s have s e p a r a t e , and us u a l l y in c o m p a ti b le , ayaterns. r i f f l e . T h a t 1s th e o v e r a l l s i z e o f th e memory, which i s u t t e r l y indepen de nt f th e s o p h i s t i c a t i o n o r g e n e r a l power o l th e coo pu te r i t s e l f . i r i I l i o n - b i t memories a r c a v a i l a b l e , and you co uld p u t one on a machine a s small as

Some k i n d s o f p e r i p h e r a l d e v i c e s , o r com p u te r a c c e s s o r i e s , a r e a lw a y s n e c e s s a r y . O n ly th r o u g h p e r i p h e r a l s c a n y o u l o o k a t o r h e a r r e s u l ts o f w h a t t h e co m p u te r d o e s , s t o r e qu an t i t i e s o f in fo rftia t i o n , p r i n t s t u f f o u t and w h atn o t. T ry in g t o p r i n t l i s t s of a v a ila b le s t u f f hare i s h o p e l e s s . T here a re thousands o f p e rip h e r a ls fro m h u n d red s o f m a n u fa c tu re rs . If you b u y a m i n i , f i g u r e t h a t y o u r p e r i p h e r a l s w i l l c o s t $ 1 5 0 0 ( T e l e t y p e ) on u . Bu t t a a i n t e n ance ( s e e p . S C ) i s t h e b i g g e s t p r o b l e n . If you buy p e r i p h e r a l s f r o a t h e n a n u f a c t u r e r o f t h e c o a p u t e r , a t l e a s t y o u c a n b e s u r e so m e o ne w i l l be M i l l i n g t o m a i n t a i n t h e w h o l e t h i n g . (In d ep en d en t p e r i p h e r a l M a n u factu rers w i l l o f t e n r e p a i r t h e i r own e q u i p m e n t , b u t n o body w ants t o b e r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e i n t e r f a c e . ) I f y o u w a n t a l i s t s e e " T a b l e o f M in i * p e r i p h e r a l S u p p l i e r s , " C o w p u te r D e c i s i o n s . Dec 7 2 , 3 3 - S ; m o r e t h o r o u g h p o o p i s o f f e r e d by D a t a p r o R e s e a r c h C o r p . , 1 C o r p o r a t e C e n t e r , R o ute 3 8 , M o o r e s t o w n NJ 0 8 0 S 7 . As t o t h e s e r i o u s m a t t e r o f d i s k s , a n e x c e ll e n t re v ie w a r t i c l e is "D isc S to ra g e f o r M in ic o m p u te r A p p l i c a t i o n s , " C om p u ter D e sig n June 1 9 7 3 , 5 5 - 6 6 . T h i s rev ie w s b o th p r i n c i p l e s o f d i f f e r e n t t y p e s o f d i s k d r i v e s , and w h a t v a rio u s o a n u f a c t u r e r * o f f e r . A l s o h e l p f u l o n d i s k s and t a p e s : " f l a k i n g a Go o f H i n i s t o r a g e , " b y L i n d a U e r ta e r . Com p u t e r D e c i s i o n s . Feb 7 4 , 3 2 -3 8 . Best re c e n t

D isk d r i v e f o r th e l l . M o t t s u c h d e v i c e 8 go a t 30 s p i n a a s e c o n d , o r 1800 rp m . The h e a d s th a t re a d and u rC te to be p o s i t i o n e d on th e d i f f e r e n t t r a c k s . (Some d i s k s h a v e a h e a d f o r e v e ry tr a c k , u h ie h I f you have d is k d r iv e s ($SS00 e a c h ) y o u n e e d a c o n t r o l l e r (iS& O O ). S ig h

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BRAILLE jo ke h e r e . People a re s t i l l making B r a i l l e c o p ie s o f th in g s by hand. But th e way to do i t i s by compute r: th e nach ine can punch o u t new c o p le a o f w h a t e v e r's s to r e d i n I t , re p e a te d ly .
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Surely nobody can r e s i s t th e p e r i p h e r a l s o f f e r e d by Gene ral T u r t l e , I n c . , 545 Tec hnology Squ are, Cam b r i d g e . Ma ssa chu se tts 021 )9 . Tha T u r t l e 1* a s o r t o f c a s s e r o l e on wheals t h a t ta k e s a p e n c il down the n i il d la . A tta che d to yo ur cca^n itar, I t can be p r o g r a n a d t o r u b l e around draw in g p i c t u r e s , o r j u s t do w h eallea on Lha p a r q u e tr y . S800. Then th e Music Bos I s 5600. I t s i n g s i n fo u r v o i c e s , enough f o r a l o t o f V i v a l d i , does f i v e o c ta v e s and look s to th e c o ^ u t e r l i k e a T e l e ty p e . They w i l l p la y you e a g l e s on the phone (6 17/661 -3 773 ). For e i t h e r o f th e ss you need a C o n t r o l l e r (S1300),

A B r a ille - p u n c h in g a d a p te r k i t i s a v a i l a b le f o r t h e p l a i n 33 T e l e ty p e , I b e lie v e f ra n Honeywell, A s i m i l a r a d a p te r k i t t o r I ' s Syatam 3 i s a v a i l a b l e f m IBM ( I t l e o f i n t e r e s t t h a t an e a r l y u s e of Hooers' TRAC Language was w it h B r a i l l e con ver sion.) You never know what y o u ' l l se e n e a t . In 1969 one firm announced a h ig h - d e n s ity rea d-o nly m e ry d e v ic e " which anyone co uld s e e was a p la in 45 RPM ph on ogr aph b ut w ith d i g i t a l e l e c t r o n i c s . And i t made s e n s s - But i t d o e s n 't se ea to ha ve cau gh t on.

The thing Is, any eel of assumptions, no matter how intricate, can be enacted by a compu te r modal. Anything you can express exactly can be carre d out. and you can see Ita consequances in Ihe computer'e rea dout a printout, a acreen display, or some oth er view Into the resulting data structu re. Obvioualy these enactments (or sometimes "predictions") a n wholly fallible, de riving any validity they may have from the soundness of the initial data or model. However, they have another Important function, one which Is going to be very Impor tant In education and. I hope, general public understanding, as c om pute n gel spread about more widely and become more usable. Tha availability of simulation models can make things easier lo understand. Well-sel-up almulatlon programs, available eaally through terminals, can be used aa Staged Explanatory Structure* and Theoretical Exploration Tools. The use r can build hie own w ars, his own so cieties , his own economic conditions, and eee what follows from the waye he se ts ihem up. Importantly, different theories can be applied lo lha same aetupa. to make more vivid Ihe conse quences of one or the other point of view. (Indeed, similar facllltlea ought lo be avail able for Congreaa. to allow them to pour a new tax through Ihe population and see who suffers, who g a in s ...) I should point oul h e n thal tor this p u r pose insightful Simulation-- you don't alweye need a computer. I have In mind Ihe so-called "simulation games.'1 which If wsll designed give extraordinary Insights to ihe players. Allen Calhamer's brilliant game of Diplomacy, for In stance (Gamea Research. Boston; available from B nntano's. NYC) teaches more about Iniernstional politics than you could suppose possible. I am alao Intrigued by a game called "Slmaoc," worked out by a sociologist lo demonstrate the develop ment of social struc tures from a state of random ereation. but I haven't played It. (Clark C. Abl. of Abt Assoclatea. Boston, haa also done a lol of Interesting design h e n . ) A last point, a very "prectlcal" application. Simulation makes 1 possible to enact things with 1 out trying them out in concrete reality. For In stance. In Ihe lens-deslgn systems mentioned e arlier. Ihe lenses don'l have to be actually built to find out their detailed characteristics . Nor la 1 necessary to build electronic ciroullry. now. 1 to And out whether 11 will w ork at least that'a whal the aaleemen ssy . You can slmulsle any clroull from a terminal, and "measure" what It does at any time or In any pa rt wilh slmulaied meters. Slmllsrly, when sny computer Is de s igned now, ll's simulated before It'a built, and programs are run on the simulated computer, as enacted wilhin a real computer, lo see If ll behavea as Intended. (Actually the re are some hot-wire types who Insist on building things first, but one aasumes thst the more sensible computer designers do th is .) Wilh sulomoblles It's ha rd er; but 0M, for Instance, simulates the handling characteristic* of Ils c a n be ( o n they're ever built so thst designer* can redistribute weight, change steer ing characteristics and so on, till Ihe handling characieritstics come out the wey Ihs Consumer* seem te like. BIBLIOGRAPHY Simulation magaslne la the official Journal of Simulation Counclla, in c .. the curiouslynamed aiclety of the Simulator*. it coats $18 a year from Simulation Counclla, In c.. Box 2228. Le Jolla CA 82037. For all 1 know you get annual mem bership tree with thal. I've always wanted id Join but It waa always the one thing loo many; but their conference programa a n sensational. Where else can you hear paper* on traffic, biology, military hardware, weather prediction and electronic design without changing yo ur seat?

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la an Impoalng term which meana almnt l anything Basically. "almulmtion" meana kny activity thal rep reaenla or ne em b lee tM H lh lnf, Computer d n u lilto n la u i l n | Um c u p u t t r lo mimic aomeihing r w l i o r a o m th ln f that might be, tor any ptirpoee:' to underetend an ongoing p n c t i i batlar o r lo m how aou eth lng Digtil come oul In lha H a n again, thou gh , tha Science mylh atapa In lo myittiy Ihl* proceaa . aa though lha m a n uaa of tha s o p u l a r conferred validity or some kind of truth. (On TV show* tha Spece Voyager* aland in front of lha "computer" and eah in Arm. unnalu n l l y loud wricea whal will ba lha n s u ll * of *oaod-ao. Tha computer* oracular reply la Infal11bla. On TV.) Lai t h a n ba no mystery about thia. Any uaa of a data str u c tu re on a what-lf baala la Simulation. You can *iaulata in dalall o r cnidaly; f o u r <m.dart/i e n embody m y theories, *en*ible o r n upld ; and yo ur result* may or b p nol cor* A 'e o o p u la r prediction" 1* tha outcome of a iinitiation that eomaone, evidently. ia willing to atand behind. (Be* "computer election predlcdona." p . 4 \ ) Thai* polnta have lo be atreaaed becauae If tlu r e la <me c o ap u te r acdvlly which la prelantioualy p re u n le d and str essed , 1 la simulation. 1 Especially to naive cllenta. There la nothing wrong with simulation but the re la nothing supe rAnollier term which mean* more or laaa tha s e n la modeUlng, In the looae aenae, aimuladon or model ling consiata of calculatlona about any deecrlbable phoenomena for Inatance, optical equation*. In optical modelling (and thle la how they deaign today*a gr eat le naea), a data *lructure la creeled which represent* lha c un'elure . mounting, etc. of the se parat e giaaaaa In a lena. Then "simulating" the path* of Individual ray* of light through that len a, ihe computer program teeta lhat lena deaign for how wall tha raye *ne together, and ao on. Then the deelgn Ii changed and triad a g a in . Another type of e lau lati cn . an Important o u l quite distinct on e -- ia lhal which represents the c m p l e i Interplay of myriad units, finding out tha upahota and coneequence* of Intricate premise*. In traffic almulallona, b r Inatance. ll la eaey enough to represe nt ihouaanda of care In a dala str u c tu re , and have them "react" like d r i v e n - - creating ve ry convincing traffic Jama, again represented somehow within the data structure, Basically simulation require* two things: a representation, o r data structu re , that somehow represents the things yo u're simulating In lha aspect* that concern you; and then a program t o * something to Iheee data, that la In some way Ilka the process yo u 'r e concerned sbout acting n t the (hinge yo u 'r e modelling, And each evenl of significance enacted by the program muat aomehow leave ila Irace In the dala structu re. The line between elmulatkm and other pro gramming Is not always c le ar. Thus llw calcu lation of the future orbits of the planets could be called "almulatiois." The moat Intricate cases, though, don't particularly resemble eny olher kinds of programs. The Intricate enactments of phyalcal movements, especially awarma and myrlada with mixed and n lll d ln g populations, are especially Interesting. On a recent 6elentUc American article, simula tion helped to unde rstand possible streamer* of stare between galaalae aa resulting from nor mal n n ald eratim * of Inertia and gravitation (Alar and Ju ri Toomre. "Violent Tldee between O alaiies." g d . Am. Dec 73, 38-48.)) Models of c m p le x and changing rates are mother Interesting type. Enacting compiea things, whoee amounts are constantly -ht.gjng in ta rn s of percentage multipliers of each other, m in d easy in prin ci ple, but their omaequencea can be quite s u r p risin g . (gee T h e Club of ton*.* p. ( f .) To Imagine the kin ds of mixed-caee myriad models now poaafble, we could on M a y 's big n m p u te n model entire eocletiea. with e separate rao ird describing each Idivftiuai oul of millions and specifying his probabilities of M b m and diffltrwm preference* acc ording lo various theortee lhan fellow through whole sack*ties' behertor In ta m e of educetfem, income, marriage, m F>v*wy. death, and anything else. Talk about tin Kddiera and te a ls In ihe bathtub. Any a n p u t e r language can be used for xa* kind of almulatlon. Por simulations Involring relatively tew entitles, but lots of rates or formulas, good old BASIC o r FORTRAN la fine. (MAQI's *9ynlhevteion" ayaton, which wild be said to "almulete* csmple i figures In s three-dimensional sp ace, la done In Fortran; P-W X -) For slmulstions involving s lot **P*nte objects. spe cial eeaee and discrete event*. TRAC Language (aae p . | J ) I , jr e e t. if itumeiwa malheaaflca] formulas are Involved end you wanl to change them around nmald er- ably In an e x p erin aita l sort of way. APL ia well suited (eee p p . ). There are a number of special aimuladon" languages, notably 91MSCRIPT and GP8S. Thaae hare additional feature* useful, (or Instance In mu tating w an ts ove r lime, auch as "EVENT" cmmands which aynchronlaa o r draw divisionllnae In tima (lha simulated t l o s ) . Simulation tanguages generally allow a g n a t v a n , , data types and ^ t e n d o n s on them. The llst-proceaalng fanatics, of courae. Insist that ihelr own U n g u ag w (such aa LISP and SMOBOL) a n beet. And then th ere 's PLATO (w e p T x i f ). whoM TUTOR language la solandid far boO, (arnulaa and dtacraJTw ork-- but allOTra you only 1500 v a ria b le s, total (80 blia

ia an extension of Simulation in a fairly obvious direction. If simulation means Ihe Enactment of some event by compuier. Operations Re se arch meane doing theae enactments to tr y out dlfTsrenl strat egies. and lest the most effective ones. Operations reaearch really be gan during World War n with such problems ae submarine hunting. Given so-and-so many p la nes, whal pattern should they fly in lo make Ihelr catching aubmarlnes moat likely? Building from certain types of known probab il ity, (bul In are as where "true mathematical answ ers w ere not easily found), operation* rese arche rs could sometimes And Ihe bsst ("optimal") str ate gies for many dUTsrenl kinds of activity. Basically what they do la play the situation oul hundred* or thousands of llmee, enacting II by compuier, and using dice-th row in g techniques to determine the outcomes of all Ihe unpredictable p arts. Thsn, after all entities have done Ihelr thing, the program can report on whal strategies turned out to be most effective. Example, In 1873 the Saturday Review of something-or-o the r printed a pie ce on the solu tion. by OR techniques, of the game of Moiopoly. Effectively the game had been pla yed thousand* of llmee, the dice throw n perh eps millions, and Ihe different "playera" had employed various different strategies sgalnsl each oth e r In a va rying mix: Always Buy, Buy Lighl G reen. Utilities and Boardwalk, elc. A complete solution waa found, the strategy which tends (over many pla ys) te work beat. I forget whal II waa. Using another technique, Ihe game of foot ball waa analysed by Robert E. Machoi of North western and Virgil Carte r, a football peraonege. Their Idea waa to teet various maxims of the game, to find out which common rules sbout bensflclal plays w e n tr ue. Whit they did wae replay Afly-elx big-league football games on a pla y-by-play baala. rate the outcemee. and aee which clrcumatsnces pr oved most advantageous on the a v e n g e . I've mislaid the re p r in t (Operations Re se arch, s recent y e a r ) , and bein g totally Ig norant of football can remember none of the AndInga. Anyhow, lhat's where lo look. /i+ J The earlier explanation of Operations Resesrch wasn't quite right. Its sny systematic study of what works best. Computers csn help. BIBLIOGRAPHY Irvin R. HentMl. "How to Win at Monopoly." Salurdajr Review of Science, Apr 73, 44-8. V irgil C arter and Robert E. Kaehol, "Operation* Raaeareh on F o o tb a ll. Operations Beaeacch. nareh 1971, S41-544. A l o t o f p e o p le t h i n k c o a p u t e r s a r e i n s o a e way c r u e l and d e s t r u c t i v e . T h is c o a e s i n p a r t f r o a t h e ia a g e o f t h e com p u t e r a s " r i g i d " ( s e e "The Myth o f th e C o a p u te r," p . ^ ) , and p a r t l y b e ca u se t h e a i l l t a r y u se s o a a n y o f t h e a . B ut i t ' s n o t th e n a t u r e o f a c o a p u t e r , any a o r e th a n t n e n a t u r e o f a t y p e w r i t e r i s to ty p e p o e a s o r d e a th w a rra n ts. The p o i n t i s t h a t th e a i l l t a r y p e o p l e a r e gu ng ho on te c h n o l o g y , an d ke en on c h a n g e , and C o n g re ss buys i t f o r t h e a . Ho way i s t h e r e r o o a to c o v e r t h i s su b je c t d e ce n tly . But w e ' l l m e n tio n a few t h i n g s . The P e n ta g o n , f i r s t o f a l l , w i t h i t s p a y r o l l o f a i l l i o n s , w i t h i t s stu p e n d o u s I n v e n t o r i e s o f b l a n k e t s and boa b s and t o i l e t p a p e r , was th e p r i a e a o v e r b e h in d th e d e v e l o p a e n t o f th e Cobol b u s i n e s s c o a p u t l n g la n g u a g e . So a v a s t amou nt i s s p e n t j u s t on c o a p u t e r s t o r u n th e a i l i ta ry e s t a b l i s h a e n t f r o a a b u sin e ss p o in t o f v ie w . r Of c o u r s e t h a t s n o t th e i n t e r e s t i n g stu ff. The r e a l l y i n t e r e s t i n g s t u f f in co ap u t e r s a l l came o u t o f th e m i l i t a r y . The D e p a rtm e n t o f D efen s e ha s s b ran c h c a l l e d ARPA, o r Advanced R e se a r c h and D e v e lo p a e n t Agen cy, whic h f i n a n c e s a l l k in d s o f t e c h n i c a l d e v e lo p m e n ts w ith v a g u e ly a l l i t a r y p o s s i b i l i t i e s . I t I s th u s a suprem e i r o n y t h a t ARPA p a i d f o r t h e d e v e lo p a e n t o f : CONPUTER DISPLAY ( t h e S k e tc h p a d s t u d i e s a t L in c o ln L abs; s e e p . , ! ) * t ; TIME-SHARING ( e . g . th e CTSS s y s te m , s e e p . S T ) : HALFTONE IMAGE SYNTHESIS ( t h e Uta h a l g o r i t h m s : b u t s e e a l l o f p p . i * , -St. - 3 1 ) ; and l o t s a o r e . S oae f o l k s a i g h t sa y t h a t p r o v e s i t 's a ll e v il. I sa y l e t s lo o k a t c a s e s . W hile t h e y ha ve m i l i t a r y a p p l i c a t i o n s , t h a t s s i a p l y b e c a u se th e y ha ve a p p l i c a t i o n s i n e v e r y f i e l d , and t h e a i l i t a r y a r e j u s t w here t h e aoney i s . J u s t t o e n u a e r a t e a few a o r e a i l i ta ry th in g s -Coaaand and c o n t r o l - - th e p r o b l e a o f k e e p in g t r a c k o t w h o 's done what to whoa, and w h a t 's l e f t on b o th s i d e s , Ii i s a sole m n i r o n y t h a t th e g r e a t 46SL C oaaand and C o n t r o l S y s t e a " - - e gr a n d r o o a w i t h aany p r o j e c t o r s d r i v e n by c o a p u t e r , o n l y s o a e t h i n g l i k e th o s e in " D r . S t r a n g e l o v e * a nd " F a i l - S a f e " - a ay be a p r o t o t y p e f o r o f f i c e s and c o n fe re n c e rooas o f th e f u tu r e . "A v io n ic s " - - a l l th e e le c tr o n ic g a d g e ts i n a i r p l a n e s , I n c l u d i n g th o s e fo r n a v ig a tio n . (A r e c e n t m agaz in e p i e c e d e s c r i b e d how w o n d e r f u l i t f e l t t o f l y t h e F - 1 1 1 - - whic h h a s a c o a p u t e r a a n a g in g t h e F e e l o f t h e C o n t r o l s f o r y o u .) " T a c t i c a l s y s t e m s " - - c o a p u t e r s to aan a g e b a t t l e f i e l d p r o b le m s , a i a guns and a i s s i l e s , s c ra m b le y o u r v o i c e among v a r i o u s a i r f r e q u e n c i e s o r w h a t e v e r th e y do. " I n t e l l i g e n c e " - - c o a p u t e r s a r e u se d t o c o l l a t e i n f o r m a t i o n c o n in g i n f r o a v a r i o u s s o u r c e s . T h is i s no s im p le p r o b le m -- how to f i n d o u t w hat i s s o f r o a a ta n g l e o f c o n t r a d i c t o r y i n f o r a a t i o n ; th i n k a b o u t i t . D o n 't t h i n k a b o u t how we g e t t h a t i n f o r a a t i o n . " S u r v e i l l a n c e - - i t c a n ' t a l l be a u t o a a t i c , b u t v a r i o u s te c h n i q u e s o f p a t t e r n r e c o g n i t i o n ( s e e p . M I ^ . ) a r e no doubt b e in g a p p lie d to th e la a e n se quan t i t i e s o f s a t e l l i t e p i c t u r e s t h a t c o ae back. (D id you knew o u r B ig B i r d s a t e l l i t e e i t h e r c h i r p s b a c k i t s p i c t u r e s by r a d i o , o r p a r a c h u t e s t h e a a s D r o p p in g s? ) Of c o u r s e , t h e j o k e r i s t h a t *11 t h i s o b s e s s i o n w i t h g a d g e t s does n o t s e e a t o ha v e h e lp e d us a i l i t a r i l y a t a l l . The arm y s e e a s d e m o r a l i z e d , end th e na vjr l o s i n g g ro u n d t o a c o u n t r y t h a t h a r d l y J e ven h a s c o a p u t e r s . QUIS CUSTOIBT, HUH? Beaton a v l f u e rec ip ie n t* have been e y s to a U e a lly ahert-etan9*d fo r a t l i u t 14 yeara, according to C^gutecw eild (lo k eyetea* anaiyat recently d isc e rn e d th a t the w elfare program *a not c alcu l atin g c o e t-o f-liv in q io o e a e e a on a n pjuM baeia, aa i t should have been, but a* a e i ^ l a Increase baaed each year o \ an obeolate o r ig in a l fig ure. However, i t ' * too la te to aek (or refunds, a id anyway n e t aany e e lf a r a r e e lplen te take C g m m t U .

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U n t i l now, t h e o b s c u r i t y o f c o a p u t e r s ftas Kept th e p u b l i c f r o a u n d e r s t a n d i n g t h a t a n y t h i n g l i k e p o l i t i c a l i s s u e s were i n v o lv e d in t h e i r u s e . Hut now a l o t o f t h i n g s a r c g oin g t o b r e a k . T or i n s t a n c e

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J . E dgar H o o v e r 's r e c e n t d e a t h r a i s e d a v e ry s e r i o u s p r o b l e * . What a b o u t a l l th o s e f i l e s he had b e e n k e e p in g ? R e s p o n s ib l e c r i t i c s o f t h e FBI, su c h a s F r e d J . Cook, have c l a i m e d t h a t H o o v e r 's p o l i c y b a s i c a l l y c o n s i s t e d o f c h a s i n g lo n e p unks ( l i k e O i l l i n g e r , Bonnie and C l y d e ) , h a r a s s i n g p o l i t i c a l d i s s e n t e r s , and k e e p in g v a s t u n n e c e s s a r y r e c o r d s on I n n o c e n t c i t i z e n s * - t h u s v i r t u a l l y c r e a t i n g th e v a s t n e tw o rk o f o r g a n iz e d c r T S T l n A m e ric a, w h ic h s t a y s th # p o l i c e b l o t t e r s . T hus t h e qu e s-

"Simulation" means almost anything lhal In any way representa or reaerables something. Whkh Is nrt to say ll's a use less o r improper term. Just s slippery one. Examples, H e n are waya we could "slmulate" a h o n e race: Show dot* moving aro und an oval track on a nm pls la ly random baala. and d e cla n Ihe A n l lo complete the circuit The Winner, Asaign odds to Individual horaee. and Uien uaa a randomlssr lo choose the winner, taking Into account those odda. <Thla ts how the PLATO 'h o r se ra ce ' game worka: see p . ^ t f . ) Give am dltkmal odds to the different h o n e s , based on poaalbla "weather conditions. Then flip a w in (or the computer equivalent, weighted randomisation) to teat the "weather conditiona," end assign ihe horses performance accordingly. Program an enactment of a h o n e w e . In which the winner ia selected on the ba sis of the Interaction of ihe horoeeopes of horse and rider. Create a data str uctu re representing the three-dimensional hinging of horse 's bones, and the interlaced timing of tha the h o n e 's gall, (Thle haa been done at U. of Pennsylvania on a DEC 338.) Then have theae stick figure* run around a track (or the data structu re equivalent). Ualng a synthetic-photography system such as UAOI'a Synthavlslon (see p .to j^ ) , create the JD data str uctu re for the e n t l n eurface of a runnin g horae over time; lhan make aeveral copies of thle horse run around s track, and make sim ulated photographs of ll. And so on. Bo dwi't be anowed by the term "simulation." It meens much, Unis or nothing, depending.

The q u e s t i o n h a s b e e n a n s w e r e d . In J u l y 1973 Nixon a p p o i n t e d C l a r e n c e K e l le y , p o l i c e c h i e f o f K ansas C i t y . A f t e r th e p r e v i o u s g o i n g s - o n - - f o r i n s t a n c e , N ix o n 's s e e a i n g t o o f f e r th e p o s t t o J u d g e Byrne w h i l e he was p r e s i d i n g o v e r t h e E l l s b e r a t r i a l - - t h i s lo o k e d to t h e p r e s s l i k e a s t a i d and u n c o n t r o v e r s l a l r e s o l u t i o n . K e l le y c e r t a i n l y i s aw a re o f t e c h n o lo g y . I t s e e a s to be he t h a t p u t d i s p l a y s c r e e n s i n Kansa s C i t y p o l i c e c a r s , c r e a t e d th e ALERT s y s t e a ( A u t o a a t e d Law E n fo rc em e n t Resp onse T ea a) and C0PPS ( C o a p u te r iz e d P o l i c e P l a n n i n g S y s t e a ) , w hic h f o r y o u r a a u s e a e n t t i e s i n t o MULES ( M is s o u r i U n i f o n Law E n f o r c e a e n t S y s t e a ) . (S e e M e lv in F. B o c k e l a a n , " O n - L in e O * . p u t e r s K eepin g T hin gs S t r a i g h t , " which d e s c r i b e s t h e Kansas C i t y c o a p u t e r s e t u p . C o a a u n i c a t i o n s . J u n e 73, 1 2 - 2 0 . ) in a o r e t h r e a t e n i n g v e i n , s u p p o s e d l y th e Kansa s C i t y d e p a r tm e n t k e p t c o a p u t e r f i l e s on " a i l i t a n t s , a e n t a l s end a c t i v ists." (S c h w a r tz a r t i c l e , p . 1 9 .) ffh at K e l le y d o e s i s t h u s o f I n t e r e s t t o us a l l . The b i g q u e s t i o n i s w h e t h e r , f o r e l l h i s c o n c e rn w ith p o l i c e a u t o a a t l o n , he I s a l s o c o n c e rn e d w i t h t h e f r e e d o a s t h i s c o u n tr y use d to be a b o u t .

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Nol all kids who play with a a ^ u t s r s arm quite aa lew -abldlnf as the B.B.B.l.B-T.O.H .B. And (he lemptatVmis arm very s tr u if One such youngster s a l <n S hlghachnal Held-trip (0 a suburban Philadelphia p o lia U tb m . and saw s d a o o strtfJo ii of Ihe police rmoota ln b m e tw i ayalam. The police who wsre defaooatralng It. not being omputm r f n a h s . didnt rssllrs how simple U s s a Id observe lha dlal-ln numbers, passwords Old protocol Whai this lad got to n e , he merrily went lo his computer term inal In Ihe hsssmsnl and proceeded m H e r Into Phll telphla'a list <rf most-wanted criminals ih . gamma of all his A few days laler s man came to his bouse Crum the FBI. Ha waa e v ld s tly not a rmgular operative bul a technics) type. He aaked vary nicely If (he boy had a term inal. Then tha FBI man aaked very nicely if be had p u t In theee names. The boy ad m ined, grinning, thal he had. (B verraie in (he sohool knew 11 had to be h e .) The FBI man aaked him v e ry, very niosly not to do It ag ain . "Of course 11 dldn'l do any harm," says the culprit. "I had Uiem down tor crim ss Ilka 'Intellectual m urd er.' (Thai oould happen to lhem for UuiT" Doea (hat make you feel bederT

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The te rm " d a t e bank" d o e s n ' t ha v e any p a r t i c u l a r t e c h n i c a l M a ilin g . It l u s t r e f e r s t o any l a r g e s t o r e o f i n f o r m a ti o n , e s p e c i a l l y so m e th in g a t t a c h e d t o a c o a p u te r . F o r I n s t a n c e , a t Dartmouth C o l l e g e , where t h e s o c i a l s c i e n t i s t s hav e be en w or ki ng h a n d -I n -h a n d w ith t h e i r b i g tim e s h a r i n g p r o j e c t , an awesome amount o f d a t a I s a l r e a d y a v a i l a b l e o n - l i n e in t h e s o c i a l s c i e n c e s . The l a s t c e n s u s , f o r I n s t a n c e , In d e t a i l e d and u n d ig e s te d f o r a . Suppose y o u ' r e a t Dartmouth and you g e t i n t o an a rg um ent o v e r w h e t h e r , s a y , d i v o r c e d women e a r n a s much o n t h e a v e r a g e as women th e s u e a g e who ha v* n e v er be en m a r r ie d . To s o l v e : you J u s t go t o t h e n e a r e s t t e r m i n a l , b a t I n a q u i c k p r o g r a a In BASIC, an d th e sy ste m a c t u a l l y r e - s n l y i e s t h e c e n s u s d a ta t o a n sw e r y ou r q u e s t i o n . I f o n l y Congress had t h i s ! The u s e f u l n e s s sh o uld be e v i d e n t . Because o f t h e way c e n s u s d a t a i s ha nd l e d , now. I t I s n o t p o s s i b l e t o a s k f o r th e r e c o r d s o f a s p e c i f i c i n d i v i d u a l . But t h i s k in d o f c a p a b i l i t y le a d s t o some r e a l d a n g e r s . T here i s a l o t o f In fo rm atio n sto re d ab o ut most I n d i v i d u a l s i n t h i s c o u n t r y . C r e d i t i n f o r m a t i o n , a r r e s t r e c o r d s , m e d ic al and p s y c h i a t r i c f i l e s , d r i v e r s ' l i c e n s e s , m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e r e c o r d s , and s o o n . Now, i t i s n o t h a r d t o f i n d o u t a b o u t an i n d i v i d u a l , a few phone c a l l s f r o a an o f fic ia l- s o u n d in g perso n can a s c e r t a in h is c r e d i t r a t i n g , f o r in s t a n c e . But t h a t i s v e r y d i f f e r e n t from p u t t i n g a l l t h e s e r e c o r d s t o g e t h e r I n one p l a c e . The p o t e n t i a l f o r a l s c h i e f l i e s i n d a n g e r t o i n d i v i d u a l s . Pe r so n s up t o no good c o u ld c a r e f u l l y i n v e s t i g a t e someone th r o u g h th e compu te r and th e n b u r g l a r i z e o r k id n a p . Someone u n s c ru p u l o u s c o u ld look f o r r i c h widows w i t h 3 0 - y e a r - o l d u n m a r r i e d d a u g h t e r s . O rg a n iz e d c rim e c o u ld s e a r c h f o r p a t s i e s and s t r o n g - a r m v i c t i m s . In t h e f a c e o f t h i s s o r t o f p o s s i b i l i t y , com p ute r p e o p le ha v e be en w o rr y i n g f o r y e a r s ; n o te w o rt hy i s th e s t u d y by Alan R e s t l n t h a t o r i g i n a l l y so unded t h e a l a r m , and h i s t o o - r e a s s u r i n g f o l l o w up s t u d y o f some d a t a - g a t h e r i n g o r g a n i z a t i o n s ( se e b i b l i o g r a p h y ) . But t h e s c a r y d a ta b a n k s , t h e one s t h a t e v i d e n t l y ke ep t r a c k o f p o l i t i c a l d i s s e n t e r s , a r e n ' t t a l k i n g a b o u t what th e y do (See Sc h w a r tz p i e c e ) .

And (As rosiest'* r*d glar*. Th* ixmbt b u n tin g in a ir, Gout p roof through th* night That avr fla g waa m cilt th a rs. "Oh, aan, t b t t that tear-tpangU d bam*r y t t uavi 0'tr t a l r d of tha fr and the ht of tht b h a\ tt *m rmitf

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There l a another m issile. I t is called Sp rint. I t is shaped lik s the point of a pencil. I t i s i l m t a l l propellant. W han the greet counters realize that the bad guy has gotten through, up goea Sprint: S p rin t I s elo quently called the "terminal defense system. I t cxily has s couple o f elnutss. Brighter than a thousand suns! Sorry, scarsdale. Can'c win ' a a l l . I f you rind th is descrip tio n mindboggling, t h a t's because I t Is . Anybody to imagines th a t th is p ro jec t, on which b illion s of your d o lla r s havs already been spen t, can work. Is S w ishful thinker Indeed. Even 11 m issiles stsysd lik e they were in the good old days o f 196J, big hslp less Clunkers they had to fu el up ju st before the shoot, ths likelihood of the 5-mlle Ai detonation they count On hoping th a t Spartan and Sprint could be replaced with ultrapower, fry-ln-the-sky with sky-piercing stabs under c ^ ^ u te r c o itr o l but th a t 1s said to have been abandoned.) But even glv sn, snd only fo r the sake of argument, the f e a s ib il ity of Spartan-Sprint for f ish -ln -s-b a rre l shots, look what's hsppenlng now.

HIKV (Kultiple Independently Tergeted Re-entry Vehicle) basics 1ly n a n s K ultiple warheads. One rocket ean carry s l l these l i t t l e guys, se e , th a t fan out when i t gets near the ta rg e t, and each le t Lon. ptdb, or F ractional O rbital H ebardeent aystea, j u s t eesns th a t they send the th ing In to an o r b it around the world, and Che warheads ccee in f ^ e tha (^jposlte e ld s. An side. Meaning th at 11 those radars pointed s t Russls would A M is s o r t of e deed ducki tha one B lace-SAVlng in sta lla tio n I s In North Da kota, and th e re won't be ny o th e rs . But one wonders how such things could ever be funded. But 'then again I rm M ber c a ll a lib e r a l, p o n tific ate on tjiia sub je c t. "They describe I t s s a 'th in sh ie ld ,'(h e sold) why c s n 't we ju s t spend a few b l i l i m re and g e t cc^>lete protection?" Otherwise canny people, i f fooled by th e technologists, w ill believe anything. I ts naM has kept clunking, possibly to lu ll the pub lic, possibly to g u ll tha Congress- Anyhow, would you h*11eve * s y s t , to ta lly con trolled by e ^ ju t e r a . dssigned to hoot down onesing m iisiles? 1/ you would, read on. I t 's c alled Nlke-X, Safeguard snd goodnema kn what. ( I t 's svsn bssn called a "thin s h ie ld " -- masculine, huh? Perhaps Congress would pay more i f they c elled I t the Trojan 4X.1 But generally we r e f e r to I t as the A M (A nti-B allIstic B M iss ile ). I t ' s the a n ti-m issile m issile people have talked about, and in i t l l s any In teractin g leorsls. possible c a p ariso ns, etc.* fo r which th ere Is no space here, of top-down planning like the VIetruss es s war. I Imagine th a t th s S p rin t csm about SOMthing lik e th is I "GarfIs Id. our peopls in Operations Research have concluded that Spartan won't w ork.'

PHILADHLPH1ANB AND CROOKS PLEASE NCTTB: Thla happened Ova o r a l l years ago, snd without s doibt Ihs system la by now totally secure and Impenetrable. L ei's bops.

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T hs question of 'privacy* in the abelract lan'I really an laaue. Who csree if Ood eees under your clothes? The problem Is whsl hsppens to you on the b ssls of people's access to your records. Margo Si. James is s csss in pointMs. 91. James 1s s celebrated west coast prostitute, onee well known tor her sctivlties with Pau) K rssensr ss "The Realist N u n ;' she Is now Chalrmadam or an organisation called COYOTE, campaigning tor Ihe decriminalization of prostitution. 9he originally had no Intention of becom ing s proelllute. Rether. she learned thal there wss s false record of hsr arrvsl for pros titution; and despite her eSorls lo d e a r her name, ihe record followed her w herever she tried (o get a Job- Finally she eald tha hell with It and did become a prostitute. (Membership Is IS s y e sr. COYOTE, Bos 28351, San Francisco CA H 128J

B a s i c a l l y , t h e two g r e a t e s t da n g er s from d a t a ba n ks a r e o r g a n iz e d CTime and t h e E x e c u tiv e b r an c h o f t h e F e d e r a l Gov e r n m e n t - - assu ming t h e r e i s s t i l l a d i s tin c tio n .

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The phone ay atom la bruised and bleeding from Ihe depredations of people who have found out how lo cheal the plmjne company electronical ly. Such people ere called Phone Freaka (or Phresz); a rtld ea on Lhem have appeared in auch places aa R am parti, The Rea lii I and Oul. For no d e a r rmaam, Ihe electronic devices Ihey uae hav been given various colorful namee: black box: device which, attached to a local telephone, pennlla il to receive an incoming call without billing tlw calling party; ll "looka like" the phone la a till ringing, aa far aa the billing sechaniam la concerned. blue box: device that generates th e magical "Inside" tones thal open up the phone network and atop the billing mechan ism. Poaeaalon of a blue box can pul you In p riso n . Aa with ao many th in g s , the phone syeteis was nol designed under Ihe aaaumptlon that (here would be thouaande of e lec tro d e wiae-guys capable of fooling around with It. Thus Ihe phone system is tragically vulnerable to such m essing around. The only th in g they can do is get ferocious law s paased and really try to catch people, both o f which sre apparently happening. Supposedly it Is Illegal lo possess a tone gener ator, or to inform anyone aa lo what Ihe magical frequencies are even though a elide whistle i s such s tone gen erator, and any engineering lib ra ry Is said to have Ihe Informa tion. red box; device thal sim u la te the Signals mads try Calling coins. The fact lhal tha names of these devices are given he re la not to be construed ss in any ssisfl approving of lhem, and anybody who n m see around with them la a too1, playing with napalm. Even If p p le w ere entitled to steal back excess profits from Ihe phone company Ihe so-called "people's discou nt"-- (hs trouble la lhat Ihey mess things up lo r e veryone. He have s beautiful snd delicate phone system, m i lhal stands reedy lo do wonderful things for you. Including b rin g computer service to your home; even If, for Ihe saks of argum ent, 11 U ru n by dirty r a ta , meselng around with It la lik e p r i soning Ihe r u r volr for everybody.

I t may seem odd, b u t N ixon h as s a i d h e i s c o n c e rn e d s b o u t c o a p u t e r s and th e p r i v a c y p r o b le m . C yn ics a a y j o k e a b o u t w hat h i s c o n c e r n a c t u a l l y i s ; b u t a more c r e d i b l e s t a n d was t a k e n by v i c o - p r e a i d e n t Fo rd a t t h e 1974 N a t i o n a l Com puter C o n f e r e n c e , Ford e x p r e s s e d p e r s o n a l c o n c e rn o v e r p r i v a c y , p a r t i c u l a r l y c o n s i d e r i n g a p r o p o se d sy ste m c a l l e d FEDNET, w hic h w ou ld s u p p o s e d ly c e n t r a l i z e g o v e rn ment r e c o r d s o f a b r o a d v a r i e t y . Not me nti o ne d by Ford was t h e m a t t e r o f NC1C, t h e N a t i o n a l Crime I n f o r m a tio n C e n t e r . T h is w i l l be a s y s te m , r u n by th e FBI, t o g iv e p o l i c e anywhere I n t h e c o u n try .a c c e s s to c e n tr a liz e d records. THE QUESTION IS W HAT GETS STORED. A r r e s t r e c o r d s ? Anonymous t i p s ? ( I t w ould be p o s s i b l e t o fra me i n d i v i d u a l s r a t h e r n i c e l y i f a l o t o f lo o se s t u f f c o u ld be slip p ed in to th e f i l e . ) Many p e o p le seem t o be c o n ce rn e d w i t h p r e s e r v i n g some " r i g h t t o p r i v a c y , ' 1 which i s c e r t a i n l y a v e ry n i c e i d e a , b u t i t i s n ' t in th e C o n s t itu ti o n ; g e ttin g su c h a " r i g h t " f o r m a li z e d and a g re e d upon i s g o i n g t o be n o s m a l l m a t t e r . But t h a t i s n ' t w hat b o t h e r s me. C o n s i d e r i n g r e c e n t e v e n t s , and th e c h a r a c t e r o f c e r t a i n e l e c t e d o f f i c i a l s whoK d e v o t i o n t o , and c o n c e p t i o n o f , de moc racy i s l a t e l y i n d o u b t , t h in g s ' a r e s c a r c e l y as a b s t r a c t a s a l l t h a t . C o n s i d e r i n g how h e l p f u l o u r government h a s be en t o b r u t a l r e g ia e s ab ro ad -- n o ta b ly th e C h ile o v e r t h r o w , which so a e s a y was r u n fro m h e r e (and w hic h used s p o r t s a r e n a s f o r d e t e n t i o n j u s t as J o h n M i t c h e l l d i d - - ) we c a n no lo n g e r know w h at u s e an y i n f o r m a t i o n may f i n d i n t h i s g ov e rn m e nt. Tom orro w 's D ata Bank may be n e x t w e e k 's En em ies L i s t , n e x t m o nth s P r o t e c t i v e C u s t o d i a l A d v is o r y - - and n e x t y e a r ' s T e r m i n a ti o n L i s t . ( I d o n ' t know i f you saw R o b e r t M a r x i a n 's e y e s o n t h e W a te rg a te h e a r i n g s , b u t t h e y c h i l l e d my b l o o d . )

i n people who make the Princess* phono. Of the hundredi of B illio ns o f d o lla rs they sre taking In on th is p ro je c t, ch o f i t has to go back o u t to On1vac, which Mkes the computers) lo Bell Labs, which guides the p r o je c t, whose Whippany, N .J. f a c i l i t y Is to ta lly given over to I t i to th e rocket-builders and a= The system I s s turkey. note th a t in te llin g you th le 1 am drawing only On information th a t Is publ le ly av ailab le , and drawing conclusions f ro s i t t t a way one usually draws coneluHera i s bow the great abm I s sup posed to w rk . ton looking for p o ssible refle ctio n s th a t e ig h t be in terco ntinental m ls sllss. Ths radar imagee are forever con s ta n tly analysed c ^ i u t s r s . using every tr ic k o f P attern Recognition (see

the orders go down, and only news of p a rti a l success goes up, rath e r than the

The so ph istica te d argusent ie th at the A M e f f o r t le t s our nation "Veep I ts B thing vaguely lik e th is I s sver really needed-- and p o ssible. But th is overlooks the o v e rsll s tr a te g ic problem. A ll th is foolishness leads away f r the sta b ility keeps everybody a liv e . (An in te re stin g p o in t to noeei s b iolo gist and population g e n e tic is t n s * l S ternglass claims i t d o e sn 't m a ttsri that radiation poisoning th a t ju s t th e f s llo u t froe the A M defense I t s e l f a few dozen B around the p la n et. ste rng lass.j But nobody lis te n s to

Aha!

S<^mthing i s c*ing.

In cid e n ta lly , an ill u s tr io u s c ^ u t a i person, Rov, Dsn McCracken (author of good program ing te s ts on most of ths najor languagea) goea around le ctu rin g on the f u t i l i t y of tits A M ayatem. B Tha main res son c<*^>uter people should take an I n te r e s t in th i s i s sisa ls only we know how funny ths thing r e a lly ii to work p e rfe c tly th e f le e t '

Kss, yes. I'm q u ite sure now, says the coaputer. W have f ifte e n minutes. e C rest doors swing open, and a long p h a llic shape a r is e s . I t haa lagged an gular f in s . Inh sritsd trim th* avaller a n ti- a ir c r a f t Hike [we say Nlkey) rockets th a t preceded i t . This m issile I s called the Spartan. I t takes o f f. The cx^jutar s y s c * Is trecking the encasing m issile- Hsrs I t (S S S I t 'S dodging no. th e Spartan i s turn ing , going f a s t e r and f a s te r th e y 're cosing encasing m issile speedi maybe IS .000 m llss an hour. Spartan speedr maybe 10,000, who k m n . In these few minutes the Spartan haa gone 400 miles. KOw's your te n n is 1

Heather M David, "Cowputera, Privacy, sod Secu . rity . C<wputer Decisions. Hay 74, 66-48. Also P. Vsstln, Prlvsc r and Freedom. 1947. Alan F. Wei d o and Klchael A. Baker. Databank. In a fre e Society: Computers. Bsj g i - Sg E l nd f r l v a c r . Quadrangle, "Landmark Study of Co^ uter-P rivsc y Problems D eplete d ." CAH, Dec 72, 1096-7. Co^ilacent review of Vastta 4 Baker. Berman Scbwartt, rsvisw of Weatln t Baker book ITTTle Book BsvleW, S July 73, 19-20. Rotes th st tbe opclalaa of W at In e sad Baker la baaed on th e ir Ignoring various "web-feared Information centers" slready ms 1 t slued by t |, , javsrnment. s Stanton Ifhselsr ( ed .) , ta ta co rd : Fi les snd Doaelfre In A-srlcSn t t f s . S ^ i i T l Ssgs Fouadstloo (W TC), S10. Ia* Records: F i r s t th a P a n e r s ; then?" Datamation. Dec 73, 105-110. "Bow Fair Are Thoaa Fair Crs dlt Culdes?" Datamation lUy 73, 120-12*. Phil Kitsch, " C o u lt e r Sy.ta and the laaue of Privacy: How Par Away la 198*7" 0 a t a t l o e . J tt X . f r - t t.

Can xou h i t a tenn is b a ll f ir e d out o f s cannon?

The Spartan goes o ff.

Kay!

I t too

I f I t goes o f f w ithin fiv e m iles of th s a ttack ing m is s ile , ths hops I s th s t ths attacking m is s ile 's th e ro n u c le ar warhead w ill g e t heated on one side snd m is fire . So [t lands in Tiaes Square, ju s t breaks a few buildings and apreada radioactive con task! nation -

What i f Spartan missed. oops, sorry , Montreal. never fea r! Have you forgotten Sergeant York? Have you forg otten the A la n ?

Tie
The focus of attention In genetics and organic chemistry has for a decade now been the rem arkable systems and structures of the molecules of life, DNA and RNA. DNA Is the basic molecule of life, a long and tiny strand of encoded Information. Actually il Is a digital memory, a stored representation of codes necessary to sustain, reproduce, and even duplicate the creature around it. It is literally and exactly a digital memory. Its symbols are nol binary but q u ate rn ary , as each position contains one of four code molecules; however, as it takes three molecules in a row to make up one individual codon, or functioning symbol, Ihe actual number of possible symbols is 6 4 " the number of possible combinations of four different symbols In a row of th re e. (I don't know the adjective for slxtyfourishness, and it's just as w ell.) T he basic mechanism of the system was worked out by Francis Crick and J a n e s Watson, who understsndably got the Nobel Prize for it. The problem was this: how could living ceils transmit their overall plans to the cells they split Into? and how could these plane be carried out by a mechanical process? The mechanism Is astonishingly elegant. Basically there Is one long molecule, the DNA molecule, which Is really a long tape recording of all the information required to perpetuate the organism and reproduce il. This is a long helix (or corkscrew), as Linus Pauling had guessed years before. The chemical pro cesses permit the helix to be duplicated, to become two stitched-together corkscrew s, and then for them to come ap a rt, unwinding to go their separate ways to daughter cella.

One theory about the mechanics of this is that a sort of zipper allde, called the ribosome, chugs down the tape, attaching the called-for~~ amino acids and peeling off the ever-longer result.

Much pressing research In molecular bio logy, Ihen, is concerned with searching for whatever it is lhat switches different things on and off at different times in the careers of the ever-splitting cells of o u r bodies. Not to men tion those of all other living creatures, including turnips. COMPUTERISH CONJECTURES The guys who specialize in this are usually chemists, and presumably know what they're doing, so Ihe following remarks are not intended as butting into chem istry. However, new p e r spectives often give fresh insight; and the matters we've covered so far might seem to hsve a c e r tain relevance. DNA and RNA, as already remarked, may without distortion be thought of as a tape. Indeed, on this tspe is a data structure* and indeed It is a dala structure which seems lo be involved with the execution of a program -- the program that occurs as the organism 's cells differentiate.

Now, here are some of the funny things lhat are known about this. One is that there is a particular codon of three bases that is a stop code. Just like a period in ordinary punctuation. This signals the end of a template. Another is that the templates on Ihe tape are in no partic ular o rd e r, but distributed higgledy-piggledy. (Geneticists engaged in mapping the genes of a particular species of creature find that the gene for eye color may turn out to be right next to the gene for length of tail but where those are really. and what the particular molecules do that determine it, are still mysterious sorts of question.) Here Is some more weird stuff about this. Large sections of the ONA strand are "dark." il turns out, just meaningless stretches of random combinations of bases lhat don't mean anything-or ever get used. This ties in, of course, with the notion thal genetic change is random and blind: the general supposition is lhat genetic mutallon takes place a base or two at a time, and Ihen something else activates a chance com bination in a dry slretch that turns out to be useful, and thia is somehow perfected through successive 1-base changes during the process of successive mutation and evolution. Amazing U6 e ia made of these mechanisms by some v iru ses. Now, v iruses are often thought of as the most basic form of life, but actually they are usually dependent on aome other form and hence more streamlined than elemental. Well, some viruses (bul not all) have the capacity for inserting themselves ln the genetic material: breezing up lo Ihe DNA or RNA. unhooking it in a certain place and lying down there, then being duplicated as part of the template, then unhooking themselves and toddling away both parent virus and copy. I can't for the life of me think of an analogy to this, but I keep visualizing it as hap pening somehow in a Bugs Bunny cartoon. CONTROL MECHANtSMS

There Is evidently some sort of program follower which Is capable of branching to dif ferent selections of (or subprogram s) In the overall program, depending on various factors In the cell's environment** or perhaps its age. Now, It is one thing to look for the p a r ticular chemical mechanisms that handle this. That's fine. On the other hand, we can also consider (from ihe top down) whst sort of a program follower It must be to behsve like thle. (This is like the difference between tracing oul particular circuitry and trying to figure out the structure of a program from how 11 behaves.) At any ra te, the following interesting con jectures arise: 1. The mechanism of somatic reproduction is a subroutining progrsm follower- - not unlike the second program follower of the subroutining display (see p. That Is. it steps very slowly through a master program somewhere, and with each new step directs the blocking or unblocking of particular stretches of the tape. As the program is ln each cell, presumably it is being separately followed in each cell. (This is sometimes called distributed computing.)
2. In each cell, the master program is d ire c ting certain tests, whose results may or may not command program branching successive steps to new states of the overall program . It may be teating for particular chemical secretions in its environment; it could even be testing a c o u n te r.

As a tape recording, the molecule directs the creation of chemicals and other cells by an intricate series of processes, nol well understood. Basically, though, the Information on the basic DNA tape is transferred to a new t a p e , an active copy c a l l e d " m essen g e r RNA," w hich b e conea an a c t u a l p la y b a c k d e v i c e f o r Che c r e a t i o n o f oav m o le c u le s a c c o r d i n g to th e p l a n s c o r e d on che o r i g i n a l . Some things are known about this process and some a re n 't, and 1 may have this wrong, but basically the DNA-- and its converted copy, the RNA contain plans for making all the basic protein molecules of the body, and anything else that can be made with amino a d d s . (Those molecules of the body which are not proteins or built of amino acids are later made In chemical processes brought about by these k in d s .) Now well may you ask how this long tape recording makes chemical molecules. The answ er, eo far as Is known, is extremely puzzling. As already mentioned, the basic code molecules (or nitrogenous bases) are arranged In groups of three. When the RNA 1s turned on. these Qriples latch onto the molecules of amino acid that happen to be floating by in the soupy interior of ihe cell. (There are twenty-seven amino acids, and sixty-four possible combinations of three bases; this is fine, because several different codons of three bases can glom onto the same passing amino acid.) Now, the tape recording is divided Into separate sections or templstes; and each template does its own thing. When a template is filled, the strin g of amino acids in that section separate, and the long chain thal results is a particular molecule of significance in some aspect of the critte r's life processes often a grand long thing that folds up in a certain w a y , exposing only certain active surfaces lo the ongoing chemistry of the cell.

3. (This is the steep o n e.) If this were so, we might suppose that this program too was stored on the DNA, in one or more program areas; and it would therefore be necessary lo postulate some addressing mechanism by which the program fol lower can find the templates to open and close. (And perhaps farther sections of the p ro g rsm .) 4. Indeed, it makes sense to suppose that such a program has the form of a dispatch table - - a list of addresses in the tape, perhaps asso ciated with specifications of ihe tests which are to cause the branching.

Now, all cell 6 are not alike. From the first beginning cell of the organism (the zygote), various splits create more and more specialized, differ entiated cells. A liver cell is extremely different from a brain cell, bul they both date back by successive splitting from that first zygole. Yet they have different structures and manufacture different chemicals. One simplification may be possible: the "structure" of a cell may really be its chemical composition, since cell walls and other struc tures are thought to be special knittinga of certain tricky molecules. Oksy, so that may reduce the question slightly. How then does the cell change from being an Original (undif ferentiated. zygotic) cell to the Specialized cells thal manufacture particular other complex chemicals? One hypothesis was that these other cells have different plans ln them, different tapes. But this theory was discarded when John Gurdon at Oxford produced a fresh frog zygote from the Intestinal cell of a frog (which accordingly, ln due lime, became a frog de facto) . This proved, most think, that the whole tape is in eveTy cell. Thus there must be something-or-other that blocks the different templates at different times (You there, now you're a full-fledged epi thelial cell, never mind what you did before) and selects among all the subprograms on the tape.

|p r m e .~ r.-t-o

These wild speculations are offered ln the spirit of Interdisciplinary good fellowship and good clean fun. Whether ( 1 ) and (2) have any actual content, or are merely paraphrases of what is already known or diaproven, I don't know; somebody may find the rest suggestive. Two more observations, though. These are not particularly deep, and may indeed be obvious, but they suggest an approach. S. There is definitely a Program Restart: to w it, whatever It Is that turns an old differentiated intesline cell into a fresh zygote.
8.

Cancer is a runaway aubroutlne.

The a b o v e re m a r k s seem to b e o b a o l e t e . The g e n e t i c m ech a n ism r e a l l y te e n s to be a H a t p r o c e s s o r (ee e u s in g a s s o c i a t i v e , r a th e r chan n u m e ric a l a d d r e s s in g . T he g e n e I s now t h o u g h c co b e d i v i d e d i n c c f o u r a e g m e n c s , ' p-- lVr , c a ll e d P ro m o ter, I n i t i a t o r , gene p ro p e r, and T e rm in a to r. Aa I u n d e r s t a n d _ _ j? l i t, th e p r o m o te r a n d t e r m i n a t o r z o n ea c o n t a i n c o d e a w h ic h m ean, s im p ly , i * I S t a r t and S to p . The I n i t i a t o r z o n e , h o w e v e r, l e a c o d ed s e g m e n t w h ic h e f f * f e c t l v e l y fia b e la th e g e n e . T h le I n i t i a t o r a re a c o n ta i n s a c h e m ic a l code u u lJ i ' r f * * , 8 0 * ' A8 s u g g e e t e d l n t h e a b o v e a r t i c l e , w e m a y c o n s i d e r b o t h l c s l o g i c a l s t r u c t u r e i c e m e c h . . , 11- ? n a c t s , c o n s i d e r e d fro m a c o m p u te r o a n * s p o i n t o f v ie w a n d i t s c h e m i c a l s t r u c t u r e , o r w h a t i s iy P*PP* io g . T h e g e n e s a r e t u r n e d o f f b y g r a b b i n g m o l e c u l e s , o r r e p r e s s o r s , w h i c h g l o m o n t o t h e i n i t i a t o r ( *1 th . 6 e n s w h i c h t h e y h a v e b e e n s p e c i f l c a l l v c o d e d c o r e p r e e e . R e s e a r c h i n t h i s a r e a m u a t now f i n d of . ! ! ! , . c o d l n 8 o f o l e c u l e e w h i c h b l o c k a n d u n b l o c k s p e c i f i c g e n e e , a n d how c h e s e f i c t o t h e o v e r a l l g r a p h t h a m m ll0 ! ? 1 "u n o l o 8 7 . d e v e lo p m e n t, an d a o o n . I f t h e r e l e a n y t h i n g to make a n o l d a t h e i e t u n e a s y , i t i s th e e x tr a o r d in a r y b e a u ty o f c h ls c lo c k w o rk .

B L G A H (Pr .'K IB IO R P Y

Itfr)

H G ar oblnd K horana, Millard Gibbs lecture, K 1974, ay Progress ln the Total Synthesis of the Tyro sine tfM G and Ita Control EleunU.* A en*

From a thia, one lest speculation creeps ll

fo rw a rd .

Ivan S u t h e r l a n d , i n c o n s i d e r i n g t h e s t r u c ture of s u b r o u t i n i n g d i s p l a y p r o c e s s o r s , hag noted that aa y o u g e t m o r e a n d m o r e s o p h i s t i cated in the d e s i g n o f a d i s p l a y p r o g r a m fol lower, you com e f u ll c i r c l e a n d m a k e i t a f u llfledged c o m p u t e r , w it h b r a n c h , t e s t , a n d a r i t h metic o p e r a ti o n s . If the s o m a tic m e c h a n i s m s h o u ld t u r n o u t
10 have a p r o g r a m f o l l o w e r a s d e s c r i b e d , i t i s

t f t

A lm o s t n o t h i n g i9 k n o w n a b o u t t h e b r a i n . O h , th e r e a r e lo ts o f p ic tu r e - b o o k s sh o w in g c r o s s - s e c tio n s o f b r a i n s . . . M aybe you th o u g h t il w a s j u s t a b i g c a u l i f l o w e r , b u t i t ' s f u ll of s t r i n g s a n d s t r a p s a n d lu m p s an d h a r d l y a n y th i n g i s k n o w n a b o u t a n y o f i l . C l in i c a l e v i d e n c e , o f c o u r s e , t e l l s u s th a t i f t h i s o r t h a t p a r t i s c u t o u t , ih e p a t i e n t c a n 't t a l k , o r w a l k , o r s m e l l , o r w h a t e v e r . But th a t d o e s n 't co m e c lo s e to te ll in g u s how th e t h i n g w o r k s w h e n il d o e s w o r k . T h e h i s t o l o g i s t s , th e p e r c e p t u a l p s y c h o l o g i s t s , t h e a n a t o m i s t s , a r e a ll w o r k i n g a t i t w i th n o c o n v e r g e n c e . B e a u tifu l e x a m p le : ih e s p l i t - b r a i n s t u f f , w h ic h I ju st b e tte r not e v e n b rin g u p h e r e (se e new M aya P i n e s b o o k , H a r c o u r t B r a c e ) . We u s e d to d i 6 s e c t b r a i n s w h e n I w o r k e d d o w n i n D r . L i l l y 's d o l p h i n l a b . D o lp h in b r a i n s a r e a b o u t 1 . 2 t i m e s t h e s i z e o f o u r s , a n d L illy q u ite r e a s o n a b l y p o i n t e d o u t th a t t h i s m ig h t m e a n d o l p h i n s w e r e s m a r t e r th a n u s . A n d , o f c o u r s e , th e b ig g e r w h a le s e v e n sm a rte r. We h a d a k i l l e r - w h a l e b r a i n i n t h e d e e p f r e e z e t h a t w a s a b o u t 2$ fe e t a c r o s s . A n d w h a le s co m e m u c h b i g g e r t h a n th a t; t h e K i l l e r 's m a y b e a q u a r t e r t h e le n g t h o f t h e B lu e . (I s h o u l d p o i n t o u t h e r e th a t L i l l y 's p u b lic ity on th e i n t e l l i g e n c e o f d o l p h i n s w a s a little to o g o o d ; it so m e h o w d i d n 't g e t m e n tio n e d th a t d o l p h i n s a r e j u s t v e r y s m a ll w h a l e s . t h e o n ly o n e s y o u c a n f e a s i b l y k e e p in a l a b . S o th i n k o f w h a le s a s t h e p o s s i b l e s u p e r - s m a r l i e s , n o t ju s t d o l p h i n s . ) W h a t's th a t y o u s a y ? T h a t " b r a i n s i z e i s n 't w h a t c o u n t s " ? T h a t 's a n i n t e r e s t i n g p o i n t . P e o p l e w i th s m a ll h e a d s a r e b y a n d l a r g e j u s t as s m a r t a s p e o p le w i th b i g h e a d s . T h a t 's one a rg u m e n t. H o w e v e r , p e o p l e h a v e m uc h b i g g e r b r a i n s t h a n a lm o s t a n y o t h e r a n im a l s . T h a t i n d i c a t e s s o m e th i n g to o . 1 b e l i e v e t h a t t h e o n ly o t h e r a n i m a ls w it h v e r y b ig b r a i n s a re e le p h a n ts a n d w h a le s , (A n a n a to m ic a l e x p l a n a t i o n : th e w e ig h t i s s u p p o r t e d o n ih e m an b y b a l a n c i n g i t , o n t h e e l e p h a n t b y a h e a v y a n d c o m p a r a t iv e ly in f le x ib l e n e c k o f f s e t b y a g r a p p l i n g t o o l, a n d i n th e w h a le b y p u t t i n g it i n t h e f r o n t o f a t o r p e d o . B u t m o s t o t h e r a n a to m ie s c o u l d n 't m a n a g e a b ig b r a i n , s o t h e y c a n t e v o lv e o n e . ^ A n y h o w , s o th e sc ie n tific q u e stio n is w h e th e r b ig - b r a in e d s p e c ie s a r e s m a rt. W ell, dogs a re s m a rte r th a n r a t s . . . But a b o u t t h e s e o t h e r g u y s i n o u r le a g u e a n d b e y o n d . How d o w e k n o w s o i e n t if i c a l ly th a t " t h e s i z e o f t h e b r a i n i s n 'l w h a t c o u n t s " ? B e c a u s e o b v i o u s l y t h e y 'r e n o t a s s m a r t a s w e a r e , p e o p le s a y . T h e r e f o r e it i s n 't b r a i n s i z e th a t c o u n t s . T h e d e p t h o f th i 9 lo g ic s h o u l d b e e v id e n t. (I v e e v e n h e a r d p e o p le s a y , " O f c o u r s e t h e y 'r e n o t a s s m a r t . T h e y d o n 't h a v e g u n s . " ) P a y c l o s e a t te n ti o n t o a n e l e p h a n t so m e tim e .

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not much of a s t e p to s u p p o s e t h a t it m ig h t h a v e Ihe traits of a n a c t u a l c o m p u t e r , i . e . , t h e a b i li ty to follow p r o g r a m s , b r a n c h , a n d p e r f o r m m a n ip ulations on d a ta b e a r i n g o n t h o s e o p e r a t i o n s . In o th e r w o r d s , t h e d i g i t a l c o m p u t e r m ay actually h a v e b e e n i n v e n t e d l o n g b e f o r e v o n Neumann, a n d w e m a y h a v e b i l l i o n s o f th em on ou r p e r s o n s a l r e a d y . II m ay s o u n d f a r - f e t c h e d , b u t t h e m e c h a n isms elu c id a te d a t t h i a l e v e l a r e s o f a r - f e t c h e d already that t h i s h a r d l y s e e m s r i d i c u l o u s . THE COMPUTER F R O N T IE R R e g a r d le s s o f w h a t 's a c t u a l l y ln t h e c e l l , 1 ia c le a r lh a t b e i n g a b l e t o a d a p t m o le c u l a r 1 chem istry, e s p e c i a l l y DNA a n d R N A , to c o m p u t e r storage i s a b e c k o n i n g c o m p u t e r f r o n t i e r . T h is w o u ld m a k e p o s s i b l e c o m p u t e r m em ories w hich a r e f a r l a r g e r a n d c h e a p e r t h a n any we now h a v e . B a sic a lly w e c a n s e p a r a t e th i s i n to tw o aspects: T h e DNA R e a d o u t . T h is p a rt of th e s y s tem would c r e a t e l o n g m o l e c u l e s h o l d i n g d ig ita l information. T h e DNA R e a d i n . T h iB w o u l d c o n v e r t i t beck to e le c t r ic a l f o rm a g a i n .

B y b r o w s i n g t h i s b oo k y o u m ay h a v e m o re s e n s e o f w h at c o m p u te rs a re d o in g , c a n d o , s h o u l d do . W hat w il l y o u do now ? B y r e a d i n g t h i s b o ok in s o m e d e t a i l , e s p e c i a l l y t h a t d i f f ic u lt m a c h i n e - l a n g u a g e s t u f f (se e " R o c k B o tto m a n d " B u c k y s W r i s t w a t c h ," p p . 3 2 - 3 ) . o r t h e p ie c e s o n s p e c i f i c c o m p u t e r la n g u a g e s ( p p . > y u r e a l l y s h o u l d b e m e n ta ll y p r e p a r e d to g e t in to p r o g r a m m i n g , if you d ig it. M a y b e y o u s h o u ld c o n s i d e r b u y i n g y o u r o w n m in i c o m p u t e r , f o r a c o u p l e o f t h o u s a n d . O r ( i f y o u ' r e a p a r e n t ) , c h i p p i n g in w i t h s e v e r a l fa m ilie s to ge t o n e . O r a t e r m i n a l , a n d b u y in g ( o r c a d g i n g a s c a d g e c a n ) tim e o n a l i m e - s h a r i n g s y s t e m . M a y b e y o u s h o u ld s t a r t a c o m p u te r c l u b , w h i c h m a k e s i t e a s i e r lo g e t c a s t - o f f e q u ip m e n t; i f y o u r e k i d s , w r it e th e R . E . S . l . S . T . O . R . S . ( p . *7>. I f y o u h a v e a c h a n c e , m a y b e y o u s h o u ld t a k e c o m p u t e r c o u r s e s , b u t r e m e m b e r th e s l a n t t h e s e a r e li k e l y to h a v e . O r p e r h a p s y o u p r e f e r j u s t to s i t a n d w a i t , a n d b e p r e p a r e d to s p e a k u p s h a r p l y i f t h e c o n p u t e r p e o p l e a r r i v e r e a d y to p u s h y o u a r o u n d . R em e m b e r: CO M PU TER POWER T O T H E PEOPLE! DOWN WITH CYBERCRUD! C o m p u t e r s c o u ld d o a ll k i n d s o f t h i n g s fo r i n d i v i d u a l s , if o n l y t h e p r o g r a m s w e r e a v a i l a b l e . F o r i n s t a n c e : h e l p y o u c a lc u la t e y o u r ta x i n t e r a c t i v e l y til l it c o m e s o u l b e s t ; h e l p t h e h a r r i e d c r e d i t - c a r d h o l d e r w ith b i l l - p a y i n g b y a llo w in g h im to t r y o u t d i f f e r e n t p a y m e n ts t o d if f e r e n t c r e d i t o r s till h e s e t t l e s o n t h e m o n t h 's b e s t m ix , t h e n t y p i n g t h e c h e c k s ; WRITING ANGRY LETTERS BACK to t h o s e c o m p a n ie s th a t w r i t e y o u n a s t y l e t t e r s b y c o m p u te r ; h e l p i n g w i th l e t t e r - w r i t i n g i n g e n e r a l . Y o u 'll h a v e to w r i te t h e p r o g r a m s .

Weird p o s s i b i l i t i e s f o l l o w . O n e i s t h a t (if chemical m e m o r y i s g e n e r i c , r a t h e r th a n idiosyncratic to a n i n d i v i d u a l ' s n e u r a l p a th w a y s ) knowledge c o u ld b e s e t u p s o m e h o w in " l e a r n e d " DNA form , w h a t e v e r t h a t m i g h t t u r n o u t t o b e , and in jected o r i m p l a n t e d r a t h e r t h a n t a u g h t . Weird. Aa o u r a b i l i t y to c r e a t e c l o n e s i m p r o v e s , we could clo n e n e w c r e a t u r e s , o r g e n e t i c " im pro v em en ts"-- w h i c h , c o n s i d e r i n g t h e r a c e h o r s e and the P e k i n e s e , m e a n e " t h o s e s o r t s o f n o n viable m o d ific a tio n s s u p p o r t e d i n h u m a n s o c i e t y . " And of c o u r s e t h a t g h a s t l y s t u f f a b o u t b u i l d i n g human a , o r s e m i - h u m a n s ; h a v i n g t r a i t s t h a t somebody o r so m e o r g a n i z a t i o n , u l p , t h i n k s ia deB irable... But the r e a l z i n g e r i a t h i s o n e . I t m ig h t juet be a sm all a c c i d e n t a l p r i n t o u t m e a n t to test the f a c i li ty , o r m a y b e j u s t a p r o g r a m b u g - - b u t th e s y s t e m c o u l d o u t p u t a v i r u s that would d e s t r o y m a n k i n d .

H ow d o y o u t h i n k c o m p u t e r s c a n h e l p th e w o r ld ? W hat a r e y o u w a i t i n g fo r?

HIBLIOGRAPHY James D . W a ts o n , M o l e c u l a r B io lo g y o f t h e G e n e . B e a u tifu lly w r i t t e n ; m e a n t f o r h i g h s c h o o l s cience t e a c h e r s . B u t p o t e n t i a l l y f o r m i d a b le ; l f s o , s t a r t ' w i t h h i s a u t o b i o g r a p h i c a l T h e D o u b le H e l i x , w h i c h i s a g a s . Mark P ta s h n e a n d W a lt e r G i l b e r t , " G e n e tic Repressors." Scientific American, June 1970, 36-44. S E. L u r ia , L ife: T h e U n f i n i s h e d E x p e r i m e n t . S c r i b n e r 's . Lewis Thomas, T he L i v e s of a C e l l . Viking, S7. Eloquent w r i t i n g to popularize, among other things, the N e w Ge netic view that your m o d e r n a n i m a l cells, and mine, ac tually c o n t a i n v a r i o u s fungi and other stray d i n g - a - l i n g s that slid into one of our ancestors and found useful work, j oi n ing the b a si c g e n e t i c program.

W o r k in g e l e p h a n t s in I n d i a r e s p o n d t o so m e 500 d i f f e r e n t o r a l c o m m a n d s . C a n y o u th i n k of a 501st th i n g to a s k an e l e p h a n t to d o ? (1 r a t h e r s u p p o s e i t cou ld - o b l i g e . ) A n y w a y , t h e d o z e n w h a le s I 'v e k n o w n p e r s o n a l ly w e r e s m a r t a s h e l l .

It u s e d t o b e b e l i e v e d lh a l m e m o r y w a s e x c lu s iv e ly a m a tte r of s y n a p tic c o n n e c tio n s th e g r a d u a l c l o s i n g o f l i l t l e s w i t c h e s b e t w e e n n e r v e c e lls w ith p r a c tic e . It i s n o w k n o w n t h a t te m p o r a r y o r s h o r t - t e r m m e m o ry is s y n a p t i c , b u t s o m e t h in g e l s e t a k e s p l a c e a f te r t h a t . I t 's b e l ie v e d t h a t a f te r a c e r t a i n p e r i o d , a n d il h a s s o m e th in g to do w i th r e s t a n d s l e e p , m e m o r ie s a r e t r a n s f e r r e d to so m e o t h e r f o r m , p r e s u m a b l y c h e m i c a l . B ut how ?

It u s e d to b e f a s h i o n a b l e to s a y , "T he b r a i n Is a c o m p u t e r . " But now p e o p le s a y , "T h e b r a in is a h o l o g r a m . " F a sh io n s c h a n g e .

My f r i e n d A n d r e w J . S i n g e r h a s a b e a u tifu l h y p o t h e s i s t h a t w r a p s it u p . H is g u e s s is t h a t m e m o r ie s a r e m o v e d f ro m s y n a p t i c s to r a g e to DNA ( ! ) s t o r a g e d u r i n g d r e a m i n g , o r m o r e s p e c i f i c a l l y REM s l e e p . I l i k e t h a t o n e . IKE COPPER M A N W A L K E D OUT OF T H E R O C K Y CAVERN

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T h e people who s en d it out like to call it personalized a d v e rtis in g and the lik e . But most of u s call it J u n k M ail. And its v a g a rie s are NOT THE POOR COMPpTER'S FAULT. What gets people angry d e r iv e s from the system buill around Ihe poor c om puter. You may w o n d e r why y o u get m ore and more seed ca talogs, o r g ift-h o u s e ca talogs, as time goes o n , even though you n e v e r o rd e r any th in g from them. O r why a d ec ea sed member of the household goes on g e ttin g mail y e a r in and y e a r o u t, re g a r d l e s s of y o u r an g ry post c a rd s . How does it kee p coming? T hro u g h the m agic of som ething called Ihe Mailing L is t. And especially the p e c u lia r way lhat mailing lists a re b o u g h t and s o l d .

E v e ry b o d y b l a m e s t h e c o m p u t e r . P e o p l e a r e e n c o u r a g e d t o b la m e t h e c o m p u t e r . T he e m p lo y e e s o f a f i r m , by t e l l i n g o u t s i d e .p e o p l e t h a t i t ' s t h e c o m p u t e r 's f a u l t , a r e e n c o u r a g i n g p u b l i c ap a th y th ro u g h p r i v a t e d e c e i t . T he p r e te n s e i s t h a t t h i s th in g , th e c o m p u te r, i s r i g i d a n d in h u m an ( s e e " T h e Myth o f t h e C o m p u te r ," p . ? ) and m akes a l l k in d s o f s t u p i d m is ta k e s . C o m p u te rs T a r e l y make m i s t a k e s . If t h e c o m p u tin g h a r d w a r e m akes a h a r d w a r e e r r o r i n a b i l l i o n o p e r a t i o n s , i t may be n o tic e d and a re p a irm a n c a l l e d . (O f c o u r s e , once i n a b i l l i o n o p e r a tio n s i s o n ce i n a t h o u s a n d s e c o n d s , o r p e r h a p s e v e ry te n m in u te s . That ought to be m e n tio n e d .) A nyhow, i n n o c e n t g a d g e t r y i s n o t w h a t f o r c e s you t o make s t u p i d m u l t i p l e c h o i c e s on b u r e a u c r a t i c f o r m s ; m ere e q u i p m e n t i s n ' t w h a t l o s e s y o u r s u b s c r ip tio n re c o rd s ;
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Few of u s can help feeling outrage at the book c lu b s , o r s u b s c rip tio n offices, or b illin g d epartm ents, that do n t re p ly to o u r le t t e r s . O r re p ly in a p p r o p ria te ly , with a form p rin to u t that doesn't match the problem . F irs t le t's u n d ersta n d how this happens. T h e se outfits a re b a s e d on u s in g the com p u te r to handle all co rres p o n d e n c e and tra n s ac tio n s . The "office" may not have any people in it at all that i s , people w hose job it is to u n d e r s ta n d and deal s en s ib ly with the p ro b lem s of custom ers. In stea d , th e r e may ju s t be key p u n c h op erato rs staffing a Balch S ystem , set up by someone who h as long s in c e moved on. T h e poinl of a b atc h system (see p . f S ) is to aave money and bo th er b y handling e v e ry th in g in a controlled flow. T h is does not mean in p rin c ip le that things have to b e rig id and r e s tr i c t i v e , bul it usually m eans it in pra c tic e . (See "T he Punch C ard M enta lity," p . ) T he system is set up w ith only a fixed num ber of e v e n t ty p e s , and so only th o se eve nts are re co g n ize d ae o c c u rrin g . Most im portant, your problem is assum ed to be one that will be s tra ig h te n e d out in the c o u rs e of the s y stem 's flow . While th e re may be p ro v isio n for excep tio n s -- one c l e r k , p e r h a p s - - y o u r problem has not seem ed to him w orthy of m aking an excep tion for. Here is my solution. It h as worked s e v e ra l tim es, p artic u larly on book clu b s that ig n o re d typed letters and kept b illin g me in c o r r e c tl y . Get a roll of white sh elf p a p e r, two or th re e feet wide and twenty o r m ore feet long. Write a le tte r on Ihe s h e lf p a p e r in magic m a r k e r. Make it b ig , p e rh a p s s ix inches to a w o rd . Legibility is n e c e s s a r y , b u t d o n 'l make it too easy to re ad . Explain the problem c l e a r l y . Now lake y o u r p u n ch c a r d - - you d id gel o n e . d id n t y o u , a bill o r som ething?-- and m utilate it carefully. T e a r it in q u a r t e r s , or cut it into lac e, o r som ething. But make s u re the s e r ia l nu m b er is still l e g ib le . Staple it lo v in g ly to y o u r nice b ig letter,. Now fold y o u r le tte r , a n d find an envelope b ig en ough for it to fil in , an d s en d i t . r e g i s tered o r certified m ail, to ANY HUMAN BEING, ACCOUNTING DEPARTMENT, o r w h a te v e r, and the com pany's a d d r e s s . T h is really works q uite w ell.

THE SYSTEM. By s y s t e m we m ean t h e w h o le s e t u p : t h e c o m p u te r, th e a c c e s s o r i e s t h a t h a v e b ee n chosen f o r i t , i t s p lan o f o p e r a tio n o r p r o g r a m , an d t h e way t i l e s a r e k e p t a n d co m p lain ts h a n d le d . D o n 't b la m e t h e c o m p u t e r . Blame t h e s y s t e m ; b la m e t h e p r o g r a m m er; b la m e t h e p r o c e d u r e s ; b e s t o f a l l , b lam e t h e co m p a n y . L e t them know y o u w i l l ta k e y o u r b u s in e s s to w h e re v e r th e y h a v e human b e i n g s . Same f o r g o v e r n m e n t a l a g e n c ie s : w r ite your congressm an. And so o n .

Now, a m ailing list is a s e r ie s of names and ad d re s s e s of p o s s ib le cu s to m e rs , s to red on com puter tape o r d i s k . You can buy the u se of a m ailing l i s t . But you cannot b u y the m ailing list itself. Suppose you h av e a b r o c h u r e ad v e rtisin g pum pkin-seed re l is h , w hich you s u g g e s t has re juvenating p o w e rs . You w ant this b ro c h u re to go out to ric h college g r a d u a t e s . You go to a m a ilin g -list h o u s e . "I cannot sell you th is m ailing lis t out r i g h t ," say s the jolly p r o p r ie t o r , "for it is my b u s in e s s to sell its u s e again a n d ag a in , so I do not want anybody else to h a v e a copy of i t ." So you leave 2500 p u m p k in -s e e d re lish b ro c h u re s with the m ailing l i s t com pany, and p ay them a lot of m oney. And they sw e a r on a stack of b ibles th a t th ey h av e m ailed the b ro c h u re s to th e ir spec ial list of r i c h college g ra d uates. Well, l e t's say you g et 2S0 sale s from that m ailing. (10% is fan tastic ally g o o d .) But out of curio sity you go to a n o th e r m ailing-list house and have an o th e r m ailing s e n t o u t this one to people who h av e low incom es an d little e d u c atio n . T h is time you g et 15% o r d e r s . Now g u es s w hat y o u a r e a c q u irin g . A m ailing lis t of y o u r v e r y ow n. ple who ea t p u m p k in -s e e d re l is h . Of peo

4
we should all p ra ctice and have ready a t the tip of o u r tongues: WHY THE HELL NOT? YOU'RE THE ONES WITH THE COMPUTERS, NOT ME! Let's froth up a little citizen indignation h e r e .

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In p rin c ip le we no longer need account num bers. Now lhat tex t pro c essin g facilities a r e available in moat (if not all) major com puter langua ges, the o nly excuse for not u s in g these features ia the p ro g ram m er's notion of h is own convenience not lhat of the outside custom er o r victim. Exam ple. Someone I know got b r a n d new ^ ^ n ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ a n d c re d it c a rd s . He m ade no note of th e ir n u m b e rs. Then he lost them b o th . Duly he re p o rted (he lo s s e s . Neither serv ic e could look him u p . they s a i d , without the n u m b e r s . Not having u s ed th e m , he had no bills to ch e c k . Even though he w as the only perso n at th at a d d re s s with an y th in g like that nam e. And w hy not, pra y tell? E ith e r b e cause they w e re fib b in g , o r because th ey had not seen fit to c r e a te a sim ple s tra ig h tfo rw a rd program for the p u rp o s e . (See Basic R ejo in d er, n e a rb y .) I have h e a rd of sim ilar cases in volving major life in s u ra n c e com panies. Don't lose the n u m b e rs . L e t's all dance lo it: When a n y th in g is issu ed to you, Write the n u m b er down.

I am assum ing h e r e , now , that y o u r p ro b lem h as m erit, and you have b e e n denied the attention re q u ire d to settle il. If w e want ju stic e we m ust o u rs e lv e s b e j u s t. T h e re is one f u r th e r s t e p , b u t , ag a in , to be u s ed only in p roportion to th e offense. This step is to be used only if a m eritorious commun ica tio n , like thal alread y d e s c r i b e d , has not been p ro p e rly re sponded to in a decent in terv a l. We assum e that th is u n ju s t firm h as sent you a re p ly envelope o r c a rd on which they must pay p ostage. Now ca re fu lly d ra ftin g a follow -up le tte r , explain once ag a in , in civil la n g u a g e , the orig in al problem , y o u r efforts at a tte n tio n , and so o n . Now p u t it in a package with a ten o r tw elve-pound r o c k , affix the re p ly envelope to the o u tsid e, and send it off. T he problem , you s e e , h a s b ee n to get out of the batch stream and b e tre ated a s an e x c e p tio n . F lagrantly d e s tro y in g the punch ca rd s e r v e s to remove you from the flow in that fash ion. (H owever, ju s t tea rin g it a little bit p ro b ably w on't: a c a rd that is in tact b u t to m can sim ply b e put in a ce rtain slot of the ca rd -p u n c h and d u p lic a te d . Destroy it good a n d p le n ty .) ln all these ca ses rem em ber: the problem is not th a t you a re "b ein g tre a te d a s a n u m b er," w h a te v e r that m eans, b u t that y o u r case does not c o r re c tly fall in the c a teg o rie s that have bee n s e t up for i t . By forcing attention to your ca se a s an e x c ep tio n , you a re m aking them re alize that m ore categories a re n e e d e d , o r more people to handle exc eptions. If m ore people do th is w hen they have a ju s t com plaint, s ervic e will im prove ra p id ly .

Mailing lis ts a r e , you e e e , g en e ra lly r e n ted b lin d , w ith no c h a n ce to s e e the a d d ressee s o r check as to w h e th e r t h e y 'v e a lr e a d y been mailed to. And thal e x p la in s all th e duplicatio n s. If a n a d v e r t i s e r is go in g a f te r a ce rtain type of cu sto m er, an d goes to s e v e ra l m ailinglist houses a s k in g fo r m ailings to that partic u lar ty p e of custom er, ch a n c e s a r e som e people will be on s e v e ra l of the l i s t s . A nd s in c e th e r e 's no way to in terc o m p are the l i s t s . th e s e poor gu y s get s e v e ra l co p ie s of the m ailing. (A nother way th is can h a p p e n is if some che apska te h as h is own m ailin g lis t an d d oesn't check it for re p ea ts of the sam e nam e. Bul w ritin g the com puter p ro g ram to che ck for re p ea ts of the sam e nam e is not e a s y there m ight j u s t be a R o b ert J o n e s a n d a Rob Jones at the sam e a d d r e s s an d t h e s e th in g s a r e not usually checked m an u a lly . T h e y 'r e b i g . ) A nother p o s s ib ility e x is ts fo r elim inating duplications w hen y o u r e n t m a ilin g lia ts . You can b rin g in a m agnetic tap e w ith y o u r mailing lis l on i t , and they can s e n d o u t th e m ailing only to the m em bers of t h e i r ' l is t who a r e nol alread y on y o u r l i s t. T h a t w a y y o u still ca n 't steal th e i r lis t, s in ce th e ta p e ie o n th e ir p re m ise s. T he tro u b le i s , th e y can s tea l y o u r lis t, by m aking a co p y of th e t a p e . Oh d e a r.

O n e p o s s ib ility , nice and e x p e n s iv e , is to r e n t a n u m b e r of mailing lists from a s ingle m a i l i n g - l i s t h o u s e , with them g u aran tee in g that t h e y ll c o m p a re all the lists you choose and n o t s e n d to a n y perso n more th an o nce. B ut a s you may be su sp e c tin g , th is costs m o n e y . A ll th is s c re e n in g and inierc o m p arin g r e q u i r e s co m p u te r tim e, and s o , even though y o u a r e g e t t i n g a more and m ore perfect m ailing, y o u a r e p a y i n g reore and more and m ore money f o r i t . So y o u can see why reasonable b u s in e s s m e n a r e w illin g to send out ad s even w hen they k n o w som e re c ip ie n ts will get s e v e ra l d u plicate s. A n o th e r in te re s tin g point. T h e re a re m a ilin g l i s t s fo r all k in d s of different possible c u s t o m e r s . T h e p o ssib ilities a r e e n d le s s. M in o r i t y - g r o u p do cto rs. People In te res ted in b o t h s ta m p collecting and flowers (y o u 'd have to g e t a com pany with both l is ts , and have them go t h r o u g h them for the d u p lic a te s . . . you get th e id ea ). N ote t h a t m ailing lis ts a r e p ric e d according to t h e i r d e s i r a b i li t y . Weeded m ailing l i s t s , fea t u r i n g o n ly Live O nes, people w ho've o rd e re d b i g i n r e c e n t tim es, a r e more e x p e n s iv e . Lists o f d o c t o r s , w ho b u y a lo t, .are m ore e x p e n s iv e t h a n l i s t s o f social w o r k e rs . And so o n . T h e n t h e r e s the m a tte r.o f the pitch . T h e a d 's p h ra s in g may be b u ilt around t h e m a ilin g p l a n . Some c ir c u la rs come rig h t out a n d t e ll th e re c ip ie n t h e 's going to g et s e v e ra l c o p i e s b e c a u s e h e 's such a wonderful p e r s o n . THEN t h e r e s r e those ad v e rtisem en ts that a r e a c t u a l l y p ri n t e d by the co m p u te r, o r at least c e r t a i n l i n e s a r e filled in with the re c ip ie n t's n a m e a n d p o s s ib ly some snazzy p h ra s e s to make him t h i n k i t 's a p ersonal le tte r. Who re s p o n d s to s u c h t h i n g s 1 d o n 't know. My favorite was t h e o n e - - I w is h I could find it to in clu d e h e re - - t h a t w e n t som ething like Y o u 'll re a l l y look sw e ll, M r. Nelson w a lk i n g dow n Main Street of New York i n y o u r s h a r p -lo o k in g new s l s c k s . . .
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B ut y o u se e how th is w o rk s. T h e re 's t h i s b a t c h - p r o c e s s i n g p ro g ra m , s e e , a n d the n a m e s a n d a d d r e s s e s a r e on one long ta p e , and th e t a p e g o e s th ro u g h , a n d the p ro g ram takes o n e r e c o r d (a name a n d a d d r e s s ) , a n d d ec ides w h e t h e r to c a ll th e a d d r e s s e e " M r .," "M s." or w h a t e v e r , a n d th en p lu g s his nam e into the p r i n t o u t l i n e s th a t giv e it T hat P erso n a l Touch; a n d t h e n t h e m ailing envelope o r s tic k e r is p r i n t e d ; a n d t h e tape moves on to the next re co rd . We m ay look fo rw ard to in c re a s in g en c r o a c h m e n t s on o u r time and tr u s t by the d ire ct m ail i n d u s t r y : esp e cially in b e tte r and b e tte r q u a c k l e t t e r s th a t look as though th e y 'v e really b e e n p e r s o n a l l y ty p e d to you by a re a l hum an b e in g . (It i s a p p a re n tly legal fo r le tte rs to be s i g n e d b y a fic titio u s p e r s o n w ithin a co m p a n y .) In t h e f u t u r e we may expe ct s u ch le tte rs to be s e n t o n fin e p a p e r , ty p ed in dividua lly on good t y p e w r i t e r s , a n d convincingly p h ra s e d to make u s t h i n k a r e a l p e rs o n a l pitch is b e in g ten d e re d . T h e r e i s , h o w e v e r, a final solution.

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YOU CAN GET OFF ALL MAILING LISTS t h a t i a , the o nes " p artic ip a tin g " in the A s s o c ia tio n b y w ritin g to D irect Mail A d v e rtisin g A ssociation P u b lic R elations Departm ent 230 P a rk A venue New Y ork, NY 10017 You call u p the b a n k an d a s k y o u r b alance an d they s a y , "I'm afraid I c a n 't g et that i n f o r m ation. You s e e , i t 's on a c o m p u te r . (See B asic R ejo in d er, n e a r b y . ) Well, the re aso n i t 's th is w ay is that t h e y 'r e h a n d lin g th in g s in B atch (s e e p . * | 5 ) and they a r e n 't s to rin g y o u r ac co u n t on d i s k , o r i f they a r e th ey d on't h av e a term in a l they can q u e r y il w ith. But to aay th at th ey c a n 't g e t th e in fo r mation b e c au se i t 's on a co m puter is a typ ical u se of the co m puter as an e x c u s e (s e e C y b e r c r u d , p . $ ); a n d sec ond, if th e p e r s o n b e lieves th is to be an ex pla nation, i t 's a s ig n of the intim idation an d obfuscation th a t h a v e bee n sown am ong the c le rk s who d o n 't u n d e r s ta n d com puters. Write them a l e tte r . C h an g e b a n k s . L et's get the b a n k s to p u t on m ore an d m ore citize n s e r v ic e s . Rah!

T h e y will s e n d a b l a n k . If you fill it in t h e y 'l l p ro c e s s it and delete y o u r nam e from m a ilin g li s ts of all p artic ip a tin g com panies. P resum ably this w on't help with X - r a t e d o r stam p-collecting l i s t s , b u l it o u g h t to k ee p you from g e tting sem iannual g ift c a ta lo g s from p laces like T he House of G o-G o C re a tiv e , In c . and those million s o lic ita tio n s from C onsum er R ep o rts and t h a t F ile Box com pa ny.

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E v e r y w h e r e y o u g o c o m p u t e r s l u r k . Yet th e y w e a r s o m a n y fa c e s i t 's im p o s s i b le t o f i g u r e w h a l 's g o in g o n . G u i d e l in e s a r e h a r d to la y d o w n h e r e , b u t if y o u look f o r e x a m p l e s of t h i n g s y o u 'v e a lr e a d y r u n in to in t h i s b o o k , it may h e lp so m e . T e r m in a l s y o u c a n p r e s u m a b ly r e c o g n i z e . M ic r o p r o c e s s o r s a r e h a r d e r , b e c a u s e y o u d o n 't s e e t h e m . G ood r u l e - o f - t h u m b : a n y d e v ic e w h ic h a c ts w i th c o m p le x ity o r a p p a r e n t d i s c r e t i o n p r e s u m a b l y i n c o r p o r a t e s a te r m i n a l , m in i c o m p u t e r o r m ic ro p ro c e sso r. T w o o t h e r t h i n g s to w a tc h for: t r a n s a c t i o n s y s te m s an d d a t a b a s e s y s te m s . A t r a n s a c t i o n s y s t e m i s a n y s y s te m th a t ta k e s n o te o f , a n d p e r h a p s r e q u i r e s v e r i f i c a t i o n o f, t r a n s a c t i o n s . E xa m p le : th e n e w p o i n t - o f - s a l e s y s te m s ( P O S ) . T h is i s w h a t 's a b o u t t o r e p l a c e th e c a s h r e g i s t e r . In th e s u p e r m a r k e t o f th e f u t u r e , e v e r y p a c k a g e w ill h a v e a b a r c o de o n a s t i c k e r , o r p r i n t e d o n th e w r a p p e r . I n s te a d o f th e c h e c k o u t c l e r k lo o k in g a t t h e la b e l a n d p u n c h i n g t h e a m ou n t o f th e s a l e Inlo th e c a s h r e g i s t e r - - a n e r r o r - p r o n e a n d c h e a t - p r o n e t e c h n iq u e w h ic h r e q u i r e s c o n s i d e r a b l e t r a i n i n g - - y o u r N ew Im p r o v e d C h e c k o u t C l e r k w ill w a v e a w a n d o v e r th e b a r c o d e . T h e b a r co d e w ill b e s e n s e d by th e w a n d , a n d t r a n s m i tt e d to a c o n tro l c o m p u t e r , w h ic h w ill r i n g il u p b y a m o u nt a n d c a te g o r y (fo r ta x p u r p o s e s ) , a n d e v e n k e e p t r a c k of i n v e n t o r y , n o t i n g e a c h o b je c t a s it is r e m o v e d from s to c k . H e re i s w h a t y o u r b a r c o d e w ill l o o k l i k e . (A c i r c u l a r c o d e , w h ic h w a s a l r e a d y t u r n i n g u p on som e TV d i n n e r s , h a a b e e n e li m in a te d b y th e b a r c o d e . T h i s i s u n f o r tu n a te , s i n c e t h e s c a n n e r n e c e s s a r y lo r e a d th e b a r c o d e is e l e c t r o n ic a lly m o re c o m p l ic a te d , b u t i h e r e w e a r e . )

T h e p o t e n t ia l d a n g e r s o f t r a n s a c t i o n s y s te m s a r e f a i r l y o b v io u s from t h e s u p e r m a r k e t e x a m p le , b u t t h e y fa n o u t in g r e a t e r c o m p le x ity as th e s y s t e m s g e t m o r e c o m p le x . C r e d it c a r d s , f o r in s t a n c e , w e r e o n ly m a d e p o s s i b l e b y c o m p u te r s a n d c o m p u te r iz e d c r e d i t v e r i f i c a t i o n ; b u t it is o n l y n o w , fifte e n o r s o y e a r s in to lh e c r e d i t - c a r d e r a , th a t la w s p r o te c t th e c a r d h o l d e r a g a in s i u n li m i te d lia b il it y i f h e l o s e s i t . Y et w e p l u n g e a h e a d , a n d it is o b v io u s w h y . T ra n s a c tio n sy s te m s m a n a g e d i n , a n d b y , com p u t e r s allo w m o r e f le x ib le a n d ( i n p r i n c i p l e ) re lia b le o p e ra tio n s. F o r in s ta n c e , in th e s e c u r i t i e s b u s i n e s s , th o u s a n d s o f s to c k c e r t if i c a te s a r e lo st a n d m is la id , a n d th e tra n s a c tio n p a p e r m u s t b e t y p e d , s h u f f le d , p u t i n e n v e l o p e s , s e n t , o p e n e d , s h u f f le d a g a i n , c o m p a r e d . . . a l l b y h a n d . L ittle w o n d e r t h e y 'r e w o r k i n g on a n A u to m ated S to c k E x c h a n g e S y s te m . B u t i f i t 's t a k e n fifte e n y e a r s to g e t th e im p lic it b u g s o u t o f c r e d i t c a r d s , . . n o t lo m e n tio n th e f r e q u e n t a lle g a t io n s th a t m u c h Wall S tr e e t " i n e f f i c i e n c y " ia a c tu a ll y th e d is g u is e d m a ra u d in g o f O rg a n iz e d C r i m e ... u h -o h . (If th e y c a n b u y t h e b e s t l a w y e r s , th e y c a n p ro b a b ly b u y lh e b e s t p r o g r a m m e r s .) T h e n t h e r e i s t h e C h e c k l e s s S o c ie ty . T h i s i s a c a t c h p h r a s e f o r a n o f t- a d v o c a te d s y s t e m lh a l a l lo w s y o u to t r a n s f e r m o n e y i n s t a n t l y b y c o m p u t e r ; s u p p o s e d ly so m e s u c h t h i n g i s w o r k i n g a l r e a d y i n F r a n c e . A g a in , t h e y b e t t e r g e t il p r e t t y s a f e b e f o r e a s a n e m a n w il l g o u p i n i t . T h e s a fe ty o f s u c h s y s te m s is o f c o u rs e a m a t t e r o f im m e n s e g e n e r a l c o n c e r n . IBM p o r t e n t i o u s l y ( s i c ) a n n o u n c e d i ls i n te n t to s p e n d m illio n s o f d o l l a r s o n " c o m p u t e r s e c u r i t y " a few y e a r s a g o . H o w e v e r , a few m illio n d o l l a r s is n o t g o in g to p lu g l h e s e c u r i t y h o le s in t h e IBM 360, a n d e v i d e n t ly t h e 370 is j u s t a b o u t e s v u l n e ra b le . (In i h is l i g h t , e v e n t h e g r e a t e s t IB M - h a te r s w ill h a v e to a d m it lh a t t h e r e m a y b e a p r o p e r m o tiv e b e h in d IBM 's c u r r e n t r e f u s a l to le t o th e r s U6e i t s new o p e r a t i n g s y s t e m l a n g u a g e : th a t w a y t h e y m a y b e a b l e lo p r e v e n t s p e c i a l h o le s i n th e s y s te m from b e c o m in g k n o w n to p r o g r a m m e r s . ) It is in te re s tin g th a t o n e p ro fe s s io n seem s to b e s te p p in g f o rw a rd to t r y to im p ro v e th is s it u a t io n : t h e a u d i t i n g p r o f e s s i o n , d e v o te d lo v e r if ic a t io n o f f i n a n c ia l s i t u a t i o n s o f c o m p a n i e s , s e e m s t o b e b r a n c h i n g i n t o t h e v e r if ic a ti o n o f c o m p u te r p r o g r a m s a n d t h e p e r f o r m a n c e o f com p l e x s y s t e m s . T h i s w ill b e g r e a t , i f i t w o r k s . C y n i c s , h o w e v e r , m ay n o t e t h a t a u d i t o r s h a v e p e r m itt e d s o m e r e m a r k a b l e p r a c t i c e s i n lhe " c r e a t i v e " a c c o u n ti n g o f r e c e n t y e a r s . (O b v io u s ly t h e w ay to c h e c k o u t t h e s a f e ty o f b i g s y s te m s is to o f f e r b o u n ty to th o s e w h o c a n b r e a k its se c u rity . B ut w h o is w i ll in g to s u b j e c t a s y s te m to a t e s t lik e th a t? )

s h o u ld o f c o u r s e b e c a lle d M A T C H U P DATING, s in c e t h e r e i s n o t h i n g p a r t i c u l a r l y c o m p u te r is h a b o u t e i t h e r t h e p r o c e s s o r i t s i n t e n d e d re s u lt. But t h e r e w e g o a g a in : w o r d - m a g i c , t h e im pli c it a u t h o r i t y o f i n v o k i n g t h e w o r d C o m p u t e r . (S e e " C y b e r c r u d , " p . g . ) In Lhe e a r l y s i x t i e s , a p e r k y y o u n g fella at th e H a r v a r d B - S c h o o l , I b e l i e v e , o n e J e f f Tarr, c a m e u p w ith t h e n o tio n o f a c o m p u t e r i z e d dating s e r v i c e . T h e r e s u l t w a s O p e r a t i o n M a t c h , an im m e n se f in a n c ia l s u c c e s s , w h i c h s o r t o f came a n d w e n t . No fo llo w u p s t u d i e s w e r e e v e r done o r s u c c e s s s ta tis tic s g a th e r e d , u n f o r tu n a te ly , b u t th e y c e r t a i n l y h a d I h e i r f u n . T h e b a s i c p r i n c i p l e o f " c o m p u t e r d a tin g is p e r f e c tl y s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d . A p p l i c a n t s s e n d in d e s c rip tio n s o f th e m se lv e s a n d t h e p r o s p e c tiv e d a te s th e y w o u ld li k e to m e e t . T h e c o m p u te r p r o g r a m s im p ly d o e 9 a u t o m a t i c a l l y t h e s o r t s of t h i n g y o u w o u ld d o if y o u d i d t h i s b y h a n d : It a tt e m p ts to f in d th e " b e s t " m a t c h b e t w e e e n w h a t e v e r y b o d y w a n ts a n d w h a t s o n h a n d .

O b v io u s ly t h i s c o u l d b e a m a t t e r f o r s e r i o u s o p e r a t io n s r e s e a r c h : a t t e m p t i n g t o d i s c o v e r t h e b e s t m a t c h u p t e c h n i q u e s a m o n g th in g s t h a t n e v e r r e a l l y fii t o g e t h e r , d e t a i l f o r d e ta il ; t r y i n g to fin d o u t , b y f o llo w u p q u e s t i o n n a i r e s , w h a t t r a i t - m a t c h i n g s s e e m e d t o p r o d u c e t h e be st r e s u lt, e tc . But a u ch s e r io u s m a tc h u p -fu n c tio n r e s e a r c h r e m a i n s , s o f a r a s I k n o w , t o b e even p e g im . O b v io u s l y t h e r e a r e s e v e r a l p r o b l e m s . D e m o g r a p h ie a lly it i s a lm o s t n e v e r t r u e t h a l " f o r e v e r y m an t h e r e 's a w o m a n 11- - i n e v e r y a g e - b r a c k e t t h e r e 's a lm o s t a l w a y s a n i m b a l a n c e o f th e o p p o s i te s e x in l h e c o r r e s p o n d i n g e lig ib le a g e - b r a c k e t , e i t h e r to o m a n y o r t o o f e w . B ut m o re t h a n t h a t , t h e r e i s l it t l e l i k e l i h o o d t h a t t h e t r a i t s w om en w a n t a r e a d e q u a t e l y r e p r e s e n t e d a m o n g th e a v a i la b le m a l e s , o r v i c e v e r s a . F o r in t r o d u c ti o n s e r v i c e s i t s o b v i o u s l y w o r s e : t h e r e i s n o b a la n c e lik e ly b e t w e e n w h a t c o m e s in o n e d o o r a n d w h a t c o m e s i n t h e o t h e r . The s e r v i c e c a n o n ly d o i ts b e s t w i t h t h e a v a i l a b l e p o o l of p e o p l e - - a n d m a k e b e l i e v e i t ' s s o m e h o w m a d e id e a l b y th e u s e o f t h e c o m p u t e r . I t s li k e a n e m p lo y m e n t o ffice: a p p l i c a n t s d o n t m a tc h o p e n i n g s . N u m ero u s o th e r d a tin g s e r v i c e s h a v e a p p e a r e d , so m e o f w h ic h d o n 't e v e n p r e t e n d to u s e th e c o m p u t e r ( a n d o t h e r s w h i c h c l a i m to b e a r e g is tr y fo r n o n s ta n d a rd s e x u a l a p p e tite s ) , b u t n o n e t h a t 's g o tte n th e a t t e n t i o n o f t h e o r i g in a l P r o j e c t M a tc h . B u t t h e r e s n o q u e s t io n w h o g o t t h e b e s t d a t e s o u t o f th a t o n e . J e f f T a r r .

( I n c i d e n t a l l y , w h ile t h is d o e s a r r e s t th e c la s s i c c a s h i e r '9 c h e a t - - r i n g i n g u p e x c e s s i v e p u r c h a s e s on t h e c u s t o m e r s , Ih e n h a v i n g a c o n f e d e r a te w a lk t h r o u g h e q u iv a le n t a m o u n ts t h e c o n s u m e r is s t i l l e n t i r e l y p r o n e to c h e a t i n g b y th e s t o r e in t h e c o m p u te r p r o g r a m . R e m e m b e r , i t s 1974. So y o u s t ill m a y h a v e to c h e c k y o u r ta p e s . fo lk s .) D ata b a s e s y s t e m s a r e a n y s y s te m s w h i c h k e e p l r a c k o f a w h o le lot o f s t u f f , ofte n w i th c o m p le x p o i n t e r te c h n iq u e s ( se e "D ata S t r u c t u r e s , " p . Z& ) A c u t e e x a m p le i s th e m e s s a g e s e r v i c e now o ff e r e d b y S t u c k e y 's s n a c k / s o u v e n i r s t a n d s a ll o v e r th e c o u n t r y . Y ou may l e a v e m e s s a g e s fo r y o u r f r i e n d s o r lo v e d o n e s o n t h e r o a d ; th e y c a n s to p a t a n y S t u c k e y 's a n d a s k f o r t h e i r m e s s a g e s , J u s l a s if il w a s a te le p h o n e a n s w e r i n g s e rv ic e . ( Y o u 'r e l i s l e d b y y o u r p h o n e n u m b e r Is t h i s to a v o id p r a n k s ? A n d w h a t a b o u t p e o p le w ilh n o p h o n e s ? ) I t ' s f r e e a n d a n e a t id e a . ( O b v io u s ly , t h e m e s s a g e s a r e s to r e d o n t h e d i s k o f a b i g c e n t r a l c o m p u ie r , a n d q u e r i e d f ro m te r m in a ls a t t h e i n d iv id u a l s t a n d s . ) N o w , m ost o f t h e b i g s y s te m s y o u r u n in to l e n d lo b e a c o m b in a tio n o f tr a n s a c t i o n a n d d a ta -b a s e s y s te m . F o r in s ta n c e , s u p p o s e y o u m ake an a ir lin e r e s e r v a tio n . T h e a ir lin e h a s a l a r g e d a la b a s e to k e e p tr a c k of: t h e i n v e n t o r y o f a ll t h o se a r m c h a i r s i t 's f ly i n g a r o u n d th e c o u n t r y , a n d t h e l i s t o f w h o so f a r h a v e a n n o u n c e d p l a n s to s it in t h e m , a n d in so m e c a s e s w h a i th e y in t e n d lo e a t . When y o u b u y your* t i c k e t , h at tr a n s a c t i o n t h e n g e ts y o u p u t in th e l i s t i n g . Sam e f o r c a r r e n t a l s a n d s o o n .

H e r e a b o u ts a r e a few o t h e r c o m p u te r is h t h i n g s y o u may r u n i n to w h ic h m o r e o r le s s d e f y c a te g o r i z a ti o n .

T H E COMPUTER GRAVEYARD In t h e m id - s i x t i e s t h e r e w a s a j u n k y a r d i n K in g s to n , N .Y . th a t w a s li k e a n a u to m o b ile g r a v e y a r d - - e x c e p t p ile d h i g h w ith d e a d com p u te rs. T h e y w e r e fro m v a r i o u s m a n u f a c t u r e r s . T h e g u y s w o u ld s m a s h th e m w it h s le d g e h a m m e r s , o r o t h e r a w fu l t h i n g s , to m a k e s u r e t h e y c o u ld n e v e r w o r k a g a i n . T h e n y o u c o u l d b u y th e c i r c u i t c a r d s . I s a w 1401s f iv e h i g h , U n iv a c F il e C o m p u te r s , ta p e d r i v e s . . . it w a s a n e l e c t r o n i c n u t 's p a r a d i s e . You c o u l d d e c o r a t e y o u r d e n w ith h u g e o ld c o n lr o l p a n e l s , m a g d i s k s a n d w h a tn o t. It s e e m s to b e g o n e n o w . T h e y fo rb ad e p ic tu re s.

DO YOU GOT RHYTHM? A d e v ic e c a lle d t h e B I O - C O M P U T E R ( tr a d e m a r k ) p u r p o r t e d l y h e l p s y o u p r e d i c t y o u r "bo d y b e a t s ," te llin g y o u w h a t d a y s a r e t h e r i g h t sort o f tim e to d o p a r t i c u l a r t h i n g s i n t e r m s 1 o f y o u r o w n b i o lo g ic a l e n e r g i e s . T h e o b j e c t c o s t s $15 p o s t p a i d fro m BIO -C O M PU T E R , D e p t . C L B /D M ( w h y n o t ? ) , 964 T h i r d A v e . , N Y N Y 1 0 0 2 2 .

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T h e q u e s t io n w ith a ll s u c h s p e c i a l p u r p o s e d e v ic e s "fish in g c o m p u te r s ," h o r s e - r a c i n g c o m p u l e r s , e t c . , i s a lw a y s w h e t h e r t h e t h e o r y a n d f o r m u la s w h i c h a r e b u i l t i n t o t h e m a r e c o r r e c t . T h e r e is n o r e a d y w a y to t e l l .

A STR O F LAS H . e tc. T h e r e a r e v a r i o u s c o m p u t e r i s e d a s tr o lo g y se rv ice s. G iv e n y o u r d a te o f b i r t h , a n d hour If k n o w n , th e y 'll ty p e o u l y o u r s i g n s , e x p l a n ' a tio n s , e tc. P r e s u m a b l y t h e r e Is a i * t n e t w o r k w h ic h th e s y ste m s e le c ts a m o n g a c c o rd in g to " r e i n f o rc i n g te n d e n c ie s ," e t c . , am ong th e e n titie s t h o u g h t to b e i n f l u e n t i a l . C o n c e i v a b ly t h i s c o u ld do n in e -l e n th s o f w h a t a ta le n te d h um a n a s tr o lo g e r d o e s , and w ith t h e aaro e v a l i d i t y , w h a t e v e r lh a t m a y b e . In a n y case i l's p r o b a b ly a lot c h ea p er.

Thia is an ou tra g e o u s m isnom er. T he com puter is o n ly c a r r y i n g ou t, most s p e e d ily , what h ard e n e d politocoes have alw ays done: FACTIONAL ANALYSIS, now po ssible with new found pre c isio n on the b a sis of c e rta in election re tu rn s. T h is is b a s e d on the cy n ic a l, and fairly re lia b le , view lhat people vote a c c o rding to what faction of th e g r e a te r popu lace Ih ey belong to-- m id d le -c la ss w hite l ib e r a ls , b lu e -c o lla r non -union m e m b e rs, and so o n . T h e factions change slow ly o v e r tim e, and people move among th e m , b u t th e fact o f factionalism re m a in s unchanged. Well. By the close of a major election cam paign, most faction s can be p re tty w ell p r e dicted, e sp ecially aa lo p re s id e n tia l ch oice, o r w hat p ro p ortion of that faction will go for a given c a nd id ate. But some factions' reactlon a a r e not c e r tain u p to th e d a y of the ballot. So. "C om puter p re d ic tio n s" of elections b asically b re a k th e cou n try in to its factional divisio n s, stale by stale and d istric t by d i s t r ic t, and then tabu late who can be p redicted to vole fo r whom on a factional b a s is . T h e n w h a t's th e su sp en se?

COMPUTEROTICA

YOUR AUTOMOBILE COMPUTER DIdja k n ow , h u h , w e 're g o in g to h a v e c o m pu te rs in o u r c a r s ? We r e f e r h e r e to tw o th in g s a n li - s k id c o n tr o lle r s , w hich a r e r e a lly ju s t spe c ia l c i r c u it s - - y ou k n o w , "analog c o m p u te rs " -- to co m pen sate among s k id d in g w heels. T u r n s oul th a t th is is ap pa re n tly m ore s e n s i tiv e an d re lia b le lhan e v e n y o u r good d r i v e r s who enjoy c o n tro llin g s k id s, A lready ad v e rtise d for som e im p o rts. g r a n d b u a e le c tro n ic s ( s e e p . f ) . Sin ce lh e e le c tric a l p a rt of th e autom obile is g e llin g ao blamed c o m p lic a te d . th e D etroit Iro nm o n gers h a v e de c ide d to sw itc h to a g ra n d bu6 s tr u c t u r e in ste a d of having all th ose s w itc h e s and th in g s sep a ra te a n y m o r e , Should m ake lh e whole Ih in g f a r e a s i e r to s e r v ic e a n d c u sto m iz e . Presu m ably th ia will all be u n d e r th e control of a m i c r o p r o c e s s o r . (See p - -) Ttlia m eans th a l the c a r can have th in g s lik e a C oldWeather S ta rtu p S e q u e n c e a p ro g ra m th a l s t a r t s th e c a r . t u r n s o n th e h e a le r , m onitors lhe e n g in e and c ab in te m p e r a tu r e , and b le a ts lh e h o r n , tw ic e , politely w he n i l 's all r e a d y - - all al a lim e p r e s e t b y the d a s h b o a r d clock. P re su m a b ly D etroit is n ot yel p la n n in g lo go th is f a r , But b e c a u se o f th e a u to i n d u s t r y 's anom alously h ug e influ en ce in A m e ric a , som e h a v e e x p r e s s e d the fe a r lh a l t h i s move - - tow ard the i n t e g r a t e d - c i r c u i t , d ig ita lly -c o n tro lle d g r a n d b u s w ould effectively p u t D e tro it i n con tr o l of t h e e n tir e e le c tr o n ic s i n d u s tr y . /

75
I s i t to o soon t o r a c o n p u te r p ornography c o n te s t ? ( I s I t too la te ? ) See p .

T h e s u s p e n s e comes from the u n c e rta in factions g r o u p s whose final re a c tion s a r e n 't known as th e e lectio n sta r ts .
C e r t a i n e l e c t i o n d i s t r i c t s a r e k n o w n to b e c h o c k f u ll o f t h e t y p e s o f p e o p l e w h o s e r e a c tion i s n ' t k n o w n .

People think computers are rigid and invariant. This (as stated else where in this book) is due to the systems which people have imposed, and then blamed, on the computer. The fact is that computers are now being set up to give new flexibility to manufacturing processes. Computers, directly connected to milling machines, grind raetal into any conceivable shape much faster than a human craftsman. To change the result, change the program-in a fraction of a second. Fabric des ign has been done on computer screens; the obvious next step is to have the computer control the loom or knitting machine and immediately produce whatever*s been designed. Custom clothing: soon we may look forward to tailoring services that store your ilieasurements and can custom-tailor a suit for you to any new fashion, in minutes. (But will the price beat Hong Kong?) Customized printed matter is already here (see "Me-Books," p-7). Wherever people want individual varia tions of a basic manufacturing process, computers can do it.

T h e fin al " c o m p u t e r p r e d ic tio n " s im p ly c o n s i s t s o f c h e c k i n g o u t ho w t h o s e d i s t r i c t s v o te d , c o n c lu d i n g how those fac tio n s a r e g o in g in th e p r e s e n t e le c tio n , a nd e x te n d i n g th is p r o p o rtio n t h r o u g h th e r e s t of th e c o u n t r y . It'B o f te n p a i n f u l l y a c c u r a t e - - b u t . t h a n k g o d . no t a l w a y s . W hen it i s n t d o n t b la m e " th e c o m p u t e r - " T h a n k h u m a n c a n t a n k e r o s i t y .

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may o r may not be a re a l com p uter frie n d s have told m e it is n t b u t its c e rta in ly a good Idea. When you p u ll y o u r late -m odel V olkswagen into a d e a le r 's s e r v ic e a re a , the g u y s c a n ju a t roll out a c able and p lu g it inlo the corresponT d in g socket in y o u r v e h ic le , Al the o lh e r en d o f the cable la some so rt of d e v ic e w h ich t e s t 9 a se rie s of sp ecial c ir c u it s th ro u gh o ut th e c a r for Good Co n dition . T h e se c i r c u it s ind icate that th in g s a r e w o rk in g p r o p e r ly lig h ts , p lu g s , p oints, b r a k e s and so on. T h is i s the same tech n iqu e uaed by NASA up to the final moment of COMMIT LAUNCH-- a system of c irc u its m onitors lh e c on ditions o f w h atev er can be m onitored, to malte s u r e a ll'a functioning w e ll. I t's more e x p e n s iv e to w i r e it up lhat w a y , bu l it m akes ch e c k in g out the rock et o r th e c a r lh a t m uch e a sie r.

T h e e v e r - c l e v e r J a p a n e s e a r e c om p ute riz in g f a s t e r , b e lte r a n d more d e e p ly th a n we a r e , T h e y now have a p r o to ty p e ta x i o p e ra tin g u n d e r c o m p u te r co n trol- T h e y r e c a llin g i t , al le a st for e x p o r t, C o m p u te r-c o n tro lle d V eh icle S y ste m (C V S ), B asically i l 's lik e an E le v a te d R ailw ay y o u c lim b up a n d wail b u l w hen y o u g et in , y ou p u n c h a b u tto n for y o u r d e s tin a tio n . A ccor d i n g lo H id eyu k i H ayaahi o f th e M in istry o f In d u s t r y a n d In tern atio n al T r a d e , th e sy ste m will be ope ra tion a l i n Tokyo w ith in th e d e c a d e , and is th e " c le a n e s t, sa fe st, q u ic k e s t t r a n s p o r t s y s tem e v e r d e v is e d by m a n ." T h in k f a s t , D etroit, (A n ic e point: o n e o f th e mosl im portant f e a tu re s of s u c h a system i s th at th e v e h ic le s d o n 't r e a d to ea c h o t h e r , as do v e h ic le s i n th e e x is tin g H u m an -co n trolled V ehicle System (HVS). A w hole lin e o f th e c a r s can be a c c e le r a te d o r slow ed sim u ltan eo usly , a c r u c ia l a s p e c t o f th e i r flex ib ility a n d sa fe ty . N othing can p o 6 sib ry go lo n g .) (Leo C la n c y , "N ow -- C o m p u te r-C o n tro lle d , D r lv e r le s s C a r s , " N ational E n q u ir e r 9 M ar 74, 2 4 - 5 .)

-v v T he T elephone Com pany (at least in I l l i n o i s a n d I n d i a n a ) o f f e r s a s p e a k e r on " T h e S h a d o w y W orl d o f E l e c t r o n i c S n o o p i n g " to in te res ted g r o u p s .

THOSE THINGS ON THE RAILROAD CARS As we lean on the fence a - c h a w in ' an ' a -w a lc h in ' th e tra in s go b y , w e n o te s tr a n g e in s ig n ia on th e i r s id e s , in h ig h ly re fle c tiv e Scotch-L ite all begrim ed by tr a v e l. B a sic a lly i l 's a stack of h o riz o n ta l s tr i p e s In r e d , b lue a n d other c o l o r s . T h i s ia ACI, f o r Automatic C a r Id e n tific a tio n . It may y e t s tr a ig h te n o u t the r a ilro a d s . In th is n e olithic i n d u s t r y , it ia no t k now n at any g iv e n tim e w h e re a ra ilro a d c o m p a n y 's c a r s a r e . and some p e c u lia r e tiq u e tte g o v e rn s th e i r u n r e q u e s le d use b y o t h e r f ir m s in th e in d u s tr y . Yet th e o b viou s s o lu tio n m ay com e about: a r u n n i n g in v e n to ry o f w h e r e a ll t h e c a r s a r e , w h e re e a c h one is g o in g , w h a ls in It, and who th a t b e lo n gs to , B ul, of c o u r s e , th a t's s till i n th e w o r k s . R e v o lu tio n a ry id e a s t a k e lime.

Modern m en ag e, s h e 2 9 , I n t e r e s t e d i n r e c u r s i v e r e l a t i o n s and r e v e r s e Po lish c u ltu r e . Ph on e a m u s t . C o n t a c t b o* RS -2 32 {& s e e p . J>MW),

SIC TRANSIT Some of the zap pie r new Urban T r a n s i t System s g iv e you a ticket w ith a magnetic s t r ip e on the b a c k . E ach time you r i d e you must p u s h the c a rd into an E n tra n c e M achine, w hich p r e su mably does som ething to th e s lr i p e , till finally the ticket r u n s out and you h a v e to pa y more money. Secrecy of th e r e c o rd in g code is an im p o r tant aspect of the th in g . In de e d, w agg ish g o ss ip claims lhat some su c h sy stem s sta rt w ith a b la n k magnetic strip e an d ju s t add stuff to i t, m eaning the c a rd can be w a sh e d clean with a m agnet by larcen ou s com m uters. Bul this seem s u n lik e ly .

BETCHA DIDN'T KNOW ... t h a t th e IRS h a s n 't b e e n a ble to do In s ta n t m a tc h in g o f W-2 forme to ta x r e t u r n s . T h a t'll b e fix e d in fisc a l '7 4 , an d In te re st and d iv id e n d p s y m e n ls i n '7 5 . (TIME, 31 Dec 73, 1 7 .)

me s s s
T h e n a tio n a l ph o ne co m p an y (u s u a lly c a lle d a ff e c tio n a te ly , "Ma B e ll" ) h a s d r a s t i c a l l y c h a n g e d ita s w i tc h in g m ethods in t h e l a s t few y e a r s . T h e y a r e r e p la c in g th e o ld e le c tr o m e c h a n ic a l s w it c h e s , o r " c r o s s b a r s , " w ith a n e w de v ic e c a lle d th e E S S , o r E le c tro n ic S w itc h in g S y s te m . If t h e r e 's o n e in y o u r a r e a y o u may h e a r ab o u t it I n t h e i r jo lly n e w s s h e e t t h a t y o u jet w ith the b i l l . In th e o ld c r o s s b a r d a y s , a p h o n e c o n n e c tio n w as a p h o n e con n e c tio n a n d th a t w as t h a t . Now. w ith th e ESS, all s o r t s of n e w com b in a tio n s a r e p o s s ib le : th e ESS h a s s t o r e d p r o g r a m s th a t d e t e r m i n e ils o p e r a tio n . If yo u d ia lle d a n o n - w o r k in g n u m b e r , i t ju m ps to a p ro g r a m to ta k e c a r e of lh a l. It d oes all s o r t s of t h i n g s b y s p e c i a l p r o g r a m , a n d new p r o g r a m s c a n b e c r e a te d f o r s p e c ia l p u r p o s e s . Now th e p h o n e c o m p a n y i s t r y i n g to find th e s e r v i c e s lhat p eo p le w ill p a y f o r . H a v in g c a l ls r e r o u t e d te m p o r a r ily lo o t h e r n u m b e r s ? L in k in g u p s e v e r a l p e o p le i n a co n fe re n c e c a ll? S to r in g y o u r m o st-c a lle d n u m b e r s , so you c a n r e a c h th em w ith a s i n g l e o r double d ig it? T h e s e p a r t i c u l a r s e r v ic e s a r e now b e in g offe re d e x p e r i m e n t a l l y , T h e w a y i t w o r k s is th is : th e r e a r e a n u m b e r of p r o g r a m s s to r e d in a c o r e m em ory; th e o n ly " o u tp u t d e v ic e " of the sy ste m c o n s is t s of ils field o f r e e d s w itc h e s , a r r a n g e d to c lo s e c ir c u it s o f t h e te le p h o n e n e tw o rk . T h i s h a s b e e n a ro u n d fo r d e c a d e s , and h a s n o th in g to d o w ith c o m p u te r s , b u t i s n 't it n ic e ? You w rite w ith a pen a tta c h e d b y r o d s to a tr a n s m i tt e r ; so m e w h e re e l s e , a p e n a tta c h e d b y r o d s l o a r e c e i v e r d u p li c a t e s w h a t you h a v e w ritte n . What i s b e in g tr a n s m itte d c o n s is ts o f the m e a s u r e d sid e w a y s motion ( " c h a n g e ln x n) , th e m e a s u r e d u p - a n d - d o w n motion ( " c h a n g e in y " ) , an d th e c o ndition of the p e n ( " u p " o r " d o w n " ) . What w ould th e s e d a y s be c a lle d " th r e e a n a lo g c h a n n e l s , m u ltip le x e d on a 9 in g le lin e . " T h e s e o n ly c o st a cou p le o f h u n d r e d d o ll a r s . Why h a s n o b o d y b e e n u s in g them f o r c o m p u te r in p u t?

M inicom putera h a n d le v a rio u s c o n t r o l f u n c t i o n s i n o u r m ighty new A e r o p l a n e s a n d S h i p s o f

S u g a r C r e e k . T e x a s will h a v e 3000 ho m es w ith a m in ic o m p u te r-b a s e d a la rm s y s te m . E v id e n tly v a r io u s au tom atic s e n s o r s a ro u n d e a c h h o u s e sn if f f o r f ir e s an d b u r g l a r s , ss well a s p r o v id i n g p a n ic b u tto n s fo r m edical e m e r g e n c ie s . T h e sy stem u s e s d ual N o v a s (o n e a b a c k u p ) , a n d p r i n t s o ut the n ew s to fire a n d p o lic e d i s p a t c h e r s on a good o ld 33ASR T e le ty p e . ( D igita l D e s ig n ,
May 73, 16.)

It was a t r u ly s t e l l a r g r o u p th a t r e p o r te d to J u d g e S iric a on 15 Ja n 1974 th a t th e 1 8-m ln u le W atergate ta p e b u z z h a d at l e a s t five s t a r t s a n d a to p s . T h e s i x p a n e lists in c lu d e d ; R ic h a rd B o l t , a f o u n d e r of B o lt, B e r a n e k a n d N e w m a n, In c . F r a n k lin C o o p e r , h e a d of H a s k in s L a b o ra to rie s , ) Thom as S lo c k h a m , a u d io r e s y n t h e s i z e r ex tra o rd in a ry ( s e e p . ^ M ) T he n e w s , h o w e v e r , g e n e r a ll y r e f e r r e d to them a s " te c h n i c i a n s ."

out OF THOSt h W
D e p e n d in g on the n u m b e r s th a t h a v e b e e n d ia lle d , an d w h a tn o t, th e ESS ju m p s to a s p e c if ic p r o g r a m , a n d th a t te lls it to c o n n e c t an in c o m in g call to p a r t i c u l a r o th e r c i r c u i t s , o r to r i n g o th e r lin e s, o r w h a te v e r. I t 's r e a ll y n e a t. T h e r e a r e o n ly a co u ple of th in g s t o w o r r y a b o u t. O ne is th a t it m akes w ir e t a p p i n g , n o t a com plex b o th e r in v o lv in g c lip p e d w ir e s a n d m en h u n c h e d o v e r in c ra m p e d s p a c e s , b u t a s im p le pro g ram . A n o th e r i s lh a t some peo p le t h in k th a t b l u e - b o x e r s (s e e n e a r b y ) may be a b le to p r o g r a m it, from th e c om fort of ih e ir own hom e6. M e a n in g lhat n o t j u s t c o u r t- a u th o r iz e d w i r e ta p s , b u t Joe Schmoe w i r e t a p s , w ould be p o s s ib l e . L e t's h op e n o t. If y ou w a n t to p u t t o g e th e r y o u r o w n c o m p u i e r - o n - a - c h i p , o r an y o t h e r c o m p le x in te g r a te d c i r c u i t , a c om p lete sim u la tio n v e r if i c a t io n - l a y o u t- a n d - f a b r ic a ti o n s e r v i c e i s a v a ila b le from M otorola, S e m ic o n d u c to r P ro d u c ts Div. . P . O . Box 20924, P h o e n ix , A riz o n a . P r e s u m a b ly ii c osts a m in t, b u t a f t e r th a t y o u c a n r o ll oul y o u r c i r c u i t s lik e c o o k ie s . Y o ur c i r c u i t is o v e rla id on th e i r b e e h iv e - c h ip o f lo gical s u b c i r c u i t s , c a lle d a P o ly c e ll. You u s e t h e i r MAGIC la n g u a g e (M otorola A u to m atically G e n e ra te d I n t e g r a te d C i r c u i t s ) , w h ic h th e n fe e d s a r e s u l t i n g c i r c u i t d ata s t r u c t u r e t o a p r o g r a m ca lle d SIMUL8 (y u k y u k ) lo t r y ou t th e c ir c u it w ith o u t b u il d in g it. T h a t w ay y ou c a n s u p p o s e d ly be s u r e b e f o r e th e y m ake t h e fin a l m asks. a sw ell vid eo game n ow in b a r s , p r o b a b l y c o n tr o ls th e f o u r - p l a y e r p i n g p o n g o n t h e s c r e e n w ith a m in ic o m p u te r o r m i c r o p r o c e s s o r . E s p e c ia lly e x c i tin g is th e s o c ia l p o s s i b ility o f ho riz o n ta l s c r e e n s fo r o t h e r f u n i n t e r p e r s o n a l stu ff. A s w ell a s c o lla b o r a ti v e w o r k . (But b o y , l e t 's hope th e r a d ia t io n s h i e l d i n g is g o o d .)
O

" O v e rp a y y o u r p h o n e b i l l b y o n e c e n t. It d r i v e s t h e c o m p u te r c r a z y . " N o p e . T h e amount of p a y m e n t g e ts p u n c h e d i n and g oes t h r o u g h t h e g e a r s q u ite n o r m a lly .

T h e C o m p u te r D iet b y V in c e n t A n to n e iti (E v a n s P u b . ) e ho w B th e a u th o r s i lt in g o n t h e d e s k p l a t e of a 360 c o n s o le . The m ends fo r c o m p u te r" have been In sid e c o n s is ts p r in c ip a l ly of c h a n s h e re c o m w e ig h t l o s e . " T h e p o w e r o f a m o d e rn d ig it a l I n te rp o la te d t h e t a b l e s . A s li d e r u l e m ig h t h ave sim p le r .

T h e th in g i s , he p r e s e n t s a p a p e r o n t h e t h e r m o d y n a m ic s of w e ig h t lo s s w h i c h may b e im p o r ta n t; i n t h i s he s ts te s th e d iffe re n c e e q u a t io n s w h ic h a r e th e h e a r t o f h i s d ie t. A nd th e s e may in d e e d b e p e r f e c tl y v a l id . So w h y n o t c all it w hat it i a , T h e T h e r m o d y n a m ic D iet? 1 a lw a y s f i g u r e d th a t th e d a y of H o bb y ism w ou ld a r r i v e w h e n t h e fo lk s o ff e r e d a b u i l d - i t - y o u r s e l f c o m p u te r . k now w h a l th e y cam e o u l w ith in s te a d A g e n e r a l in te r f a c e f o r h o o k in g th i n g s C o m pu ter al Healhklt B ut you Iasi y e a r ? to t h e PD P-8.

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K irk B r a in e r d , of L . A . , i s u s i n g c o m p u te r s f o r a r e g i s t r y of p e o p le w ith s o m e t h in g to teach . He h o p e s th a t if p e o p le a r e m u tu a lly a v a ila b le to each o th e r at a d e e p e n o u g h le v e l , p eop le can be g in to act o u t o f a l t r u i s m i n g e n e r a l .

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boy s and g i c l s He had a d v e n t u r e s t h a t o t h e r W ould y ou b e l ie v e th a t th e g r e a te s t a v a il a b le c o m p u ie r s e r v i c e ia f o r th e k id d ie s ? F o r f o u r b u c k s a n d a h a l f , a n ou tfit called M e -B oo k s w ill s e n d , to a c h i ld y o u d e s ig n a te , a s t o r y o f w h ic h h e is th e h e r o , i n w h ic h h is f r i e n d s a n d s i b li n g s a p p e a r , a n d w ho se ac tion i n v o lv e s h is a d d r e s s a n d b i r t h d a y . K ida a d o r e i t . C h i ld r e n w ho d o n t lik e r e a d i n g t r e a s u r e th e v o lu m e s ; c h i ld r e n w ho do lik e r e a d i n g lo v e them Ju s t a s m u c h . 1 c a n p e r s o n a ll y r e p o r t , a t le a s t o n th e b a s is o f t h e o n e 1 o r d e r e d (My F r i e n d ly G ira ffe ) lh at t h e s t o r y i s b e a u tif u lly th o u g h t o u t, w a rm , lo v in g , a n d c l e v e r ly p lo t te d . In o th e r w o r d s , f a r from b e in g a f a s t - b u c k s c h e m e , th is th in g h a s b e e n d o ne r i g h t . I t 's a s p le n d id c h i l d r e n 's sto ry . (1 w o n 't r e v e a l t h e p l o t , b u t the G ira ffe 's b i r t h d a y , n am e a n d ho m e a d d r e s s a r e r e la te d to t h o s e of th e p r o t a g o n i s t . ) M o r e o v e r , it h a s t h r e e - c o l o r i l lu s t r a t io n s , is o n e x t r a - h e a v y p a p e r a n d i s b o u n d i n h a r d
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j u s t d re a a o f * L is is th e s t o r , c ( o*e o i h is a d v e r.tn .e ,. T h e n u m b e rs a r e o d d b u t re c o g n iz a b le . T h e la s t f o u r th in g ie s a r e p u n c tu a tio n m a r k s , w h ic h p re s u m a b ly c a n m ean a n y t h in g th e p r o g ra m m e r w a n ts them to . (In o th e r w o r d s , f r a n k l y , 1 d o n 'l know I h e ir n a m e s o r s ta n d a r d fu n c tio n s.) T h e n a m e o f th e s e n u m b e r s i s w h ic h s ta n d s fo r M agnetic In k C h a r a c te r H ecord i n g . T h e y a r e p r in te d in m a g n e tic in k nol m a g netic s o 's you cou ld r e c o r d on i t, lik e mag n e tic t a p e , b u t chock full o f i r o n an d vitam in s s o th a t a s its blob s w hiz p a s l a sp e c ia l re a d h e a d , Ihey c a u se a sp e c ific s e q u e n c e o f p u ls e s i n th e p a r a lle l c irc u its o f the r e a d h e a d thal can b e dec o d e d a s Ihe s p e c ific n u m b e r o r m a r k . T h e MICE sy ste m w a s d e s i g n e d in th e la te fiftie s, w ith th e te c h n o lo g y c o n v e n ie n t al th a l lim e, a n d would c e r ta in ly n o t be d e s ig n e d th a t way no w . N e v e r th e le s s , th e s e w e ird -lo o k in g sy m b o ls h a v e i n s p ir e d v a r io u s

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There would be aany other exciting adventures foe Tricky Dick and his friends. And aaybe, just aaybe, if you're a very good boy, soaeday we'll tell you about tbose, too.

OCR (A ) is a little s e x i e r . At le a s t it lo ok s lik e so m e th in g . (E v id e n tly i t 's s lig h tly e a s ie r to d e a l w ilh a n d d e s ig n f o r . ) B u l th e o th e r o n e . O C R (B ), j u s l lo ok s lik e th e a lph abet n e x t d o o r . H ere they a r e .

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Civilization, and th e b u lk of m ankind, have about forty y e a n to l i v e . accord in g to certa in stu dies (see p . 6 f i ) . The stu dies a re de pre esingly go od, a lth ough unfin ish e d . T h ere a re four p ossib le th in gs lo do. 1. 2. One or the w o r l d 's moA e xclu sive elube la aiao on e of lie meet d is m al. II le The Club a l n o n , , founded b y I U l lm b usinessm an Aurello Peccei. h sv ln g (ss o f 1972) some seven ty mem be r* from tw enty -fiv e c o u n tries. T h eir c oncern th e y cell T he Predicament of Ma nkind. o r the "p ro b lem a tiq u e ." It Is the problem of gro w th , p o llu tio n , population, and Whsi's Happening In g e n e r a l. On fund s frora Volk sw agen. they have s p o n a rM l studies w h ic h th in k in g men can only re g a rd a s the m a t dis m al In p o rts n t of a nyth in g we've se en in y e a n . O r e v e r . BMlcalty the p red ic tio n is lhal mankind h as p e rh a p s forty o r fifty ye ar* left. Not because of w a r . o r bomba , o r dir ty . o r Divine r e tr ib u tio n , b u t (or simple e c o m n l c reaso n s. H o w ev er, th e stu dies are often called "co mputer s tu d i e s . " beca use compuI t n a n Ihe view in g mechanism- by which we have come to eee th e ae coming ev en ts . V Ignore It. Deny ll. Now b e gin s the win te r of th e w o rld . We a re poisoning e v ery th in g . With so llllle time left, we a re of course e xpandin g and accelerating e v e r y form of pollution sn d destruction. We a re killing Ihe last of o u r beautiful br o th e r * , th e whalea. Jusl to p ro v id e marginal amortization of the whale-ahlp e tha t a re going to be sc ra p p ed anyway. Item: euppcse dly the S a h a rs Desert was m m - m a d e , II Is grow ing fast. Sel down upon this beautiful p la n e t, a ga rd e n spol of the u n iv e rs e , we a re tu rn in g it Into a po isoned p ig s t y . You and 1 may ata rve lo d e a th , de a r r e a d e r . In some y e s r fairly soon n o w , sro u n d the l u m of the c e n tu r y . th e re will no lo nger be ne arly enough food for the teeming b illio n s . T h ai, any way, is whal the p r edic tions Bay. T h e predic tlona are com pelling, nol becauae a computer made them - - anybody can make a com p u te r p redic t any th in g -- but be ca use th e prem ise s from which Ihe predic tions grow were ve ry well thou ght out. It is now up to us lo make Ihe predic tions come out wro ng. Not by killin g the b e a r e r of bad tid inga. o r by prele ndin g they were not c lea rly sta te d but by se eing whal possib le alte rn a tiv e s remain in the few moments of real choice wc may yet h a v e - - sc ant ye ara at besi. Now f o r t h e b a d n e w s . The r u n n i n g r a t i o o f f o o d t o p e o p l e , Food p e r C a p i t a , ta k e s n sudde n n o s e - d i v e . And t h e n so does p o p u la tio n . I To ha ggle now aboul ideology Is like a r g u in g about who is d r iv in g while we a r c headed to w a rd a b r ic k wall with Ihe gas pe dal jammed lo the floor. The public Ihln ks, "science will sa ve u s ." a view al which many scientists sn ic k e r bitterly . Pe rhaps we will be sh r u n k lo an Inch'a heig ht, o r fed on ro ck s, or given gill s and s u p e r- k ld n e y s lo liv e in the ever-m ore -p oisoned s e a . O r p e rhapB we will do whal scien ce sa ys o th e rs have done: die out. This sc ienc e-w lll-sa ve-us ostr ic h-p oslllo n is nic ely exemplified by Albert Rosenfeld. Science Editor of Satu rday Revlew/World. Since ''science" has given us Ihe Boeing 747 and Ihe n e utrino, ne ithe r of which could on c e, he I hlnks. have be en imagined possib le, obviously (to him) science can do a nyth in g else we Ihink is impossible! He fully imagines lhal sc ience will come up wilh so meth in g lo lake c a r e of geometrically in c re asin g num be rs of people. In pcrpetuily? "Take a lesson from the n e u tri n o ." he s a y s . "We can solve o u r p r o b le m s. ("Look lo th e Neutrino. Thou Doomsayer," Sa tu rday Review/ World . Feb 23 1974, 47.) OTHER FUN The growing d iffis io n of weapons and g r u d g e s , and the great vuln era bility of almost e v e r y th in g , a s s u ie lhal te rroris m and political e xto rtio n will will in cre ase dram atically for Ihe foreseeable futu re. On the o th e r h a nd, whole economic blocs and in d u strie s have late ly mastered and demonstrated by example how to hold Ihc c ountry al bay in o r d e r to ge l tf eil wishes: a s e verybody c an sec w hat's h a ppening, and learn from it, the nu m b e r of w ronc hin g ul'pleasa nlr.c sses cre ate d by te rr o r ists and in d u stri e s und interest blocs will irerc jisi . All these were CHbcntiully fore see n by T homas C. Schelling in his masterly i960 work. T h e S tra te gy of Conflict. Sc hellin g formalizes a th e ory of intimidation as p a ri of h is s lu d y of communicating a d v e r s a r ie s . (His is a s t r u c tu r al r a th e r lhan a psychological s lu d y . examinin g Ihe p ro p ertie s of situations w h eth er o r nol Ihoy a r e psychologically p e rc eive d. R e grett ably , pe rc epti on of sit uations is im provin g all iho

But th e b r e e d e r rea cto rs multiply ihls outp ut. P e r h a p s we could surviv e Ihe ihe waste for a few h u n d r e d y e a r a . till ii comes back out. But the o th e r p a rt of ll is the fissionable material which can be made into ba ckyard bombs. T h a i 's the kic k er. Wilh more and more fis sionable c ru d be in g d isgorge d, Ita availability (or te r r o r is ts who want lo build ihelr own In c re a se s. Ralph Lapp pointed out last ye ar lhat the s t u d w a s sh ip p e d In unguarded tr u ck s , and one o r two good hijackin gs would enable any b r ig h t kid to build h is own dirty A-bomb. By the y e a r 2000 it is not inconceivable ihei bootleg atomic weapons will be a s widesp read as ha nd guns in D etroit -- and as much used. But now . with th e b r e e d e r .reactors-- ir. lots of c o u n tri e s - - pourin g the stuff out, the era of atomic ple nty Is h e re . The smaller countries who wanl them a re gellin g Ihelr atomic weapons - - though h old in g back assembly of the p a rts , for v srlo u s rea so n s. It la generally believed among b om b-w atc hers, for Inatance. thal India and Isra el have th e ir s anytime they warn. Add this to the grea t avalanche of mlasilee. tall and h o m y In Ihelr slloa, ready to go on two. laier th r e e or four, s id e s. (The U .S . official a rsenal now sta nds at Ihe explosive equivalent of S billion tone of TN T . a ton of TNT for every human b e in g . And th a t's Ju sl the explosive p a rt, nol ihe fallout: a fraction of these bombs could destroy all life on e arth by Us seething re s i d u e .) And now. be ca use of the SALT la lk s. we may expeci a new and d rastic Increase of this Readiness Postu re . Koo boy. Whal Is there li sny. So th e re It ia. folka. merry times ahead. Humanity may end with a bang (thermonuclear e x ch a n g es, o r jusl de sultory firings urlll w e're all po isoned o r s te r ile ), o r a whimper (univ ersa l slb r v a iio n ) . o r . I would antic ip ate, some spaailc combination of Ihe two. and all within Ihe (pos sible) lifetime of Ihe a verage re a d e r . This is, al sny r a le , what I think most likely. Except of c ourse we won't see It happen thal w ay. We'll watch Ihe starvations on TV (aa we did B lafra . B a ngla desh, now West Africa, wliai n e x t . . . In d ia? ), and isk aboul ihe poor fo re ig n e rs who can'l take c a r e of ihemaelves. And as Ihe problem s Increase and move toward ouv h e a r tla n d , it'll be blamed on envlronm entallats and on Ihe news media , till bang. O r maybe not. Ju s t maybe.

3. Seek Individual salv atio n somehow. Hide In a remote c o rn e r. Lay in sto re s. 4. The glorio us Oaraeout. Eat. drin k a nd be m e rr y , for tomorrow we d ie . Or apocalyptic occultism, o r w hatever. 5. Work ste r lin g now . in whatever dir ections might, just m lg hl. polm o r con tr ib u te to a way oul.______________________

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MALTHUS AGAIN In the ninete enth c e n tu r y , e pessimistic eeononlst named T homas Malthus p redic te d thet th e re would always b e s ta r v in g pe o ple . because people In crease d geo m e t r i c a l l y exp andin g st compound In te re st, with a U se d rale of Increase cre ati n g an e v er-M e ep e r g ro w th -- while a g ric u l tu ral p roducti on, w hic h muat feed u s all, e xpands arllhmetlc ally. not a s a r a le b u t a few acrea or improvement* al a tim e. T h is meant. U alih u s th ought, thal there would always b e the e ta r v ln g po o r. For verlous reasons ihls did not h sp p e n In Europe. Bul the reg retta b le so u n d n e ss o f th e g eneral prin ciple pe rsists: when rate a o f food prod uction can'l M a rly keep up with r a le s of po pulation growth, people a re going lo e ta r v e . Thia Is ba sically th e p redic tion. DYNAMIC MODELLING Basically whal haa h a ppened Is th ia . One Jay F o r r ester , of MIT. h as for some ye a r s been studying 'd y n am ic m od els" o f th in g s , a new breed of elmulation w h ic h could nt have be en done without co m p u te rs. And now dynamic models of the w o rld 's e n tir e economic sysiem can be cre ele d an d tr ie d oul. Basically dynamic models a n mathematical complexes w here th in g s ch an g e al rate s lhal change Ihemaelves o v e r lim e. Fo r instance, the more you e a t, the falt er you get. and the fetter you get. the h u n g r ie r you are go ing lo be . Now, Juat beca use th is Is sim ple lo ssy In w ords , and a u n d e aa iho ugh mathematicians would have had aolved ihe whole c lass o f problem s c entu rie s ago. th a t's not how II la . T h e Intricacy of auch models, even for Juat a few v a ria b le a. made It Impossible to foresee w h at h appens In such com plexes e i t c l by te ch n iq u es of compuier enactment. F o rrester, who ha s stu d ied su ch syste ms since the fifties, haa become a le r t to th e ir problems and su r p rla e s. The culm in ation of hla work has been a model of Ihe e n tir e w o rld 's economic growth, a g ric u ltu re , p o p u la tio n . Ind ustrialization and pollution; th is Is d e scrib e d In his book World Dynamics (W rlg ht- A llen. 1971). The i n s i d i o u s p o r t e n t s o f F o r r e s t e r s w ork d i d n o t go u n n o t i c e d . The d a n g e r s o f p o p u l a t i o n i n c r e a s i n g a t com p o u n d i n t e r e s t o n a p l a n e t o f u n c h a n g in g s i z e , and f u r t h e r d e r i v a t i v e s o f th e s e c h a n g e s , s u g g e s t e d t h a t t h i n g s s i g h t be g e t t i n g w o rs e t h a n a n y b o d y t h o u g h t . An a l e r t I t a l i a n b u sin e ssm a n b ro u g h t to g e th e r a group o f s c h o l a r s f r o a a l l o v er th e w o rld to s tu d y t h e s e p r o b l e a s , and c a l l e d t h e g r o u p The C l u b o f Rome. T h e i r f i r s t w ork i s o u t new, a n d i t i s v e r y s c a r y and a l l to o r e a l . The b o o k i s c a l l e d The -----H a l t s t o G ro w th . B a s i c a l l y w h a t t h e y ha v e done i s a v ery e la b o r a t e c o a p u te r s im u la t io n , a o d e l l i n g t h e e n t i r e economy o f t h e p l a n e t i n t h e y e a r s t o come a s a s t r u c t u r e o f ra te s . They h a v e t a k e n i n t o a c c o u n t p o p u la tio n , f o o d -g r o w in g c a p a c i t y , in d u s t r i a l g r o w t h , p o l l u t i o n , anil a l o t o f o th e r th in g s . The a o d e l i s p r e c i s e and e la b o ra te . U n fo rtu n a te ly th e fin d in g s a re p r e c i s e and s i m p l e . They t r i e d a l l k i n d s o f a l t e r n a t i v e f u t u r e s u s i n g t h e a o d e l - - w h a t w ould ha p p en i f t h e b i r t h r a t e s w ere d i f f e r e n t 7 W ta t I f t h e r e w e r e no p o l l u t i o n ? What i f r e s o u r c e s were i n f i n i t e ? The r e s u l t s o f t h e s i a u l a t i o n s aTe a lw a y s t h e s a a e . A cc o rd in g to a l l t h e s i a u l a t i o n s , th e h u a a n r a c e w i l l b e w ip e d o u t - - a o s t l y o r c o m p l e t e l y - - b y t h e y e a r 2100. L e t ' s go b r i e f l y t h r o u g h t h e a o d e l . N o te t h a t I t c a n t b e e x a c t , a n d we c a n ' t know w h a t y e a r s t h i n g s a r e g o i n g t o h a p p e n . The c u r v e s t h e a s e l v e s - - t h e s h a p e o f th in g s to c o a e - - t e l l th e s t o r y a l l to o c l e a r l y . ( F o r t h o s e who w o u ld l i k e a l i t t l e a o re d raa a w ith th e i r nu ab ers, f in d in g th e s e a a t t e r s to o a b s t r a c t , I s t r o n g ly r ec o aa en d th e v e ry b e a u t i f u l In d ian f l l a " D i s t a n t T h u n d er," a s o r t o f Mr. S a i t h S t a r v e s t o D e a t h . Or j u s t s t i c k a ro u n d a w h i l e . ) HUH? The a o d e l a s s u a e s t h a t b i r t h r a t e s sta y r e la tiv e ly c o n s ta n t in p a r ti c u la r p a r t s o f t h e w o r l d , a n d t h a t new la n d and a g r i c u l t u r a l t e c h n i q u e s i n c r e a s e f o o d tIo n in r e l a i i v ly w ell-u n d e rsto o d Of c o u rs e , p o p u la tio n c o n tin u e s to go u p , on t h e f a m i l i a r b u t d e a d l y c u r v e .

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But w e'v e all got lo g r l occcss lo the Club of Home m odels , and look for holes or str a te gies. If compulcr modelling sy ste m s doing this kind of work are made widely enough available, perhapa some precocio us g r adc -sc hoole r o r owlish hobbyist will find some way out lh a t Ihe oth ers hsve n't hil o n . .. We've gol to ihink h a r d about e verything.

frightening, sin ce the n um be rs plu gged Inio Ihe se parate rune are merely hyp o th e ses , to show Ihe shape of Ihe conseque nce s. II Is the overall sel of r u n s lhat is so g h a s tly , because they el-

BIBLIOGRAPHY Frederic k Pohl and C.M. K ornblulh . The Space M e rc hants. Ballanline. p a p er. Thomas C. Sc he llin g. The Strategy of Conflict.

PAY CLOSE ATTENTION Now. it le important to clarify what is h sppe nln g h e re and what Is nol. Whal Is not happening: an o r ac u lar pron ouncement by "Ihc com pute r." showin g some transce ndenta l p r e d ic tion by a superhum an Intelligence. What is hap pening: people are tr y in g out se p arate possible assumptions lo see whsl th e ir consequences are , enacted by the compuier a cc o rd in g to the economic rulea they sel up . Reeull: always Ihe same. Any set of ru le s , played out in the un stable explo ding-population world beyond the se venti es, a p p ea rs to have similarly d ir e resu lts. WHAT HOPE IS THERE? The orig in al model is on ly an app roxim a tion. and Ihe basic r e s u l ts , as published in The Limits to Growth (see bo x) refle ct thoBc approx imations. One of the th in gs that can be done is lo fill In and expand Ihe model more, to see whether any hopes can be found in the details and fine c ra ck s which don'l a p p e a r from the groas re su lts. A nd. of c o u r s e , lo slu dy and r e - s tu d y ihe basic fin din gs. (Por Instance, a small e r r o r waa recentl y found: a decimal poini was misplaced in the "pollution' calc ula tion. le ading lo an overstatement of Ihe pollution In some of Ihe r u n s . (But pollutio n, rem em ber, is only p a rt of Ihe problem .) So th e re you a re . T h is is a stu dy of Ihe greatest Importance. We m ay, Ju sl m ay. be ge l ling wind of th in gs In lime lo change Ihe outcome. (If on ly we knew how. Bul a g a in , this sludy Is where se rious dis cussio n must b e g in .)

The Grcel American Bomb Machine (citation nol h a n d y ) . Paperback. A book call ed Cold Dawn (elu tio n not handy: orig in ally published in Ihe New Yorke r) p r e s e n ts a most d is c ouragin g view of Ihls c o u n try 's actions ir Ihe SALT is lk s. One Access Cata lo g, not io be named h e re , gives a rec ip e for an atomic bomb. Very funny, ha h a . "The U-235 we are u s in g , (although Plutonium will work ju s l as well) is a ra dio activ e su bsta nc c and d e serv es some c a r t i h a ndling. It is NOT radioactive enough lo kill with limited e x p o su re , bul don'l sle ep with II o r any ih in g ." And so on. T h an k a a lo t. fellas. Ralph l.app had a piece in Ihc New York Tim es Magazine Iasi y e a r , pointing oul thal plu lonlum le ship pe d In ungua rde d tr u c k s and l l 's only a matter of lim* before pu r.ks gel Ihcir h a n d s on i l . .. A piccc in a recent E sq u ir e . "Did T h ere Ever Come a Point in Time When There Were Fo r ty - T h r ee Different T heorie s about Watergate? Yes. lo (he Best of Our Re collection." is a v e ry helpful general s o u r c e , especially for those who su sp e et a connection beiw een "Watergate" and Ihe a ssass in atio n s of Ihe K ennedys, Malcolm X, M artin Lulh er Kin g. e tc . But tor a rea l c hill Bee "Mae B r u s s e ll's Consp ira cy N ew sle tter In Ihe March (?) 1974 Rea l i s t , as well ae ''Who Is Organiz ed Crim e and Why Are T hey Saying Such Awful T h in g s Aboul I t . same is su e . Glen A. Love and Rhoda M. Love. Ecological C r is i s : Readings for S u r v iv a l. H arcourt. $4 ( p a p e r ) . A quic k way lo catc h u p on some b a d stuff. F our b u e k s well sp e n t. William L eiss. T h e Domination of N atu re . B r a tille r . S7. For a d a z z lin g , romantic and optim istic view of the f u tu r e , see Dimensions of Change by Don Fa bun (Glencoe P r e s s , 15 in p s p e r ) . T he P u lurlsl m agazin e goes oul to m embers of Ihe World F u tu re Socie ty . An Association for T h e Study of A lte rnative F u t u re s . Post Office Box 30369. Beth esda B ra n ch . W ashington. DC 20014. The magazine use d to b e prett y sa p p y and opUmlatlc. bui se em s lo be a c q u ir in g so phis tication. A o n a l d K o t u l a k , The L i f e b o a t b t h i c . * C h i c a g o T r i b u n e M a g a z i n e , 28 A p r 7 4 ,

Cousteau sa ys Ihe oceana a re dyin g a lot f aster th a n he antic ipated - - and giv es mankind fifty y e a r s after life ends Ihere.

IBM IS BULLISH ON THE FUTURE Lewis M. Branscomb. who has the awe some lille of Chief Scientist of IBM, ha s been giv in g numerous talk s rec entl y tha l aeem to be dir ec te d against pessimism r e su ltin g from the Club of Rome etu dle s. "'On the s h o u ld e r s of ths Informstlen p roce ssin g community r e s t s Ihe r esponsi bility for convin cing th e p ublic thal we have the to ols. If 11 ha s th e wUl. u> addrea a (he complex aysts m a management problem s of Ihe f u t u r e .' Branscomb sa id . "'More than any o lh e r profession o u r community can r esto re Ihe pu b lic 's confidence that from Ihe limited resource s of Ihe world can be fash ioned a life of well-managed a bundance for a l l .' he conclu ded." (Keynote a p e e c h , ACM 73. quoted In C om puierw orld. 5 Sep 73. p . 4 .)

Bul even if e veryth in g e lse w ere all r ig h t, th e Bre ede r Reactors a re su r e to gel u s . 1 re f e r lo those w onder machines lhal Ihe e lec tric com p a nies are callin g Clean Energy for the Future. Whal ia nol explained with su ch slo g a n s is that b r e e d e r r ea cio rs nol only cre ate e n e r g y , they c re a te atomic w aate. bree d in g new fias lonable m alarial-* inclu din g plutonium. Plutonium ia well named for the ged of hell. Chemically a pois on and radloacllvely a h o r ro r , il does nol go away; w h erev e r we pul il. it will get back

The mere radiation from ihe atomic crap is h a rd ly the problem . The radio activ e poisons a re g e ttin g Into the oceana. They are gettin g Into Ihe clean waiers of the la nd. (A December 1973 newa re p o r t, for Insls nc e. reve ale d lhal a 1968 lesk of redloactlve chemicals was inlo th e w a te r aupply of Bloomfield, Colorado.) Now. atomic e n th usia sts call ii a Disposal Problem, like th e questio n of where to bury the g a rba ge. But It's a ve ry different problem . W herever we pul It. It will come back. The see? No. that'll be poisoned a lte r the con tainers go. Deep wells? T h e mountains? But Ihere is no place thal can not be guara nteed against earth q u ak e and re* c y clin g . It will come back. T hough dozens of ge nerations mlghl surviv e ll, ii will be wailing.

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Donn ella H. Me adow*. Dennis L. M e ado w s. J d r g e n Ra n tie rs an d William W. B e h r en s III, T h e Limits lo Growili: A Report for THE CLUU OF ROME'S Project on th e Pr e d ic a mcfil of M a n k in d . U niv e rs e Bo oks, p a p e r , J2 .7 S . FOLKS DON'T NEED THESE LTL SHMOOS! - THEY ALREADY GOT ONE TH' BIGGEST SHMOO OK A L L - TIT EAHTH, ITSELF! JE ST LIKE THESE LI'L SIIMOOS. IT 'S READY T'CIVE EV'RYBODY EV'RYTHINO THEY NEED?! EF ONLY FOLKS STOPPED A-FIGHTIN', AN' A-GRABBIN' - THEY'D REE-LIZE THET THIS SHMOO-- T H ' EARTH-GOT PLENTY O' EVERYTHING-FO' EV'RYBODY.'!" - - Li'l A b ner attr ib ute d lo K urt V onneg ut , J r . (Al C a pp, T h e Life and T im e s of T h e S h m o o , Pocket Bo ok s. 1949, p p . 121-122.)

P, My f e e l i n g f r a n k ly ia t h i s . T h a t y o u know I - t h in k i n , t o n i g h t a s I m b making up ny notes f o r t h i s l i t t l e t a l k , you know, w hat t h e h e l l , i t * ! l d r a m a t i c , b u t i t n t o t a l l y tr u e t h a t w h at happen# in th i s o ffice i n t h e n e t f o u r y e a r a w i l l proba b l y d e t e r m i n e w h eth er th e r e i t a c h a n c e , a n d i t ' s n e v e r been don, t h . t y o u c o u l d ha v e sow . s o r t o f an u n e aa y p e a c e f o r th e n e x t 25 y e ars. E. Uti h u h . Apr 73.)

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T echnolo gy i s i n e x p re s s io n f m a n's dream s. I f man did Ht I n d u lg e M s f if r ta S l ^ T . Tils th o u g h ts a lo n e Mould I n h i b i t the develo pm ent o f te ch n o lo g y I t s e l f . A n cien t v i s i o n a r i e s spoke of d i s t a n t ti m es and p l a c e s , where men f le w a ro und and a b o u t, and some c ould s e e each o t h e r a t g r e a t d i s t a n c e . The te c h n o l o g ic a l r e a l i t i e s of to da y a re a lre a d y o b s o l e t e and th e f u t u r e of te c h n o lo g y i s bound o nly by th e l i m i t s o f o u r dreams. Modern communic atio ns media and in p a r t i c u l a r e l e c t r o n i c media a re ou tg ro w th s and e x te n s i o n s of th ose s e n s e s which have become dom in ant in o u r s o c i a l de veloim ent.

F o r e v e r y d r e a m . m a ny d e ta i ls a n d i n t r i c a c i e s h a v e to b e w h ittle d a n d i n t e r l o c k e d . T h e i r jo in t r am ifica tio n s muat b e d e e p ly u n d e r s t o o d b y I h e p e r s o n w ho i s t r y i n g to c r e a t e w h a l e v e r - l t ' i s . E a c h c o nfa bulation of p o s s ib i liti e s t u r n s o u t to h a v e th e most I n trica te a n d e x a c tly d e t a i l e d r e s u l t s . ( T h is i s w h y I am so ir r i t a t e d by t h o s e w h o t h in k " e le c t ro n i c media " a re all a l i k e .) A nd e a c h p o ssib le com b in a tio n y o u ch o o se h a s d if f e r e n t p r e c is e s t r u c t u r e s im p lic it in it, a r r a n g e m e n t s a n d u n its w h ic h (low from th e a e r a m i fi e d d e ta i ls . Im plicit in R a dio l u r k th e T im e S lot a n d th e P r o g r a m . But m a n y o f th e s e p o s s ib i liti e s rem a in u n n o tic e d o r u n s e e n , f o r a v a r i e t y o f soc ia l o r eco nomic r e a s o n s . Why d o e s il m atter? II m a tte rs b e ca u ee w e liv e In m e d i a , a s f is h liv e in w a t e r . (Many p e o p le a r e p r i s o n e r s o f th e m e d ia , many a r e m a n lp u la to r a , a n d m a ny w a n l to u a e them to c om m unic ate a r t i s t i c v i s i o n s . ) B u t to d a y i al thia m om ent, w e c a n a n d m ja t d e s i g n Ihe m e d ia , d e a ig n th e m o le c u le s of o u r n e w w a t e r , a n d I b e lie v e Ihe d e ta i ls of t h ia d e s i g n m a tte r v e r y d e e p ly . T h e y w ill b e w ith u s for a v e r y lo n g tim e, p e r h s p s a s long a s m a n h a s left; p e r h a p s i f th e y a r e a s good aa th e y c a n b e . man m ay e v e n b u y more l i m e ' - o r th e o p e n - e n d e d f u t u r e most s u p p o s e r e m a in s . (Se e " E n d g a m e , P . t * .) S o in th e a e p a g e s I hope to o r i e n t y o u so m e w h a t to v a r io u s of th e p r o p o s e d d r e a m s . T h i a ia m e a n t a ls o to r e c o r d th e e ff o rts of a few B r e w s t e r M c C lo u d s, e a c h t i n k e r in g to w a rd som e new flight of fanc y in h is own s e n s o a r iu m . B ut b e a r in min d th a t h a r d - e d g e d f an ta sy i 6 Ihe c o r n e r o f tom orrow . T h e g r e a t A m e ric an d r e a m of te n be com e s th e g r e a t A m e ric a n n o v e lty . A fte r w h ic h i t ' s a c hoic e of s t y l e , s iz e s n d f in a n c in g p la n . T h e most e x c it in g t h in g s h e r e a r c those t h a l in v o lv e c om pute rs: n o ta b ly , b e c a u s e c o m p u t e r s will e m b ra c e d in e v e r y p r e a e n ta tio n a l me dium a n d th o u g h tf u l me dium v e r y s o o n . T h a t 's w h y th is a id e ia w e d d e d lo Ihe o th e r: i f you w a n l to u n d e r s t a n d c o m p u t e r s . y o u c a n take t h e f ir s t s te p by t u r n i n g th e book o v e r . 1 f ig u r e t h a t th e more you know a bout c o m p u te r s e s p e c ia l ly a b o u t m inicom puters a n d Ihe w ay o n - l i n e s y s te m s c an r e s p o n d to o u r s li g h te s t a c t s - - th e b e tte r y o u r im a gin a tion can flow be tw ee n Ihe t e c h n i c a li t i e s , c a n a lide th e p a r t s to g e t h e r , c a n d i s c e r n Ihe s h a p e s o f what you w ould ha v e th e s e t h i n g s do . T h e c o m p u te r is nol a lim itle ss p a r t n e r , b u l 11 is d e e p l y v e r s a til e ; to w o rk w ilh il we muat u n d e r s ta n d w hat ll can d o , th e o p tio n s a n d t h e c o sts. My s p e cia l c o n c e r n , all too lig h t ly fra m e d h e r e , i s th e u se of c o m p u te rs lo h e lp p e o p le w r i t e , th in k a n d s how . Bul I th i n k p r e a e n is tlo n b y c o m p u te r is a b r s n c h of show b i s a n d w r i tin g , nol of p sy c h o lo g y , e n g in e e r i n g o r p e d a g o g y . T h i s w ould b e Idle d is p u t a ti o n if It d i d n o l ha v e f a r - r e a c h i n g c o n s e q u e n c e s for th e d e s i g n s of th e s y s ie m s we a r e all g o in g to h a v e to liv e w ith . Al w o r s t , I fe a r th e se may lock u s in ; a t b e s t . I hope Ihey c an f u r t h e r th e in d i v i d u a l i s t i c t r a d i tio n s of lit e r a t u r e , film a n d s c h o l a r s h i p . Bul w e m usl c r e a te o u r b r a v e new w o r l d s w ith a r t . z e s t , in te lli g e n c e , a n d Ihe h ig h e s t p o s s i b l e id e a l6 . I h a v e nol m e ntioned th e e m o tio n s. Movie6 a n d b o o k s . m usic and e v e n a r c h i t e c t u r e h a v e for a ll of u s b e e n p a r t of im p o r ta n t em o tio n a l m om ents . T h e sa m e i6 goin g lo h a p p e n w ith Ihe n e w m e d ia . T o w o r k al a h ig h ly r e s p o n s i v e c o m p u t e r d is p l a y s c r e e n , for I n s ts n c e . c an b e d e e p ly e x c i t i n g , l ik e f ly in g an a irp l a n e t h r o u g h a c a n y o n , o r t a lk in g to somebody b r i l l i a n t . T h ia i s aa it sh o u ld b e . ("T h e r e a s o n i s . a n d by l i g h t a o u g h t to b e , sla v e lo Ihe e m o llo n a ." - - B e r t r a n d R u s s e l l . ) In Ihe d e s ig n o r o u r f u tu r e m e d ia a n d s y s te m s , w e sh o u ld not s h r i n k fro m t h i s e m otional a s p e c t s s a legitim ate p a r t of o u r f a n ti c ( s e e p . ) d e sig n . T h e s u b s tr a tu m of t e c h n i c a liti e s a n d (he m in d - b e n d in g , g u t- a la m m ln g e ff e c ts Ihey p r o d u c e , a r e two s id e s of th e sa m e c o in ; a n d lo u n d e r s t a n d th e one i s nol n e c e s s a r i l y to be a lie n a te d from th e o th e r . T h u s il Is for Ihe W holine ss o f t h e hum a n s p i r i t , th a l we m usl d e s i g n .

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A ll rig ilte rese rv e d . T h i s i s th e ( lip a id e o t C o m p u te r L i b , (P e e l f r e e io b e g in h e r e . T h e o t h e r s id e Is j u s t If y o u w a n l to know more a b o u t c o m p u t e r s , w h ic h a r e c h a n g e a b l e d e v i c e s for t w id d li n g s y m b o ls . O th e r w is e s k i p i t . ) (B u t If y o u c h a n g e y o u r min d It m ig ht b e fu n lo b r o w s e . )

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L*dis and lenttemen. (he age ol liahing is al >ul to befin. Palpitating proenialka , r a ttn -ia ib k M . will ir daire, makinj manif a l (he many mysteries of winding wisdom. Bul if m ore lo ichuoaniB an increaiungly brutal and dtiagJCgable world, we mual step up o u efforts. And we must hurry Hurry. Slap right up. Theodor' M. Jela o n , " 3 a m u n - T r o n ic e . " Sugrth n o rc ' z l l e w A lw v .i B u l l e t i n . >. iS-35.

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Next in computer hobbyism i t il l obviously be th e Computer Van. A Iready vane came w ith sn iv e l throne8, fo u r-tra c k stereo, color TV; eo t h i s n ex t step ie obvious. But most important, recreational v e h ic le s can be purchased on very long tim eplane, sometimes seven years. (HITS has a demo van w ith A l ta ir , floppy d is k , lin e p rin te r. I t d rives around showing o ff. But th e y 'll s e l l you one lik e i t fo r a t r i f l i n g $29,000.) How fo r m obile operation we redo the power su p p ly ...

1 9 7 5 may b e t h o u g h t o f a s t h e y e a r I n w h ic h th e co m p u te r unde rg ro u n d s u d d e n ly a p p e a re d in f u l l fo rce. The A l t a i r w as p r o b a b l y t h e b i g c r y s t a l l i z i n g e v en t. Not th a t t h e r e w a s n 't a c o u n te r c u l tu r e be fo re. T h ere were th e g a m e s - p la y e r s a t e v ery u n i v e r s i t y , t h e p r a n k p r o g ra m m e rs ( s e e p . 4 8 - 9 ) , a n d , w h e r e v e r co m p u ters a r e t h e c e n t e r o f t h i n g s , a Shared e x p erien c e o f a i s c h ^ i e f an d b rea k th ro u g h . T h e r e w a s Co m pu te r p e o p l e f o r P e a c e , a c l i q u e y and u n a p p ro a c h a b le g ro u p w ith b o o t h s a t t h e con f e r e n c e s ( a t l e a s t , t h e i r b a c k s w e re a lw ays t u r n e d when you w an ted t o a s k q u e s t i o n s ) . T h e r e w as t h e h o h b y f r i n g e . B u t now i t ' s go ne d i f f e r e n t . In ste ad o f p r e t e n t i o u s company na mes m e a n t t o a p p e a l t o o b tu s e b u s in e s s m e n , l i k e P e rfo rm a n c e M easurem ent S y s t o n s C o n s u l t a n t s G ro u p and B o t t o m - L i n e - T r o n i c s , t h e new c o m p a n i e s ha v e r o c k - g r o u p n a m e s l i k e G e n e r a l T u r t l e , I n c . , T h e S p h e r e a n d L o v in g G r a c e C y b e r n e t i c s . I n t h i s new c o m p u t e r c o u n t e r c u l t u r e , t h e m a i n c o m p u te r c a n p a n i e s a r e n o t IBM a n d H o n e y w e ll a n d U n i v a c , b u t DEC a n d H ITS a n d Gen e r a l T u r t l e ; t h e s t a n d a r d c o m p u te r i s n o t t h e 370, b u t t h e 11 ( o r p o s s i b l y t h e A l t a i r o r t h e 8 ) . The s t a n d a r d l a n g u a g e i s n o t F o r t r a n o r A l g o l o r P L / I , b u t BASIC. In ste ad o f t h e b ig c o lo r W t h a t m i d d l e A m e ri c a w a n t s , t h e u n d e r g r o u n d co n p u t e r n i k d r e a m s o f h i s own g r a p h i c s e t u p f o r e v e r r u n n i n g The Game o f L i f e i n c o l o r ( s e e p p . 4 8 - 9 a n d p i e p . DM26). (of c o u rse t h a t ' l l a la o re q u i r e t h e c o l o r TV; s e e " B i t M a p s , p . Z .) In su c h a w o rld , co m p u te rs a r e n o t a t o o l b u t a way o f l i f e . T hu c o m p u t e r i s t o y , p e t , c h e c k e r b o a r d , m u s i c bo x a n d TV. C o m p u te r s a r e f o r m a k in g m u s i c , c o m p u t e r s a r e f o r g e t t i n g p e o p l e t o g e t h e r v i a c o o m u n ity memor y, c o m p u t e r s a r e f o r l e t t e r - w r i t i n g , c o m p u t e r s a r e f o r a r t a n d m o v ie m a k in g a n d t h e a n i m a t e d d e c o r a t i o n o f t h e heme. C o m p u te r s a r e f o r g a m e s ; a v a s t number o f i n t e r a c t i v e g a m e - p r o g ra m s a r e p u b l i s h e d and sw apped a round. A lm o s t a l l a r e i n t h e BASIC la n g u a g e . (Bob A l b r e c h t ' s W HAT TO DO AFTER YOU HIT RETURN i s s a i d t o b e d e f i n i t i v e - - $ 7 . 5 0 f ro m P e o p l e ' s C om puter Com pany, 1 91 9 M e n a l t o A v e . , M e n lo P a r k CA 9 4 0 2 S . S e e a l s o t h e i r m a g az in e PCC, a s w e l l a s S i m u l a t i o n a n d G am in g N ewa.) PLATO g a m e s , a som ew hat d i f f e r e n t s u b s p e c i e s , a r e d i s c u s s e d o n p . DM27. T he u n d e r g r o u n d c o m p u te r m a g a z i n e s ha v e b e come a b l i z z a r d ( s e e b o x ) . A l b r e c h t ' s s p r i g h t l y a n d s u c c e s s f u l PCC, o r i g i n a l l y o r i e n t e d to w a rd h i g h a n d g r a d e s c h o o l s , h a s now b r a n c h e d I n t o h o b b y i s t s a s w e l l . On t h e h a r d w a r e s i d e t h e r e i s T he C o m p u te r H o b b y i s t , a n d now a s l i c k new ho bb y m a g a z in e . B y te / w i t h a f i r s t p r i n t i n g o f 5 0 ,0 0 0 . On t h e e d u c a t i o n a l s i d e t h e r e i s a s w e l l new m a g az in e c a l l e d C r e a t i v e C o m p u tin g . T h e n t h e r e i s t h e C o n in u n it y Memory m o v a a e n t. T h e b a s i c i d e a o f Com munity Memory i s t o h a v e a co m p u te r re s o u r c e o f in fo rm a tio n and i d e a s , conm anly a v a i l a b l e . I n i t s mo re g l o r i f i e d a n d mys t i c a l f o r m , t h e i d e a se e m s t o b e t o h a v e a p l a c e , i n s i d e t h e c o n p u t e r , w h ere in f o r m a t i o n c an be s h a r e d b y The P e o p l e , f r e e o f I n s t i t u t i o n a l o b s t r u c t i o n o r th e p r o f i t m o tiv e. T h is v is io n i s p e rh a p s u n c le a r t o o th e rs b e s id e s the a u th o r, b u t i t a t t r a c t s a v a rie ty o f p e o p l e i n t e r e s t e d i n some f o rm o f g r a s s r o o t s r e v i t a l i z a t i o n o f our o o c ie ty . Some o f t h e s e a r e d i s i l l u s i o n e d s i x t i e s r a d i c a l s w ho l o o k t o 'c o m m u n ity o r g a n iz a t io n " a s a b u i l d i n g b lo c k f o r a new s o c i e t y ; o t h e r s a r e i n t e r e s t e d i n mo re n u t s a n d - b o l t s a p p l i c a t i o n s , s u c h a s t r y i n g t o make b a r t e r a v i a b l e e c o n o m i c f o rm a g a i n , i n a n u r b a n s o c i e t y w i t h many n o n s t a n d a r d l e f t o v e r s , s k i l l s and w ants( P r e s u m a b ly t h i s w o u l d w o rk b y h a v i n g t h e co m p u te r f i n d p a i r s o f p e o p le w i t h m a tc hing w a n ts a nd t r a d a b l e s ; o r even s e a r c h o u t p o t e n t i a l tr a d e s around m u lti-p e rs o n r i n g s . ) T h e f i r s t o f t h e s e s y s t e m s w as R e s o u r c e O n e, i n S a n F r a n c i s c o ; I saw a n o t h e r C oo nn un ity Memory i n V a n c o u v e r , w h ic h e e a n e d to b e i n p r a c t i c e a s o r t o f a n im a ted c l a s s l f i e d - a d s y s t o n . A u se r s i t t i n g a t t h a t e r m i n a l c a n p u t i n a d s o f h i s own, and c a n s e a r c h th ro u g h th e e n t i r e f i l e f o r key w ords o f i n t e r e s t . As t h e r e i s n o c e n s o r s h i p , scone r a t h e r s u r p r i s i n g t h i n g s g e t I n t h e r e , f o r w h i c h I w i s h we had r o a n . (A n e w s l e t t e r o f s u c h p r o j e c t s , C o m n un it y C o n n u n l c a t i o n B , i s b e i n g s t a r t e d b y L ee F e l s e n s t e i n . L o v in g G ra c e C y b e r n e t i c s , 1 8 0 7 D e l a w a r e S t . , B e r k e l e y CA 9 4 7 0 3 .) E v e n f o r t h o bo c o n i n g a new i n t o t h e f i e l d t h e r a d i o hams a n d a m a t e u r t e l e s c o p e m a k e r s w h o 'v e l a i d t h e i r M a ste r C ha rge c a r d s o n t h e l i n e f o r t h e A l t a i r c o m p u t e r s r e p r e s e n t a new s o c i a l l i f e . A m a t e u r c o m p u t e r c l u b s h a v e d r a w n s t a r t l i n g num b e r s : f o r i n s t a n c e , t h e L os A n g e l e s a n d San F r a n c i s c o g r o u p s a r e c u r r e n t l y p u l l i n g 1 0 0 members to t h e i r w ee kly m e e tin g s . ( In San F r a n c i s c o , con t a c t Fred M o o r e , 5 58 S a n t a C r u z A v e n u e , Menlo P a r k CA 9 4 0 2 5 . ) T h i s b o o k ai*3 i t s s u r p r i s e s u c c e s s p r o b a b l y r a t e m e n t i o n o f some s o r t i n t h e w o r l d o f u n d e r g r o u n d c o m p u te rd o m , ' 7 4 - 7 5 ; a l t h o u g h my u n d e r g r o u n d s t a t u s may be i n j e o p a r d y . I had in te n d e d t o b y p a s s t h e co n p u ter e s ta b l is h m e n t, and c e r t a i n l y n o t e x p e c t e d t o becom e a s s i m i l a t e d t h e r e i n ; so t h e d o z e n s o f u n i v e r s i t y c l a s s a d o p t i o n s h a v e come a s a c o n s i d e r a b l e s h o c k , a s h a v e t h e a c c e p t a n c e a n d l e g i t i m a t i o n I ha d l o n g s i n c e g i v e n up on. My h e a r t f e l t t h a n k a f o r t h i s r e s p o n s e , and I l l t r y t o l i v e up t o i t . (How i s d i s c u s s e d o n p . Z , l a s t c o lu m n . ) B u t f o l k s , t h i s a l l i s t h e m e re s t b eg in n in g . A s i t s a y s on d i a m e t r i c a l l y t h e o t h e r s i d e , p . 3, COMPUTERS BELONG TO ALL HANJOND-

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t e l l , tte a n ti- tr u s t t r i a l of IW is undarmy. In an awkmrd s ta r t, opposing lead etto rreys aecuaed each othar e l professional aisconduct. placing both te n 's careers under s cloid as th* fight began. Tte way i t cmes through in th* trade preta th* coverteant a m * to be p ulling punches and Biasing the point e l what Ita own w l t n a a s *ay. A large-scal* boteh aay be in progress. (Tte cmpajter liduatry Association, or IBH-haters club, e tfa rs transcripts ef the IW t r i a l , aa m i l aa dally sia asrlss. Tte group's headquartera ere ibw a t 1911 N. Port Heyer Drive, teeel) what is tte point of I t a ll? Th* Ju a tim M pertm nt Is seeking to break up IBM (Aceor. d lte to one theory. I t note* point* a fte r the ITT-Kartford bualneee.I Ttere le a lo t of e i^ e re tltlo n about IW when t te Juatlce Departeent announced i t w uld p io a c u te . But why? Heah wiener, editor ef C oautar Declelona. think a im w ill be broken up: "The Jgatice Department wanta I t . and IW wants I t , and the stockholder* w ill Bake m re money. They've a lra d y drawn tha dotted U nee.' A key queatlon ia what difference I t would make. (Remember what happened e lte r they broke up standard oil? Hot auch.) A phony breakup would a ltely a k e the d ifferen t dlvlalon* into d ifferen t cv^anies. la v in g the product line a p llt tould in l a a way foster c ^ e t l t l e n asong the daughter corporations. But idiat way? overwhela litig ato rs by the quantity of documnte supplied, aany ol whleh are atered on c o ^u te ra in f u ll-ta a t term. To give you en I d a of the hiamgou* magnitudes Involved, a e flguree Juet caae up in recent lltlgatlo ai with sandara Aaeocieus. sanderc Is suing IW. and recently aeked IB how aany documents IW had M th a t were 'p ertinent' to tte c at*. Tte reply: "Active f lle a , approrinately 906,054,000 pegeai inactive llle s , approalmately 421.6S0.000 pages. altarmath ol a suit byC o ntro l Data, in which m s e ttlt e . m s th* destruction of the g r a t ll deass which had been conatructed to the vaat t il e l IW '* recerd*i the Indaa la gone end unavellTo a lo t ef people thle Juat aema co have

On page S3 of th ia took I aay> *1 hope te te able to rep art in future editlana of thle book th a t IW to* aoved firmly and credibly m a r t aaking it* syetm a c lea r and elaple te use, with out raqulrlng laborlou* attentio n te n e e d le a ^ a p llcatlona and oppressive r ltu a la .' Thl* haa ln fac t occurred, and I ao rep ort. In an earth-ehaking anteuncmaat la January, IBM to ta lly reversed the policy e f Ita u ^ n c a i dlvlalon for the le s t ten yeara. Tat te Jaded la tha preea th a t th le event te a not, 1 think, proparly recognised. Aatoundlng aa I t aay te frm tte c^^any that gave the world JCL and the m /ST, In January IW atepperi in to the world ef eay eo v u ters, bringing( out tha 6yatm/32, a a i n l e ^ u t e r fer buslnaaa. You een only rent I t ea as Interactive term inal, with a progcaa ereatad by IBH which cannot be mdj fled (called an Industry Application Package or 1 AP). But tte e e l i t t l e png'*** praept users atsp-by-*tep throwfh what they are auppoaad to be doing, and apprently are very clear and helpful This about-face i s In aeny wsys gratlfyLi^ fer them of ua who have teen advocating easy, acreen-tesed *ystm s for y ters and years. At Ion la a t I t give* i n * "lagltiaacy" to B inicovuters * for bualneee, and I t helpe co^anies th at already provide such serv ices, such aa Baalc/Four. I t w ill ba in te restin g to a e if IW knows tew te Bake thing* elaple, conaldaring the ezperlenee they have lavished <n the opposite policy. Anyway, with th is aove 1 teuld a y th at IBH haa purged it a e l l of a t l a s t 30% of ita discernible e v il, i f th ia begins a real change. A de lic ate p n b lm w ill r e a trlc t the Im ae t of the }3 l t a e l f , hotever. That is th at IBH wantB I t only as a gateway t s I ts big cosaiterei * prssm ably. I f uaers were allowed to progrm I t , they'd find tey* out of having to ua* the biggie.

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Mien Xerox Cerperatlon entered t te c vputar Dutlneie a few yeere ego, i t am uncod that I t a a g e l* to ch allag e IW h*ad-to-lad for dmioatKai e f the <*ele broad field of information, whatever **** 1,1 lecoa Bade eeplere. but aaa t t e haodwriting on the driai eventually tha h a id lii^ of w ritten Baterlale w ild croae over in te the u tlng raalaj fow are cure In what way. (For three luture direetlona that have been propoaad, aee Engelbert, pp. &M46-7, PU tn, pp. U126-7, and Xanadu1*, pp. BK56-7.) Ttw la a t July laeue of C ^ u terw o rld In ' 7S. tCTMver, tolled of Kerox'e ahai^naent ef the cmputer lle ld . Specifically, lo r e i w ill atop Baking ----^Jter* thmaelve*. though they e t l l i w in Bake Y). The news n i preaanted In tha fraaework ef ^ grand tragedy, tha P m t t e a n collapae ef overeatanded otbltlon*. Evidently leros B anag^ nt puehed toe hard ln tte Incmpatible direction building alsoly for the eventual challarqe of la t. ve. ahowlng p rofit* gulekly. The llrm f e ll be tween the te a t and tha deck. Joining D A aid Gen C eral E lectric and the othar big c m ^ n lee th at found they couldn't Bake i t e e llin j c a r t e r * . But l e r a 1* not a* far out of t te field aa a a a eight think. In a aecret muntain hideaway t e l l , im UK c ra t Xeroa a t l l l haa parhape tha aharpest tench ef c ^ ^ u te r raaeala in the world. And thay ara planting way tap ahead, ta the t im amputate are practically free. If I arm give* th m tte lr head, aid deean't eut hack, the csrpcracias will have l i t t l e trouble In trli*phantly returning to the field five or ten yeara I rm m , o n c tlfab ly kneeking IW off it* feet In the now aarheta ef th a t day with a karate-like rwvep. Thle Place of Powwr le eallad le ro i Palo Alto Raaarch Cm ter, or lerea PARC, and l u < t e i |M n o f California Mellw ^ n a i a l e ^ the unwary. 1 epeke there e few year* ago and found It buey volleyball gate outalda when I arrived, aid whan I aaked for the poreen I a e goliq to eee. the reeeptlonporeen aald te pull up a baanbag aid wait t i l l he had flnlehed playlr^ v o lle y te ll. lurniehed only with a m untain o l theae hoanbag aacke. Ae people cate in, they would pull beantega o ff the m untain and a it down on th m . So ta r te good 1 California Mellow. So 1 wont Into ay rap, and everybody aat llatOTlng. 1 had nc Idea if 1 wet getting through, since what I try tc te ll people begin* where technology atepe-- m ral precept*, ae i t ware, te r organiring idee* and ryet t e in the world e l the future (eee th le wlsle O H aide)-- I 'a uaed to people looking confuaed, or m rrled , or angry, or even walking e u t. There wa* none of th a t. W 1 getting through? or were they a* everybody following thi*?* There were m ile* end I think eaaeena aald, "We're with you. Ted." And they were. I t waa the oatly pleea I'v e ever spoken where the audience wa* on the U M wavelength, going straight on Into syetma Deaign

lead coteuter of choice Z n | a p h le tle a tm . (Tte F w -ii ta alao a ttra c tin g considerable LoInatance. r l r i t t a t l m l City Mak ef la a a t l n g a nBteork or U/45a.) lock

ta r to tu q In i l i t , geiulnely, I r a tha tloy to tha grand. Durin) tha la a t ala rnntha, DK haa brought gut tha m a lla a t ol tha Una, the LSI-11, a ll on board tha a it* o l a th a n of typteriter paper- lor SIX HIKDKED ATO r i m IXSJARS. That Inclteea tha lu ll c o t t a r u l 4K of volatile feet r y . aa a l l aa b u ilt-in daboggar. I t not quit* tha lu ll e tery . Thle LSI-11 la without p o a r aupply aid without unibua. In deed, I t h w that tha LSI-11 happme to ha newieed laat ( a ll , which coats J 0 with juver supply aid Onltee. ib fro n t panal. Tha enpearana o l a rtely to tha grand MIT5 aixounco. n t of January (aaa p. ) . Capecially whan It a tte a a id . ('Buying clube* a n being (mrnal with tha Ida* ol poollte resources for eha quantity p r i m aa "Cheap C a r t e r s ,* p. V.) (Sophisticate* In ta r a ta d In putting tha LSI-11 in other equijmant have baan quick to In which you Bay Insert tha B th at glvee yea floating point la vary cheap optloo), Por tteee of u who diydriH about unumal luactla&a, auch aa H at ( m a u l s ) or graphice or tha llk, thia 'T*nli] la vary auggeatlvei with accoas t= tha alcroprogim instruction*. a d lf te rm t KH could te pot in for f u t l ^ l w . t a t l c n e l teatever i t m n te d -- aad your p r o ^ r a m i d uaa for your nalarloue purpeea tha binary o s a t e a ordlnarlly n a i m d lor flo ating point.) IMille ha aay oot ba abla te deal with that, Danlal 1 Lawi* at DC la Bolling Headews. i l l . ) .. At tha high and of tha lin a , a bl R>P-11-tha mdel ?*-- haa boas anvailed, m a ilin g a lu ll 31-bLt a ichlnt, In tha huidred-tteoaanddollar claee, with cacb* am ery and tia a -a te r ite (hit what ol tha van blggar PDP-11 aodal 65. aaan In the Harltere plant under yet aiethar operating syatte? w ill le Been that a l l tha tiae? Ah. pity that nothing can ha said about Hultlple oparating l y i t w aro. indeed. tha tana e l tha PDP-11 lin a. Hot only ara there Dec'a own. like RSTS, RT-11. DOS and RSa, idileh aufler f rm a lack of f l l a e ate atiblllcy and but m thora haa arlaan a lac grander oparating

But HITS took I t aerloualy, and o lte ra d with tha A ltaic e m a l l te c esaplete llo a of i n f l a l f , dlak*. p r lo ta re , Interface* , aed, m e t Iaportant, a e rrlc e f a c lllt le e . Tbe ( I n bad lm ovated before, notably whao chay brought out tho l l r e t teBd-beld c elcu laco r aoveral yeara te ro r e . Juet ae thay c o rre c tly antlcipB e^ cbat dmaad, tbay foraaaw th le ooe. They alao cteea uo errli^ ly cbe r lfb c a r kat to b q lo 00: e lec tron ic bobbylete aod k l t bulldere. The klt-aakac enjoy* tbe challenge or b ulldlof e m cblaa (roa only a d la ir m and a boa ef p a ita ; aod co be far fro a a ropalraan to Ida m te rre ra for bla, for (>a ^e the r a p a lr Tba price drop waa oot ae d r a m tlc aa 1c a lth t aem to the te o aral public: oor le tha cputer quite ea cheap a* i t l a m a t f lre c fiance. Contrary to a public lap reaaion. c re a ta j by ISI a a l a Middled preaa over the yeare. chat cmputara ara toga aod coat a llllo o a ef dollara, very food coaputere have been a v a ila ble lately lor e couple ol tbouaaod, oot cmindn g accaeaoilee. hit tha accaaaorlee preaeot a p reb lm . On th et ecere, tbe apparent rock-b ottm p rice of tha A ltalr m y have bees alaleadlng, aapaclally to U c-b u lld e re. A coapuiar I te e ll la a lla ^ dlahrag without eaaory, te ra ina l* aod program*-- a ll of which pad the ceec of tha packaae. By the tia e youve added 61 Barry. a Caroloal aad BASIC aoftware to your k itbullc A lta lr, a tbouaaod d ellare hae (1mm (11400 if you buy I t already aeeeabled). Then 1< you want t te dlak (aad who d o e e e 't), th a t'e at laaat f ifte e n hundred m re. Kow k lt-bu lld era Juat e ta rc ln t my not aaa tha point of a ll cheae Irlp p erlea ; Cbey pu ttr, ae cm le^ to real Ire the laBeeelty of I t a ll aay te a gradual aw kenlni. with aany happy aoldarlo) eaperlaocea 00 the way, Othara aay ba b>ou(hc up abort aa thay aeoae what Ihey're |e t t l n | Into. Thia la p artly e problm ef NITS' cry In* to reach two eonauaer (roupa a t ooce: the k i t builder, who Bay have thought a c ^ ^ u te r waa a who looka at the b o ttm lin e lo r the coat of Indeed, KITS' low prlcea aroot that low, W i t come to p rlea . they are about SOI atead hen of tha conventional c e ^ e tltlo n . For Inatanca. th e lr $5000 aetup (with Caraloa) end dlak) olght ba taken aa roughly equivalent te the DEC Claeelc a t around $10,000 (aee p. Y). But what you uaually pay for in th ia H e ld I* earvlce end fringe b m e flle . Tbe fundamnta l eaet, I t eame to ae, le wtather you caa < a hack co tbe co^any with your problm a. cuetm er*' c ^ u t e r cteublaa.) KITS' p rin c ip a l contribution le rae lly In the tteught they have given co th nlr m rkac. and the depth with which they ara aervlng i t . They no doubt e n tlc lpetad uadariall tb m (tea p. Y). But they aaa tha advantage In tb la : thay even give out th e ir Bailing H at te coapetltere who e a ll A lta lr for a quick buck; they appear co be thoroughly c om itted to full-apeccrm coavutar earvlea. In eight aontha, HITS haa gene frm twancy-flva to a hundred mployeaa and aeld OVOI m il TH U N COHPVmS, whlcb la am aO SA D thlng like t a or three percent ef the cmpucere In Aaerlca. Today, the electronic nut*; to-

H H A T U lU I
Aa I t happan*. t e know what IBK'e biggest neat aove w ill t e . I t 1* scaetM nj to te called tha Future sy stea (PS). PS w ill be a c t^ l e ta line e l ctaputars and c^aunicatlons techjilquas for th te , but th a t's a ll we knowj security 1* very tig h t. Supposedly TS ealata and la running' but what la it? All we know la that l u sched uled Introduction haa teen pushed hack f rm 1979 ta aaaetlae e fta r 1980. Anytey, I have acted a lo t e f a n y people what they thought FS m s going to te . and te re A ^ ^ l e t e l y aedular lin e ef c ^^ u tars and term lnala with a unlbua-type architec ture. (RUHD th ia would ellainate Ri A mlcrprogramed lin e of equlfvent. whose A to ta lly PL/1 systaa. A lin e of e q ulp un t with evsr-changing aicreprogrmaed "fan-dancs* intarfaeea, auch th a t no a b a t i n g mnufacturar can ever find eut what they are. (A charge by Kerb Creech and nmereu* A om pleta and l^ re g nable t e u l ayatm for a ll e y ate llc Information, which cen only t e keyed in te through IBC terainale proceeted on IBH te ^ u te r e , tranm itte d through I8H s a te llite s , and r a d eut through IBH term inale. (FACTi IBH tea applied fer a s a te llite .) T otally CTaepetible with ealating 370 hardware T utally lnc^te*tible with e alstite 370 hardmkea a le t of mney on edapters aid A lin e of pocket-slcad and p u ta b le aqulpMnt b u ilt around Magnetic Bubble Technology. uaa in te rac tiv e sefewera. (Thle would euddenly e l i a l a t e hundreda of thouaanda

tine; and that ia net a a t t a r of bigneaa. but the atyla of IBH'e control, Coteutere eteuld vete livea. and ehould help lighten our loeds and a lig h te n our ainde, clarifyiD g the ctvepleaItle e of everything- Unfortunately. iW 'e aethe c re atite rigid and oppraaalve and polntleaely c ea p lu systm s, fobbing thea off ae "eelantlflc the tectelquea d ise ased on pp. S2-S6 . People should te free to uee c a p i t a l aa they ouoht to te uaed. each in hla pereenal atyl of optlona and clarifying sereen graphica, rathe than each fm'eon and o ffice worker teing locked Into hie "tternly e llo tte d eandplle," ea ciMlnqe put i t . And that ia the preblm .

fe a iT

im o G W tW
Met re-

C V B e * C * p y 7 r
Cm ^ li-lwae a "cmputer hardw rltite analyals" booth. You wrote your nma on a card (Hollerith, natch) aid thia a a put through a e lo t. A ty p w rlte r (mrke d " IW ) p r ln tte e u t the *analy*l. I waan't th e re , but i t waa alaoat c ertainly a braaan fake. Preamably the typew rlur waa an ordinary Hag card S electric, Heaory Typewriter or t te lik e . The flatteu a e operator could eiaply chooM what he wanted the printout te say by ths insertion o l a card (on the termer) or the bwlat ol a d ia l (an the la tte r ) . In cid entally , while IW le probably the prin clpal ^ ^ lo y a r ef Dutchess County, we should net aatuae d ire c t coq>llclty. n I

Thie le obviously tha place te te ll you about Alan Kay and the Dynabook. Tte hotteet project a t keraa FAftc la Alan Kay'a Dynabeok, formerly the Kiddy ctsputer. A e lo ta e l pteple w ill te ll you, i t ' e going te ce*t five huidred dellere, be m a ll enovgh to carry erouid on a * heul^r atrap, have a b u ilt-in aciitrt, run on h a tta rle e, aid have a l l tha t e k e a kid wanta to read Irm tte acraen stored on a eaeeette. Aid the doe: T te y 'll kiock y^iu out. on a color TV screen, th e y 'll shew you a wildly chaining pageant e l toy soldier*, phetographa, te a u tilu l patterna, a ll generated by the eo^w ter In reel tia e (eee 'B it Maps." p. ? ). And I t you're into eosputere, theyl l aim you how a ll thl* 1* run by the beautiful 9ULLTAU languaga ( it waa previouel> eallad tte Kiddy C ^ iu ta r. rm m ber). which any b right child can learn and which ha* ama awfully Thare have baan a le t o l cena in tha c o ^uter So hsw cme xeroa le leaving tte cm pitar lleld? Answeri they're net te ae tly leavingi they're taking a break u ntil they can a e ll th le beauty for live huidred dollar*. Hhat'* tte delay? The Dynateek. or Kiddy Cteputar. 1* actually You're auppoeed to Laugh. A PDP-10 le a big c ^ iu t e r . tte te a t. (See pege 41.) A PDP-10 sy*t e s e t a hundreds of thouaanda o l d e lla n . But the l**t laugh w ill te K a ra '* . The way coafuter price* are dam, through Integ rata l c irc u its ever m re powerful end cheap, that POP-10 can te sold lor SS00 in . . . (cheek your Choice) __178 _1979 _1980 __1981 __19B2. (Interesting anecdote I the guy* a t xerea PA C R aaked te buy a PDP-10. but aanagmant hr id led, aeeing a* haw la rm wae ln t te eo v u ter bualteea and Bade o a p atltiv e aaehine*. So the te lla a , v th in g daunted, b u ilt tb a lr m , Thay BOdastly (Hotai tte above predictions are baaed, e l court*, on tha a s s ^ t i o n ef Haros aanagmant knowing what i t ' a dolitg. A sat^tlon a of thl* Cypa in t)a o a p u tar field a ll t te often turn eut a te

UNIX-- tha naae'e auggeatlveneea o l harm guard* la deceptive la raa lly tha eon ol H ITICS Iaaa p. 45). But i t waa flniehed In Mich lese time. Like Hultlcs. i t ' a a teauty. Lika Kultlca, i t waa programed in a hlgter language: tha language i t '* programed In, tn o v a r, la called a itely *C*. Tte language waa c ra te d by Brian Kernlghan. author o l a wldoly-praleed cotract programing exaieplee frta othar p o d ia 's aed in *C" by Xen T ta ^se n and Dennis Ritchie, unla ia a d n . Aaida f rm a ll tha usual of s p littin g . Each prograa csn thnw off coplaa ef i t a l f . which mn Independently and t l ^ * ogian language eallad S1 WLA. and alae appaara In Alan Kay's m a lw ale languaga a t Xeroa PASO regrettably, there ia no n r a to dleeuaa thaaa hara, (For Simula, aaa Ole-Johan Oahl and C.A.R. Dahl, Dl)kaLra Anl Hoara. structured Programing. Acad^ic Praia.) Thaaa iM turaa affectively change the character ol programing e o ^la te ly . For Inatance, te aivulate a niebtr of objacta I n te r a c t! ^ the p e g ra a can (pin o il a s p y el lta e lf lor every object, and t u h usyy (ilaleking the raal-aorld object). can then reapocd to Ita cvitlnually-changing e n v i n w n t aa required, in other word*. (Me typo of language aoaaa that aioiU ted than they ever did before. SDWU m eta $30,000, and, aa i t happna, tiona). Uolortunataly th ia raiaea certain grave gueetlone. eisea tha eal^hone cmpany (of tdileh M il u be le a branch) la not ruppoaad to ba Ln the c r^ u ta r programing bualnaaaj and theae who are in tbe butloeaa ara dlmayad by tM idea ol

(ob Albrecht, caliph of countarculcura c m puterdm. highly endoreea A ltalr Extended BASIC. Say* 11'a te r r if ic . The nals aarvlce cotter for A lta lr . haa been cbe Albuquerque factory, but tha f l r e t o l th elr regional aervlce eentara ha* now opened in Nathvllle. An A ltalr aaamblar la running on che FLAT0 H i l a (aee pp. B 06-7).

Haney Foy, t t i Sun never Sete on IW .

H ill L u Kedgere' Think ia eut In paperback, wit) Datametlon devoted large a c tio n * ef ita Pebruai

in

- f

WeiifrL'e

HAJOft PRWIS. " C ^ u te r a e re ee c t ^ l i c a only a eo^eny aa large aa IBH can put together the technical teaaa n tc e e a ry te make t h a work TH CO O R . " C ^ u te r e are *e c^teUca E R LLA Y th at thare'a just ao way to aka I t pe**lhle fc c ^ ^ e tito ra to heek up th e ir equlpaent to eura. The truthi e lm e t anybody ean aake eenalble am putere th at w i t and t ie together (v isib ly . O n IW a n do I t wrosg and aake i t stick .

^ i

" T * K o F f i t f C F ' T 'H e f U W

A rm arkable l**ue o l Bualna** Weak (June 30. 1975) c arried e 36-te9C a c ti o n a i l e d an "executive b rie fin g ," whatever th at i*. on the Office of the Future, whatever th at 1*. The a rti c le waa actu ally tte thing* aplicad together! fu tu ria tlc * gab around th* t i t l e , aid * repa rt on the ee-ealled word procesalng lnduatry.* te rd procaeelng, a ( Il ly IW term, teana handling te a t by trleky office equljaent ( a e Type U g h te r," p. 14). i n controla the word proeeaaing aarkat. with such aaehine* t* the Hag Card S electrie and the abmlnabla (in ay opinion) KT/ST. Aa rate rted by Bualneee Weak. IM a te alc strategy i s ts ta ll bualnesmen th at they have te have a centralized typing pool of specially trained typleta to uae theae things, sc tte office has to te reorganised. The eee re u rlee hate the new organisation because I t aake* t h a into keypunch Operator* tha pean/eaecutlve dlctetm y ia a trad itio n a l aspect of IM producu. It m i d a m but t te whole thing is put ovsr ss Modern. Now Xeroa haa a e e up with a c ^ ^ e tltlv e aaehine. tte 800 (aee Diablo, p. Y). aid Bualneee "te* Intone* th a t only tteee two fir m have the a w y and c a p lu l <s succete is coveting te c r a t * tte Office o l t t e Futur*. t e l l , th is is Tbe big Bistake IBM's coepetllore alm ys am u aake ia to l e t IW define tte preblm , and than go ln te try to c ^ e t a on the te ttl* ground, and In tha term*, th a t IW has laid out. But i t la net eenalbl* te play lellew eh* leader on s il v e r y leg* through a boobytrappte n a i f . Hew xarea haa stepped once the slippery ltet e t th* rig h t th ing w uld te te um**k th* ab surd itie s e f the IBM gm e with new in itiativ es which thay cantet possibly m ulata. Th* o ffice e f the future, in th* opinion o t the a u tta r, w ill hav* te th lte te de with the U ly e c ^ le a iti e a o f autm aU c typing- i t w ill hav* screens, and keytoard*. and peealhly a p rinter for outgoing le t tere, but p a alb ly not. All your business Inlom atlon w ill ba te lla b le te tha screen in sta n tly . An all-mbraelng data a structure w ill to ld ovary farm ef la fon e tla n a m arle al and te atu al in a cat*'-sradle ot linkage*! and you, th* u a r , whatever your Job t i t l e , m y gulekly rove your ecreen through tte entire Infesmtleft-cpace you are e n title d te Indeed "programs- w ill Mver te*m o iiciIlv lavokad a t a l i i thay w ill slaply taka effect a* you j e t near. In tha display te*ea, b a th in g whlcb naeda i^date. A dleplay-drivan Inform-

Rather throw Ite corporate weight en tire ly behind the POP-11, B C hae carved out B a t t a i n areaa In tfiieh i t la trying te aarkat ita U -b lt aid IS-blt oachlnee. tha PDP-6 and Pnf-15. The POP-8 ia being puahad lor bualaeee a^lico tio o a, with D B'e c oB b-llke lai^uagai alao a vary nice veralen o l the 8 haa appeared, floppy dlake. keyicepe. and wot-printer optioni thia le the 'C laaalc.* a t M2.040. Tba 18-blt TOP-1S lin e le a t l l l balng oaraarkatl aa a *BadlwaUad* aaehine. with IWCR I K ' a data-taaa eyetm ). with virtu a l huge < ory, and with hot dleplaye.

HITS prleoa ara qu ite roamnahle. I f you buy a k it lor anything le tha A ltalr lin e , I t 'a gen e ra lly about JS* laaa than the eeem fel^ and luJ ly-cbaeked^ut veralon. The te elc e u ^ u ta r k it cneta $ 4 (C631 *eetf>lal), but ignore that 1 i t '* lik e e car without an m gioe. a a u or wteal. A d e l e t e package (tbalr Beale 1* e a t) . w ith tha o ^ u ta r , ar of n a o ry . terminal aid 8K BASIC lan guage le 11)91. A m r e hlgh-puwered i y e t v ltb 131 e f fact a m r y aed double eidrov dlak la IMJ4, c o l l a t e with t t e l r to tn d e d M a le. Thare are aany aaparate I t a e , pLana and op tional i t la peaaltola, o t eouree, to buy a package eywtm f r m chm lo r aa aueh aa you want te epand.

" A t U in .f f c n t .v c w u e r
e tu ra lly i t had te te in Lea Angelee. The f l r a t e r^ w te r etere,* i t T r * . 1* a t 116S6 Pico (at Sarrin gto a), w*et b.A.. ^ a lle vaat of tha San Diego rraeeayi 21 V 4? e -lie s. Neure are 2 to 8 Milr111iy t s Friday, 10 n 6 on S a t urday and Sunday. I t '* c alled the Aro s c k e line ef A ltaire.

IR lW
u a fu l terda for d iacuaaii^ tte IW problem, (thanke te Cceputar D eelalo a aagazl in which n a ef them m re f l r a t publiehad 019 73 . 1975 Tteoder H. Kelten.) ite le g y the etudy e f IW. ap h y the wiadm o f IBH, ite e w t e . one wla te IM. U ^ercep tlb le officia lly noticed by IM . m ltea tle puBlUigly lte la h . ltebrogllo IM eeftware. ito o lo g ia cl<my or InapproprUte t e n . asp. < a which a iaip eil* l u e l f , auch a* *ran accaa* te r cyclical aee**a, 'd ire c t Access d avice'fer in d ire ctly acceeali device, and 'v irtu a l systm * for r a J *V*tm Involving v irtu a l huge amory. h a u d e c la l ____ lng a put a eurae en the FDP-10. rw ro w neared forthcoming code fer th* Putt Sytm IExtended A lnarlly oodte, DecI a l l y tegaalsed. m t r a r y Klwtoe) lta p h lly * ^ woraip ef OH. ite e ll* a m * Ite a raad u , or Iteaga. Uwpoly

Tte TM^languege le ibw rumlng tlae-eterte, lo r general n a t m f t , on C ^ v u tillty (aa bbth tionad < > p. 21) , and in a fancier version offered Y by Interactive Sclw tae Corp., 66 Brooks Drive. Braintree, Ha**.. 617/84B-200. teoera has 11eenmd tte la tte r firm to run both hi a baalc ceseor and Advanced DavelopMita" (ra tte r a e n t l in f ile (yatm a aid c ^ u t a r control. AptareotlT he haa ----- spectacular data-baae atuff in there, but you woe't te able to find A it a t e t I t directly jp^ -1.1 packagea ara tte apealalty e f Interactive Science*, aid with 1 AC thay mn oflar packagea with both tte data baa* stuff and o tte r uouaual eapabilltle*. Far ljiataiee, thle tia e -atiar ing TMC can lta e lf c a ll vp ether ^ v * t a r a and sign Into thm , respond ing te maaagea aa I f I t m n a Tte te v u tlll c y varalm tern* ta rub far ateat 112 aa te u r, tte Intaractlve Selemea v u e lea t a ^mwbat a n - but tte la tte r flea la iatareatad In 111e9 wtele package*, net uaer-dlddllng. teeer* haa recm tly received r e g le tr a t ln for

CW PCT1TIVB KXWJktims On f i n , In tara ll. haa put the PUP-8 os a chip for erne #3. IHoover, aa I t uaually tu n a out. by tfa tiao you gat a ll the porta to gether i t ooeta >3000 a lta r a l l , tu t In quan tity i t 'a anetboz aeory, and tha individual p ic a will drop b o b o m g b .t Isto rell haa alao lntlaa te d that they are working a a chip to e la ila te tha PDP-11. II ao, thle w ill of cowoe b r l ^ t h m ----- - ^ ag a in n the petaat th a t u a a to have kmrked out the DljlaU C^^otar Control* lookallke, tha Tnrlta ol 8uo (at lM at Ita direc t Barkatisg). anl aagodarod a lewoait ogalnat Cal data, lo t 11 loefeallke, a n t l a r f on p. r.)

Airtre* J . Slogor (Me aay* ha 1* now *eoneulta n t te a m a ll f i n e f actrolagara*), anmuneae

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M TM my t a , you e4 | ^ Ia oaral Juat lor it* fo il porchaaa prlco> aioee the la llia g islcaa e l o ^ u t a r a aaan I t w ill probably have m aarket value io a few yoare. I M 'a great et^B la large part f rm ta lig tha a d r w ^w tor o v u r big aaoogh te n o t . ) M l , good old U g l u l tq u ifM st A r^ r a tl a n tea flaally gotta*. Into tba loaelag bualnaaa: ta l Leamlag, La m l l a ln n t lo i with c . i . u ia tig . Tart < lil leaaa C C e q a lp e a t B ladlvldaBle oI M

Be haa emly p n la a for t te BkSlC -orlasM bualnaaa ayatm e offered by BAslc-FOOB Corp.. to ba found la m}or c ltle a . Bet only done t te c m e n c t e p o ii oot whet f w g e t La ^ a r k l l t e d a ta ll, but t t e aanual le w x ltt* la t e l l i h . A ^ Aadrvw h lA m lf m a ld a 't a a A tte eyetm . (The Baale-FOor * t^ - - a <> f r m 11 cm data terparatlOB. M n A t i I t m l f m U a a f a r in g b a l na t - q ^ a n * c a l M n u n , Mileh 1* highly p n la e d by Jo te b. iv1m , n a t t e r yowag tfery n b la t t e BUIC la . -V -. thoy o flar e e y n m with U , a BUIC la ta rp r a ta r Ha l l m e n l . dlepU y aad m a m tte fo r w ^ r i u m aag baa cI ovbtI , lcm d t t e l ^ a l p r = ^ * i _ p r ^ l m n t t t i te em rk of B l t a n t e u a a a , _ h r a p u l b l i ta I ta o u b m h for t t e l r _______

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HITS' new c d ^ u t e r w ill be b a sed on Oil motorola 6800, end s e l l in k i t f e n f o r around $300. But t h e i r a a ln 1* t o th e A lta ir , a lin e based on th * I n t e l SOSO, and the c u a tm e r a a lre ad y in to th a t a a c h in e w ill not be in any way l e t down, they aay. A c p u t e r k i t based on th a M o u r o la 6800, with 21K b y te s o f c o re , e a e s e tt e r e c o rd e r and TV d isp la y (32 eh ara. by 16 lin e s ) l a o f f e r s fo r $ l a,4S by th e SPHSIE. 96 E aat S00 South, B o u n tifu l, Utah 84010. T w c o p u t a r k l t a , one b u i l t a round th a PACE and a n o th er a Nova lo o k a lik e , )uve eean a n n ou nce by B i l l Godbout E le c tr e n ic e , Box 2355 Oakland A ir p o rt, Oakland CA 94614. Ha a la o p la n a an 11 le o k a lik a . Or you a ig h t g a t an L SI-11. An LSI-11 buying p ool ia taalng fo ra e d by Hal L aahley, Southern c a l Coaputer S o c ie ty , P.O. Box 967, S. Paaadsna CA 91030.

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One o f th a buys o f ctaeputar h i s t o r y I s w aiti r q up a t A aerlcan Used C e ^ u t e r . in B oston, 617/261-1100. H o o re x , fo r t o t u n f a th n a b le re a s o n , b u i l t in th e e a r ly 70a a a ^ u t e r inte n d e d to be upwerdc o n p a tlb le h a th a 360/20. But I t was r o t a 360. W>y d id they do th la ? Th* kin d o f p e o ple who shop around would not buy 360/20e, and th e kind o f p e o ple who buy 360/20* would sc a r c e ly le a v e IBM'a a k l r t e a t upgrade t l a e . Thus th e Meaorex 40 hae, q u ite u n de rstan da bly , be en d ia co n tln u ed . And a l l tha ones th e y had l e f t a r e w aitin g fo r you hrand new up a t A ae riea n Used C oaputer fo r $he h e a rt-sto p p in g p r ic e o f

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The g re a t H aruin Minsky i s reno&isd on fi v e c o n tin e n ts. Dean o f th e ancrphoue f i e l d o f "a r t i f i c i a l in t e l l i g e n c e ," and r e fe r r e d to u ith o u t am biguity ae "Marvin" throughout o c p u te r l a n i, he i e a th e o r e t ic i a n 's th e o re tic ia n . But a t th e h e a rt o f every th e o r e tic ia n , I th in k , burnt th e d r e a t th a t he v i l l scmeday prove th e o u tr ig h t, u o r ld ly vnpcrtance o f h is tto u g h ts. L ike Deaery, a t l a s t he v i l l go to h is su ito a se and g e t ou t h ie g uns, and th e audienae v i l l cheer. The g re a t Marvin Minsky hat come out G eneral T u r t l e , In co rp o ra te d , i s a toy coepany th a t th e te a a o f Hlnaky and P a p e rt put to g e th e r to a a r k e t t h e i r e d u ca tio n a l R a p u ce r a c c e s s o r ie s . (Sse p . 57.1 T hey've s o ld a few, b u t th e ia p a c t has been B d e e t . And, a s a a a l e r e f the p r o je c t p u ts I t , "W* wanted to g e t ou r Ideas fo r e du catio n o u t to the w o rld .' So they d e cid e d to b u ild a te r a i n a l . But i t grew, aa t e r a i n a l dssig n* w i l l , i t i s now th e GTI 2$00. R n b e r t h s to r t o i s e and th s h ars? T his i s th e h e i r l e s t t o r t o i s e on fou r w heels. F i r s t d s li v e r le s t h i s f e l l . And h e r e 's w het you gee fo r your f iv e thou sand d o lla r s

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The a o e t g la ao ro u s o n p u te r * being b u i l t today a l l H a i to be o p e n ly c a lle d by t h e i r develP*r * b e e : th e G re e n b ls tt empMKtt. H insky's ep u te r, th e Aadahl a a c h in e , th s Crsy c oaputer.

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Pro ceaeor Technology, 2465 4 th S t . , Berkeley 94710, Bakes a t e a t d ia p la y k i t f o r th a A lta ir fo r $160 (you supply th a TV a o n lto r and e v id en tly tha key bo ard). 64 c h a r a c te r p a r l i n a , 16 lln a a .

B o o tstrap E n te rp r is e s , Ann A rbo r, a re a l w working on a e i a i l a r u n i t , e a lla d *The Duab Tar* l n a l , w ith a e o lo r o p tio n . HITS la c ^ s i t t a d now a b u ild in g a video t a n i n a l , th e CT-6096, t h a t w ill p ro v id e both te x t and g ra p h lc e . Follow ing apeea a re n o t f i n a l .

T h at p r ic e in clud ea 4Bk b y te s How fo r th e bad news. I t c o i l ba re -kc nee , w ith a o ftw a re , and no hardw are su p p o rt. You g e t th e w irin g d ia g ra a w ith i t , and a l i e t o f o th e r owners, and y ou r e on your own. AUC does hava spare p a r t s , however. And p e r ip h e r a ls , a o s tly v r e expensive. H r. Honeson o f AUC to ld ae on tlt t phoM th a t i t had 1S8 in s t r u c tio n * , in c lu d in g 6 4 - b lt f lo a tin g p o i n t , 3 2 - b it b in a ry . On stud yin g th e l i t e r a t u r e , however, i t app ears to ae t h a t th e in s t r u c t i o n - s e t he d e e c rit e d i s a lcro p ro g ra aa ed , w ith th e a ic r o code in te n d e d to be read in a t s t a r tu p t i a e . (Thera a r e 6S B ic r o In s tru c tio n * .) Haybe you ean g e t th e alero co d e f o r th e se 1S6 I n s tr u c ti o n s a id Bayba you c a n 't . Haybe you d o n 't c a r e , i f youre w e ll enough fix e d to handle ona o f th e ee . I t c a e * in b a sic b la c k , 2aSs4 f e e t , f l t e in a v a n , and supposedly does n o t need a irc e n d l tio n in g . Supposedly p l t ^ - c v p a t l b l e w ith 370 p r ip h e r a le : I t ' s r e a l l y a s ix t e e n - b i t m achine, and i t haa e ig h t s e ts o f e ig h t r e g i s t e r s , having been d e sig n e d to p e tf o t a up t o e ig h t f u n c tio n s s l a u l ta n e o u sly . So. 64 a a ln r e g i s t e r s , 4K dy n a alc a lc r o s to r s , 48K o f a e a o ry , fo r about th a p r ic e o f a uaed n)P1 1 /10 w ith 4K. S a e llin g s a l t s , anyons?

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The Aadahl c o ^ u t e r o r S y a t a 470, a euner p u te r o f th e 360 a e r ie e by one o f th e e uv iw ho d esigned t h o r ig i n a l l y a>* p i k* a v a ila b le f n Aadahl C o rp o ra tio n , 12S0 East Arques Avenue. Sunnyvele CA 94086. (They a re now a d v e rtisin g fo r s y e t m p e o ple who know th e in s id e . o f OS/XVT. VS, e t c . ) . The f i r s t 470 i s up snd n i M i q a t NASA's I n s t l t u t s f e r Space s tu d ie s . C o lw b l. u. But IM i s s a id to be read yirq one o f t h e ir faaous 'k nockout* aac h ln ss to do i t In (D staa stio n, J u ly 75, 94 .)

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"Diabolc" u a s a gwne o f the tu s n tia a t h i t in v o lv e d poking a sp in n in g o b je c t. O ddly, Chat's uhat to d a y s D iablo in v o lv e s. Redoubtable Hax Pal eveJcy, who b ro ug ht you S c i e n t i f i c d a ta S y s tv s (which Xerox bo ught and r e c e n tl y sh u t down). R olling Stons and th e a ev ls *Harjoe* h ss another w inner, which h e 's a lso T his i s th e Diablo c ^ p a n y . which f i r s t a ad e dla ka and now Bakes a se n s a tio n a l p r in tin g a ae h ljie . i t has a w h irling p l a s t i c 'd a ie y wheel* o f ty p e . In terc h an g e ab le , and c an type 30 c h a r a c te r s p e r second in e ith e r d i r e c t i o n , as a s w ell as draw p ic tu r e s o f a s o r t. The b a sic d if f s re n e s between th e e e p r in t e r s snd conv en tio nal ty p e w rite r s , l i k e th e S e le c t r l c , i s t h e i r use o f a r v o s r a th e r th a n r a t c h e ts . T his aeans t h e i r e h a r a c te r a c an be p o si tio n e d In aany In term ed iate p o s it io n s , u n lik e t h e fix ed p o sitio n * a v a ila b le on an o rd in a ry ty p e w rite r . For in s ta n c e , th e D iablo can p o si t i o n th e type to 1/60 e f an inch h o r iz o n t a ll y and 1/48 of an inch v e r t i c a l l y . (Hice f o r j u s t i f ie d ty p e s e ttin g .) There a re new a nuaber e f a ac h in es of th i s k in d . F i r s t case th e D iablo p r i n t e r , o f f i c i a l l y th e IlyType I : then the e n gin eers who b u i l t th a t w ent o f f and c re a te d a c n p e t l t l v e p r i n t e r c a lle d th e QUM ( p r o n . 'k y n a ') ; now t h e r e 's an iaproved E D ia b lo HyType H i In te r d a ta aakes a c o m p etitiv e u n i t , th e C aroussl p r i n t e r , w ith a l i t t l e p r i n t c upi and to aake thln ga t o t a l l y c o n fu se d , t h e r e 's a s p e c ia l nodel Diablo c a lle d th e 800, which c a n 't be connected to c o ap u te rs b u t i s s o ld for o f f i c e u a aa a word p r o c e s s o r ." A nuabsr o f eonpanies Bake te rm in a l* In the $5000 hallm ark b r a c in g one o r th e o th e r o f tlt ts e p r i n t e r s . Gen-Coa S y stea s aakee ona around th e D labloi Afrierson-Jacobson aakee one around th e QUME. Hero* aakes i t s own c o ap u te r te r a i n a l , th e 3010, around th a D iablo I w hich, i t should be n o t i, can be ren te d fo r a s l i t t l e a s th re e a e n th s , a t $190/aonth. The one everybody w ants fo r t h e i r c tn p u ta rs I s c a l M th e Xertta 800, b u t eo f a r t h a t i s not a v a il a b le a s a c t ^ u t e r t a n i n a l . i t goea f a s t e r t t a n th e e th e r D iablos and e f f s r s ty p e fa c e s th a t lo o k b e a u tifu l fo r ty p e s e ttin g ) au d \ n i c e r , i t s m s , than th s types e u r r s n tly a v a il a b le fo r th s o th e r D iab los. For tle a a in te r e s t e d in ju e t hooking up th e p r i n t e r a ec hanla n. fo r s u b s ta n tia lly l e s s y th a n a whole te r a i n a l , in te r f a c e s f o r hooking t l a D iablo o r QUHE p r in te r * to PDP-B o r PDP-11 a r e a v a il a b le f rc a Data S y a t a s D ssig n. I n c ., 1122 U n iv e rsity Avenue, Berkeley CA 94702. SUGGESTIONS TO XBR0X C0RCERNI8G DIABLO PRINTERS. He e>viTQt. . S ll tt* 800 a s a te rm in a l, f o r goo&isae ta k e. 2. F a ilin g th a t, a ke th o se p r e tty ty p e fa c e s a v a ila b l* f o r the o th e rs. 3. Already you o f f e r b la c k and re d ribbona; a blu e and ysll& J ribbon wauId p e rm it p r in l lr y PJCTUIES IX FULL COLOR, a developm ent o f g re a t i n te r e s t tc th s n a n / co n p u ter graphics fre a k s . t , g guever, th a t uould r e q u ire s&neuhat fin e r p o s itio n in g o f the p la te n ; sa y , 1/120 in both d ir e c tio n s . S. . . . f a i l i n g wh ie h , you co u ld p u t o u t a "gt\tp h ta d a isy v i t h in te rm ed ia te d o t p o s itio n s a a u ia a le n t to d o t p o s itio n * b e tu ee n those n a i aoaiiabTe. S. Could tfm D iablo o*ehtni be mad* to sound le s s l i k e a d e n t i s t ' i r i l l l ?. Bov a b out a porta b le?

a 1 6 - b it a n p u t e r l i k e rone you ever taw. 8 working r e g i s t e r s , in a d d itio n to PC. 32 sc ra tc h p ad r e g ia te r a (70 naieaeco nd ). 2SO-nano second 1/ 0 . 4K o f a a in OMDry, 250 nanosecond. (Expand a b le , o f c eu ree .) IK OP M ICROPROGRAM H0RY, 40 NANOSECOND, DYNAMICALLY ALTERABLE. (Expandable to 4K.) Likewise 16 b i t s .

O C T o ( iT O | A Ofi co u rse y ou 'v e t> e ^ h t th a t hardwired l

se tu p s were fo r ilo p p y a n alog typ es of th in g , b i t h e re tom m hsve THE CHESS MACHINE, unter e tra lg h tf a c e d c o n s tr u c tio n e t th e h it Al u b , which w ill prov ide HARDWIRED THREAT ANALYSIS. Yee, I t s advanced p e rc e p tro n a rc h ite c tu r e w ill siiroossdly be cspable o f a n aly sin g th r e a ta to any given p o s it io n in a GRAND PARALLEL PLASH. The la p ac t o f th le a s to n is h in g d e v e lo ^ a n t on th e world e f E le c tr o n ic C ta e s , or anything a ls s , p r e d ic t. V

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C a se ette ndsw ry, 1 d riv e . A lphafcatical d ia p la y , standard vid e o , with B xl6-dot c h a ra c te r g e n e ra to r, 64 ch ar a c t e r , DYNAM ICALLY ALTERABLE. Also expandable. V ectoring g ra p h ic d isp la y w ith 2D r o ta tio n ( t u r t l e g e o u tr y '* * lin e s a re s p e c i f ie d n ot by endpoints h i t by a n g les and le n g th ) . 512x512 re s o lu tio n , 1 B i llio n a n d p o in ts/a e c r e f re s h .

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I t w ill have a keyboard and v id e o a o n ito r , pl<q s t r a i g h t I n to th e A l t a i r , and r e f r e s h f r A lta ir a ^ n r y a o d u le s - - which a ay d ou ble aa reg u la r i t y , I f you d o n 't Bind garbage on tha sc rse n . I t w i l l hava 24 lln a a o f u p p e r-e a e e charecta r a . SxB d o te to the c h a r a c te r , 80 c h a r a c ta r a to th a lin a on a b u i l t - i n u n i t o r . In a d d itio n i t w ill o f f e r grap hiea f r a b i t a ap a (ae e p . z ) , e ith e r 120x120 o r 240x240. (Tha r a a o lu tlo n w ill be iw itc h - a a le c ta b le , i f you hava enough b u ffe r o o r y j a acraen o f t e x t ta k a a 2K, eo doea a 120x120 p ic tu r e , and 240x240 ta k aa a whola 4K.J Su ffer aM ory w ill a la o be d iv ld a b le I n to eepar a ta 'p ages* o f te x t o r g rap h ic * ; and two pages w ill be su p sria p o a sb ls, I n te r la c i n g a l t e r n a t e video f ie l d a (aee pp. 0H 6-7). Note t h a t r e f re a h a en t l a f r a ran d o a -a cc ess, r a th e r th a n a e r i a l , w r y , so th a t a u l t i p l e f i e l d a e ann ot be o v e rla id .

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I aaked Dan H i l l i s , a mstiln* e f th e grot?), about th e p o s s i b i l i t y o f I n s ta llin g th a 2500 in a van. 'T h in k o f i t a s a r e c re a tio n a l v e h ic le w ith the van o p tio n a l,* ha s a id .

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While none haa b een announced aa y e t , a nualc sy n th s s lre r th a t plugs in to th a A l t a i r w ill a l s i t c e r ta i n ly be a v a ila b le in 1976. (Note th a t th ia could p ro v id e an e n t i r e l y new fora o f in te r a c tiv e t e r a i n a l I f u aed w ith th a H achsprsss e q u l^ a n ti aae n e a r b y .)

OEC'a own floppy d la k , fo r th e 6 and 11, f in a l ly c a n o u t. P r ic e f o r l l s $3000 f o r ona d r iv e , $4000 fo r double. LD ictapa, d ilc h l a v i r t u a l l y th e sa a e as OBCtape b u t un patanted , haa j u s t e v e o u t a t $2000 fo r one d r iv e , In clu d in g c o n t r o l l e r and in te r f a c e t o 11 o r Nova ( I n t e r r u p t - d r iv e n ) . Note th a t th e u n it i a c o n ta c t a id rug ged, and aay be B>r s u it a b le than d la k o r c a s s e t t e f o r th e se e f u s concerned about p o r ta b l e r i g e and vaneou ntin g. C a p u te r O p eratio n s, I n c . , 10774 Tucker S t . , B e i u v l l l e M 2070S. (The bad newei D softw are c o sta $300 f o r th e d r i v e r , p lu s S7S0 to dec i f you want o p e ra tin g f y i t v RT-11.) o r le s , I n c ., c le v e r l y s e l l s K>ry banks fo r th e 11 which can a tta c h to t o two r u - l L i i t o n e e - - th u s c o n n e c tin g th e two aac h in es w ith ou t uaing DEC'S e x p en siv e Unibus c o up ler. Aleo fo r l l s i P o r a a tio n , I n c . , s e l l s a c u rio us p r e g r a a a e r 's c onsole t h a t t r a p s and d ls playa th e l a a t a lx te e n Unibus a ld r e iM * r e f e r enced; and Fabrl-Tek o f f e r s a c ach e a M o ry fo r th e PDP-11/45.

A a l a a r p r i n t e r , th e eodal 3600, which p r in ta a t 13,360 l i n e s p e r a ln u te . 1-ike a o a t o f t h e i r p r in tin g a a c h in e s . I t ' s good. I t i s b a s ic a lly aa e l e c t r o s t a t i c dr> c o p ie r , lik e the o r ig in a l Xerox 914. en which th a p a te n ta have run o u t. (Even T oshibafax new a ak e s o n e .) Anytay, t h i s spec ta c u la r b e a s t w r i te s with a scanning la s e r on th e e l e c t r o s t a t i c d r o . But I K has c le v e rly found th e way around t h s p r o b l a e f s p o ila g e o f th e d n a su r fa c e i in s t e a d o f Juat a p o lis h e d a e ta l su r fa c e , i t ' a a renew able s u r f a c e , which ia I t s e l f changed a u t ^ a t l c a l l y when r a q u lr a l fo r new la ag a s. Moreover, you can hava up to 18 ty p e r e n ts , d s fin a d In 16a24 d o t a a t r i c e s . (THESE ARE H R C A PLCPFT DISK, AND UP TO POUR KAY BE CUMBHT M AT AM OSE TIKE.) P onts a re u a e r -d e s ig n a b ls . Y A f la e h - p ro je c to r can p u t b u s in e s s f e r a s on th e d r w . Now f o r th e bed newsi baaa p r ic e i a $310,000, plu a e xten slT e e x tra c h a rg e s. A lso i t d o e s n 't aake c a r to n e ep lsa , and need* a new t e i o f paper s p li c e d on th e e id e v ery 20 a im ite a . (Canon, o f Ja pan, ha s o u t a v r e a o d e st la s e r p r in te r th a t goes a t only 4000 l i n e s per a io u te . And i t a ls o p l o t s . Burroughs i s sa id to be tr y in g to g e t th a b i^ s o u t e f a a i a l l a r d i v i a .)

M n H i l l l s and Aadia P e rlaa n , o f th e L0GD g ro up a t MIT, e r e working on a s p e c ia l * p r s l l t s r a ta * t e r a i n a l to allow n on -readare ( p o ssib ly in c lu d in g c h ia p s and g e r il la s ) to p r o g ra a in LOB, e s p e c ia l ly on th e G eiral T u r tle 2500 (see 'Min s k y 's c o ^ u t e r , ' nearb y ). P l a s t ic a e d l t cards w i l l lu v e syahol* fo r th e v a rio u s p ic tu r e and u s l e - b e x fu n c tio n s. To w rite a p r o g ra a , or e c e a te a B v l e on th e scope, th a ua er w i l l lA se rt fu n c tio n eard s in s l o t s . Color ceding w i l l bs u sed f o r prog raa tr a n s f e r i a red s a rd Beans t o th e red su h r m tin e .* Sines t h i s i s MIT, the f u l l re c u rsiv e p a a r o f th e s y s t a t w i l l e f eourse be a v a ila b le - (My hope i s th a t c h i^ a n s e a a and o th e r l i t t l e e lo tn ik s can be ta u g h t re c u re lv s p r o g r a d e f in i tio n . T ten w ill th e p u b lic wake 19 to c x ^ u t e r s being easy?)

Wiat Bakes p o u l b l e the co ep uter co u n ter c u ltu r e and e v ery th in g e ls e i e , o f e o u rse , th e sp e c ta c u la r d e v e l o ^ e n t o f e le c tr o n ic ch ip te c h nology, th e te ch n iq u es e f shrinking g r e a t e lec tr o n ic c i r c u i t s to a l t no s ia s . E le ctro n ic r ig s th a t were sho ebo a-eize te n y e ars ago a re ty p ic a lly now e tch e d on ch ips th s s ic e of your t h t n t e a i l and s o ld fo r s few d o lla r s , no B a tte r what they c o n ta in . A few y e a r s ag o, th e chlpa only co ntain ed b u ild in g b lo c k s, such as r e g is te r s u n its fo r h olding i n t o n a t i o n t a ^ o r a r l l y . But now in th s a ld -s e v e n tie e they havs co a l to co n tain whole c tv p u te re , o r la rg e s e c tio n s o f th w . (The d i s t i n c t i o n betw een aiero p ro ca eso ra and c oapu tera i a ta k en up en p. 44.) The f i r s t b lg g ls s wars f m I n t e l : th e 8006 snd then th e 8080, a ch ip th a t haa b a c a e the h e a r t s f th a A l t a i r (eea p. X), aa w ell ae r i v a l c c a p u te rs. Hew e ce p u ter c h ip s kssp cealng o u t j p ip le keep te l l i n g a e to a en tio n s p e c if ic o nes, b u t I c a n 't keep tr a e k o f th e a . Tha Motorola 6800 * * pop ular 1 I t w i l l eoon be the h e a r t o f new computers f r a HITS and SPHERE (aee p.W end Y) . (An a u g a a te d and f a a te r copy o f the 6800 la r e p u te d ly being s o ld by H05 Technology fo r $20.) Another I n te r e s tin g e o ^ u t e r ch ip i s th e PACE a ic r o p ro c e sso r f r o N ational S a ic o n d u c to r, w ith fo u r working r e g i s t e r s snd a te n -ie r d sta ck ; w ith 16K a o D r y i t c o s ts $500. (The PACE is h ld dsn in sn a u t m a t i c d rin k a ljia r and booxa In vsn tory c o n t r o l l e r f r a e le c tr o U n its Corp., San Jo se , C a l i f . Adjuata p r ic e s to hours and can svsn w ater th e d rin k s p r s c l s s ly . C laiaed to aake a b a n t e e ownerehip o f h a rs p r a c tic a l.) Becauea o f c h ip s , th e p r ic e e f cca p u ter a s in w r y i s c o lla p s in g apace. S c a th in g l i k e a d o lla r a word in th e a lx tle a , i t i s so aeth in g lik e lik e a din e a word now. t i t I n t e l new o f f e r a a s to ra g e chip h old in g 16X b i t s fo r $55, which is 3 s b i t , and a f rie n d e f a ina e s t i a s t a s th a t aMDry c hip* w i l l c o s t 1/10 e f a c a n t pe r word in 1976. These c o s t e o lla p s s s causa aany to p r e d ic t th e id of d is k and ta p e . But t h a t s p r w a tu r s . W ills th e w s a p p ie r chip s hold a l o t fo r a l i t t l e , t h e i r c o n te n ts d la ap p a ar when th e lig h t a go o u t. U n til la ser-p u n ch e d ta p e ceaes s lo n g , d isk snd a a g n e tie ta p e w i l l be vary auch w ith us a s longt e n a id nackup s to r s g s de vicss. M cauaa o f th e a e tic n in chip te chnology, a p o te n tia l) la p o r t a n t aav^ e n t In e a p u t e r desig n aey hava been p a ssed o v e n th e * a ac ro v d u le s* dev e lo p ^ a t Washington U n iv e rsity lo S t . lo u ts by a s s C lark ( f a th e r o f th e o r ig in a l DEC a o d u le s ) , and a s s o c ia te s . Ths b s s lc id e a o f the a ac R M d u le approach waa to have e n p u t e r su b se ctio n s th a t ware p le te ly in ta r p lu g g a b le . w ith t h you ean b u ild any c ^ q u t a r , to your own daaig n, in a couple o f d a y s. The s y s t a e x i s t s now snd i t w r k s j u s t f in e i c o u n te rs, r e g i s t e r s , a e r i s t can be a t tach ed q u ic k ly by c a b le . U n fo rtu n a te ly , th e c o s t i s high and they havent fo u n l a a a n u f a c tu r e r . w ith ch ip p r ic e s f s l l i n g , and e h ip know-how w idespread, i t a hard to j u s t i f y c h arg in g te n o r so t l a s s a s auch fo r o p p o n e n ts j u a t because they can be plugged to g e th e r f e s t a l . ( J u a t a s u n f o rtu n a te ly , every t h i n ; in the a a c r v e d u l e y s t i s b u i l t en sec tio n s e f tw elve b i t s . ) For t h i s reason th e S t. U>uls f o lk a r e having tr o u b le g e ttin g c < B e r c le l spon sorship . Itowaver, perhsp s boh b r ig h t hun g ry eh ip c t*p any , rea d ing t h i s , w u ld lik e to g e t In to th e M c r a e d u l e geae. An) p re e w a b ly w h ittl e th s Module down to

Over a very niae luneh a t R oditys in Chicago, P rof. Minsky and I d is cussed p o ssib le s ty lin g f o r h is &*vputer. He p a r tic u la r ly lik e d the a rro n g n g n t suggested in th is sketch: a fo ld down keyboard and the d isp la y s s o r t o f on poles so they could be seen e a s ily through a croud o f ty eto n d ers. The fon d le uould only uork, o f course, v i t h the ecopee rtnoved. V e 'll see Li m t uhat i t f i n a l l y looks lik e .

U n ea tia fied w ith th e e tru c tu r e o f no re a l c w p u te r* . they s r e b u ild i n g s t HIT'a Al Lab a c ta p u ta r whoas n a tiv e language le LISP- I t w ill have 32 b i t s w ith v i r t u a l a a o r f , and axscute LISP lik e a b a t o u t o f h a l l . In a re fre a h ln g r e v e r s a l e f tren d s . I t w ill be fo r one ueer a t a t i a e . *T iae-aharlng la an idea w tess t l a s has g on e,* chuckles ons p a r t i c ip a n t. (P ro je c t MAC. where tla e -e h a r ln g grew

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Seyaour Cray, Beater cca p u ter b u ild e r , c re a te d th a 6600 e y s t v f o r C o n tro l D sts. Indeed, he had th a au d ac ity to re iuire CDC to b u ild the ccap u te r fac to ry on th e p r o p e r ty a djo inin g hi* own s s t a t s In Chippews P a l l s , M innesota. M th a t ow h s s broken o f f to e t a r t h ie own ecapany (with aoney f n * CDC, a a n g o t h e r s ) , th e new cosgmter f a c to ry ad jo ln a h ia e e t e t e en the o th e r s id e . The Cray-1, an other su p e rc o sp u te r, is neerln } c ts p le tie n th e re .

P a te n t 13,875,932 haa m been lasu ed for How Machapress' e le c tr o n ic eez aachine o r what ever i t ia (you saw i t f i r s t on p . m i ) . In tha i l l u s t r a t i o n we see i t t i c k l i n g a a lK rt. A fter you eend Mecheprsss h is f ifty -b u c k ro y a lty , you can e ith e r buy th e k i t o r a pre b u i l t a o d al. Coneava o r convex, a s th a poet sa y s. (Etchinga a re a n te d ilu v ia n and w atarteds a re c tn o n p la c e j as an in v i t a t i o n , what so re ln c la lv a cseu p p e n ce c ou ld be p roffere d?)

Speaking e f M achspress, i t l e a s th a t the unusual 1/0 e q u lp n n t o f f e r e d by th e Federal Screw itorks (Trey, M ich.) i s only s voice outp ut S u r p risin g ly , a v o ic e in p u t deviee i s now c ^ B o r c la l ly a v a ila b le tr im Threshold Technology, I n c ., Cinnaaineen. MJ. r o r $10,500 you g e t a dev iee th a t w ill re c o g n ise 32 spoken w r d s , and lc ro p h e n aa . (Each u se r h a s to t r a i n i t on h ia 32 lo r d s , b u t s s p s r a te v o c a b u la rie s asy be s to r s d on th e ^ n t e i f o r d i f f s r s n t u se rs or purposes. T his i s s t i l l a t ny f ro a the fab le d 't a l k i n g c s p u t e r * se a pp. D 13-14 f e r M p r c b la is a id o b je c t io n s - - b u t i t s undeniably a u se fu l ste p .)

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M i l l i o n s o f p e o p le saw c o n p u te r g r a p h i c s f o r t h e f i r s t tim e on t h e PBS A c c e n t o f Man" s e r i e s , where a s c r e e n draw in g o f E a r l y Ma n's s k u l l was se e n t o r o t a t e and g r a d u a l l y change i n i t s f e a t u r e s . T h is waa s t a r t l i n g even i f you know a b o u t com pute r g r a p h i c s , s in c e it s e o ae d to b e p r o c e e d ing frcsn complex d a t a c o n c e r n in g th e e n t i r e s k u l l s and t h e i r changes. Not so . A c t u a ll y what you saw was a s e r i e s o f s k u l l draw in gs by P a t e r F o l d e s , a P a r i s i a n a r t i s t , w ith th e c o a p u te r g e n e r a t i n g t r a n s i t i o n a l draw in g s betw een t h a n . ( In d e e d , though you saw P r o f . Bronowskl n e x t t o th e s c r e e n , you d i d n o t s e e him n e x t to th e s c r e e n a t t h e same tim e th e draw in g s were c hangin g b e c a u s e t h a t ha d t o be f ilm e d v e r y s lo w ly .) The s y s ta o was c r e a t e d b y N e s t o r B urtn yk and M a r c e l l l H ein, o f th e N a t io n a l Re se arch C ounc il o f Canada. I t currently r u n s only On a n SEL 840A. ( I t was a l s o used by t h e N a t i o n a l F ilm Boa rd o f Canada f o r c r e a t i n g F o l d e s ' s p l e n d i d f i l m "Hun g e r . ) They can p r e v ie w b y r o l l i n g t h r o u g h b i t map v id e o on a mov in g-head d i s k . (See Burtnyk and Mein, " Ceoputa r G e n e ra te d Key-Frame Anima t i o n , " J . SKPTE, March 71 , 1 4 9 - S 3 .)

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MORE THANKS I n h a n g in g t o g e t h e r t h i s volume o r i g i n a l l y , 1 f i t t e d th a n k in g Heeh W iener, b r a z e n t b r a s h young o l d - f a s h i o n e d new e d i t o r o f Coa pute r D e c is io n s , who h a s ch an ged t h a t p u b l i c a t i o n f r o a s t o l i d to peppery. Than ks a l s o to a y good f r i e n d R o b e r t W. F i d d l e r , E s q . , p a t e n t a t t o r n e y and s t i l l a n e x -p h ilo so p h y p ro fe sso r a t h e a r t , f o r many d e l i g h t f u l and w i t t y c o n v e r s a t i o n s on p r o b lo a s o f p a t e n t , c o p y rig h t and th e v a g a r i e s o f i n t e l l e c t u a l pr op e r t y . Any h a re b ra in e d id e a s o n th e s e t o p i c s e x p re ese d h e r e , how ever, a r e alm ost a s s u r e d ly F o r much o f t h e inform a t i o n i n t h i s supplement I am g r a t e f u l to Bob A lb r e c h t o f PCC i m e n tio n e d h e re and th e r e F i n a l l y , s p e c ia l th a n ks to Comaander Hugo McCauley, b e t t e r known t o you a s H ugo's Book S e r v i c e , f o r h i s yeaaan p e rf o rm a n c e In sh ip p i n g o u t t h e b o o k s - - n o t to men tion c a r r y in g them up and down s t a i r s , t y p in g t h e m a ilin g l a b e l s , c h e c k in g f o r bad o n e s, and s e n d in g o u t a l l th ose n o te s o f ap o lo g y when we were O ut o f books a g a i n and a g a in and a g a in . And t o l o n g - s u f f e r i n g t o l a amj Megan McCauley, my e s p e c i a l g ra titu d e . WHATEVER T he s e a - t o - s h i n l n g - s e a N elson Empire now c o n s i s t s o f a l o t o f u n s o ld books, a IK Al t a i r a n d a second p a i r o f sh o e s. My scheme f o r ta k in g o n Appren t i c e G e n e r a l i s t s may have to w a i t a w h i l e . So may C f p u t e r I l h , t h e f i l m . But j u s t w a i t. S p e a k in g o f w hic h, what a b o u t t h i s book, h e y , now? E v e n t u a l l y th e r e w i l l be a new e d i t i o n . Yes, t h e ty p e l e h o r r e n d o u s l y s m a ll, and t h a t w i l l h a v e t o be f i x e d . But t h a t i n v o l v e s new n e g a ti v e s f o r e v e r y p a g e , an e x p e n d it u re o f th o u s a n d s o f d o l l a r s , and some r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n of how t h i s s h o u ld a l l be s e t up. T h e r e have been se v er al i n t e r e s t i n g p l a n s . One was to s p l i t t h a c o n te n t * o f t h i s book i n t o t h r e e b o oks, add m a t e r i a l , e n l a r g e t h e ty p e and have them eac h t h i s s i z e and p r i c e . Ten t a t i v e t i t l e s were Computer Lib /D ream M a ch in e s, Computers A r i s e !/ C o a p u t e r s A r o u s e , and G u e r r i l l a C o a p u tln q / E l e c tr e n lc M onke yshine s. Sample c o v er, f o r G u e r r i l l a Computing: King Kong c lim b in g th e f r o n t p a n el o f a 37 0 h o ld in g P a tty H e a rs t. ( I a l s o daydreamed a t o u t p u t t i n g o u t a 10- v o l i s e en cy c lo p e d ia i n th e same f o rm a t, em b r a c i n g p s y c h o lo g y /s o c io lo g y , b i o l o g y / e v o l u t i o n a r y s tr a t e g y , h i s t o r y (as s tr a te g y ) /m o r e h i s t o r y ( a s mood and f e e l i n g ) , r e v o l u t i o n v e rsu s c o n t i n u i t y (a tw o - s id e d p o s i t i o n p a p e r ) . . . th e G o -M a n ia c a l E n cy c lo p e d ia . But r e a s o n h a s p r e v a i l e d , and suc h f o r a y s have been po stponed In d e fin ite ly . The p r e s e n t p la n i s f o r C o a p u te r L ib t o be r e w r i t t e n a nd r e s e t in b ig g e r t y p e , a t l e a s t 256 p a g e s , w ith a t l e a s t 8 c o l o r p a g es and c o lo r covtz. (W e're t a l k i n g about f a l l '7 6 o r l a t e r . ) P r i c e w i l l have t o be $15. I f you t h in k t h a t ' s a r l f S f f you c an * t l l l g e t t h i s o n e . (A nua ber o f p e o p le have c t n p l a i n e d to ae about t h e $7 p r i c e ta g o f t h i s volume. Have th ey e v e r b ought o th e r book s? ) La t e r I would l i k e t o p u t Out an a n th o lo g y of By f a v o r i t e a r t i c l e s in th e f i e l d , u s in g th e Computers A rise V C e g u t e r s Arouse I t i t l e and fo rm at, and w ith so a e good 3D I f p o s s i b l e , i n an y c a s e , I want t o s t a y i n th e p u b l i s h i n g gamei I h a v e n 't had so much fun in y e a r s . O th e r p r o j e c t e d volumes in c lu d e The I n n e r Beyond, b y S h e ila McKenziei D i r t y D riv in g an d th e S t r a t e g y o f T r a f f i c b y " D riv e r E dr" and The Nelson Co a p u te r G l o s s a r y . Soon I hope to b e a b l e t o t y p e s e t f r o a my own c o ^ u t e r , and p o s s i b l y to sh a re tM s f a c i l i t y T h is has been a most i n t e r e s t i n g y e a r . I have been p l e a s e d to m eet, and o th e rw is e e n jo y , t h e v a r i e t y o f c l e v e r , charmin g a n d / o r lu h r ic o u a p e r s o n s wto have soug h t me o u t s i n c e t h e book f i r s t a p p ea re d ; a s w e ll a s a l l th e sp eakin g en~ g a g m e n t s , s o i r e e s and whatnot. I am d e l i g h t e d to r e c e iv e r e l e v a n t m a t e r i a l and communi c a t i o n s o f any k in d , a lt h o u g h proble m s o f tim e , d is o r g a n i z a t i o n and B e d o f t e n p r e c lu d e a P e r s o n a l Type Re ply. I t ha s been a r e a l l i f t f o r my m o r a le to sh a re a t o f th e s e I d e a s and enth u sia sm s w ith a w id e r p u b l i c a t l a s t . I t i * y o u , f i n a l l y , who have t o c a r e ; and I am v e r y g la d you do. Aa t o th * e o s t im p o rta n t m a t t e r s , t h e r e i s a news b l a c k o u t f o r th a i n d e f i n i t e f u t u r e . P l e a s e Land by. Next y e a r in Xanadu.

The main de v elo ]K en t in c a i u t e r g r a p h i c s i n th e l a s t y e a r ha s been the sudden u p s u r g e o f th e b it- m a p a ppro ach to c p u t e r d l e p l a v . While th e a p p ro a ch , and e q u lf n e n t f o r i t - - l i k e t h e Data D isk s y s t m have be an a round f o r some tim e , th e f a l l i n g p r i c e o f e l e c t r o n i c s , e s p e c i a l l y in t h e maaory a r e a , have made i t a b r u p t l y th e c h e a p e s t and th u s th e most popula r t y p e o f c o a p u te r d i s p la y f o r g rap h ic s. A " b i t map" i s a s e r i e s o f d o t p o s i t i o n s , o r b i t s , r e c o rd e d i n soae form o f f a s t mesry and r e a d Out i n sync to a c o n v e n ti o n a l scanned v id e o s y s t n ( se e pp. 0 H 6 -7 ) . Th* one b i t s s ta n d f o r d o ts o r l i t t l s s q u a r e s , th e z e r o e s f o r n o th in g , and th e vid e o s y s t a a b r i g h t e n s th e c o r r e s p o n d i n g z ones on th e s c r e e n . T h i s method h a s c e r t a i n d is a d v a n t a g e s p a r t s o f p i c t u r e s c a n n o t be a u t o a a t i c a l l y d i s t i n g u i s h e d o r sepa r a t e l y a nim a ted, a s w ith s u b r o u tin ln g d i s p l a y (see "Tha M in d's E y e ," e s p . p . 0 K 2 3 )-- b u t f o r t h e money i t ' s g r e a t - S i z e s g iv e n r e f e r t o th e number o f s q u a re s i n th e r e c t a n g l e o f t h e p i c t u r e . BLACK-AND-WHITE

The h a l f t o n e s y s te m o f KUMRRO, rumored on p . DM36, i s r e a l , c l e v e r in d e ed ! i t d i v i d e s t h e h a l f - t o n e p roble m i n t o two p a r t s , one t h e o r i g in a l p ic tu rin g o f th e sc en e, th e o th e r i t * p res e n t a t i o n I n t h e t e r m i n a l . T hat means t h a t t h e i r s y s t a a p e r m i ts o n e c e n t r a l image g e n e r a to r to se nd o u t p i c t u r e s t o a s many t e r m i n a l s a t de s i r e d . U n lik e th e W atk ins Box (see p . DM37), whose h a l f - m l l l i o n - d o l l a r op u le n ce c an be poured o n l y on a s i n g l e u s e r a t o n c e , in t h l e s y s te a th e c e n t r a l r e s o u r c e c an b e d i s t r i b u t e d among v a r i o u s u s e r s , w ith each o n e ' s p i c t u r e changed i n t e r m i t t e n t l y , o r p o u r e d o n a s i n g l e u se r f o r f u l l a n im a tio n . C u r r e n t l y i t runs in F o r t r a n , t r a n s m i t t i n g encode d p i c t u r e s t o t h e unusua l t e r m in a ls r e q u ir e d ( b u i l t a ro u n d T r i n i t r o n s ) . But a S p e c ial c e n tr a l p r o c e s s o r l e fo reseen . The ays ta n i s c a l l e d CHARGE, and Ron Swallow, i t s d e v e lo p e r, i s in d e ed a h a rd c h a r g e r . ( S o f t ware: B i l l U n d e r h i l l and Roger Gunw ald se n.) S w a llo w 's game I s n t m o v ie s o r e n g in e e ri n g g r a p h i c s ; h e w an ts CHARGE to compete h e a d - to - h e a d w ith PLATO (see p p . DM26-7). And a t t h e p r i c e s h e ' s t a l k i n g a b o u t - - $SOQO p e r te r m i n a l and $150,0 00 f o r t h e c e n t r a l p r o c e s s o r - - who knows?

What a b o u t th e a n im a ted f i g u r e t h a t t a l k s to J o e G a r l a g l o l a b e f o r e b a e e h a l l games? Ha ha T h a t 's a rubber p u p p e t m a tte d i n f re s i a b l a c k toX) t h e guy who does th e v o ic e w orks th e mouth.

Many u n lik e ly in d iv id u a te h a ve sto rm e d th a t h e a rtb re a k toon o f H o llyw o o d , le a v in g e a d d e r b u t u ia e r b u t Iva n S u th e r la n d , d e a n o f e o n p u ts r g ra p h ic s? W ell, h a v in g fo u n d th a t th e n w i e m akere a re n o t rea d y f o r im age s y n th e s is th e dreamanrithB u n p re p a red , a e i t u e r e , f o r th e T o ta l F orge he ia s o jo u rn in g a t th e Hand C o rp o ra tio n .

An o f f - t h e - s h e l f b it- m a p s y s t a a f o r the PDP-11 o r th e Nova I s a v a i l a b l e from I n te r m e d ia S y s t o a s , 20430 Town C e nte r L an e , C u p e r tin o CA 95014 (52750 or $2500 r e s p e c t i v e l y ) . May be ganged f o r g r e y - e c a l e o r c o l o r . I t ' s 2S6*2S6. Fo r t h e A l t a i r , th e f o r t h c o a i n g 80 96 d i s p l a y ( see p . Y) w i l l have 120*120 o r 240x240 b it- m a p g r a p h i c s , f o r p r i c e s s t a r t i n g a ro und $1 000. COLOR E x tr a b i t maps, p l u s e l e c t r o n i c s , c a n g e t you c o l o r ) I f you double th e number o f b i t * you can double th e nuaber o f a v a i l a b l e r o t o r s on your d i s p l a y , ad i n f i n i t e . On th e sm a ll s i d e , 64x64 c o l o r w l l s h o r t l y be a v a i l a b l e f o r th e A l t a i r f r c a t h e D i g i t a l Group, D enver. A 128x120 e o lo r b it- m a p s y s t a a f o r t h e 11 h a s j u s t been announced by DEC ( f o r " n u c l e a r medi c in e " O f a l l t h i n g s b u t th e y w i l l p a r t w ith i t t o anybody f o r 8 o r 10 th ousa nd ( n o t y e t f i x e d ) ) , 'i hey s t r e s s t h a t t h i s w i l l b e th e f i r s t o f a modu l a r s e r i e s o f b it- m a p d i s p l a y s , w ith p l u g i n s f o r d i f f e r e n t d e g re e s o f r e s o l u t i o n and d i f f e r e n t c h a r a c t e r g e n e r a to r s . Ramtek and C oa ta l b o th make 256x256 h it-m a p s y s te m s , p r ic e d i n th e $ 16 ,0 0 0 a r e a . Above t h i s r s s o l u t i o n s p e c i a l TV s y s t o s te nd to b e n e c e s s a r y . Both Ramtek and Comtal make ve ry e x p e n a iv e s y s to a s f o r th e p u r p o s e , u s i n g s o l i d - s t a t e and d i s k r e s p e c t i v e l y . You may o r may n o t have h e ard o f th e Advent TV p r o j e c t o r , t h e most g l o r i o u s TV t h i n g t h e r e i a . I t c o s t s $3500 and p r o j e c t s a f o u r - f o o t p i c t u r e i n t h e b e s t TV c o l o r you c a n f i n d . A l o t o f gu ys a r e b it- m a p p in g t o i t . A t MIT th e y 'v e g o t b it- m a p c o l o r on tho Ad v e n t a t b e t t e r t h a n 400*500 r e s o l u t i o n . (An o p tio n p la n n ed f o r th e F l y in g T u r t l e ( se e p . Y) w i l l a l low i t s c o re nOTory t o be use d w ith t h e Adv en t a s a b it- m a p d i s p l a y r e f r e s h e r . ) A t C e o t a l t h e y 'r e g o in g f o r 1000*1000 on th e A dvent, r e j i g g e r i n g t h e e l e c t r o n i c s frcxa s c r a t c h . The most s p e c t a c u l a r d e m o n s tr a t io n o f b it- m a p c o l o r s o f a r ha s no doubt be en th e f i l m done by Dick Shoup e t a l . a t Xerox PARC ( s e e p . X ), show ing th e su p e r a nim a tion t h a t ' s p o s s i b l e when b i g compute r r e s o u r c e s are g iv e n ov e r t o b it- m a p a n i m a tio n . T h e i r sy stem i s 600x800.

A f e l l a named C h a r le s McCarthy, o f suburban C hicag o, ta u g h t the " C oa puter Eye* f r o # S p a tia l D at a S y s to n s , and w i l l do m a i l - o r d e r p i c t u r e con v e r s i o n s . H e ' l l c o n v e r t yo ur f a v o r i t e sn a p sh o t t o a p r i n t o u t o f th e same s u b j e c t made o f l i g h t a nd da rk l e t t e r s . I f y o u ' r e i n t e r e s t e d i n h aving t h e a c t u a l g r e y - s c a l e d a t a f o r p r o c e s s i n g in your own c o a p u t e r , i n q u i r e . The t b i u s Gro up, I n c . , P .O . Box 30 6 , Win f i e l d IL 60190.

UHP.F.AL ESTATE: f o r r e la jz '.i o n , Ron uo rka or. th e "dream h o u se he kn ep e in ttid e th e e y a te n .

Kant a c o m p u te r - c o n t r o ll e d v i d e o c a s s e t t e r e c o rd e r? The model to a s k f o r i s th e Sony 2850, c o s t i n g (gasp) seme s i x th o u sa n d bu c k s. An i n t e r f a c e t o t h e PDP-11 i s made b y CKX Syste m s, 635 V aqueros, A v e ., S unnyvale CA 94086I n c i d e n t a l l y , sc ale d-dow n CKX e d i t i n g s e tu p s a r e b e g in n in g to g e t a ro u n d . F o r i n s t a n c e , they hava a sm a ll se tu p I n th e p l e a s a n t o f f i c e s o f DJN F ilm & T ape, 4 E a s t 46, NYC: t h r e e o f th e above Sonye and th s D1X Model 50 c o n t r o l s e t u p , u sin g a PDP-11 and key s c o p e . Though p r i c e s a r e by th e j o b , th e b a s i c c h arg e i e $ 7 5 /h o u r . (Nots t h a t t h a b ig o ra se tu p , w ith a d i s k , i s th e model 300.)

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At tho h ig h end o f t h i n g s , a f ir m c a l l e d T hree R i v e r s Coap&ny h a s come i n w i t h a 3D ve c t o r i n g s y s t a a (c o m p e tit o rs d i s c u s s e d p . DM30). Supposedly th e y can pa ck a l o t more l i n e s On ths The p r i c e o f t h e GT40 d i s p l a y (see p . DM21), which a l l i n a l l ie one o f t h e b e s t d i s p l a y s on t h e m a r k e t, has j u s t dropped t o $6500. To d i s g u is e t h i s p r i d e d r o p , DEC g i v e s you t h e s m a lle r t u b e and no keyboard. And a t th e low and, a f i r m c a l l e d Hegatek in San D ie go o f f e r s li n e - d r a w i n g COT c o n t r o l l e r s f o r $1000 t o $3000. A l l p e r m i t a n im a tio n . You ha ve t o Supply th e o s c i l l o s c o p e . T h e i r e q u i i n e n t p lu g s i n t o t h e PDP-11 o r th e Nova, o r i n one c a se c o n n e c ts in tandem t o a n ASCII tim e - s h a rin g te rm in al ( ! ] . The 11 and Nova m ode ls w ork d i r e c t l y from BASIC; your program i n B a s ic p u t s l i n e l i s t s in t h a d e v i c e 's b u f f e r m e nory. The tim e - s h a rin g model c o n v e r ts incomin g l i n e l i s t s f r o a ASCII to b i n a r y and s t o r e s them i n t e r n a l l y . 2S6 l i n e s w i t h 8 - b i t r e s o l u t i o n c o s t $19 0 0 , S llcP an d $1600 f o r 1 1 , Nova and t ~ s r e s p e c t i v e l y ; 1024 l i n e s w ith 10- b i t r e s o l u t i o n c o a t S2BO0, $2000 and $2500 r e s p e c t i v e l y . (Nova and 11 m odels c an be c o a p l e t e l y update d i n two r e f r e s h c y c l e s , y i e l d in g a s much an im a tio n a s anyone can d e c e n t l y e x p ec t f o r th e p r i c e . S o f tw a re i s s u p p l i e d to p r o v id e d i s p l a y O u tp u t from Nova, PDP-11 o r tim e s h a ri n g BASIC; a l s o t - * F o r t r a n . ) M eanwhile, f o r th e ha n d s-o n e l s c t r o n i c s guy, O p t i c a l E l e c t r o n i c s , I n c . makes a l l k i n d s o f r o t a t i o n modules. You c a n b u i l d y o u r own 3D r o t a t i o n s e tu p o u t Of t h e i r module s f o r a c o u p le o f th ousa nd) b u t , o f c o u r s e , t h e f a n c y d i g i t a l I/O f o r h ig h - s p e e d r e f r e s h m e n t i s n o t a v a i l a b l e An i n t e r e s t i n g c a p a b i l i t y o f t h e 0E I equip aenl', th o u g h , i s t h a t you c a n b u i l d 4 0 - o r e v e n SPr o t a t l o n a y sto n s o u t o f t h e i r m odule s, w n .

Sin ce th e f o r t i e s , th e r e have been c o n t i n u a l announcements t h a t v id e o d i s k s movies you p l a y on y o u r TV o f f a r e c o r d w ere r i g h t a ro und t h e c o r n e r . E a r l i e r t h i s y e a r th e y w ere suppose dly g o in g to be a v a i l a b l e b e f o r e C h r istm a s. Now th e y n i g h t be on s a l e , "on a l i m i t e d b a s i s , " i n 1976. (TV Guid e, 1$ Aug 7 5 , p . 7 . ) Because o f th e g r a v e d i f f i c u l t i e s o f e n g i n e e r i n g - - i n a c c u r a c i e s in pun c h in g th e c e n t e r h o le mean th e t r a c k c a n t h e l p b e in g o f f c e n t e r , f o r I n s t a n c e sane o f u s a r e sk e p tic al. Two sy stems ha v e be en c o n f i d e n t l y announced. P h i l i p s , th e f ir m t h a t g ave ua th e a u d io c a s s e t t e , h a s a s y s ta a t h a t w i l l f o llo w th a s p i r a l t r a c k on th e d isk f r a n u n d e rn e a th w i t h a l a s e r . The d i s k t u r n s a t 30 r e v o l u t i o n s p e r s e c o n d , o r one t u r n p e r TV frame, so i t c a n suppo se d ly f r e e z e On one fra me when d e s i r e d . The o t h e r s y s t a a i s from r c a , w hic h h a s a lo n g h i s t o r y o f m e-t oo announcemen ts, b u t a t l e a s t two o f them made i t b i g ( th e 45 re c o rd and t h e c o l o r TV s y s t a a now u se d i n t h e USA), s o RCA sh o u ld n o t b e d is m is s e d o u t o f hand. T h e i r d i s k e y s t m w i l l su p p o se d ly go a t 450 r p s (7 .5 r e v o l u t i o n s / second) , b u t t h e y s t i l l mean t o t r a c k i t w ith a n e e d l e . The man fro m TV Guide s a y s h e ' s se en I t and I t w r k l p e r f e c t l y , b u t I 'would p e r s o n a l l y look f o r h id d e n w ir e s . (MCA, an e n t e r t a i n m e n t c o n g lo m e ra te , h a s h i t c h e d up w ith P h i l i p s and p r i n t e d a c a t a l o g o f a l l th e s o v ie s t h e y w i l l s u p p o se d ly make a v a i l a b l e on d is k f o r th e "MCA-Phllips" syste m Huch a s D e s t ry Rides Again f o r a round te n b u c k s . T h is i s p ro b ab ly j u s t a b l u f f ) w i t h t h o p r i c e o f a u d io r e c o rd s what th e y a r e , no way i s a movie g o in g to c o s t te n bucks- B u t i t makes RCA look weaker, which i s p r o b a b ly th e p u r p o s e .)

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A l l th ose sc o re b o ar d s and w is e c r a c k in g l i g h t g r i d s , now t h a t th e y a r e g j ipu t a r - c o n t r o l l e d , r a i s e a l l k in d s o f p o s s i b i l i t i e s f o r non- fram e a n im a tio n . The b i g ones c o s t in t h e m i l l i o n s ; a s m a ll one f o r shopping c e n t e r s c o s t s a hundred g r a n d (Millenium I n f o Syste m s, S a n ta C l a r a CA). W ithin a y e a r o r so, th ough, you o u g h t t o b e a b le t o g e t a n i c e a n im a ted d i s p l a y - p a n e l of some s o r t f o r th e s id e o f y o u r v a n , a ssum in g y o u 'v e g o t th a c o n p u ter i n s i d e .

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A s u r p r i s e s o a e t h i n g - o r - o t h e r from DEC, th e VT5S, r e p r e s e n t s a b rea k th ro u g h o f some s o r t . But w hat were th e y th in k i n g o f ? " G raphic c a p a b i l i t y " h a s be en added t o an o r d i n a r y up p e r- c a se keysc ope. S p e c i f i c a l l y , the a b i l i t y t o make two g r a p h s , i . e . , two w ig gly l i n e s (no Bxsre) soewwhere between th e l e f t and r i g h t S i d e s o f t h e s c r e e n . You can a l s o shade i n under th em , and add c o o rd in a te g r i d s . I t * $2500, and o b v io u s ly g r e a t I f your e b o n k e rs f o r 2D grap h s.

The p r o s p e c t s u r p r i s e d th e n , b u t M AGI ( s e e p . DM36) a llo w s aa how th e y m ig h t l e t you make m ovie s on t h e i r o v e r - th e - p h o n e movie-making s e t u p (s k etch e d o n p . DM36). P r i e s t o c a p a b le o u t d e r s , i f th e s o f tw a r e mesh ed, would b e a b o u t $50 an h o u r. (Six h o u r s makes one min ute o f f i l m , n o t c o u n tin g t h e phone b i l l . Cheap i f you know movie e c o i m i c s . ) Me anwhile , Jo hn l^>wry, a t D i g i t a l Video Lab o r a t o r i e s i n T o r o n to , h a s be en d e v e lo p in g h i g h q u a l i t y v id e o s u i t a b l e f o r t r a n s f e r to t h e a t r i c a l f ilm . He and t h e y have dev elo p e d a 6 5 5 - lin e c o l o r e y s t w i t h heavy d i g i t a l e n h a n c s ttn t (aee " P i c t u r e P r o c e s s i n g ,* p . DM10). I s c a r c e l y b e l i e v e By n o t e s , b u t I saw I t , and wro te down t h a t i t was co m p arab le to 35aaa s t u d i o c o l o r . T he d ay o f " e l e c t r o n i c cam e ra s" t h a t i s , f i l m q u a l i t y v id e o -- may be upon us soon. AtDUt 197 2, t h e r e wae announced an e l e c t r o n i c a l l y - c o n t r o l l e d c o l o r f i l t e r t h a t c ould chareje t o an y hue i n n a n o s e c o n d s . T hat would t o j u s t h a t we a l l need f o r c o l o r movies f r o a 03Ms b u t what happened t o i t ?

E x c e l l e n t ma nuals on th e PLATO s y s t a a and TUTOR language a r e now a v a i l a b l e from CERL, Uni v e r s i t y o f I l l i n o i s , U rbana. The n e x t g e n e r a ti o n o f PLATO te rm in a l s i s c o o in g down th e l i n e . The m ic r o f i c h e p r o j e c t o r i s w ith e ri n g away, a s was e a s i l y f o r e s e e a b l e ) meantime, s te p s a re b e in g ta k e n toward a s r e h igh-perform anc e t e r m i n a l , b y p u t t i n g a c m p u te r i n I t . T h is i s b e in g done b o th by J a c k S t i f l e , who ha s done i t w ith th s I n t e l c h i p , and Roger Jo h n so n , who has th a p a n e l i n t s r f a c e d to a n 11. (11 f a n s p l e a s e n o t e t h e i m p l i c a t i o n : i t i s pos s i b l e t h a t the i n t e r f a c e may ba m a rk e te d .) Meanwhile, PLATO-like te r m i n a l s ( th e model AG-60) a r e a t o u t $5000 (r<m A p p l i c a t i o n s Group, I n c . , P.O . Box 444B, H a w s e , O hio 43S37. Note t h a t th e s e have s ta n d a r d non-PIATO i n t e r f a c e s and s ta n d a r d keyboards, b u t t h e O w e n s - I l lin o is p l a n a p a n e l ( e r ro n e o u s ly c a l l e d C ornin g e l s e where in th e book) b l a z e s in a l l i t s g l o r y .

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IBM, which did not ta k e p a r e i n i t * develo p m ent, 1s spon so rin g a $100,000 CHARGE i n s t a l l a t i o n a t t h * U n i v e r s i t y o f W ate rloo, I n Canada.

T h i a b o o k ( b o t h e i d a a ) i a b a s e d l n p a r e on my t a l k s a e o r b e f o r e t h * A m e r ic a n C h e m ic a l S o c i e t y , th a A m e r i c a n D o c u m e n t a t i o n I n s t i t u t e t h a A n a r l e a n Manag emen t A s s o c i a t i o n , t h e A s s o c i a t e d P r e s * , t h e A s s o c i a t i o n f o r C o m puting M a c h i n e r y , t h e C e n t r a l I n t e l l i g e n c e A g e n c y , t h l I n a t i t u t e o f E l e c t r i c a l and E l e c t r o n i c s E n g i n e e r * , t h e P r i m i n g a o d Pub I t ah l a g A s s o c i a t i o n , t h e Hand C o r p o r a t i o n , t h * S o c i e t y f o r I n f o r m a t i o n D i s p l a y , t h a S o c i e t y o f M o t i o n P i c t u r e and T e l e v l a l o n E n g l n e e r a , TIME I n c o r p o r a t e d , U nio n T h e o l o g i c a l S e m i n a r y ( t h a A u b u rn l e c t u r e s ) X e r o x P a l o A l t o R e s e a r c h C e n t e r , and v a r i o u s a r t s c h o o l . , c o l l e g e s . u n i v e r s i t i e s aod J o i n t C o a p u t e r C o n f e r e n c e s .

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS E v e r y b o d y a t C h i c a g o C i r c l e Campus has been v e ry s p o r t i n g abour t h i s p r o j e c t . I aa g r a t e f u l n o t o n ly o t th e e n c o u rag e ment 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 a l s ( e s p e c i a l l y J o s e p h I . L i p s o n , D a v i d C. M i l l e r and Samuel S c h r a g e ) , b u t f o r th e a t m o s p h e r e o f s u p p o r t w h i c h h a s made t h i s p o ss ib le . My t h a n k s t o t h e D e p a r t m e n t o f A r t a n d t h e O f f i c e o f I n s t r u c t i o n a l Re s o u r c e s D e v e l o p m e n t f o r f r e e i n g me fro m l e a c h i n g d u t i e s , t o t h e C o m p u te r C e n t e r and th e D e p a rtm e n t o f C h e m is try f o r l e t t i n g ae u s e p i c t u r e s o f t h e i r e q u ip m e n t, an d e v e r y b o d y f o r t h e i r e n c o u r a g e m e n t . I w o u l d l i k e t o t h a n k t h e W a lt D i s n e y o r g a n iz a t io n f o r th e iT p e rm issio n to d e p i c t t h e i r w o n d e r f u l c h a r a c t e r s , an d e v e r y o n e e l s e who f u r n i s h e d m a t e r i a l s a n d p e rm issio n s fo r th e th in g s h e re in . T h a n k s a l 9 o t o t h o s e who l o o k e d o v e r some o f t h e m a t e r i a l , e s p e c i a l l y H e r b e r t G r o s c h o f C o m p u t e r w o r l d , Dan McGuTk o f t h e C o m p u t e r I n d u s t r y A s s o c i a t i o n , and W illiam R o d g e rs. 1 am p a r t i c u l a r l y g r a t e f u l t o t h e many who h a v e e x p l a i n e d c o m p u t e r s t o me o v e r t h e y e a r s , e s p e c i a l l y Dave D e n f i i s t o n , R o b e r t F e n i c h e l , A n d re w J . S i n g e r , J o h n R. L e v i n e . My t h a n k s t o T o n B a r n a r d f o r so m e o f th e e a T ly t y p i n g , and f o r th e P o rta -X a n . I am g r a t e f u l t o C o m p u te r D e c i s i o n s m a g a z i n e f o r t h e i r g oo d w i l l , a n d h e l p in r e s e a r c h i n g c o m p u te r im age s y n t h e s i s . My r o o m m a te Tom D e F a n t i , m e n t i o n e d e ls e w h e r e i n t h i s b o o k , h a s been c o n s i d e r a te beyond th e c a l l o f du ty in g iv in g o v e r a l l t h e f i r s t - f l o o r r o om s o f o u r h o u s e to t h i s p r o j e c t f o r s i x m o n t h s . My t h a n k s f i n a l l y t o t h e many o t h e r s w ho se g o o d w i l l h a s k e p t me g o i n g , i n p a r t i c u l a r my f o r m e r w i f e an d e t e r n a l fT ien d , D eborah S to n e N elson. S p e c i a l g r e e t i n g s t o my f r i e n d a n d n e i g h b o r , M r s . J o h n R. N e i l l : I h o p e y ou e n jo y th e u s e s w h ich 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 t h e M a chin e Man ha v e f o u n d h e r e . L a s tly , f o r h er c o n trib u tio n s to m o rale (an d f o r n o t f o o t p r i n t i n g th e p a s t e u p s ) , l e t ' s ha v e a warn hand f o r Pooky t h e W o nd er Dog. D.W. GRIFFITH-- look th e m ovle -box and cre ste d the photo p la y , no lo n g e r a tw isted stage p r o d u c ti o n . WALT DISNEY c re ate d a hypnotic pa nth eon of kin d ly and Innocent se m i- a n i m a l s . se nti mentally u n iv e rs a l, g e n e r a lly a cc epta ble . JOHN W. CAMPBELL-- aa auth or and th e n editor of A sto u n d in g , tu r n ed A m erican acienceflction from Ihe Buck R o g e rs s p s c e Opera lo th e human s t o r y , b u ilt a r o u n d thought out prem ises and s t r u c t u r e s . IVAN SUTHERLAND-- progra m m e d and syatematlzed a c om pute r se tu p for h e lp in g people think and w ork with d e e p ly - s lr u c l u r e d plclorlal I nformation. (See p .) b ,Z j.) DOUG ENGELBART-- fore saw th e u s e o f computer sc re e n s a s a w ay of e x p a n d in g th e mind, and ove r the la st decade and a h a lf haa brought aboul Ju at th st. r e e d I** A nd m ore, and o n .

Pe rsons of sa gacity have b e e n s a y in g for some time lhat we a re m e ie rie lia U c . In an Important se n se this la not so . The machines, and to y s, a nd Involvementa wa b u y Into , are In but a small prop o rtio n of c a se s owned sim ply aa sc o re s, for th e i r eoet a s consumption symbols. R a th e r, we buy th in g s lha t REPRESENT IDEALS, hopin g o u r se lv e s lo p a rta k e o f some a bstr ac tion or Im age-- th e P layboy ro an , th e Smart B usinessm an, the C lev e r Hom emaker. Each product tr ie s to tell ua It Is lha key stone of a way of life, and Ihen, at le ast a t that moment of p u r c h a s e , we ste p In to , w e embrace thal Way of Ufa, co v erin g o u r s e l v e s wilh tha f ee ling, th e a u ra , the magic we sa w In I t a com mercia l . T h is Is not m a te ria lis m . It la wishful g r a s p i n g st mi asm a. (Following s e n te n c e op tio n a l.) It la communion, with th e o bje ct se ized sim ply ihe Objective C orrela tive of a hoped-for tr a n s a u b sla n d a tlo n . ( S o r r y . ) Its a se e k in g , not to p o s s e s s ,4 to belo ng. I a lre ad y sa id on the oth e r side t h a t the com puie r Is a R orschach, and you make of It some w ild reflection of what you are y o u r s e l f. T h e r e is more lo It lhan thal. Am erica is the land w here the m a ch in e Is an in ti m ate pa rt of our fantasy life. G erm ans are too lite r a l, th e y c sn g e t off on w ell- oile d cogs. The French are loo v a gue, ( I'v e notic e d that German Bclence-flclion m a ga zin es had covefB of machines and p la nets; French scien c e-fictio n m agazin es, of d ragons and people with w in g s . O u r scle nce-flc tlo n c o v e r s sh ow people w ith m sc hlne s. Intim ately, e m otiona lly.) German fanta sy la Icy end Im perso nal, F r e n c h fanta sy loo p e rsona l, and American f an ta sy le aplat i n th e mid dle, u niting both: man and m achine, means and en d s, emotion and d e ta ils. Men alw ays longed to fly , bul It w a s h e r e lhat th e y f ir st d id , T h is Is the land of Ihe MOVIE. a fanta sy fabric ate d with e n d le s s dif fi culty u s in g various kin ds of equip m ent. T h e mad tin k e r e r i s a fabled c h a r a c te r In o u r fiction. T h i s is the land of the kandy kolo r hot ro d , th e Hell's A ngel c h o p p e r , the d r i v e - i n movie. And th e wild ho t- r o d , In fact, la jusl Ihe f lip side o f the deep-ca rpe te d Cadillac: eac h l a f a n ta s y . an extension of Ita o w n e r 's im age of h im s elf in th e w o rl d , T h u s It was nol an historical a c c id e n t , but utte r ly p redete rm ined, lhal In th e h a n d s of A m e ric ans th e computer would become s w a y of rea liz in g e v e r y con ceiv able wild fanta sy tha l was d e a r lo th em. T h i s i s pe rfec tly all r ig h t, T his Is a s It should b e . T h is i s the beat pa rt of o u r cuH ureNot "Let a hu n d red flowers bloom.* b u t "Let a h u n d r e d gizmos c lan k ." This has spe d Immeasu r sb ly th e Imaginative development of many dif ferent th in g s we might w a n l. I t r y h e r e fairly to e x p lain a few differences among th em. T h er e Is Juat one problem with all th ls . Now that all these th ings e x is t, or come n e a r e r to e x is tin g , which ones will oth e r pe ople want? What will it be po ssible for ev ery o n e to ha ve? And how can we tie all the se th in gs to g e th e r? (N o te: t h i s t h e s i s ia b e in g a dvanced o n ly h a l f - a e r l o u a l y . T here h a v e b een a n u a b e r o f e x a c t l y - d r a a a f u l P r a n c h a n t , and f o r t h i s t h r e e - n a t i o n a l i t y S p l i t to bo r e a l l y t r u e , t h e y w o u ld a l l h a v o t o h a v o c o n e f r o a A ls a c e , n e x t t o G erm anyi J u l o s V e rn e , D a g u e rre , th e b r o th e r s H o n tg o lf l e . ', t h e b r o t h e r a L u w i e r e , t o name a f e w . )

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2 4 6 6 a B 9 10 11 12 12 IS 15 16 20 24 26 28 30 31 32 34 37 39 40 41 42 42 43 43 44 46 48 S2 56 58 59 DREAM MACHINES APPARATUSES OF APPARITION VIDEO LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE: THE CATHODE-RAY TUBE HOLOGRAPHY S a n d i n ' s Im age P r o c e s s o r 3 0 DY ELECTRONICS PICTURE PROCESSING AUDIO G COMPUTERS THREE COMPUTER DREAMS: Al ( 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 te d in stru c tio n ) "N o M ore T e a c h e r s ' D i r t y L o o k s." Till: MIND'S F.YE (co m p u ter d is p la y ) COMPUTER MOVIES PLATO "L aw s o f th e U n iv e rse H y p er-C o m ic s" THE MIND S EYE MOBE: 3D LINE SYSTEMS D c F a n t i s Coup de GRASS HALFTONE IMAGE SYNTHESIS 1. P o l y g o n S y s te m s 2. Shades o f R e a lity ( n lc c r groys) 3. H ard e n in g o f th e A r t i s t r i e s ( s p e c i a l ha rd w are ) 4. C o m p u ie r Im age C o r p . TIIL MIND'S EYE MORE: n D im e n s i o n s The C i r c l e . G r a p h i c s H a b i t a t The T i s s u e o f T hought How t o L e a r n A n y th in g On W r i t i n g The H e r i t a g e HYPERMEDIA, HYPERTEXTS lin g e lb a rt FANTICS TIIINKERTOYS XANADU WHAT NELSON IS REALLY SAYING FL IP OUT

-M Th e o c ca sio n al Oz Illustr ations a re ail b y John R. N eill, from v a rio u s oul- of-c opy right Oz book s b y L . F r a n k B a u m , e specia lly Qzma of O i a n d T lk - T o h o f O t . T U c-T o k . the Ma chine Man, Is the f ig u r e to whom o ccasio n al allegorical s i g nificance Is a tta ch e d h e r e by Juxtaposition. T h e O* p ic tu r e In Ih ls s p rea d Is from The P a tc h w o rk O lr l o f O s. T h o u g h t y o u might w o n d er. ANOTHER QUICKIE Com pare A lice, when she gets to W onderland ("Deary me! C u r io se r and c u r io s e r ") with Dorothy G al e, tr a n s p o rte d to Oz ("How do I ge t ba ck to K a n sa s? ! ! ! " ) F a nta sy ties In with e v e r y th in g , in c lu d in g American gil- o u l- n - d o -H .

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In ihc ruiUMd oi iKeir ubjK ts, which they lad are thr prauraaix of new artritic i n | a lhat will in tom adiuluB thrrmtlm a* amriha f r o of bring, Maalcn and Hnotion n a mrw hoe Ggarc rrw nfiilhy m a n in |. 7>it* m hae Ii b ! ihc old hero of lhooind (ana,* lha jndiridailnl who a lie n , die*, and t* iriu u , liu th loin | and conquering along lh way. IbUhq, he is Protean, capable of mfinil* chauum ia appearance and tlylc, a magician, a Bahherar bringing gif la. Ht rnpfom categorin n d cailimm ihe r w . and i n doing ao he holda ooi ihe promis- of fusion m a hignej leaeL If nch a hero were to become Ihc model for tie approaching age. he wmld probably im he the founder 01 a mam rnuitiiiriil or ihe god of a new rrligicai. He wmld he nwtr ekxtvr. m ehangefol lhan hi* p n d o i a i L He wmild be a amieici who treat* ilw mental r a id aad the Internal wtrid on equal ten**, grrmg ^jirit la the T erm and Be*h u> the laner. He weald ba a naata of paradox and a player of gnaw, n a U a a a new language. Hm one payer aright be ihe b n of Sake: Mrr GrJ u inp rnmoM fUwinm Amd VoUal tiacp. K enneth Cavander, 'Voyage o f th e Psychenaut a . " H a rpere . Jan 74, p . 74.

T h i a p r o j e c t c o u l d n t v e r h a v e b e a n c o m p l e t e d w l t h o u c e h* d e d i c a t e d e n d e x t r a o r d i n a r y e f f o r t * o f my w i* e an d w arm f r i e n d * S h a l l * M cK enzie and U ade F r e e m a n , b o t h f a c u l c y member* a e C i r c l e , who he v e ay d a e p e a t g r a t i t u d e . T h ey g a v e m oocha a n d w eek* o f t h e i r g o o d ti m e t o c h e t e d i o u s a s p e c e e o f e h l* p r o j e c t ( w h i c h I c o o t l n u o u a l y u n d a r a s t imae e d . ) 1 h o p e I t h a a b e e n w o re h e h e l r w o rk a a w e l l a* ay own. Ma. I f c l a o z l e , w h o s e c o n c e r n ( o r I n t e l l i g e n t c h a n g e l o e d u c e e l o n d r o v e h e r c o b o u n d l e s s e f f o r t s on e h l * p r o j e c t , - h a a a l a o my d e e p e a e a d m i r a t i o n . T h a a a d t h i n g abOuC i t a l l i s C h a t 90Z o f t h e a e e f f o r t a a r e u n n e c e s s a r y . A d e c e n t c o m p u te r Cext *y*e*m ( o f w h i c h o n l y a c o u p l e e x i s t a a y e t ) w o u ld h a v e o b v l a c e d a l l ehe f l n d l n g - a n d - r e t y p l n g p r o b le m a . I f e e l d e e p l y f o r e v e r y o n e who ha a 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 , a n d who w o u l d n t I f o n ly

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R e a d i n g P o p u l a r M e ch a n ic s o r th e S a tu r d a y r e v i e w o f p a t e n t s I n t h e N ew Y o r k T i m e s , y o u g e t t h e i d e a o f S o m e t h i n g B i g , N ew a n d W o n d e r f u l A b o u t to H a p p e n , s o w e ' l l a ll h a v e a c c e s s to a n y th in g , a n y tim e , a n y w h e re . But it's b een th at w ay lo r d e c a d e s, a n d w ith c e r t a i n e x c e p tio n s h a s n 't h a p p e n e d y e t . H e r e a r e som e th in g s th a l h a v e c a u g h t o n , a n d a r e m o s t l y f a m i l i a r lo u s a l l . Book. N e w s p a p e r . M a g a z i n e . R a d i o ( A M ). P h o n o g ra p h re c o rd (7 8 ). T a p e r e c o r d e r , t " . B l a c k - a n d - w h it e te le v is io n . R a d io (F M ). P h o n o g ra p h r e c o rd (3 3 ). P h o nogra ph re c o rd (4 5 ). C o lo r te le v is io n . T ap e c a r tr id g e ( 1 " ) . Tape c a sse tte (P h ilip s, c a. 1 /8 " ). S tereo re c o rd s and ta p e s. O h y e a h , a n d m o v ie s : 3 5 m m , 16m m , 0 m m , S u p e r 8m m . C a r o u s e l p r o j e c t o r s . V iew m a ste r a te re o v ie w ers. H e r e a r e s o m e t h i n g s in I h e p r o c e s s o f c a tc h in g on (and nol a s s u re d of s u c c e s s ): Q u a d r o p h o n i c a o u n d . D o lb y . C h r o m iu m , d i o x i d e t a p e e m u l s i o n . S u p e r 16 m o v ie f o r m a t . B u t fo r e v e r y th in g th a t d i d c a ic h o n . d o z e n s d id n 't. S o m e e x a m p l e s : 1 2 - l n c h 45 r p m r e c o r d s . 1 1 . 5 m i l l i m e t e r m o v i e s . R C A 's { - I n c h t a p e c a r t r i d g e , w h i c h b e c a m e a m o d e l f o r lh e m u c h s m a l l e r P h i lip B . W ire r e c o r d e r s . T h e n t h e r e a r e t h e th in g B t h a t c a u g h t o n fo r a w h ile a n d w e n t a w a y . S t e r e o p t ic o n s ( an d th e i r b e a u ti fu l d e s c e n d a n t, th e T r u - V u e . w h ic h I loved a s a k id ) . 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1 o n c e r e a d a m i n d - b l o w i n g r e v i e w a r t i c l e In F i lm s in R e v i e w . e a r l y s i x t i e s 1 t h i n k , o n s c h e m e s lo m a k e t h r e e - d i m e n s i o n a l m o v ie s b e f o r e 1930. T h e r e w e r e d o z e n s . Thei t h e r e w a s t h a t m u l t i s c r e e n f ilm N a p o le o n a le g e n d d o n e in th e n in e te e n -tw e n tie s . (T h s t one rea lly e x is te 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 s to r e a h a lf- h o u r m o v ie on a 12 -in ch d is k . D id t h e y g e l t h e i d e a f r o m t h e LP? D id t h e y r e a l l y t h i n k t h e y 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 s p e c i a l c a m e ra that s u p p o s e d ly c re a te d a s c u lp tu r e o f w h a t it w a s p o i n t e d a l . ( B u t how d i d 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 w e i r d l e n s a r o u n d 1950 I t h i n k It w a s d e p i c te d a s h a v i n g a b l u e c e n t e r a n d a r e d p e r i p h e r y , lik e a fif tie s h o o d lu m t a i l - l i g h t th a t w a s s o m e h o w g o i n g lo f i n d " r e s i d u a l t r a c e s " o f c o lo r 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 in to c o l o r , z o w i e , J u s t b y c o p y i n g th e m . T h e n t h e r e w a s th e P a n a c o l o r C a r t r i d g e . D u rin g t h e D a y s o f M a d n e s s - - 1960, I t h i n k It w a s a r a t h e r good lit tle m o v ie g a d g e t w a s b e i n g p u s h e d b y a fir m c a l l e d P a n a c o l o r . It h a d te n p a r a l l e l m o v ie a n d a u d i o t r a c k s , 1 b e l i e v e , on a 70mm s t r i p . T h e p r o t o t y p e s w e re b u ilt by Z eiss.

T H R E E CR UC IA L P O I N T S . 1. SY S T EM S "IN T H E H O M E ."

T h e e m p h a s i s h a a c h a n g e d f r o m t r y i n g to s e l l s n a z z y s y s t e m s lo t h e s c h o o l s ( w h i c h d o n 't h a v e I h e m o n e y ) to t h e h o m e . T h i s i n t u r n h a s c o n v in c e d m oat p e o p le th a t th e n e w sy ste m s h a v e to b e v e r y l i m i t e d , l i k e j i m m i e d - u p TV s e t s . (We e a s i l y lo s e t r a c k o f t h e f a c t t h a t y o u c a n h a v e a n y t h i n g ''in t h e h o m e " i f y o u w a n t to p a y f o r i l; 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 sn o w m o b ile s h a v e c a u g h t o n b i g in d ic a te s that s o m e p e o p l e a r e g o i n g to b e w i l l i n g to p a y for r e a lly hot s lu ff.) 2. CA T CH IN G O N .

T h e k e y q u e s t i o n i s n o t h o w g o o d a s y s te m i s i n t h e a b s t r a c t , b u t w h e t h e r i t w ill c a t c h o n . ( O b v i o u s l y I f w e ' r e p u b l i c - s p i r i t e d w e w a n t th e b e a t s y s t e m s to c a t c h o n , o f c o u r s e . ) T h i s m a t t e r o f C a t c h i n g O n i s a f ic k l e a n d cru c ial b u a ln ess. A c c o r d i n g to o n e a n e c d o t e , M r . B e ll c o u l d n ' t I n t e r e s t a n y o n e in h i a I n v e n t i o n , w h ic h h e w a s s h o w i n g a t s o m e t r a d e f a i r . T h e n w ho s h o u ld com e b y b u t th e E m p e ro r of B ra zil ( ! ) . w h o w a s a b o u t to l e a v e w i t h h i e r e t i n u e o f a d v ise rs. "W hat i s t h a l ? " a s k e d l h e E m p e r o r of B ra zil. " N o t h i n g to b o t h e r w i t h , " t h e y s a i d , a n d t r i e d to r u s h h im b y , b u t h e s t o p p e d a n d lo v e d I t, a n d o r d e r e d th e f i r s t p a i r o f te le p h o n e s so ld . T h i s m a d e th e h e a d l i n e s , a n d t h e s a l e o f t e l e phones began. A n o th e r a n e c d o te . It i s l e g e n d a r y t h a t In v en to rs o v e rv a lu e t h e ir ow n w o rk . Y et a / l e r T h o m a s E d iso n h a d I n v e n te d th e k in e m a to g ra 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 lo 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 b u i l d a p r o j e c t o r f o r It, s a y in g th a t th e n o v e lty w o u ld w e a r o ff. O b v io u sly h e d ld 't q u ite a e e w h a i " c a tc h in g on" w o u ld m e an h e r e .

p a c t m o v ie p r o j e c t o r . I k e p t t r y i n g to p e r su a d e th e c o m p a n y 's p r e s i d e n t th a t th e y had in a d v e rte n tly d e s ig n e d a s p le n d id d e v ice f o r b r a n c h i n g m o v ie s ( s e e " H y p e r f i l m s , "

E x e r c i s e f o r th e r e a d e r : m a p o u t p r o p e r t i e s o f th e 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 im p l ic i t in s u c h a d e v i c e . ( I t 's o n e - d l r e c l i o n a l . G o tta r e w i n d w h e n y o u g e l lo th e e n d . B ut y ou c a n Jum p b e tw e e n t r a c k s w h e n it s e e m s a p p r o p r i a t e . ) Anyw ay, it's gone now .

3.

STANDARDIZATION

"The Emperor has no clothes on!" Small Boy (name withheld)

The G r e a t (P ro m Za p

R o b e r t C ru m b. C o m i x H O .)

In o rd e r for something to Catch O n, it has to be standa rdized. Unfortunately, th e re is mo tivation for different companies to make th e ir own little changes In order to re strict u sers to Its own p ro d u c ts . The best exsmple of how to avoid this: P hilips patented its audio c a rtrid g e to the teeth, b u t then granted everybody free use of the patent provided they adhered to the exact standardization. The re su lt has bee n the system 's spectacular success, and P hilips, rather than dominating a small m arket, has a s h a r e of a far la r g e r m arket, and hence makes more money. T h a t's a virtue-rew arded kind of story. The o th er problem with standardization, though, is th at we tend to standardize too soon. We s tanda rdized on AM radio, even though FM would probably have been better. (One Major A rm strong, a great figure in the development of radio, committed suicide when nobody would accept FM. If he could only have h eard o u r FM of today, he might h a ^ said "Oh. n u ts ," and liv e d .) example. When they designed the Touch-Tone phone pad. the Bell people evidently saw no reason to have ll match the adding ma chine panel, so they put " 1" in the u p p e r left ra th e r than (he lower lefl. Now there a r e lols of people who u se both arrangem ents, e v e ry day, and at least one of them cu rses lhe d esig n e rs' lack of consideration. Another interesting example of Catching On: d u rin g the early sixties, it was fun being at places w h ere they were jusl getting Xerox copiers for the first time. Everyone would a r gue that nobody needed a copier. T hen, g ru d gingly, one would be ordered. The firs t month's use invariably would exceed the estimate for the first y e a r, and go up and up from there. The w orst aspect of the confusion among the corporations ie that certain deficiencies and crudities of vision slip into the mix. Unless o u r new media and Iheir exact ramifications and concomitants a re planned with the greatest ca re , everybody stands to lose. We must u n d ersta n d the detailed p rope rties of media. (The first question to a sk . when somebody is showing you the Latest and G reatest, is; "What are the properties and qualities of the medium?" The followup questions come easily with experience: How of ten do you have to change It, what are the b ra n ching options, what part could somebody acci dentally put in backw ards, are there d istrac ting complications? etc. ) 1 am unpersuaded by McLuhan. His in sights are rem arkable, yet suspicious: he s u p poses thal electronic media are all lhe s am e. How can thia be? Here we may now decide what elec tronic media we want in lhe future-- and this de cision , I would s a y , is one of lhe most important we have lo face. The en g in e ers seem to be quite the oppo site of McLuhan: somehow to them it's alw ays a multiple-choice, mulll-engineerlng problem , dif ferent every time; "this technique is good for A, that technique is good for B." But the n et effecl is the sam e: "electronic media are generally the sam e." I would claim that th e 're all differ e n t, all ten million of them (TV being only one electronic medium out of the lot), and the dif ferences m atter v ery very much, and only a few can catch o n . So it matters very much which. Some are g re a t, some are lousy, some a re s u b tly b ad, having a locked-ln information s tru c tu r e , built deep-down into the system. (Example: the fixed " query modes" built into some sy s tem s .) One last point. Everybody only has a 24-hour d ay. Most people, If they increase con sumption of one medium (like magazines o r books) will cut down on anolher (like TV). This d r a s tically reduces the sorts of growth some people have been ex p e c tin g . Except, now , if we can begin to replace some of the Inane paper-ahuffllng and pap e r-lo sin g of the business world, and replace lhe cree p y activitlea of the school (as now generally constituted) with a more golden u s e of time and mind. Read on.

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Last year I actually heard a phone company lecturer say that in the future we will have "Instant Access to Anything, Anytime, Anywhere." What they're pushing ie Picturephone, which it seems to me is u n n ec essary , wasteful and generally unfeasible. (See: Robert J . Robinson, "Picturephone-- Who Needs It?", Datamation 15 Nov 71, 1S2.)

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I n a n y m ediu m w r i t t e n , v i s u a l , f i l m i c o r w h a te v e r you g e n e r a t e I n s t a n t a n e o u s l y a n a t m o s p h e r e , a p a t i n a , ,a m ia s m a o f s t y l e , in v o lv e m e n t, p e r s o n a l i t y ( p e r h a p s i m p l i c i t ) , o u tlo o k , p o r te n t. C o n sid er The c o m p la c e n c y o f t h e S u l z b e r g e r s ' New K ork T i m e s The c y n ic is m and m i s c h i e f o f K r a a s n e r 's R e a list The p e r k i n e s s a n d s e n s e o C f re e d o m o f Sesa m e S t r e e t The p e r s o n a l i z e d , f o c u s s e d f o re b o d in g o f O rs o n W elles f i l m s i a s d i s t i n c t C ron t h e i m p e r s o n a l ! z e d , f o c u s s e d fo re b o d in g o f H i t c h c o c k N e x t t o t h i s m a t t e r o f m ood, a l l e l B e p a l e s : 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 o f m e d ia , th e e x p o s itio n s and c o m p lic a tio n s of p a r ti c u la r c o g n i t i v e w o r k s a n d p r e s e n t a t i o n s w i t h i n m e d ia , a r e a s n o th in g .

* * f r * v 4 i .

HARDWARE. SOFTWARE AND WHATNOT (rep ris e) Among the many odd things lhat have re sulte d from ths collision of computer people with e d u c a to rs , pu b lish ers and others has been the respectful Imitation of computer ways by those who d id n 't quite understand them. Again, the cargo cu lt.* The most dismal of these practices has been the adoption of the term "software" for any intel lectual o r artistic property .** This wholly loses the d istin c tio n , made on the other side of the b o o k , between: h a rd w a re (programmable equipment) softw are (program s, detailed plans of operation lhat the hardw are c a rrie s out) contents or data (material which is w orked on b y , moved in or p re sented by the hardw are u n d e r control of the software) In o ther w o rd s, hardware and software together make sn environm ent; data o r contents move and a p p e ar in that environment. The publishing-and-picturefolk have missed thle distinction e n tire ly . Not realizing that their productlona are the contents (m aterial, m atter, dala, stuff, m e s s a g e ...) that come and go in the prefabricated hardw are-softw are entlronm ents, they have m ushed this together into a state of self-feeding confusion. (The m atter has not been helped by the com puter-assisted instruction people see p . DM I 5 whose bra n ch in g productions seemed to them enough IJke com puter programs lo be called "softw are.")

T im e a f t e r t i n e , t h e e d u c a t i o n a l e s t a b l i s h m e n t h a s t h o u g h t s a n e g r e a t r e v o l u t i o n w o u l d cosie th r o u g h g e t t i n g ne w k i n d s o f e q u i p a e n t i n t o t h e c l a s s r o o m . F i r s t I t w as w v i e s , More r e c e n t l y I t ' s b e e n '' a u d i o v i s u a l " s t u f f , t e a c h i n g m a c h i n e s , f i l t f l o o p s and c o m p u t e r a s s is te d in stru c tio n . I n no c a s e s have th e e n t h u s i a s t s f o r th e s e sy stem s s e e n how t h e e q u i p n e n t w o u ld f i t i n t o c o n v e n t i o n a l e d u c a t i o n o r , m ore l i k e l y , s c r e w t h e t e a c h e r 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 C l u s t e r e d w h e n t h e y h a v e t o monkey w ith e q u ifin en t In a d d i t i o n t o e v e r y th in g e l s e , and f i t t i n g t h e a v a i l a b l e canned m a t e r i a l s i n t o t h e i r le s s o n p la n s d o e s n ' t w o rk o u t w e l l , e i t h e r . The o n ly r e a l p o s s i b i l i t i e s f o r c hange l i e i n sy ste m s t h a t w i l l e h a n g e t h e I n s t r u c t o r ' s p o s i t i o n f r o a a m a n ag e r to a h e lp e r. Many t e a c h e r s w i l l l i k e t h i s , many w i l l n o t .

J L

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when somebody shows you an electronic or other presentational system , device or whatever. A certain kind of slight-of-hand goes on. It's very easy to get fooled. They may show you one thing and persuade you you've seen another. And if you're canny enough lo ask about a feature you haven't seen they'll always say, "WE'RE WORKING ON IT." It's only dishonest if ihey s a y . "It'll be ready next monlh."

" Primitives exposed to "civilized" man imitat his ways ridiculously -in religious ritu a ls , hoping for the shipments of canned goods, etc. that his behavior seems to brin g down from parts unknown.
A s e lf - e m p lo y e d re p a irm a n o f m o b ile homes na med D o n a l d W e l l 9 h a s I n v e n t e d a s o l a r - p o w e r e d to m b s t o n e t h a t c a n show m o v ie s a n d s t i l l p i c t u r e s o f th e d e p a r t e d , a lo n g w ith a p p r o p r i a t e o rg an m u s i c a n d a n y l a s t w o rd s o r e u l o g i e s s e l e c t e d by t h e d e c e a s e d . T he d e v i c e l e a c t i v a t e d by a r e m o t e c o n t r o l d e v ic e c a r r i e d by a v i s i t o r to th e g r a v e 9 i t e . T he m o v i e s w o u l d b e show n o n s t w e l v e - i n c h s c r e e n m o u n te d n e x t t o t h e e p i t a p h . "You c o u l d a l s o h a v e p i c t u r e s o f C h r i s t a s c e n d i n g t o h e a v e n o r C h r i s t on t h e c r o s s , w h a t e v e r you w a n t ," s a y s W e ll s . " I t a d d s a w h o le new d i m en sio n t o g o in g t o th e c e m e te ry . . . . " C levela nd P l a in D e a le r (Quoted i n n a t i o n a l Lampoon True F a c t o , 'lay 7 4 , 1 0 . ) b a s i c a l l y c o n s i s t s o f th e m a n ip u la tio n o f r u b b e r p u p p e ts bv m in ico m p u ter, th ro u g h c a b l e s an d p u f f s o f a i r . H a l t D isn e y P r o d u c tio n s .

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* * Mere corroborative detail, to enhance an otherwise uninteresting n a r ra tiv e ..." Pooh-Bah, Lord High Everything Else

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W ould y o u b e l i e v e t h e r e w aa t e l e v i s i o n b r o a d c a s t i n g o v e r th e a irw a v e s i n t h e n i n e t e e n - t w e n t i e s ? The t h i n g i s , i t u s e d b i z a r r e s p i n n i n g e q u l p n e n t b e c a u s e t h e r e w e r e no CRTs ( s e e " L i g h t n i n g i n a B o t t l e , " n e a r b y . ) O n ly w i t h t h e d e v e lo p m e n t o f r a d a r i n W o rld War I I d i d t h e r e a l s o c a n e 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 in g h o n e t e l e v i s io n f e a s i b l e . But th e b i g c o m p a n ie s w ere a t f i r s t v e r y c o n s e r v a t i v e l n t h e i r 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 ld b e a l u x u r y ite m o n ly . I t t o o k a man named Madman H u n t s , who c a r i c a t u r e d h i m s e l f i n a N a p o l e o n h a t , t o a e e t h a t m i l l i o n s w ould b u y t e l e v i s i o n l f t h e p r i c e w as r i g h t . S o h e cam e o u t w i t h H u n ts TV I d t h e l a t e f o r t i e s . As I r e c a l l , t h e H u n t s TV c o s t $1 00 a n d h a d o n e t u n i n g k n o b . (T h is w as l e s s I n t i m i d a t i n g t h a n t h e row o f k n o b s on more e x p e n s i v e s e t s . ) I d o n ' t know how H u n t s c a a e o u t on I t a l l , b u t h i s o p e n i n g o f t h e mass m a r k e t made t h e b i g g e r c o r p o r a t i o n ! r e a l i s e i t was th e re . ( T h i s sa m e t h i n g may y e t h a p p e n a g a i n l n n e w e r m e d ia .) O r i g i n a l l y a l l t h e r e w as waa K ra s y K a t a n d F a r m e r Brown c a r t o o n s . But b e h o ld , so o n er th a n you c o u ld say " v e r t i c a l h o l d , t h e r e w e r e S i d C a e s a r a n d Im o g en e Coca on t h e A d m ir a l Sh ow , a n d we w e r e o f f . A q u a r t e r o f a c e n tu r y l a t e r , th e b e e t o f t e l e v i s i o n l a no b e t t e r a n d th e b u l k o f t e l e v i s i o n i s a b o u t a s bad a s i t e v e r w as. We " u n d e r s t a n d " t e l e v i s i o n . T h a t i s , we know w h s t a TV show i s , how i t f i t s t o g e t h e r and e o o n . ICECUBES But w h a t p e o p l e d o n ' t r e a l i s e a b o u t TV i s t h a t t h e g o v e r n i n g f e a t u r e i s t h e t i m e - s l o t . I n a n y m ediu m w i t h t i m e - s l o t s , w h e t h e r TV, r a d i o o r c l a s s r o o m e d u c a t i o n , th e tim e -s lo t r u le s b e h a v io r. W h a te v e r c a n h a p p e n i e a s c o n s tr a in e d as ic ec u b es in a tr a y . T h i s l a t h e l i m i t i n g f a c t o r when o p t i m i s t s t r y t o u s e TV f o r t e a c h i n g . I f I t s c om in g o v e r a c a b l e , e v e r y t h i n g h a s t o b e s c h e d u l e d a r o u n d I t , and t h e c o n t e n t s a r e c l i p p e d an d c o n s t r a i n e d t o f i t t h e t i m e - a l o t . I t may be b e t t e r w ith v id e o ta p e . CABLES I n t h e l a s t d o s e n y e a r s , C a b le TV, o r CATV, h a s become b i g b u s i n e s s . A V id e o C s b l e i s a h i g h - c a p a c i t y e l e c t r i c a l c a r r l e T t h a t r u n s th r o u g h a g i v e n n e i g h b o r ho o d o r r e g i o n . B u s i n e s s a n d i n d i v i d u a l s may " s u b s c r i b e " an d g e t t h e i r own s e t s hooke d o n t o t h e c a b l e . What t h i s d o e s f l r e t o f a l l 1s Im p ro v e r e c e p t i o n . The 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 a s t h e W o rld T r s d e C e n t e r I n New Y o rk c a n be c o r r e c t e d b y h o o k i n g I n t o t h e v i d e o c a b l e : you g e t a n ic e , sharp p ic tu r e . In a d d i t i o n , th o u g h , th e c a b le o f f e r s e x t r a c h a n n e ls . Now, t h e b u s i n e s s m e n who h a v e b e e n t h r o w i n g t o g e t h e r t h e s e v i d e o c a b l e o u t f i t s a r e a im in g f o r s o m e t h i n g . They h a v e b e e n t h i n k i n g t h a t t h e s e e x t r a c h a n n e l s w o u ld n e t them a l o t o f m o n e y : b y s h o w in g t h i n g s on th e m t h a t c a n ' t b e o f f e r e d o n t h e a i r h ig h b r o w d r a m a , o r p e r h a p s X -ra ted s t u f f th e y c o u ld g e t e x tra rev e n u e . ( Y o u 'd pa y e x t r a to w atch i t by b u y in g a n u n e c r a m b l e r , o r w h a t e v e r .) T h le I s t u r n i n g i n t o som ew hat o f a d i s a p p o i n t m e n t . T he c a b l e p e o p l e h a d 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 ld s t a y home i n d r o v e s t o s e e t h e new o f f e r i n g s o n th e c a b le . I n Show B u s i n e s s I t ' s e a s y t o f o r g e t , t h o u g h , t h a t e verybody h a s o n ly tw e n ty fo u r h o u r s l n a d a y , a n d f a r l e s s t h a n 26 h o u r s t o d i s p o s e o f f r e e l y ; ao e v e r y l e i s u r e o c c u p s t i o i r i s c o m p e t in 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 . H o r e o v e r , t h e 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 hen t h e r e ' s n o t h i n g e l s e t o d o , i s TV. I t w o u ld se em t h a t few p e o p l e w o u ld w a t c h m o r e t e l e v i s i o n I f i t w e r e b e t t e r , b u t many w o u ld w a t c h l e a s l f t h e y c o u l d a f f o r d t o g o o u t . EXTRA CHANNELS I n r e c e n t y e a r s , a num be r o f e x t r a c h a n n e l s h a v e b e e n made a v a i l a b l e b y l a w . T h e s e a r e t h e UHF, o r U l t r a H ig h Frequency c h a n n e ls . T hese, lik e c a b le s , r e p r e s e n t a con s u l a r b r e a k th r o u g h b u t w i l l ha v e o n ly n e g l i g i b l e im p a c t. THE PROBLEM OF ORGANIZATION W h a te v e r e l s e y o u may s a y a b o u t th e m , t h e n e t w o r k s a n d TV s t a t i o n s a r e a t l e a s t o r g a n i s e d a s g o i n g c o n c e r n s w ith in th e I n s t i t u t i o n a l s t r u c t u r e s o f th e c o u n try . Id ea s o f "co m m u n ity t e l e v i s i o n " a n d o t h e r s u c h s c h e m e s w h ic h c a l l f o r some new f o r m o f s o c i a l o r g a n i s a t i o n t o s p r i n g f o r t h a r e a b o u t a s p l a u s i b l e a s " co m m u n ity c o n t r o l " o f s c h o o l s an d p o l i c e o r a t b e s t l i k e l y t o b e a e I n f l u e n t i a l a s " c o u u n lty s o c ia l c e n te re ." INTERACTIVE TV? Some p e o p l e , I w o n ' t a a y w ho, ha v e g o t t e n a l o t o f money f o r s o m e t h i n g t h e y c a l l " i n t e r a c t i v e t e l e v i s i o n . What t h i s t u r n s o u t t o mean I s a n y form o f c o m p u t e r ti m e s h a r i n g t h a t w i l l u s e home TV t e r m i n a l s a n d v i d e o c a b l e s . Th e q u e s t i o n s a r e why u s e home TV t e r m i n a l s a n d v i d e o c a b l e s , i n s o f a r a s t h e y w o u ld se em t o p r o m i s e o n l y com p a r a t i v e l y l o w - g r a d e p e r f o r m a n c e ; a nd w h e t h e r t h e s e p e o p l e h s v e th o u g h t o u t a n y t h i n g a b o u t t h e p o t e n t i a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f th e v a r i o u s m e d ia th e y pro p o se w i t h s u c h abandon. N oth in g I ha v e s e e n o r h e a r d a b o u t t h i s i s r e a s s u r i n g .

I n r e c e n t y e a r s , many yo u n g f o l k s h a v e ta lc sn t o v i d e o a s a w ay o f l i f e . I n t h e m o s t e x t r e m e c a s e s t h e y s a y t h i n g s l i k e " t h e w r i t t e n w o rd i s d e a d , " p r a p t e d p e r h a p s b y McLuhan. I have found I t r a t h e r d i f f i c u l t t e t a l k to v id e o f r e a k s . ( I t may b e t h a t some o f th e m a r e a g a i n s t s p o k e n w o rd s a a w e l l . ) I r e a l l y j u s t d o n 't k n w w hat t h e y 'r e a b o u t. T h e w o rk o f t h e s e p e o p l e i e a s e x u b e r a n t a a i t i s s t r a n g e . 1 h a v e n ' t s e e n much o f I t o r u n d e r s t o o d much o f w h a t I ha v e

I n so me 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 im p l y means 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 fra m e w o r k o f o w n e r s h i p a nd r e p o r t in g . I n o n e e x a o p l e c i t e d b y Sha m be rg ( s e e 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 1966 R e p u b l i c a n c o n v e n tio n . P e o p le w ere allo w ed to sp e ak f o r th e m s e lv e s , u n lik e " n o r m a l" TV j o u r n a l i s m w h ere " c o m m e n ta to r s " t e l l you w h a t th e y s e e . Now, t h i s i s h a r d l y r e v o l u t i o n a r y ; i t i s j u s t good docum en t a r y - m a k i n g t h a t s h u c k s dumb t r a d i t i o n s a r t i s t i c a l l y , much l i k e t h e P e n n e b a k e r f i l m s . H ow ever, 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 somehcw d i f f e r e n t , a n d in d e e d c l a i m t h a t v i d e o i e d i f f e r e n t i n p r i n c i p l e f ro m f i l m s . I ha v e b e e n u n a b l e t o 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 o f t h i s id e a . V id e o i s b e i n g u s e d i n o t h e r w a y s , h a r d e r t o u n d e r s t a n d , by a r t i s t s ( b e s t d e fin e d a s p e rs o n s c a l l e d " a r t i s t s " w ith in th e a r t w o r l d t o d a y ) . V e r y odd " v i d e o p i e c e s " h a v e b e e n shewn a t a r t s h o w s , w h e r e t h e o b j e c t se em s t o b e t o c o n f u s e t h e v i e w e r o r k n o c k h im i n t o a c o n d i t i o n o f E n l a r g e d P e r s p e c t i v e , s h a l l we s a y . And a v a r i e t y o f n o n ^ b j e c t i v e v i d e o t a p e s a r e now b e i n g c r e a t e d . (A g a l l e r y sh ow i n 19 69 w as c a l l e d " V i d e o a s a C r e a t i v e Medium" im p l y i n g s a r c a s t i c a l l y t h a t i t h a d n o t b e e n b e f o r e , on t h e a i r w a v e s .) Saae v id e o fre a k a th in k o f v id e o a s i n t r i n s i c a l l y r a d i c a l o r R e v o lu tio n ary . I n t h i s r e s p e c t th e y d i f f e r i n t e r e s t i n g l y f r c n , s a y , t h e e d i t o r s o f t h e N a t i o n a l | -*mp o o n . T he e d i t o r s o f t h e N a t i o n a l Lampoon a p p e a r t o b e p o l i t i c a l r a d i c a l s , b u t do n o t s u g g e s t t h a t t h e v e r y m e d ia o f c a r t o o n a n d j o k e - p l e c e a r e th e m s e l v e s r e v o l u t i o n a r y . Scute v i d e o f r e a k s a p p e a r t o b e p e r s u a d e d t h a t t h e medium o f t e l e v i s i o n i t a e l f 1 s I n h e r e n t l y a v e h i c l e f o r 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 i n w h ic h t h i s may b e t r u e s Sh a m b e rg t a l k s a b o u t v i d e o a s a m e th o d o f a e l f - d l a c o v a r v . S e e i n g y o u r s e l f on TV 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 Sh a m b e rg s u g g e s t s i t may 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 i n l a r g e r w a y s -- a llo w in g p e o p le t o s e e th e b l e a k n e s s o f c e r t a i n p u r s u i t s (h e u s e s t h e ex am p le o f S h o p p i n g ) , f o r I n s t a n c e . B ut i f t h i s d o e s h i t h o n e t o p e o p l e , i t d o e s n ' t se em t o me t o b e t h e n e d iu m t h a t ' s d o i n g i t b u t t h e s e l e c t e d c o n t e n t a s i n a l l p r e v i o u s m e d i a . Maybe I ' v e m is s e d t h e p o i n t i n seme w ay. T h ese d e v elo p m en ts a r e a l l v e ry i n t e r e s t i n g . I t c an be h o p e d t h a t t h o s e t r y i n g t o d e v e l o p new f o rm s o f c a n u n i c a t i o n w i l l make a n e f f o r t t o c c n a u n i c a t e b e t t e r w i t h t h o s e who, l i k e t h e a u t h o r , o f t e n c a n n o t c o m p re h en d w h a t t h e y a r e d o i n g .

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A c a th o d e -r a y tu b e is a c tu a lly a b o ttle fille d w ith a vacuum an d som e fu n n y e le c tric a l e q u ip m e n t . T h e e q u i p m e n t i n th e n e c k o f t h e b o t t l e s h o o t s a b e a m o f e l e c t r o n s t o w a r d t h e b o tto m o f th e b o ttle.

T h is beam of e le c tro n s is c a ll e d , m o r e o r le s s for h is t o ric a l r e a s o n s , a c a th o d e r a y . T h in k o f it a s a s tra w th a t can be w ig g le d in th e b o ttle . A c t u a l l y t h e b o t t l e i s s h a p e d s o a s to h a v e a l a r g e v i e w i n g a r e a a t t h e b o tto m ( t h e s c r e e n ) , a n d th is sc re e n is co ate d w ilh so m e th in g th a t g lo w s w h e n e l e c t r o n s h it i t . S u c h a c h em ica l i s c a lle d a phosphor.

N o w , tw o u s e f u l t h i n g s c a n b e d o n e w i t h t h i s beam . 1) It c a n b e m a d e b r i g h t e r b y i n c r e a s i n g th e v o lta g e , w h ic h i n c r e a s e s th e n u m b e r o f e le c tr o n s in th e b e a m . T h e be a m c a n b e m o v e d ? T h a t i s . i t can be m ade to p la y a r o u n d th e fac e of th e tu b e Ihe w a y y o u c a n s lo s h th e s t r e a m o f a g a r d e n h o s e b a c k a n d f o rt h o n t h e l a w n ; o r w i g g l e a s t r a w in a c o k e b o t t l e . T h e beam can be m oved w ith e i t h e r m a g n etism o r s ta tic e l e c t r i c i t y . T h is is a p p lie d in Ihe n e c k o f t h e b o t t l e o r e v e n f ro m o u t s i d e t h e n e c k b y d e f l e c t i o n p la te s, w hose e le c tric a l p u lsa tio n s d e te rm in e th e p a tte r n t h e be am t r a c e s on t h e s c r e e n . (N ote th a t th e beam c a n b e m o ve d o n (h e s c r e e n at g reat s p e e d .)

2)

B ut d e c e n t r a l i z e d t r a n s m i s s i o n o f i n f o r m a t i o n s h o u ld b e d o m i n a n t , n o t f u g i tiv e . Eac h c i t i z e n o f M e d ia - A m e ric a s h o u ld g u a ra n tee d a s a b i r t h r i g h t acc ess t o t h e means o f d i s t r i b u t i o n o f i n f o r m a ( S h a m b e r g , p . 67) W e l l , we w e n t down t h e r e w i t h o u r P o r ta - P a k and t r i e d t o ta k e i t i n s i d e . A g u a r d came o v e r a n d s a i d we c o u l d n ' t a n d e v e n t h r e w o n e o f u s o u t o f t h e b o o th w h i l e t h e o t h e r wae i n s i d e . A gua rd t e l l i n g you w h a t t o d o i n a c y b e r n e t i c e n v ir o n m e n t? " ( S h a m b e r g , p . S3) ( " C y b e r n e t i c " i s e v i d e n t l y a code w ord h e r e f o r w h a t t h e y t h i n k i s goo d, t r u e , b e a u t i f u l and i n e v i t a b l e . C f . p . D/1 | 5 . ) H A b o u t t h e o n l y g e n e r a l i s a t i o n t o be made i s t h a t c o m s u n ity v i d e o w i l l b e s u b v e r s i v e t o a ny g r o u p , b u r e a u c r a c y , o r i n d i v i d u a l w h ic h f e e l s t h r e a t e n e d by a c o a le sc in g o f g ra s s ro o ts c o n scio u a n sss. B e c a u s e n o t o n l y d o e s d e c e n t r a l i s e d TV s e r v e a s an e a r l y w arn in g s y s te m , i t p u ts p e o p le i n to u ch w ith one a n o th e r about connon g r ie v a n c e s ." (S h a m b e r g , p . 57) BIBLIOGRAPHY M ic h a e l S ham berg a n d R a i n d a n c e C o r p o r a t i o n , G u e r r illa T e le v is io n . ( H o l t , 5 4 .) TUBE, a n u n d e r g r o u n d TV m a g a z i n e . $ 8 / y r . TUBE, 1B26 S p a i g h t S t . , M a d is o n , WI 5 3 704. C a b le R e p o rt, $ 7 /y r . 192 N. C l a r k S t . , Rood 6 0 7 . C h i c a g o . S a m p le s $ 1 . "SCANDAL IS RAMPANT i n t h e c a b l e t e l e v i s i o n I n d u s t r y . O nly C a b l e Re p o r t f o l l o w s c a b l e TV d e v e lo p m e n ts from t h e c i t i z e n s p e r s p e c t i v e and t e l l s y o u w h a t s h a p p e n i n g a n d w h a t 's g o in g w r o n g ." Ad i n C h i c a g o READER. N i c h o l a s J o h n s o n , How t o T a l k Back t o Your T e le v is io n S e t. B a nta m , 95#

T h e v e rtic a l d e fle c tio n p la te s c a n p u ll th e b e am u p o r down on th e s c r e e n , c o n tro lle d by a s i g n a l to them ;

t h e h o r i z o n t a l d e fle c t io n p l a t e s c a n p u l l t h e b e a m s id e w a y s on th e s c r e e n , c o n tro lle d b y a s ig n a l t o th e m .

B y s e n d i n g c o m b in e d s i g n a l s to b o t h h o r i z o n tal a n d v e rtic a l d efle ctio n p la te s , w e c a n m a k e th e e n d o f th e beam *- a b r ig h t do t o n th e s c r e e n , s o m e tim e s c a ll e d a Q y i n g s p o t j u m p a r o u n d in a n y p a t t e r n on t h e s c r e e n . A r e p e a t e d p a t t e r n o f t h e b e a m on th e fa c e o f ih e C R T i s c a l l e d a raster. F r o m th e s e tw o c a p a b i l i t i e s - - b r i g h t e n i n g a n d m o v in g t h e b e a m - * a n u m b e r o f v e r y s p e c i a l te ch n o lo g ies em erge: TELEVISIO N u s e s s s i g - s a g s c a n n i n g p a t t e r n w h ic h r e p e a l s o v e r a n d o v e r . T h i s z ig z a g p a t t e r n i s a l w a y s th e s a m e , n ig h t a n d d a y .

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You c a n u s u a l l y s e e th e l i n e s c l e a r l y on a b la c k -a n d -w h ite s e l . T h e p ic tu r e c o n sists o f th e c h a n g in g p a tte rn of b rig h tn e ss o f th is b e am , w h ic h c o m e s in o v e r t h e a i r w a v e s a s th a tele v isio n s ig n a l.

RADAR DISPLAY u s e s a CRT to show re flec te d im ages a ro u n d w here the r a d a r a n te n n a is s ta n d in g . Thia u s e s a s c a n n in g r a s t e r of a s t a r s h a p e , b r i g h t e n i n g the beam when reflected im ag es a r e re c e iv e d .

As the beam c r is s - c ro s s e s the faceplate in the z ig -z a g television r a s te r , th e n , a continuously c h a nging o u tp u t s ignal from the faceplate show s the b r i g h t n e s s e s all ac ro ss lhe s u c c e s s iv e lin e s of the sc a n . And th at i s the television s i g n a l . T o g e th e r with s y n ch r o n iz in g Information, i t 's w hat goes out o v e r the a ir w a v e s , down y o u r ante n n a and into y o u r s e t . Y our s e t, o b e y in g - th e .s y n c h ro n izing inform ation, b rig h te n s and d a rk e n s its own beam in p ro p o rtio n to the b rig h tn e s s of the in d iv id u a l te e n y re g io n s of the faceplate in the television c a m e ra . And this p ro d u c es th e s c i n tilla tin g su rfa c e we call television.

T h e sto rag e CRT comes in two flavors: view able a n d n o n-vie w able. But w hat it does i s v e r y neat: it holds the p ic tu re o n the scre e n . T he m echanism s for th is a re of v a r io u s t y p e s , and i t 's all w e ird and e le ctro n ic, b u t the idea is that once som ething is put on th e s creen by the e le c tro n beam , it s tay s find s t a y s . Up to s e v e ra l m in u te s, u s u a lly . The m ain manufac t u r e r s a r e T e k tro n ix , P rinceton E lectronic Pro d u c ts , a n d Hughes A ircraft; each of ihese ihree h a s a p ro d u c t that works by a d iffe re n t melhod. Note: T e ktronix' tu b e b u ilt in to a num b e r of d iffe re n t com puter d is p la y s , and is re c ognizable b y its Kelly g reen s u rf a c e . They them selve s make complete com puter term inals aro u n d th is scope fo r $4000 and u p , b u l lots of o th er people put it in th e ir p ro d u c ts also. It show s w h a te v e r has alread y bee n p u t on the s c r e e n , an d the electron beam d o es not have to repeat the action. However, it u s u a lly only sta y s lit fo r about a m inute. P rince ton Electronic P roducts (gue ss where) is a m uch sm aller outfit, so p e r h a p s it is ap p ro p ria te th at they make a much s m a lle r s torage tu b e. It i s about one in ch s q u a r e at its storage en d , a n d you d on't look at it d ire c tly . Instead, an image can be s to red on it e ith e r w th a TV ra s te r o r by com p u ter-d riv e n lin e d ra w in g . After th e im age is stored on i t , th o u g h , it func tions a s a TV cam era: the p ic tu re s to re d on the plate can b e re ad out with a s c a n n in g ra s te r, exactly as i f it w ere a p ictu re tra n s m itte r in a television cam era. The P rinceton folks have built a q u ite ex p e n siv e, b u l q uite sp le n d id , com plete term inal around this device: it can hold both v ideo and com puter-draw n p i c t u r e s , s u p e r im posed o r com bined, an d s en d s them back oul in s ta n d a rd b lac k -an d -w h ite TV. $12000.

COMPUTER CRT GRAPHICS gen e ra lly u s e t h e CRT in s till another way; the beam i s moved around the s c r e e n in s t r a i g h t lin e s from point to p oint. (B etw een diffe re nt p a rts of th e p ic t u r e the beam is d a rk e n e d , t u rn e d v e r y low so you d on'l see i t .)

B ec au se the image on a normal CRT fa d e s q u ic k ly , the com puter m ust o rd i n a r i ly d ra w the p ic tu re aga in and a g a in a n d ag a in . (Methods fo r this a r e d is c u s s e d on p . pH 2*5.)

T he co lo r tu b e is a w eird beast in d e e d . T h e re a r e s e v e r a l ty p e s , b u t w e'll only talk about the s im p le st (and many think the b e s t ) , S o n y 's T rin ilro n (T M ) tube. T h is is an o rd in a ry CRT which h a s , i n stea d of a uniform coating on the fa c e p la te , tiny v e rtic a l s t r i p e s o f th re e p rim ary colors r e d , blue and g r e e n . (You thought the p rim ary col o rs w e re r e d , b lu e and yellow , d id n 't y o u . If y o u 're m ixin g pigm ents that happens lo b e t r u e . F or some u n g odly re a s o n , h ow e ver, if y o u 'r e m ixing l i g h t s , th e colors that yield all o th e r s t u r n out to b e r e d , g reen and blue; it t u r n s out that yellow lig h t can b e made oul of re d and g re e n . If you d o n 't believe me go to a chintzy h a r d w a r e s t o r e , get a re d and a g reen b u l b , t u rn 'em on an d see what happens in a w h ite walled room .) At any ra tp , color television u ses a d d i tional color s i g n a l s , and in the T rin itro n th ese control the r e s p o n s e of the faceplate. If the color s ignal s a y s "gre en" as the electron dot c ro s s e s a c e rta in p a r t of the s c r e e n , the color s ig n al tells th e g re e n s trip e s lhat t h e y 'r e free to light up w hen h i t . If i t 's Yellow T im e, the s ig n al tells b oth the red s trip e s and the g r e e n , and so side by s id e they light up red and g r e e n , as the beam c r o s s e s lhem , but the total effect from m ore lh an a few inches is Yellow. Most A m erican color TV s e t s , h o w e v e r, at lea st u p till th is y e a r , used som ething v e r y dif* fe re n t, s om ething en tire ly w eird called the Shadow Mask T u b e . I'll s p a re you the p i c t u r e , but th e r e w e re s e v e ra l different electron beam s often r e f e r r e d to jokingly as the " re d ele ctro n b ea m ," " blue ele ctro n beam" snd "g re en ele ctron b ea m ," though of c o u rse they w e re identical in c h a ra c te r. T h e s e hit a perforated s ie v e , up n e a r the s c r e e n , called the shadow m a s k , and the co lo r s ig n a l tw eaked the unwanted beam s so they did n o t h it different-colored p h o s p h o r dots that w e re in tric a te ly a rra n g e d on th e s c r e e n . Im s o r r y I s t a r t e d to explain th is. Multi gu n tu b e s have more than one ele ctro n gun and m ore th a n one electron beam . T h e y can b e u s ed in d ifferent w ays (aside from the old shad o w -m ask TV tu b e , mentioned a b o v e ). F or in s ta n c e , one gun can be d riv e n in a video r a s t e r , lo show television, while an o th e r gun can be u s e d as a com puter d is p la y , d ra w in g ind iv id u a l lin es w ith no re g a rd to the TV p a tte r n .

CRTS which b r i n g in a p ic tu re one way (suc h as a video ra s te r) and s en d it back out a n o th e r w ay (such as by letting a com puter sea rc h out individual points) are ca lle d scan c o n v e rte rs. A w ord about this last m ethod. It is often d es ire d by com puter people to tu r n a picture into some form of d ata (see p . )(_,). Scan c onve r t e r s , u s u a lly by the th re e m an u factu re rs named above, can be hooked up to let the com puter p ro gram p oke aro u n d in the p ictu re an d m easure the b r i g h tn e s s of the p ictu re in a r b i tr a r y p laces. A device w hich exam ines the b r ig h tn e s s of some th in g in a r b i tr a r y places is called a flying spot s c a n n e r . ) Here a re some different k in d s of O y ing-spot scanners:

SPECIAL KINDS OF CATHODE-RAY TUBES T h e CRT is n o t m erely a s ingle in v e n tio n , b u t an e n t i r e fam ily of in v entions. T h e o rd in a ry CRT, w h ich we h av e d is c u s s e d , is .v ie w e d at one e n d b y a h um an b e i n g , has an im age w hich fades q u ic k ly , an d can h av e its flying spot d riv e n in any k in d of r a s t e r o r p a ttern . H e re a r e som e o th er k inds of CRT: T h e p i c t u r e t ra n s m itte r, w hich h as d iffe re n t v e r s io n s an d n am es: V idicon, Image O rth icon, P lu m b ico n . e t c . THIS IS THE MAGICAL DEVICE THAT MAKES THE TELEVISION CAMERA WORK. AND Y ET, BY GOSH, IT'S JUST ANOTHER CRT. Except In s te a d of th e p ic tu re coming into i t as an e l e c tric a l s i g n a l an d out of it as an optical im ag e, th e p i c t u r e com es into it as an optical im age an d goes out of it as an ele ctrica l s ig n a l: How c a n t h i s be? T h e tu b e s i t s In sid e th s television camera-, w hich is an o r d i n a r y cam era, lik e , With a le n s p ro je c tin g a p i c t u r e th ro u g h a d a r k cham ber onto a s e n s itiv e s u rf a c e . But In stea d of the s u rf a c e b e i n g a film , the su rface is the faceplate of a CRT w ith some k in d of a spec ial pickup p hosphor:

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T h e e le c tro n b ea m , which is j u s t lik e any o th e r ele c tro n b ea m , is made to zigzag ac ro ss the fa ce pla te in a s ta n d a rd television r a s te r . And th e s p e c ia l p h o s p h o r of the tube m ea sures the b r i g h t n e s s of th e p ic tu re at the sp o t the beam i s h ittin g . I have no idea how th is h ap p e n s . b u t i t 's chem ical and electronical and m y s t e r io u s , an d is b a s e d on the way the p h o s p h o r i n te ra c ts w ith th e lig h t from erne side and the e le c tro n s from th e o th e r sid e at the sam e tim e. A nvhow . a m e a su rem en t s ignal comes out of the f a ce p la te, in d ic a tin g how b rig h t the pro je cted p ic tu re i s in th e v e r y spot the ele ctro n beam is now h i t ti n g .

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I h av e h eard it said that it m ight be pos s ib le to b u ild a CRT with a chan g ea b le m irro r surface: th at is , the s c r e e n becomes m irro red tem porarily w here it is b ein g hit w ith the elec tron beam . In te restin g . T his would mean that you could m ake com puter d isp lay s (a nd TV) b rig h t and projectable to any d e g r e e , s s y , by p o u rin g a s u p e r-ln te n s ity la s e r beam on it. "Be g reat for w ritin g 'C oca-Cola' on th e m oon,'1 says a friend of m ine. If you believe in a s tr a l p ro jection .
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V uA H o lo g r a p h y i e on e o f t h o s e M o d e m M i r a c l e s t h a t we r e a l l y c a n ' t g e t i n t o . I t le m in d -b lo w in g . I n f l u e n t i a l , and o f u n c l e a r i m p o r t a n c e . The c h a n n e l A I n p u t s a r e a d ded t o g e t h e r and- Mul t i p l i e d by C; t h e c h a n n e l B I n p u t s a r e a d d e d t o g e t h e r a n d m u l t i p l i e d by t h e r e v e r s e o f Cj b o t h r e s u l t s a r e a d d e d t o make t h e o u t p u t . (NOTE: t h i s u n i t I s u se d among o t h e r t h i n g s , f o r f a d e s an d k e y i n g . ) 2 . COMPARATOR. T h le i s l i k e K o d e l i t h f ilm , m a k i n g a n im a ge I n t o s t a r k b l s c k an d w h i t e . I t s o u tp u t l e p u r e b l a c k o r w h i t e . One I n p u t S i g n a l ( t h e v id e o ) l a co m par ed w i t h a n o t h e r I n p u t s i g n a l ( r e f e r e n c e l e v e l , o th e r v id e o , w h atev e r). W hile one l a g r e a t e r t h e o u t p u t g o e s a l l b l a c k , and w h ile th e o th e r I s g re a te r I t goes a l l w h ite . 3 . VALUE SCRAMBLER. T h le I s a s i n g l e module d iv id i n g th e p ic tu r e in to e ig h t le v e l s . I t msy be th o u g h t o f as e i g h t o f th e sbove c o m p arato rs, d i v i d i n g t h e b r i g h t n e s s s p e c tr u m by qu antum j u m p s . The f l o o r and c e l l i n g of th e s i g n a l t o be d iv id e d a re s p e c i f i e d by t h e two c o n t r o l c h a n n e l s , b u t t h e d i v i d i n g l i n e e b e tw ee n them a r e t h e n a u t o m a t i c a l l y d e t e r m in e d . Eac h c o r r e s p o n d i n g o u t p u t l e v e l n a y be co n t r o l l e d by a k nob. T h e o r e t i c a l l y p r e d i c t e d by D e n n is G a b o r, t h e h o lo g r a m ( C r e e k "whole p i c t u r e " ) w as f i n a l l y ma de t o w ork i n t h e l a t e f l f t l e e b y L e i t h a n d U p a t n l e k s . S in c e th e n dozens o f o th e r ty p e s o f h o lo g ra m s h a v e been e xperim e nted w ith , in c lu d in g c o l o r h o lo g r a m s , m o vie h o l o g r a m s , v i d e o h o l o g r a m s , a u d i o h o l o g r a m s a n d g r a c i o u s know w h a t . B a s i c a l l y a h o lo g r am i s an a l l - a r o u n d p i c t u r e . I t d o e a n 't lo o k l i k e a p i c t u r e , b u t lo o k s l i k e a smudged f i n g e r p r i n t o r o t h e r m l a t a k e o f some k i n d . Y et i t i s a m a rv e l. A b a s i c ho lo g r am ( a c t u a l l y i t s h o u l d be c a l l e d a l a s e r ho lo g r am o r L e i t h - D o a t n l e k a h o l o g r a m , b u t w e ' v e no ti m e f o r s u c h d i s t i n c t i o n s ) I s o n e o f t h e s e smudgy p i c t u r e s w h i c h , w h en v i e w e d u n d e r a p r o p e r l a s e r s e t u p , s h o w s y ou a t h r e e d i m e n s i o n a l p i c t u r e . Worse t h a n t h a t : a s y o u move your head, th e p ic tu r e changes c o r r e s p o n d i n g ly . I t l o o k s , no t l i k e the f l a t s u r f a c e l e 1 s , b u t l i k e a l l t - u p box w i t h a model I n i t . What d o e s t h e h o lo g r am do? A c t u a l l y i t r e c r e a t e s , n o t a s i n g l e vie w , bu t th e e n t i r e t a n g l e of l i g h t r a y s t h a t a r e r e f l e c t e d fro m t h e r e a l o b je c t. Even down t o b r i g h t r e f l e c t i o n s , w h i c h s c i n t i l l a t e i n t h e u s u a l way, a e f ro m c h ro m i u m . The o n l y p r o b le m : o r d i n a r i l y t h e y h a v e t o b e . u s e d w i t h l a s e r l i g h t , w h ic h I s s p o o k l l y o n e c o lo re d . N o te e fro m a l l o v e r : a r t a t y l l s t S a l v a d o r D a l i p r e s i d e d s t an u n v e i l i n g o f " t h e w o r l d ' s f i r s t 3 6 0 h o lo g r a m " a t a New York g a l l e r y n o t l o n g a g o . The a u b j e c t was s o n g s t y l i s t A l i c e C o o p e r . The H au nt ed House a t D is n e y W orl d I n F l o r i d a w i l l r i d e you th r o u g h a b u i l d i n g f u l l o f h o l o g r a m s . T h a t ' s one wsy t o move t h r o u g h g h o s t s , a l l r i g h t . T h e r e i e a New York S c h o o l o f H o l o g r a p h y .

D a n i e l J . S a n d in ( p ro n ou nc ed san-DEEN) haa epent th e l a s t s e v e r a l year* p u t t i n g to g e th e r a d e v i c e h e c u r r e n t l y c a l l o t h e IP (Im ag e P r o c e s so r). I t ' s a syste m o f c i r c u i t s f o r c hanging and c o l o r i z i n g TV. What f o l l o w s I s t h e f i r s t p u b lis h ed d e s c r i p t i o n o f I t . I r e g r e t t h a t t h e follo w in g I s p ro b ab ly one o f t h e D o s t d i f f i c u l t s e c t i o n s o f t h i s b o o k . ( I f you know n o t h i n g a b o u t v i d e o , r e a d E tm z n p p o ^ ........ T ^ . . f i r s t . ) 01 1 6 -7 The i d e a I s b a s i c a l l y t o c r e a t e a c o m p l e t e l y g e n e r a l i z e d s y s t e m f o r s l t e r l n g t h a c o l o r and b r i g h t n e s s o f v i d e o im a g e s. ( I . e . , t h e s y s te m d o e s n o t move the m on t h e s c r e e n . T hu s I t d i f f e r s fro m t h e Computer Image l i n e o f v l d e o t w i a t l n g g r a p h i c s s y s t e m s , which a l t e r p o s i t i o n s o f o b j e c t s ; s e e p . DM . Note a l s o t h a t t'ath e r s i m i l a r f a c i l i t i e s e x i s t a s p a r t o f , e . g . , t h e S c a n im a te s y s t e m , f . DM 3 1 ) T h i s mean s t h a t b a s i c a l l y S a n d i n ' s s y s te m p l a y s w i t h t h e p a r t o f t h e TV s i g n a l c a l l e d , o r b r i g h t n e s s ( a s d i s t i n c t from o r y , t h e s i g n a l s f o r h o r i z o n t a l sn d v e r t i c a l movement o f t h e S .. Now, a s a p h y a l e i s t and f l e l d - t h e o r e t l c i a n , Sa nd in a p p r o a c h e d t h l e a s a pro ble m i n g e n e r a l i t y ; an d in d e e d , t h e e t y l e o f g e n e r a l i z a t i o n e h o u l d b e a p p re cia te d . S a n d i n r e p e a t e d l y c h o se f l e x i b i l i t y and power r a t h e r t h a n o b v io u s n e s s i n t h e p a r t s he c re ate d . The r e s u l t i n g s y s te m I s b o t h p s r s l m o n lo u s s n d p r o d u c t i v e . H is f i r s t i m p o r t a n t d e c i s i o n was t h a t a l l p a r t s o f t h e s y s te m sh o u ld be co m p atib le a nd i d i o t p r o o f , eo t h a t a n y u a er c o u ld f ri v o l o u s l y p lu g i t t o g e t h e r a ny way a t a l l w i t h o u t b u r n i n g o u t t h e c irc u its . I n d e e d , S a n d i n d e c i d e d t o b u i l d i t l i k e a m u sic s y n t h e s i z e r : by m a k in g a l l sy s te m s e l e c t r i c a l l y com p a t i b l e ( a a t h e y a r e on t h e Moog and I t s p r o g e n y ) , an y s i g n a l c a n b e u a e d t o a l t e r o r I n f l u e n c e a n y oth e r s ig n a l. T h i s i s a v e r y p r o fo u n d d e c i s i o n , whose f a r - f l u n g r e s u l t s h s v e n o t y e t b e e n f u l l y e x p lo r e d e v e n among S a n d i n ' 8 r a t h e r f s n s t l c a l s t u d e n ts . B a s i c a l l y , t h e I nc omin g v i d e o Image i s " s t r i p p ed" o f I t s s y n c h r o n i z i n g i n f o r m a t i o n , s o t h a t a l l s i g n a l s t u r n i n g u p i n t h e g u t s o f t h e m a c h i n e msy b e f r e e l y m o d i f i e d . Only a t t h e f i n a l o u t p u t e t a g e a r e t h e J o t s and t i t t l e s o f t h e v i d e o s i g n a l p u t ba ck

T hu s from a r a n g e o f I n p u t v a l u e s , we g ee an o u t p u t s t e p - f u n c t i o n e a c h o f whose b r i g h t n e s s e s I s I n d iv id u a lly a d ju sta b le. N o te t h a t th e e e d e v i c e s may be a r r a n g e d In p a r e l l e l , t h u s d i v i d i n g th e b r i g h t n e s s s p e c tr u m I n t o a s many l e v e l s a s d e e l r e d . 4 . OSCILLATOR MODULE ( v e r y 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 a r e v o l t s g e c o n t r o l l e d . J u s t l i k e t h e ones i n m u sic s y n t h e s i z e r s . However, i f g i v e n any k in d of a sy n c s i g n a l , t h e y l o c k i n t o t h e n e a r e s t m u l t i p l e (o r s u b m u ltip le ) w ith in th e s p e c if ie d ran g e . (But t h e n t h e c o n t r o l s i g n a l , i f a n y , tw eak e i t h i g h e r o r l o w e r . ) S t a n d a r d i z e d o u t p u t c o o e s i n s i n e , s q u a r e and sa w tooth.

Thu a t h e f i r s t and l a s t b lo c k s o f t h e Image P r o c e s s o r a c t l i k e b o o k e n d s , b etw ee n w h ic h t h e o t h e r m od ules h a v e t h e i r f u n . The f i r s t b l o c k ma kes t h e in c o m in g s i g n a l i n t o " n a k e d " v i d e o , t h e l a a t b l o c k d r e s s e s i t up r e s p e c t a b l y a g a i n .

6. FUNCTION GENERATOR. T h i s d e v i e e i s h a r d e s t t o e x p l a i n . L e t ' s do I t I n te rm s o f t h a t f i r s t m o d u l e , t h e A d d e r - M u l t l p l l e r . Know how t h e A d d e r - M u l t l p l l e r p u t s o u t e i t h e r a p o s i t i v e o r 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 ic h i n p u t you s e l e c t ?

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W e ll, th e F u n c tio n G en e ra to r d iv id e s t h e in p u t b r i g h t n e s s e s i n t o t h r e e r a n g e s , and m u l t i p l i e s e a c h r a n g e p o a l t i v e c n e g a t i v e . I n p r o p o r t i o n t o i t s own k no b s e t t i n g . The two p la n n ed u s e s w ere A) w i t h s s y n c , t o g e n e r a t e f i x e d p a t t e r n s , sn d B) w i t h o u t a a y n c , to g e n e r a t e m ovable p a t t e r n s . I f b o t h i n p u t s a r e u s e d , i t b eco me e s s tu b b o r n l o c k - o n 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 hic h t e n d s to g r a b a t p a s s i n g s u b w l t l p l e s . 5 . DIFFEREHTIATOR. B a s i c a l l y t h i s s e e s ed gee In t h e p i c t u r e , o r s n y o t h e r p a r t o f a s c a n - l i n e whose c o lo r i s c hanging. I t s ou tp u t i s p r o p o rt io n a l to change o c c u r ri n g in th e b r ig h tn e e e of a s c a n - l i n e , Ae t h e i n p u t g o e s from b l a c k t o w h i t e i t s o u t p u t i s l i g h t ; a s t h a I n p u t go es from w h i t e t o b l a c k i t s o u t put ia d a rk . (Tbs i n p u t h o le s e l e c t e d d e t e r m i n e s th e amount o f m u l t i p l i c a t i o n . ) T hu s t h e combined s e t t i n g o f t h e t h r e e k n o b s g e n e r a t es a " f u n c t i o n , " o r c u r v e , from t h e e l o p e a o f t h e I n d i v i d u a l s e t t i n g s . See g r a p h . What in p h o to g r a p h y I s e a l l e d " e o l e r l z e t l o n " r e p r e s e n t s J u s t one o f t h a a e c o m b in e d s e t t i n g s . The o t h e r s s r e na m elea s.

For For t h e a a k e o f c l a r i t y we w i l l r e f e r t o t h e s r v o u tp u ts a s p i c t u r e s , o r a s b la c k , w h ite o r g re y , wh ic h t h e y w o u ld b e i f t h e y wen t s t r a i g h t o u t t o a s c r e e n ; b u t t h e y may b e t u r n e d ba ck i n t o t h e s y s t e a and f u n c t i o n a s i n p u t a a a w e l l . " W h it e " me ans + . 5 v o l t s , " b l s c k " m e ans - . 5 v o l t s . L e t u s c o n s i d e r , t h e n . S a n d in s m o d u le s a n d w hat t h a y do i n d i v i d u a l l y t o t h e b r i g h t n e s s s i g n a l z_. C o m b in a t io n s a r e be yo nd t h e eco pe o f t h i s a r t i c l e What Dan ' a p r o c e s s o r c a n do t o t e l e v i s i o n i s not to be b e lie v e d . S a va g e c o l o r s o r d e lic a te o ff- w h ite s , s o l a r i s a t i o n s and p i c t u r e s on t o p o f p i c t u r e s . T h e n th r o u g h " v id e o f e e d b a c k " ( p o i n t i n g a TV c a m e ra a t a TV s a r e e n ) , t h e s y s te m e a n g e n e r a t e th ro b b in g an im a te d o c b u eb s a n d s p i r a l s o f i t s oun. Shaun.

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Even i f t h a t w e r e n 't a p ro b le m , t h e r e i s th e moTe s i m p l e m i n d e d q u e s t i o n o f who i n t h e e x i s t i n g sy s te m w ould u s e such t e c h n i q u e s . I t tu rn s o u t, o f c o u r s e , t h a t th e y w ould b e added t o w h at i s la u g h a b ly c a l l e d the C o r r e c tio n a l S y ste m , o r even mo re l a u g h a b l y c a l l e d t h e J u s t i c e S y s t e m . A ll t h e s a d i s t s you c o u ld p o s s i b l y w ant work t h e r e . (And n o d o u b t so m e v e r y n i c e g u y s - - b u t e x p e r i ments h a v e d e m o n s tr a te 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 le , tu rn e d in to " guards" even f o r a s h o r t tim e, a d o p t t h e p a t t e r n s o f b r u t a l i t y we h a v e known f r om tim e im m em o rial.) S o , l i k e t r u n c h e o n s and e l e c t r i c s h o c k t h e r apy and s o l i t a r y c o n f in e m e n t and e v e r y t h i n g e l s e , th e se te c h n iq u e s - - i f they a re u s e d -- w i l l e n te r th e re a lm o f A v a ila b le P u n ish m en ts, n o t to be used w ith c l i n i c a l p r e c is io n b u t w ith g r a tu ito u s ly b ru t a l i z i n g i n t e n t , new t o o l s f o r p u n i t i v i t y a n d sadism . The " c o r r e c t i o n a l " sy stem w o u ld hav e to be m a g ic a lly c o r r e c te d i t s e l f b e f o r e s u c h t o o ls c o u ld b e em p lo y ed w ith o u t sim p ly m aking th in g s w orse. And t h e p r o s p e c t i s n o t g o o d .

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I o rig in a lly h a d n 't in t e n d e d to inclu de a n y t h i n g lik e thia ln th e b o o k , w a n ti n g It to b e a f am ily - st yl e ac c e ss catalog a n d all tha t, b u t this p a r t i c u l a r item see ms fa ir ly I m p or ta nt . Re member how we la u g h e d at the O rgasmoi r o n ln Woody Alle n's Sl ee pe r ? Well, it tu r n s o u t not to b e a joke . An in div idu al named How (not Howard) W a c hs pr e a s, e le c t r o n ic k e r - in - r e a l d e n c e at a San F r a n c is c o r a di o st ati on , ha s b e e n de ve lop ing juat t h a l . ex c e pt th at he ha s more e le va te d pu rp o se s ln m in d. Th e se c r e t w as b r o k e n to the world i n Oul ma gazine e a r l i e r thle y e a r ; bu t He fner, th e p u b l i s h e r , e vi de ntl y h e ld b a c k the more s t a r t l i n g p h o to gr ap h s of a mod el In el ec tn m lc all yin d u c e d ec sta ay . Wach spr es s' d ev ice s tr a n s p o s e sou nd (aa a u d io si gn a ls ) into fe e lin gs ; y o u touch yo u r b o d y wi th an o p e n - e n d e d t u b e o r o th er soft f i x t u r e atta ch ed to h is d e v i c e - - whic h in tu rn ie atta che d to a hi-f i. T h e se n sa ti o n s , it is c la i m e d , a re p ro f o u n d and moving. You may ta k e them an yw h e re on y o u r body; the effect la d e e p l y r e la x in g and emotionally e n g r o a si n g . W a c h s p r e s s th in ks he h a s r e a c he d an e n ti r e ne u ro lo g ic a l syste m that w a s n 't known b ef or e, much l i k e Olds' di sco ve ry o f th e " pl e a su r e c e nt e r " in th e b r a in ; he a ee s it a s a new modality of e x p e r i e n c e a nd a g e n e r al iz a tio n of music an d t o u c h . T h a t la the main p o in t . "H yp e r -r e al ity " is w h e r e he s s y s It gels you: a point cu r io u s ly c o n g r u e n t with the a u th or 's o w n notions of h yp e r t e x t a n d h y p e r m e di a aa e x t e n s io n s of the mental life. T hi a s a id , we can c o n s i d e r the p ru ri e n t a s p e c t s of W ac hsp re ss' A udl tac a nd Telelac de vic e s (which he in te nd s to m a r k e t In a couple of y e a r s as h i- fi ac c e s so r ie s , b ' g o s h ) . When p l a y e d with the ri g h t au di o , in the rig h t p lacea, a n d a good op e r a t o r at th e c o n tr o la , they pro vid e a s e x u a l e x pe r ie nc e sa id to b e o f a high o r d e r . W a ch spr ess ' wor k tie s in i n te r e s tin gl y with t o d a y 's "a w a re n e ss " movement, o f which Esalen i s th e sp ir itu a l c e n t e r , w hi ch h o ld s that we have gott en oul of (ouch with o u r b o d i e s , o u r fee lings, o u r n a tiv e p e rc e pt io ns . As s u c h , the Wachapreas m a c hi ne s may b e an unf o ld ln g- m e c ha nt sm for the u n fe e l i n g ti ght ne ss of M o d e m M a n - - as well as a l e s s profo und treatment for " m a ri ta l difficulties" a n d W hy -C a n 't- Jo h n ny -C o m e -L a te ly . In sc ru ta b le San F r an c is c o! Wachapreas g a v e a nu m be r of d e m on s tr a tio ns o f his devices in Bay A r e a c h u r c h e s , until h e beca me d is t u r b e d at Immodest u se s of the p ro b e b y female communi c a n t s who h ad stood In lin e to t r y the machine. ( Audltac . L t d . . Dept. CLB, 1940 Wash ing ton S t . . San F r a n c is c o CA 94109.)

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" I e i n g t h e b o d y e l e a t r i e . . . " W a lt W hitman

Such sc h e m e s grow, o f c o u r s e , from a c a r i c a t u r e o f t h e m a l e f a c t o r - - t h i n k i n g h i m t o b e some s o r t o f m i s w i r e d c i r c u i t , r a t h e r t h a n a huma n b e i n g c a u g h t up i n a n g e r , p a i n , h u m i l i a t i o n a n d une m p lo y m e n t. (T h ere a r e a ls o a l o t o f c a n a rd s a b o u t Free W i l l , b u t t h e s e d o n o t h i n g f o r e i t h e r s i d e i n t h i s c o n tro v e rsy .) NEW FACULTIES S t a r t i n g fro m an e n t i r e l y d i f f e r e n t o u t l o o k , v a r i o u s d e s i g n e r s and b i o - e n g i n e e r s a r e t r y i n g t o a d d t h i n g s t o t h e human b o d y a n d n e r v o u s s y s te m , f o r t h e v o l u n t a r y b e n e f i t o f t h e r e c i p i e n t . A num ber o f r e s e a r c h and d e v e lo p m e n t e f f o r t s a r e aim ed a t h e l p i n g th o s e w ith s e n s o r y i m p a ir m e n ts, and e l e c t r o n i c s o b v io u sly i s g o in g to in v o lv ed . An e x a m p l e : a f i r m c a l l e d L i s t e n i n g , I n c . i n B o s t o n , f o u n d e d b y Wayne B a t t e a u (whom J o h n W. C a m p b e l l c o n s i d e r e d o n e o f t h e G r e a t Men o f O ur T im e), d e v ise d a sy ste n fo r h elp in g th e t o t a l l y deaf to h ear. Sup p o sed ly t h i s c o u ld t r a n s m i t the a c tu a l s e n s a tio n o f hearing in to the nervous s y s tem b y s om e s c a r c e l y - u n d e r s t o o d f o r m o f e l e c t r i cal in d u c tio n . Th e m a c h i n e w as s o l d o f f ; w h e t h e r i t 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 k n ow . T h is i s t h e s o r t o f th in g p e o p le w ould l i k e to do f o r t h e b l i n d , as w e l l . Now, i n p r i n c i p l e , i t m i g h t b e p o s s i b l e t o t r a n s m i t a n i m a g e i n some way t o t h e a c t u a l v i s ual area of the cerebral cortex. ( T h is m ight or m ig h t n o t i n v o l v e opening th e s k u l l . ) S o m e b o d y 's w o r k i n g on i t . In a r e l a t e d t r e n d , numerous d e s i g n groups a re a t t e m p t i n g t o ex te n d th e c a p a b i l i t i e s o f the huma n b o d y , b y m e a n s o f t h i n g s v a r i o u s l y c a l l e d p o s s u m s . w a ld o e s and t e l e f a c t o r s . "Possum s" (from L a tin " I can") a r e d e v ic e s t o a i d t h e h a n d i c a p p e d i n m o v i n g , g r a s p i n g an d co n tro llin g . W h atev er m o tio n s th e p e r s o n can ma ke 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 t o w h a t e v e r realm o f c o n t r o l i s needed, such as t y p e w r itin g or gu id in g a w h e e lc h a ir. ("W aldo" i s H e i n l e i n ' s term f o r a possum t h a t can be o p e r a te d a t a d i s ta n c e .) I n t h e 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 th e m telefa c to rs. A t e l e f a c t o r i s a d e v ic e w hich con v e r t s o r a d a p t s b o d y mo ve m e nt s by m a g n i f i c a t i o n o r rem ote m im ick in g . U nlike possum s, th e y are m e a n t t o b e 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 t o p r o v i d e , f o r exam ple, superhum an s tr e n g th : c r a d le d in a la r g e r t e l e f a c t o r body, a man c a n p i c k u p imm en se l o a d s , a s t h e m o v e m e n t s o f h i s a r m s a r e c o n v e r t e d t o t h e m o v e m e n ts o f t h e g r e a t e r r o b o t arm s. T e l e f a c t o r s c a n a l s o w o r k f r o m f a r , f a r a w a y. T h u s a man s i t t i n g i n a b o o t h c a n c o n t r o l , w i t h t h e m o v e m e n t s o f h i s own a r m s , t h e a r t i f i c i a l a r m s o f a r o b o t v e h i c l e on a n o th e r p l a n e t . ( T h is w h o le realm o f s e n s o ry and m o to r mechan i c s an d t r a n s p o s i t i o n i s an 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 on p p . M y S - fr ). T h e n t h e r e a r e t h o s e wh o , l i k e How W a c h s p r e s s ( s e e n e a r b y ) , w a n t t o expand m an 's s e n s e s beyond t h e o r d i n a r y , i n t o new s e n s o r y r e a l m s , b y h o o k i n g him t o v a r i o u s e l e c t r o n i c s . THOUGHTS T h e r e a r e two p r o b l e m s i n a l l o f t h i s . The f i r s t n n d w o r s t , o f c o u r s e , i s who c o n t r o l s a n d w h a t w ^; .' h o l d t h e m b a c k f r o m t h e m o s t e v i l d o i n g s . R e c e n t h i s t o r y , b o t h a t home a n d a b r o a d , s u g g e s t s the answ ers a r e d isc o u ra g in g . The s e c o n d p ro b le m , w i s p i s h and t h e o r e t i c a l n e x t t o t h a t o t h e r , is w h e th e r in t u r n i n g tow ard b i z a r r e new p l e a s u r e s a n d i n v o l v e m e n t s , we w i l l n o t l o s e t r a c k o f a l l t h a t i s hu m a n . (O f c o u r s e t h i s i s a q u e s t i o n t h a t i s a s k e d b y so m e b o d y w h e n e v e r a n y th in g a t a l l changes. Bu t t h a t d o e s n ' t mean i t i s alw ays i n a p p r o p r i a t e .) I n t h e f a c e b o t h o f p o t e n t i a l e v i l a n d d e hu m a n i z a t i o n , t h o u g h , we c a n w i s h t h e r e w e r e some b o u n d a r y , so m e g o o d a n d c o n s p i c u o u s s t o p p i n g p l a c e a t w h i c h t o s a y : no f u r t h e r , l i k e t h e t h r e e - m i l e l i m i t i n ' i n t e r n a t i o n a l law o f o l d . 1 personally t h i n k i t s h o u ld be th e huaan s k i n . Perhaps th a t's o l d - f a s h i o n e d , b e i n g lo n g b re a c h e d by t h e P a c e m aker. B u t w h a t o t h e r l i n e s c a n we d r a w ? The p r o s p e c t s
BIBLIOGRAPHY T .D . S t e r l i n g , E .A . B e r i n g , J r . , s . v . P o l l a c k a n d H. V augha n, J r . , V i s u a l P r o s t h e s i s ! T he I n t a r d i g<p<-Y D i a l o g . ACM M o n o g r a p h . $21.

T h e r e a r e v a r i o u s p e o p l e who w a n t t o a t tach e l e c t r o n i c s t o p e o p l e 's b o d ie s and b r a i n s . T h e r e a r e b a s i c a l l y tw o s t a r t i n g p o i n t s for th is a m b itio n . On e i s a u t h o r i t a r i a n , t h e o th er is a l t r u i s t i c . 1 an not sure b o th sch o o ls a re n o t e q u a l l y d a n g e r o u s , how ever. L e ts c o n s i d e r f i r s t the a u t h o r i t a r i a n s . P ro f. D e lg a d o o f Y a le h a s d e m o n s tra te d t h a t any c r e a t u r e ' s b e h a v i o r c a n be c o n t r o l l e d by j o l t s ' to th e b r a i n . D elgado has d e a lt e s p e c ia lly w ith the n e g a t i v e c i r c u i t s o f t h e b r a i n , t h a t i s , p la c e s w h e re a n e l e c t T i c & l im pulse c a u s e s p a i n (or " n e g a t i v e r e i n f o r c e m e n t " ) . In D e lg a d o 's n o st s t u n n i n g d e m o n s t r a t i o n , he sto p p e d a c h a r ging b u l l w i t h j u s t a te e n y r a d i o s i g n a l . En t h u s i a s t i c a l l y D e l g a d o t e l l s u s how f i n e t h i s s o r t o f t h i n g w ould b e f o r c o n t r o l l i n g U n d e s ir a b l e Human B e h a v i o r , t o o . Now, l e t ' s c o n s i d e r j u s t w h a t w e ' r e t a l k i n g about. I n t h e s e e x p e r i m e n t s , n e e d l e s a r e im p lanted i n th e c r e a t u r e 's b ra in . T his can i n volve re m o v in g a s e c t i o n o f th e s k u l l , o r i t can be don e m e r e l y b y h a m m e rin g a lo n g h o l l o w n e e d l e s t r a i g h t i n t o t h e s k u l l and th u s t h e b r a i n . T h e r e s e a r c h e r , o r w h a t e v e r we w a n t t o c a l l h i m , h a d b e t t e r kn o w w h a t h e i s d o i n g . But due to th e r e m a r k a b l e m ass a c t i o n o f th e b r a i n , th e d e s tr u c tio n c a u s e d by such n eed les w i l l have n o t ob serv ab le e f f e c t s i f done p ro p e rly . T he h o l l o w n e e d l e , o n c e i n p l a c e , b e c o m e s a tube f o r s h i e l d e d e l e c t r i c a l w i r e s , w hose b a r e m e t a l l i c t i p s may t h e n b e u s e d t o c a r r y l i t t l e e l e c t r i c a l j o l t s , t o w hatever b ra in tis s u e is re a c h e d b y t h e t i p o f t h e n e e d l e , w h e n e v e r t i n y sig n als a re a p p lie d . Now t h e r e a r e r e g i o n s o f t h e b r a i n , d i s t r i buted i r r e g u l a r l y th r o u g h i t s m y ste rio u s c o n t e n t s , w h ic h a r e l o o s e l y c a l l e d t h e " p l e a s u r e " a n d "p ain " s y s t e m s . They a re c a lle d th a t b ecau se o f w ha t t h e o r g a n i s m d o e s w he n y o u j o l t i t i n t h o s e p laces. (We d o n o t kn o w w h e t h e r j o l t s t o t h e s e areas r e a l l y c a u s e p l e a s u r e or p a in , because 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 t o huma n b e i n g s . Y et. The c r e a t u r e s i t h a s b e e n done t o c a n ' t t e l l u s j u s t how i t f e e l s ; t h u s " p l e a s u r e " a n d "p ain " a r e i n q u o t a t i o n m arks. For now .) Anyway, w h a t h a p p e n s i s t h i s . I f you s t i m u la te a c r e a t u r e i n t h e " p a in " sy stem i t te n d s to sto p w hat i t i s d o i n g - - t h i s i s c a l l e d n e g a tiv e r e i n f o r c e m e n t - - a n d i f you s t i m u l a t e i t i n t h e p l e a s u r e s y s t e m , i t t e n d s t o d o m o re o f w h a t i t was d o i n g . P o s i t i v e rein fo rcem en t. Now, t o s o m e p e o p l e t h i s p o ssib ilitie s. sug g ests w onderful

H a r r y M e n d e l l , a g o o d f r i e n d o f m i n e , r i g g e d 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 l n h i g h BCho ol. He u a e d a l i t t l e H e w l e t t - P a c k a r d m l n i c w p u t e r , w h ic h t h e m a n u f a c t u r e r had g e n e r o u s l y l o a n e d t o h i s K n i g h t s o f C olu m b u s C om p u ter C l u b o f K a d d o n f i e l d , N . J . H a r r y ho o k e d t h e H e w l e t t - P a c k a r d up t o a CRT d i s p l a y (see p p . t h e t o p o f t h e CRT. f o l l o w i n g h i s p ro g ra m , th e c o a p u te r c o n t in u o u s ly d i s p l a y e d th e l e t te r s o f th e a lp h a b e t. A l i t t l e m a rk e r (ca lle d a c u rs o r) w o u ld a k i p a l o n g u n d e r n e a t h t h e l e t t e r s , a c t i n g a s a m a r k e r f o r e a c h o f th e m i n t u r n . H a r r y r i g g e d o n e more e x t e r n a l d e v i c e : a s e t o f e l e c tro d ea . T h e s e w ould be s t r a p p e d , h a r m l e s s l y , co t h e h e a d of a s u b je c t. H a r r y s c o a p u te r p ro g ra m u se d th e a e e l e c t r o d e a t o M a a u r e a l p h a r h y th m , o n e o f t h e a y s t e r i o u a p u la e a l n th e b r a in th a t cone and g o . E v e r y tim e t h e s u b j e c t f l a s h e d a l p h a , H a r r y s p r o g ra m w o u ld c o p y t h e l e t t e r a b o v e t h e c u r s o r t e t h e b o tto m o f th e sc re e n . S i t t i n g ln t h i s r i g , s u b je c t s w ere a b le to le a r n , r a t h e r q u i c k l y , TO TYPE WORDS AND SENTENCES. J u a t b y f l a s h i n g a l p h a rh y th m w hen t h e c u r s o r w as u n d e r t h e r i g h t le tte rs . J u b i l a n t , H a r r y show ed t h i s s e t u p t o a n e n l n e n t n e u r o p h y s io l o g is t f r a g re a t u n iv e r s ity nearby, a nan s p e c ia l i z i n g i n e l e c t r o d e ho ok up e. H arry w as a h ig h s c h o o l s tu d e n t and d i d n o t u n d e rs ta n d a b o u t P r o f e e s l o n a l l s a . W h a t's s o g r e a t a b o u t t h a t ? a n i f f e d th e em in e n t p ro fe ssio n a l. " I can ty p e f a s t e r . * So H a rry d rop ped t h a t and w e n t on t o o t h e r s t u f f *

D elgado, f o r i n s t a n c e , b e lie v e s th a t t h i s t e c h n o l o g y g i v e s u s e v e r y t h i n g we n e e d f o r t h e co n tro l o f A n t i - S o c i a l T endencies. C rim inals, p s y c h o p a t h s a n d B a d G uy s l n g e n e r a l - - a l l c a n b e e f f e c t i v e l y " c u r e d " ( i . e . , p u t on t h e i r b e s t b e havior) by t h e s e te c h n iq u e s . A l l we h a v e t o d o , he h h e h , i s 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 ro p e r b e h a v i o r . And w i t h t h e s e ne w t e c h n i q u e s o f r e i n f o r c e m e n t , w e c a n r e a l l y t e a c h 'e m . U n fo rtu n ately D elgado is p ro b a b ly r i g h t .

In p r i n c i p l e t h i s i s j u s t a d r a s t i c form o f b e h a v io r c o n t r o l on t h e B .F. S k in n e r model ( d e p i c ted a l s o i h N i n e t e e n E ig h t y - F o u r and A C lockw ork Orange) , T h e n e w s y s t e m i s m or e s t a r l t a n d s t a r t lin g because o f i t s v io la tio n of the in d iv id u a l's body i n t e r i o r , b u t n o t i n 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 h a s t h e sa m e n a i v e , s i m p l e m i n d e d s o l u tions f o r e v e r y th in g . A l l " w e" h a v e t o d o - u s in g "w e" t o m ean s o c i e t y , t h e good g u y s , good g uy 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 . - - i s c o n t r o l t h e b e h a v i o r o f t h e bad g u y s, and e v e r y t h i n g w i l l be b e t t e r , a n d "w e" can a c c o m p lish a n y t h i n g "we" d e s i r e . T h e r e a d e r ma y s e e s e v e r a l p r o b l e m s w i t h t h i s . In t h e f i r s t p l a c e (and th e l a s t ) , t h e r e i s t h e o b v i o u s q u e s t i o n o f who we a r e , a n d i f we a r e g o i n g t o c o n t r o l o t h e r p e o p l e , who i s g o i n g t o c o n tro l u s. A t a t i m e w h e n o u r " h i g h e s t " l e a d e r s sh o w t h e a 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 a n d l o w e r i n i t i a t i v e s , we c a n w o n d e r i n d e e d i f i t i s n o t more i m p o r t a n t t o p r e v e n t anyone f r o a e v e r g e t t i n g t h i s k i n d o f c o n t r o l o v e r humans t h a n t o fa c ilita te it.

a r e h o r r o r s h o w , me d r o o g i e s .

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FTOtVCE Pg>Clkfe"Picture processing" ia an important technology, largely separate from the reat of computer graphics. It meana taking an incoming picture, usually a photo graph, and doing something to it. (Some now call this area computer pictoricB. ) 1 Flrat of all, there ia image enhancement. Thia meana taking pictures, dividing them into points whose brightness is separately measured,and then using spec ial techniques for making the picture better. To people familiar with photography, this may seem im possible; to photographers it is a maxim that photographs always lose quality at each step. Nevertheless, various mathematical techniques such as Fourier Analysis (men tioned elsewhere) do just that, producing a new data structure improving on the original data. Surfaces ap pear smoother, edges sharper. (These techniques have been extensively used to clean up photographs sent back from our unmanned apace vehicles both those used exploring other planets and those spying on our own see Secret Sentries in Space. Bibliography.) Then there are recognizers programs that look at the data structure from sn Input picture, and try to discern the lines, corners and other features of the picture. (Uhile your eye lnstsntly sees these things, computers do not, and must look at the dots of a picture one'-by-one. How to analyze pictures In such tedious se quences Is no simple matter.) For recognizing more complex objects in pictures boxes, spheres, faces or whatever more complex structure-analyzing programs are necessary. As the possibil ities of what might be in a picture Increase, these in creasingly become guessing programs. (This becomes a branch of artificial intelligence, a misleading term for a curious field, discuBsedonjANZ'fY. ) Numerous cooputer people think it la important to match up our computer graphic display systems (described Variously on this side of the book) to image input systema. This 1s a matter of taste.
T h ese a r e a l l b a s i c a l l y t e c h n i q u e s f o r m ak in g a d a ta s tr u c tu r e . A ny d a t a s t o r e d i n c o a p u t e r s m u s t h a v e , o f c o u r s e , a d a t a s t r u c t u r e w h ic h b a s i c a l l y m eane a n y a rran g e m e n t o f i n f o r m a t io n you c h o o se, ( e e e p . 2 6 _<f . )

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Knoulton and Leon Hannon have done a lo t o f experim ents w ith p ic tu r e con version (eee b ib lio g r a p h y ). Here ie a phone made i n to teeny p a tte rn s (ahoun around). (^ K n o v lto n & Harmon.

K e n n e th K n o w lto n i s a B e ll L a b s l i f e r . T a l l , p a t r i c i a n a n d g r a c i o u s , h is w o r k , li k e S u t h e r l a n d 's , s h o w s t h e i n n e r l i g h t o f u n i f y i n g in te l l i g e n c e . H e w o r k s in M a x M a th e w s ' s e c ti o n o f B e ll L a b e a t M u r r a y H ill , w h e r e t h e y d o a ll t h a t i n t e r e s t i n g s t u f f w i th m u s i c a n d p e r c e p t u a l p s y c h o l o g y a n d s o o n . D u r i n g th e l a s t d e c a d e , K n o w llo n h a s t u r n e d o u t v a s t q u a n t i t i e s o f a r t i c l e s , p r o c e s s e d p i c t u r e s , m o v i e s , a n d a c tu a l c o m p u t e r l a n g u a g e s ; w h i le a n y o r d i n a r y m a n w o u ld b e s a t i s f i e d to b e s o p r o d u c t i v e , a p p a r e n tl y h e d o e s a l o t o f o t h e r t h i n g s in h i s w o r k th a t h e d o e s n 't t a l k a b o u t . Som e o f K n o w lt o n 's b e s t - k n o w n w o r k h a s b e e n in p ic tu r e p r o c e s s i n g , w h e r e h e h a s c o n v e r t e d p h o t o g r a p h s i n to m o s a ic s o f tin y p a t t e r n s w h ic h n e v e r t h e l e s s sh o w t h e o r i g i n a l . H is f i r s t w i d e l y - k n o w n l a n g u a g e w a s BEFLIX (BE11 L a b s m o v i e - m a k i n g s y s t e m ) ; t h is w a s p r o g r a m m e d f o r t h e 7094 i n t h e e a r l y s i x t i e s . BEFLLX a llo w e d t h e u s e r to c r e a t e m o tio n p i c t u r e s b y a c l e v e r m o s a ic p r o c e s s t h a t u s e d t h e o u t p u t c a m e r a m o re e f f i c i e n t l y . ( A c t u a ll y , t h e l e n s W89 t h r o w n o u t o f f o c u s m a n u a l ly a n d th e e n t i r e fram e c re a te d a s a m o sa ic o f a lp h a b e tic a l c h a r a c t e r s ; t h i s d i d t h e w h o le t h i n g m u c h m o r e q u i c k l y a n d in e x p e n s iv e ly .) (Som e o f t h e c l e v e r d a t a - h a n d l i n g te c h n i q u e s o f BEFLIX K n o w lto n t h e n t u r n e d a r o u n d a n d u s e d i n L, a l a n g u a g e w h i c h m a d e th e s e t e c h n i q u e s a v a i l a b l e to o t h e r c o m p u t e r p e o p l e . T h i6 m a y s o u n d l i k e o n ly a c o m p u t e r t e c h n i c a l i t y , b u t i t 's Ih e s o r t o f t h i n g t h a t 's w i d e l y a p p r e c i a t e d . (L 6 s t a n d s f o r " b e lL L a b s ' L o w e r - L e v e l L ist L a n g u a g e ." )) W a n tin g to g e t o u t s i d e a r t i s t s i n t e r e s t e d in BEFLIX a n d r e l a t e d m e d i a , h e w o r k e d f o r a tim e w ith f ilm - m a k e r S ta n V a n d e r b e e k ; f ro m t h i s K n o w lto n sa w t h a t a r t i s t s ' n e e d s w e r e m o re i n t r i c a t e th a n h e h a d a n t i c i p a t e d . A u g m e n tin g BEFLIX w ith so m e o f t h e t h i n g s V a n d e r b e e k a s k e d f o r , K n o w lto n c a m e u p w i l h a n e w l a n g u a g e c a lle d TA R PS ( T w o - D i m e n s io n a l A lp h a N u m e r ic R a s t e r P i c t u r e S y s t e m ) . T h i s in t u r n le d to EXPLOR ( E X I 'lic it ( ly p r o v i d e d 2D P a t t e r n s , ) L ocal ( n e ig h b o r h o o d ) O p e r a t i o n s , a n d R a n d o m - n e s s ) . EXPLOR i s f a s c i n a t i n g b e c a u s e o f its o r i g i n a l i t y a n d g e n e r a l i t y n o t o n l y d o e s it m odify p i c t u r e s a n d s e r v e a s a n a r t i s t ' s to o l, b u t it h a s f a s c i n a t i n g p r o p e r t i e s a s a c o m p u t e r l a n g u a g e a n d m a y e v e n h a v e a p p l ic a t io n s in c o m p le x s im u l a t i o n s f o r t e c h n i c a l p u r p o s e s . S in c e V a n d e r b e e k , K n o w lto n h a s e n t e r e d in to a l o n g a n d f r u i t f u l c o l la b o r a ti o n w i th L illia n S c h w a r t z , a ta l e n t e d a r t i s t . T h e i r m a n y film s h a v e b e e n c le v e r , s t a r t l i n g a n d p o w e rfu l. I m u s t s a y th a t t h e y g r o w o n y o u : I lik e d th em a t f i r s t , b u t w h e n 1 s a w f iv e o r s i x i n a ro w t h i s J a n u a r y , I f o u n d th e m J u s t i n c r e d i b l e . B e c a u s e t h e y a r e a b s t r a c t , a n d f u ll o f f a s t - c h a n g i n g p a tte r n s a n d r e v e r s a l s , th e y ta k e som e a d ju s tin g to; b u t t h e y 'r e w o r th s e e i n g o v e r a n d o v e r . EXPLOR m ay b e t h o u g h t o f a s a h i g h l y g e n e r a l i z e d v e r s i o n o f C o n w a y s gam e o f Life ( s e e p . 4 f ) . Y ou s t a r t w i th tw o - d im e n s io n a l p a t t e r n s a s y o u r d a ta s t r u c t u r e ; th e s e c a n b e a b s tra c tio n s o r e v e n c o n v e rte d p h o to g ra p h s, a s in a r e c e n t K n o w l to n - S c h w a r t z film s h o w in g M u y b r id g e s R u n n i n g M a n . In y o u r EXPLOR p r o g r a m , y o u m ay t h e n c a u s e t h e p a t t e r n to c h a n g e b y d e g r e e s , e a c h c e l l o f th e p a t t e r n r e a c t i n g to th e c e ll s a r o u n d i t o r to ra n d o m e v e n t s a s s p e c if i e d b y th e p r o g r a m m e r . EXPLOR, r u n n i n g w i th o u t e x t e r n a l d a t a , co m e s u p w ith so m e e x t r a o r d i n a r y s n a k e s k i n a n d J a c k F r o s t p a t t e r n s . B u t its u s e s in tr a f f ic s im u la tio n a n d v a r i o u s o t h e r s t u d i e s o f p o p u la tio n s i n s p a c e c o u l d b e v e r y i n t e r e s t i n g . EXPLOR h a s o b v io u s a r t i s t i c a p p l ic a t io n s . L illia n S c h w a r tz is u s i n g i t e x t e n s i v e l y i n film m a k in g . I ts now r u n n i n g o n a m in ic o m p u te r f e e d i n g to a m od ified So n y T r i n i t r o n c o lo r T V . ( T h is c o lo r s e t u p w aa c r e a t e d b y M ike Noll a n d i s d e s c r i b e d in a r e c e n t i s s u e o f th e C A C M , th o u g h o n ly fo r b l a c k - a n d - w h i t e TV ; t h e c o lo r is m o r e r e c e n t. It s t o r e s th e c o lo r p i c t u r e a s a lis t o f s e q u e n tia l c o lo r s r e p r e s e n t e d i n th e c o m p u te r s c o r e m e m o ry , e a c h d o t b e i n g r e p r e s e n te d . Cf. " B o y e ll's T e r r a r i u m , " p . > K 3 l - ) Knowlton h a s u s e d EXPLOR f o r te a c h in g c o m p u te r a r t at th e U n i v e r s i ty o f C a lif o r n ia ; th e la n g u a g e is a v a ila b le p r o g r a m m e d in " m e d iu m s iz e " F o r tr a n from H a r r y H u s k e y , D e p t. o f Info rm a tio n a n d C o m p u te r S c i e n c e . U. o f C a l. a t S a n ta C r u z , S a n ta C r u z , C a li f o r n i a .

These various techniques are Intended to create re duced data structures, recording only the 'most impor tant" data of the picture from which new and varying pictures may be created, reflecting the "true" structures originally shown in the initial picture. How much it's going to be possible to create these data structures from input pictures remains to be seen*, some of us think its not going to be generally worthwhile. BIBLIOGRAPHY Azrlel Rosenfeld, "Progress ln Picture Processing 1969-71." ACM Computing Surveys June 73, 81-100. Ken Knowlton and Leon Harmon, "Computer-Produced Grey Scales." Computer Graphics and Image Processing. April 72, 1-20. Philip J. (Class, Secret Sentries in Space. Random, 1971, $8. Interesting general book on geopo litical strategy and orbital photoreconnaisaance. "Now-it-can-be-told" approach.

L I Z Z I E OP THE LINEPRINTER A fam ous c o n v e r te d p i c t u r e . The p a in tin g w as d i v i d e d i n t o 1 0 0 ,0 0 0 b r i g h t n e s s - m e a s u r e d s p o t s b y H. P h i l i p P e t e r s o n o f C o n t r o l D a t a C o r p o r a t i o n ; t h e n e a c h d o t w a s made i n t o a s q u a r e o f o v e r p r i n t e d l e t t e r s on th e p r in tin g d e v ic e . T he p ro g ra m a llo w e d 100 l e v e l s o f g r e y . A bove: C o n t r o l D a t a 's v e r s i o n , r e p r i n t e d by p e r m i s s io n . B e lo w : a c u t - d o v m v e rs io n th a t o f te n tu rn s u p. (Prom o r i g i n a l f l a t 2D a r t w o r k b y L e n D a v i n c l o f M e d i c i A s s o c i a t e s . ) NOTEi t h i s i s n o t a " c c r o p u t a x p i c t u r e . " T h e r e i s no su c h th in g . I t ' a a q u a n t i z a t i o n p u t o u t on a lin e p rIn te r. ......... n w * r r s w i r r i i t i t t m < < l u n n n n i i i n i 'W W . . . . . . . . . . . . . i iK n ru n t H H T f> tt t> i m n m m n .............

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Y o u can get pictures of any area you want from ERTS (Earth Resources O b s e r v a t i o n Systems) satellites, from EROS Data Center (no, not a d ating service, see p. )* S ioux Falls SD 57198, or call 605/594 -6511 bet. 7 AM 6 PM central time.

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SPEECH BY COMPUTER You may have heard about various kinds of talking computer." Thia deserves some explanation. Computers may be made to "talk" by various means. One la through an output device that simply stores recordings of separate words or syllables, which the computer selects with appropriate timing. (Machines of this type have been sold by both IBM and Cognltronlce for a long time.) A deeper approach ia to have the conputer synthe size speech from phonemes, or actually make the tones and noises of which speech is composed. These are very tricky matters. Bell Labs, and others, have been working on many of these approaches. The real problem, of course, ia how to decide what to say. (This was discussed under Artificial Intelligence, p. ) AUDIO ANALYSIS AND ENHANCEMENT The problem of analyzing audio ia very like the problem of analyzing pictures (see p.f^iO), and indeed some of the same techniques are used. The audio goea into the computer as a stream of measurements, and the selfsame technique of Fourier Analysis is employed. This reduces the audio to a series of frequency measure ments over time but, paradoxically, loses little of the fidelity. Once audio is reduced to Fourier patterns, it can be reconstituted in various ways: changed in tining and pitch independently, or enhanced by polishing techni ques like those used in image enhancement (see ). This haa been done with great success by Tom Stockham at the University of Utah, who has reprocessed old Caruso records into improved fidelity. In the picture we see him with equipment of some sort and an old record.

This ie a non^gimple picture conversion. The original photograph uos converted into measured points; but these were in turn made into groutogether patterns by a program in the EXPLOR language. () K n o u lto n & Harmon.

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Wish there were room to calk about plain regular audio here matters like "binaural" recording, and Why don't they make hi-fi systems based on a Grand Bus (see p M 2 )? But theres no room here. AUDIO AND COMPUTERS People are occasionally still startled to hear thdt computers can make sound and music. They can Indeed. First of all, note that an Incoming sound Is a fluctuating voltage and can thus be turned Into a data structure, i.e., a string of measurements. In the easiest case, the computer can just sefid back out the voltages It originally got in. This is rather ridiculous using the computer just as a recording device but it's a clear and simple example. The question after that is what next: how to have the computer make interesting streams'Joutput measurements, i.e., sounds and tones. There are numerous methods we cant go Into. Max Mathews, at Bell Labs, has for years been doing music by computer; his current systea Is called GROOVE. Heinz von Foerster, at the University of Illinois (Urbana), has been doing the same. An other lab at MIT has just gotten a PDP-11/45 (see p. *or the 8ame purpose. (The problem is: can the computer keep up with the output rate needed to make music in real time? maybe the 11/45 can.) Another approach is to relieve the computer itself from making the tones, and use other de vices-- music synthesizers for this, controlled by the computer. This is essentially the approach taken with General Turtles Music Box (see p. S7 ) and at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Cen ter where their RCA Mark II music synthesizer an immense one-of-a-kind jobbie is under more general computer control.

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(Stockhaa has been in the news lately, bb one of the panel puzzling over the notorious 18-Minute Gap.) (The author has proposed the name Kitchensynctm ^ for a system to synchronize motion pictures with "wild1 sound recording l>y these means.) BIBLIOGRAPHY Thomas G. Stockhaa, Jr., "Restoration of Old Acoustic Recordings by Means of Digital Signal Processing. Audio Engineering Society preprint no. 831 (D-4), presented at Audio Engineering Society 1971 con vent ion. Prentiss H. Knowlton, "Capture and Display of Keyboard Music," Datamation May *72, 56-60. Describes a setup he built at U. of Utah thst allows pianists to play music on an ordinary keyboard, and converts the input to symbolic representation in tbe com puter. It uses an organ, a PDP-8 and a couple of CRT displays. Heinz von Foerster and James Beauchamp, Music b Computer*. Wiley, 1969. HAS RECORDS IN BACK. Some of the early Bell Labs work may be heard on an excellent Decca LP with the misleading title "MUSIC from MATHEMATICS." (Decca DL 79103). (The mathematical myth Is discussed on p. 8* ).)

To make sound by computer is the obverse. If the coaputer can be set up to send out a string of measurments, these can be turned back into a fluct uating voltage, and thus make sounds.

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" A r t i f i c i a l I n t e l l i g e n c e " I s a t once th e e e x ie e t a nd a o s t om in ous t e r n i n t h e w o r l d . I t c h l l l e and im p r e s a e e a t che s a n e t i a e . I n p r i n c i p l e I t meana th e s i m u l a t i o n o f p r o c e s s e s o f m in d , by sn y m e sas a t a l l ; b u t i t g e n e r a l l y t u r n s o u t t o b e some f o r a o r a n o t h e r of c o a p u te r s im u la tio n (see " S im u la tio n ," p . 7 9 ) . A c t u a l l y , " a r t i f i c i a l i n t e l l i g e n c e " h a s g e n e r a l l y be come a n a l l - i n e l u e l v e t e r n f o r s y s te m s t h a t a m aze, a s t o u n d . m y s t i f y , and do n o t o p e r a t e a c c o r d i n g t o p r i n c i p l e s w h ic h c a n b e e a s i l y e x p l a i n e d . I n e way, " a r t i f i c i a l i n t e l l i g e n c e " i s a n e v e r - r e c e d i n g f r o n t i e r : ae t e c h n i q u e s b e c o a e w e l l-w o r k e d o u t a nd u n d e r s t o o d , t h e i r a p p e a r a n c e o f i n t e l l i g e n c e , t o t h e e o p h l a t l c a t e d , con tin u a lly recedes. I t ' s l i k e t h e o c e a n : ho w ev er much you t a k e o u t o f i t , i t a t l l l s t r e t c h e s o o a a U m l t le aa as b e fo re. U n f o r t u n a t e l y la y n e n a r e eo i m p r e s a e d by c o a p u t e r s I n g e n e r a l t h a t t h e y e a a l l y s u p p o s e c o m p u te rs c a n do a n y t h i n g i n v o l v i n g I n f o r m a t i o n . And p u b l i c u n d e r s t a n d i n g l e n o t f o s t e r e d by c e r t a i n t y p e s o f e t u p i d demon s t r a t i o n . One y e a r I h e a r d from nu m e ro u s p e o p le a bout how " t h e y ' d s e e n o s TV a b o u t how c o m p u te rs w r i t e TV s c r i p t s " w hat h a d a c t u a l l y b e e n ehown wee a hokey en a c tm e n t o f how t h e co m p u te r c o u l d r e a d o n l y d e c i d e whe t h e r t h e Bad Han g e t s s h o t o r t h e Good Cuy g e t s s h o t b o t h o u tc o m e s d u t i f u l l y e n a c t e d by guya i n cowboy o u t f l t e . Duh. I t s h o u l d b e p e r f e c t l y o b v io u s t o anybody w h o 's b r u s h e d e v e n s l i g h t l y w i t h c o m p u t e r s , how eve r f o r The B r u s h , a e e t h e o t h e r a i d e t h a t th e y j u s t d o n ' t w ork l i k e a l n d e . But t h e a n a l o g y h a n g s s r o u n d . (Ed mund C. B e r k e l e y w r o t e a bo ok I n t h e f o r t i e s , I b e l i e v e , w i t h t h e m i s l e a d i n g t i t l e o f G i a n t B r a i n s . o r Machines T h a t T h i n k . The I d e a l a s t i l l a r o u n d . ) H e r e ' s a v e r y s im p le e x a m p l e , th o u g h . C o n sid e r a n a z e draw n on a p i e c e o f p a p e r . J u a t by lo o k i n g , we c a n n o t e l m u l t a n e o u a l y com pre hend a l l i t s p a th w a y s ; we ha ve t o poke a ro u n d on i t t o f i g u r e o u t t h e s o l u t i o n . C om p ute rs e r e s o r t o f l i k e t h s t , b u t more e o . W hile our e y e s c a n t a k e i n a s im p le p i c t u r e , l i k e a s q u a r e , a t o n c e , t h e c o a p u t e r progra m m ust poke a r o u n d i n I t a d a ta r e p r e s e n t a t i o n a t l e n g t h t o s e e w het we saw a t on c e. The p r i n c i p l e h o ld s t r u e i n g e n e r a l . The human mind c a n do I n a f l a s h , a l l a t onc e ( o r " i n p a r a l l e l " ) many t h i n g s t h a t must be t e d l o u e l y c h e c k e d and t r i e d by t h e h i g h l y a e q u e n t i a l c o m p u te r p r o g ra m . And th e more we know a b o u t c o m p u te r s , t h e a o r e im p r e s s i v e th e human b r a i n b e com e s. (The s e e m in g c l e v e r n e s s o f so a e s im p le p r o g ra m s d o e s n o t p r o v e t h e s l o p l l c l t y o f th e phenomens b e i n g i m i t a t e d . ) N e v e rt h e le s s , i t i s I n t e r e s t i n g t o t r y th in g s w i t h c o a p u t e r s t h a t a r e more l i k e w hat t h e mind d o e s ; a nd t h a t I s m o s t ly what a r t i f i c i a l I n t e l l i g e n c e I s a b o u t. In v a rio u s case s t h i s has r e s u l te d in h e lp fu l t r i c k s t h a t t u r n o u t t o be u s e f u l e l s e w h e r e i n th e c o n p u ter f i e l d . In th is senae, a r t i f i c i a l in te llig e n c e l a a o r t o f l i k e m e n th o l: a . l i t t l e a a y im prove t h i n g s h e r e sn d t h e r e . But ( i n my o p i n i o n ) , t h a t does n o t mean a w h o le l o t o f i t would make t h i n g s b e t t e r s t i l l . N e v e r t h e l e s s , some a r t l f i c i a l - l n t e l l l g e n c e en t h u s i a s t s t h i n k t h e r e l e no U n i t on w hat m a ch in es can d o . They p o i n t o u t t h a t , a f t e r a l l , t h e b r a i n l a a aac h in e. But s o l e t h e u n i v e r s e , p r e s u m a b ly ; and w e ' r e n e v e r g o in g t o b u i l d one o f t h o e e , e i t h e r .

T h e s e a r e t h r e e t o p i c s o f g r e a t im p o r t a n c e ; o f I m p o r t a n c e , u n f o r t u n a t e l y , l e a e for w h a t th e y ha v e a c tu a lly a c c o m p lish e d th a n fo r th e d e g re e t o w h ic h t h e y h a v e c o n f u s e d a n d I n ti m i d a t e d p e o p l e w h o w a n t lo u n d e r s t a n d w h a t 's g o i n g o n . M e re ly to m e n t i o n lh e m c a n b e o n e - u p m a n s h i p . A ll t h r e e t i t l e s m e a n s o m u c h , s o m a n y d i f f e r e n t s p e c if ic t h i n g s , a s to m e a n a lm o s t n o t h i n g w h e n l u m p e d t o g e t h e r a s a w h o l e . A ll t h r e e h a v e d e v e l o p e d a w e b o f i n t r i c a t e te c h n i c a l f a c ts ( a n d s o m e tim e s t h e o r e m s ) , b u t th e a p p l i c a b i l i t y o f t h e s e e l e g a n t f i n d i n g s i s in a l l t h r e e c a s e s a m a t t e r o p e n to c o n s i d e r a b l e s c r u t i n y . S ince e a c h of th e s e f ie ld s h a s d e v elo p e d a c o n s i d e r a b l e b o d y o f te c h n i c a l d o c t r i n e , t h e r e a d e r m ig h t w e l l a s k : w h y a r e n ' t th e y o n th e o th e r s id e o f th e b o o k , th e c o m p u te r sid e ? T h e a n s w e r i s t h a t t h e y a r e c o m p u t e r m a n 's d r e a m s , d ream s of c o n s id e ra b le In trica cy and p e rs u a s i v e n e s s , a n d w e a r e n o t c o n s i d e r i n g th e t e c h n i c a l i t i e s h e r e a n y w a y . A s o n th e o t h e r s i d e , t h e p r o b l e m I s to h e l p y o u d i s t i n g u i s h a p p l e s f ro m o r a n g e s a n d w h i c h w a y i s u p . F o r m o r e g o e l s e w h e r e , b u t I h o p e t h i s o r i e n t a t i o n w ill m ake s o r tin g th in g s o u t q u ic k e r for y o u . T h e s e th r e e t e r m s - - " a rtific ia l in te llig e n c e ," " in f o r m a tio n r e t r i e v a l , " " c o m p u t e r - a s s i s t e d i n s t r u c t i o n " - - h a v e a n u m b e r o f th l n g a in c o m m o n . F i r s t , th e n a m e s a r e s o p o r t e n t o u s a n d f o r m id a b l e . Second, if you rea d o r he ar a n y t h i n g in t h e s e f i e l d s , c h a n c e s a r e il w ill h a v e a n a i r o f u n f a t h o m a b l e t e c h n i c a l i t y . Bo th s t r a n g e t e c h n i c a lis m a n d d e e p m a th e m a t ic s may c o m b in e to g iv e y o u a s e n s e t h a t y o u c a n 't u n d e r s t a n d a n y o f i t . T h i s ia w r o n g . T h e fact t h a t t h e r e a r e o b s c u r e a n d D e e p T e a c h i n g s in e a c h h a s n o b e a r in g on th e g e n e r a l c o m p re h en s ib ility o f w hat t h e y a r e a b o u t . M o r e I m p o r t a n t l y , th e q u e s t i o n o f how a p p l i c a b l e a ll th e t h i n g s th e s e p e o p le h a v e b e e n d o i n g i s g o i n g to b e Is a q u e s t i o n o f c o n sid e r a b le I m p o r ta n c e , e sp e c ia lly w hen s o m e o f th e s e p e o p l e w a n t to t a k e s o m e t h i n g o v e r . D o n 't g e t s n o w e d . E ac h o f t h e s e f a s c i n a t i n g te r m s i s a c t u a l l y a r o o f o v e r a v e r i t a b l e zoo o f d i f f e r e n t r e s e a r c h e r s , o f te n o f ( h e m o st e c c e n t r i c a n d i n t e r e s t i n g s o r t , e a c h g e n e r a l l y w i t h h i s o w n d r e a m of how h is o w n r e s e a r c h w ill b e th e b r e a k th r o u g h for h u m a n ity , o r fo r so m e th in g . It w o u ld t a k e a L em u el G u l l i v e r to to s h o w y o u th e c o l o r f u l n e s s a n d f a s c in a tio n o f t h e s e f ie l d s : a g a i n , w e j u s t s c r a t c h th e s u r f a c e h e r e . A n o t h e r i n t e r e s t i n g t h i n g th e s e t h r e e f ie l d s n a v e In c o m m o n : th e f r e q u e n t u s e of a c l a s s i c a l c o m p u l e r m a n 's p u t d o w n o n a n y b o d y w h o d a r e s q u e s t i o n w h e t h e r t h e i r s u p e r - u l t i m a t e g o a ls c a n e v e r be a ch ie v ed . T h e l i n e i s , "WE D O N 'T KNOW HOW T O DO T H A T Y E T ." If s o m e b o d y p u l l s it o n y o u , th e r e p l y Is s i m p l y , "H ow d o y o u k n o w y o u e v e r w ill? "

But I n some f e l i c i t o u s c a a e s , r e s e a r c h e r a a c t u a l l y b o l l a r e c o g n i t i o n p r o b l a down t o a m a n ag e a b le s y s te n of c l u e s . For I n s t s n c e , ta k a th e pro b lem o f w r i t t e n I n p u t t o c o m p u t e r s . (S o n e p e o p le d o n ' t l i k e t o ty p e a n d w ould r a t h e r w r i t e by h an d on s p e c i a l in p u t t a b l e t s . ) B ut how c a n a p r o g ra m r e c o g n ise tb e l e t t e r s ? Aha: t h e a n s w e r , k i d a , l a i n your t e x t . The Led eeo C h a r a c t e r R e c o g n i z e r ( d e s c r i b e d I n d e t a i l i n Newman and S p r o u l l , P r i n c i p l e s o f I n t e r a c t i v e Computer G r a p h i c s , A p p e n d ix 0) I s s m e th o d by w hic h a program c a n lo o k a t a h a nd-^ lrsw n c h a r a c t e r and t r y t o r e c o g n i z e i t . T he p r o g r a m e x t r a c t s a s e r i e s o f " p r o p e r t i e s " f o r t h e c h a r a c t e r an d e t o r e a t h e n I n aa a r r a y . E v e r y c h a r a c t e r i n a g iv e n p e r e o n ' s b lo c k l e t t e r i n g w i l l t e n d t o h a v e c e r t a i n p r o p e r t y s c o r e e . But t h e L ed e en r e c o g n i z e r m u st s t i l l be t r a i n e d , t h a t i a , t h e a v e r e g e p r o p e r t y s c o r e s o f t h e l e t t e r s t h s t e e c h i n d i v i d u a l draw a muet be p u t I n t o t h e s y s t e n b e f o r e t h s t i n d i v i d u a l ' s l e t t e r i n g c an be r e c o g n i z e d . E ven t h e n I t ' s s q u e s tio n o f p r o b s b i l l t y , r a t h e r th a n c e r t a i n t y , t h a t a g iv e n c h a r a c t e r w i l l be r e c o g n i z e d .

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----- ----HEURISTICS (pro n o u n c ed h e w H I S tl c e ) I f we w ant to a a k e a c o m p u te r do w h a t we know p e r f e c t l y w e l l how t o do o u r s e l v e s , t h e n a l l we do l e w r i t e a program . Aha. But what i f we w ant a c o n p u t e r t o do s o m e th in g we do n o t know how t o do o u r s e l v e s ? We must s e t up i t e p r o g r a a t o b r o w s e , an d a e a r c h , a nd s e i s e on w hat t u r n s o u t t o w o rk . T h is Is c s lle d h e u r i s t i c s . What I t am ounts t o b a s i c a l l y l a t e c h n i q u e s f o r t r y i n g th l n g a o u t , c h e c k in g t h e r e s u l t s , end c o n t i n u i n g t o do a o r e and more o f w h a t a e e n s t o w o rk . Or we c o u ld p h r a s e I t t h l e w ay: l o o k i n g f o r s u c c e ssfu l s t r a t e g i e s In w hatev e r e r e a w e 're d e alin g w i t h . As a h e u r i s t i c p r o g re m t r i e s t h i n g s o u t , I t k e ep e v a r i o u s acoreB o f how w e l l I t ' a d o i n g a s o r t o f a e l f - c o n g r e t u l s t l o n and n a k e e a d j u e t M n t S I n f a v o r o f what w orks b e s t . Thus t h e G r e e n b l a t t C h e ss P r o g r a m , n e n t l o n e d u n d e r " C h e s s ," n e a r b y , c a n " I n v e n t " c h e s s s t r a t e g i e s and " t r y t h a o u t " w h a t I t a c t u a l l y do e a i s t e s t s p e c i f i c p s t t e r n s o f moves f o r t h e o v e r s l l g o o d n e ss of t h e i r r e s u l t s (In te r n s o f th e u s u a l p o s l t l o n s l a d v an ta g es in c h e a s ), and d i s c a r d th e s t r a t e g i e s th a t d o n t g e t a nyw he re . I t d o e s t h l a by c c n p a r l n g I t s " s t r a t e g l e e " ( p o s s i b l e move p s t t e r n s ) a g a l n a t t h e re c o rd 'a o f c h e a s m a tc h e s w h ic h a r e f e d i n t o I t . ( I f y o u 'v e r e a d t h e o t h e r a i d e o f t h e b o o k , h e u r i s t i c s a a y be t h o u g h t o f a a a f o s n o f o p e r a t l o n e r e s e a r c h ( p . T t ) c a r r i e d on by t h e c o n p u t e r I t s e l f . ) I n s o a e ways h e u r l e t l c e i s t h e n o e t m s g l c s l s r e e o f a r t i f i c i a l I n t e l l i g e n c e : I t s r e s u l t s a re th e a o s t im p r e s s l v s t o laymen. B u t . l i k e a o many o f t h e c o m p u t e r a a g l c e , I t b o l l s down t o t e c h n l c s l l t l e s w h ic h l o s e t h e roman ce t o a c e r t a i n e i t e n t .

PATTERN RECOGNITION T h la l e one o f th e most a c t i v e a r e a s I n s r t l f l c l a l i n t e l l i g e n c e , p e rh a p a b e c a u s e o f D efense D e p a rtm e n t a o n e y . ( I t n i g h t be n i c e , g o e s th e r e s s o n l n g , t o he v e guns t h a t c o u l d r e c o g n i s e t a n k s , a a c h i n e s t h a t c o u ld lo o k o v e r a e r i a l T e c o n n a l e e s n c e p i c t u r e s , r a d a r s t h a t c o u ld r e c o g n i s e a l e e l l e s . . . )

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NEUBAL SIMULATION An I m p o r t a n t b r a n c h o f A r t i f i c i a l I n t e l l i g e n c e i e c o n c e r n e d w i t h w ha t b un ches o f im a g in a r y n e u r o n s c o u l d d o , e v e n n e u r o n s t h a t we na de up t o f o l l o w p a r t i c u l a r ru le s . T h i s a r e a o f s tu d y l a somewhere b e tw e e n n e u r o l og y an d m a t h e m a t i c s ; a i c h o f i t l a c o n c e r n e d w i t h t h e m a t h o a t l c a of ln a g ln a ry e e tu p a , r a th e r th a n th e p r o p e r t i e s o f a c t u a l n e r v e - n e t a , a s s t u d i e d by p s y c h o l o g l e t a , p h y a l o l o g l a t a an d o t h e r s . (Tha h y p o t h e t i c a l e t u d l e a , of c o u r s e , a l e r t r e s e a rc h e rs to co u p lei c o n fig u r a tio n s sn d p o a a l b l l i t l e a t h a t a a y t u r n o u t t o o c c u r i n r e a l i t y , m i l a s b e i n g i n t e r e a t i n g f o r t h e i r own s a k e and c o n c e i v a b l y a s u s e f u l weys o f o r g a n i s i n g t h i n g s t o be b u ilt.) H o w ev e r, a n e e r l l e r m yth, t h a t you c o u l d s i m u l a t e n e u r o n s t i l l yo u g o t a p e r s o n , i s s b o u t d e a d . SIMULATION OF THOUGHT-PROCESSES Nobody t a l k s anymore a b o u t s i m u l a t i n g a r t i f i c i a l b r a i n s ; t h e r e ' s t o o j c h t o i t , and I t i n v o l v e s d i r t y a p p ro x im atio n s. H ow ev e r, a c l e a n e r a r e a I s I n th e s l m u l s t i o o o f t h o u g h t : c r e a t i n g c o m p u te r p r o g r a a s t h a t a l a l c m a n 's m e n t a l p r o c e s a e s a a he dopea t h r o u g h v a r i o u s p r o b l e m s . T r y i n g t h l n g a o u t , d e d u c in g t h o u g h t s fro m w h a t 'a a l r e a d y kn ow n , f o l l o w i n g t h r o u g h t h e c o n s e q u e n c e s o f guesses t h e s e c a n a l l b e done by p r o g r a a s t h s t " t r y t o f i g u r e o u t " s n s w e r s t o p r o b l e a s l i k e The C a n n l b s l an d T h e M i s s i o n a r y , o r w h a t e v e r. AUTOMATA " Autom ata , as th e t e n l a used In t h i s f i e l d , i s J u s t a f s n c y word f o r I m a g in ary c r i t t e r s . p a r t l c u l a r l y l i t t l e t h i n g l e s t h a t behav e i n a s s e t w ay a. (T he Game o f L i f e , s e e p . 1 8 , i s an a u t o a a t o n i n th le a en se-)

3. SPEECH OUTPUT AS SOUND p o s s i b l e I n p r i n c i p l e t o s e t up c o m p u te rs t o t a l k " by c o n v e r t i n g th e la n g u a g e s u r f a c e a t r u c t u r s s t h s t t h e i r p r o g re m s come up w i t h i n t o a c t u a l s ou nd . Sse " A u d i o , p . DH 1 1 . 4. SPEECH INPUT TO CCMPUTEHS BY ACTUAL SOUND

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(E veryb od y s a y a t h a t o f c o u r s e w h a t we wan t 1s t o be a b l e t o e o M l c i t c w i t h c o m p u te rs by s p e e c h T s pe e k i n s p e r s o n a l l y . I c e r t s l n l y d o n ' t . E x p l s i o i n g my p u n c t u a t i o n to human s e c r e t a r i e s i s h a rd e no ug h, l e t s l o n e t r y i n g t o t e l l i t t o s c o a p u t e r , when i t ' s e a s y enough t o ty p e I t I n . ) 5.ALL TOGETHER NOW The c p l e K l t y o f t h e p r o b le m s h o u l d by now b s c l e a r .

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SELF-ORGANIZING SYSTEMS, SELF-REPRODUCING SYSTEMS AND SO PORTH T h e s e a r e te r m s f o r I m a g in ary o b j e c t s , h a v in g e x a c t l y d e f i n e d m a th e m a t ic a l p r o p e r t i e s , a b o u t w h ic h v a T l o u e a b s t r a c t t h l n g a can b e p r o v e n t h a t te n d t o be o f i n t e r e s t only to m a t h a a t i c l a n s . SPEECH 1 . SENTENCE GENERATION The p r o b l a o f c o a p u t e r s s p e a k in g hu a a n l a n g u a g e s n o t t o b e c o n f u s e d w i t h c o a p u t e r la n g u a g e a , p p . 1 5 - 2 5 and e ls e w h e re I s I n c r e d i b ly com plicated. J u a t be c a u se l i t t l e human t y k e s s t a r t d o i n g i t e f f o r t l e s s l y , i t i s e s s y t o a u p p o se t h s t i t s a b a s i c a l l y e a s y prob le m . Ho way. O n ly a i n c e t h e m i d - f i f t i e s h s s hua an l a n g u a g e be gu n to be u n d e rsto o d . T h a t waa when Noam Chomsky d i s c o v e r e d th e i n n e r s t r u c t u r e o f huaan la n g u a g e s : n a a e l y , t h a t t h e lo n g ( a n d c o m p le x ) s e n t e n c e c o n s t r u c t i o n s o f la n g u a g e s r e b u i l t o u t o f c e r t a i n e x a c t o p e r a t i o n s . P r e v i o u s l i n g u i s t s had s o u g h t t o c l a a a l f y th e aente nce e t r u c t u r e s th e m se lv e s ; t h i s l e d t o c o m p l e x i t i e s w hic h Chomsky d i s c o v e r e d w e r e u n n e c e s sa ry . I t i s u n n e c e s s a r y t o c a t a l o g s e n t e n c e t y p e s th e m s e l v e s ' I f we c a n s i m p l y i s o l a t e , I n s t e s d , t h e e x a c t p r o c e s s e s by w h i c h t h s y a r e g e n e r s t e d . T h e s e p r o c e s s e s he c a l l e d t r a n s f o r m a t i o n s ( a t e r m he b o r ro w e d f r o m m a t h e m a t i c s ) . A l l u t t e c s n c e s a r e c r e a t e d f r o a c e r t a i n e l e m e n t a r y p i e c e s , c a l l e d k e r n e l a . w hic h a r e th e n chewed by t r a n s f o r m a t i o n s i n t o s u r f a c e s t r u c t u r e s , t h e fin a l u tte ran c es. Ex am ples of k e r n e l a : T he man l i v e s i n t h e h o u s e , The h o u s e i s w h i t e . R e s u l t o f co m bin in g t r a n s f o r m a t i o n : The man l i v e s i n t h e w h i t e h o u se . K e r n e l : 1 g o . R e s u lt o f p a s t - t e n s e tr a n s fo r m a tio n : I w ant. T h e m o a t I m p o r t a n t f i n d i n g , now, i s t h a t t h e t r a n s f o r m a t l o n s a r e c a r r i e d o u t I n o r d e r l y s e q u e n c e s : any a e n t e n c e s c a n h a v a m ore t r a n e f o r a a t l o n a c a r r i e d o u t on I t , a l l a d h e r in g t o t h e b a s i c r u l e s , r e s u l t i n g i n t h e mo at com p le x s e n te n c e s o f s n y l a n g u a g e . L i n g u i s t s s i n c e th e n ha ve c o n fir m e d C ho m sk y's c o n j e c t u r e , s n d p r o c e e d e d t o work o u t t h e f u n d a m e n ta l t r a n s fo rm a tio n s o f m a jo r languages, in c lu d in g E n g lla h . Now, on e r e s u l t of a l l t h l a I s t h a t i t t u r n s o u t to be e a s i e r t o g e n e r a t e s e n t e n c e s I n s l a n g u a g e t h a n t o un d e r s t a n d th e m . Why? Beca uae i t i s c o m p a r a t i v e l y e a e y to p r o g ra a c o m p u te rs t o ap p ly tra n s fo rm a tlo n a to k e r n e l s , BUT v a r y h a r d t o t a k e a p a r t t h e r e s u l t . A com ple x " s u r f s c e S t r u c t u r e " may h a v e nu me rous p o s s i b l e k e r n e l s - d o e s "Time E l l a * l i k e a n a rr o w " ha ve th e same s t r u c t u r e a a "S u sie s lo g s l i k e a b i r d 1 o r " F r u it f i l e s I lk a sn orange?" ' R e s u l t : t o p r o g ra m s com p ute r t o g e n e r a t e e p a e c h t h a t l a . I n v e n t a e n te n c e s about a d a ta s t r u c t u r e and ty p e t h a a o u t l a c o m p a r a t i v e l y e a s y , b u t t o ha v e i t r e c o g n i z e in c o m in g s e n t e n c e s , and b r e a k t h e a up i n t o t h e i r k e r n e l a e a n ln g s ,is n o t. We a a y t h i n k o f a la n g u a g e - g e n e r a t i n g co m p u te r s y s tem a S f o l l o w s :

I d o n t k n o w ," answ ered D o r o t h y , w h o bad m o re t o re a d . " L i s te n to this, B i llin a :

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W e ll, I d e c l a r e ! " gasped th e y e l l o w h e n , in a m a z e m e n t; i f th e c o p p e r m a n c a n d o h a l f o f these th in g s h e is a very w o n d e rfu l m ac h in e . B u t I suppose i t is all h u m b u g , lik e o m an y o t h e r p a t e n t e d articles." " W e m ig h t w in d him u p ," su g g e s te d D o ro th y , a n d see w h a t h e 'll d o ."

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CYBERNETICS G o rd o n P a s k c a l l s h i s f i e l d C y b e r n e t i c s . T he te rm " c y b e r n e t i c s i s h e a r d a l o t , and is o n e o f t h o s e te rm s w h i c h , i n t h e m a in , m an k in d w o u ld be b e t t e r o f f w i t h o u t ; a lth o u g h a f t e r t a l k i n g t o P a s k I g e t t h e s e n s e t h a t t h e r e may b e so m e th in g to i t a f t e r a l l . T he t e r m " c y b e r n e t i c s " w a s c o i n e d by N o rb e r t W ie n e r, th e fa m o u s ly a b s e n t- m i n d e d m a th e m a t i c i a n w ho ( a c c o r d i n g t o l e g e n d ) o f t e n f a i l e d t o r e c o g n i z e h i s ow n c h i l d r e n . ' W i e n e r d i d p i o n e e r i n g w o rk i n a n u m b e r o f a r e a s . A s p e c i a l c o n c e rn o f h i s w as t h e s tu d y o f th in g s w h ic h a r e k e p t in c o n t r o l by c o r r e c t i v e m eas u r e s , o r , a s he c a l l e d i t . F e e d b a c k T he te rm " c y b e r n e t i c s " he made o u t o f a G re e k w o rd f o r s te e r s m a n , a p p ly in g i t to a l l p ro c e s s e s w h ic h in v o lv e c o r r e c t i v e c o n t r o l . I t tu rn s o u t t h a t alm o st e v e r y th in g in v o lv e s c o rr e c tiv e c o n t r o l , so th e te rm " c y b e r n e tic s " s p re a d s out a s f a r and as t h i n l y as you c o u ld p o s s ib l y w ant (The p u b lic i s u n d e r th e g e n e r a l im p re ssio n t h a t " c y b e r n e t i c s " r e f e r s t o c o m p u te r s , and th e co m p u te r p e o p le s h o u ld be c a l l e d " c y b e r n e tic ia n s ." T h e re seem s t o b e n o th in g t h a t can be done about t h i s . See "cy b e rc ru d ," p. g . T h is i s an e v e n w o rs e te rm m eaning " s t e e r i n g p e o p le in to c r u d ," s p e c i f i c a l l y , p u t t i n g th in g s o v e r on p e o p le u s in g c o m p u te rs.) P r o p e r l y , t h e c o r e o f " c y b e r n e t i c s ' seem s to d e a l w ith c o n tro l lin k a g e s , w h eth er in a u to m o b ile s , c o ck ro ac h es o r co m p u te rs. How e v e r , p e o p l e l i k e P a s k , v o n F o e r s t e r , Ashby (a n d so on) a p p ea r to e x te n d th e c o n c e p t g e n e r a l l y to th e s tu d y o f form s o f b e h a v io r and a d a p ta tio n c o n sid ere d in th e a b s tr a c t. The v a l i d i t y and f a s c i n a t i o n o f t h i s w o rk , o f c o u r s e , i s q u i t e u n r e l a t e d t o w h at you c a l l i t . P ask i s one o f th e A r t i f i c i a l I n t e l l i g e n c e r s w ho i s w o rk in g on t e a c h i n g b y c om pu t e r , a b o u t w h i c h m ore w i l l b e s a i d ; b u t t h e o r i g i n a l c o re o f h is i n t e r e s t i s p e rh a p s th e p r o c e s s o f c o n c e p t u a l i z a t i o n and a b s t r a c t i o n . P a s k h a s d o n e a good d e a l o n t h e m a t h e m a tic s o f s e lf -c o n te n p la tin g sy ste m s, th a t i s , sy m b o lic r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s o f w h at i t m eans f o r a c r e a t u r e ( o r e n t i t y om ega) to lo o k a t t h i n g s , s e e th a t th e y a re a l ik e , and d iv in e a b s t r a c t c o n c e p t i o n s o f th e m . A c ro w n in g m om ent i s w h e n Omega b e h o l d s i t s e l f a n d r e c o g n i z e s t h e c o n tin u ity and se lfh o o d . (P a sk s a y s s e v e r a l o t h e r s - - s c h o l a r s from A r g e n t i n a , R u s s i a and e l s e w h e r e - - h a v e h i t o n t h e sam e f o r m u l a t i o n . ) M o d e l s a n d a b s t r a c t i o n , t h e n , a r e w h a t we may c a l l t h e f i r s t h a l f o f P a s k ' s w o r k . G ordon P a s k u i l l bo o o n t i n u e d o n p . 4 M 7 *

GORDON PASi: G o r d o n P a s k i s o n e o f t h e m a d d e s t mad s c i e n t i s t s I h av e e v e r m e t, and a l s o on e o f th e n i c e s t . An e l o q u e n t L n g l i s h l e p r e c h a u n w ho d r e s s e s t h e E d w a r d i a n d a n d y , T a s k s o w s awe w h e r e v e r h e g o e s . A form eT d o c t o r and t h e a t r i c a l p r o d u c e r , Task i s on e o f t h e g r e a t in te r n a ti o n a l f a s t - t a l k e r s , c o n fe re n ce -h o p p in g round th e g lo b e from U ta h to W a s h i n g t o n to h i s p r o j e c t a t t h e B r o o k ly n C h i l d r e n ' s M useun. T h is s p r i n g , 1974, he has been a t th e U n iv e r s i t y o f I l l i n o i s a t C h icag o C i r c l e , b u t soon he g oe s b a c k t o E n g la n d a nd h i s l a b o r a t o r y . In a f ie l d f u ll o f b r i l l i a n t e c c e n tr ic s , Pask h a s no d i f f i c u l t y s ta n d in g o u t.

THE TUBING MACHINE I s t h e i w t t c l s n l c s l a b s t r a c t A uto m st o n. A T u r i n g N ac hin e , nanmd a f t e r I t s d i s c o v e r e r . I s a h y p o t h e t i c a l d e v ic e w h ic h h a s s n I n f i n i t e r e c o r d i n g t e p e t h a t I t c a n s o v a ba ck sn d f o r t h , and t h e a b i l i t y t o make d e c i s i o n s d e p e n d i n g on w h e t 's w r i t t e n t h e r e . T u r in g p r o c e e d e d t o p o i n t o u t t h a t no m a t t e r how f a s t you 90 s t e p - b y - s t e p , you can t e v e r o u t r u n c e r t a i n r e s t r i c t i o n s b u i l t I n to a l l s e q u e n t i a l p r o c e s s e s a s r e p r e s e n t e d by t h e T u r in g Mach ine. T h is l a y s h e a v y l i m i t s on w hat c an e v e r b e done s t a p - b y ~ * t p bY c o m p u te r . ( I t means w have t o lo o k f o r n o n - s t e p - b y - s t e p m e th o d s, w h ic h much o f A r t i f i c i a l I n t e l l i g e n c e Is a b o u t . )

2.

SENTENCE RECOGNITION

Chomsky an d o t h e r s ha va d is c o v e r e d t h a t s e t s o f t r a n s f o r m a t i o n r u l e s ( o r i t r i r s . p r a i s e be ) v a r y c o n s i d e r a b l y . I t l a p o s s i b l e t o I n v e n t la ng uag e s whose s u r f s c s e t r u c t u r e s a r e e a s y t o t a k e a p a r t , o r p s r s s : s u c h la n g u a g e s s r e c e l l e d c o n t e x t - f r e e l a n g u a g e s . (Moat c a ^ u t e r l a n g u a g e e , s s e o t h e r s i d e , s r s o f t h i s t y p e . ) U n fo rtu n a te ly n a t u r a l la n g u a g e a , I l k a E n g l i s h a n d F r e n c h and Ravaho, a r e n o t c o n t e x t - f r e e . I t t u r n s o u t t h a t t h e hu a an b r a i n c s n p i c k s p a r t la n g u a g e s t r u c t u r e s b e c a u s s I t ' s s o good a t a a k l n g s e n s i b l e g u e s s e s a s t o w h a t I ' m e a n t and i f t h e r e 1s one t h i n g h a r d t o p ro g ra m f o r c o m p u te rs , i t i s s e n s i b l e g u e s s in g . (B ut s e e " H e u r i s t i c s , " n e a rb y .) T h l a M a n s t h a t t o e r a a t a c o m p ute r s y s t e m s w h ic h w i l l r e a l s s n te n c a a a p a r t i n to t h a l r a aa n ln g e la q u i t e d iffic u lt. He c a n ' t g e t i n t o t h a v a r i o u s s t r s t s g l e s h e r e ; b u t w i t r e s e a r c h e r s c u t t h a pro blem down I n one way o r o th e r.

DO W M E AHT TALKIBG STSTEMS? I had one q u i t e i r r i t a t i n g e x p e r ie n c e w ith a ''c o n v e rs a ti o n a l" a y ate m , t h a t l a , computer p r o g ra a c h a t was su p p o se d t o t a l k ba ck t o a e . I v a e su p pose d co ty p e co 1c I d E n g lis h aod I t vaa supp o se d ly g o in g t o ty p e ba ck co a e I n E n g lla h . 1 found t h e ex p e r ie n c e t h o r o u g h ly I r r i t a t i n g . Ky a id e o f che con v e r s a t i o n , w hic h I s i n c e r e l y c r ie d to ke ep s im p le , produce d r e p e a t e d a p o l o g i e s and c o n fu sio n from t h e p r o g ra a . The guy w h o 'd c r e a t e d che p r o g r a a k e p t e x p l a i n i n g c h a t t h e p r o g r a a w ould be im proved, ao Chat e v e n C u a lly I t c o u ld h a n d le re s p o n s e s l i k e v i n e . My r e a c t i o n w a s , an d l a , Who neede l e t Many p e o p le i n t h e c o a p u te r f i e l d s e e a Co t h i n k we want t o b e a b l e t o t a l k t o c o a p u te rs a nd have t h e a c a lk back t o u a . T h ia l a by no Beans a s e t t l e d B a t t e r . T a l k in g p r o g r a a a a r e c o m p lic ated and r e q u i r e a l o t o f a p ac e I n th e m a ch in e, and (ac re i a p o r t a n t l y ) r e q u i r e a l o t o f t i a e by p r o g r a M e r e who c o u ld a c h ie v e ( I t h in k ) s o r e I n l e a a ClM by o th e r me ana. M oreover, c a lk in g p r o g r a a s p ro d u ce an i t T l c a c l n g s t r a t e g i c a l parad o x . I n d e a l i n g v i c h huaan b e lo g e , we knew vhec w e 'r e d e a l i n g w i t h , and can a d j u s t what we eay a c c o r d i n g ly ; t h e r e l e no wav co c e l l , e x ce p t by a l o t o f e x p e r im e n ti n g , what t h e p r l n c l p l e e a r e i n s i d e a p a r t i c u l a r t a l k i n g p r o g r a a ; so t h a t c ry in g t o a d j u e t co i t l a a s c r a l n and ao I r r i t a t i o n . (C oapare: t a l k i n g t o a s t r a n g e r who a ay o r a a y n o t Curn o u t Co be your now b o s s . ) Now, so a e p r o g r a a o e r s keep e e y in g t h a t e v e n t u a l l y t h e y ' l l have l c a c t i n g J u e t a e e a a rc aa a r e a l p e r s o n , eo we n e e d n 't a d j u e t ; b u t t h a t ' s r i d i c u l o u s . W alwave a d j u s t t o r e a l e p e o p le . I n o t h e r w o rd s , th e huaan d is c o m f o rt and i r r i t a t i o n o f p a v c h ln a t h e s v s t m o u t can n e v e r be e l i a l n a t e d . F u r th e r m o re , on to d a y 'e s e q u e n t i a l e q u lp a e n t and w ith f e a e i b l e b u d g e t s . 1 p e r s o n a l l y th i n k t h e l i k e l i h o o d o f Baking p r o g r a a s c h a t a r e r e a l l y g e n e r a l t a l k e r s i e a f o o l i s h g o a l . T h ere a r e many s l a p l e r waye of t e l l i n g c o a p u te r sy ste m s w h at you want to t e l l t h e a l i g h t pen c h o ic e , f o r e x am p le. M oreover, h a v in g t o ty p e i n whole E n g lla h p h r a s e s c an be i r r i t a t i n g . (We c a n ' t even gee in c o th e p r o b l e a o f havin g t h e c o n p u te r p ic k a p a r t Che a u d io l f you c a lk i t in .) T h is i s n o t t o e ay u n d e rs t a n d a b ly r e e t r l c t e d t a l k i n g s y s t e a s s r e b a d . I f you know and u n d e rs t a n d th e s o r t s of r esp o n se th e sy ste m makes Co what k in d s o f t h i n g , th e n an E n g l l e b - l l k e r e s p o n s e i s r e a l l y s c l e a r m eeaag e. F or I n a ta n c e , th e JOSS sy ste m ( t h e f i r s t Q u ic k ie la n g u ag e s e e p . IS) had en e lo q u e n t message: eh? which a c t u a l l y a e a n t , What you have J u s t tg ge d I n doee_jiot_ f i t t h e r u l e e o f a c c e p t a b l e I n p u t f o r t h i s s y s t e a . But I t was s h o r t , i t was q u i c k , I t waa s im p le , and i t wee a lm o st po lite. S i m i l a r l y , t a l k i n g a y a te a s t h a t use a n e x a c t voc abu l a r y , whose l l m i t e and a b i l i t i e s a r e k n w n to th e p e r s o n , a r e okay. (W ln ogred, eee B i b lio g r a p h y , ha e a n i c e e x a a p le o f t e l l i n g a co m p u te r t o s t a c k blockS) where t h e eyetem knows words l i k e b e tw ee n, o n , sbove and ao o n .) Where t h i s i s u n d e rs t o o d by che human, 1C c an be a ge n u in e con ve n ie n c e r e t h e r th a n a a p u rlo u e one. (The p ro b leB o f r u d e n e ss in computer d i a lo g u e h a a not been auch d i s c u s s e d . T h is l e p a r t l y b e c a u se a a n y p r o g r a a a e r a a r e no c f u l l y aware o f I t , o r , I n d e e d , some s r e so s k i l l e d in c e r t a i n s u b t l e form s of r u d e n e ss th e y w o u ld n 't even know chey w e r e n ' t a c c e p t a b l e . The r e s u l t i s t h a t c e r t a i n ty p e s o f putd ow n, p o ke , p e re m p to r in e s s and lm portu na cy can f in d t h e i r way i n t o c o a p u te r d ia lo g u e a l l to o e a s i l y . O r , t o p u t i t a n o t h e r way: nobody l i k e to be t a l k e d b a c k t o . Cf. Those e t u p l d g r e e n TRANK YOU l i g h t * on a u to m a tic c o l l b o o th s .) Now, c h l e l e n o t to s s y t h a t r e s e a r c h in th e e e a r e a s l e wrong , o r even t h a t r e e e a r c h e r e ' hope s o f some b r e a k through ln ta l k l n g - e y a t e m s i a m le guld ed. I em s a y i n g , b a s i c a l l y , t h a t t a l k i n g syste m s c ennot be te k e n f o r g r a n t ed ae th e p r o p e r g o e l l n c om pute rs t o be uaed by p e o p le ; t h a t th e p ro b le m a o f r u d e n e e e , and I r r i t a t i n g th e human u e e r , a r e f a r g r e a t e r th a n many o f th e s e r e s e a r c h e r s sup p o se ; sn d t h a t t h e r e may be a l t e r n a t i v e s t o t h l e p o c e n t l a l ly e t e r n a l le p r e c h a u n - c h a s i n g . I f l i k e t h e a u t h o r you a r e beau eed by ehe g r e a t d i f f i c u l t y o f g e t t i n g a lo n g v i t h human b e i n g e , th e n th e c r e a t i o n o f e x t r a n e o u s b e in g e o f I m p e n e tr a b le c h a r a c t e r w ith v a g u e ly human q u a l l t l e e can o nly a la r m yo u , and th e p r o s p e c t o f th e e e e d d l t l o n a l c r y p t e - e n t l t l e s whic h n e t be fend e d and p l a c a t e d , c la w in g a t ua f r m t h e i r n ic h e s a t e v e r y t u r n , l e b o th d l e t a e t e f u l and a l a r a i n g . A r t i f i c i a l I n te llig e n c e e n th u sia sts u n fo rtu n ate ly t e n ! t o ha v e a m a g i c i a n ' s o u tlo o k i t o make c l e a r how t h e i r t h i n g s work w ould s p o i l th e ehow. Th u s, f o r a r a t h e r p e c u l i a r a r t show h e l d a t New Y o rk 's Je w i s h H uee ua i n 1970, a group f r a MIT b u i l t a la r g e d e v i c e t h a t s t a c k e d b lo c k e un d e r c o n t r o l o f a m i n l e e ^ u t e r ( I n t e r d a t a b r a n d ) . Now, t h e f a c t t h a t i t c o u ld s t a c k and r e * t a c k b lo c k s w ith j u s t a m ln i e o s ^ u t e r waa r e a l l y q u i t e an a c c tm ^ llsh m e n t. b u t t h i s was n o t e x p la i n e d . I n s t e a d , ehe b l o c k - e t a c k i n g mechanism waa e n c lo s e d i n a l a r g e g l a s s p e n , i n which numerous g e r b i l s - - hoppy l i t t l e r o d e n t s - - w ere f r e e t o wander a b o u t. When a g e r b i l eaw t h a t a b lo c k was a b o u t t o be s t a c k e d on him , he would s e n s i b l y a o v e . Now, i t i s f a i r l y hum orous, and n o t c r u e l , t o p u t g e r b i l s I n t o a b l o c k - s t a c k i n g machine. B u t t h i s was o f f e r e d t o th e p u b l i c a s a d e v ic e p a r t a k i n g o f a f a r more g l o b a l a i s a l o n , t h e e x p e r im e n ta l I n t e r a c t i o n o f l i v i n g c r e a t u r e s and a dynamic s e lf - im p r o v i n g e n v iro n m e n t, b la h b l a h b l a h . P a s s e r s b y w ere awed. "Why a r e th o s e a n im a ls i n t h e r e ? o n e w ould s a y , and t h e more in fo rm ed one w ould u s u a l l y s a y . ' I t ' s s< ne k i n d o f s c i e n t i f i c e x p e r i m e n t . * W ell, t h i s i s a t w i l i g h t a r e a , be tw ee n s c i e n c e and w h im sica l h o k u a , b u t one c a n n o t h e l p w is h in g s im p le and h ta o r o u s t h i n g s c o u l d be p r e s e n t e d w ith t h e i r s i x p l l c l t y and humor l a i d b a r e . remember w atch ljig one g e r b l l who s to o d m o ti o n le s s on h i s l i t t l e k a n g a r o o m a tc h s tic k l e g s , w a t c h in g th e G re a t G ra p p le r r e a r r a n g i n g h i e w o r l d . G erblLe a r e a i ewh a t i n s c r u t a b l e , b u t I h ad a c e n s e t h a t he wae w o r s h ip in g i t . He d id n o t move u n t i l t h e b lo c k s t a r t e d coming down on top o f him. I t a k e t h i s a s an a l l e g o r y . O b v io u sly t h i s i s a f i e l d lo I t s e l f , You w o n 't g e t g r a n t e f o r I t , b u t Co th o s e who r e e l l y c a r e a b o u t b oth c h e s s and c o a p u t e r s , I t ' s th e o n ly t h i n g t o be d o ing. FRANKENSTEIN MEETS CYBERCRUD Fred B rooks, t h e ke ynote e p e s k e r s t t h e IEEE coa p u t e r c o n f e r e n c e l n F a l l 74, seems Co have e a l d t h s t HAL 9000 ( t h e u n c tu o u s , c r s l t o r o u s P r e s e n c e l n th e a o v le 2001) waa th e way compute rs sh o u ld b e . (Comguter D e c i s i o n s , Apr 74, 4 . ) I f i n d i t h a rd t o b e l i e v e t h a t anybody c o u ld th i n k c h a t . N e v e r t h e l e e s , th e r e a re t h o s e a r t i f l c i a l - l n t e l l l ge nce f r e a k s whose v ie w lc i s t h a t t h e p u r p o se o f a l l t h i s le e v e n t u a l l y ( s ) co c r e a t e s e r v a n t s t h a t w i l l read o u r mlnde and do o u r b i d d in g , (b) s e r v a n t s who w i l l ta k e t h i n g s o v e r end w i l l implement human m o r a l i t y , r e g a r d l e e s o f ou r b i d d i n g (th ough we h i o i n i s r e m f r e l l t o do s o a s In A sim o v 's I_, R o b o t); or even ( c ) c r e s t e m s s t e r s who w i l l t a k e e v e r y t h i n g ove r aod run e v e r y t h i n g a c c o r d in g to t h e i r own p r i n c i p l e s aod th a h e l l w i t h u e . ( I met e men in s b s r , a f t e r en ACM m e etin g , who c lelm ed t o b e l i e v e t h i s was Che purpose o f I t a l l : t o c r e a t e t h e m a s te r r s c e t h a t would r e p l a c e u e . )

THE THREE LAWS OP ROBOTICS The r e a l q u e s tio n l a , can a aet^ o f p r o c e d u re s p la y c h e s s ? Because C h a t's what t h e c om pute r p r o gram r e a l l y d o e s , e n a c t a s e t of p r o c e d u r e s . And t h e answer l a y e s , f a i r l y w e l l . Now, a cheBa p r o g r a a i e n o t s o a e t h i n g you Joe down on ehe ba ck o f a n envelo pe one a f t e r n o o n . I t ' s u s u a l l y an Im ae nse , conv o lu te d t h i n g Chat p e o p le have worked on f o r y e a r s . (A lth ough I v a g u e ly r e e a l l Chat second p l a c e l n th e 1970 I n t e r c o m p u t e r c h ee e c o n t e s t waa won by a p r o g r a a t h a t oc cupie d o n ly 2000 lo c a t i o n s l n a 1 6 - b i t m in ico m p u ter ln o t h e r w ords , a compact a nd e r i c k y s n e a k e r . ) Now, s im p le games ( l i k e t l c - t a c - t o e and Nlm and e v e n C u b ic) c an be worked eue e l l Che wey: a l l a l t e r n a t i v e s c s n be examined by th e program and t h e b e e t one fo u n d . Not eo w ith c h e ss. C hess b s s l c a l l y in v o l v e s , b e c a u se o f I t s ve ry many p o s s i b i l i t i e s , a " c o m b i n a to r ia l e x p l o s i o n " of s l t e r o a t l v e e ( se e p . 4 f ) : Chat i s , t o lo o k s t " a l l " th e p o s s i b i l i t i e s o f a a id g a a e w ould ta k e f o r e v e r ' ( p e r h a p s l i t e r a l l y che T urin g p r o b le m ), and th ue means w e t b e found f o r d i s c a r d i n g some p o s s i b i l i t i e s . The s t r u c t u r e o f bran c h in g p o s s i b i l i t i e s i s a t r e e *(eee p . ) i 00 t h a t me thods o f p r u n in g " Che c r e e t u r n o u t to be c r u c i a l . B a s i c a l l y Chere e r e two e p p ro e ch e s t o th e d e sig n o f c h e s a p r o g r a a s . In one e p p ro a c h , t h e programmers l o o k f o r s p e c i f i c c h r e e t s sod o p p o r t u n i t i e s I n t h e d s t a s t r u c t u r e r e p r e s e n t i n g th e b o s r d , snd t r y t o f in d good s t r a t e g i e s f o r s e l e c t i n g good moves en th e b a s i s o f t h a . T h i s i s t h e a ppro ach ta k e n i n CORO, th e "C oo pe r-K os"c hess progra m . The pr ogrammers s e l e c t i v e l y cope w ith l n d l v l d u e l problem s and a t r s t e g l e s s s th e y t u r n e u t t o be n e c e e s a r y . ( T his meana t h a t i t la l i k e l y t o ha v e s p e c i f i c A c h l l l e e ' h e e l e ; w h ic h , of c o u r s e , t h e a u t h o r s o f t h e p r o g re a ke ep t r y i n g t o r e p a i r by a d d in g s p e c i f i c c o r r e c t i o n s . ) A d i f f e r e n t s p p r o s c h I s ta k e n by th e G r e e n b l s t t c h e s s p rog ra m . T h is 1s b a s i c a l l y a b i g H e u r i s t i c prog r a a . I t " l e a r n s " b e s t s t r a t e g i e s l n c h e s s by " w a tc hin g" t h e game. T h a t l e , your po ur h l e t o r l e e l c h e s s matc hes th r o u g h i t , and l c t r i e s o u t s t r a t e g i e s - - m aking v a r io u s t e n t a t i v e r u l e e a bout what klnde o f a o v e s a r e good, th e n s c o r i n g th e e e u v e i a c c o rd in g to t h e r e e u l t e o f making C h e i ^ s s s e e n l n p o s i t i o n a l a d v a n ta g e s t h a t r e e u l t e d ln a c t u a l l y cham plonahlp p la y . 1 A r o b o t may not I n ju r e a h u m a n b e i n g , o r , th r o u g h in a c t io n , allow a h u m a n b e i n g to come to h a r m . 1 - - A r o b o t m u st ob ey th e o r d e r s g iv e n It b y h u m a n b e i n g s e x c e p t w h e r e a u c h o r d e r s w o u ld c o n flict w ith Ihe F i r s t Law . 3 - - A r o b o t m u st p r o te c t ils ow n e x i s t e n c e aa l o n g a e 9uch p r o te c tio n doe s n o t c o n flict w ith t h e F i r s t o r S e c o n d Law. - - H an d b o o k of R o b o tic s , 56th E d iti o n , 20S8 A . D . . q u o te d in I . A s im o v , R obot.

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(Hhat th e ELISA program ty p e s , we r e p r e s e n t a s a l l c ap si w hat t h e p e rs o n ty pe s i s n o t . ) PLEASE TELL ME YOUR PRDBLDi. I am f e e l i n g d e p r e s s e d . HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEM FEELING DEPRESSED? Ever s i n c e a y a e t h e r l e f t . TELL HE MORE ABOUT YOUR FAMILY. My f a t h e r i s ve ry s t r i c t . PLEASE GO ON. L a s t n i g h t I dream t h e spa nked me . W HAT MOULD IT M EAN TO YOU IP HE SPANKED YOU? D i d n 't yotl e v e r g e t epan ked? HE W HE DISCUSSING YOU, NOT ME. E Y o u 'r e j u a t a d i a b machine anyway. DO COMPUTERS PRIQ1TEN YOU? (quote d i n W ln ograd, 74-5) The f a s c i n a t i n g t h in g a b o u t t h e ELISA pr ogram i s t h a t i t s e a t s s o l i k e a r e a l pers on* t h a t i a , a psycho a n a l y s t o f t h e n o n d i r e c t i v e , C a r l Rogere s c h o o l . B ut a l l i t i s i s a bag o f t r i c k s . I t h a s a l o t o f canned p h r a s e s I t c a n th row o u t , l i k e PLEASE TELL ME YOUR PROBLEM. Then i t s p o t s c e r t a i n ty p e s o f e e n t e n c e s and t u r n s them a ro u n d . I f th e pe rson t y p e s a e e n te n c e b e g in n in g w ith " I a m . . . " , th e ELIZA program t u m e i t a ro u n d w ith HON LONG HAVE YOUR BEEN. . . ? And i t lo oka f o r s p e c i f i c w ord s w hic h i n d i c a t e a s e n te n c e c an be tu r n e d a ro und f o r a c o n v in c i n g r e a u l t . P o r i n s t a n c e , i f th e p e rs o n u se s th e word " e v e r y o n e ," t h e program S l a p l y r e p l i e s , M IN PARTICULAR CAN YOU THINK OP? HO And c e r t a i n h ig h ly - c h a r g e d w ord s a r e a l g n a l s t o throw In a s i n g e r , r e g a r d l e s s o f what t h e u s e r may ha v e s a i d . P o r i n s t a n c e , i f th e p e rs o n u se s th e word " m o th e r ," th e a ae h in e re p lie s: TELL HE ABOUT YOUR FAMILY. Now. do n o t be f o o le d . T h e r e I s no G h o st in th e Machin e. The program does n o t " u n d e r s ta n d " t h e u s e r . THE PROGRAM IS M ERELY ACTING OUT THE BAG OF TRICKS THAT JOE WE1ZENHADM THOUGHT UP. C r e d i t w here c r e d i t I s due: n o t t o The C o a p u te r 'e t e n l s c l e n c e , b u t t o W eiE e nb aia 's c le v e rn e s s . (Look a t t h e above sample d i a lo g u e a n d s s e l f you g u e s s w hat t r i c k s th e program waa u s i n g . ) The th i n g i s , many p e o p le r e f u s e t o b e l i e v e t h a t i t ' s a p rogra m . Even when th e p r o g r a m 's t r i c k s a r s e x p la i n e d . And even b o m who u n d s r s ta n d &U2A l i k e t o c a l l i t up f an trrc * t h e i r te r m i n a l e f o r com panionship , now and th a n . BIBLIOGRAPHY T e r r y W lnograd. "When H i l l C o ^ u t e r e U ndersta nd People ?" Psycholo gy Today May 7 4 , 7 3 -9. (Weizenhaum'j f u l l a r t i c l e on O.IZA a p p ea re d in th e C m l c a t l o n a o f th e API e o M tlm e l n th a mid o r l a t e s i x t i e s ; a f lo w c h a r t r s v e a l e d I t s a a j o r t r i c k s .

A c c o r d i n g t o A r t h u r C. C l a r k e ' s r e t r o a c t i v e n o v e l 2 0 0 1 : A S p a c e O d y s s e y ( S i g n e t , 1 9 6 B , 9 S < ) , t h e HAL 9 0 0 0 c o m p u te r s e r i e s B egan a s f o llo w s : " I n t h e 1 9 9 3 s , M i n s k y a n d G ood h a d s h o w n how n e u r a l n e tw o rk s c o u ld be g e n e r a te d a u t o m a t i c a l l y - - s e l f .r e p l i c a t e d - * i n a c c o r d a n c e w i t h a n y a r b i t r a r y le a rn in g p a tte rn . A r t i f i c i a l b r a i n s c o u l d b e grown by a p r o c e s s s t r i k i n g l y a n a lo g o u s to th e d e v e lo p m e n t o f t h e hum an b r a i n . " (P. 9 6 .) I d o n t kn ow w ho G o o d i s , b u t t h e s e a r e am ong t h e l i n e s M in s k y h a s b e e n w o rk i n g a l o n g f o r y e a r s , s o 1 h o p e h e ' s e n c o u r a g e d by th e news o f w h at h e 's g o in g t o a c c o m p lis h . A n y h o w , s o o k a y t h e y g r o w t h e UAL 9 0 0 0 i n a t a n k . T h e n how c o n e i n t h e D e a t h - o * H a l s c e n e w e s e e K e i r D u l l e a b o b b in g a ro u n d lo o s e n in g c i r c u i t c a r d s , j u s t a s i f i t w e re a p l a i n o l d 1978 c o m p u te r? P o s s ib le answ er *1. r e t r o - n o v e l w a s C l a r k e 1^ I t i s ru m ored t h a t C l a r k e 's r e b u t t a l to K u b ric k 's f i n a l f ilm . o f n e u ra l g lo p a re

I ha v e s tr o n g h u n c h e s a b o u t th e I n n e r w o rk in g s o f men w ho g e t m illions o f d o lla r s from the D ep a rtm en t of D efense a n d th e n s a y in p r iv s te tha l r e a lly th e y 'r e g o in g to u s e it to c re a te a m a ch in e so in te llig en t it c a n p la y w ith th e i r c h il d ren . (Nol to name n a m es o r a n y t h i n g . ) An o b v io u s qu e stio n i s , do th e y p l a y w ith th e ir c h ild r e n ? No. th e y p lo y w ith c o m p u te rs . B ut Ihe po in t h e r e i s not lo h a s s le the d r e a m e r s , Juet to s o r t o u t th e d r e a m s a n d pu l them on h a n g e r s so y o u c a n t r y th e m o n . and m aybe choose sn e n s e m b l e f o r y o u r s e l f .

P o s s ib le answ er *2. H A L 's t a n k s c o n t r o l l e d b y P D P - l l s , one t o a c a r d . in

(O f c o u r s e , i f y o u t a k e t h e l e t t e r s a f t e r H, A a n d L 30S ) t h e a l p h a b e t , y o u g e t 1 , B a n d M. So m aybe t h o s e a r e 1 1 3 0 s . )

BIBLIOGRAPHY DEUS EX MACH1NA O b v io u s ly suc h b e l i e f s a r a o u t s l d a t h e r e a l s of s c l e n c s o r e n g i n e e r i n g . They b s lo o g Co pu r e s p e c u l a t i o n ; a nd w h ile v a r i o u s mechaolsma have i n f a c t b e e n p r o g r a m e d to c r o a k , s t a g g e r , s t a c k b l o c k s , c o sp o se s e n t e n c e s and so o n , to su p p o se t h s t we s r e i n any r e a l s e n s e anywhere n e a r m im ic king human i n t e l l i g e n c e , l e t a lo n e s u r p a s s i n g aod s u p e r s e d i n g i t . I s s l t h e r to be t o t s l l y f o o l e d o r t o hanker a f c e r s o m c u r i o u s dream from i n s i d e y o u r s e l f . As we s s l d on Che oc her s i d e o f Che b o ok, everybody ln c o a p u t e r s h a s d e ep e r m o ti v a ti o n s and i n t e r i o r t w i s t s t h a t f o r a h i s own s p e c i a l d e e to th e s e m a c h in e s; and when i t c o m s t o o u r c h o ic e s o f f a n t a s y m a c h i n e s , o b v io u s l y an even d e e p e r l e v e l o f p s y e h ic im p r in t i s p r o j e c t i n g I t s e l f i n t o cbe w o rld . ...E X KENSA P e o p le vbe f a n t a s i z e abouc wondrous c r e a t u r e s and d e i t i e s they want t o make o u t o f th e com puter o b v io u s l y ha v e s e e t h i n g i n t e r e s t i n g i n t h e i r own he ads from whic h t h s t comes. Perhaps i t c ones f r c * s d e s i r e f o r Im ag in ary p la y m a te s , o r an ambi v a le n c e coward a u c h o r l c y , o r goo d n e ss knows whac; Chere a r e so many odd p e o p le a t d i f f e r e n t e nds o f A r t i f i c i a l I n t e l l i g e n c e t h a t t h e r e may be a l o t of d i f f e r e n t p s y c h o l o g i c a l sy ste m s s t w ork. Or maybe a r t i f i c i a l i n t e l l i g e n c e I s j u s t where Cbe m ost b r i l l i a n t , de term in e d aod e c c e n t r i c d rea m ers g o . Anywsy, I c s n o n ly a s k t h e ^ u s t l o n , n o t g i v e t h e a nsw e r. T e r r y W ln ograd, "When W ill Computers U ndersta nd Pe op le ? Psycholo gy Today May 74, 73-79. P a r t i c u l a r l y r ea d ab le a r t i c l e . N ic h o la s Negroponte , The A r c h i t e c t u r e M achin e. MIT P r e s s . Tskee th e view t h a t compute rs sh o u ld be made l o to m a g ic a l a e r v a o ts which n o t o nly h a n d le b o t h e r s n e d e t a i l s , b u t more or l e e e rea d o u * m in ds a s w e l l. L eonard llh r, P a t t e r n R e c o g n itio n . L e a r n in g and Thought: Comcuter-P-"f, r *fl Models o f H ig her M enta l P r o e s s e s . P r e n tlc e - H a ll . A rt h u r V. H o lt, " A l g o r i c ta f o r a Low CosC Hand PrlnC R e a d e r ." Computer Deaign Feb 74, 85-89. Edward A. Felgeobaum and J u l i a n Feldman ( e d s .) i Computera and Thought. McGraw-Hill. Old but a t l l l good f o r e r l e n c a d o n . A j o u r n a l : A r t i f i c i a l I n t e l l i g e n c e (N orth -H olla nd P u b l is h in g C o., J o u r n a l D iv is i o n ; P.O . Box 211, Amsterdam, The N eth erlan d a . Was $26 .5 0 a ye ar l n 1973. T h i s ' l l ahow you what t h e y ' r e t h i n k i n g about now. Roger L in d , "The Robots Are Coming, The Robote Are Coming." O ut. Feb 1974. T y p ic a l la ym an's hype. You d o n ' t g e t t o l d u n t i l th e second page t h a t a t y p i c a l i n d u s t r i a l " ro b o t " le a huge mechanlem w ith one g r a p p li n g a r a . Edward W Koadrowlcki and Dannie W. C oope r, "COCO I I I : . th e Cooper-Kos Cheas P rogram ." CACH J u l y 73, 411-427. G r e e n b l a t t , R.D ., E a e tla k e , O .E ., and C r o c k e r , S .D ., The G re e n b l a c t Chess Program ." Proc PJCC 6 7 , 001-810 . R.C . G a * l l l , "An E xaaln acio n o f T lc - T a c - T o a - lik e Games." P r o c . NCC 74, 349-355.

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" I n f o r m a t i o n R e t r i e v a l " 1 b one o f t h o a e te r m s t h a t la ym e n th r o w a r o u n d a s 1f I t w er e a ma nh ole cover. I t eo unda a s t h o u g h I t means bo n u c h , bo v e r y * ich. And eo yo u a c t u a l l y h e a r p e o p le s a y t h l n g a l i k e : "But t h a t wo uld m e a n . . . ( p r e g n a n t p a u s e ) . . . I n f o r m a tio n R e tr ie v a l! ! ! " S i m i l a r l y , some o f t h e ho k e y new c o p y r i g h t n o t i c e s you a e e In b o o k s f ro m W i t h - I t p u b l i a h e r a I n t o n e t h a t s a i d b o o k s n a y n o t be " p l a c e d I n a n y I n f o r m a t i o n r e t r i e v a l s y s t e m . . . " I t a k e t h i s t o mean t h a t t h e p u b l l e h e r a a r e f o r b i d d i n g yo u t o p u t t h e b o o k on a b o o k s h e l f , b e c a u s e " I n f o r m a t i o n r e t r i e v a l " s i m p l y means an y way a t a l l o f g e t t i n g b a c k I n f o r m a t i o n f r o * a n y th in g . A b o o k s h e l f , a ln c e I t a llow s you t o r e a d t h e s p in a s o f th e b o o k s . I s Indeed an In fo r m a tio n R e t r i e v a l Sy s te m . I t h a p p e n s , i n c i d e n t a l l y , t h a t th e p h r a s e " i n f o r m a t i o n r e t r i e v a l " was c o i n e d I n t h e f o r t i e s by C a l v i n H o o e r s , i n v e n t o r o f TBAC* L an gu a ge ( s e e p p . 1 8 - 2 1 ) . ( I f W ie ne r bad c o i n e d i t be m i g h t h a v e c a l l e d i t G e t b a c k . I f D l e b o l d ha d c o i n e d i t i t m i g h t ha ve b e e n T h n u g h t o m a t l o n . ) Anyhow, nu m e ro u s e n t i r e l y d i f f e r e n t t h i n g s g o o n I n t h e f i e l d , a l l u n d e r t h e name o f I n f o r m a t i o n R e t r i e v a l . Here a r e some. 1 . No n- C omp ute r r e t r i e v a l . ( See B e c k e r a n d H a y e s , A u t o m a t i c I n f o r m a t i o n R e t r i e v a l . ) Thes e t h i n g s a r e k i n d o f o l d - f a s h i o n e d f u n c a r d s w i t h h o l e s pu nc he d a l o n g t h e e d g e , f o r I n s t a n c e , t h a t you s o r t w i t h k n i t t i n g n e e d l e s , o r t h e m or e r e c e n t s y s t e m s w i t h h o l e s d r i l l e d i n p l a s t i c cards. T r o u b l e I s , o f c o u r s e , t h a t c o m p u te r s a c e be co m i n g i c h m or e c o n v e n i e n t a n d even l e a s e x p e n s i v e th a n t h e s e , c o u n t i n g y o u r m m ti m e a s b e i n g w o r t h s o m e t h i n g . 2. D ocument R e t r i e v a l . T h i s b a s i c a l l y i s a n a p p r o a c h t h a t g l o r i f i e s t h e o l d l i b r a r y c a r d f i l e , e x c e p t now t h e a t u f f i s s t o r e d i n c o m p u te rs r a t h e r th a n o n c a r d s . B u t w h a t a s t o r e d I s S t i l l t h e name o f t h e d o c u m en t , who WTOte i t , w he re I t was p u b l i s h e d and so on. O b v i o u s l y h e l p f u l to l i b r a r i a n s , b u t s c a r c e l y e x c i t i n g . 3- A u t o m a t i c do cu me nt i n d e x i n g . Some o r g a n i s a t i o n s f i n d i t h e l p f u l t o ha v e a co m pu te r t r y t o f i g u r e o u t v h a t a book 1 b a b o u t , r a t h e r t h a n hav e a p e r s o n l o o k a t i t and check. ( I d o n ' t a e e why t h i s s a v e s a n y t h i n g , b u t t h e r e yo u a r e . ) A nyway, t h e t e x t o f t h e doc ument ( o r s e l e c t e d p a r t s ) a r e p o u r e d th r o u g h a c om pute r pr o g ra m t h a t s e l e c t s , f o r i n a t a n c e , k e y w o r d s , t h a t l a , t h e moBt i m p o r t a n t w o rd s i n i t , o r r a t h e r w or ds t h e pr o g ra m t h i n k s STe m o s t I m p o r t a n t . T h en t h e s e ke yw ord s c a n go on t b e h e a d i n g s of l i b r a r y f i l e c a r d s , or w hatever. T h e r e a r e v a r i o u s r e l a t e d s y s te m s by w h ic h p e o p l e s t u d y , f o r i n s t a n c e , t h e c i t a t i o n s b e tw ee n a r t i c l e s , b u t we wun t g e t i n t o t h a t . C o n t e n t r e t r i e v a l . Kow w e ' r e g e t t i n g t o t h e s e x y a t u f f . A s y s t e a f o r c o n t e n t r e t r i e v a l I s on e t h a t somehow s t o r e a i n f o r m a t i o n I n a co m p u te r and l e t s y o u g e t I t b a c k

L ik e A r t l f l c l s l I n t e l l i g e n c e and I n f o r m a t i o n R e t r i e v a l , C o m p u t e r - A s s i s t e d I n s t r u c t i o n s o u n d s l i k e some t h i n g e x a c t an d i m p r e s s i v e b u t I s i n f a c t a s c a t t e r i n g o f te c h n iq u e s t i e d to g e th e r only nom inally by a g e n e r a l Id ea . The r e a l name f o r i t s h o u l d be A u to m a te d D ia lo g u e T e a c h i n g . T h a t would l m i e d i a t e l y a l l o w y o u t o a s k , s h o u l d c o m pu te r t e a c h i n g u se d l a l o g u e a ? But t h e y d o n t wan t you t o ask t h a t . I n t h e c l a s s i c f o r m u l a t i o n of t h e e a r l y s i x t i e s , t h e r e w er e g o i n g t o be t h r e e l e v e l s o f CAI: " d r i l l - a n d - p r a c t i c e " s y s t e m s , much l i k e t e a c h i n g a a c h i n e s , t h a t s i m p l y h e lp e d s tu d e n ts p r a c t i c e v a rio u a s k i l l s ; a m iddle l e v e l ( o ft e n i t s e l f c a ll e d , co n fu sin g ly , "co m p u ter-a ssisted in s tru c tio n " ) : and a t h i r d l e v e l , t h e S o c r a t i c s y s t e m , w h i c h would s u p p o s e d ly be I d e a l . S t u d e n t s s t u d y i n g on S o c r a t i c s y s t e a s w ou ld be e l o q u e n t l y ond t h o u g h t f u l l y I n s t r u c t e d a n d c o r r e c t e d b y s p e r f e c t b e i n g i n t h e m a c h i n e . "We d o n ' t know how t o d o t h a t y e t , " th e p e o p le keep sa y in g . Y e t , in d e e d .

All these things are very technical. The reader must decide for himself which, if any, are misguided.

(My p e r s o n a l v ie w o n t h i s s u b j e c t , e x p r e s s e d i n a n a r t i c l e ( f o l l o w i n g ) i s t h a t C o m p u t e r - A s s i s t e d I n s t r u c t i o n i n many ways e x t e n d s t h e w o r s t f e a t u r e s o f e d u c a t i o n a s we now know i t I n t o t h e new r e a l m o f p r e s e n t a t i o n by c o m p u t e r . )

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This Is a tr u e Sto ry. (The d e t a i l s a r e approx im ate.) I t may provide c e r t a i n I n s i g h t s . An A s s is ta n t Commissioner o f Edu c a ti on was being shown a CAI system by r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s o f a la rg e and well-known computer company. One one s id e o f th e Conmlssloner s to od a s a l e s man, who wanted him to be Impressed. On th e o th e r s i d e s to o d one Or. S . , who knew how t h e system The t e r m in a l, de monstrating a h i s t o r y program th a t had h u r r i e d l y been put t o g e th e r , type d : W O H CAPTURED FORT TICONDEROGA? "Can 1 type anything? " asked t h e A s s is ta n t Conmlssloner. " S u r e , " sa id th e salesma n, ig n o r in g th e Fr anti c he ad-sh aking o f Dr. S. The A s s is ta n t Comnlss lo ner ty pe d: Gypsy Rose
Lee.

Then t h e r e I s t h e m a t t e r o f c o n s i s t e n c y . T h e r e a l l y I n t e r e s t i n g s u b j e c t s a r e th e o n e s w h er e d i f f e r e n t a u t h o r s c laim o pposing f a c t s t o su p p o rt o p p o s it e c o n c l u s i o n s . In o t h e r w o r d s , t h e r e i s i n c o n s i s t e n c y w i t h i n t h e c o n t e n t of the f i e l d . I n t h i s c a s e su c h s y s t e m s a r e g o i n g t o h av e a p r o b le m . (S e e "R aaho-Hon P r i n c i p l e u n d e r " T i s s u e o f T h ought," f f ~ y \ '*"1.7^ A n o t h e r f u n d a m e n t a l p o i n t 1b t h i s . I t may b e e a s y e nou gh t o pr o g ra m a s y s te m t o an sw e r t h e q u e s t i o n , VHAT TIME DOES THE NEXT PLANE LEAVE FOR LAGUAHDIA? b u t I t i s a l o t s i m p l e r t o Ad l s p l a y s c h e d u l e s y o u r e y e ca n r un down, o r a l l o w y o u t o go lo o k a t some k i n d o f g r a p h i c d isplay. Speaking p e r s o n a l l y , I d o n 't I l k a t a l k i n g t o m achines a nd I d o n ' t l i k e t h e i r t a l k i n g b a c k t o me. I ' m n o t s a y i n g you ha v e t o a g r e e . I ' m j u a t t e l l i n g y o u y o u ' r e a l l o w e d t o f e e l t h a t way. 5 . S c r e e n s u m n a r l e e T h es e s y s t e m s l e t y o u s i t s t a c o a p u t e r d i s p l a y s c r e e n and r e a d su mm ari es o f v a r i o u s t h i n g s , a s w e l l a s r u n th r o u g h t h e n w i t h v a r i o u s p r o g ra m s t o lo o k f o r k e y w o r d s . (The Mew Yo rk T im e s now o f f e r s s u c h a s y s t e m , c o s t i n g o v e r a th o u s a n d d o l l a r s a m on th t o su b sc rib ers.)

The machine r e pli e d: NO, BUT YOU'RE CLOSE. SHORT TIME LATER. HE CAPTURED QUEBEC A

T he t r i c k o n b o t h c o u n t s I s o f c o u r s e how. H a l l , a s we s a i d on t h e o t h e r s i d e o f t h e b o o k , a n y in f o r m a tio n s to r e d in a conputer has a d a ta s t r u c t u r e , w hi c h s i m p l y means w h a t e v e r a r r a n g e m e n t o f a l p h a b e t i c a l c h a r a c t e r s , num be rs and a p e c l a l c o d e s t h e c o m p u te r h a p p e n s t o bs s a v i n g . In s u b je ct e ve n by i t back get it? a c o n t e n t - r e t r l e v a l s y s te m , I n f o r m a t i o n on some i s somehow ja m a ed I n t o a d a t a s t r u c t u r e p o s s i b l y human c o d e r s and th e n s e t up s o p e o p l e c a n g e t o u t a g a i n I n aome w ay . L o t of p o s s i b i l i t i e s h e r e ,

The A s s is ta n t Conmlssloner e v i d e n t l y en liv en ed many a luncheon w ith t h a t one, and Con^ ute r-A ss is te d i n s t r u c t i o n was e f f e c t i v e l y dead f o r t h e r e s t o f the a d m ln is tr a tI o n .

6. " F u l l - t e x t s y s t e m s . 1 T h es e a r e s y s t e m s t h a t 1 one way o r a n o t h e r a l l o w you t o r e a d a l l t h e t e a t o f s o m e t h i n g f ro m a c o m p u te r d i s p l a y s c r e e n . T h e r e a r e t h o s e o f u s who a e e t h e a e a s th e wave o f t h e f u t u r e , X "Fo il c m b ut aany o t h e r s a r e p e r f e c t l y o u trag e d a t th e t h o u g h t ( H y p e r t e x t s y s t e m s , now, a r e s e t u p s t h a t a l l o w y o u t o r e a d I n t e r c o n n e c t e d t e x t s from c o m p u te r d i s p l a y s c r e e n s .

s . . n l1 -7 -)
T h i s h a s b e e n b r i e f and h a s s k i p p e d a l o t . a s you s e e , IR I s n o o n e t h i n g . BIBLIOGRAPHY V an n e v ar B u s h , "As We Hay T h i n k . " A t l a n t i c M o n t h l y . J u l y 194$, 101-108. T h e o d o r H. K e l s o n , "Aa He H i l l T h i n k . " P r o c . O n l i n e 72 C o n f e r e n c e , B r u n e i U. U x b r i d g e , E n g l a n d . G. S s l t o n , R e c e n t S t u d i e s I n A u t o m a t i c T e x t A n a l y s i s an d D ocument R e t r i e v a l . JACM, Apr 7 3 , 2 5 8 - 2 7 0 . D ona ld E. W al k e r ( e d . ) . I n t e r a c t i v e B i b l i o g r a p h i c S e a r c h : T he U s e r / C o m p u t e r I n t e r f a c e . AFIPS P r e s s , $1 5T h eo do r H. N e l s o n , " G e t t i n g I t Out o f Our S y s t e m . " I n Sch ech ter (e d . ) , C ritiq u e o f Info rm atio n R e tr ie v a l ( Thompson B o o k s , 1 94 7) . J . C . R . L l c k l l d e r , L i b r a r i e s o f t h e F u t u r e . MIT P r e s s , 1965. C l e a r an d r e a d a b l e s u n a a r y o f t h e r e s t o f t h e f i e l d ; t h e n h e g o e s on t o a d v o c a t e " p r o c o g n i t i v e s y s t e m s , " s y s t e m s t h a t w i l l d i g e s t w h a t ' s known I n any f i e l d and t a l k back t o you, u s in g t e c h n i q u e s o f a r t i f i c i a l in te llig en c e. W h a te v e r i t s o t h e r m e r i t s , t h i s b o o k i s g r e a t f o r sh a k in g people up, e s p e c i a l l y l i b r a r i a n s . It seeas so o f f i c i a l R i c h a r d H. L a s k a , " A l l t h e News T h a t ' s F i t t o R e t r i e v e . " Co m p u te r D e c i s i o n s . Aug 72 , p p . 1 6 - 2 2 . Anyway,

w r

fe i

t*. *. c t c r i t .

I n t h e w i t s t a r t l i n g o f t h e s e s y s t e m s , t h e QAS, o r " Q u e s ti o n - A n s w e r in g S y s t e m , " some s o r t o f d i a l o g u e pr o g ra m ( see " A r t i f i c i a l I n t e l l i g e n c e , " n earby) t r i e s t o g i v e you a n s w e r s a b o u t t h e d a t a s t r u c t u r e . But t h i s means t h e r e ha va t o b e a w ho le l o t o f p r o g ra m s:

ANOTHER ANECDOTE

T h e s e s y s t e m s c a n b e q u i t e s t a r t l i n g I n th e - w a y t h e y s e e * t o u n d e r s t a n d you ( s e e L l c k l l d e r b o o k ; a l s o H in o g r ad p i e c e u n d e r A r t i f i c i a l I n t e l l i g e n c e ) . B u t t h e y d o n ' t u n d e r s t a n d y ou. They a re j u s t p o o r dumb p r o g r a m s . Many p e o p l e ( i n c l u d i n g L l c k l l d e r ) se em t o s e e l a |Q u e s t l o n - A n a w e r l n g - S y s t e m s th e wave o f t h e f u t u r e . O the rs, li k e t h i s a u th o r , a r e s k e p t i c a l . I t ' s one th in g t o ha ve a t y i t a t h a t ca n d e d u ce t h s t G r e e n ' s H ou se I s West o f R e d ' s Rou se f ro m a bunch, o f i n p u t s e n t e n c e s on t h e s u b j e c t , b u t t h e q u e s t i o n o f how much t h e s e c a n b e i mp ro ve d i s I n g n u d o u b t . A s y s te m t h a t cSn a n s w e r t h e q u e s t i o n , 'V h a t d i d H e g e l aa y a b o u t d e t e r m i n i s m ? " I s oma way s a wa y, t o p u t i t m i l d l y .

I t I s a t r u i s m th a t Mendel's th e o r ie s g e n e t i c s g o t " l o s t " a f t e r p u b lic a tio n I 1865, t o be re discovered in 1900. " I f o n ly t h e r e had been proper Information r e t r i e v a l under the r ig h t c a t e g o r i e s , " peop le o f t e n sa y. Recent s t u d i e s i n d i c a te t h a t th e p u b li ca tio n co n ta in in g Mendels p a pe r reached, o r g ot n e a r l y t 'p r a e t t c a l l y a l l prominent b i o l o g i s t s < t h e m id -n in e te en th c e n tu ry ." (S c le n t! I American, J u l y 68, 55.) I ta k e t h i s as suggesting t h a t th e p r o b lem I s n ' t c a te g o r ic a l r e t r i e v a l a t a l l . I t ' s mult I -con nected a v a i l a b i l i t y (see "h yp ertex t,

Some o f us have been s aying f o r a lo ng time t h a t le a rn in g fr<xo computers oug ht to be under c o n tr o l o f t h e s tu d en t.

One g r o u p ( n e v e r B i n d who) h a s t a k e n h o l d o f t h i a i d e a and g o t t e n a l o t o f f u n d i n g f o r i t u n d e r t h e name o f STUDENT COWTBDL. T h i s g r o u p t a l k s a s I f i t w er e s o a e k i n d o f s c i e n t i f i c b rea kthrough. A f r i e n d o f in e s u g g e s ts , h ow eve r, t h a t t h i s p h r a s e may hav e b r o u g h t t h e f u n d i n g b e c a u s e a d m i n i s t r a t o r s t h o u g h t i t m e an t c o n t r o l o f th e s tu d e n t.

BIBLI OGR APH Y

G e o r g e B. L e o n a r d , E d u c a t i o n a n d E c s t a s y . D e l l , $ 2 . 2 5 . A r g u e s f o r m a k in g e d u c a tio n an e n t h u s i a s t i c p r o c e s s . T h e o d o r H. N e l s o n , "No More T e a c h e r s ' D i r t y L o o k s. F o llo w s .

k it

i)* ib
(The follow ing a r tic le a p p e a re d in the S e p tem b e r, 1970 is s u e of C o m puter Decis i o n s , an d got an e x tr a o r d i n a r y am ount o f a tte n tio n . I h a v e c h ang ed my v iew s som ewhat we all go t h r o u g h c h a n g e s , a fte r a ll b u t a fte r c o n sid e ra tio n h a v e d e c id e d to r e - r u n it in the o r ig in a l fo rm , w ithout q u a lific a tio n s , m ollifications o r a n y th in g , for its u n ity . T h a n k s to C o m p u te r D ecisions for u se of the a r tw o r k by Gans a n d fo r th e S u p e rstu d e n t p ic tu r e on the c o v e r , whose a r ti s t u n fo rtu n ate ly i n s i s t s on p r e s e r v i n g h is anonym ity.

by T h e o d o r H . Nelson T h e N elson Organization N ew Y ork Some think the educational system is basically all right, and more resources would get it working again. Schools would do things the same way. ex cept more so, and things would get better. In that case the obvious question would be, how can com p uters help? How can computers usefully supplem ent and extend the traditional and accept ed form s of teaching? This is the question to which present-day efforts in "computer-assisted instruc tion called CA I seem to respond. But such an approach is o f no possible interest to the new generation of critics of our school sys tem people like John Holt ( W h y Children Fail), Jo n a th a n Kozol (D eath at an Early A g e ) and Jam e s H erndon (T h e Way It S p o zed To B e ). More

Did you find school dismal and dreary? Did it turn you off? Here the author proposes safe and legal ways to turn kids on.

and m ore, such people are severely questioning the general framework and structure of the way we teach. These writers describe particularly ghastly exam ples of our schooling conditions. But such h orror stories aside, we are coming to recognize that schools as we know them appear designed at every level to sabotage the supposed goals of e d u cation. A child arrives at school bright and early in his life. By drabness we deprive him of interests. By fixed curriculum and sequence we rob him of his orientation, initiative an d motivation, and by testing and scoring we subvert his natural intelli gence. Schools as we know them all run on the same principles: iron all subjects flat and then proceed, in groups, at a forced m arch across the flattened plain. Material is dumped on the students and their responses calibrated; their interaction and involve ment with the material is not encouraged nor taken into consideration, but their dutifulness of response is carefully monitored. While an exact arrangement of intended motiva tions for the student is preset within the system, they d o not usually take effect according to the ideal. It is not that students are //^motivated, but motivated askew. Rather than seek to achieve in the way they are supposed to. students turn to churlishness, surliness, or intellectual sheepishness. A general human motivation is god-given at the beginning and warped or destroyed by the edu cational process as we know it: thus we internalize at last that most fundamental of grownup goals: just to get through another day. Because of this procedure our very notion ot hum an ability has suffered. Adult mentality is

An i n te r e s tin g p o in t, in c id e n ta lly , is that p eop le r e a d th is a lot of d iffe re n t w a y s. One Dean of E d u ca tio n h ila r io u s ly m is re a d it as an a c r o s s - t h e - b o a r d p l u g for CAI. O th e rs r e a d i n it v a rio u s form s o f m enace o r a d v o c a c y of g e n e ra liz e d m ec h a n iz a tio n . One l e t t e r - w r i t e r sa id I w as a m enace b u t at le a st w r itin g a rtic le s k e p t me off the s t r e e ts . H e re is my fundam en tal point: c o m p u te r - a s s is te d in s tr u c tio n , a p p lie d th o u g h t l e s s l y a n d i m ita tiv e ly , th r e a te n s to e x te n d th e w o r s t fe a tu r e s of e d u ca tio n as it "IF n o w .

cauterized, and we call it norm al.' Most people's minds are mostly tu rned off most of the time. We know virtually nothing of hum an abilities except as they have been pickled and boxed in schools; we need to ignore all th a t and start fresh. T o w ant stu dents to be n o rm a l is criminal, when we are all so far below o ur potential. Buckminster Fuller, in / Seem T o Be A Verb, says we are all b orn ge niuses; Sylvia A shton-W arner tells us in Teacher of her success with this premise, and o f the bril liance and creative potential she was able to find in all her schoolchildren. Curric ula themselves destructively arra n g e the study situation. By walls between artificially segre gated "studies and "separate topics we forbid the pursuit of interest a n d kill motivation. In ordinary schooling, the victim c a n n o t orie nt himself to the c u rre n t topic except by un d e rstan d -

<3

t o o k
ing the official angle of approach and p re s en ta tion. T hough tie-ins to previous interests and knowledge are usually the best way to get a n initial sense of a thing, there is only time to c o n sid e r the officially presented tie-ins. (N either is the re time to answer questions, except briefly and ra re ly well and usually in a way that promotes o rd e r by discouraging e x tra ne ous tie-ins from c o m in g up.) T he unnecessary division and walling o t sub jects. sequencing a n d kibbling of mate ria l lead peo ple to expect simplifications, to feel that n a m in g a thing is und erstanding it, to fear com plex w holes; to believe creativity means reco m bination, the parsing of old relations, rather th an synthesis. Like political boundaries, curriculum b o u n d a r ies arise from noticeable features of a c o n tin u u m and become progressively more fortified. A s be hind political borders, social unification occurs within them, so that wholly dissimilar practitioners who share a nam e c o m e to think they d o the same thing. And because they talk mainly to e ac h other, they forget how n e ar is the other side o f the border. Because of the fiction of "subjects, g re a t c o n cern and consideration has always gone in to cal culating the c orre c t teaching sequence for e ach subject. In recent years radical new te a ch in g se quences have been in troduced for teaching various subjects, including m athem atics and physics. But such efforts a p pea r to have been m isinfo rm ed by the idea of supplanting the w rong te a c h in g se quence with the " rig h t teaching sequence, one which is "validated. Similarly, we have go n e from a time when the instructional sequence was a b a l ance between tradition and the lowest c o m m o n d e nominator of each subject, to a time when teachers may pick "flexible optim ized strategies from text-

*
I X
-If
If the computer is a universal control system, lets give kids universes to control.

TIT

Some premises relevant to teaching

1. The human mind is born free, yei everywhere il is in chains. The educational system serves mainly to destroy for most people, in varying degrees, intelligence. curiosity, enthusiasm, and intellectual initiative and self-confidence. We are born with these. I hey arc gone or severely diminished when wc leave school. 2. Everything is interesting, until ruined for us. Nothing in the universe is intrinsically unin teresting. Schooling systematically ruins ihings for us, wiping out these interests; the last ihiog to be ruined determines your profession. 3 . There are no subjects. The division of the universe into subjects" for teaching is a mat ter of tradition and administrative convenience. 4. There is no natural or necessary order of learning. Teaching sequences are arbitrary, explanatory hierarchies philosophically spuri ous. "Prerequisites" arc a fiction spawned by the division of the world into subjects:" and maintained by not providing summaries, intro ductions or orientational materials exccpt to those arriving through a certain door. 5. Anyone retaining his natural mental facilities can learn anything practically on his own, given encouragement and resources. 6. Most (caches mean well, but ihey arc so conccrncd wilh promoting their images, atti tudes nnd style of order that very little else can be communicalcd in ihe time remaining, and almost none of it attractively. books.' And this all ignores a simple fact: all arc arbitrary. Instructional sequences aren't needed at all if the people are motivated and Ihe materials are clear and available. Testing as we know it (integrated with walled curric ula ancf instructional sequences) is a destructive activ ity, particularly for the orientation which it creates. The concerns of testing are extraneous: learning to figure out low-level twists in questions that lead no where, under pressure. The system of tensions and defenses il creates in the student's personality are unrelated to the subjcci or the way people might rclalc lo the subject. An exploit ive altitude is foslered. Nol becoming involved with the subject, the student grabs for roie payoff raihcr than insight. All in a condescending circumstance. Condescension is built into the system at all levels, so pervasive it is scarcely noticed. Students are subjccicd io a grim variety of put-downs and denigrations. While many people evidently believe Ihis to be right, ils productivity in building confident and sclf-respccting minds may be doubted. The problems of Ihc school are not parlicularly the teachcrs fault. The practice of (caching is principally involved wilh managing the class, keeping up face, and projecting the image of ihe subject thal conforms to the teachers own prcdilcclions. The educational system is thereby committed to the fussy and prissy, lo the en force men t of peculiar standards of righteousness and the elevation of leachcrs a huge irrelevant shell around ihc small kernel of knowledge transmitted. TJie usual attacks on computer leaching tend to be sentimental and emotional picas for the alleged hu manism ot Ihe existing system. Those who are opposed to (he use of compuiers lo icach generally believe the computer to be cold and "inhuman." The leachcr is considered ''warm" and human." 'I his view is ques tionable on both sides. The computer is as inhuman as wc make it. The computer is no more cold" and inhuman" than a toaster, bathtub or automobile (all associated with warm human activities). Living tcachcrs can be as in human as members of any people-prodding profession, sometimes more so. Computcrists speak of Irccing teachers for the creative part of their work;" in many cases it is not clear what creative tasks they could be freed for. A t the last, it is to rescue ihc student from the in human leachcr, and allow him to relate directly and personally to the intrinsically interesting subject mai ler, that wc need io use computers in education. Many successful systems of icachcrlcss learning exist in our socicly: professional and industrial magazines: conventions and their display booths and brochures; technical sales pitches (most remarkably, those of med ical "detail men ) : hobbyist circles, which combine personal acquaintance with a round of magazines and gatherings; think-tanks and research institutes, where, specialists trade fields; and the rcspcctful briefing. None of these is like (he conventional classroom with its haughty rcsource-chairman; they arc not run on condescension: and they get a lot across. Wc tend to think they arc nol educaiion and thal the methods cannot be Iransfcrrcd or extended to the regions now ruled by conventional leaching. Oul why nol? If everything wc ate were kibbled into uniform dngfood, and the amount consumed a( each feeding time tediously watched and tested, we would have little fondness for eating, But ihis is what the schools do to our food for thought, and this is whal happens to peoples minds in primary school, secondary school and most colleges. This is the way to produce a nation of sheep or clerks. If wc are serious about wanting people to have creative and energetic minds, il is nol whal we ought io do. Energy and enthusiasm are natural to ihc hunun spirit; why drown Ihem?

Education oughi to be d ear, inviting nnd enjoyable, without booby-traps, humiliations, condescension or boredom. It ought to teach and reward initiative, curi osity, ihe habit of self-motivation. intellectual involve ment. Studcnls should develop, through practice, abili ties to think, argue and disagree intelligently. Educators and computer enthusiasts tend to agree on these goals. Bul what happens? Many of ihc inhuman ities of the existing system, no less wrong for being unitentional, arc being continued into coniputcr-assistcd leaching. Although the promoters of computer-assisted instruc tion, affectionately called CAI," seem to think of them selves as being at the vanguard of progress in all di rections, the field already seems to operate according :o a stereotype. We may call this classic or "convenional CAI, a way of thinking depressLngly summarized n The Use of Computers in Education" by Patrick iuppes, Scientific American, September, 1966, 206220, an article of semi-classic stature. It is an uncxamined premise of this article that the computer system will always decide what the student is to study and control his movements through il. The student is to be led by the nose through every subject, and the author expresses perplexity over the question of how the system can decide, at all limes, where to lead the student by the nose (top of col. 3, p. 219). But let us nol anticipate alternatives. It is often asserted (as by Alpert and Bitzer in "A d vances in Computer-Based Education," Science, March 20, 1970) that this is not the only approach current. The trouble is that it seems to be the only ap proach current, and in the expanding computer uni verse everyone seems to know whal c a i is. And this is it. Computer-assisted instruction, in this classical sense, is the presentation by computer of bite-sized segments of instructional material, branching among them ac cording to involuntary choices by ihe student ("answere") and embedding material presented the student in some sort of pseudo-conversation ( Very good. Now, Johnny, point at the . . .") CAI; Based on nnnccessuy premises At whichever level of complexity, all these conven tional c a i systems arc based on three premises: lhat all presentations consists of items, short chunks and questions; lhat the items are arranged into sequences, though these sequences may branch and vary under control of the computer; and finally, that these sequen ces are to be embedded in a framework of dialogue; with the computer composing sentences and questions appropriately based on the student's input and the branching structure of the materials. Let us call such systems sic (Sequenced-Item Conversational) systems. These three premises are united. For Ihere to be dialogue means Ihere musl be an underlying graph structure of potential sequences around which dialogue may be generated; for there to be potential sequences means breakpoints, and hence items. Let us question each of the premises in turn. 1. Is dialog* pleasant or desirable? Compulsory interaction, whether with a talking machine or a stereo typed human, is itself a put-down or condescension. (Note lhat on superhighways there is often a line of cars behind the automatic loll booths, even when the manned ones art open.) Moreover, faked interaction can be an annoyance. (Consider the green light at the automatic toll booth thal lights up with a thank you.") Moreover, dialogue by simple systems tends to have a fake quality. It is by no means obvious that phony dialogue with a machine will please the student. 2. Is (be Hem approach necessary? If (he student were in control, he could move around in areas of material, leaving each scene when he got what he want ed, or found il unhelpful. 3- A n sequences necessary? Prearranged sequences become unnecessary if the student can see whal he has yet to learn, then pursue il.
T^- s e n s e o t p r e stig e a n d p a rticip a tio n

Conducivtness to boredom; The removal of opportunities for initiative; * Gratuitous concerns, both social and administra tive ( subject, progress in subject); Grades, which really reflect commitment level, anxiety, and willingness to focus on core emphasis; Stereotyped and condescending treatment of the student (ihe Now-Johnny box in ihe computer re placing the one thal sits before the class); * 4^ ie narrowing of curricula and available materials for results" at the expense of motivation and general ized orientation; Destructive testing of a kind we would nol permit on delicate machinery; and, * oven or hidden emphasis on invidious ratings. (Ungraded schools are nice-but how many units did you complete today?). There are of course improvements, for instance in the effects of testing. In the tell-test, tell-test nattering or CAI, ihe testing becomes merely an irritant, bul one certainly not likely lo fosier enthusiasm.

A futility is something the user may call u p to per form routinely a computation or other act. behaving in desired ways on demand Thus j o s s (a d e v e r tie s' calculator available at a te rm inal) and the Culler-Freed graph-plotting system (which graphs arbitrary func tions the user types in) are facilities. Hvprr-mrtUu arc branching or performing presenta tions which respond to user actions, systems o f pre arranged words and pictures ffor example) which i he explored freely or queried in styli/ed ways. Ih e y 1 will not be * programmed." but rather i/rv e w i/. " ilrawn and rdiii'd. by authors, artist', designers and editors. (T o call them programmed" would suggest spurious technicality. Compuier systems to present them will be programmed. ) l.ikc ordinary prose and pictures, ihcy will be m edia: and because they a re in some sense "mulli-dimcnsional." we may call them hyper-niedki. following the mathematical use o f the lerm hypcr-. A modest proposal The alternative is straightforward. Instead o f devis ing elaborate systems permitting tbe computer o r its instructional contents to control the situation, why not permit the student to control the system, show him how to do so intelligently, and make jt easy for him to find his own way? Discard ihe sequences, items and conversation, and allow the student to move freely through materials which he may control. Never mind optimizing reinforcement or validating teaching se quences. Motivate the user and let him loose in a wonderful place. Let the student control the sequence, pul him in control of interesting and d ear material, and m ake him feel good comfortable, interested, and autonomous. Teach him to orient himself: not having the system answer questions, all typed in, bul allowing the student to get answers by looking in a fairly obvious place. (Dialogue is unnecessary even when it does not in trude.) Such ultra-rich environments allow the student to choose what he will study, when he will sludy it and how he will study it, and to what criteria of accom plish ment he will aim. Let the student pick what he wishes to study next, decide when he wishes io be tested, and give him a variety of interesting materials, events and opporiunilies. Let the student ask to be tested on what he thinks he knows, when he is ready, selecting the mosi appropriate form of lesiing available. This approach has several advantages. First, il cir cumvents the incredible obstacles created by the dialoguc-item-scquencc philosophy. It ends the danger io students of bugs in the material. And last, it does what education is supposed to do foster student e n thusiasm, involvement, and self-reliance. Under such circumstances students will actually be interested, motivated to achieve far more than they have ever achieved within the normal instructional framework; and any lopsidedness which may result will be far offset by the degree of accomplishment which will occur it being much better to create lop sided but enthusiastic genius specialists than listless, apathetic, or cruelly rebellious mediocrities. If they start soon enough they may even reach adulthood with natural minds: driven by enthusiasm and interest, crippled in no areas, eager to learn more, and far smarter lhan people ordinarily end up being. Enthusiasm and involvement are what really count. This is why the right to explore far outweighs any administrative advantages of creating and enforcing subjects" and curriculum sequences. The enhancem ent or motivation that will rollow from letiing kids le arn anything they want to learn will far outweigh any specialization lhat may result. By ihe elim ination or benign replacement of both curriculum and tests in an ultra-rich environment, we will prevent the attritio n of Ihe natural motivation of children from its initially enormous levels, and mental development will be the natural straight diagonal rather than the cu stom ary parabola. Is It so hanf? so w Idea c a i is said to be terribly hard. It would seem all the harder, then, to give students the richer an d m o re stimulating environments advocated here. T his is be cause of the cramped horizons of computer teaching today. Modest goals have given us modest visions, far helow what is now possible and will soon be cheap. Discrete (Chunk Style) Hyperteits

Bul isn't CAI scknlific? Part of Cai's mystique is based upon the idea that leaching can bccomc "scicntific in the light of modern research, especially learning theory, ll is understand able lhat researchers should promote this view and lhat oihcrs should fall for il. Laymen do not understand, nor arc ihcy told. thal 'learning theory" is an extremely technical, mathemat ically oriented, description of the behavior of abstract and idealized organisms learning non-unificd things under specific condiiions of motivation and non-dis traction. Let us assume, politely, lhal learning theory is a full and consisieni body of knowledge. Bccausc of its name, learning theory has al least whal wc may call nominal relevancc to teaching: bul real rclcvance is another matter, ll may he relevant as Newtonian equa tions are to shooting a good game of pool: implicit but without practical bearing. Bccausc of the actual character of learning theory, and ils general remoteness from non-sicrilc conditions, actual relevance to any pariicular type of applicuiion must still be demonstrated. To postulate lhat the theory still applies in diluted or shifted circumstances is a leap of faith. Human beings arc not. taken all together, very like ihc idealized pigeons or rats of learning theory, and their motivations and other circumstanccs arc not easily controlled. Studies conccrncd with rate of repetition and reinforcement are scarcely relevant if Ihc student hates or docs nol understand whal he is doing. I do nol mean li> iiUaek all < a i. or an> leaching system which is cHcclive ami gialifying. What I doubt is that sic sysiems for cai will become more and more wonderful as effort progresses, or lhat Ihe goal of talk ing tutorial systems is reachable and appropriate. And what I further suspect is lhat we are building boredom systems that nol mil* make hie duller bul sap inicllcclual interest in the same old way. Should systems instructT Drill-and-praciicc systems arc definitely a good thing lor the acquisition of skills and response sets, an im provement over workbtxiks and the like, furnishing both corrections and adjustment. Ihey are boring, bul probably levs so than (he usual materials. Itut the c a i enthusiasts seem lo believe ihc same c o n w a iM B h m l chunk techniques can he extcntcd to the realm of ideas, to systems that will tutor and chide, and that this will provide the same sort of natural interest provided by a live tutors instruction. The conventional poini of view in c a i claims thal because validation is so important, ii is necessary lo have a standardized formal of item, sequence and dialoguc. This jusiifies lurning Ihe endeavor into pkl>work within ilcms and sequence complexes, with attendant curifcular frcc/c. and Modem inanition and boredom. This is entirely premature. I h c variety ot alternative systems for compuier leaching have ihM even begun to be explored. Should s t e r n s instruct at all?
R tsp o n d i.* * M .p c fM td i.-

CAI: ttnncccssiii> coin plication The general belief among practitioners is that ma terials .for computer-based teaching are extremely dif ficult to create, or "program." Because of possible item weakness and the great variety of possible se quences within the web, extensive experimentation and debugging are required. Each item must be carefully proven; and the different sequences open to a student must all be tested for iheir effectiveness. All possible misunderstandings by a student need lo be anticipated and prevented in this web of sequences, which must be designed for its coverage, correct order, and general effectiveness.

The n a rk computer displays now associated w ith

c a i wifl give way to dynamo displays driven fro m miDkoniputen. such bs the m n M . i>m 22 5 0 4 o r

CAI: general wrongfrinoss Computers offer us the first real chance to let the human mind grow to its full potential, as il cannot within ihe stifling and insulting setting of existing school systems. Yet most of the systems for computerassisted instruction seem to me to be perpetuating and endorsing much that is wrong, even evil, in our present educational system, c a i in ils conventional fonn en larges and extends the faults of the American educa tional system itself. They are:

Al no previous line h. il t a " Wc can m.

wo.HJccli.Hh. - h e r e

^ rs :rs iK S S K :
C O -T * * * * rrevrnuim ul browse and ramble through a v.is v l pictures and appaotiom rich data srriiciuros and lacuiov These wc may call. Col.cc.ivdy Responding resources arc of two . ps hypcr-mcdia.

Imlac ros-l. (The lest erf these costs only S I 0 .0 0 0 mjwi by 1975 such unH will probably cost Si.OOO tx less.) No* only will computers be much ch eaper, b ut their inability will i n p o w : a small computer w ith a fair amount of uicumj y will be ibie to do much m o re th is it can now, mduding operite cncifdex d isp lay frrm its owa axnpfc* data base.
ll is generally s u p p w d tha t systems like Ifaeae big com ru ters aod n m r m r m o n o n c T h a is o o t true if we use tbe ctjurpmciM wefl, o rganize s t o r a g e deverty. a nd integrate d a la a n d display f u n c t k n s u u f e r a compact o n y x T h is ts the go a l a# T h e N e l s o n O rgamzauon's Proje ct X an a d u , a syste m m t e i x k d t o

oompotB witb disk aod tape.

Discrete hyperlexis
H y p e r t e x t " m e a n s f o r m s o f writing w h ic h b r a n c h or p e r fo rm o n r e q u e s t ; t h e y a r e best p re s e n te d o n c o m pu ter d i s p l a y s c r e e n s . In o r d i n a r y w r it i n g t h e a u t h o r m a y b r e a k s e q u e n c e for fo o tn o te s o r i n s e ts , b u t th e use o f p rin t o n p ? pr m ak e s s o m e b a s i c s e q u e n c e essential. T h e com puv display s c r e e n , h o w e v e r , p e r m it s fo o tn o tes o n fo o t n o t e s on fo o tn o te s , a n d p a t h w a y s o f a n y stru c tu r e th e a u t h o r wants to c r e a te . D is crete, o r c h u n k s ty le, h y p ertex ts c o n sist o f s e p a ra te pieces o f t e x t c o n n e c t e d by links. O r d in a r y p r o s e a p p e a r s o n th e screen' an d m a y b e m oved f o r w a r d a n d b a c k b y throttle. A n as te ris k o r oth er key in t h e l e x t m e a n s , n o t a n o rd i n a ry fo o tn o te , but a jump t o a n e n t i r e l y n e w p re s e n ta tio n o n th e screen. S u c h j u m p a b l e in te rc o n n e c tio n s b e c o m e p a r t of th e w riting, e n t e r i n g i n t o t h e prose m e d iu m itself as a new w a y t o p r o v i d e e x p la n a tio n s and details t o t h e seeker. T h e s e lin k s m a y b e artfully a r ra n g e d a c c o r d in g to m e a n in g s o r r e l a t i o n s in th e subject, a n d p o s s ib le tange nts in t h e r e a d e r s m in d .

T h e r e a r c a s c r e e n an d t w o th r o t t l e s . The first th ro ttle m o v e s th e lext fo r w a r d a n d b a c k w a r d , u p and d o w n o n th e s c r c c n . T h e s e c o n d ih ro tilc c a u s c s ch a n g es in t h e w r itin g itself: th ro ttlin g t o w a r d y o u cause* the text l o b e c o m c lout; , r b y m i n u te d e g r e e s . G a p s a p p e a r b etw e en p h r a s e s ; nu.v w o r d s a n d p h r a s e s p o p into the gaps, an item a t a time. Push hac k o n t h e th ro ttle and the w riting b e c o m e s s h o r t e r a n d less d e t a il e d . T h e s t r e t c h te x t is sto re d as a text s t r e a m w ilh extras, co d e d t o p o p in a n d p o p o u l at th e d e s i r e d altitudes:

S tr e t c h t e x t is a fo rm of writing. It is re ad from a screen. The user c o n tr o ls it w ith thro ttles . It gets longer and shorter on dem and.

J
S tr e tc h te x t, a kind o f h y p e r te x t, is basically a form of writing closely re lated to o th er prose. It is read b y a user or s tu d e n t from a c o m p u te r display screen. The user, or s tu d e n t, c o n t r o ls it, and causes it to change, w ith t h ro ttle s con n e cted to the c o m p u te r . S tretch te x t gets longer, by a dding words and phrases, or s h o rter, by subtractin g words and phra ses, on dem and. D i s s e c ti o n on Ihe scrccn T h e s tu d e n t of a n a t o m y m a y use his light-pen a s a s c a lp e l for a d ec ea sed c r e a t u r e on the screen. As he c u t s , th e tissue parts. H e c o u l d also tu rn the lig h t-p en i n t o h e m o s ta t o r fo rcep s , a n d fully dissect the c r e a tu r e o r p u t it b a c k to g e th e r a g a in . ( T h i s nee d not be a c o m p l e x s im ula tion. M a n y k e y relatio n sh ip s c a n be s h o w n by m ea n s of fairly sim p le s che m atic picture s, n e e d i n g a d a t a stru c tu r e n o t p ro h ib itiv ely c o m p lic a ic d .)

W e lc o m in g n e s s a n d control C H O IC E POIN T
GO ON I D O N T UNDERSTAND S O FAR IM BORED EXPLAIN T H E BIG PICTURE DETAILS PLEASE TIE T H IS IN WITH SOMETHING I KNOW LET S G O BACK TO LAST CHOICE PO IN T GIVE ME M ORE CHOICES

H y p e r m a p z ip s u p o r d o w n T h e s c r e e n is a m a p . A s te e rin g d e v ic e p e r m its the u s e r l o m o v e t h e m a p a r o u n d th e w o r l d s s u rfa c e : a thro ttle z o o m s it in. N o t b y d is c re te j u m p s , b u t ani m a te d in s m all c h a n g e s , the m a p g ro w s a n d gro w s in scale. M o r e d e ta ils a p p e a r as the m ag n ific atio n in crea se s. T h e u s e r m a y re q u es t a d d itio n a l d i s p l a y m o d es o r o v e r la y s , s u c h as p o p u la tio n , c l i m a t e , a n d indus try. S u c h a d d i t i o n a l fe atu re s m a y p o p i n t o view on request M O R E C HOIC ES
I T E ST ME I DRILL ME R ID D LE ME I DRAW ME A DIAGRAM T ELL ME A RELEVANT JOKE I CH A N G E TH E SUBJECT S U R P R IS E ME

I l y p c r - c o m i c s sire fun H y p e r-c o m ic s a r e p e r h a p s th e sim plest an d m ost s tra i g h t fo r w a r d h y p e r -m e d i u m , l h e screen holds a c o m i c strip, b u l o n e w h ich b ra n c h e s o n the s tu d e n t's r e q u e s t . F o r instance, d ilferen t c h a ra c te rs could be used lo e x p l a in things in different w a y s , with the s tudent ab le l o c h o o s e w hich ty p e o f e x p l a n a t i o n he w a n te d ;ii a s p e c ific lime.

P erform ing h v p e r g r a m s A h y p e r g ra m is a p e r fo rm i n g or b ra n c h in g p ictu re : for in s tan ce , th is an g le , w ith the b a r -g ra p h of its r e lated t r i g o n o m e t r i c fu n c t io n s . T h e s tu d e n t m a y t u r n the angle u p o n t h e s c r e e n , seizin g it with th e lig h t- p e n , and w a tc h t h e re l a t e d trig o n o m e tric fu n c tio n s , d is played as b a r c h a r t s , c h a n g e correspondingly. H y p e r g r a m s m a y a l s o b e p ro g r a m m e d to s how th e c o n s e q u e n c e s o f a u s e r s p ro d w h a t follow s o r a c c om pa nie s s o m e m o t i o n o f t h e p ictu re t h a t h e m a k e s with a p o i n tin g t o o l , l ik e t h e h e a rtb e a t sequence. T e c h n i c a li t y is not n e c e s s a ry P r o p o n e n t s o f c a i w a nl u s t o believe th at scientific t e a c h i n g re q u ires a c c rta in s e t u p a n d fo r m a t, in c o m p r e h e n s ib le to the laym an a n d lo be left t o experts. T h i s is sim ply not true. T e c h n i c a li t y " is a m yth. T h e p r o b l e m is not o n e of te c h n ic a l rightness, bul w hat .should be. T h e suggestions l h a t hiivc b e e n given ar e th in g s th at s h o u l d b e, they will be b r o u g h t a b o u t.

Q u e ria b le illu s lra lio n s : a fo r m of h y p e r g r a m A h y p e r g r a m is a p ic tu re t h a l c a n b r a n c h or p e r fo r m o n re q u e s t. In th is p a r tic u la r e x a m p le , we see o n th e sc re e n a lin e-d raw in g w ilh p r o t r u d i n g labels. W h e n th e s t u d e n t p o ints at a label, it b e c o m e s a sliding d esc rip tiv e r i b b o n , ex p la in in g th e th in g labe lle d. O r a ste risks in a n illustra tion m a y signal ju m p s to d etailed d i a g r a m s and ex p la n a tio n s , as in discrete hypertexts.

S lr c lc h le x t^ ills in lh e d e t a il s T h i s fo r m o f h y p e r t e x t is ea sy lo use w ith o u t g ellin g lost. A s a f o r m o f w r iiin g . it h a s special a d v a n ta g e s for discursive a n d lo o s e ly s t r u c t u r e d m aterials for in stance h isto rical n a r ra tiv e s .

on

The techniques of computer e celled con,pUr

picture, by 07

taclu'1 > 1 Una* of n e k l m p ic tu ra e by com puter, t h . m e , ,h a , p e n s an d p rin tin g m achines.

You i a l tha dlffarot ooaputar display urainali . l you would ha n to andffntaid ail tbe diflcri * * ly eorm r a few han, I sparely. S w of th* types of ooapular display *> *

, '

KD tM X
It w as e x p la in e d o n th e o th e r aide th at com puters h a v e no fixe d p u r p o s e o r sty le of o p e ra tio n . b u t can b e se t In motion on d eta ile d an d re p e titiv e ta s k s In any realm of human In t e r e s t as lo n g as th o se ta sk s a r e exactly specifiable In c e r ta in h um drum w ays. Now, if y o u h a d a m achine like that b u r n in g a hole in th e c o m e r o f y o u r office, w hat would you r e a lly wanl to do w ilh it? You c a n 't d r iv e it on the road. You c a n 't make love to it. (But s e e p . * * . ) You c a n 't cook in it, o r get the new a

The technique, of melon, computer, present thing, lnler.ctl.ely on l e computer dl.pl.y- (Some esy "Inter,,!,, com puter graphic;" this 1 0, , to. bu, loo restrictive as mil: lmersctlve ten re not "graphic" or pictorial. bui'tSy t l o. to be a profoundly import. an,. of computer display. ) (Incidentally. the sUly w ord "in teractio n' w as coined because the p re v iou s word "Inter c o u r s e , - w hich meant exactly th e same th ing, h a d r a c y connotations to r some people. Cf. " donkey" a n d " ro o s te r." alao relativ ely re c e n t.) You will note that com puter diaplay la w hat makea possible the com puter termin als with s c r e e n s lhal we saw on the o th e r side . All th a l a screen -term in al la is some e o n of com p u te r d is p la y , to which a key b oard haa been added.

C B T . or cafhoda-rey tube, diaplaya; ihese are sty b n r t u be<ae th* stuff cm their screens m m f be aiiaaiad by tbe eaaputar. Tidao diaplaya. which uee televiaioei tachnlquas. Theee hare Inwbtaa deriving b m (he way a T V p i d u n

panal diaplaya. I.e., Owes hldi i > a Dal pnel. Theee a going to be cropping up all over. (Tha pictures can't aore nuch. but tbe devices sre fotng U> te chaapP \m . too. toe* peopla think lhat's vary kmpona)l. ) j-D diaplaya, especially c t lha C B T type. NOTE ihls ter* reiers M b i g x m e l y lo two different thlnge: setups which prasanl O* views of three -dinenskeial scenes. aid those which prwent sisreoeo^ic views a i 1-D sctee; Iheee are much rarer. laap aynihaala or halftone tochniquee and systena. Theee are naputer i which r phocographllke pictures. (This happens to be a favorite topic of mine. m d *> there e qulla s bli on i here, s lot a i ehidi t l nol widely k m n in tha field.) a
itiL io c u rn f t * ^ ^ M V l m * f . t * .

T o g et it lo c o n trol elabo rate e v e n ts in th e re a l w orld r e q u ir e s a lot of e x p e n siv e e q u ip ment and in te r f a c e s , so c ro a s that o ut. Yet s u p p o s e y o u have an in q u ir in g Imag in ation w h ic h is n o t u n lik e ly , c o n sid e rin g th at you o re r e a d in g th is se n te n c e . And we a r e a lso s u p p o sin g (from an e a r li e r p a r a g r a p h ) th a t you h a v e a com puter. What s o r ts of th in g would you do w ith it? T h in g s that a r e im aginative and d o n t re q u ir e too m u c h e l s e .
I am h i n t i n g at s o m e t h i n g .

S p re u ll, I n t e r a c t i v e C c u t r C r e p h l o . _ HcCrew, 1 1 ). Tour b a a l c t e a t o s a l l f o t - M o f | | c < ^ u t r ( r a p h l c * (aa d t b u a a s L a a t t o o ) .

v a

x
* U w

rr k m s
you

rtrotts

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Responding conputer displays come in all sizes and prices. This little setup (in the under-SlO,000 class) is a PDP-0 minicomputer with hone-built display circuitry. Gothic lettering data structure available from somebody in the nilitary; mes sage courtesy of R.E.S.I.S.T.O.R.S. The big display is an IBM 2250 (over $ 1 0 0 ,0 0 0 , including minicomputer).

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So b s coaputer displays have to be deoply attached to a conputer and soae don't. Those latter we call display terminals.

A display terninal is like an ordinary coaputer terainal (see p ): that is, fundaaentally a device by which a computer and a person can type at each other. However, dis play terainal3 have screens. Now, soae display terminals only show te*t, just like ordinary printing terainals (described on the other side). But manufac turers are free to add any other features, and so different manufacturers aake it possible to do various kinds of pictuTe-aaking with their particular display terainals, if appropriate prograas are running in the coaputer that con trols thea. Soae dpvices are sold as display terainals but actually, to further confuse the issue, contain coaplete minicomputers. (The fact that the aanufacturer may not stress this is simply a marketing angle he has chosen.) Siailarly, certain terainals contain microprocessors (see p. V*J), which means they can be prograamed to behave like various other terminals, but ordi narily they cannot be prograamed to do much else by themselves. Without getting into it deeplv, there are two main types of display terainal: those that are refreshed and those that are not. A refreshed display Is one whose viewing surface fades and must be continually re-illed; a non-refreshed display somehow stores the presentation in the viewing surface itself. Non-refreshed displays simply take the symbols from the computer, blaa them onto the screen, and that's it until the screen is erased (by either the computer or the user).

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Two major types are the storage tube and the panel. These in turn have separate subtypes, etc. Refreshed displays have to have some other kind of of symbolic (digital) memory, whose contents repeated ly go to the screen:

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The computer diaplay screen la the new frontier of ou r lives. That auch eyutems should (snd will) be fun goes without sa y in g . Thai they will also be a place to w ork may be less obvious from lhe lone of this p u b lic a tio n , so I want to stress It h ere.

Most refreshed displays use an actual television screen-- that is, a CRT (see p.ft*t-7) whose entire area is repeatedly re-painted by the elctron beam. Since computers send text out to terminals as in dividual alphabetic and punctuation codes, each terainal must contain circuitry to change the character code to a visible alphabetical character on the screen. Such a piece of circuitry is called a character generator. There are various kinds, they go at various speeds, some offer more different characters than others. Display terminals generally have a little marker, or cursor, that the user or the computer can move around the screen. The computer can sense what the user is pointing at by the motion codes it gets, telling where the user has moved the cursor. I had intended here to print a little directory of display terminal manufacturers, but there simply is not time. See section on terminals, other side. Note that the term video terminal is often used, in correctly, for any display terminal. The term "video" should only be used when the screen is refreshed by an actual video raster. (See Lightning in a Bottle," p.***-}.) Text terminals (also called alphabetic terminals, character terminals or keyscopes) simply show written text, put in either by the computer or the user. (Soae terminals, called transaction terainals, can be divided up into specific areas that the user may and may not type into-- for banking and stuff. However, whether that form of terminal is necessary may also be a matter of taste in the progTan design.) Text terminals range in price from, say, $1500 on up to $6 500. (This last is the price of a remarkable color text terminal demonstrated by Tec, Inc., at the 19 74 National Coaputer Conference. Each alphabetic position could con tain a letter and/or a bright color; altogether the screen could hold big colorful pictures made up of these bright spaces. Ostensibly just a text terminal, actually the de vice could be regarded as an Instant Movie Generator for television animation. But it may take Tec, Inc. awhile to realize what they have created.) Graphic terainals offer some kind of pictures on their screens. TKese cone in a great variety: line-drawing, some without, some with levels of grey. Of interest to the be ginner are: "The Tektronix." (Also called "the greenie," or "the green screen.") Tektronix, Inc., makes a display based on a pale green storage tube they aake. (So does Computer Displays, Inc.) Such displays allow you to put more and more text and pictures on a screen, crowding it all up-- but you can't take the lines or words off individually. "The PEP." Excellent (but veTy expensive) display that comes out to a video screen from a high-re solution storage tube. Permits grey scales and selective erase. Princeton Electronic Products. The IDlgraf (Information Displays, Inc., Mount Kisco, NY). Allows line pictures with aniaation; interest ing unit; somewhat less than J1 0 ,( i t ffh A PLATO-like terminal (see PLATO terainal, nearby, and p p i s now available for use with STANDARD com puter interfaces and software. "Less than JS000" from Applications Group, Inc., P.O. Box 444A, Maumee, Ohio 43537, REFRESHED HI Gil-RESOLUTION COLOR SYSTEMS. A number of companies manufacture computer displays allowing com plex grey-scale pictures, including color. They are expensive but very very nice. Indeed, if you buy then in clusters, these fancy-picture scopes can cost as little as text terminals. Soae manufacturers are: Data Disk. (Disk refresh.) Note: I once recommend ed them to a consulting client of mine, who later expressed complete satisfaction with their equipment. Rantek. (iw&MucV Adage, Inc. Their model 200 is a video system re freshed from semiconductor storage. Costal. (Disk.) Spaflal Data Systems (Disk.) DlcomeiT. (Disk.) Extremely high resolution.
M a k in g p i c t u r e s h a lfto n e sy s te m u ith (see eh GE p p . DM 3 2 - 9 ) .

The Ihing about diaplay s creen s especial' ly the h ig h -pe rfo rm a n c e , sub routining Kind is lhal the screen can become a place from which lo control events In the outside world, Example: I believ e a town In N .Y . State has Its electrical system hooked up to an HJIIOM subroutlning display (made b y Information Dis plays, I n c .. snd coupled to a Vsrlan 820 mini computer). Instead of having a wail with s big painted map having sw ltchee set Into it, like many such control c e n te r s , the sw itches a re linked directly lo the minicomputer, and a pro gram in the minicomputer connects these circu its to the pictures on the s c r e e n . Thus to throw a sw itch In the real w o rld , the operator points with M s lightpen al th e p ic tu re o f the sw itch , and the minicomputer thro w s the aw ltch, T here are oil re fln e rle a lhat work the same way, The op erato r can control flows among pipes and tanks b y pointing al th eir pic tu re s , or at symbols connected with them, and bingo, it happens Out T h e re . In another case, a person designing some thing at a s c re e n can look across the room and see a machine p ro d u c in g what he Just finished designing a few m inutes ago. I wish 1 could say more sbout lhat p a r tic u la r setup. T he tru e problem lhat 1 think Is emerging, th ough. Is Lhe problem of system response and s ty le . Okay, so y o u 're controlling widget sasem bly, or traffic light g r i d s , at Lhe CRT screen. The real queatlon la, how does lhe screen behave and re sp o n d ? Thia la not, dam it, a technical issu e . It's psychological and then aome. T he desig n of acreen activities which will enjoyebly focus the u a e r's mind on his proper co n c e rn s-- no m atter how peraonal these may be Is the new frontier of desig n , of a r t. and of a rc h ite c tu re . Bul more of that la te r . Now, the Xerox Corporation haa said lhal they Intend to replace p a p e r (or, tha way I heard it, "Somebody ia going to replace pap er with s c re e n s, and It will be either IBM o r ua, so l e t's have It be u s,"^ Well and good. Save the trees and stem lhe grey menace. But the question la: what will lhe system* be lik e? How should Ihey p e r form? What forma will information take? What conventions, s tru c tu re s , diagram a. animations, ways to sign thin g s, waya to view things . . . HOW SHALL IT BE? I fuddled with Who profess apec laity by la c k in g dme a motto; am afraid that aa lo n g as people are be tech n icalities, o r confused by those that theae considerations are ihelr r ig h t, we will nev er get s tr a ig h t. for the full discu ssio n , I give you

T h ia h o n e y i a th a G T -4 0 f r o m DSC ( $ 1 2 , 0 0 0 , i n c lu d in g o o m p u te r -- th e th in g w ith t e e t h , b a lo u ) . I t ' s a eu b ro utin in g d i a p l a y ( a e e p . DM S 3 ) . M an i a p l a y i n g N o o n m m . m -m mm m la n d e r gam e: c o n t r o l lin g a oreen a o tio n u ith lig h tp e n . C o n p u t e r s i m u l a t e s r e a l moon l a n d e r . R eversed u h ite - to - b la a k fo r r e a d a b ility here.

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If you have not seen interactive coaputer display, you have not lived. Except for a few people who can laagine it-and I'a trying to help you with that as hard as I can-- aost people just don't aet it till they see it. They can't imagine what it's like to manipu late a picture. To have a diagram respond to you. To change one part of a picture, and watcIT TKe rest adapt. These are some of the things that can hap pen in interactive coaputer display-- all depending, of course, on the prograa. For soae reason there are a lot of people who pooh-pooh coaputer display: they say it's "not necessary," or "not worth it, or that "you can get just as good results other ways." Personally, I wouldnt thing of trying to Justify coaputer display on "practical" grounds. So what if it offers you faster access to inforaation and pictures and aaps anldiagraas, the ability to siaulate extreaely complex things by modifying pictures, the ability to go through complex transactions with the system in very little time, the ability to create things in the world almost instantaneously (say, by creating fabric patterns which are then automatically woven, or design 3D objects which are then auto matically milled by machines), and never mind that It enables the user, say, to control entire oil refineries by the flick of a lightpen. As far as I'm concerned, the matters aren't very important coapared to changing the world: aaklng education an exciteaent, rather than a prison; giving scholars total access to writings and notes, in new complex fora; allowing people to play laaginatlvely, and raising human minds to tne potentials they should have reached long ago; end helping people think at the deepest level about very heavy and complex alternatives -which confront us more ominously today than ever.

IF THE BUTTON IS NOT SHAPED LIKE THE THOUGHT , TH E THOUGHT WILL END UP SHAPED LIKE THE BUTTON.

SAVING ENERGY WITH COMPUTER DISPLAY A timely that it needs elsewhere) it bodes to save criticism of computer display is electricity. But (as mentioned saves paper, and, importantly, it energy as well.

Student progixumner Alan Mafieil, an art " a jo r , ponders s&m thing o r other. I t may be th e program fo r t h a llova apace-game he and Pete Rouell are b u ild in g . Alan also made a film sharing who* may have been the n a tio n s o f the c o n tinents, shooting s tr a ig h t o f f the PLATO screen. S am PLATO p u r is ts p o in t o ut that th is is n o t ex a a tly uhat FUTO uas o rig in a lly in tended fo r . So 7
PLATO p a a a l . d ia p la y (aa* DM 2 6 - 7 ) .

IF WE SWITCH TO COMPUTER SCREENS FROM PAPER, PEOPLE WONT HAVE TO TRAVEL AS MUCH. Instead of commuting to offices in the center of town, people can set up their offices in the suburbs, and share the documentary struc ture of the work situation through the screens. This view has been propounded, indeed, by Peter Goldmark, former director of research for CBS Labs, the man who brought you the LP record.

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Th e e a rlie s t s etup connected a CRT to a com puter b y th e sim ple st p o ssible m ea ns, and made its p i c t u re s with dots on the s c r e e n a so rt of tattooing p r o c e s s . It was simple because all the com puter did was fu r n is h to th e connecting c ir c u itry (o r interface) sym bols s pecifying how fa r u p , and how fa r a c r o s s the s c r e e n , the n ex t dot should b e. T h e se sym bols w e re actually coded num bers, and the i n terface tu rn e d them into voltages which then moved th e beam co r re s p o n d in g ly . (This p ro c e s s of m aking a m easured voltage out of a coded n u m eric al symbol is called digital-to-analog c o n v e rs i o n , s in ce (a s explained on the o th e r side) the main m eaning of "analog" th e s e d a y s is "in a m ea sured v o lta g e ." ) Now, t h is h a s s e v e ra l d r a w b a c k s . One ie lhat the lin e s a r e dotty; nobody lik es t h a t. A more im portant a nnoya nce , th o u g h , is thal the com puter sc a rc e ly h as time for an y th in g e l s e . Here ie a flow chart of what the com puter h as lo do in its p ro g r a m . (Even if yo u d i d n 't look at the o th e r s i d e of the book, flow charts a r e nothing s c a r y . T h e y 'r e j u s t m aps of w ha t h a p p e n s .)

The next step in des ig n is to get the com p u te r pro gram out of the b u s in e s s of dra wing lines by a succession of d o t s . So we build a piece of hardware that the computer program may simply instruct to draw a lin e . As an interface, il looks to the com puter lik e four separate devices: re giste rs that tell w h e re on the screen the line must start ("flrat X" and "first Y") and re g iste rs thal tell it w h e re to stop ("end X" and "end Y").

YOUR BASIC TYPES OF COMPUTER DISPLAY (Note: the term "display" is also used in this field to re fe r to num bers and letters that can be made to light up in fixed positions, like on your pocket calculators. Those will not b e discussed h e r e . If y o u 're interested see an article on the subject by Alan Sobel, Scientific Am erican, ea rly 1973 sometime.)

THE FORKED LIGHTNING " Because t h e ir words have fo rked no lightn ing they Do not go gentle into that good n ig h t." Dylan Thomas The most b a s i c , and yet eventually the most versatile, com puter display ie that of the CRT, o r bottled lig htning (a s 1 like to call i t ) . It i s , you know: a beam of ele ctrons, ju s t like lightning in a storm , b u t from the neck of a very empty bottle to its flat bottom, whose chemically coated s u rfa c e we watch. As m anip ulated by the com puter, the CRT stabs its beam to all corners of the faceplate: forked lig h tn in g . Computer d isplay began in the late fo rtie s. Computers them selves w ere completely n e w , and so was Mr. Dumont's magical Cathode Ray Tube o r CRT (see p.**&), developed on a cr a s h basis d u ri n g the w ar so we could have r a d a r , and as long as it was around a fter the w a r, we gol television. But the lig h tn in g bottle, o r CRT, can be used in a v ariety of w ays. Its control pla te s , which move th e ra y of electro ns around on the s c r e e n , can be given various different ele c tronic s ig n a ls , ca u s in g the beam to move around in different p a t t e r n s . In normal video, the signals move the bea m in a zigzag p attern , where the zigs a r e v ery close together a n d the zags are invisib le; the carpel of zigs covers the screen o v e r and over in a repetitive p a tte r n , and the beam 's c ha nging intensity paints the picture. But we can d r i v e the CRT differe ntly, by using differe nt control s ig n als . For instance: we can apply a m easured voltage to the height o r "Y" plates of the CRT, moving the beam to a given v ertic al positio n, and another m eas u re d voltage to the sidew ays or "X" plates, controlling its horizonta l p o sitio n . This speeds things up considerably, and allows the computer program to display on the CRT simply by telling the device what lines it wants draw n. M oreover, the program is free to do other things while each line is being draw n, though this involves the problem of how the pro gram is to know when it's time to send out another line and we n ee dg't go into that h ere. (Incidentally, it is a puzzlin g fact that such a device is available nowhere, although lots of people end up bu ild in g one for themselves. The re was such a thing on the market a couple of y e a rs ago-- lin e -d r a w in g hardw are with no interface and no CRT-- b u t it was withdrawn because of reliability pro b le m s . A just price, if anybody wants to go into t h a t, would be five hu ndre d to a thousand d o la r s this y e a r.)

3.

EVOLUTION FROM THIS: TWO OPTIONS

T here are b asically two ways to go from this basic s ta rtin g point. Either we can keep the display device intimately and integrally con nected to the com puter, o r we can say the hell with it and cut the display device loose as a sepa rate e n tity . Ivan S uth erland h as cannily noled that there Is a certain tra p involved in these designs: as we build additional "independent" structures lo take the b u rd e n of display away from the computer, we a r e tempted to keep adding fea tu re s which make the "independent" structure a computer in its own rig h t. This paradoxical temptation S uth erland ca lls "the great wheel of Karma" of computer display architectu re. It is tempting to cut the display loose from the computer. It means the computer can be fully occupied with o th er matters than refreshing the s c r e e n - - p re p a rin g the next displays, p e r h ap s . Many com puter people believe this is the right way to do i t , and it is certainly one valid approach. But unfortu nately it also drastically re duces the immediacy of the system's reaction, making interaction with the system less intimate and wonderful. Approaches which put display refreshment and maintenance in a sepa rate device are less interesting to me, and so that discussion contin ues separately n e a rb y .

F u rt h e rm o r e , and h e r e was the indignity of i t , th is system took far too l o n g . To draw a line with t h irty dots in it took th irty times around the loop in the flow c hart, and since each box in the flowchart takes at lea st one of the m achine's ro ck-b ottom in s t ru c t i o n s -- usually m ore -- then the main loop of th is d isplay routine take s fo u r s ep a rate operations p e r d o t , o r 120 o p erations for a stu p id 30-dot lin e . Plainly t h ere h a s to be a b e t t e r way to u se an expensive com puter. Actually it w a s n 't ju s t the ignom iny of it, bu t the fact that il took so l o n g , that made this a poor m ethod. T h e amount of stuff the compu t e r could d ra w ln l/4 0 th of a s ec o n d end Ihis t u r n s out to be how fast the whole p ictu re has to be m a d e -- was too liltle. After l/4 0 th of a second th e human eye can see the lin es on the CRT s t a r t to fa de, and so the p ic tu re has to be re d ra w n to make it b rig h t aga in before that h a p p e n s . If y o u r eye sees th e p ic tu re fading, then w he n the com puier draw s' the p ictu re again you will se e it get suddenly b r i g h t aga in and it will s t a r t to D icker. T his is d is tra c tin g , u n h ea lth y , a n d d is ag re ea b le .

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Note that the mo 6 l im portant com puter in the M alory of com puter d isplay u s ed th is tech nique1, " o 'h i s was the TX-2 at Lincoln Labora to ri e s , a h i g h ly -g u a r d e d installation outside Bos ton w hich is formally p a r t of MIT. T h e TX-2 was one of the fi rs t tra n sis to riz e d com puters-p e r h a p s Mie first; an d on it w e re program m ed a nu m b er of milestone s y s t e m s , in clu d in g S uther l a n d 's S k etch p a d , J o h n s o n 's Sketchpad IV, and B a e c k e r 's GENESYS animation system (discussed s o m e w h e re ).

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On th e o th e r e id e o f .th e book, I explained th at a com puter la b a s ic a lly a zippy device, ne v e r mind how c o n s tr u c te d , w hich follows a pro g ram somehow s to r e d sym bolically in a co re mem ory. Such a d e v ic e w e call h e re a program follow er. While p ro g ra m s may be In many com p u te r la ng u ages all of them c ontrived system s for e x p r e ss in g th e u s e r 's w is h e s , in different sty le s and with d iffe re n t g e n e ra l in te n t-- u n d e r neath they all tra n s la te to an in n e r language of b in a ry p a tte r n s , w h ich may Juat be thought of aa p a tte rn s of X an d O , o r ligh t b u lb s on an d off. The innerm ost p ro g ra m follow er of lhe computer goes down lists of b in a r y p a tle m s stored in the c o re memory, and c a r r i e s them out as specific in stru c tio n s . I t also c h a n g e s its sequences of operations u n d e r co n ditio ns that the program m er haa told it to watch f o r . . The most pow erfu l a n d respo n siv e com p u te r d isplays a r e th ose w h ich b u ild a second p rogram follower w hich g o e s down lista of p ic tu re -d ra w in g in s tru c tio n s also store d in the same c o re memory.

T h is d e sig n h a s some e x tra o rd in a ry a d van tag es. One Is th a t s in c e th e com puter's p rogram follower and the d is p la y 's program follower both s h a re the same c o re memory, they can work to gether moat intim ately. When the u s e r dem ands so methin g new b y typ in g , sa y , o r poin ting with a l ig h t- p e n - - th e computer can step In and take va rio u s a c tio n s. Its program can compose a new p ic tu re for th e u s e r , get someth ing from a d isk o r tape m em ory, o r sw itch the d is p la y 's pro g ram follower o v e r to a new p ic tu re il ha alread y p r e p a r e d . Moat im p o rta n tly , the computer can move images on the s c r e n , allowing Interactive an i mation on the s c r e e n u n d e r the u s e r 's control. Each time th e d is p la y s ta r ts to show the same p icture again, th e compute r simply s u p p lie s it with a new s ta r tin g p o in t. Since the list of lin es is typically in th e form of sequences o f lines relative to one a n o th e r , the p ic ture la draw n in a new place each tim e -- and thu s seen to move on the sc re e n . Fin a lly, th e com puter itse lf is fre e most of the tim e-- f r e e , that i s , lo do o th e r th in gs, w hich typically i s alw ays d e sira b le . Ju s l how much the com puter can o r should do in such a p a r tn e r s h ip is a m a tte r of d ispu te. (O rdinarily such devlcea a r e s p lic e d onto minicomputers; and minic om puter fa n s , such as the a u th o r, see no reason not to p erfo rm all se rvic e s for the d is play th e r e in th e minicomputer and a pox on the big m achines. O th e rs, for various re a so n s, aee the s u b r o u d n ln g display and its host mini as n e eding the te n d e r min istratious o f a b lgcom puter v ia some s o r t of communications line. T h e re a r e v a rio u s re a so n s for holding th is en tirely le gitim ate view . People who a r e devoted to the hig h n u m b e r-c ru n c h in g capacity of b ig c o m p u te rs, o r to la n gu a g e s which re q u ire great big com puters to r u n in , have a rig h t to th e ir opinion. M oreover, it is c u rre n tly feasible lo store la rg e bo dies of data only on b ig computers - - not b ecause b ig d isk and tape memories c a n 't be e asily attached lo lh e small ones, for they can, b u t they u s u a lly are n't; and o lh e r ways to tie m inic om puters lo b ig stores of data a re n 't available y e t .) S u b ro u tln in g d isp la y s often have commands allowing them to d is p la y text a s well a s lines and d o ts. In the d iap lay of lext they can use the same te c hn iq ue of "moving the pic tu re " by sta rtin g ita diaplay at su ccessiv ely c reepin g points: th is will c a u s e , sa y , whole p a ra g ra p h s to elide on the s c r e e n . The im portance of th is feature in the d isp la y in g of text cannot be o ve re m p h a siz e d. A s more and more people have experience with d is p la y s of different k in d s , they are b e ginn in g to re a liz e how confusing and d is orien tin g it is fo r a s c re e n lo cle ar and be filled with som ethin g new to re a d . You don't know where you a r e . On su b rou lin in g disp lays, moving lhe lexl can g iv e the r e a d e r the same sense of o rientation he gels from tu rn in g p ages -- an im portant th in g lo replace.

T h eee e a rlie r machines are b e in g replaced by new v e rs io n s with b e tte r-d e s ig n e d in stru c tio n s (see "C om puter A r c h ite c tu re ," p . 3 2 ., for a sense of what w ell-desig ned instructions a r e ) . An e s pecially One unit is DEC'a GT40, w h ich b uck les on the exceptionally One PDP-11 m inicom puter (see p . *'#1). The GT40 ia illu s tra te d n e a r b y . ( f $ l ) Il goes fo r some $12,000 in cluding th e com puter. (T ha t's to d a y , we re p e a t. Co n sid er n ot the price at th is in s ia n l. b u t how Cast i t's g oing d o w n .) T h e u n its mentioned above a r e o f th e most b aaic type: "tw o-dim ensional." whose p ic tu re s al any giv en instant c orre sp o nd to flat draw in g s - - b u t, of c o u rse , d eriv e th e i r excitem ent and magnific ence from th e ir capacity to in te r a c t, change and anim ate what you are lo oking at.

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Seldom h a a a n e v e n t I n a new f i e l d had a u c h power and I n f l u e n c e aa w ha t d o u r I v a n S u t h e r l a n d d i d a a a you ng man Y th e p e r i o d 1960-64. * The SKETCHPAD s y s te m ,w h ic h was b a s i c a l l y h i a t h e e l a work ac HIT. was a t on c e I n v e n t i v e , p r o f o u n d , o v e r w h e l m in g ly i m p r e s s iv e to la y me n, and d e e p l y e l e g a n t . Simply f o r t h e u n i v e r s a l I n f l u e n c e I t h aa had In t h e c o a p u t e r f i e l d . I t d e s e r v e s o u r c l o s e a t t e n t i o n . S u t h e r l a n d waa o n e o f t h e f l r a t p e o p l e t o u n d e r s t a n d t h e uae o f t h e co m pu te r I n h e l p i n g p e o p le v i s u a l i z e t h i n g s t h a t w e r e n ' t f u l l y c l e a r y e t t h e o p p o s it e , of c o u rs e , o f th a c o n ventional n o t i o n o f c o m p u t e r s . W hile c o m p u te rs had b e e n made t o do s n l m s t l o n s a s e a r l y a s t h e f o r t i e s , and c om pu te r g r a p h i c s ha d be en p u t t o work ad ay d u t i e s I n t h e o l d SAGE sy st e m ( d e f e n d i n g u s a g a l n a t b b t r l o t h e f i f t i e s remember t h e good o l d d a y s ? ) , S u t h e r l a n d tu r n e d com p u t e r d i a p l a y f ro m s n e x p e n s i v e c u r i o s i t y i n t o a t r u e d r s s a Ma chine. SKETCHPAD r a n on t h e 3 6 - b l t T X - 2 , a o n e - o f - a - k i n d e x p e r i m e n t a l ma chi ne ac L i n c o l n L a b o r a t o r i e s (a m i l i t a r y r e s e a r c h p l a c e n o m in a ll y a p a r t o f MI T). I t ha d a d i a p l a y s c r e e n , l i g h t pe n and l o t a of handy sw itc h es . SKETCHPAD was b a s i c a l l y a d r a w in g s y s te m . B ut r s t h e r th a n s i m u l a t i n g p a p e r ( a s some p e o p l e m ig h t ha v e d o n e ) , i t fou nd s p l e n d i d ways t o t a k e a d v a n t a g e o f t h e c o m p u t e r ' s s p e c i a l c a p a b i l i t i e s . I n t h e S k e t c h p a d s y s t e m , S u t h e r l a n d lo o k e d f o r ways t h a t a r esponding c o n p u te r d is p l a y sc re en c ould h e lp pe o p le d e sign th in g s . He p i o n e e r e d m e th o d s o f d r s w ln g on s c r e e n s , w i t h s u c h t e c h n i q u e s a s t h e r u b b e r - b s n d l i n e " ( s s t r a i g h t l i n e o n t h e s c r e e n , one snd o f w h ic h f a l l o w s y o u r l i g h t p e n w h i l e t h e o t h e r r e m a i n s f i x e d ) , and t h e " I n s t a n c e " a s u b p i c t u r e s t o r e d I n c o r e memory wh ich co ul d I a la rge r p ic tu r e ) .

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We may call th is a lso a "list-of-lin es" s y s te m , sin ce the com m ands recognized by the diaplay p rogram follow er a r e typically p a tte rn s that tell it what lin es to d ra w . Typically also it h a s its own way of Jump in g around In a p ro g ra m , and may jump to a specific Hat of Unea, o r a u b p lc tu r e , from n u m e r ous other pa rta of Its p r o g r a m , always re tu r n in g each time to the point from w hich it had Jumped. T hia -allows the same s u b p ic tu r e to ap p e a r in numerous p laces on th e s c r e e n al the same time. (A program that can be Jumped lo by o th e r p r o grams which th en resu m e op eratio n is called a su b rou lln e; (hue the r e a l, o r most p re stig io u s, name for auch a device is a su b rou tin in g disp la y )

T h i s p i c t u r e v a g u e ly a im u l a t e e t h e " i n s t a n c e 1 f a c i l i t y o f S k e ta h p a d , b y u h 'ia n a n o v e r a l l p i c t u r e may b e c r e a t e d o u t o f r e p e titio n s o f a s in g le m a s te r p a tte r n . S i m u l a t e d u i t h GRASS la n g u a g e ( a e e p . 3 1 ),

OV*/ The m i n d - b l o w i n g t h i n g a b o u t Sk e tc h p a d was t h e way you c o u ld move and m a n l p u l s t e t h e p i c t u r e on t h e s c r e e n , w i t h a l l i t s p a r t s . One o v e r a l l p i c t u r e c o u ld be c o n s t r u c t e d o u t o f s h u n d re d c o p ie s o f a b a s i c p i c t u r e ; t h e n a ch ang e t n t h e b a a l c p i c t u r e would Im m e d i a t e l y be shown I n a l l h u n d r ed p l a c e s . Or yo u c o u l d ex pan d y o u r p i c t u r e u n t i l I t waa e f f e c t i v e l y t h e s i z e o f a f o o t b a l l f i e l d ( w i th you l o o k i n g a t a t i n y v ie w I n t h e h a n d k e r c h i e f - s i z e d s c r e e n ) . Or y o u c o u ld d r sw m e sh in g g e a r s on t h e s c r e e n , a n d w i t h t h e I l g h t pen (an d th r o u g h t h e " c o n s t r a i n t f a c i l i t y ) siake o n e g e a r t u r n by tu rn in g th e o th e r! T h i s e l e g a n t t e c h n i q u e , t h e c o n s t r a i n t . d o e s n o t seem t o hsve be en I m i t a t e d e v e n now. A " c o n s t r a i n t was a r e s t r i c t i o n p la c e d on s o a e p a r t o f t h e o v e r a l l s t o r e d p i c t u r e c o m p le x . Tha u s e r c o u ld move o r m a n i p u l a t e v a r i o u s p a r t a o f t h a p i c t u r e on t h s s c r e e n , b u t t h e p a r t s t h a c ha d c o n s t r a i n t s c o u l d o n l y move I n c e r t a i n d i r e c t i o n s , o r a c c o rd in g to c e r t a i n fo rm u las, o r d r a g g in g o th e r pares a lo n g , e t c . , a s s p e c if ie d . T h i s waa a p r o f o u n d i d e a , b e c a u a e I t m e an t t h a t any r u l a e f o r t h e m a n i p u l a t i o n o f p a r t i c u l a r o b j e c t s on t h e s c r e e n c o u ld be added t o S k e tc hp ad a s n a r t l c u l a r a w i t h i n t h e l a r g e r p r o g r a m , r a t h e r th a n h a v i n g t o be p r o g r a m e d i n from a c r a t c h . (One e x t r e m e l y I n t e r e s t i n g a s p e c t o f S u t h e r l a n d ' s t h e s i s , wh ich moat p e o p l e seem t o h a v e m is s e d , d e a l t w i t h d i s p l a y i n g a a t r u c t u r e o f c o n s t r a i n t s : t h a t 1 s , show ing w h at e l e m a n t a d e p en de d on what o t h e r e l e m e n t s , i n s h i g h l y s b s t r a c t e d d ia g ra m t h a t th e sy st e m c o u ld show y o u . T h i s f o rm o f d i s p l a y h a s r e m a r k a b l e p o s a l b l l l t l e s . A f t e r h i s b r i l l i a n t SKETCHPAD w o rk , S u t h e r l a n d was made head o f AHPA's c o n p u t e r b r a n c h ( s e e " M i l i t a r y , " p . 8 9 ) Th er e he was I n v o lv e d I n many o f t h e co m pu te r f u n d i n g d e c i e l o n e o f t h e l a t e s L a c i e s , wh ich c o n t r i b u t e d t o t h e i m p e tu s o f c * p u t e r d l s p l s y . ( Hi s p r e d e c e s s o r . L l c k l l d e r , ha d b e e n a p i o n e e r I n t i m e - s h a r i n g , and much o f t h e f o r w a r d *>ve ment i n t h e c om pu te r f i e l d i n r e c e n t y e a r s may J u s t have ha d t o do w i t h t h e s t r a t e g i c p o s i t i o n of t h o s e two men when t h e y were a t ARPA/IPT.) S k e tc hp ad w en t o n a s a c o n t i n u i n g r e s e a r c h t r a d i t i o n a t L in c o l n L ab s . T im o th y J o h n s o n , f o r i n s t a n c e , made a v e r a l o n o f I t t h a t a l l o w e d t h e d r aw in g o f t h r e e - d i m e n s i o n a l o b j e c t s ; t h i a became t h e f o re ru n n e r of th e v a r lo u a th ree -d im e n sio n al l i n e system s d e scrib e d h e re ab o u ts. From ARPA, S u t h e r l s n d wen t on t o t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f U ts h , wh ence he s l i p p e d o f f w i t h t h e Com puter S c i e n c e d e p a r t m e n t c h a i r man t o foun d t h e E van e and S u t h e r l a n d Com pute r Co-paoy, ma ker a ol t h e t o p - o f - t h e - l i n e c om pu te r d i s p l a y a ys te m a ( a e e p . J K V and p - J A ) ? ) S u t h e r l s n d 1s w or k h s s shown s n e l e g a n c e a n d I n v e n t i v e n e s s o u tstan d in g in th e f i e l d . ( F o r I n s t a n c e , I believe one i s s u e of C o m i n l e a t i o n s o f t h e ACM had two u n u a u a l a r t i c l e s by him : one de s c r i b i n g an e c c e n t r i c ^ i n c s e a u c t i o n " s y s t e m w o rk e d o u t f o r s c h e d u l i n g u s e o f a c a s p u t e r , wh ic h b e n e f i t e d o c * ch* * y p r e v i o u s m e th od ; a n d t h e I nfa mo us " G r e a t Wheel o f Karma a r t i c l e , where h e co mpared t h e d e s i g n o f g r a p h i c a l c o m p u t e r s t o th e Hindu s y s te m of r e i n c a r n a t i o n I f you keep ad d in g d e s i r a b l e t h e d e s i g n , so o n you h s v e a n o t h e r p r o g r a a f o l l o w e r an d a n o t h e r com p u t e r i n t h e same b o * o v e r and o v e r . )

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It must be a t r e s s e d h ere th a t, Juat aa comp utera them selves h a v e no fix ed mode o r style of o p era tio n , n e ith e r do computer d isp lay s; and so the p u rp o se o f a u c h devices is almply HELPING PEOPLE SEE AND MANIPULATE PICTURES AMD TEXT IN ANY STYLE, AND FOR ANY PURPOSE. Since p ic tu re s can b e o f a n ythin g , and text can be about a n y th in g , th is effectively comprehends the e n tire mental an d w o rking life of m ankind. This design h as some e x trao rd inary advan tages. One la th a t sin c e th e com puter's program follower and the d ia p la y 's p rog ra m follower both s hare the aame co re m em ory, they can w ork to gether most Intimately. When the u s e r demands something new by t y p in g , s a y , o r ^totaling with a lig ht-p e n the co m pu ter can atep in and take various actions. Ita p rog ra m can compose a new pic ture for th e u s e r , g e t something from a dlak o r tape mem ory, o r sw itch lhe d isp la y 's p rogram follower o v e r to a new p ic tu re it has already p re p a re d . Moat im p o rtantly, th e com puie r can move Images on th e sc r e e n , allow ing interactive an i mation on the screen u n d e r the u s e r 's control. Each time the disp la y ia about to show the same p icture again, the com puter simply su p plies it with a new sta rtin g p o in t. Since the list of lin e s 1s typically in the form of se q u e n c e s of lines relative to one a n o th e r, th e p ic tu re is d raw n In a new place each time a n d th u s seen to move on the screen . Many re a d e r s w ill scoff, sup po sin g thal com puter diaplay sy ste m s will alw ays cost Iona of money. T h is is not the case. You can aJready gel a b e a u ty , w ilh its m inic om pute r, for ae little aa $13,000; a n d this p ric e sho u ld fall to th re e o r four th o u sa n d w ithin a few y e a r s aa soon as th e m inicom puter m anufacturers realize lhal the m arket f r o n tie r Is not in the office or fa c to i^, bu t in Ihe home. But w e 're g e td n g a b it ahead of o u rs e lv e s h e re . TYPES OF SUBROUT1NING DISPLAY Some e a rly su b ro u tln in g displays used a scree n -d o ttin g te c h n iq u e , but took lhe b u rd e n of il off lhe com puter itself: it would extract from core memory the in stru c tio n s telling it to draw in div id ual lines an d show text. (I re fe r h ere lo the DEC model 338, introduced about 1965; this attached lo a PD P-8 computer (see p .* f3 ) and cost about $50,000 in cluding the c om p uter.) O th ers drew lines as s tra ig h t zips of lig ht acrosa the sc re e n; an exam ple is the IBM 2250 d is p la y , introduced about 1966. (The model 1 of this device b uck led d ire c tly to the 360, and cost, f believe, something lik e $75,000; its su c c e s so r, lhe model 4, b uckled to their 1130 minicomputer, the package coaling some $150,000, and then you w ere su pp o sed to attach It to an IBM 360.) The 2250 was a good m achine, but in performance su ffers g re a tly from the re striction s of the 360 com pute r itse lf (see p .V j ) .

|e y
H ow do co m pu t er s make movies? Well, first of all, computers do n ot make m o vi e s unless tho r ou g hl y provoked. In fact, only p e o pl e make movies. But computers, if s u f fi c ie n tl y provoked, w il l do a lot of it: en act the movie and p h o t o gr a ph it, f rame by frame. There is no s in g le method. A ll forms of c o mp u te r display and comput e r graphics may be us e d to make c om puter movies. "Computer anim a ti o n" is any m e t ho d of m a k ing movies in w h i c h a computer succ es s iv e ly d raws or paints the successive individual frames, w hich may be d o n e by any of the m e thods m e n t i o n e d in this book. Now, since there are numerous methods of m a ki n g p ic t ur e s by computer, t hen any m e t h o d of m aking d i ff e r e n t individual pictures, in a succession of changing frames, is computer animation. S o a " c om p u t e r movie" is any film m a d e by, or wi t h the p icture-making a id of, computers. In other wo r ds - it's no one thing.

JoHh) to u rn e y

JOHN

WHITNEY

John W h it n ey is the ancestor of us a l l , probably the first computer m o v i e - m a k e r . He is also a gr i pping speaker. In the forties, he built a special tion stand-- us ing ana l o r computers. anima

L il l i a n Schwartz

Deeply concerned with music, Whitney h a s in his images emphasized rhythmic and c o n t r a puntal mo v ement of shapes and lines. W h it n ey films available from: P y r a m i d Films, Box 1040, Santa Monica CA 90406. A talented artist wi t h a feel for tech nology, Ms. Schwartz has bee n w o rking for s ev eral years with Knowlton a nd others at Bell Labs. Her films wit h Knowlton, me n tion ed elsewhere, are marvelous. She now works at a mor e permanent setup, a minicomputer that runs successive images on a color TV screen, employing a m od i f i e d form of Knowlton's E X P LO R language. The w o r k is immediate ly viewable. This allows rapid film co n struction,- n ot previously p o ssible w he n the w o r k h a d to go t hr ough a slow animation c amer a before she could see the result. For Knowlton-i-Schwartz films contact: Martin D u f f y , AT&T, 195 Broadway, NY NY.

Now, there al r eady e xist hundreds, if not thousands, of c om p u t e r movies. So far m o s t of them have been on technical topics-- the m e c h a nics of s at e llite o r b it stabilization, the m ec h anics of ex p lo s io n s and so on. H ere are a few stills from some o t h er movies, mor e humanistic. BI ULIOGRAPilY N e wm a n 5 Sproull, Interactive Computer G ra p h i c s . McGraw, S I S. This is the textbook. Anyone interested in comput e r display should get this immediately. An expensive journal, Computer Graphics and Image Process m g , comes from Academic Press. Sherwood Anderson,'' Computer Animation: A Survey. Journal of Micrographics. Sep 71, 13-20. Lists nineteen eomputer-animatlon languages of that time. Ken Knowlton, "Computer-Made Films," Filmmakers Newsletter Dec 70, 14-20.

John Whitney

J
Instructions for the desired movie enter the computer as a deck of punched' cards.

V intage K nowlton, u sing BEFLIX. (T h is language used the COM q u ite e f f i c i e n t l y : d o ts were a c tu a lly o u t- o f- fo c u s l e t t e r s . )

Y > > > <Si > <3 > > > A

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8 n. 8 < * 8 * 8 * % % % * % t
John W h itn e y

Vanderbeek & Knowlton (using TARPS, w hich shows s tr o n g in flu e n c e o f BEFLIX, w hich i t grows from ).

SchD artz & Knowlton. Using the th ey make p ic tu r e s and p a t t e r n s grow to g eth er. (EXPLOR i n some C onvoy's Game o f L if e ; s e e p . t y

EXPLOR language; s c i n t i l l a t e and ways g en e ra lize s and p . DM 6 .)

L illia n Schwartz (w ith Henry H agruj.akij Be

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B y n o w there are dozens of computer anima . 0 n ^ a n g u a g e s perhaps hundreds. Each one emP o y s t h e techniques of animation which ita de th w a n t e d to use, tied together in the ways s e e m e d appropriate to him. (See "Computer g u a g e 8 > p _ and note Knowlton's various an t l o n languages, deacribed nearby.) h

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LY N tl S n iT H
Lynn Smith is a young Boston artist Yrked exL te?sively with Baecker's GENESYS (see nearby). One result has been a movie which should be an example to us all: "The Wedding Movie for Bob and Judy " (Her Friends Bob and Judy were getting married, so she made this movie, a few mi nutes long and quite clever, to celebrate xt.) This computers world; it any dozen is my favorite example of how should be used in the human says more on the subject than articles.

been

t* ie influential animation systems R o n Baeckers GENESYS, a 2-dimensional

M T T ^ a t ^ 0 n 8 y B t e m Prgra Bed the late sixties at th k l B h security Lincoln Laboratory. (It used e T X 2 computer, mentioned elsewhere in this book.) B a e c k e r , a cheery and genial fellow, exp re e sec t e r e B t a s a student in using the TX-2 for anima t i o n , a n d w a s allowed to. The system he produced haa a n u m b e r of lessons for us all. G E N E S Y S is a "Good-Guy system,as discussed o n p. I Meaning, in this case, th4t it is e a s y t o l e a r n and simple to use. As argued else w h e r e i n t h i s book, making computer systems clear and s i m p l e is often hard for the programmer (and m a y g o a g a i n s t his grain), but is essential. P IC T U R E S A ND MOTIONS

(One question that remains unanswered is how a system like GENESYS could have been used for such a purpose, seeing that most people in the field believe GENESYS only rum on the heavily-guarded TX-2 com puter. Regretfully, I can shed no light on this here.)

G E N E S Y S makes the following alnpllficationa of y o u r m o v i e : all images are made up of dots. T h e y d o n o t change as you watch; animation con s i s t s o f t h e images either moving or being re placed . T o c r e a t e an Image, you draw it onto the s c r e e n w i t h a llghtpen or a tablet. (Aa in the S K E T C H P A D system; see p .^ 2 .J ) Parts of .the i m a g e m a y b e changed until you're satisfied.

N o w , t o create the animation, you do the same t h i n g . Each image can be made to move on the s c r e e n ; a nd the path of the motion may be d r a w n o n t h e screen, through the picture area. Not o n l y t h a t , but the timing of the motion is c o n t r o l l e d t h rough the same diagram, by the a p a c i n g o f t h e dots. (Baecker calls hie control d i a g r a m s p c u r v e s .)

f
f

MIlf I

f Computer Output Microfilm

d e v ic e s^

are what you use to make ccxnputer movies. Basically they consist of a CRT and a movie camera in a box. Mostly they are used to put text on microfilm by computer, so generally they are not connected to a computer but run off magnetic tape. This turns out to be very annoying if you want to hook up the computer directly to the COM, and make movies that fill the frames spot-by-spot. For that you really need your own movie camera and a minicompu ter. (Movie cameras that can be made to Start and stop by computer are called "pulse caiuras" or "instrumentation cameras.") The society for people who make Movies by Computer is called UAIDE * (Users of Auto matic Information Display Equipment an obsolete title). It used to be a club just for companies that owned COMa made by Stromberg Datagraphlx, but evidently it haa now cut Itself loose and becane a subsidiary of the National Microfilm Association, 8728 Colesville Road, Silver Spring MD 20910. (NOTE: for them as want to make color movies, the two alternatives have been either to have separate primary negatives combined at a lab the "old Technicolor" process or to add a complicated color-filter box to a COH or other CRT setup. Such things are available conanercially now, from Dicomed a whole Color COM.) BIBLIOGRAPHY Coaputer Output Microfilm. $10 from National Microfilm Assn., above. Lists available COMs and service centers.

L a s t l y , sections of picture may be re p l a c e d b y m e a n a of the control diagram (as i n d i c a t e d i n picture above). H a v i n g created such an animated sequence, w h i c h i s s t o r e d in symbolic form in the com p u ter ( " d i g i t a l l y " ) , you can view it on the s c r e e n , d e c i d e what you do and don't like about i t , a n d change any part of It. T h e b a s i c elegance of the system la this: B a e c k e r m a d e everything work the same way, t h r o u g h c o n t r o l by screen dlagrama. He simpli fied t h e a n i m a t i o n problem in s clear and simple way. Ron ing w i t h n o w teaches in Canada and Is into work PDP-11The results should be fun.

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monitor p r o l r ^ j * ' * with i t . running on ths CDC &B00 tin g syste a (sea p, V5"> does not run on an o t h - r ^ ^ !* *U * * . I t aiaultaneoualy with any 01^ ^ ' " ' ' or a n i c a t a s only w ith PLAIO t ! ^ , progT 1 I t c a PLATO te rm in a l., because of th li * " th*r *ad c o a l e s c e m iT w l ^ j

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PLATO's omOo devioe pomrfta thm a jia ta f<j rmspoitd to t t e user wicA a spots* pfcras, snatoA o f a a i n , or irVirani in a f n a tb m o f a a m < L Ths my is r i fl disk is forvOmr tuntimB; a m a s s e d a ir s to a ts ths r a x ^ a s f to t t e aprfrm rf ^1 t t e disk for the r p f. m lf Tte bar d a IS sma d a lg a a d by Bltsmr. The e o f t -

, mlnd t a r ir a r a ~ t o he a h a a * ( a i m r ^ r r i t a b l y ca l W ' c l r a n * by M y * a s la ltlm lly l a n i m ^ by g its e r . bmt sv a tm slly g r a ' e ta d lr m c c la of oth ers. In p a r t i / a l a r , a o - b l a l a g i a t a a d Pmnl Te w asr ( p r a . ~Teasar ) crashed I t a a d a r l f l a g TVKB Langnage. (Tot m I n r r o d a t ln a tn n a p r e r e aia te a ly a PLATO; amd PLATO w h e n may a l y a a the TVTOk lagu ag e. P a l T a m s c r u t l a . Tbe l u m Lagnaga cam b a t ba ^ a r s u s d a offered by I K a I ta u o o laatrmctuimml I t a U s , ^ . , , . . . , Coa r mar r I t e r ' s a l g l a s l l a r a r a s ^ e l^ co enable n a - c a p n t a r paopla, ampmrlaHy t a a c k a n , C c r a t e drlll-em d-prsctlca la tr m c tln m a l l a s a a a O rtn^bly of tbe tyja t o , Jntemy. what le f-ST* 3 * 51 Bo. 1 c***: ]

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to get on eh, w a l t L ^ i ^ There wa, . t u . w t e n . t l ; . ^ In to PLATO, but

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tlo n and th e aaklng o f a a t a t l a l i for 1, 11110 r a 'authoring" Z s l U W sViAlX to believe PLATO could die. Rot n ' rd Especia lly cooalderlng th a t two aore now being pt together: st Lowry A ir Pores Base (Cnlow ill b t n^ t a i rld ^ St * U nlw ,r ,l ty - CDC 6000 a eries w i l l be Whole other coaputers of tha Th4t * * tha re running che PLATO Monitor and ehepherdlng PUTT) mater ia l s to uaara ac PLATO cerminale, unconnected to Ur bana, one for Lowry A and one In Florida. FB And I t won't end there. Control Data, whose vested in te r e s t In the ayerea (though they didn'c pay Tor i t a cre atio n) i s anaraous. Is said to be projecting

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(% vloaly. by chewing t t e m a b a r t end pnablag t t e kid a t y p a of p r o b la a te b a a a 't meaterad, t t e c e n t e r can petlanAly b rin g s t a d a t s tn mastery af vsrloos s l ^ l e s k i l l s , d L s^ n sln g e a k a m s s a a d acrsselng tbe ImdlvUaal e l d a s t ' l p n t l a . Tte d if f ic u lty Is tbsc s l t a p t l ^ to s i t a d t h is a t b o d a t af thm vmry s t a l e has g r a c p i t f a l l s a d a y a t e v a be e o r tt te l le ( a a p p . J H I f l ) . te p a y , C a m a r i t e r a a p t f l i s t e d fay I B with the IW0 snd t b e a f f e r e d p r ^ a t e r e e t a d a r d l a s c l a before cblags bed bam r b n ^ h r out- I B is a c Co b i a s for C u a i e a t i c a r 'e d a fu im a c la a , they a rm J a c crying to a t e s t e b ; fast ber a t e s a lo t of a c a r^ people t e l Leva Cpara arr l t s r ass the a y i t bed to be, the evm le linaery l a m a a t usual for c r a t e r laageagM d l d n 't b a a t i a e to occur. Aa egTegla s a l u l a : Comreamrlter d id aM a l i a tba anchor a b t u e u to t a c a p u t e r H a l f . That I s , prog ra a w r l e t a f o r a a r l c s l c a lc u la tio n , u y , cceiid not ba brought la to la str a c tio m a l a l a r Lsls a t a aophlatlcated level. Tanczar'a TUTOg chaged a l l t h a t . I t bee both the v l r t a a and d*fate o f be Lag o r ig in a l. I p p a r a t l y l a t t a t dea i gn a l a la gu aga of g r a t p a r a d spaed I la u t t s r l r atrsnse to c i ^ e t a r t a w l a . o f f e r s v a r l o a b r l l l l a t f u t u r e s , sad la In mmm Tea pec La g a lte Irr ita tin g . It looks w r y e U ^ le to t t e o a r bet beyond a f a d e c e p tla ly a l a la t a c t e l g a s . I t haa to be learned in coaeldereble d e t e i l to do anything Inte resting, (lea bo*, ' I , I r t s-A Thia ta la haa, of coairsa, b a n e lm p ilfln d . U t ta r and Tanctar did not a r k a i m , b a t r a t t e r a r e laadera le a aeatblag c ^ a n l t y of dnsana of a r t people working like b la ae ao n t t e p r o j a c . I t te a taken a a a fifteen yeara of i l c a e r 'a e f f o r t , sad Cams of ml 11 Iona of doLLare, to gel Cte ayscen where I t ln now leedy and Working. Proje ct PLA sow eatenda f a r beyond I t s o r ig in a l TO d a a ln . O riginally a f a i r l y clghc a c l e n s a t t t e C^vucer-kased I d u c a lla l e a a r c b Lsborsto ry (COL") at tba D. s f tll ln o la ln Urbans, t t e c < ^ n a lty of flAIQ o a a p m l a out through I ls l l u a to a la rg e r coast I t uency, the PLATO c a nlIT o f a a r a . (Indeed, th ia ute n dn d g^pnbllc o f PLATO t t e a y a t a paopla ( l a p. / S ) U Drbana, the a t b e r a and locala-ln-cbarga throughout the a a n n r k camel* tu te o a af the meddat rookerlea of c a a t e r frmaks In the a r i d . Uhare alaa eould y a fin d a l* -jw ar-cld a y a ta s p rog r^ M r wbo'a te d h is Job f o r t a ysmrs? Uhera a l a would you a a p a p le f a l l In love o a r t t e T a lk a a ttc (a PLATO p r a g r a Vtilch allow s y a to have w ritten c a v e r e a t l o a wltb paopla a t o th e r t e f m l a l a , wbarever they a y be) a l y to claefa wtaa at la a t they a a t la p e r s a l I t e t a e l a can y a pla y a a a y d l f f e r a t g a l with fareway a traagere? (See t e a - ) Where e l a c a a t i d n i a aayvheta ln t t e network elga Into tamdraa of d l f f a t m t lia a aa e In d l f f e r a t a t e jecta ( a a t of t ^ a la o d p le c e )! When a Lae arm p a pla a r k ln g a v a rlo a d l f f e r a t p r o g r e a for a l a a cary a t a t l a t l c s , s l l to be offered a t t e aaa eyeta !>

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ONE M ILLION PLATO TEBH1NALS B 1980. Y Another algn in che wind: Houcgaery Ward haa m e . Now, to 1 1 the PLATO sy ste a a "computer (repti le s systsm aay e e a aaevhac odd co people wtn know 1C ln anochsr g u ise , ss s aystea f o r C a pute r-A ssle ta d Inscru ction (cslled CAI). But es the suthor does oot lik e CAI In g eneral, a t le ast a s I t ' s bsen going P *Z-H~ and tscher lik e s PLATO, I p r s fs r to desc tlb e lc a s I prefer co eea I t . N everthele ss, to underscsnd PLATO properly w had bsccer consider vhac the psople have been doing in ceras ot whac they think thay have been doing, snd o f fe r any amendments or r e s ts te a e n ts la t e r . "OPTIMIZED FOR CAI" PLATO stands fo r Progressed Logic f o r Autouted Teaching Opsraclons," snd hae been b ille d (and aold) a s s sy ste a for e u ca atc d I n stru ctio n .

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I t i s , aost PLATO f an c iers w ill t e l l you, "optl a ir e d for In stru ctio n ." ("Optimized," ln c a p u te r t a l k , aeans "Ju st whai aaebody says you need fo r s p a c if ic p u rp o se/') As w ith any a y stea , the leaps o f fa tc h between le s basic design prealaea have be ca a l i t by alrp orc beacons; clearalnded in div iduals with e l t e m s t e views hsve d if f ic u l ty asking theaselves understood to soae PLATO e n th u a lssts. But th s a est b a sic underlying feature of th a ayata a, INSTANT RES PONSE, cannot be quarreled w ith. PLATO can respond, as elread y mentioned, co a sin g le ksy-preia ln g by a uaer, a laost in stan tly ; t h i s fea ture la v ir tu a lly lmp oaalb le, sa y, on IBM aystaam (but a j ^ b ^ , p. S"V ) This reaponslvnsss Is th e sy ste m 's greatest beauty. Becauee o f the need f o r high rcsponslveneee, i t wee decided t h s t s l l use rs had co have Chelr pa rtic ula r prograas ("lessons") running In core at, tha s^ h t i a e . That aeant there would be no swspplng (bringing in a a [ e r ia ls frcm disk n a o t y ) , which csn bring a o r t i fyln g d slays ( l f a l o t of people need i t a t once): but I t a lso aesnc leaaona have co ba very s a a l l . Large bodlea of m aterial, which would have C be aoved ln O from d is k , are not allowed; thua each leasoe i s bsalc* a l l y a l i t t l e love-naat th a t u s e gaaerste I t s own a c tio n . Hence there i s so eaphssis on l i t t l e t r m i f s to respond vsrlo us wsya. r s th a r than te x t which aay be read ln quanticy. P a rtly because large amounts of te s t cannot be shipped to che uer, a llc c l* PKUECTOS Is in the cera l n a l . I t usaa a tin y a ie ro flc h a , or a lc r o f l l a sheet, a a a ll enough to f i t In the palm o f your hand. I f a PLATO author deeaa i t necessary, he requires fo r h i s Issson, not Juat tha usa of the keyboard and plasaa screen, bupi microfiche as w ell. Tha etudent aust put ths a iero flch a in p lsc s whsn he s ta r ts the le sso n; signala fr Urbana (o r wherever) then j<^> the projecte d iaaga aaong 2 J t d if f e r e n t ia agea, lo raaponee to whet th e etudent doea. Now, PLATO people are not d o c trin a ir e ebout how t h e i r eystem I s to ba used. The p ie s m screen can be continuously sh y in g l i t t l e decoratiwis along with Che teaching m aterial. The a iero flcha could be allow ing I rrelev a n t works o f a r t o r tr a v e l scenes. These a re a l l f a c l l l t l e a a t the o ption of tha PLATO author; a t him beck and c a l l . I f he thlnke h ie prograa or lesson needs Chea. (But I t ' s vmry botherscam to here th e a lcro flch e asds sn Important d i f f ic u l ty .) Every te ra in a l haa che ecreen. th e keyboard, and th s p ro jec to r. Other options may be added, bowThe touch panel, This Is s trensparent window th at goes over the plssaa eeremo and rep orts to the mein c o * w u r I t has been touched, and where. (This allows I l l i t e r a t e s , ampeclelly kiddle s, to use the syste a without typin g.) 2. Tha audio dla k. Thle sllowe the termi nal to respond with sound, including csnned words, to the stodnC- ( I t noc actu ally sy n th ss lis the soiaid. as discussed on p. 1.

^ a i y : i ' ^ r c i/i 'i s .' Anyuay, the M>rd it a e l f goes through changes irr the G<une o f L ife to te P- I V . go projratm ed fo r the PLATO ayo te n by :>m:ny S le a to r, and p h o t

Some 500 u s e rs , a t c e n Inn 1b around che world (but n o stly In I l l i n o i s ) , sim ultaneously t i e up to big coapute r In Urbans. I l l i n o i s and savor in sta n tansoua p i c t o r i a l and te x t d e liv e r le s on t h e i r b rig ht orange s c re e n s. Diagraas, exp lan a tio ns, t e s t s and even anim ation of s o r t, flow a lto s t w ithout i n t e r ru p tio n t o th e b rig h t orange scrcens a l l ov er. The system i s extremal? responsive: depending on what Che use r I s up t o . I t s v a riou s prograas can respond to each presa ln g of a key. usually w ith in a f ra c t io n of a second. While l i t e r a t u r e on PLATO 1* c o pio us, i t Is hard to read and s l i g h t l y s s le s - o rI c n te d . Cut a f w PLATO t e r a in a l mke t for the Systen

MikM O 'tr im , a T o lk im fm a iM r, I m pwt t te entilrs IlrCeM alptmbmt certs FLATV as a sp * rla l akinm it*1 ^ t . San eJw ewe Cm gtemm a ftw n m tamO^ to C m o b > , both im t e U s t mtd tltrim h. iia aaya i t I s t i e U r t t s am tf s w poking am im i M s m it* ria t.

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PLATO I s th e b r ain c h ild of Don R lczer. a I . of I l l i n o i s e ngineer who has devoted ovar a decade to I t a c r e a ti o n . Michael Scrlven, no slouch h ln se lf , has c a lle d B i tte r "one o f the g re a t a n o f our t l a . " B itze r la a l s o c e r ta i n ly one of th e w o rld 's g r e a te s t aaleamen. A crew -cut, huggy-bear s o r t o f a fell ow , ha F l ie s areund the world dem onstrating, lugging a grea t t e r a in a l along. Vhen you a lg n on che aystea you aay be Informed th a t Blccer l a a t th a t very mo ment d eaonstracing In P a ris ot Tokyo. T his " tr a v e l lin g dog and pony show," as PLATO s t a f f e r s c a l l i t , has creaccd awe and excitement wherever I t goes, and t.:c re you m i l now f ind PL'.TO tc n - l a l s . * I f you have a PLATO te r a in a l you' presumably being a school o r ocher favored I n s titu t io n you can ln p r in c i p le log onco PLATO froa anywhere ln th e world, though a o st te r a ln a ls sta y In one p la ce . There la one a l n ne tw ork, c o n sistin g of a b ig Control Pata c a p u t e r In Urbana (th e aodel 6800; aee p . ) w ith te n d r i l s exte n din g out in to th e phone sy ste a and the e d uca tion a l TV cable of th e s t a t e o f I l l i n o i s . Vhen the Urbana sy s te a l a " finish ed " and f u lly losdad, i t w ill have 1008 c eraln a la ; a l l are a lre ady spoken f o r. The PLATO te ra in a l la a c o tally unique a n la a l (see boa), manufactured ( a l] too slowly) by Magnavox, incorpora tin g a t e r r i f i c pla sna panel b u i l t by Cornlnp,. (The plaxna pa nel wag Invented liy B lczer, and even chough auch of P1.AT0 was p u b lic ly funded, he I s repute dly r ic h f r o a i t . W s a id he was a g r e a t p o l i t i c i a n . ) e

ao f e i PLAID lermlmala, lh a t m i e f th e te rm in als H t u ba f a ir ly a tr i c tl y rentroIIm d ( T h e ig ht te rm lM la ac the University of I l l i a e i * a t Chicago C i r c le , a t Whlcb B a t of theae p l r t e r m w i e l a t a , g------- J H i t aa elght-hoer day.) The rims w m e t e pmmple c a U m Jose M lk l e , s i t t a n a t a te rm inal n d do efcat tk a r liked; now. eadly, each M r M et havn ea "accmMt* Bel tbe rabble le t a m l l ^ a t lha g a i ta y r - - --------v t to a a I t le taka r a t e e m tsrts a f t r i a l s h i to play I t a r u n | a a i ( h b a ) m d timber with m l a u r a t l i * symCM e f I t s p M l la d a a a . M M of ( I m w ill hmea t e a e U . r u n ' i eerricee sre ~frae.* f a r m . That l a , i f ym r school tae PLATO te im la a la. aed IP I t w ill pay m for tbe t ^ ^ B l c e i l a a e l i m e , I B th a a a n u s s e f tbe cemtrsl c < ^ t e r s n T r e e - tha M l e e l gel I PaMdatlta U l a l n l l l i Ita ^ e r a t l a la v c m ^la of yaera m re. I W . haage, PUIO t r a l n g i l i a bmJ w i t e give T m U a . U a f I LaI lam 1ira to Orbeea fet Circle ' a a ' a e l ^ s t a n l a a l e i m t i w 110 .OOP a rmsr i m thamm n a u m | U km lag sharply; It la U a FTIce e / t a l i ^ a fee wheteeer Ihe PUIO h s i la F l a g le be. a f a r . PW'10 (em p < ) to gm b a . k rk a I b m 'i a l d e a p a r l a f a

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i ^ j l t h Pershing' t h i s Is a connector socket th at w ill send snd receive data fro a a ia ocher device provided you goc the r ig ht I n terfac e. Tbla alltwe a l l kinds of othe r d evic es, M b as

i i i n e strea ely general sysc e-. D#,pU* convsndon o f c s llln * -11 * n >T#y despiC. Ch. odd being told e lch e r stu d s r ts or aut n o r . ieMral-twrp<e by PLATO s p o k e n Chat PLATO I s mot a l r . i sy ste a ; a e tu s lly , * t 1<-

In t e r m o f high performance f o r t o t s o f users. Various systems ( described hereabouts) offer " ore pcuer , b u t a t huge a o st.

As a f i r s t t a s t e o f i n t e r a c t i o n a g r a p h i c a l c o u p u t c r s y s t e m , PLATO i be a t h r i l l i n g n in d -o p en e r* * es: i a l l y t o p e o p l e wiio t h i n k c o u p J t e r s i o n l y b e h a v e l o u t i s n l y o r th r o u g h n to u t.

Thls la s l l s fas e r r . ad o n e , f r a U t a n ' e claim a t e ^ e eg> t a t PUTO r n e l a l i m i l <mm a l t M . b e c a ld a rla g t a e p a a 'a e r 1. a meate't ^ 1 1 a t b a . be in T isiv ktu an f<*< o a q u f r U ooneemeti. Pubaga the rami p a l a La th l e i n t h a m - , - -1 |M ef th ia p a l T m a a a l f c l e , p ^ i s ' s la m f a th s i | a a mup P l s l a U 1

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A nother charming game, I d o n 't know by wtww, Is c e l l e d candy f a c t o r y . Here to o th e us er may co n tr o l th e an im at ion o f the p l c t o r e by what he ty p e s . Hachln es a r e se en t o manufacture candy, box I t and s h ip I f - depending on what bu tt o n s you p r e s s . Some g a m s a re played between peo ple who s i t to g e th e r b e fo r e a s i n g l e PLATO te rm in a l , o f t e n with te a c h in g I n t e n t . Such g a m s Incl ud e th e hop' g a m , where Bunny (you) and Frog (your f ri en d) add t h e i r way alon g a board with numbered sq ua re s. Older c h i l dren can d ig Hw the West Was (l+2)M 3 . which Involves groupin g th e nu xbers you g et by chance t o t r y t o get ahead o f th e o th e r stagecoach. THE "BIG BOARD G M A ES S t i l l a n o th er c ate go ry o f g a m s , though, M a l t s the a d u lt who c ra v es r e a l ex citem e nt. Because PLATO has so many te r m in a l s , a l l o v e r, th e re Is a c u rio u s coeA I n a tio n o f anonymity and Intimacy between u se rs ( - - uch l i k e th e c uriou s N onexistent Phone H u b e r t o f P a r i s ; In th e French phone s y s te n , people c a ll in g the s a m n o n e x is te n t phone n ix te r can t a l k to each o th e r ; s t r a n g e b lin d f o ld e d e n c o w u e rs occur a t th e MiMber o f The Day, spread by w o r d - o f ^ > u th ; t o n t i n e s th e se r e s u l t tn p eople r e a l l y g e ttin g t o g e t h e r . . . ) . . . Anyway, Ihe Big Board g a m s of PLATO have e xac t l y that*, a sh a re d l i s t , o r "Big Board," sho e ing who Is p la y in g th e s p e c i f i c g a m . But you d o n 't have to use your r i g h t n n e , In t h i s Jau nty s o c ie t y o f s h a d w s , you p i c k your own noni de g u e r r e , or f i g h t i n g nane. This h as n i e ro u s a d v an ta ge s: the >lt obvious Is t h a t a s you Im prove a t p l a y , you can shed th e I d e n t i t y In wh ic h you have been h u m il ia t e d . The main g am s w ith Big Boards are th a t o ld sta n d b y , spacewar (ro c k etsh lp s w heeling and f i r i n g a t each o t h e r and s li d i n g aroiaid on the s c r e e n ) ; d og figh t (b ip la n e s w heeling and f i r i n g a t each o th e r and s iT d in g aro und on the s c re e n ) , moonwar (shooting

VtA> fran your Bova spaceship inoludes perspective viau of where you are among billion* of a t o m and your various control*.

Tha navigation part o f ___ _ already working. .To get around you need instruction; hars ue a re at tha Training Can tar. a t th e o th e r guy by s p e c if ie d a n g le s a s you sta nd * " ! c r a t e r s ) . In a d d itio n . PLATO o f f e r s (net during Marking h ours) whet la jst be two o f th e K>st baroque space-w ar g a m s anywhere, em pir e (eig h t rac es (the V ulcanlans, Kllngons, e t c . ) se ek to c a u r o l the g a l axy) and nova ( s l w l a t e d n a v ig a t io n w n j a l l lio n s of d i f f e r e n t M a r t and s o la r s y s t e a s , a l l o f which may be rcvl si te d , a l l o f rfilch a re d i f f e r e n t . . . ) People who o n ly p la y PLATO g a m s o c ca sio n ally have to sign on. by typing t h e i r n e m s I nto the big bo a rd . (They o f te n g e t sla u g h te re d by tha r e g u la r s ). The r e g u la r s hah. When t h e y 'r e sig ned In to the s y s te a , th ey have m r c l y to Jix^i t o a s p e c if ic gam f o r t h e ir f l g h t l n 1 nam s to be p o ste d on th e big bo ard . A mighty r o l l c e l l th ey make, to o such g r e a t w a r r io r s as yon Pave, l o t , f r i g h t p i l o t , AL 9000, Sliq>son, d oc, THE RED BARON, The Red Sw eater, Tta C lam Pud, F o d z lll a , t i g r e s s , e n n a s a la d , Conan, S id d h arth a , wonder p l g l ! ! ! ! , and EXORCIST. (As th ose In std e rs who hava a u t< M tlc s l p i - w t o Big Boards w ri te programs to do th e slg n -tsi, t h e ir a r r i v a l tn a Big Board ga m Is o f t e n an animated s lg h -o n . The c u te s t t r ic k i s THE RED BARON's: I t l o ^ S lik e th is . THE RED BARON ^ *|

Hoonuar cm a Saturday in Urbana. It's mm-to-man among tha craters than a quick kill of tha unknown adversary.

And our doughty warrior looks to the Big Board for more challengers. Kids love PLATO gaims.

k h a rd end th ey p la y hard on th mighty When (he A uthor g e ts t i r e d o f A uthoring, o r the Stud en t o f Stew in g, J u s t around th e c o r n e r , a few k e y stro k es away, a re d iv e rs io n s and games to boggle th e Imagination. You can go to a program ("le sso n r o s e " ) and look a t " th e g r e a t r o s e s " - - e la b o r a t e c u r l i c u e s gen e r a te d by m athematical p a tte r n s t h a t ap pealed t o th e a u th o rs of th a t program; o r f i n d , a ls o tucked In r o s e . Conway's Game o f L if e (see w rite u p , p. *1 > , and p i e r Cure s e r i e s , n e a rb y ). Then th e r e a re g a m s you can pla y a g a in s t th e syste m , lik e r a c e tr a c k and b le c k l a c k . (These games l e t you win a stron om ic al suns o f money p la y money, fo rg o tte n when you sig n o f f . ) Remnfcer, o f course th a t y o u 'r e not r e a l l y p laying a g a in s t a cor-- but 1 a g a in s t a s p e d f t c program, w ith I t s q u irk s s h o r tc u ts and b lin d sp o ts . Then th e re a r e games you pla y by y o u r s e l f a c c u a ll y respo ndi ng r eso urce s (see i p . * e , i t - n ) , which e n t i c e you In to t r y i n g th in g s o u t. Tenczar hi m se lf has create d, two e l e g a n t , gem-1 Ike le s s o n s , man and p l c t o . which te ac h you co<q>uter programming w ith o u t ev er say ing so. These two programs pr es e n t th e u se r w i t h a l i t t l e p i c t u r e o f a man on th e s c r e e n , and shfM him k w the l i t t l e man may be roved around and nude t o pic k up p i c t u r e s o f b a l l s . From th e r e on th e stu de nt may have h i s way and i s ne v e r to l d t h a t h e ' s le ar n in g t o program a tr u e computer language. (Though I t Is a q u i t e r e s t r i c t e d one , d e a l i n g ex c l u s i v e l y w ith l i t t l e men and t h e i r e x cu r si o n s among b a l l s and f a l l i n g s t i c k v)

Walcane to tha Hop Game. PLATO often usee animated opening titles.

Hare it is Bunny's tu rn . Screen inatructa you personally: ' 'Press -NEXT- to Spin, enrrintruda" .

I t wocks lik e t h i s . For d o g f ig h t, th e te ra in a l a l ready has sto re d In I t s t e ^ i o r e r y m n r y , as " ch a r a c t e r s . " the l i t t l e p ic tu r e s a f a ir p l a n e s th a t are goin g to buzz around the sc re e n . So the Baro^ Just f o l l w s h is n a m w l t h the code f o r t h a t sp e cia l c h a r a c te r.) One la st p o in t. No longer can you sig n on w ith an o b sc en ity : a l i t t l e o b sc en ity -c h ec k in g prograa looks f o r th e usual e x p le t iv e s . In c a se v i s i t o r s or o t h e r p r ig g ish folk might be lo o k in g . But o f course t h l a I s easy to circumvent by p u t t i n g perio ds between t h e l e t t e r s o f your n a sty w ir d , o r something s im ila rly d e c e p tiv e to the poor progreij.

^itudTD'ee o r f(ATo -3MCF

Tha PLATO keyboard. Vhat looks odd and arbitrary to you is believed by devout Platonists to be divinely ordained. PLATO IV- STANDARD KEYBOARD

ts iru e m ^ T o Tr?
*A tutor who tooted the flute Tried to tutor two tutors to toot. But he asked through his snoot: is i t better to toot Or to tutor two tutors to toot?" Folk thing The TUTOR language grew out of d r i l l - a n d p r a c t i e e , f o r which I t hae a ccanand s p e c if y in g where a s t u d e n t ' answer i e to appear on th a e cree n. T hle i a Che 'arrow* com and. The l a n guage haa a s tr a n g e ecanning s t r u c t u r e b u i l t around t h i s ' u r i w - command, much ae th e TRAC Language (Bee pp. 18-21) hae a ecanning e t r u c tu r e b u i l t aro und pa re nth eses and c om ae . Begin ne re dont need t o understand Che sc an and th e a r m c o n a n d , b u t Journeymen do. TENCZARS CONCEPT OF A CONCEPT Much ha e been mads of TUTOR'S f a c i l i t y fo r 'a n a l y z in g th e c onte nt* of what e tu dante ty pe i n . A c t u a ll y , o f couree. t h e c o q n ite r does n o t "understand* what the e tu d e n t eaye (see ' A r t i f i c i a l I n t e l l i g e n c e / - tl), b u t r a t h e r o f f e r s c e r t a i n e f f i c i e n t t r ic k e to th e p e rson u sin g TUTOR t o p r ep a re p r e e e n ta ti o n a l m e t e r l e l s . B a s i c a l l y , TUTOR'a "concept* f a c i l i t y reduc ee every i n p u t word to a 60- b l t code. The te chnique o f red u c tio n ( c e lle d a 'h a sh in g f u n c tio n ) su ppose dly e u b e tl tu te e f o r any o r d of any la nguag e a code o f 60 b i t s (aee B inary P e t t e r n e , " p . 13), which meena the progra a i n TUTOR can r a p id l y t e a t a s t u d e n t 's in p u t f o r num roue d i f f e r e n t po e eib le th ln g a . (The power o f t h i s tech nique w i l l be r e a d ily recogniz ed by computer people ; u n f o rt u n a te ly th e r e ie no r o a t o e x p lain i t f u r t h e r h e re .) Thus a TUTOR program may c o n ta in 'c o n c e p t se arches* t h e t t e s t whether a s tu d e n t typee e i t h e r a d e e ir e d reeponse o r n r n r o u s e l t e r n a t i v e s - While i t may bm etr a nga to c a l l th i a a " c o n c e p t,* I t ie a powerful technique. Paul T e n c z a r 'e TVTOR languag e, th e pro gramming language ineid a PLATO, i e l i k e any o th e r prog reaming language (see p p . 15-31) i i n t r i c a t e , and u n lik e le a r e a u l t e . Thet i e , a program ba ara no more resemblance to what I t doea th a n th e word "cow" leoke l i k e a c a . PLATO l e a ays tern f o r canned pr ese n ce tio n s t h a t ree pond t o th e stu d e n t. St uden te need not know TUTOR. Anyone out to p r ep e re such p r e s e n ta tio n s must le a r n i t . howeveri and the a tte m pt hae die courage d many.

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E K M E I0 0 B 0 0 0 0 B B B B
S S E 0 0 0 0 0 Q C D B B B B

H ffiffl[S 0 0 0 0 [I][D 0 H B B
TO HOVE BETWEEN LESSONS, the basic action is to hold <k*Jn SHIFT and press STOP. (For further explications see Ina-And-Outa diagram. > TO MOVE VITRIN A USSOti, basic actions are BEXT (to go fonaard or tall the system it's its turn; BACK, which sanetimes returns you to earlier points i n the sequence of your lesson; and six step-out-of-llne options, by whiah tha author may permit the user to sidestep to ex planations, enrichment notarial, or things oul of sequence.

You can rea d th e e te n d a rd - e lz e le t t e r i n g off th e sc re e n e t SIX FEET even though I t ' s NO BIGCER THAN PICA TYPE. F e n ta s tic . The I n te r n a l c i r c u i t r y t h a t draws on the sc re en la h ig h ly c e p e b le . Receiving a 2 0 - b lt c o d e, the te r m in e l I t s e l f de cip he rs i t aa A LINE ON THE SCREEN, or TW STANDARD CHARACTER ON THE SCREEN O from I t a FIRED e h e r a c te r memory, or TW SPECIAL CHARACTERS OH THE SCREEN O f r o a i t a CHANGEABLE c h e r e c te r memory (which can be loaded with Ruselen, Armenian, kata kana, Cherokee or w hat e v e r even l i t t l e p lc tu r e e e t the e t e r t o f th e le s s o n ) , or A C M A D TO THE MICROFICHE PROJECTOR, or O MN A C0M 1AND TO THE AUDIO PLAYER, or A COHAND TO W HATEVERS IN THE GENERAL JACK. Note t h s t a l l l i n e s and c h a r a c te r s for th e ple ea e sc re en ceo be tu rned on (orange on ble ck) or o f f (b le c k on orange).

FU To j

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PLATO'S HABDY KFTBOAFD is on a flexible oable, cmn be u o m in your lap.

A TH R'* ttMO-SHCE M.W, W) U O

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The original idea was evidently that there Mould be a basic sequence, in which NEXT and BACK would be the fonjard and back controls, and the other six uould represent Help for the Confused, a "Lob" allowing experiments, and additioml Data the student decides ha needs. Tha three trttJi Shifts simply provided a second option of each type. Bou the a u th o r might use these, however, was his own affair. TERN" evidently was for when students wanted things Looked Op: by pressing TEfft and typing the unknown word, the student would get a definition. "ANS" suggested that it might also be used when the , student uza allowed the option of being told the answer. Bote the arrows over 6,U,E,AJD,Z,X,C. They allow the student to move cursors, draw, point directions, etc. Unfortunate confusion ensues with the left-arrow on tha far left, used tn programing (aa in APL; eee p. 7 1) . ) ERASE allows the student to correct his input; COPT helps edit and change things. SUP and SUB allow superscripts and subscripts; FOITT MICRO is like a special shift key, going into whatever special font is currently stored on the terminal. I have no inkling of what the little square means.

Ten czar i e a former b i o l o g l e t , and had no pr ec once p tlone from computer orthodoxy to b in d ... . j - , 0f TUTOR. Thus th e la n v. i g l n a l . There le on ly rooa b th e follo w in g p o in ts : To le a r n th e f i r e t a ta pe In TUTOR-- how to s e t up dr 111-a n d - p ra c t ic e le sso n s, f o r i n s ta n c e i s unu su a lly easy. To do an y th in g c of> lex, however, r e q u ir e s you co le a r n th e bulk o f th e TUTOR language. Thus when pe ople say TUTOR le 'e a a y ." they m e n th ose f i r a t s te p s . TUTOR le n o t E x te n sib le , l i k e , sa y. TRAC Language (eee p p . 18-19) o r GRASS (aee p .* * ^ l) . That i t , e p r o g r a m e r cannot cuauxe iza the language w ith new ctapound functi one o f hie own aak in g . Stepe a re be in g ta ken t o c o r r e c t th i e j meanwhile, i t l a s a id t h a t th e Urbana people can be persuaded to p u t in new c m a n d a o th a re want f o r , e . g . , c hocola te c h ip cookie s.

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WllAT T H IS I S . I b r i e f l y v i s i t e d A l f r e d B o r k | s CAI s h o p a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f C a l i f o r n i a a t I r v i n e on a c o n s u l t i n g b a s i s . Bork i s a r e a l l y s w e l l g u y , b u t h e s d e v o te d to D ia lo g u e C A I-- t h a t i s , to t e a c h i n g p r o g ra m s t h a t have p s e u d o - c o n v e r s a t i o n s w ith th e s tu d e n t. (As I ' v e s a i d v a r i o u s l y a l r e a d y , t h e p s e u d o - c o n v e r s a t i o n p a r t s a r e n o t o n l y e x p e n s i v e and d i f f i c u l t , b u t som e tim es i r r i t a t i n g a nd o b j e c t i o n a b l e and h a p p i e r , z i p p i e r , s im p le r te c h n i q u e s a r e a v a il a b le u s in g v a rio u s te chniques of o l d - f a s h i o n e d s h o w m a n s h i p - - a s f r o m m o v i e - m a k i n g , w r i t i n g a n d ( h e r e ) t h e co m ic b o o k .

T h i s i s my r e p l y T h is

to B o r k 's q u e s t i o n ,

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t i e s i n t o B o r k 's p h y s i c s d i s p l a y s v s t e n That is i t ' s in te n d e d to be a f r o n t - e n d p r o g r a m ( s e c p. 13) on a T e k t r o n i x ' g r a p h i c s t e r a i n a l ( s e e p . DM7 a n d DM 2 0 - 2 3 ) . l e a d i n g i n t o a s i m u l a t i o n p r o g r a n ( l e e p . SB) a l l o w i n g t h e \ . s e r t o s e e a l l k i n d s o f m o t i o n s in p h y s i c a l l a w . The p r o g r a n i t ' s i n t e n d e d t o s u p p l a n t u s e s d i a l o g u e . ( a s o f m o tio n s ) sim p ly (X erox o f a X e r o x j ^ ^ ^

WllAT IT CONTAINS: i n t r o d u c t o r y r e m a r k s ; s t a t e n e n t t h a t p h v s i c a l la w su m m a r iz e s c o n s t a n t c o v a r i a n c c s . Sorry i f r e a d a b i l i t y is p o o r

ToT

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You will note the artistic problem of composing cumulative animation for a display screen. Some people have accused me of trying to be humorous. Obviously nothing of the sort was intended. Research supported by NSF grant no. GJ296 (but "Mr. Natural" character property of Robert Crumb). ,Homage to Robert Crumb. BIBLIOGRAPHY: for comic technique, study the works of Crunb; also, comicbook stands are currently featuring reprint magazines of T l - SPIRIT, which is some of lhe finest stuff il ever done. Also study Wally Wood in the early MADs.

THREE-DIMENSIONAL LINE DISPLAYS So fa r w e'v e d is c u s s e d the two-dim ensional s u b ro u tln in g d isp lay s. H ow ever, things do not by any means stop th e re . A n um b e r of people in th e e a rly d ays experim ented w ith techniques for dra w in g line pictures b y program ; the e a r lie st o f th ese uaed p lo tte r s . outpu t dev ices that let the prog ram draw w ith a p e n . Bul interest soon grew in the possibility of In teractive th re e d im ensional d isplays on s c r e e n s . Joh nson 's S ketchpad 4 did this en tire ly by pro gram . But ab nig h t follows d a y, people s e t about putting th ese techniques Into h a r d w a r e , c re a tin g devices that would automatically show th in g s in threed im ensional view s allowing th e vie w e r to ro ta te vie w s of nonexistent o bjects aa If they w e r e o n u n seen t u r n ta b le s . ~ T h e vie w s we a r e ta lk in g about, now , co s is t of b r ig h t lines on a d a r k Reid, and so the "objects" we a r e talking about a r e called "w ire fram e1 objects they could effectively be made ' o f w elded w ire . But now we do not have lo b u ild them phyaically lo Bee them. Actually Adage had a trem endous lead in thia fie ld , but they let it slip for some r e a s o n , a n d have now lost it to two firms: Evans and Su th erlan d on the high e n d . Vector General on the low e n d . (But of co u rse th in g s keep chan g in g .) The Evans and S u th e rla n d Computer Com p a n y was founded In 1966 by Ivan Sutherland, c re a to r of the masterful S ketchpad system , and David Evans, chairm an of com puter science at th e U niversity of U tah. (For a time both held appointments a t U2 at th e same t i n e , bu t now both h ave left the u n iv e rsity to devote full dme to th e ir dream factory in Salt Lake C ity .) T h e ir first p ro du c t was an extrao rdin ary piece of h ard w are called the LDS-1, which they said Innocently stood for Line D rawing System. (To anybody from Utah, ho w e v e r. LDS means L atter-D ay-Saint, and d o n 'l you forget it. Evans, indeed, is a Mormon, b u t I'v e been told it may h ave been S u th erlan d's se n se of humor that c hose the acronym .) It should be pointed out that a special ad vantag e o f digital p e rs p e c tiv e calc ula tion la that view ed coordinates can be read back by the com p u te r , and s e rv e as new d a la , if you go for that sort o f thing.
D /Iw ir -

INTERACTIVE ROTATION 3D s c r e e n s a s i d e f r o a t h e i r f u n an d e x c i t e m e n t a l l o w p e o p l e t o u n d e r s t a n d a n d w o rk w i t h c o u p l e s 3D e t r u c t u r e s w i t h o u t h a v i n g t o b u i l d them p h y sically . The u n d e r s t a n d i n g , h o w e v e r , c o n e s f ro m b e in g a b l e t o t u r n and i n < p n i i r > t h e s t r u c t u r e on th e s c r e e n . I f you c a n t t u r n I t y o u c a n ' t r e a l l y p e r c e i v e t h e 3D s t r u c t u r e , b e c a u s e t h e a rr a n g e m e n t o f l i n e s c o u ld b e a n y t h i n g -

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However, s y s t e m s l i k e t h e Adage an d t h e V ec to r G e n e r a l and t h e E van s and S u t h e r l a n d d e v i c e s a ll o w yo u t o t u r n t h i n g s on t h e s c r e e n a s e a s i l y a s I f t h e y wer e on t u r n t a b l e s b e h i n d a pa n e o f g l a s s . T h a t ' s how you s e e , you e e e . T h i s I n t e r a c t i o n i s w h a t makes c o a p u t e r d i s p l a y a u g u r a new e r a f o r m a n k in d , I f w e ' r e l u c k y . ( I t ' s s l s o why we u s e t h e t e r m c o m p u te r d i s p l a y I n t h i s b o ok , r s t h e r t h a n " c o m p u t e r g r a p h i c * , " s i n e s p e o p le who mske c o a p u t e r s draw w i t h p e n s a r e a le o doing "conpute r g r a p h ic s " a r e l a t e d a c t i v i t y , b u t n o t one t o c h an g e t h e w o r l d . )

Basically a three-dim ensional system of th is typ e s to r e s th e lines as coo rd inates in threes: e ndpoints of lin e s in a m ythical three-dim ensional s p a c e . Each points location in Ihe sp ace is told by Ihree n um bers (example show ing a house may be seen on p . ); a line in a space is r e p re s e n te d in the data s tr u c tu r e by two such p o in ts , and a code o r something tyin g them to g e th e r.

T he Adage Diaplay Is iso m e tric . meaning that lines dp not get s h o r te r as ihey get farth er away o r longer as they get c lo s e r . While thia ia marvelously im p ressive, most people want re a l perspective; and it was th is lhat Evans and Sutherland set sbout to make available in real lim e, i . e . , In d irect re s p o n s e to the v iew er's ac tion s. T he LDS-1, w eighing in at half a million d o lla rs o r so , buckle d to th e PDP-10, a big 36-bit com pute r from DEC (aee p . ^ O ) . Its view calculator worked sym bolically (digitally), a n d thu9 could work lo Ihe h ig h e r precialo n necessary for tru e persp e c tiv e calc ulation. Among the ex citin g demonstrations that you can se e altting at an LDS-1 a r e a map of th e United States you can zoom in o n . bringing you in to a map of New J e r s e y , then Atlantic C ity , then a specific inte rse c tio n , all in one smooth continuous motion. Also a simulated lan d in g on th e flight d eck of an airc ra ft c a r r ie r with you flying th e a irp la n e , so you can go o v e r il, to the sid e , into the d r in k or straight at the c a r r ie r . In all c ases the ghostly ship will move, turn and change p ersp e c tiv e on the sc re e n as if somehow it w e re re a lly th ere. Several LDS-Is w e re so ld . Meanwhile a little new firm o f young guys in Southern California, V ector G eneral, came up with a line of termin als lik e the Adage line, e x cept that they could bu ckle to the 16-bll minicom p u te r of y o u r choice. (In pra c tic e most of them have been attached to PD P-U s; see p . VL-) T he Vector General display Is isometric, a nd makes its calculations in analog , like the Adage Display. It has been v e ry successful among both u n iversities an d priv a te corporations. In addition, a highly in teractiv e and welldesigned language is available for lhe creation of da ta stru c tu re s rep re se n tin g 3D objects, as well as for ge n e ra l-p urp o se programm ing and the creation o f whole e n vironm ents. And it's free to individuals o r companies thal have Vector General d isplays attached to P D P - lla . (See "Coup de GRASS," p.5H3/*) But wait. Evans and S uth erlan d h as now d ropped the LDS-1 and given u s - - n o , not LDS-2, b ut something called T he Picture System also b uilt onto the PDP-11, bu t th is one w o rk s sym bolically (d igitally) and in full p ersp e c tiv e . The p ric e s ta rts at eighty g ra n d . Since the Pictu re System w orks out of Ihe PDP-11 core memory, the commands it follows a r e 16 b its long, since th a t's lh e size of a slot in PDP-11 co re. But w ait. T h e y 'v e designed the thing to convert to 36 b i t s , so that coordin ates a re moved to a p riv a te sto re o r buffer be tw een the program follower and the display. T h is means lhe display can zoom and zip around in th e sc e n e without b o therin g the computer.

UNFORTUNATELY, just to get through the basics, there is only room to discuss stick-figure graphic display here. But curved surfaces may also be depicted, though usually not interactively. See below, and pp.

T he second p rogram follower in su c h a d evice behaves much as it d oes in th e 2D sy s te m . b ut w ith c e rta in add itio n s. Like the 2D system , il pro ceed s down its ow n prog ram one step al a tim e. Like th e 2D sy stem , it find9 in its p ro g ram the coordinates of a line to diaplay and c r e a te s electronic signals re p re se n tin g its e n d p oints. Bul it does not diaplay th e se d irectly, sinc e theae a r e th ree-dim ensional coordinates. Instead it rouleB these sig n a ls lo what we may call a view c a lcu lato r, a p a r tic u la r piece o f h a rd w are that h as been prim ed with the angle from w hich you want lo view th e o b je c t. T h is view c a lc ula tor, automatically an d by m ysterious means w hich v a ry among machines, p ro d u c e s lhe view, and it9 signals go lo the s c r e e n . L et's say we want to disp la y a poin t. The d is p la y 's program follower p u lls thre e num bers from ils d isplay list and notes th e code th at says i l's a spatial point and nol th e end of a lin e . T h e s e th re e nu m b ers slide on into the view cal c u la to r, a lread y prim ed w ilh the angle of rota tion; and th e view calculators fig g ers where on th e sc re e n that point sho u ld be d is p la y e d . The coordinates for the sc re e n telling w here the point goes in lhe d e sire d p ic tu re go to the Bcreen c o n tro ller, and the point is b rig hten ed . How a r e these coordinates calculated? Well, some commercial u n its do it electronically ("in analog") and some do it symbolically ("in d ig ita l" ). T h e result is th e same. (If you wanl the equations for th i s , th e y 're in the Newman and Sproull b o o k .) Then how does the view calculator handle a line? Same thing. The program follower p u lls th re e num bers from its diaplay list and notes Ihe code lhat says i t's a line, so il takes th re e m ore. Then the view coordinates of both points a r e calculated and fed lo the screen con tro lle r. The screen c o n tro ller now he6 two p oints on ita sc re e n so it dra w s a line between themThe f i r s t d e v i c e o f t h i s t y p e w as, I t h i n k , t h e s o - c a l l e d Kludge ( p r o n . " K l o o j " - - com pute r s la n g f o r a r i d i c u l o u s m achine, b u t i n t h l a c a s e a p p lie d a f f e c t i o n a t e l y ) b u i l t a t M IT 'a E l e c t r o n i c Sys ceoa L a b o r a t o r y i n th e e a r l y s i x t i e s . T h ia d e v ic e was a o n e - o f - a - k i n d , b u i l t o u t o f DEC c i r c u i t c a r d s and h o o k in g to a b i g g e r m a ch in e. The ESL K ludge showed v i v i d l y how good I t was t o have I n s t a n t a n e o u s view c a l c u l a t i o n u n d e r a u s e r ' s c o n tr o l *

Drawing by Ruth W e ia a BE VISION program, done a t B e l l L a b o r a t o r i e s , m i d - s i x t i e s . ( W a l t D ia n ay P r o d u c t i o n s . ) T h i s p ro g ra m r e p r e s e n t e d t r u l y cu rv e d s u r f a c e s I n I t s d a t a s t r u c t u r e , aa "q u ad ric s u r f a c e s " t h a t I s , Invol v i n g po wer s o f two I n t h e ma th and c a l c u l a t e d t h e v i s i b l e l i n e s ta n g e n t t o t h e ed g ea from t h e v i e w p o i n t , t h u s draw i n g t h e e d g e a . Removing t h e hidd en p a r t s o f t h e c u r v e s l a o f c o u r s e one of t h a g r e a t e s t p r o b le m a . (From Ruth A. W l a s , ''BE VISIOH ." JAQ1 Apr 6 6, 194e 20 4, p . 2 0 1 . *

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The ru le s of p erspective have been u nd e r stood since the R enaissance. In olden computer times (up till about 1B65) people u sed to do three-dim ensional view calcula tion by angle s relative to a three-dim ensional data s tru c tu re . T hen L arry Roberta at MIT noted lhat th e re was a more appropriate mathematical m ethod, long molderlng in obscure te x ts. The idea is this: If you sdd an e x tra dimensio n lo the d a ta . It's e a sie r to p ro g ra m . I t's e a s ie r because it be comes a simple matrix m ultiplication, which has no commonaense expla nation b ut la im porta nt to mathemallclana. SO th al means that to calculate view s of three-dim ensional objects, th e moat usual way ie now to add that e x tra dimension. Instead of having a point in apace whose position la 36-2436 (in some sel of th ree-dim ensional coo rd in a te s). another arb itra ry number is added to make it, say , 36-24-36-1. It seems that in Lhe mathematics of multiple dimensions, it comes out sim pler that w ay. in deed. from a mathematical point of view the new improved dimension is ju st like the o th e r th r e e . For this reason, such an augmented system of coordinates la called homogeneous co ord in ates. Like homogenised m ilk, th e additional coordinate Is ju st stirre d In with the r e s t , and out comes y o u r desired view calculaticm. (The formulas a re to be found In Newman and Sp ro u ll, Princi ples of Interactive Computer G ra p h ic s. McGraw. $15, y o u r basic text on th e su b je c t.) At any ra te the additional coordinate is often referred to. in c o rre c tly , as th e "homogen eous coordinate. T h e y 'r e aU homogeneous, which la why It w orks.

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The first of these system s lo be offered com m ercially, I believe, w as th e "Adage D isplay," made by A dage. Inc. of B oston, w hic h u sed Iheir u n u s u a l Ambilog computer (see p . *f.3> t0 f4* " o bje c ts on the sc re e n . I v a guely recall thal it cost about $00,000 with com puter bu l without ac c e s so rie s .

Another Important feature o f The Picture System: it will do, not ju s t o rd in a ry perspective, out such w eird view calculations as wideangle b a rre l distortion, pincushion distortion and s im ilar stuff.

G up GRASS
Im p u d en t an d p l u c k y T en D a F a n t i was a n a s s i s t a n t p r o f e s s o r a t 2 4 . T h i s i n p a r t b e c a u s e h e has c r e a t e d o r a o f t h e w o r l d s h o t t e s t 3D g r a p h i c s l a n g u a g e s , w h ic h h e c a l l s GRASS. (He s a y s i t s t a n d s f e r GRAphics S y m b io s is S y s t e a a l a o , he B a y s, i t T u r n s You O n .) T e n ' s GRASS l a n g u a g e i s an e x c e l l e n t b e g i n n e r ' s c o a p u t e r l a n g u a g e f o r tw o r e a s o n s : f i r s t , i t i s e a s i ly t a u g h t t o b e g i n n e r s , a n d s e c o n d , i t i a a b o u t t h i n g s o f i n t e r e s t t o b e g i n n e r s , i . e . , p i c t u r e s and g r a p h i c a l m a n i p u l a t i o n on s c r e e n s . (But c a v ia re th e t h r e e b e g i n n e r s ' la n g u a g e s p r e s e n t e d b r i e f l y on p p . 1 6 - 2 5 . ) A p r o t o t y p e f o r t h e s y s t e n was d e v e lo p e d a t O h io s t a t e , en a p r o j e c t d i r e c t e d b y a r t i s t C h a r l e s C a u r l . T o o h a d a f r e e h a n d , t h o u g h , and t h e l a n g u a g e d e s i g n i s h i s t b u t much o f t h e s p e c i f i c c o d in g was d o n e by G erry t to e r s d o r f , and th e g r a p h ic s a lg o rith m s and r o t a t i o n w ere p r o g r a m e d b y M a n fr e d K n ea ey e r. In sp ira t i o n was f u r n i s h e d b y M aynard E . S e n s e n b r e n n e r . GRASS r u n s on t h e PD P-1 1, a s p l e n d i d m in ic c a n p u te r (T on s i a shewn o n p . 36 ) a n d i s s p e c i f i c a l l y d e s i g n e d f o r th e c o n t r o l o f t h r e e - d i m e n s i o n a l s t i c k - f i g u r e d i s p l a y s o n t h e V e c t o r G e n e r a l d i s p l a y s y s te m ( s e e p . DM \ 0 ) . G u t a l o t o f p e o p l e have w r e s t l e d w i t h t h e a e m a t t e r s an d n o t d o n e a s w e l l - L e t ' s c o n s i d e r :

&

M 3t
H. T he l a n g u a g e i a e x t e n s i b l e , m e a n i n g t h a t t h e u s e r may c r e a t e new ecmnands i n t h e l a n g u a g e a s p r o g r a m s T h es e cocx nands, h o w e v e r, may be u s e d l n l a t e r p r o g ra m s as i f th e y w ere b u i l t i n t o th e language i t s e l f . I . The s y s te m i s c o n p l e t e l y g e n e r a l - p u r p o s e . Many g r a p h i c s l a n g u a g e s a r e n o t , b e in g r e s t r i c t e d o n l y t o t h e i r o r i g i n a l purposeT h is i s more d i f f i c u l t , b u t o h , ao much more w o r t h w h i l e . 3. IT S DEEP g e n e r a l i t y . T h in g s s h o u ld b e v e r s a t i l e , and a b l e t o be t i e d t o g e t h e r in many d i f f e r e n t w a y s . T h i s l a w h at we mean b y " g e n e r a l i t y i * and t h i s k in d o f g e n e r a l i t y c an make a s y s te m v e r y p o w e r f u l . (The te rm i n m a t h e m a t i c s i 8 " ele g an c e.* ) As i s s a i d on t h e o t h e r s i d e o f t h e b o o k , c ot p l i c a t e d n e s s i s n o t g e n e r a l i t y o r g o o d n e ss o r p o w e r , b u t a sig n o f th e d e s i g n e r s sh a llo w n e s s. Anyway, GRASS h a s t h i s k in d o f g e n e r a l i t y . I t has a g r e a t number o f f a c i l i t i e s , grow ing w e e k ly , and t h e y a l l t i e t o g e t h e r i n c l e a r a n d p r e d i c t a b l e w ay s, w i t h o u t e x c e p t i o n s . R a th e r t h a n c r e a t e s p e c i a l f u n c t i o n s w h ic h c a n n o t b e t i e d t o g e t h e r , Young D o c t o r D e F a n t i h a s c h o sen i n s t e a d t o make t h e s e p a r a t e d e s i r a b l e f u n c t i o n s p a r t o f a s im p le a n d c l e a r l a n guage. (A n o t e t o y o u e l e g a n t t y p e s : GRASS i s f u l l y r e c u r s i v e . As a n i c e e x a m p l e , Dan S a n d in ( se e p .S * |& ) w r o t e a p r o g ra m t o d i s p l a y P e a n o l i n e s t h a t was u n d e r f o r t y GRASS i n s t r u c t i o n s lo n g , i t i s a l s o a s t o n i s h i n g l y r e v e r s i b l e : you can w atch i t u n c re a te th e Peano l i n e , s t r a i g h t e n i n g i t s e l f b a c k w a rd .) I n th e more u s u a l s e n s e , D e F a n t i 's l a n g u a g e i s n o t th e 'm o s t a d v a n c e d ') t h e r e a r e more p o w e r f u l 3D s y s t e m s th a n t h e V e c t o r G e n e r a l ( t h e LDS-1, s e e p . J ) * ) , o f f e r s t r u e p e r s p e c t i v e ) , more e l e g a n t u s e r - l e v e l l a n g u a g e s (se e TRAC L an g u a g e and APL, O t h e r s i d e ) , t r u e h a l f t o n e ( t h a W a tk in s Box) i y e t h i s a c h ie v e m e n t on c l o s e e x a m i n a tio n i s e x tra o r d in a r y . Never mind h i s a g e , t h e more e s o t e r i c f e a t u r e s o f h i s sy s te m ( f u l l r e c u r s i v e n e s s , e t c . ) o r th e f a c t t h a t h e d o e s n o t seem t o ha v e made e n e m i s ta k e , w h ic h i s I n f u r i a t i n g . C o n s i d e r o n l y t h i s : TOM DE FANTI'S 'GRASS' LANGUAGE IS PERHAPS THE ONLY SYSTEM THAT CAN BE TAUGOT IN A PEW HOURS TO COMPUTER-NAIVE BEGINNERS THAT PERMITS FULL THREE-DIMENSIONAL ANIMATED INTERACTIVE GRAPHICS WITH TREE-STRUCTURED DATA. i t 11 1 ! ' c u r r e n t l y v . U b l . . PD P-1 1 ow ners even w i t h o u t V e c t o r G e n e r a l d i s p l a y s a y i n q u i r e o f : T on D e F a n t i , D o c t o r o f A r t s P r o g r a m , UICC, C h i c a g o I I 60660. uj.cc. You may w onder how a young b r o n k l n g buck l i k e D e F a n t i h a s m anaged t o de s u c h an e x c e l l e n t j o b , s o e l e g a n t l y , w h ere s o many ha v e s t i m b l e d a nd f a i l e d ? - I j u s t le a r n f r o c h e e rily . e t h e r p e o p l e 's m is ta k e s ,* h e sa y s

P r o f. D e F a n ti on th e a y e te m .

MISCELUmY: C o u p l in g h i a s y s te m w i t h t h a t o f Dan S a n d in ( p DMff ) h a s c r e a t e d t h e " C i r c l e G r a p h ic s H a b i t a t , " d e s c r i b e d p , I hope I 'm a ro u n d long e n o u g h t o w r i t e t h e GRASS l a n g u a g e m a n u a l. ( D e F a n t i ' s GRASS i s an i d e a l la n g u a g e f o r s o u t h i n g l i k e t h e 3D T h i n k e r t o y , d e s c r i b e d on . How ev er, i t d o e s n ' t have any p r o v is io n f o r th e s t o r a g e o f l a r g e c o p i e s d a ta S t r u c t u r e s , s o t h e h a r d p a r t w o u ld a c t u a l l y b e w o rk in g o u t a n a d e q u a te s to r a g e d a ta s t r u c t u r e a n d s t o r a g e m acros w ith in GRASS'S u s e o f th e DEC f i l e s y s t e m . )

SCREEN CONTROLS T h e g r e a t t h i n g a b o u t CRT d i s p l a y s i a t h a t th e y c a n b e used t o c o n tr o l th in g s b ^ m a n ip u la tio n o f p lc tu r e c In s te a d Of m ovin g b u t t o n s e r l e v e r s , you c a n s e i s e p a r t s o f t h e p i c t u r e w i t h th e l i g h t - p e n and move some p a r t o f t h s p i c t u r e . The c o m p u te r , s e n s i n g th e c h o i c e o r a d j u s t m e n t you h a v e m ad s, can th e n p e rfo rm w hatever o p e r a tio n s you h a v e d ir e c t* d .

V*LV6
1. ITS CLEAR SIMPLICITY. Tom b e l i e v e s c o m p u te r s a r e f o r e v e r y b o d y i h e i e n o t a h i g h p r i e s t b e n t on mak i n g t h i n g s o b s c u r e ( s e e C y b e r c r u d , " p . 8 ) . T h u s he made h i s la n g u a g e a s s e n s i b l e , c l e a r and e a s y t o l e a r n as p o ssib le. Tom l i k e s t o s t r e s s t h e c o n c e p t o f " h a b i t a b i l i t y * ( a te r m o f W . C . W a tt) , m e aning t h e c o z i n e s s o f a aye t e a . 2 . ITS GENERALITY. R e f i n i n g a nd c o n d e n s i n g t h e b ^ s . c id e a s o f a s y s te m i s th e h a r d e s t p a r t o f t h e d e s i g n . D e F a n ti made s e v e r a l i n t e r e s t i n g d e c i s i o n s . A. T h e i n t e . - n a l f o rm o f t h e la n g u a g e 1 b ASCII c o d e ( s e e p . " ) . I n o t h e r w o r d s , y o u * r e a d p r o g ra m s i n t h e i r f i n a l GRASS form B. F o r a t h r e e - d i m e n s i o n a l s y s te m s u c h a s th e V e c to r G e n e r a l , th e main form o f d a t a s tr u c tu re i s th e th ree -d im e n slo n a 1 o b j e c t a l i s t o f p o i n t s an d l i n e s i n s p a c e . T h i s i s t h e form o f d a t a GRASS u s e s f o r m o st p u r p o s e s . C. I n t h e d e s i g n e f su c h a sy s te m you w a n t l a r g e r 3D o b j e c t s t o b e b u i l d a b l e o u t o f s m a lle r o n e s . T h is l i l i e s a rran g in g d a ta i n t r e e s t r u c t u r e s ( s e e p . 2.*) ) You a l a o w a n t to b e a b l e t o make t h i n g s do compound mo t i o n s o n th e s c r e e n f o r e x am p le, sho w in g a n a i r p l a n e f l y i n g a ro u n d on t h e s c r e e n w i t h i t s p r o p e l l o r s p i n n i n g ) t h i a to o i m p l i e s a t r e e s t r u c t u r e . T h e r e a r e s a n e p r o g r a m s e r s who w ould u s e d i f f e r e n t t r e e s t r u c t u r e s l o r b o th o b j e c t s group ed t o g e t h e r a n d f o r movements g r o u p e d t o g e t h e r i Ton u se s e n e . D. O b j e c t s shown o n T cm 's sy s te m c a n a l s o a p p e a r t o move e n c o m p l i c a t e d p a t h s th r o u g h t h r e e d i m e n s io n a l s p a c e I n T o m 's s y s t e m , suc h a p a t h i a m e re ly a n o t h e r o b j e c t . I t seem s o b v io u s when you sa y i t , y e t t h i s k i n d o f s i n g l e g a n e r a l i t y i s e x a c t l y w h a t many p r o g ra m m e rs seem t o a v o i d . ( N e te : t h i s f a c i l i t y i s a g e n e r a l i z a t i o n o f B a e c k e r 's p c u rv e r e e e p . j u ^ t j ) . E. I n p u t d e v i c e s a r e c o m p le te l y a r b i t r a r y and p ro g ra B B A b le. What h a p p e n s o r t h e s c r e e n c a n b e c o n t r o l l e d b y a n y t h i n g a n y v a r i a b l e ( se e p . \(o ) i n th e p r o g r a a a i n g la n g u a g e . I n o t h e r w o rd s , D e F a n t i ha s d e c o u p le d t h e s c r e e n f r a a a n y p a r t i c u l a r form o f c o n t r o l , a l l o w i n g u s e r p r o g ra m s t o make t h e c o n n e c t io n b e tw ee n c o n t r o l s a n d c o n s e q u e n c e s . T h i s means t h a t , u s i n g T o n 's la n g u a g e , i t i s c c m p a r a t i v e l y e a s y t o b u i l d c c n p l e x c u sto m c o n t r o l s f o r a n y f u n c t i o n . (T hia i s d i s c u s s e d u n d e r " P a n t i e s , " * F . The la n g u a g e h a s s t r i n g f u n c t i o n s t h a t a l l o w t e x t h a n d l i n g . S i n c e th e l a n g u a g e may a l s o u s e c o n v e r s a t i o n a l te r m in a l s , i t i a em in e n tly s u i t e d f o r *go o d -g u y " i n t e r a c t i v e s y s t e m s f o r n a i v e u s e r s , a s d e s c rib e d on p p . 1 2 -1 3 . G- T cm 's l a n g u a g e i s i n t e r p r e t i v e , l i k e TRAC Langu age ( s e e p . 3 0 ) . T h a t means i t i s slo w * i n te r m s o f th e num be r e f m a c h in e c y c l e s r e q u i r e d f o r i t t o d e each o p e r a t i o n . H o w ev er, D e F a n t i h a s a d d e d a * c p i l e f e a t u r e t o t h e la n g u a g e , so t h a t f o r l o n g m a cro s ( s e c t i o n s o f p ro g ra m ) t h a t have t o r u n r e p e t i t i v e l y , more e f f i c i e n t c a a p i l e d v e r s i o n s o f t h e m a cros may be g e n e rate d . T e r .* o jT A r C0*T<S l

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T he d e a ig n o f s c r e e n c o n t r o l s - - e a s y - t o - u s e , c l e a r and sim p le c o n t r o l s fo r e v e r y th in g i s one o f th e f r o n t i e r s of c o n p u te r g ra p h ic s . (S e e " F a n t i c s , " p.J \* fl^ 7j DIMENSIONAL FLIP 3D s c o p e s a r e a b o u t t h e b e s t w e ' v e g o t s o w h at d o we d e a b o u t m u l t i d i m e n s i o n a l p h e n c n e n a ? O ne v e r y good s o l u t i o n i s t o sh ew a s e l e c t i o n o f t h r e e d i m e n s i o n s a t a tim e , and p r o v i d e f e r e a s y f l i p " fr<x o n e d im e n sio n t o a n o th e r - - s o t h a t i n s t e a d o f lo o k in g a t sc n e t h i n g o n dem en sio n s A, B and C y o u a r e l o o k i n g a t i t o n d i m e n s io n s A, B and X. F o r e x a m p l e , s u p p o s e y o u 'r e a s o c i o l o g i s t lo o k i n g a t m e a s u r e m e n t s o f v a r i o u s t r a i t s among a g r o u p e f p e o p l e . I t ' s a e l e u d o f d o t s I n t h r e e d i m e n s i o n s w h a te v e r t h r e e d i m e n s i o n s y o u r e lo o k i n g a t . S o a e c o u l d b e : a g e , h e i g h t , w e i g h t, s a x , e th n ic background, p r e m a r ita l e x p e r ie n c e , ed u c a tio n .., e tc. You v ie w t h i s c lo u d o f d o t s , s a y , a c c o r d i n g t o a g e , w e i g h t a n d e t h n i c b a c k g r o u n d . T h a t means you c a n r e t a t e i t a ro u n d a n d se e how many p e o p le i n t h e g r o u p a r e w h atU s in g d i m e n s i o n a l f l i p , h w e v e r , you c a n c h a n g e t h e v ie w a s f o l l o w s : r o t a t e th e b o x - f r a m e t i l l i t b e c a e i a s q u a r e t o y o u r e y e . T hen you h i t t h e c o n t r e l t h a t makes t h e u n s e e n d im e n s io n " f l i p " t o a n o t h e r d im e n s io n t h a t i n t e r e s t s y e u . The c lo u d s t i l l l o o k s t h e s a a e u n t i l you r o t a t e i t , a nd t h e t h i r d d im e n s io n i s now " p r e m a r i t a l e x p e r i e n c e . * So you can q u i c k l y g e t a v ie w o f how p e c u l a t i o n s a r e r e a l l y d iv id e d u p . (N o te t o s o c i o l o g i s t * ! t h i s sa ae o p e r a t i o n , w ith s t r e t c h i n g and c l i j y i n g , p r o v id e s a v i s u a l te c h n iq u e f o r " p a r t i a l l n g " o p e r a tio n * of th e L a z a r s f e l d ty p e . )

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Tom DeFanti. ShotJs part o f hemoglobin molecule. Data structure from Richard J. Feldmarm, NIH.

T h e V ec to r G e n e r a l d i s p l a y i l l u s t r a t e d h e r e a n d t h e r e o n th e s e p a g e s b e l o n g s to t h e D e p a r t m e n t o f C h e m i s t r y , U n i v e r s i t y o f I l lin o i s at C h i c a g o C i r c l e .

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THE TWISTED SMILE You c a n make a c h a r a c t e r c h a n g e e x p r e s s i o n a n a s c o p e b y a s k i n g h i s mouth a t w i s t e d w i r e t h a t c a n be r o t a t e d b e tw e e n "frow n" and " s m i l e " p o s i t i o n s . T h e t r i c k i s t h e sh a p e o f th e w i r e .

I c o in e d t h e te r m f a n t i c s , f o r t h e a r t and te c h n o l o g y o f sh o w in g t h i n g s , l o n g b e f o r e I e v e r h e a r d o f T an D e F a n t i , a n ) I am n o t a b o u t to c h an g e i t j u s t b e c a u s e h e i s now my f r i e n d an d t o c B U t a .

NOW GUESS WHAT: D e F a n t i ' a GRASS l a n g u a g e i s t h e b e s t l a n g u a g e I kn ow o f f o r d o i n g a l l t h e a b o v e t h i n g s .

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A S e rie s of Review A r tic le s fo r C om puter D ecisions M ag azin e. WI1EHE TO GET IT. Conputer 3D halftone systems are now available to moviemakers from a variety of sources. It tends to cost a lot of money, but when compared with normal Hollywood production expenses, it turns out not to be ao bad. SALES OF MACHINES. Computer Image Corporation, Denver, offers various systems for sale. See p. DM 39. Evans and Sutherland Computer Corporation, Salt Lake City, offers the Matklns Box, a real-time display device using the Watkina Method (see next page) and offering also Gouraud paeudo-curved shading (see p. DM 37). It costa about $300,000 and attaches to a PDP-10 large computer; see p. 40).

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A u t t e r ' e n o t e . T h e s e a rtic le s w e r e w ritte n for C o m p u te r D e d a lo n e m a g a z i n e , a n d re f le c t th e r e s u l t s o f a lot o f p ho n e c a i la th e y p a id f o r . T h e f ir s t of th e s e a r tic le s w e e p u b lis h e d In 1071. T h e o th e r s ha v e no t b e n p re v io u s ly p u b l i s h e d , as the e d ito r s a n d 1 w e re n e v e r a b le to g et to g e th e r on q u i te w hai th e y w a n te d . T h i s 1s, to my k n o w le d g e , the o n ly e x is ti n g c o lle c tio n and su m m a ry o f c o m p u te r h a lf-to n e s y s te m s to d a te , an d In som e c a s e s th e a r ti c l e s r e v e a l m ore ab ou t the s y s te m s th a n h a s b e e n p u b lis h e d a n y w h e r e . S u r p r i s i n g l y , e v e n tw o y e a r s la te r th e y do n o t seem out of d a le . H o w e v e r, d u e to Ihe e d ito ria l a t y le Of C om p u te r D e c i s io n s , a n d my o w n , th l a h a a all come out e x tr e m e ly c o n d e n s e d , and p h r s s e d in b r e e z y a n d h u m o ro u s w ay s no t o r d i n a r i l y c o n s id e r e d a c c e p ta b le for s e r io u s te c h n ic a l r e v ie w s . T h e h o p e Is th a l th e y w ill s u p p l y o rie n ta tio n to th e b r o w s e r , d e e p e r I n s i g h t s lo th e t e c h n l c a ll y - m l n d e d . and f u r t h e r d ir e c ti o n s fo r them aa w a n ts to p u r s u e . My t h a n k s to th e p u b lis h e r s o f C o m p u te r D e c isio n s a n d Ita e d ito r , R obert C. H a a v ln d , for th e ir e n c o u r a g e m e n t, p h o n e m oney a n d p e rm is sio n to r e p r i n t th is .

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FIRST ARTICLE General id e a of 3-D halftone. Polygon Sy ste m s.

halftone image synthesis

bj Theodor H. Nelson The Nelson Organization To most people in the compulcr field, "computer graphics'' means tine drawingsystems and programs Tor mapmaking, pipe layout, automobile and aircraft design, or any other acliviiy where a diagram may help. Using line-drawing programs and equipment, designers may create line drawings on last-responding graphic screens, reworking (heir ideas until satisfied; the system then disgorges polished drawings and speci fications for the designers real intent, something else that is to be made o r done. But it is possible for a picture itselfinstructive, interesting o r pretty to be the goal, tn that case wc will often wanl pictures lhal look like things instead of wires. A picture lhal is nol all black and white we call "halftone." With much secrecy and a slow start, compuier halftone systems are now being built all over. The methods are extremely different from one another; only the outputs are similar. Some exist in software, some have already been built into spccial hardware. Computer graphics tha ordinary way Tha computer, as penman, draws lines Inxn a list stored in cora memory. In a threedimansiooal system, lhe basic list of 3-D coordinates is converted to a lilt representing a particular view: the result looks line a wire frame. These systems have many potential uses for visualiza tion, animation and new kinds of photography, in art, scholarship, motion pictures and T V ; for visual izing worlds lost and imagined, equipment yet unbuilt, the responsiveness of aircraft. It may not be long until moviemakers can buy different brands of picture synthesizer, just as musicians choose today among Moog, Buchla and ARP music synthesizers. But none is in production yet, This is an attempt to review the coming apparatuses of apparilion. Not only is the field of halftone one of the most exciting in computing; it is also one of ihe nuttiest and most secretive. For instance, at one lime a Arm that was supposedly marketing its halftone system declared ihe present author persona non grata and not to be communicated wilh in any way, though information was freely available to others. I dont think it's necessarily paranoia," says Rod Rougelot of General Electric. "A lot of guys started about the same time, and proceeded in a heads-down manner. It took a special kind of initiative to head off in lhat direction wiih no external provocation. All those heavy cals

There are more ways than one to produce shaded pictures with computer,!*. Here are the methods of the 'polygon school.
from a rm and kit were saying in ihe sixties I could never do a Mickey Mouse, says Lee Harrison m of Computer Image, Bui I'm noi that kind o f researcher. 1 talk to the Lord. The systems" stories art u different u lhe systems ihemselvs General Electrics system grew out of cockpil displays for blind (lying. The system of Penn sylvania Research Associates began wilh terrain and radar modelling. The system of maci (Mathematical Applications Group, Inc.) began wilh the siudy of radiation hazards in battlefield machinery. Two system families, that of Compuier Image Inc. and my own Faniasm, were designed from the beginning for movie making. especially "special eflects" and puppeieering. The moai poignant tale may be that of L a Harrison, whose struggling family was warmed through ajJd winters by the tuba of Iheir analog computer. Halftone bi two dht nkms Two-dimensional computer halftone is not new. Halftone pictures convened from photographs have often been primed out or line printers, either for fun (nudes often turn up at big installations), or in <mIKCtioo with some scientific problem, such as analyzing chromosomes. Kenneth C. Knowllon, l l Bell labora tories, has exemjtcd some well-known photo conver sions making pictures into huge grids of liny whimsical symbols having different grey-values. Various other lyiletnj have allowed users to create their own original 2-D pictures. But the natural temp tation is to want the computer really to make ptcnm . Why not have the computer produce a photographic picture directly from the 3-D representation of objecu? Computers don'l do this by nature, any more than ihey do anything else by nature, so how it may bt done by computer is very interesting. The problem is also intersting because of iis intuitive nature. Vision* of scenes in space are around us constantly, and we intuitively understand the groinclry o f outlines and light. As 3-D work progresses large problems are being overcome. The famed "hidden line problem, for ex ample, was misleadingly couched, since the problem is noi finding what lines are hidden, bul wbal Surface*

Todays n** procsdure* a n usa th* tame dvta to maka a realistic shaded or halftone picture. Th* visible part* ol th* objects are ascertained by programs or special hardware, usJng lh* same 3-D coordinates a* hi tn* ordinary sytfama. Thet* vtsiM* parti ar* than shaded eeenrdlng tn th* appropriate color information. Th* H ri * of shad Inf -points m aka th* picture on an caitput d*vfc*.

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the film was to explain to everybody how a proposed spae viewers could under function. R a t h e r than use d i a g r a m , they enacte_d It in the M . ye . l c id and stand how the aectiona would be delivered and fit together how * ao on. For exposition of that kind, nothing beats this kind of

We musl draw on ibi* undemanding of scenes (o figure out how 10 make pictures, (or there is no mathematically elegant or preferable approach. Scene* are geometrically rich, and thus many different tech niques may be uaed to extract pictures from them. These techniques may look al plana/ structures, ipatial interconnections, relative edges of intersections or anything else you can define and p n m s . I prefer to think of compiler halftooe as like trick photography ol the kind done in Hollywood: a variety of tech niques can be combined in various ways. As in trick photography, the number of loudies and enhance ments that you add generally determines how good it will look, regardless of what system you begin wilh. The simplest systems are those lhat depict objects made of polygons that is. planes wilh straight edges. We will discuss such systems in the present installment. The wild polygoa yonder At least two companies are building image systems that will behave and respond like onrushing reality. Such a system, hooked lo cockpit-like controls, can show a trainee pilot ihe delicate and precipitous results of what he docs. Realistic action. rather than surface detail, is crucial. Tbe techniques of action polygon halftone were originally developed by General Electric, ol Syracuse, N.Y.. and are now also under development al Link Division of Singer Company (makers of the beloved pilot trainer and its progeny). Basically such sysiems operate upon the scan-lines that crisscross a television screen, switching the color of ihe running scan as it crosses from polygon to polygon. The action polygon schoolGE and Linktakes a curious but effective approach to halftone TV: iheir "environments" are composed entirely o f convex objects made entirely of convex polygons. To use only convex objects (no dents) means lhal one object may be in front of another or vice veraa, but never both. (An object with apparent indentations, such as an airplane, has to be made oul of a group of convex objects flying togethcc.) To use only convex polygons (notchless) makes il easy for the system to decide, at a given instant, whether the scan ii crossing the polygon or not.

The edge-box reports summed into the facet boxes, each of which was set to respond to a particular combination of left-right, above-helow reports. Al Ihc instant all the facet's edge boxes replied in the proper preset combination, ihe facet box signalled lhal its owd facet was being crossed by the scan-line. When more lhan one faect-box responded, the one nearest the viewpoint had its color gated to tbe screen. Now Rouge lot's group is replacing the old nasa system by a new nasa system, which works on entirely different principles, but keeps ihe vector calculator. The old one could show scenes with up to 240 edges; tbe new has* system will at least double lhal. GEs new method is already operational on smaller research fa cilities. They don'l tell what it is, bul basically it in volves sorting by distance. Supposedly the sort method is good enough to make the old edge boxes obsolete. The Link group claims competitive performance for iheir system, which will go to black-and-white ihousaod-line TV. They say their system is different, better, and secret. Movie seta, TV affects: computer haIIton* is aady lo compel*. (Gary Watkins. Utah)

The method of Gary Watkins is the resuh of a profound search at ihe University of Utah for rte method a polygon techniqi* fast enough for real time enactment, but cheaper than the GE-type systems aod not subject to the convexity restrictions. They to have found it Each video ican of the seeoe results in a "slice" through surfaces.in tbe tone. The two nearest surfaces are continuously compared to sec which is clcner, as if by two rulers. The instant a new surface becomes ihe nearer one, the system make it the visible o u . The. nearest (urfatx always shows, down to the precise instant two surfats cross

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Wyiie-RooDey: t o o l Ike wuriu The Wylie-Romney method, disclosed in 1967, was ihe firsi generally publicized procedure for making halftone pictures. Indeed, the 1967 publication sig nalled the explosion of Ihc University of U uh into the forefront of computing research. The Wylie-Romney method was actually the joint work of Chris Wylie. Gordon Romney. David C. Evans and Alan Erdahl: but much of ihe impetus for ils development came from Evans, chairman of computer sciences at Utah, who had long suspected the possibil ity o f 3-D halfione synthesis.

Instantaneous enactment: halftone animation |ivs a sanaa of laally being there. (Bod Rouaelol, General Electric)

This work evolved in part from GE's work in the fifties with a "ground plane simulator. a system that would show a correct representation of the ground's pcnition, dipping and routing, lo the pilot of an air craft in fog or night. In 1963 the General Electric group, under Rod Rougelol, worked out for nasa the design ol an "environment simulator"a device thal would simulate the appearance and performance of any equipment. Thb is now called Ihe "old nasa sys tem It permitted ihe user seated before a color TV screenlo work controls for an imaginary aircraft or spacecraft, and see roughly what the pilot of the craft would sec, flying in real time through a breathtaking color scene. Films made on Ihis machine have been stunning. Imaginary cilics. roller coasters and aerial dogfights arc among the visions that can be preen led. General Electric-! old nasa method is fairly weird if not mischievous. The earlier "ground plane simu lator" had shown an edge (ihe horizon) digitally dis played on a crt: the system was extended to many edges, and the logical analysis of areas between them.

Halftone for art1 u k i now lha iriiti can cratte * worlds and photograph lham. (Gordon Romney. Utah) (N o t e : n o r t o u t p u t by v a r i o u s U ta h s y s t e m s a p p e a r on f o l l o w i n g p a g e s . )

Watkins method: A n instantly sensed through continuous companion of the ckaesl two.

SOU A V A I L A B L E ! Mach ine r u n n i n g U a t k i n e t e c h n i q u e , t h e W a t k i n s B o x, a l l o w s you t o v i e u im a g i n a r y o b j e c t s tn c o l o r a n d m a n i p u l a t e t hem i n r e a l t See t o p o f p r e c e d i n g p a g e .

The scenc was represented by a collection of edge boxes, physically jumpered into a collection of facet boxes. Each edge box and facet box was loaded with certain numerical and logic values, representing edges and facets in the scene, which could change between frames as required by the action. In the preprocess for each frame the old N asa sys tem used a specially built digital compuier. Ihc "vec tor calculator." This performed al great speed the three-part vector calculations necessary to determine all scene positions, including the positions and slams of all edges. Each individual e d p generator, loaded wilh ils own edge position, constantly1 reported whether the running scan of the picture was to the left or right of its own edge. It dutifully guarded this edge from border lo border of the picture.

The Wylic-Romncy method is Ihis: for each picturepoint desired in Ihe final picture, shoot a searching ray through the scene al a corresponding angle. Find where this searching ray hits every surface in ils way. Since ihe locations in space of these hii-points are easily calculated, figure their distances from the vantage point. The nearest of Ihe intersections b the visible one. Look up the color of that surface and shade the output point accbrdingly. This may sound inefficient, but il is comparatively easy to ascertain ill ihe piercing-poinis. since the sur faces to be hit in a given scanning row can be largely predicted from Ihe previous row. John Wamock's method, also from Utah, is unre lated to the other methods, bul has qualities mathe maticians like, as well as a certain whimsy. Consider a square in the picture area. (A t the start consider the whole picture area.) Now ihen. Test whether the present square is entirely filled with one color If so, output a corresponding square all of that color. If the present square is not all one color, divide it into four smaller squares. Take another square and go back to Now then. End the process when each of ihe squares in ihe broken-down picture has been completely filled wilh one color or the unsatisfied squares are loo smaD lo care aboul.

Ih illagi L a t of Ihe great h d f M u r t lm Suppose lhat we have some data structure represent ing a three-dimensional object, and a halftone method lo search oul its visible surfaces. How do we shade the output points? What do we take into account: how combine the basic pcys or colon, how blend them with computations of surface angle, distances from the vantage point, or anything ehe we can think of? Tbe answer: any way al all. The combining function is an aesthetic choice. There are not many areas left where you can make up a mathematical hodge-podge and get pleasing or interesting m ulti Computer half tone is a felicitous exception: you can augment by adding or multiplying, diminish by subtracting or divid ing. and yet always come up with an image resembling something. Anyone who has worked in a darkroom will recognize lhal this is L enlarging: playing wilh ike parameters won't obliterate the piciure. There are purists who insist that halftone coloration should exactly follow the formulas that simulate the behavior of real light. For some purposes, like pilot training, this may often be-true. But insisting on mathe matical accuracy as a general principle is like insbting oo ultra-high fidelityan aesthetic judgment couched as a mechanical imperative. Until now Ihc output hardware was not really ready for halfione. Five yean ago a computer could usuaDy create halftone pictures only on a line printer or s 4020 microfilm plotter. Today there are many different photographic printers, going lo all sizes of film and paper; one even uses a laser. There are various display terminals permitting grey-scale and ookx halftone oo TV screens. The age of computer image synthesis has begun. Polygon systems are fast and simple, and will come to be used in our daily lives for such diverse purposes as motecul? nudy, the memorization of delivery routes, and visualization of every kind of layout and doign. They will be fundamental to our new world of coamuter display. COMPUTER OCCISIONS

Warnock's dicing mathod: What can bs mad* aH ona color is redivided till IU pieces can be. OU NASA" method: Each sdg* box constantly reports which aida of Us adga th* scan is on; each (scat box sum* lha adga report! to sense when the scan is crossing M .

SECOND ARTICLE.

BOUKNIGHT AND KELLEY: PICKING THROUGH A CAT'S CRADLE The method of Bouknight and Kelley, a t the University of Illinois, permits the addition of shadow to polygon pictures. Their method uses an intricate system of scanning sweeps across the 6cene, analyzing the successive edgecrossings. For each output line, a l s of the it edges in the scene i ordered according to which s will be next encountered. To make a specific output line of shaded points, we step through successive positions of the scan-line, until an an edge is crossed. With each edge we cross, we enter or leave at least one facet. Of a l l the current facets we are in after a given edgecrossing, the system finds out the nearest one, the visible one, by comparing distances. The coloration of this facet i then fed out to the s picture, until the next edge-crossing. Bouknight and Kelley expand their method to show shadows by an additional step. They create a new l s of edges to be encountered, it this one relative to scans from the light source. Then, during the regular output picture scan, they look to this latter data to see about shadow. As soon as they know two consecutive edgea of a visible object in the picture, they are able t search the ahadow-edge l s t see i any o it o f shadow-edges impinge between them. The final l s of edges-- visible facet edges and shadow it edges-- goes to the picture output device.

Surface patterns. Curvature. Shadow.

THE PLOT SO FAR. Various computer methods now make i t possible to create artificial photographs of three-dimensional objects or scenes represented in the computer's storage. This i done by s coloring or shading points in an output picture like the points in the scene that can be sighted through them from the vantage point. What the methods really boil down to, though, are searching processes in the data representation of the three-dimensional scene. In an earlier article we have considered some of the techniques being used to depict simple scenes-- those made up of polygons. Now we turn to more elaborate scenes which add shadows, surface patterns and curvature. One of the most interesting things about this branch of computer graphics already seen in the polygon methods discussed earlier i s the variety of techniques that can be employed. Moreover, these methods, for a l their sophisti l cation, can usually be intuitively understood as thought they were operations performed on objects in space. The same continues to be true for the more complex systems. VARIOUS NEW TECHNIQUES PERMIT US TO ADD CURVES, SHADOWS AND SURFACE PATTERNS TO COMPUTER-GENERATED HALFTONE PICTURES

O F R E A L IT Y

ENHANCED POLYGON SYSTEMS In the methods discussed so far, we looked a several computer techniques for photograph t ically depicting scenes and objects made up of polygons planar facets-- in a represented three-dimensional Beene. Imaginary houses of cards, cardboard airplanes and triangular scen ery take on a compelling vividness when depicted by the computer. And for visualizing such things as architectural arrangements, such systems promise to be of increasing practical value. Those of us interested in the a rtistic aspects of computer halftone images want more. This article looks at some ways to add the appearance of curvature and surface pattern lo computer-synthesized images.

B O U K N IG H T -K E L LE Y

METHOD

M A G N U S K I'S

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MAGNUSKl PATTERNED CONSTRUCTIONS S A number of contributions have been made by individuals working alone. For instance, Henry Magnuski, at M.I.T., created a program that repeatedly positions patterned facets in space to make large constructions. This program did nol calculate "true" shadow, basing its shading partly on angle of surfaces. Neither does i show true curves. t Yet i shows the impressive degree to which t such effects may be approximated. The result ing beach ball picture i reminiscent of Moorish s architecture.

Si

DON LEE FILLS IN THE GAPS

D on L e e , a t t h e U n i v e r s i ty of I l l i n o i s , p r o d u c e d h i s f in e - to n e d p i c t u r e s of s p h e r e s in 1966 s im p ly b e c a u s e som eone b e t him a q u a r t e r h e c o u l d n 't p r o g r a m th e m etho d h e 'd s u g g e s t e d i n t w e n t y - f o u r h o u r s . He a lm o s t m a d e i t . He m a d e h i s p i c t u r e s of s p h e r e s a n d p o l y g o n s b y c a l c u l a t i n g t h e b o u n d a r i e s , th e n c h e c k i n g for o v e r l a p a n d f il li n g in w ith g r e y s a c c o r d i n g to v i e w in g a n g l e . His p r o g ra m w o r k s o n l y in s p e c i a l c a s e s , b u t is i n t e r e s t i n g fo r i t s h i s t o r ic a l p o s itio n ; i t w a s o n e of th e e a r l ie s t h a lf - to n e c u rv a tu r e s y s te m s.

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SIMPLEX CURVATURE SYSTEMS: MAHL & MAGI A f u n d a m e n ta l t y p e of s y s te m w e m ay c a ll t h e " s im p le x " s y s te m w a s e x e m p lified in t h e p r e v i o u s a rt i c l e b y t h e W ylie-R o m ney p r o g r a m . A s im p le x t e c h n i q u e s im p l y p r o je c ts s im u la te d r a y s to w a rd t h e s c e n e fro m th e v a n ta g e p o in t t il l th e y h i t t h e r e p r e s e n t e d o b j e c t s , a n d f ills c o r r e s p o n d i n g p o s it i o n s on th e o u t p u t p i c t u r e w ith t h e c o lo r s e n c o u n t e r e d on th e f r o n t s u r f a c e s of o b je c ts in th e s c e n e . T h e sa m e p r i n c i p l e e x te n d s n a t u r a l l y to s c e n e s w ith c u r v e d a n d o t h e r w i s e e m b e llis h e d o b jec ts. R o b e r t M a h l, a t t h e U n iv e rs ity of U ta h , h a s r e c e n t ly r e p o r t e d h i s r e s u l t s w ith s im p l e x m e th o d s u s in g q u a d r i c s u r f a c e s th o s e c u r v e d s u r f a c e s g e n e r a t e d b y m ath e m a tic a l p o w e r s o f tw o . H is p i c t u r e s - - l i k e th e c u p a n d s a u c e r s h o w n h e r e h a v e a p l e a s i n g 1920s B a u h a u s l i k e q u a lity . O n e p ro b le m w ith th is m ethod i s th a t c o m p u ta tio n a l c o m p le x ity i n c r e a s e s r a p i d l y a s t h e s c e n e s g ro w m ore com p le x ; t h e m o re s u r f a c e s a n d p i e r c i n g - p o i n t s , t h e m o re t im e -c o n s u m in g ( a n d e x p e n s i v e ) i t b e c o m e s to m ake t h e p i c t u r e .

HAVE A BALL WITH DON

LEE.

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fills in curvaceous shading.

His program first works out the general outlines.

MAHL'S SIMPLEX METHOD

Calculate all intersections of sighting ray with objects in scene; calculate which is nearer; shade it according to angle.

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I t s e e m s , h o w e v e r , that M a h l's w o r k m ay o n ly b e a r e d is c o v e r y of w hal o n e o r g a n iz a tio n w o r k e d o u t e a r l i e r a n d is b e in g s e c r e ti v e a b o u t. A firm d e l ig h tf u lly c a lle d MAGI (M athem atical A p p lic a tio n s G r o u p , I n c . ) of E lm s fo rd , N . Y . , h a s e x te n d e d th e sa m e id e a m ore e l a b o r a te ly . T h e y h a p p e n e d in to th e halftone g am e th r o u g h a m ilita r y c o n t r a c t. MAGI's s y s te m , now th o ro u g h ly d e v e lo p e d u n d e r R o b e r t G o ld s te in , b e g a n i n 1965 in a s tu d y of r a d i a t io n h a z a r d s i n b a ttle fie ld e q u ip m e n t. T h e y w r o te a p r o g r a m to sim u la te p a th s o f r a d ia tio n , s a y , th a t m igh t r e a c h a la n k d r i v e r u n d e r v a r o u s d is a g r e e a b l e c ir c u m s ta n c e s . H a v in g w r itt e n a p r o g r a m th a l w ould a s c e r ta i n th e s u s c e p tib ility to r a d ia tio n of b a ttle fie ld m a c h i n e r y , th e y n o te d th a t t h e s a m e p ro g r a m co u ld be a d a p te d to m a k in g p h o to g r a p h s . T h e p ro g a m s im u la te d r a d ia tio n ; lig h t is ra d ia tio n ; ip so fa c to , p i c t u r e s . S u b sta n tia lly th e sam e p ro g r a m w o u ld m ak e p h o to g r a p h - l ik e im a g e s , b y tr e a t in g th e o b je c ts a s o p a q u e , a n d r e f le c t in g d if f e r e n t s h a d e s a c c o r d i n g to c o lo r an d a n g le of v ie w . T h e r e s u l t i n g s y ste m m ak es n ic e p i c t u r e s of o b je c ts c om p ose d o f p la n e s a n d q u a d r i c s u r fa c e s; a n d i n c l u d e s , a s w ill b e s e e n from th e r a c i n g c a r a n d c h a i r , co lo red s u r f a c e d e s i g n s , s h a d o w s a n d s p e c tr a l re fle c tio n s . Nol on ly do e s MAGI's s o f tw a r e fo r th is p r o c e s s p r o d u c e d e li c a te ly s h a d e d p ic tu r e s ; if the v i r t u a l p i c t u r e p la n e is m o v e d u n til it in t e r s e c ts the s u b je c t, it p r o d u c e s a c r o s s - s e c ti o n . MAGI r u n s t h is p ro g ra m re m o te ly in F o r tr a n o n a b i g c o m p u te r - - b u t th e y h a v e t h e ir ow n m in ic o m p u te r s e tu p for p h o to g r a p h in g the r e s u l t s a s c o lo r m o v ie s. T h e y now offe r u s e of Ihis s y s te m co m m e rc ia lly fo r m a k in g m o v ies o r s tills .

HAGI p r o g r a m w a s o r i g i n a l l y d e v e l o p e d fo r stu d y of r a d ia tio n h a z a rd s In s id e m i l i t a r y a rm o r; th e p s e u d o -p h o to g ra p h ic te c h n i q u e s w ere a s id e e f f e c t o f th e a p p ro a ch ch09en. Who k n o w : , t h e s e ta n & s may b e t h e o n e s s t u d i e d .

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MAGI t e c h n i q u e s w e r e u s e d t o a l t e r n a t i v e w ays o f l i g h t i n g stu d y m in e s.

SYNTHEVISION SETUP u s e s r e m o t e t i m e - s h a r i n g c o m p u t e r ru n n in g b ig s e c r e t F o r t r a n p ro g ram and c o n t a i n i n g e n tir e d a ta s tr u c tu r e of th re e -d im e n sio n a l sc e n e s. M in i c o m p u t e r p h o t o g r a p h i c s e t u p I s on p r e m i s e s a t C o m p u t e r V i s u a l s , I n c . , MACI s u b s i d i a r y m a r k e t i n g th e S y n th e v ls io n s e r v i c e . L o c a l s e t u p u s e s ilo v a m in i c o m p u t e r c o n t r o l l i n g b o th CRT d i s p l a y a n d c a m e r a . In fo rm e d g u e s s w o u ld s u g g e s t th a t tim e - s h a rin g sy stem does n o t sen d a l l su c c e ssiv e p o in ts of o u tp u t lin e , but d iffe re n c e and t r a n s i t i o n v a l u e s ; Nova p ro g ra m w o u ld th e n i n te r p o l a te g r a d a tio n s in r e l a t i v e l y q u ie t se ctio n s of th e s c a n - l i n e . M A G I's p r e c i s e s y s t e m I s s e c r e t . H o w ev e r, t h e o n ly r e a l q u e s t i o n s b o l l down t o : f o r m s o f s u r f a c e r e p r e s e n t a t i o n ; a y s t e m s o f s c e n e s o r t i n g ; a n d m e th o d of sc en e s c a n n in g to p ro d u ce o u tp u t s c a n . An e a r l y MAGI c h a r a c t e r N o te t h a t o n e o f t h e m o st i m p r e s s i v e t h i n g s a b o u t MAGI w o r k , a t l e a s t f o r s o p h i s t i c a t e s , i s t h e d e g r e e o f a r t i s t i c c o n t r o l t h a t seem s to h a v e been r e a liz e d In t h e i r in p u t and r e v is io n s y s te m s . It seem s th e y o f f e r e x c e l l e n t c o n t r o l o v e r m o ti o n and c o l o r , a n d , o f c o u r s e , r e v i s i o n o f th e a c t i o n in a sc en e t i l l th e m aker ie s a tis f ie d . P opular S c ie n c e . I th in k i t S y n t h e v ls io n in f a l l o f 73. w as, had a spread on

E n l a r g e m e n t f r o m MAGI f i l m . I hope th e r e p r o d u c t i o n show s t h e c o n c e n t r i c r i n g s , c a l l e d H ach b a u d s , t h a t d i v i d e a r e a s o f s h a d i n g ; K n o w lto n a n d Harm on ( c i t a t i o n p . DM 1 0 ) a d v i s e o n p s e u d o random t e c h n i q u e s f o r c o r r e c t i n g t h i s .

ROUNDUP T h e s e ha v e b e e n so m e o f th e h ig h lig h ts of th e h alftone game to d a te . T h e m e tho d s d e s c r ib e d so f a r a r e m ainly s o f tw a r e - o r i e n t e d , a n d fo r th e most p a r t w ork most e ffic ie n tly a s p r o g r a m s . In the n e* t a r tic le w e w ill lo o k a t som e o u tla n d is h new form s of e q u ip m e n t, u n d e r c o n s tr u c tio n o r p ro p o s e d , fo r d e d ic a te d p r o d u c tio n o f 3-D' h alftone p ic tu r e s .

S t.

T H IR D A R T I C L E .

S p e c ia liz e d h a r d w a r e s y s te m s .

SP E C IA L EQ U IPM E N T IS NOW B EIN G B U IL T F O R M A K ING "R E A L IS T IC " H A L FT O N E P IC T U R E S BY C O M PU TE R . T H IS A R T IC L E C O V E R S SO M E O F THE MORE U N U SU A L H A L F T O N E HARDWARE SY STEM S NOW IN E X IS T E N C E O R BEING PLA N N ED .

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HAKJTiHe* h'com'In tw o p r e v i o u s a r tic le s w e h a v e s u m m a r iz e d so m e o f th e im p o rta n t b a s ic te c h n iq u e s i n c o m p u te r h a lfto n e -- th e artific ia l c o n stru c tio n b y c o m p u t e r o f p h o t o g r a p h i c p i c t u r e s o f 3 -D s c e n e s , s c e n e s w h ic h a r e r e p r e s e n t e d w ith in th e c o m p u te r a s c o lo r e d o r s h a d e d s u r f a c e s p la c e d in a c o o r d in a te s y s te m of th r e e d im e n sio n s.

R e s u l t s o f G o u r a u d 's s w e l l s m o o t h i n g t e c h n i q u e . M m e. G o u ra u d p o s e d f o r th e d a f a s t r u c t u r e o n t h e l e f t , a s y s t e m o f i n t e r c o n n e c t e d .flat p o l y g o n s . T h e G o u ra u d p r o c e s s (s e e b o x b e lo w ) c r e a te d th e sm o o th -lo o k in g face fr o m i t b y a n e x t r e m e l y s im p l e p r o c e s s . (N o te t h a t t h e p o w e r o f t h e t e c h n i q u e i s i n t h e u s e o f a s im p le p o l y g o n d a t a s t r u c t u r e , r a t h e r t h a n t h e m o r e d i f f i c u l t t r u l y - c u r v e d s u r f a c e s u s e d , e . g . , b y M A G I.) (N o te a l s o t h a t t h e e d g e s r e m a in j a g g e d . )

T h e t e c h n i q u e s w e h a v e lo o k e d a t w e r e a ll i n t u i t i v e l y " s p a t i a l " i n c h a r a c t e r , h a v i n g to do w ith th e a n a ly s is of s ig h t- lin e s a n d r e l a t iv e e d g e p o s i t i o n s , a n d s u i t e d to i m p l e m e n t a t i o n i n c o m p u te r s o f tw a r e . N o w w e t u r n to s o m e m o r e a d v an ced a n d p e c u lia r te c h n iq u e s a n d eq u ip m e n t i n t e n d e d to m a k e 3 -D c o m p u t e r h a l f t o n e f a s t e r to u s e , o r m o re r e a l i s t i c , o r e a s i e r to w o r k w ith , o r cheaper. T h e s e s y s t e m s r e p r e s e n t a c o m in g g e n e r a t i o n d f h a l f t o n e h a r d w a r e .

TH E W ATKINS BOX T h e U n i v e r s i t y o f U ta h i s n o w b u i l d i n g w h a t w i l b e f o r s o m e tim e t h e w o r l d ' s moat s p e c t a c u l a r i n te r a c tiv e c o m p u te r d i s p l a y , th e W a tk in s B o x . T h i s d e v i c e , i n t e r f a c i n g b e t w e e n a c o m p u t e r a n d a t e l e v i s i o n s c r e e n , w i ll c a r r y o u t t h e W a t k in s a l g o r i t h m ( d e s c r i b e d i n th e f i r s t a r t i c l e o f t h i s s e r i e s ) i n r e a l tim e : r i p p i n g t h r o u g h a p r e d i g e s t e d l i s t o f f a c e t in f o r m a t i o n , t h e W a tk in s B o x w i ll c r e a t e o n t h e s c r e e n a n im a g e o f a n o p a q u e o b j e c t w h i c h t h e u a e r c a n ro ta te o r s e e m an ip u late d b y p ro g r a m . T h e W a tk in s B o x c a n o p e r a t e i n tw o m o d e s t n o rm a l m o d e , i n w h ic h th e o b je c t a p p e a r s fa c e te d , a n d G o u r a u d m o d e , i n w h i c h i l a p p e a r s to b e c u rv e d o v e r (see m a sk s, n e a rb y ). T h e G o u ra u d a lg o rith m , d e v e lo p e d b y a g r a d u a t e s t u d e n t o f th a t n a m e , i s a r i d i c u l o u s l y s im p le t e c h n iq u e w h ic h m a r r ie s p e r f e c t l y to th e W a tk in s m e t h o d . I n s t e a d of s h a d i n g t h e f a c e ts u n ifo rm ly , th is te c h n iq u e c a lc u la te s a s h a d e of g r a y f o r e a c h p o i n t. In e ffe c t t h e m e th o d I n t e r p o l a t e s t h e s h a d e of t h e p o i n t f r o m t h o s e a r o u n d i t , a c ro s s facet b o u n d a rie s . In a c t u a l p r o c e d u r e , th e G o u r a u d m eth o d s h a d e s a p o in t by l i n e a r i n t e r p o l a t i o n b e t w e e n tw o e d g e - c o l o r a ; t h e c o l o r o f t h e l a s t e d g e a n d t h e n e x t e d g e to b e e n c o u n t e r e d o n th e p r e s e n t s c a n - l i n e . ( T h e s e s h a d e s a r e in t u r n f o u n d b y l i n e a r i n t e r p o l a t io n b e t w e e n t h e i r e n d p o i n t s . )

I s u g g e ste d t h i s co v er fo r th is a r tic le . The f o l k s a t C o m p u te r P e e l s i o n s r e a c te d w ith p u z z le m e n t i f n o t d is m a y . " T h le c o v e r d o e s n 't h a v e p r a c t l c a l a p p l i c a t io n s f o r th e a v e ra g e u s e r ." I th in k som eone s a i d .

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n o te d t h a t G o u r a u d 's m e th o d th e e d g e s . B u t c o n s i d e r i n g i ts sm a ll a d d it io n to t h e W a tk in s b o x . s a c rific e .

N a t u r a l l y , th e W a tk in s B ox w il l n o t r e a c h th e p r i v a t e ho m e fo r s e v e r a l y e a r s ; c u r r e n t l i k e l y p r i c e i s i n 6 ix f i g u r e s . B u t t h a t 's n o w .

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Boy ell's ap pr o a ch la to tr eat ea c h compo ne nt of th e p ic to r ia l /r a d a r simulation as a s e pa rat e pro blem , lo be ha ndled In different w a y s , and ble nd ed In a final b u f fe r , a core memory which la rea d out to te lev ision . Seps r a te mech an isms su p p ly components of s h s d o w , sp e c u la r r ef le ct io n. coloration and rand omi zin g eff ects. T he core buffe r co nti nuously re fre sh e s th e sc ann ed CRT dla pl a y . Boyell ha s pu t Ihe same te ch n iq u es lo w ork m a kin g simulated halfione p ic tu r e s of the moon (eee c u t ) . Both the r a d a r a n d moon s y s tems u s e Ihe same typ e of halftone Image sy n th e s i s , e v e n tho ugh supe rficially the y aeem qu ite d if fe re nt . But r a d a r Is rad ia tio n, ju at lik e li g h t, a n d Boyell'a te ch ni qu es of th r ee -d im en sio nal mo de lling a n d a ea rc h app ly equal ly well to d e ple tio n by refle cte d v isible light I . e . , half tone Imagea.

Tha otw p i l e i i r a l a a r . 1 1 1 a . i l a a t a | and d ip In r a a p a . e e t a t h a i t a l f o l a ; aa a l a | | | ( | C i t s , w ith o p i l c a 1 - f r a a l l h a l lo r u a lh a a y e a a I b I I b I I t a ad e n a c t e d I th a a ia a a , th e p il o t n i l a reeE v i d e n t l y th e y hav a In a ln d th a ua a n( d o if I g ht l o t a l t h , a ed who ................ v l t c h e e T d ln e n a 1 o n a 1 a c e n e a o r o b j e c t a . T e rrific . (M o te : c o a p a r e th a c l a l a of 1 4 ,0 0 0 e d ie a on e $ 1 5 0 ,0 0 0 s y a t e a w ith t h e 2000 ( ? ) edgaa a llo w e d by che o l d HAS A a y a t e a b u i l t by CE, o r t h a V . t k l n t Box 1 d o a ' t know how aany e d p .e s - - a t $ 5 0 0 ,0 0 0 f r o a Evana and S u t h e r l a n d .

Tha ayate a m il d ln a m v b a r a t dlfferwnl t m l a u One of I tM a w n l r a la rge array of LAI r i f i jOng B o d u la (Ita d M C b a r te u d under an unuaual Monitor r v n c la f a a ( e n s n l purpoae m o n i t o r Tha c tte cke fta ard l o m Machine to U a a p a l e pread e f a u rfao . dSU . It Is a tagWal e M l y . a a rr a y I M rag Bn aa I d o n 't ex p ec t you to belie ve th i s , be ca u se nol ev en my pa te n t at torney d o e s, b u l Ihe system I call Panta sm Is Intende d to make p ic tu r e s that paaa th e T u r in g -l e a l: you w on't b e able to tell them from r e a l p h o to gr ap h s . Panta sm la Inten d e d to allow th e u s e r to make re a li st ic , H ierony mus Bo sc h-l ik e ph ot og ra ph s s n d movie s, with rea l- lo o k in g peo ple (and s c e n e ry . Imaginary c h a r a c t e r s , m o n st er s, e t c . ) In s c e n e s of a r b i tr a r y c om ple xit y. It la exp ected lh at 1675 eco nomics will make It s con stru ctio n fea sible. Fantasm I or ig in al ly conce ived as a method of ma kin g r ea lis ti c photo gr aph s a nd movie s, not knowing at the time th al th is was Im possible, b u t feel ing ll could be done aime ho w If the prob lem w er e br o ke n down suf fi cien tly. At times 11 was not c lea r which of us would be br o k e n down f l r a t . 1 o r U. II o c c u r re d lo me sometime In 1960-1 lhal co m p u te r- in te rp o l at e d . Disne y-t yp e carto on ing methods w oul d be fea alble . A fter some thought I rea liz ed lh at pse ud o -p ho to gr a p h y would b e poa ai ble , a n d dro p p ed the ca rt o o n in g Idea . The s tr a n g e b e h a v io r of people whom I told aboul thi s led me to in c re as in g s e cr ec y . T h e g e n e r a l goal waa to ma ke a system t h a l co uld do rea lis ti c movies wit ho ut sc en e ry o r a ct o r a , an d make p ic tu res in d is tin g u is h a b le from r e a l photo g r a p h s of r eal s c e n e ry an d a c to r s . ("Whal do you mean, In di st in gu is h ab le from p h o to g r a p h s ? people keep a s k in g . What do tha y mean w ha t do I mean?) T h e su rfa ces a re to be pu l In b y " s c u l p to rs ," an imated b y " p u p p e t e e r s , " an d phot og rap he d b y a " d ir e c to r . " T h e obje ct ive Is for moviemaking to be un d e r ihe ut te r Im aginative control of Ihe c rea ti v e u s e r.

epraedeagtad In ll. TM k of Ha trace aa a radto-cenooU ed fir0y i"H ch eck erb oard. Ualag thia a a d var t s ^ cet'a-credla Us a r w t a r a b s a d w t t e g ^ B n i Mifl a . alry e f UM a r a a d od v ta aa s

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m T k b I t a . b j r r t a lafea aa t a g a s R * . a t aa km>g aa (ha M r m m * as ^ y h r . to nil IB o t a p m Vtoaal M d k . * a ^ . f d k c loltad to lha pradactkM la ^ k H ill * M f BartaWy M k a k . *Te U a d Be tta p * I H ll a i r . i l l a a i t a m ^

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FOURTH ARTICLE. System s o f C o m pute r Image C o rporati on.

SO FAR WE HAVE SUMMARIZED AND DISTINGUISHED AMONG THE MAJOR TECHNIQUES FOR COMPUTER SYNTHESIS OF IMAGES FROM DIGITALLY STORED REPRESENTATIONS OF SCENES. WE NOW TAKE THE WRAPS FROM A DIFFERENT BUT RELATED SET OF TECHNIQUES THE SYSTEMS OF COMPUTER IMAGE CORPORATION . Lee Harrison III got Die Idee for what la now Computer Image Corporation In 1959. A l ready having an art d e g r ee , he went on for a degree in electrical e n gin ee rin g, end through lon g lean years put together the technical basics around which C l's system s are now built. Com puter Image Corporation la now a goin g c on cern , and output from their ayatem s. especially Scanimate, la now w idely v is ib le on tele visio n . Compuier Image Corporation seem s lo be the first Arm to be commercially su ccessfu l In the halftone field. Whether they should be Included w ith the others Is arguable, how ever, Their ayatems are nol w idely understood, and the relation of these syatem s to the Other sy stem s and programs describ ed In these articles Is problem atical. Among the Tew who understand their techn iqu es, some argue that they do not syn th eslte images al all, bul ralhar twist p re existing pictures with a sort of Moog sy n th esiser , and that their analog techniques are really Just compound o scillators rather than true computing. I think that this view Is w rong, at leaat as regards Ihelr moat ambitious system , and that Cl'a techniques de se rv e review . All the world la not digita l. Cl system s do Dll up areas with g rey-seals (and other) p ictures, end their s y s tems Involve three-dim ensional coordinates, occultaikm and coloration; thus I think ll ap propriate lo discuaa them h ere. The followin g d iscu ss Ton Is tha f ir s t, I believe, to lift the vail o l secrecy thal haa hith erto confounded oh serv e rs of this company's work. In the Ught o f the extrem e sophistication with which they have pursued extremely stran ge techniques, they should benefit from the wider understandin g. (Note lhal this m aterial, which haa been assembled from various sou rces and careful TV w atching, Is partly conjectural.) Computer Image's system s represenl an apparently unprom isin g approach brilliantly followed through. AU o f C l 's sy ste m s a re a stra n g e com bin ation of c lo se d - c irc u it TV an d analog components oul of a music sy n th e siz er: osc illa tors, p o te n tiometers . in te rco n n ecti o n n el w ork s , T h e ba aj c mechanisms are the same for all, bul th e y are c arried to d if feren t lo gic al e x tre m e s , with dif fe r in g a cc o u tre m e n ts, in the four syste m s. They all seem lo be b a sed on ihe e x tra o rd in ary Anlmac I I, nol y e l Implemented; it would seem lhal for b u sin e ss rea so n s lh e company de cid e d lo raise money p ro m oting sim p le r s y s te m s , so lls brea d and b u tle r now c o n sis ts o f two le ss ambitious ay stem s, Scanlmale and Anlmac I; both of which might be p u z zli n g i f nol re c o g nise d aa p a rts of a more eleg a nt whole- It would seem they w ere d e sig n ed b a c k w a r d s as spinoffs from Anlmac II, as waa CAESAR, th e ir more recent 2-D a y ste m . The extraordinary ramifications and varieties of this sy stem , with all Its electronic add-on and composite m ethods, stagger the most jaded technical ImaginaUon. At Uie heart of tha C( system s Is the prin ciple of fillin g areas of a CRT screen with an oscillating trace. Thia Is a principle common to both Llssajous figures and television; but Compuier Image haa elaborated ft p ecu liarly . By variations they paint twlated television Im ages, wiggle eectiona of superim posed dra w in gs, create moving filigree effects, and hope to animate whole groups of opaque electronic puppets In 3-apace. Consider an oscillatin g trace on an o sc illo scope. This la a two-dim ensional o scillation, having two sig n a ls, x and y . Bul a three-dim ensional oscillation is also possible; any third sig n al, z , can be Interpreted as a third dimenalon, meaning that a "point of light" is w hirling out some pattern In a three-dim ensional sp ace an o sd llo ta n k , so to sp eak . Let us call this point moving In three dim ensions a "space trace." Now to view thla trace we need to c u l It down to two dim ensions. By ignoring one of the traces we can view the osd llotank in certain fixed waya; but by c re stin g a "view c alcu lator, a box performing certain p erspective transfor mations on the three sign als of lha sp ace trace, we may obtain a view of the osdllotank from a movable vantage point. This is an E-y view which we may pul on an ordin ary o sd llo scop e. Let us now add one more sign a l, b (for b rig h tn ess). T h is Is the brigh tn ess Bignal fam iliar In television: Brightness of the spot Is thus independent of the movement of the space trace. For exam ple, the apace trace could describ e s helical path , a sort of tornado motion, and we could time Its spinning to phase w ith a TV slg n sl. If we now brighten the space trace only with the bright ness signal o f a TV pick up , w e now will se e On our view of the osclliotank) what would look like a TV picture curled around itse lf in sp ace. The different Cl system s are bulll around this effect. Output from all these sign als Is ordinarily picked up by another v id lc o n , which sta bilizes it by converting it Into conventional television

S c a n t B i t e ' t w i r l , by now f a m i l i a r t o noaC TV w a t c h e r s . S c a n im a te i s e x t e n s i v e l y u s e d on ''T h e E l e c t r i c

CAESAR S y s t e m . C h a r a c te r ! are na d e t o move j a w s a n d l i p s by J o in tin g te c h n iq u e s im ila r te A n In a c I I ( b e l o w ) , b u t i n a u c h a way a s t o m a t t e o v e r draw n a r t w o r k - - m e a n t im e w i g g l i n g o t h e r d raw n a rtw o r k th r o u g h c a n M a n ip u la tio n .

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A last Cl te c h n iq u e , te chnically minor b u l rem a rkable in effect, p e rm its th is blockin g and shadow ing among se p a r a te obje cts. T his Is the use or a sto ra g e CRT tu b e on whic h e v e r y frame Is painted (from th e vie w p o in t o r from the Ught Source). T h e p ic tu r e is p a lm e d on the S t o n g e C H T, nearest th in g s f ir s t; and th e r e tu r n atgnal from the sc re en te lls w h e t h e r th e sp a c e tr a c e is c r o ssin g an a rea a lre a d y p a in te d d u r in g the f rame. T he tu b e 's outp ut sig n a l th e n effectively c onstitutes a silh o u ette. T h la d u e in dic ate s that th e apac e tr ac e should nol be v is ible ; and he nce is uaed to cul off b r ig h tn e s s w hile the tr a c e la w ithin th e a lr e ady-fille d a r e a . T his ga te s betw een two de sir ed o b je c ts o r p i c t u r e s , fo re ground and ba ck g ro u n d . If ope ra le d from Ihe point of view of the l i g h t . ll ga tes shadow: the s ig na l Is used to c ontrol th e rela tive brig h tn e ss of the shadowed and unsh a d o w e d fea tu res o f a puppet In 3-Spa ce. A fasc in ating v a r ie ty of embel lishments has be en put into th e se s y s te m s by C l's in g e n ious e n g in e e rs . Coloration of th e final video signal Is added by g a tin g c olo r le vels u n d e r con trol of the b r ig h tn e ss s i g n a l , perm ittin g p ic tures with se v e r a l g r e y - l e v e l s to be tran sfo rmed 10 up lo four rainbow h u e s . Se pa ra te sha pes de scrib e d by th e sp a ce I rs c e may be indepen d e ntly moved and Jointed a t th e same time: H arris on poin te dly c all s s u c h se p arate sh sp e s " b o n e s ." D arkening a t ih e ba ck sid e of a sp un s h a p e , o r b r ig h te n in g a t e d g e s of a painted p o r tio n , and b r ig h te n in g in prop o rtio n lo c u r l, are all str a n g e capa bilities o f I h ls machine, Lips y n c h ro n ize d mouthlike motion can be im parted to a n y p a r t o f th e sh a p e s p u n by th e sp a c e tr ac e (w he th e r o r nol a mouth i s pa ln le d on I t) , b y sn audio dete cto r fee din g d ir e c ily to th e c irc u itry from a live m ike. A nd th e lim bs of Cls ghostly f ig u res can be made to s w in g b y connection o f s e n so rs to th e a nim a to rs th e m se lv e s in a living p a n to g ra p h , SCANIMATE i s a p o p u la r de vic e now widely use d (at C l's s tu d io s) f o r th e m akin g of TV com m e rc ia ls and s ta lio n - b r e a k emble ms. T h is Is ih e ir sim ple st sy ste m , u s e d for th e conversion and discombobulaiion of H at a rtw o r k . In Scanimate, the sp a c e tr a c e i s co n tro lled by ha nd opera te d pote ntiom e te rs. T w o se p arate osc illa to r se ttin g s a re a v ailab le , s o tha t th e sp ace trac e c sn have two se parate o sc illa tion p atterns, s p in n in g oul two e n tir e ly d ifferen t vir tu a l shapea in 3 -spac e. A h s n d - th r o tllc ease s from one o scilla to r se ttin g lo th e o l h e r . T h is perm its an image to be moved, s h r u n k o r e n la r g e d , o r flip ped: to go from w h ir lin g a ro u n d lo a so rt of hula; and many more e ff e c ts. T he pic tu re painted on it may be sc n to r o ll on in vis ib le sp in d l e s , bloom into fo u n ta in s, or undula te aa p e n n a n ts- - all by m o dula ting lh e brig h tn e ss of the f ly in g spol a s it tr a c e s its unseen s ha p e. T h is s h a p e . In tu r n , c a n move betw een its two form s un d e r control of th e Ihro ttle. Animac I (usually c a ll e d Anlmac) p ro v id es g r e a ie r flexibilit y In c o n tro l lin g Ihe apac e trac e. T he sy s te m 's oscilla tions a r e controlle d b y an in p u t v idioon. w hic h a r t i s t s may q uic kly modify with pa stel cheek at ih e p ic k u p . Ghostly lo b u la r le tte rin g , sw arm in g p e n d u lu m - p a tt e m s and jig g lin g tlllgTeea a re am ong th e possible doodlea. CAESAR, th e ir n e w e s t sy ste m , i s orie nted to w a rd Yogi B e a r - iy p c a n im a tio n . T he a r ti s t's c arto ons a re automatically s upe rim posed o n a b a ck g r o u n d o r e ach o t h e r . T h e y may b e moved, and made to w ig gle u n d e r r ea l-tim e c ontrol by the u s e r . But It 1b lo A nlm ac II lh a t Ihese c u rio sitie s le ad. What H arris on c a ll s th e "Snow White Capability " of Animac II w ill pe rm it th e scu lp tu re of full humanoid p u p p e ts , w ith p e rh a p s th irty a rticula te d " b o n e s," op a q u e to one a noth er and c a s tin g s h a d o w a , c o lo re d , m ovin g and ta lk in g.

g i v e s u s a w in d o w I n t o a p e c u l i a r s o r t o f w o r l d : a w o r l d I n w h i c h lu m i n o u s s h a p e s c a n u n d u l a t e and s p in on I n v i s i b l e s p i n d l e s (S c a n im a te ) , o r w ig g le a s s e p a r a t e b o n e s (CAESAR. T u b e l i k e s h a p e s may b e r o t a t e d a n d s h a p e d I n 3D ( A n l m a c ) , a n d p u p p e t s n a y e v e n t u a l l y b e r o l l e d l i k e c i g a r e t t e a (A n im ac I I ) , w h ic h may t h e n be p a i n t e d f ro m a TV p i c k u p on t h e s i d e n e a r e s t th e v ie w p o in t. By u s i n g a s t o r a g e t u b e and s p i n n i n g t h e t r a c e c l o s e t o g e t h e r , l i k e c o t t o n c a n d y , and c u t t i n g o f f t h e p a i n t i n g s i g n a l w h ile th e t r a c e i s w i t h i n th e a r e a a l r e a d y f i l l e d , we g e t e l e c t r o n i c m a s k i n g : i.h i c h b l e n d s a n i m a t e d d r a w i n g s I n 2D (CAESAR) r i a s k i n g a n o n n 3D p u p p e t s (A nlm ac I I ) .

a r e r a p i d l y spun i n t h r e e d im e n s io n s t h a t l a . v a r y i n g v o l t a g e s M, y and I . T he r e s u l t i n g " t u b e s '* and p a c tlv e c a lc u la tio n . T he c i r c u i t r y p e rm its th e se shapea to f le a a t J o i n t s , w a v e , a n d go t h r o u g h o t h e r changes. IN SCANIMATE: z i g z a g a n d c u rlin g shapes d e fin e a m o v in g s c r o l l on w h ic h an im a g e i s p a i n t e d . IN CAESAR: c u r l i n g S h a p e s a r e tre a te d 2 -d Io e n aIo n ally , as b lo c k in g c o n t r o l s f e r a rtw o rk . IN ANIHAC 1 1 : p u p p e t s w i l l be s c u l p t e d much l i k e r o l l i n g a c ig a re tte .

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WHAT ABOUT REAL THREE-DIMENSIONAL DISPLAY? In s c i e n c e - f i c t i o n s t o r i e s you h e a r about how o b je c ts a r e m ade to a p p e a r as if t h e y r e s t a n d i n g in t h e m id d le o f t h e ro o m . F o r i n s t a n c e , 1 b e l i e v e lhal i n H e in l e in s S t r a n g e r i n a S tr a n g e L a n d th e y w a tc h e d a " t a n k " i n w h ich t h i n g s appeared. Well, a lo t of p e o p le h a v e th o u g h t ab o u t t h i s , a n d i t 's n o t so e a s y a s y o u m ight t h i n k . One i n t e r e s t i n g s c h e m e u s e d a s o r t of t r a n s l u c e n t p r o p e l l o r , s p i n n i n g r a t h e r f a s t , on w h i c h c o m p u t e r - g e n e r a t e d im a g e s w e r e p r o j e c t e d from b e l o w . It w a a d o n e b y t h e d o t t in g m e th o d , so t h a t a b r i g h t d o t o f lig h t w o u ld a p p e a r h i g h o r low i n s p a c e d e p e n d i n g on w h e t h e r i t w a s p r o j e c t e d on a re l a t i v e l y h i g h o r low p o in t on th e p r o p e l l o r . Lou K atz, o f NYU, p u t o l d -fa fl h i o n e d e t e r e o p t i c o n s up t o t h e CRT, and d i s p l a y e d two s e p a r a t e viewe t o t h e two e y e s . Works f i n e , even w ith iso m etric d is p la y . Bob S p in r a d of X e ro x D a ta S y s te m s h a s a p a te n t on d i s p l a y i n g 3D fr om a c o m p u t e r t h r o u g h a n o r d i n a r y co lo r T V . A s s u m i n g y o u 'r e u s i n g som e s t a n d a r d w ay o f r e f r e s h i n g th e TV d e s c r i b e d e l s e w h e r e - - th e im a g e f o r o n e e y e i s d i s p l a y e d in g T e en, t h e o t h e r i n r e d , a n d y o u lo ok t h r o u g h r e d an d fcreen g l a s s e s . T h e w o n d e r s o f m o d e m s c i e n c e . S p in r a d c h u c k l e s o v e r I t him s e lf. A n o th e r s ch e m e g lu e d s i l v e r M y la r to the fr o n t of a l o u d s p e a k e r , th e n p l a y e d a soft hum t h r o u g h th e lo u d s p e a k e r lo p u l s e t h e M y lar b a c k a n d fo r th . Then y o u u s e d t h s t as a m i r r o r to look at w hat was g o i n g on th e C R T -- w h ic h was s h o w i n g a lot o f p o in ts at o d d p l a c e s th at would a p p e a r to b e i n s p a c e . U n f o rtu n a te ly t h ia was h a r d t o c o o r d i n a t e , a n d , l i k e t h e p ro p e llo r# o fte n r e q u i r e d you to p u t d o ts in s e v e r a l p l a c e s at o n c e , w h ich d o n 't w o r k . F o r a w hile y o u c o u ld g e t m ay b e y o u s t i ll c a n a t h r e e - d i m e n s i o n a l c o m p u t e r o u tp u t d e v i c e . H e re s w ha t it d id : it c r e a te d o b je c ts s h o w i n g da ta s t r u c t u r e s t h a t h a d t h r e e v a r i a b l e s . (It d i d n t m ake w i r e - f r a m e o b j e c ts o r t h e l i k e . ) A utom atically e j e c tin g w i r e t h r o u g h a styrofoa m b l o c k , an d s n i p p i n g th e d o n e o n e s , it c r e a te d l ittle m o u n tain s s h o w i n g t h r e e - d i m e n s i o n a l d a t a . V e ry c u t e . S in ce m any p e o p le h a v e p ro b le m s w ith m ountainous c o m p u t e r d a t a , it p r o b a b l y s h o u ld h a v e c a u g h t o n .

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T his w as in te re s tin g but had num erous d i s a d v a n t a g e s - - n o t t h e l e a s t of w h ich w a s the d a n g e r of th e t h i n g f l y i n g a p a r t . (T ran slu ce n t m a te r ia ls lend not to b e a s s t r o n g a s , s a y , m e t a l .) A n o t h e r b a s i c p r o b l e m , t h o u g h , w a s t h e fact that a n y g i v e n p o i n t i n th e s p a c e could o n ly b e d is p l a y e d at a g i v e n t i m e , w h e n the p r o p e l l o r s h e i g h t i n t h a t re g i o n was j u s t r i g h t , an d thal m eant th at a t t h a t g i v e n i n s t a n t y o u c o u l d n t d i s p l a y a n y o f t h e o t h e r p o in ts th at c o u ld only b e d i s p l a y e d at t h a t i n s t a n t . A co n s i d e r a b l e d i s a d v a n ta g e . P ro b a b ly the m ost a s t o n i s h i n g 3D d i s p l a y is S u t h e r l a n d 's I n c r e d i b l e H elm et. T h i s c o n s i s t s of a helm et w i t h tw o d i n k y CRTs m o u n ted on i t , e a ch b e i n g d r i v e n i n r e a l tim e b y a p e r s p e c t i v e s y s te m (s u c h a s t h e L D S -1) an d s e t u p w ith p r i s m s to the w e a r e r 's e y e s . T h r o u g h th e p r i s m s th e w e a r e r c a n eee t h e r e a l w o r ld in fr o n t of h im . R eflected in t h e p r i s m s , h o w e v e r , a n d th u s m ix ed into th e v iew o f th e r e a l w o r l d , is t h e g lo w in g w i re -fr a m e b e i n g p r e s e n t e d t o him i n p e r s p e c t iv e , an d w it h it s s e p a r a t e v ie w s m e r g in g into an a p p a r e n t o b je c t in f r o n t of h i m . B ut h e n e e d not s t a n d still: as h e m o v e s , th e h e l m e t 's c h a n g in g p o s ition i s m o n ito r e d b y the p r o g r a m , and th e d is p lay s y s t e m c h a n g e s th e v ie w s a c c o r d in g l y m e a n in g he c a n w a lk a r o u n d a n d t h r o u g h a d i s p l a y e d o b j e c t. T h e i l l u s i o n , a n d th e p o s s i b i l i t i e s , a r e fa ntastic: i m a g i n a r y a r c h i t e c t u r e , e x p l a n a t i o n s a n d d ia g r a m s of t h i n g s in th e ro om , p o e t r y th at c h a n g e s a s y o u w a lk t h r o u g h i t , . . . w e ll , yo u w o r k on i t . Not a v a i la b l e com m ercially. T h e r e w a s a lot to b e s a i d fo r te n t s . They c o u ld b e m ade b y t a i l o r s , r a t h e r t h a n c o n s t r u c tion g a n g s ; they could b e t r a n s p o r t e d a n d stored flat. T h e i r s u rf a c e -to -v o lu m e ra t io s c o u l d n 't be b e a t. N oting t h i s , an a r c h ite c t nam ed Ron R esch s a id to him self: w hat ab o u t m ak in g l a r g e - s c a l e f olda ble s t r u c t u r e s , lik eu n to g e o d e s ic dom es, th at c o u _ i d b e sim ply m a n u f a c tu re d in s h e e t form an d c r e a s e d at the f a c to ry , t h e n b olted and c a b l e d an d s t r u t t e d in t h e field? R e 6 ch h a s now for y e a r s b e e n e x p e r i m e n tin g with com plex folded s t r u c t u r e s . T h e r e ' s only one tr o u b l e . If y o u 'v e m e s s e d w ilh p a p e r a i r p la n e s yo u know that fo ld in g is an in a c c u ra t e p r o c e s s , a n d so the p r o s p e c t of d i s c o v e r i n g com plex g eo m e tric s t r u c t u r e s b y th e h a n d - fo ld in g of p a p e r i s r a t h e r slim . R e c o g n iz in g t h is , R e s c h h a s c o n tr iv e d to w o r k at a c o m p u te r d i s p l a y . His w o r k the s e a r c h f o r g r e a t folding s t r u c t u r e s is o n e of t h e f i r s t p ra c t i c a l u s e s of halftone polygon c o m p u te r g r a p h i c s . He i s , n a t u r a l l y , at the U n i v e r s it y of Utah.

T h e n a lot o f peo p le m um ble th e w o r d " h o l o g r a p h y , as i f that is g o i n g to s e t t l e s o m e t h i n g . While ho lo g ra m s a r e t e r r i f i c a n d r e m a r k a b l e . an d h av e b e e n p r o d u c e d o n c o m p u t e r s , m ak in g them is not a p r o c e s s t h a t c a n b e c a r r i e d o u t d e c e n d y on s e q u e n tia l m a c h in e s let alone m ak in g them in r e a l tim e . So i f a so lu tio n to i n t e r a c t i v e th re e -d i m e n s i o n a l c o m p u t e r d i s p l a y i s g o in g to come t h r o u g h h o l o g r a p h y , it m ea ns a w hole new b atc h o f t e c h n o lo g y w ill h a v e to b e in v en ted . My fr ie n d A n d r e w J . S i n g e r , w ho com es a n d goes in the c o m p u te r field a n d is o n e of th e five o r s ix s m a rt e s t p eo p le 1 e v e r m e t, s a y s h e k n o w s how to b u i l d a d i s p l a y t a n k , a n d I be lie v e h im . He e x p l a in e d it q u i c k l y to me o n c e a n d I a s k e d him to t e ll it a g a i n , b u t he j u s t s a i d s a d l y , "W hat's t h e u s e - - t h e r e a r e eo m any g r e a t t h in g s that c o u ld b e d o n e . . . "

FOUR DIMENSIONS, EGAD So m uch fo r t h r e e d i m e n s i o n s . N ow , so m e r e a d e r s a r e b o u n d to a s k , "What ab o u t f o u r d i m e n s i o n s ? " b e c a u s e th e y a r e s c i e n c e - fi c t i o n fa n s o r t r o u b l e m a k e r s o r m ath em a tic ia n s o r s o m e t h i n g . J u s t as we c a n m ake a tw o -d im e n s io n a l p i c t u r e of a th re e -d i m e n s i o n a l o b j e c t, it i s p o s s i b l e , d e a r r e a d e r , to make a t w o -d im e n s io n a l p i c t u r e o f a fo u r -d im e n s io n a l o b je c t. What ia a f o u r -d im e n s io n a l object? Why, any o b jec t th at h a s fo u r d i m e n s i o n s , (th a n k s a l o t , you s a y ) , o r e v e n f o u r m e a s u r a b l e q u a l i t i e s , s u c h as h e i g h t , w e ig h t , a g e a n d g r a d e p o int a v e r a g e . Well, l e t s not g e t into t h a t , b u t it t u r n s o u t that v ie w s of Buch m u ltid im e n s io n a l s t r u c t u r e s may b e o b tain ed b y th e s am e h o m o g e n e o u s m atrix tec h n iq u e ^ a l r e a d y m en tio n ed for r e g u l a r p e r s p e c t i v e c a l c u l a t i o n s . R ule o f t h u m b : h o w e v e r many d im ensions y o u r d a t a h a s o r i g i n a l l y , y o u a d d one more d im e n s io n , h o m o gene ous w it h th e r e s t , an d th e r e e x is t fo r m u la s ( s o r r y . I d o n t h a v e them ) for view ca lcu latio n . (Note, o f c o u r s e , th at w h ile a t w o - d i m e n sional view ia a p i c t u r e , a t h r e e - d im e n s io n a l view i s a th re e -d im e n s io n a l o b j e c t - - y o u 'l l h a v e to view it on an i n te ra c tiv e 3D c o m p u i e r d i s p l a y o f som e k i n d . )

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From v id e o ta p e "The Hydrogen Atom A c c o rd in g t o Quantum M ech a n ics " by T . J . O 'D o n n e ll & D avid P a r r i s h .

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It is u s u a l i y hard to com bi ne things: e s p e c i a l l y c o m p l i c a t e d technical things. U s u a l l y it takes infinite r e c o n s i de ra t io ns , fi n agling, m o di fi c a t i o n , intertwingling. Th e C i rc l e G r a p hi c s Habitat, howe v er , is s o m e th in g el s e again. It results from two intricate, i n d ep en de n t t e c hn ol og ic a l deve lo p me nt s, each an intricate s y s t e m c a r e fully cra ft ed by an e x ce pt i o n a l l y t a l e n t e d pers o n, com in g t o g e t h e r like two h a n d s claping. Like ham and eggs, like m an and woman, Sa nd i n' s Image Proc es s or and D e F a n t i ' s GRASS lang u ag e con jo in d i r ec t ly and i n te r a c t p e r fe c tl y as if they h ad been made for eac h other, w h i c h they wer e not. Dan S a n d i n 5 Image P r o ce ss or (see p . ^ M i is a system of c i r c ui t boxes that a l l o w v i d e o images to b e dynam ic a ll y col or ed , m a t ted, d i s s o l v e d and p al pitated; Tom D eF a n t i ' s language (see "C ou p de GRASS, p.J>^*3l) p e r mits the rapid cr eation, vi ew i n g a n d m a n i p ul at i on o f t h r e e - di me ns i on al o bjects on the s cr e e n of a p a r t i c u l a r comp ut er setup. To combine them, you just po i n t Dan's s y s t e m at Tom's system. L e t s say t h a t on the sc re en o f Tom's sy s t e m we are v i e w i n g an anim at e d bird, flap p in g its wings. Si nc e it's b e i n g shown on a three -d im en s io na l re fr e sh ed line d is p l a y (see pp..VirtXl>*\)0) , it appears onl y as w h i t e lines on a da rk screen. Dan me re ly p oi n t s a T V camera at Tom's screen, and runs the T V signal into h is I m age Processor. Now, in the Image P r o ce ss or , h e gives it the m a g i c o f color. Different colors, i n t er pl a yi ng w it h g ra dations an d subtlety. From the Image Processor, the f i n i s h e d signal goes out to videotape re corders. What then h a v e we overall? One o f the wo r l d ' s mo st fle xi b le facilities for the rapid pro d uc ti on of e du cational video ta pe s . To expl a in something, you c re a t e a t hr ee -d im e ns io na l s t ic k -f ig ur e " m o de l" o f it, u s i n g DeFanti's GRASS language. T h e n you ma k e a vide o ta pe of it, showing rot at io ns or other manip u la ti on s, usi ng the Image P r o c e s sor to give it color.
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Uneducated people typically think of education as the learning of a lot of facts and skills. While facts and skills certainly have their merits, "higher education" is also largely concerned with tying ideas together, and especially alternative structures of such tying-together: with showing you the vast un certainties of things. A wonderful Japanese film of the fifties was called Rasho-M o n . It depicted a specific event-- a rape-- as told by five different people. As the audience watches the five se parate stories, they must try to judge what really happened. The Rasho-Mon Principle: everything is like that. The complete truth about soaething is never known. Nobody tells the complete truth, though some try. Nobody knows the complete truth. Nowhere may we find printed the complete truth. There are only different views, assertions, supposed facts that support one view or another but are disputed by disbelievers in the particu lar views; and so on. There are "agreed-on facts," but their meaning is often in doubt. The great compromise of the western world is that we go by the rule: assume that we never know the final truth about anything. There are continuing Issues, Mysteries, Continuing Dia logues. What about flying saucers, "why Rome fell," was there a Passover Plot, and Did Roose velt know Pearl Harbor would be attacked? Outsiders find the intellectual world pom pous, vague in its undecided issues, stuffy in its quotes and citations. But in a way these are the sounds of battle. The clash of theories is what many find exhilarating about the intel lectual world. The Scholarly Arena is simply a Circus Maximus in which these battles are sche duled. Many people think "science" is free from all this. These are people who do not know much about science. More and more is scientifically known, true; but it is repeatedly discovered that some scientific "knowledge" is untrue, and this problem is built into the system. The important thing about science is not that everything will be known, or that everything unanimously believ ed by scientists is necessarily true, but that science contains a system for seeking untruth and purging it. This is the great tradition of western civilization. The Western World is, in an important sense, a continuing dialogue among people who have thought different things. "Scholarship" is the tradition of trying to improve, collate and resolve uncertainties. The fundamental ground rules are that no issue is ever closed, no interconnection is impossible. It all comes down to what is written, because the thoughts and minds themselves, of course, do not last. (The apparatus of citation and foot note are simply a combination of hat-tipping, go-look-if-you-dont-believe-me, and you-mightwant-to-read-this-yourself. ) "Knowledge," then-- and indeed most of our civilization and what remains of those previous-is a vasty cross-tangle of ideas and evidential materials, not a pyramid of truth. So that pre serving its structure, and improving its accessi bility, is important to us all. Which is one reasc i we need hypertexts and thinkertoys.

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* *** ** 1 c an t a l l , th e e e a r e t h a t e d n i o i M e by b r i g h t p a o p la who u n t e a l e a r n s o e e t h t a g o t h e r by t a k i n g c o u r s e s I n i t . I t a t h a way P h . D . ' p i c k ^ a e c m d f l e l d r i t ' s t h a way j o u r n a l i s t s a a l ------ o p e r a t e ) I t bxlrvj* th a 9 n a r a l u n d e r s t a n d in g s o f a f i e l d t h a t c h i l d r e n o f i n e n t p a o p la Id t h a t f i e l d g a t a a a b i r t h r i g h t ) i t t h a way Anybody c an l a m * n r t M o g , i f h a h a a t h e n e rv e . 1DECIDE W HAT YOU WOT TO LEABI. But yo u c a n ' t k n o t e x a c t l y , b e c a u s e o f c o u r e e you d o n t a u c tly h w a n y ( l a i d l a a t r u c t u r e d u n t i l yo u know a l l a b o u t I t . MiT 2. READ EVERYTHING TOU C M * e s p e c i a l l y w h a t yo u a n j o y , t i n e a t h a t way y ou c a n r u ^ e e r e ot I t (u t i. 3. GJlkB FOB OfSIQfTS. R t ^ i r d U i a o f [ **** o t h e r s 11 t r y i n g t o a a k e , whan y o u r e c o g n i s e a n I n s i g h t t h a t h a e w a n in g f o r y m , s a k e i t y o u r own. I t M y h a v * e o d e w i t h th * a hapa o f e o l e c u l a a , o r t h a p e r s o n a l i t y o f a s p e c i f i c ^ a r a r , o r t h a q u i r k * o f a G r e a t Han i n tiw F i e l d . Ztm i ^ o r t e n c e l a n o t how c a n t r a l i t i a , b u t tow c l e a r a n d i n t e r e s t i n g and a a a o r a b l a t o y o u . i t . T h an go f o r a n o th e r . 4. TIE INSIGHTS TO OTH Bt. Soon y ou w i l l h a v e y o u r a t r i n g of in s i g h t* in a f i e l d , l i k e th a s t r i n g o f l i g h t * a ro u n d a C h r l s A a s t r e e .
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5. COKZWTRATE ON HAfiAZIHES, MOT BOOKS. H a g a a l n e e h av* f a r e a r e i n s i g h t * p a r in c h e f t a z t , and c a n b a n t d su c h f a s t e r . B ut whan a bo ok r a a l l y s p e a k s t o y o u , l a v i s h a tte n tio n o n jt.

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7. GO TO COWVENTICMS. P o r i m raaaon, c o n v e n tlm e a r a a s p l e n d i d e o n e a n t r a t a d way t o l e a r n t h i n g s ) t a l k i n g t o p w ^ l e h e l p s . D o n 't t h i n k you h a v e t o b a a nybody s p e c i a l t o g o t o a c o n v e n ti o n ! j u a t p lu n k down y o u r man * y . B u t y o u h a v a t e h a v a a h a n d l e . C a l l i n g y o u r e e l f a C o n s u l t a n t i* g o o d t 'S t u d e n t * i a p e r f e c t l y h o n o r a b le . e . 'FIND YOUR HAN.* S o M w h e re i n t h e w o rl d i a s f e c i r M who w i l l answ er y o u r q u a a t i o n a e x t r a o r d i n a r i l y w e l l . I f you f i n d h i * , dog h i > . He a a y b e a j a n i t o r o r a t e e n a g e k i d r n o a tta r. F o llo w h i * w ith y o u r b e g g i n g - b m l , i f t h a t ' * w h a t h a w a n t a . o t ta k e h i * to e x p e n s i v e r e s t a u r a n t s , o r a f a a t e v e r . 9. KEEP 1KPBOVIMG YOUR gUESTlOHS. P r o b a b ly i n y o u r head th e re a re q u a a tio n a t h a t d o n 't se e* to l i n a up w ith w h a t y o u 'r e h e a r i n g . D o n 't a s s t a * t h a t - y o u d o n ' t u n d e r e t e e d i k e e p M lj u a ti n g t h e q u a a t i o n a t i l l y n c a n g a t a n a n sw e r t h a t r e l a t e s t o w hat y o u w a n ta d . 1 0. YOUR FIELD IS BOWDED WERE YOU MMT IT TO BB. J u a t becauae o th e r a group and a ta r e o ty p e th in g * in c o n v e n ti o n a l ways d o e s n o t * e a n th e y a r e n e c e a e a r l l y r i g h t . In te lle c tu a l e u b j e c t a a r e c o n n e c te d e v e r y w hlcb w syj y o u r f i e l d l a w h e t y o u th in k I t i s . (A g a in , t h i a l a <n* o f t h * . t h in g * t h a t w i l l g i v e y o u i n a l g h t a and k e e p y ou a c t i v a t e d ) b u t i t w i l l g e t y o u i n t o t r o u b l e i f you t r y t o g o f o r d e g r e e s . )

T h e r e a r e l i m i t a t i o n s . T h ia d o e s n ' t g i v e y o u l a b e x p e r i e n c e , and y ou w i l l c o n t i n u a l l y h a v e t o be m a k in g o p f e r g a p s . B ut t o r a l e r t n a a e a n d t h e a b i l i t y t o u e e h i e e l n d , g i v e e e tlw a a n w t t t 'a l e a r n e d t h i s w ay, r a t h e r t h a n b e e n b lin k e r e d a r t c lic h e d t o d e a th w ith in th e e d u c a tio n a l e y * t* a . BIBLIOQtAPW w ila a r S h lra a, c h ild r e n o f th e A t e . S c i a n c e - F l c t i c n a b o u t w h a t a s c h o o l c o u ld b e l i k e w h e r e k i d s r a a l l y u s e d t h e i r K i n d s . I ' v e a lw a y s b e e n e u r e I t waa p o a a i b l e t th a R . E . S . l . S . T . O . R . S . (a e e p . S7>

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b e i n g a n e x a m i n a t i o n o f s a n e v e r y C o m p le x H a t t e r s w h i c h N obody Seem s t o U n d e r s t a n d ; a n d w h o se G e n e r a l i t y o f R e l e v a n c e may b e G r a d u a l l y A p p r e h e n d e d . ( E v e n t u a l l y I h o p e t o d e v e l o p a 9 o n e v h a t m ore f o r m a l t r e a t m e n t o f " i d e a s , " ae d i s t i n c t f r a i p r o p o s i t i o n e , se n ten c e k e rn e ls , e tc . B u t t h e r e i s c e r t a i n l y n o room fo r th a t he re . ( L o g i c i a n s ; sh o w me t h e t r u t h - t a b l e o f " B U T .") The p r o c e e s o f w r i t i n g i s p o o r l y u n d e r s t o o d i n n s t q u a r t e r s Many w o r k i n g w r i t e r s d e s p a i r o f b e i n g " s y s t e m a t i c , " g e t t i n g th in g s done a s b e e t th e y c a n . On t h e o t h e r h a n d , p e o p l e w ho t h i n k t h e y m ig h t b e a b l e t o c o n t r i b u t e - - p a r t i c u l a r l y th e s y m b o lic l o g i c i a n s a n d t r a n s f o r m a t i o n a l l i n g u i s t s b e i n g i n m e r e e d i n t h e i r own f o r m a l i s m s , s i m p l y d o n ' t s e e w h a t ' s g o i n g On a t l e a s t , w hen I v e t r i e d t o t a l k t o th e m . w r i t i n g i e n o t s im p le . As w i t h v i s i o n o r s p e e c h o r r i d i n g a b i c y c l e , a n i m n e n s e l y c o m p le x p r o c e s s i s b e i n g u n c o n s c i o u s l y p u r sued. S a n e p e o p l e t h i n k y o u make a n o u t l i n e a n d f o l l o w i t , f i l l i n g o u t th e d e t a i l s o f th e o u t l i n e u n t i l t h e p i e c e i s f i n i s h e d . T h is i s a b su rd . ( T r u e , so m e p e o p l e c a n d o t h i s , b u t t h a t i s s i m p l y a s h o r t c u t t i n g o f th e r e a l p r o c e s s .) B a s i c a l l y w r i t i n g i s 4 THE TRY-AND-TRY-AGAIN INTERPLAY o f PARTS AND DETAILS a g a i n s t OVERALL AND UNIFYING IDEAS WHICH KEEP CHANGING. I n f a c t a num ber o f th in g s a re h a p p e n in g , o f t e n s im u lta n e o u s ly . We c a n s e p a r a t e th e m i n t o t h r e e : P r o v i s i o n a l d ev elo p m en t o f i d e a s and p o i n t j r A) f o r m i n g o v e r a l l o r g a n i z i n g i d e a s , B) s e l e c t i n g t e n t a t i v e p o i n t s ; C) i n d u c t i v e l y f i n d i n g o v e r a l l o r g a n i z a t i o n among th e m ; D) f i n d i n g r e l a t i o n s o f i n t e r e s t b e t w e e n p o in ts. 2 . C o m p le x s i f t i n g a n d a d j u s t m e n t a m ong c o l l e c t i o n s o f p o i n t s , o v e r a ll id e a s . 1. Now, i t h a p p e n s t h a t a g r e a t d e a l o f w r i t i n g i s c o n c e r n e d w i t h n o te s to th e r e a d e r a b o u t a c c o rd a n ce s in th e m a t e r i a l . In f a c t , q u i t e a few w o r d s a r e e x c l u s i v e l y c o n c e r n e d w i t h s u b t l y p o i n t i n g o u t t o th e r e a d e r t h e a c c o rd s and d is c o r d s w i t h i n t h e e x p o s i t o r y s t r u c t u r e o f w hat he i s r e a d in g . We may c a l l t h e s e a c c o r d a n c e - c o n n e c t i v e s o r acc o rd a n ce -n o tee . Two o f t h e m o s t b a s i c te rm s a r e I m ie e d a n d b u t . T he w ord I n d e e d h a s a n i n t e r e s t i n g f u n c t i o n . T he w o rd i n d e e d ( i n I t s m a in u s e , a t t h e b e g i n n i n g o f a s e n t e n c e ) i n d i c a t e s an a c c o rd b e tw ee n w h a t h a s j u s t b e e n s a i d a nd w h at i s t o fo llo w . I n o t h e r w o rd s , i t f u n c t i o n s a s a p o s i t i v e t r a n s i t i o n , iic p e tu s o r gas p e d a l, in d ic a tin g a c o n tin u a tio n o f th e flo w i n th e d i r e c t i o n a lre a d y In d ic a te d . S o do t h e w o rd s t h u s , t h e n , t h e r e f o r e , m o r e o v e r , s o and fu rt h e r m o r e . T h ese a r e i n f i x a c c o r d s , t h a t i s , n o te s o f a cc o rd t h a t g o b e t w e e n tw o i t e m s . We a l s o s e e p r e f i x a c c o r d s , s u c h a s s i n c e , in a s m u c h a s , i n s o f a r a s ; t h e s e h a v e t o b e fo llo w e d by tw o c l a u s e s , t h e s e c o n d o f w h i c h i s i n a c c o r d w i t h t h e f i r s t . T he w o rd b u t i s e x a c t l y t h e a p p o s i t e . I t In d ic a te s a d isc o rd or c o n t r a d i s t i n c t i o n , a n e g a ti v e t r a n s i t i o n , " b ra k e s " i n t h e flo w . O th e r such i n f i x d is c o r d s in c lu d e n e v e r th e l e s s , d e s p i t e t h l a , o n th e o th e r h and , even s o , and " A c tu a lly , . . . " S im ila rly , th e re a re p re fix d is c o r d s : w h i l e , d e s p l t e , th o u g h . . . , n o t w i t h a t a n d j n g I f in d t h i s t o p i c o f in q u iry v e ry i n t e r e s t i n g . T hese s o r t s o f te rm s have b e e n u s e d s i n c e tim e in rn em o rial b y w r i t e r s a d j u s t i n g t h e i r tra n s itio n s for sm ooth f lo w ( n o te s u c h a n t i q u e y v a r i a n t s a s h a p l y , h e w b e l t , w i t h a l , fo ra sm u c h a n d h o w so a e v e r ) , b u t t h e im p o r ta n c e and s tr u c t u r e o f th ia s e r v i c e has n o t, I th in k , b e en g e n e r a lly u n d ersto o d . (N o te a l s o t h a t t h e r e a r e m o r e i n t r i c a t e a c c o r d a n c e - c o n n e c t i v e e : I wish we could go here into the structure of In at least, . . i f n o t . . . , . . . o t h e r w i s e . . . , A nyw ay. . > a n d N o w .. . . )1 J

(N ote: t h e t r y - a n d - t r y - a g a i n r e v i s i o n a n d r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n p r o c e e s , t i n k e r i n g w i t h s t r u c t u r a l i n t e r c o n n e c t i o n s , i 9 a u n i v e r s a l com ponent o f th e c r e a t i v e p r o c e s s i n e v e r y t h i n g f r a n m o v ie e d i t i n g t o m achine d e s i g n . T h e r e o u g h t t o b e a name f o r i t . I c a n 't th in k o f a s a t i s f a c t o r y o n e , a l t h o u g h I w o u ld commend t o y o u r a t t e n t i o n g r a n d e e l g n i n g , p i e c e - w h o l e d i d d l e w o r k , g r a n d f u d d l i n g , m e t a - m o g r l f i c a t i o n , and t h a t m ost e x a lt e d p o s s i b i l i t y , ta g n e b u lo p s is ( th e v i s u a l i z a t i o n o f s t r u c t u r e i n c l o u d s ) .)

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T he p a s t i s l i k e t h e r e c e d i n g v i e w o u t t h e b a c k o f a n a u t o m o b i l e : Che m o s t r e c e n t i s m o re c o n s p i c u o u s , a n d e v e r y t h i n g seems e v e n t u a l l y t o b e l o s t . 3. F i n e s p l i c i n g w i t h i n d e v e lo p e d s e q u e n c e s . A) t r a n s i t i o n a n d j u x t a p o s i t i o n m a n a g e m e n t s , B) c r o a s c i t a t i o n s , C) s m o o t h i n g . We know we c h o u l d s a v e t h i n g s , b u t w h a t t T h o s e w i t h t h e j o b o f Baving t h i n g s t h e l i b r a r i e s a n d mu s e u m s s a v e s o ma ny o f t h e w r o n g t h i n g s , t h e f a s h i o n a b l e a n d e x p e n s i v e an d h i g h - t o n e d t h i n g s e s t e e m e d b y a g i v e n t i m e , an d m o s t o f t h e r e s t s l i p s p a s t . Each g e n e r a t i o n seem s t o r i d i c u l e t h e t h i n g s h e l d in e stee m by tim e * b e f o r e , b u t o f c o u r s e t h i s c a n n e v e r be a g u id e t o w hat sh o u ld be saved. And t h e r e i e s o much t o s a v e : m u s i c , w r i tin g , s in k in g V enice, v a n is h in g s p e c ie s . B u t why s h o u l d t h i n g s b e s a v e d ? E verything i s d e ep ly in te rtw ln g le d . We s a v e f o r k n o w l e d g e an d n o s t a l g i a , b u t w h a t we t h o u g h t w a s k n o w l e d g e o f t e n t u r n s t o n o s t a l g i a , an d n o s t a l g i a o f t e n b r i n g s us d e e p e r i n s i g h t s t h a t c u t a c r o s s o u r l i v e s an d v e r y s e l v e s . * C o m p u t e r s o f f e r a n i n t e r e s t i n g d a y d r e a m : t h a t we may b e a b l e t o S t o r e t h i n g s d i g i t a l l y i n s t e a d o f p h y sically . In o th e r w ords, t u r n th e l i b r a r i e s to d i g i t a l s t o r a g e ( s e e H y p e r t e x t s , |/.,' ,<1+-); d i g i t i z e p a i n t i n g s and p h o to g rap h s ( s e e " P i c t u r e P r o c e s s i n g * p l o ); even d i g i t i z e th e g e n e tic codes of a n im a ls , so th a t s p e c ie s c a n b e r e s t o r e d a t f u t u r e d a t e s ( s e e " T h e M i t l e s t Com p u t e r , " p . (rO ). D i g i t a l s to r a g e p o s s e s s e s s e v e r a l s p e c ia l a d v an ta g es. D i g i t a l l y s t o r e d m a t e r i a l s may b e c o p i e d by a u t o m a t i c m esas; c o r r e c ti v e m easures a r e p o s s ib l e , to p re v e n t e r r o r s from c r e e p in g i n i . e . , "no d e t e r i o r a t i o n In p r i n c i p l e ; a n d t h e y c o u l d b e k e p t I n v a r i o u s p l a c e s , l e s s e n i n g ma n k i n d ' s d e p e n d e n c e on i t s e g g s b e i n g a l l i n o n e b a s k e t ( l i k e t h e L ib r a r y a t A le x a n d r ia , whose b u rn in g d u rin g th e occupa t i o n o f J u l i u s C a e s a r w as o n e o f t h e g r e a t e s t l o s s e s i n hum an h i s t o r y ) . B u t t h i s w o u ld o f c o u r s e r e q u i r e f a r mor e c o m p a c t a n d r e l i a b l e fo rm s o f d i g i t a l s t o r a g e th a n e x i s t r i g h t now . N e v e r t h e l e s s , we b e t t e r s t a r t t h i n k i n g a b o u t I t . T h o s e who f e a r a c o m i n g h o l o c a u s t ( s e e p . Wt ) h a d b e s t t h i n k a b o u t p u l l i n g som e p a r t o f m a n k i n d t h r o u g h , w i t h some p a r t o f w hat he used to have. R e g r e t t a b l y , t h e r e ' s n o room o r t i m e t o p u r s u e t h i s h e r e . ( T h e a r t i c l e I h a d i n t e n d e d t o w r i t e w o u ld t a k e a w h o l e s p r e a d . ) F o r p e o p l e who r e a l l y c a r e a b o u t t h e m a t t e r , I w i l l make some p o i n t s i n v e r y a b b r e v i a t e d fo rm . The i n t e r e s t i n g s t r u c t u r e s i n w r i tte n m a te r ia l in c lu d e : e x am ples, p l o t e v e n ts ,

* P o in tB " p i e c e s , s e n te n c e s , p h r a s e s , and e x p o sito ry " p o in ts ."

O r g a n i z i n g p r i n c i p l e s a n d s t r u c t u r e s ( w h i c h we w i l l c a l l h e r e a r c h e s ) fL n al i r o n i e s , t h i n g s to b e le d up t o , th em es, p l o t s , co n ce p ts, p r in c i p le s , e x p o s ito ry s t r u c tu r e s , o r g a n iz in g t i t l e s , o v e rc o n ce p ts. T h e s e may b e e i t h e r l o c a l o r g l o b a l , o v e r th e e n t i r e w o rk . ( N o t e ; a r c h e s may n o t be h e i r a r c h i c a l r e l a t i v e t o one a n o th e r .) Now, we may t h i n k o f p o i n t s a n d a r c h e s a s I n d i v i d u a l o b j e c t s w h ic h hav e i n d i v i d u a l r e l a t i o n s t o one a n o t h e r . B e tw e e n tw o p o i n t s t h e r q may b e a g o o d t r a n s i t i o n ; a s p e c i f i c p o i n t may l i n k w e l l t o a s p e c if ic a rc h . The p r o b le m i n w r i t i n g , t h e n , i s t h a t o v e r a l l s t r u c t u r e s y o u c h o o s e ( s y s t e m s o f a r c h e s ) may n o t l i n k w e l l t o t h e p o i n t s t h a t h a v e t o b e i n c l u d e d among th e m ; a n d t h a t t r a n s i t i o n s b e t w e e n p o i n t s d o n ' t w o rk o u t t h e way y o u w a n t th e m t o . G ood t r a n s i t i o n s c a n t b e w o rk e d o u t f o r t h e se g u en c e o f p o i n t s y o u w a n t t o m ak e, o r , a l t e r n a t i v e l y , t h e r e a r e t o o ma ny g o o d t r a n s i t i o n s w i t h i n a s p e c i f i c S t r u c t u r e o f p o i n t s , a n d p i c k i n g among th e m i n v o l v e s d i f f i c u l t c h o i c e s - - e s p e c i a l l y w hen y o u h a v e t o d e v i s e a p p r o p r i a t e a r c h e s o n t h e - b a s is o f th e f i n a l sequence o f p o in ts . T h e r e a r e a num ber o f o t h e r im p o r ta n t s t r u c t u r e s i n w r i t t e n m a te ria l. They in c lu d e a c c o rd a n c e s , j u x t a p o s i t i o n s , c ro B B - c it a ti o n s , c o n n o t a t i o n s , n u a n c e s and rh y th m s. T h e o n l y o n e s we w i l l d i s c u s s h e r e a r e a c c o r d a n c e s . T h e t e r m " a c c o r d a n c e ,* a e I s h a l l u s e i t h e r e , i s s i a q j l y a v a g u e l y f o r m a l w ay o f t a l k i n g a b o u t w h e t h e r t h i n g s m a tc h o r f i t to g e th e r. Two i t e m s a r e i n a c c o r d i f t h e y m a t c h or f i t w e l l , o r i n d i s c o r d i f th e y m a tc h o r f i t b a d ly . T hus a g o o d t r a n s i t i o n b etw een p o i n t s ( a s H n tio n e d e a r l y ) r e p r e s e n t s a n a c c o r d , and a good l i n k b etw ee n a p o i n t an d an a rc h i s a l s o an a c c o rd .

S e e T . H . N e l s o n , T h e S n u n k l n g o f t h H e a r t : On t h e P s y c h o l o g y of. P u n a a n d P r e t e r l s m C a r r o l l and O t h e r s . I 9 6 0 , u n l e s s a d e c e n t w r i t i n g s y s t e m co me s a l o n g .

rCJ^riO^L iVJTCItf---

REALITY IS OBSOLETE The Idea t h a t o b j e c t i v e r e a l i t y i s pe r c e iv e d by ou r s e n s e s , i s an o b s o le te con c ep t. Old tr uism s l i k e s ee in g i s b e l i e v i n g - , become much l e s s b e l i e v a b l e as we become more aware t h a t , th e b i o l o g ic a l machinery o f l i f e I t s e l f , tra nsf orm s images o f th e p ny si ca l world b ef o re we a r e made consci ous of them. These o i o l o g ic a l mechanisms sh a r e many s i m i l a r i t i e s in p r i n c i p l e and n a p p l i c a t i o n , to o t h e r mechanisms observed in t h e n a t u r a l environment and th os e Inv ent ed f o r our own use. S inc e we a r e becoming more aware o f th e n a tu r e o f pe r c e p ti o n and tb o se mechanisms in v ol ve d, now i s the time t o g ain c o n t r o l ' o f o u r s e lv e s and sh a r e more d i s c r e t i o n In the o p e r a t f w r o f ou r own B io log ic al machinery. W have e nt e re d the age o f h y p e r - r e a l i t y . e Day-to-day l i v i n g pro vide s only a l i m i t e d v a r i e t y o f physica l s t im u lu s , and l i t t l e i n c e n ti v e t o m an ip u la te th e p hy si o lo g ic al and ps yc ho lo gi ca l p ro c es si ng in v o lv e d . Han's h i s t o r i c a l preo cc up ati on wit h the need t o m ain ta in c o n s t a n t images o f th e p hy si ca l w or ld, i s a product o f h i s extrem e o r i e n t a t i o n toward p hy si ca l s u rv iv a l In a h o s t i l e env ir o n m e n t. The c u r r e n t evo lv in g s o c i e t y o f l e i s u r e o r i e n t a t i o n s removes t h i s need fo r c o n s ta n t images and th ereby enhances t h e o p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r a more complete use o f the sensory ap p a ra tu s and th o se r e l a t e d b ra in f u n c t io n s . Many have turned t o drugs o r m e d i t a t i o n . More s p e c i f i c a l l y I t Is proposed h e r e , t h a t modern co r m u n lc a ti o n s technology be employed as a v e h ic le of d e p a r tu r e " from t h i s need f o r c o n s ta n t images, to b ri n g about a more complete u s e o f t h e human technology i t s e l f . H y p e r - r e a li ty i s the employment o f tech nology o t h e r than th e b io l o g ic a l machinery, when used t o a f f e c t the performance of th e b io l o g ic a l machinery beyond i t s own l i m i t a t i o n s . This i s almost l i k e making a d ju st m e n ts on a t e l e v i s i o n s e t , e xc ep t you a r e w h a t's plugged 1n, and t h e con t r o l s a r e o u t s i d e your body, being p a r t o f w ha tever te c hnology Is In t e r f a c e d t o the body i t s e l f . As p a r t o f such a manmachine i n t e r f a c e you could extend your own mental p r o c e s s e s , o r i f you should choose, you could j u s t d id d le w it h t h e d i a l s . H y p e r - r e a li ty i s an o p p o r tu n it y t o enhance the v a r i o u s q u a l i t i e s of th e human e x p e ri e n c e . R e a li ty i s o b s o l e t e .

(W P E ^ E D T ft:
In r e c e n t y e a r s a v e ry b a s i c c h a n g e h as o c c u r r c d in p r e s e n t a t i o n a l sy stem s o f a l l k in d s . We may s u m m a r i z e i t u n d e r t h e n am e b r a n c h i n g , s l t h o u g h t h e r e a r e many v a r i a n t s . E s s e n t i a l l y , t o d a y 's sy stem s f o r p r e s e n t i n g p i c t u r e s , t e x t s an d w h a tn o t c a n b r i n g you d i f f e r e n t t h i n g s a u t o m a t i c a l l y d e p e n d in g on w h a t y o u d o . S e l e c t i o n o f t h i s ty p e i s g e n e r a lly c a lle d b ra n ch in g . (I h a v e s u g g e s t e d t h e g e n e r i c term h y p e rm e d ia f o r p r e s e n t a t i o n a l m ed ia w h ic h p e r fo rm i n t h i s ( a n d o t h e r ) m u l t i d i m e n s i o n a l w a y s .) A num ber o f b ra n c h in g m ed ia e x i s t o r a r e p o s s i b l e . B ran ch in g B ran c h in g B ran ch in g B ra n c h in g m o v ies te x ts au d io , or h y p erfilm s or h y p e rte x ts m u sic, e t c . (se e n earby). (se e n earby).

slid e -sh o w s. g et in to som e o f t h a t s t u f f h e r e .

W ish we c o u l d

The idea of branching movies is quite exciting. The possibility of it is another thing entirely. The only system I know of that worked was at the 1967 Montreal World's Fair (Expo 67). At the Czech Pavilion you will recall that before the crackdown they had quite a yeasty culture going in Czechoslovakia there were some terrific fantic systems going. One was a wall of cubes with slide projectors inside (that roll ed toward you and back as they changed their pictures). And then the Movie. The Czechoslovakian Branching Movie I forget its real name-- had the audience vote on what was to happen next at a number of different junctures. What should she do now, what will he do next. etc. And lo and behold! after they had voted, the lights vent down, and that's what would happen next. People agreed that this gave the movie a special immediacy. I never saw the movie-- I waited in line several hours but the line was too long to get into the last show ing. So instead I went backstage and talked to Radusz Cincera, who worked out the systen. It turns out that it didn't work quite the way people supposed. A lot of people thought that "all the possibilities" had been filmed in ad vance. Actually, there were always only two possibilities, and no matter what the audience had chosen, somehow the film wa6 plotted to come down to the same next choice anyway:

How Uaahepres8 (see p. DM 6)

1973 AUOITAC, LTD.

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! G F K ttC Now, i n o u r t i m e , we a r e t u r n i n g G u t e n b e r g around. The t e c h n o l o g y o f m o v a b le t y p e c r e a t e d c e r t a i n s t r u c t u r e s and p r a c t i c e s aro u n d t h e w r i t te n w ord. Now t h e t e c h n o l o g y o f c o m p u t e r s c r e e n d i s p l a y s make p o s s i b l e a l m o s t a n y s t r u c t u r e s a n d p r a c t i c e s you can im ag in e f o r th e w r i t t e n w o rd . So now w h a t? F o r new f o r m s o f w r i t t e n c o m m u n i c a t i o n am o n g p e o p l e who know e a c h o t h e r , ju m p t o " E n g e l b a r t " p iec e., n e a rb y . To l e a r n a b o u t new f o r m s o f m u l t i d i m e n s i o n a l d o c u m e n ts f o r c o m p u t e r s c r e e n s , ju m p t o " H y p e r te x ts

In the actual setup, they simply had two projectors running side by side, with Film A and Film B, and the projectionist would drop an opaque slide in front of whichever wasn't chosen. But Cincera said that aud iences almost always chose the same alternatives anyway, so half the movie was hardly ever used... In the early sixties a movie was making the rounds in which audiences were supposedly allowed to vote on the ending "Hr. Sardonicus, I believe it was called. From the ads it seemed that audiences would be polled as to which last reel to show. Whether the villain was to get his comeuppance, or whatever. Then there was that Panacolor cartridge projector, mentioned elsewhere, which would have allowed choices by the user More recently there's the CMX system, also mentioned elsewhere. This is a setup, being jointly marketed by CBS and Memorex, for computer-controlled movie editing. But actually it could also be used as a branching movie sy stem. Essentially the movie itself is stored frame-byframe (ae video) on big disks, made by Memorexi and, under computer control, the output can be switched rapidly among the frames, effectively showing the stored movies. (To my knowledge, the video networks haven't yet recognized Uie possibilities of this.) The only trouble is, i t s extremely expensive (half a million?), it has an exact storage capacity limited by the number of disk tracks (presumably one track per frame) perhaps five minutes total one one big unit, but you can buy more-- and it can only give its full performance to one viewer at a time.) (Or ts f k e _ l * v e - ) It may be that the irost practical branching movie system would be a cartridge movie viewer and a big stack of cartridges. When you make your choice, change the cart ridge. But of course that's not as much fun as having it happen automatically.

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(T h e a s t u t e r e a d e r , a n d a n y b o d y w h o ' s g o t t e n to t h i s p o i n t m ust b e , w i l l h a v e n o t i c e d t h a t t h i s b o o k i s i n '' m a g a z i n e 1' l a y o u t , o r g a o i z e d v i s u a l l y by id e a s and m e a n in g s , f o r t h a t p r e c is e reason. I w ill be in te re s te d to h e a r w h e th e r t h a t h as w o rk e d .) And t h e p i t y o f i t i s t h a t ( l i k e t h e m a n i n t h e F r e n c h p l a y who w a s s u r p r i s e d t o l e a r n t h a t he had bee n " s p e a k in g p r o s e a l l h i s l i f e a n d n e v e r known i t " ) , w e ' v e b e e n s p e a k i n g h y p e rte x t a l l our l i v e s and n e v e r know n i t . Now, many w r i t e r s h a v e t r i e d t o b r e a k away f r o a s e q u e n c e . I t h i n k o f N a b o k o v 's P a le F i r e , o f T r is tr a m Shandy and a n o d d n o v e l o T T a r a r o C o r ta z a r c a l l e d r f o p s c o t c h . a a d e up o f s e c tio n s e n d in g w ith n u a b e rs t e l l i n g y o u w h e re you ca n b r a n c h t o . T here a r e a a n y a o r e ; and l a r g e b o o k s g e n e r a l l y u s e a a n y t r i c k s t o g e t around th e p r o b l e a o f in d e x in g a n d r e v i e w in g w hat has and h a s n ' t b e e n s a i d o r d o n e a l ready. H o w e v e r , i n a y v i e w , a new d a y i s d a w n i n g . C o ap u ter s to r a g e and s c r e e n d i s p l a y a e a n t h a t we no l o n g e r h a v e t o h a v e t h i n g s i n s e q u e n c e ; to ta lly a r b itr a ry s t r u c tu r e s a re p o s s i b l e , and I th in k t h a t a f t e r w e 'v e t r i e d t h e a e n o u g h p e o p l e w i l l s e e how d e s i r a b l e t h e y a r e .

By " h y p e r t e x t " w ritin g .

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O r d i n a r y w r i t i n g i s s e q u e n t i a l f o r tw o re aso n s. F i r s t , i t g re w o u t o f s p e e c h a n d s p e e c h - m a k in g , w h ich hav e t o be s e q u e n t i a l ; and s e c o n d , b e c a u s e b oo ks a r e n o t c o n v e n ie n t to re a d e x c e p t in a seq u e n ce . But th e s tr u c tu r e s o f id ea s are n o t s e q u en tial": T hey t i e t o g e t h e r e v e r y w hichw ay. And w h e n we w r i t e , we a r e a l w a y s t r y i n g t o t i e t h i n g s t o g e t h e r i n n o n - s e q u e n t i a l ways (see p . l ^ H t ) . The f o o t n o t e i s a b r e a k fro m s e q u e n c e ; b u t i t c a n n o t r e a l l y be e x te n d e d (th o u g h som e, l i k e W ill C uppy, h av e to y ed w ith th e te c h n iq u e ). I have run in to p erh ap s a who u n d e r s t o o d t h i s i n s t a n t l y w he n I t a l k e d t o th e m a b o u t i t . M o s t p e o p l e , h o " ' v >1 a ^ e m o re b e m u s e d , t h i n k i n g I m t r y i n g o so o hso m eth in g te c h n ic a l o r is. ira i I t s n o t p o i n t le s s a t a l l : th e p o in t i , w r i t e r s do b e t t e r i f th e y d o n 't hav e t o i t e i n s e q u e n c e ( b u t may c r e a t e ^ ' f r e a d e r s t u r e s , b ra n ch e s and alternatives). a n d re a d e r do b e t t e r i f th e y d o n t h a v e t o re a d i n seq uence b u t may e s t a b l i s h i m p r e s s i o n s , j P

TYPES

OF HYPERTEXT CAN IT BE D O N E ?

Lets assume that you have a high-power display-- and storage displays won1t do, be cause you have to see things move in order to understand where they come from and what they mean. (Especially text.) So it has to be a refreshed CRT. Basic or chunk style hypertext offers choices, eTther as footnote-markeTs (like asterisks) or labels at the end of a chunk. Whatever you point at then cwtnes to the screen. Collateral hypertext means compound an no tarTons- oFyaraiTel- text (see p.J^yt-). Stretchtext changes continuously. This requires very unusual techniques (see p-_5*2_l? ) but exemplifies how "continuous hypertext might work. Ideally, chunk and continuous and collateral hypertext could all be combined (and in turn col laterally linked; see "Thinkertoys," p.J^S^-)* A "fresh" or "specific" hypertext-- I don't have a better term at the moment-- would consist of material especially written for some purpose. An anthological hypertext, however, would consist of materials brought together from all over, like an anthological book. A grand hypertext, then, folks, would be a hypertext consisting of "everything" written about a subject, or vaguely relevant to it, tied together by editors (and NOT by "prog rammers," dammit), in which you may read in all the directions you wish to pursue. TKere can be alternative pathways Tor people who think different ways. People who have to have one thing explained to them at a time-many have insisted to me that this is normal, although I contend that it is a pathological condition-- may have that; others, learning like true human beings, may gather and sift im pressions until the ideas become clear. And then, of course, you see the real dream. The real dream is for "everything" to be in the hypertext. .Everything you read, you read from the screen (and can always get back to right away) ; everything you write, you write at the screen (and can cross-link to whatever you read; see Canons, p. b^lfl ). Paper moulders. Microfilm is inconvenient. In the best libraries it takes at least min-' utes to get a particular thing. But as to linking them together-- footnoting Aeschylus with Marcus Aurelius, linking genetic data' to 15th-century accounts of Indian tribes-well, you can only do it on paper by writing something new that ties them together. Isnt that ridiculous? When you could do it all electronically in seconds? Now that we have all these wonderful de vices, it should be the goal of society to put them in the service of truth and learning. And this is the way I propose. Not through obscure forms of "information retrieval;" not through newly oppressive forms of "computerassisted instruction;" and not through a pur ported science of "artifical intelligence" that will create new personalisms to irk us. All these obstructive oddities, I think, have developed as separate ideals because of the grand preposterosity of Professionalism that has created a world-wide cult of mutual incom prehensibility and disconnected special goals. Now we need to get everybody together again. We want to go back to the roots of our civil ization-- the ability, which we once had, for everybody who could read to be able to read everything. We must once again become a com munity of common access to a shared heritage. This was of course what Vannevar flush said in 1945 (see , in an article every body cites but nobody reads. The hypertext solution in many ways ob viates some of these other approaches, and in addition retains and puts back together the great traditions of literature and scholarship, traditions based on the fact that dividing things up arbitrarily just generally doesn't work. EVERYTHING IS DEEPLY INTERTWINGLED. (The only way in which my views differ with those of Engelbart and Pask, I think is in the matter of structure and hierarchy. Both men generally assume that whatever natural hierarchy may exist in particular subjects needs to be accentuated; I hold that all structures must be treated as totally ar bitrary, and any hierarchies we find are inter esting accidents.)

I dunno, Licklider, one of computerdoms Great Men, estimated in 1965 that to handle all text by computer, and bring it out to screens, would cost no more than what we pay for all text handling now. (But of course there is the problem of what to do with the people whose lives are built around paper; that cant be taken up here.) The people who make big computers say that to get the big disk storage to hold great amounts of text, you have to get their biggest computers. Which is a laugh and a half. One IBM-style computer person pompously told me that for large-scale text handling the only appropriate machine was an IBM 360/67 (a shame fully large computer). fSuch people seem not to understand about minicomputers or the po tential of minicomputer networks-- using, of course, big disks. There are of course questions of relia bility, of "big brother" (see Canons, p. ), and so on. But I think these, matters can be handled. The key is that people will pay for it. I am sure that if we can bring the cost down to two dollars an hour-- one for the local machine (more than a "terminal"), one for the material (including storage, transmission and copyrights)-- theres a big, big market. (And that's what the Xanadu network is about; see p. DM57.) My assumption is that the way to do this is not through big business (since all these corporations can see is other corpora tions); not through government (hypertext is not committee-oriented, but individualistic-and grants can only be gotten through sesqui pedalian and obfuscatory pompizzazz); but through the byways of the private enterprise system. I think the same spirit that gave us McDonald's and kandy kolor hot rod accessories may pull us through here. (See Xanadu Network,
p- > \ S 7 - )

C V W f T tH S IS le & ix

IM T O W H & e fi.

In an important sense there are no "subjects" at all; there is only all knowledge, since the crossconnections among the myriad topics of this world simply cannot be divided up neatly . Hypertext at last offers the possibility of representing and exploring it all without carving it up destructively.

Arthur C. Clarke wrote a book entitled The Lost Worlds of 2001 (Signet, 1972), about the variants and alternatives of that story that did not find their way to the screen. In a hypertext version, we could look at them all in context, in collateral views, and see the related variants-with annotations.

Obviously, putting man's entire heritage into a hypertext is going to take awhile. But it can and should be done.
BI B L I O G R A P H Y
T h e o d o r 11. Uorld Nels o n , "The H y p e r t e x t . " Documentation Federation, Proc. 1965.

Mortimer J. Adler, the n who reduced all of a Western Culture to a few Great Books plus an Index under his own categories, has now Addled the Encyclopedia Brltannica. Since 1965 be has been creating Brltannlca 3, the venturesome and innovative new version, n ow o n sale for about half a thou.

COULDN'T HAVE HYPERTEXT NOVELS, YOU SAY? Consider the hypertext character o' Trietram Shandy, by Sterne. Spoon River Anthology, by Masters. Hopscotch, by Cortazar. Pale Fire, by Nabokov. Remembrance of Things Past, by Proust. And, surprisingly, hypertext actually FIGURES IN Giles Goat-Boy, by Barth. Bri tannlca ^ Is basically a 3 level hypertext, made to fit on printed pages by the strictures of Adler's editing (according to Newsweek, some 200 authors withdrew their work rather than submit to the kind of restrictions he was Imposing). The Idea may be basically good, even though the sesqulpaedallan titles may Impaed the raeder.

T HE B U R N I N G

BUSH

In fact hypertexts were foreseen very clearly in 1945 by Vannevar Bush, Roosevelts science advisor. When the war was in the bag, he published a little article on various groovy things that had become possible by that time. "As We May Think" ( Atlantic Monthly, July, 1945) is most notable for its clear description of various hypertext techniques-- that is, link ages between documents which may be brought rap idly to the screen according to their linkages. (So what if he thought they'd be on microfilm.) How characteristic of Professionalism. Bush's article has been taken as the starting point for the field of Information Retrieval (see p. ) f but its actual contents have been ignored by acclamation. Information Retrieval folk have mostly done very different things, yet thought they were in the tradition. Now people are "rediscovering" the article. If there's another edition of this book I hope I can run it in entirety.

GLINDA'S HAG 1C BOOK GTlnda the Good, gentle sorceress of the southern quadrant of the land of 0z not the flaphead portrayed by Billie Burke In the Goldwynlzed film has a Magic Book tn which Everything That Happens Is written. The question, of course, Is how It's chosen. You can only watch news tickers for a short time before getting very bored.

Basically the system is a large-scale setup for the storage, bringing forth, viewing and revision of documents and connections among them. The documents are Btored (of course) in alphabetical codes. Connections among them, or other relations within them, are signalled by the presence of other codes within them; these are ordinarily not displayed, however, except as directed by a particular display program and display programs can of course vary. There are various programs for display, ln large part depending on what sort of screen system the individual user has. (NLS is used with everything from hlgh-resolutlon line-drawing screens converted to 1000llne television, down to inexpensive Delta Data terminals a brand, incidentally, that allows text motion, which most don't^ Engel bart's system is extremely general, allowing the creation of files having all kinds of structures, and display programs in all kinds of styles. (I hope that this side of the pre sent book conveys a sense of how mahy styles that can be.) However, most users are devoted to certain standardized styles of working that have been well worked out and permit the easy sharing of material and of operating practices. Here, for instance, is standard screen layout:

J)WrCHfiOW Aj) X H
*TH A U f i W l W o M t>F (K )T E U -C 6T
Douglas Engelbart is a saintly man at Stanford Research Institute whose dream has been to make people smarter and bring them together. His system, on which millions of dollars have been spent, is a wonder and a glory. He began as an engineer of CRTs (aee "Lightning in a Bottle," p.DM6); but his driving thought was, quite correctly, that these remarkable objects could be used to expand man's mind and Improve each shining hour. Doug Engelbarts vision has never been restricted to narrow technical issues. From the beginning his concern was not merely to plank people down at display consoles, but ln the most profound sense to expand man's mind. "The Augmentation of Human Intellect," he calls it, b y which he means making minds work better by giving them better tools to work with. An obvious example is writing: before people could write things down, men could only learn what they experienced or were told by others ln person; writing changed all that. Within the computer-screen fra ternity, the next step is obvious; screens can double and redouble our Intellectual capacities. But this is not obvious to every body. Engelbart, patiently instructing those outside, came up with a beautiful example. To show what he meant by the Augmentation of Intellect, Engelbart tied a pencil to a brick. _ Then he actually made someone write with It. The result, which was of course dreadful, En gelbart solemnly put into a published report. Not yet being able to demonstrate the aug mentation of Intellect, since he had as yet no system to show off, he had masterfully de monstrated the disaugmentation of intellect: what happens if you make man's tool9 for work ing out his thoughts worse instead of better. As this poor guy was with his brlckifled pen cil, explained Engelbart, so are we all among our bothersome*inflexible systems of paper. Starting small, Engelbart programmed up a small version of what most fans call "The Engelbart System" some ten years ago. One version has it that when it came to looking for grants, management thought he acted too kooky, and so assigned a Front Man to make the presentation. But, as the story goe6, the man from ARPA (see "Military...", p. pointed at Engelbart and said, "We want to back h im." A small but dedicated group at SRI haa built up a system from scratch. First they used little CDC 1700 minicomputers; then, various grants later, they were able to set up their own PDP-10, in which the system now resides, and from which it reaches out ac ross the country. Doug calls his system NLS, or "oN-Line System." Basically it is a highly responsive, deeply-structured text system, feeding out to display terminals. From a terminal you may read anything you or others have written, and write with as-yet-unmatched flexibility. The display terminals are all over. The project has gone national, though at great ex pense: through the ARPA net of computers, you can in principle become a user of NLS for something like $50,000 a year.

THE "KNOWLEDGE WORKSHOP For a lucky fifty or so people, Engelbart's system is Home. Wherever they are at Stan ford Research Institute or far away on the ARPAnet- a whole world of secretarial and communication services is at their fingertips. The user has but to call up through his dis play terminal and log on. At that point all his written files, and numerous files shared among the users, are at his fingertips. He may read, write, annotate the cross-link. (Engelbart's system has provision for col lateral structuring: see "Thinkertoys," [X*r2_.) He may send messages to others in the Workshop. He may open certain of his files to other people, and read those that have been opened to him. This all has a certain vagueness if you do not understand how bound you are today by paper the problems of finding it, sorting it, looking things up. (If you write, that Is, write a lot, you know all too veil how Intractable is paper, what a damned nuisance.) With a system like Engelbert's, now, whatever is written i6 Instantly there. Whatever you want to look up is Instantly there, simultan eously Interconnected to everything else it should be connected to source materials, footnotes, comments and so on. A document is completed the moment it is written; no human being has to retype it. (It need not be typed on paper at all, if it's just for the workshop members: a printout is only needed if it has to go to someone outside tbe system.) In many ways, Engelbart's system is a pro totype for the world of the future, I hope. ALL HANDLING OF PAPER IS ELIMINATED. Whatever you write, you write on the screens with key board and pointer. (No more backs of envelopes, yellow pads, file cards, typewriters.) What ever you transmit to fellow users of the system you simply 'release' no physical paper changes hands. The group has also worked out some remark able techniques for collaborative endeavor. Two people say, one ln California and one in New York can work together through their screens, plus a phone link; it's as if they were side-by-side at a magic table. Each sees on his screen whst the other sees; each controls a moving dot (or "cursor") that shows where he's pointing. The effect Is somewhere between a blackboard and a desk; both may call up docu ments, point things out in them, change them, and anything else two people might do when work ing on something together.

Two separate panels of text appear, and links may be shown on them. (Thus it's a thinkertoy- see p. .) Two little windows at the top re mind you of what you're seeing and what you're asking for. We can't get into the rest of it here

THE COMMAND LANGUAGE NLS has a comnand language which all users must learn. While It Is a stream lined and straightforward coimnand language, nevertheless It requires the user to type in a specific sequence of alphabetical characters every time he wants something done. (This Is acceptable to computeroriented people; 1 suspect It would not be satisfactory, say, for philosophers and novelists. For designs oriented to such users, see JOT (p?*5t> ) and Carmodys System, nearby. Parallel Textface (p?*93) and Th3 (p.VtfV).) Incidentally, NLS users may also employ a cute little keyboard, something like a kalimba, that allows you to type with one hand. You simply type the six significant ASCII bits (see chart p. % jg ) ln one "chooP it sounds hard but is easy to learn. Sample conmands: I (insert), D (delete), M (move or rearrange). Then you point with the mouse. MOUSE? The Engelbart Folks have built a pointing device, for telling the system where you're pointing on the screen, that is considerably faster and handler than a lightpen. (Unfor tunately, I don't believe it's conanerdaily available.) It's called The Mouse. The Engelbart Mouse is a little box with hidden wheels underneath and a cable to the terainal. As you roll It, the wheel's turns are signalled to the computer and the comput er moves the cursor on the screen. It's faat and accurate, and In fact beats a lightpen hands down in working speed. Through the comnand language, NLS allows users to create programa that respond ln all sorts of ways; thua tbe fact that certain texthandling styles are atandard (as in above il lustration of screen layout) results more from tradition than necessity.

E n g e lb a r t fa r aw ay,

m e e ts u i t n b a s o th e r s w a tc h .

w MSiC
H y p e r te x t i s n o n - s e q u e n t i a l w r i t i n g . I t s n o good t o u s , t h o u g h , u n l e s s we c a n go i n s t a n t l y in a c h o ic e o f d i r e c t i o n s from a g i v e n p o i n t . T hia o f c o u r s e c a n o n ly mean on c o o p u te r d i s p l a y s c r e e n s . E n g e l b a r t ' s s y s t e m , now, was m a in ly d e s ig n e d f o r p e o p le who w anted t o immerse th e m s e lv e s i n i t and l e a r n i t s c o n v e n t i o n s . I n d e e d , i t m ig h t be s a i d t o have be en d e s ig n e d f o r a c o m iu n lty o f p e o p le i n c l o s e c o n t a c t , a s o r t o f sy ste m o f b l a c k b o a r d s and c o lla b o ra tiv e t a lk in g p a p ers. A more e l e m e n t a l s y s te m , w i t h a d i f f e r e n t s l a n t , w as p u t t o g e t h e r a t Brcwn U. on IBM e q u l f n e n t . W e 'l l r e f e r t o i t h e r e a s "Cannody' a S y s te m ," a f t e r t h e young prograjm eer whose name came f i r s t On t h e w r i t e u p . Cansody's system runs on an IBM 360 with 2250 display, while the 2250 is a fine piece of equlpaent, the quirks of the 360's operating systAB ( s e e p. VS" ) often delay the user by making him wait, e . g . , for soaeone elss's cards to get punched before it responds to his more lwedlate usast this is like making ice-akaters wait for oxcarts. Anyway, th e e y ete m e s s e n t i a l l y im poses i t h e m a t e r i a l i i t may c o n s i s t o f t e x t se g m en ts o f a n y l e n g t h a nd t i e s and l i n k s b e tw e e n them. An a s t e r i s k a p p e a r i n g any w here in one p i e c e o f t e x t s i g n a l s a p o s s i b l e ju m p , b u t t h e r e a d e r d o e s n ' t n e c e e s a r i l y knew w here t c j s a p p i n g t h e a s t e r i s k w i t h th a l i g h t p e n t a k e s yo u t h e r e , h o w eve r.

rfh a t he d o e s , th e n , i s p r e p a r e g iv e n f i e l d s o f le a r n in g so th a t th e y c an b e s tu d ie d by s t u d e n t s u s i n g a b s t r a c t i v e , m e t h o d s , w i t h o u t g u id a n ce . T h i s preparation ba si ca ll y ha s two steps. First he sets up the whole field. This is done in collaboration wi t h a "s ubject matter expert," who names the import an t topics in the field and states what interconnections they have. The result is a c o mp le x graph Structure (see p. jj, ) whi ch Pask calls a co nversational d o m a i n . It co me s out to huge diagrams of labels and lines b e t w e e n them. T h e n Pask p rocesses this structure to make a more usable map of the field that he calls an entailment s t r u c t u r e . T he processing basically involves removing "cycles'* in the graph, thus making the s tr uc tu re hierarchical in a sl ightly artificial w a y justified by what the subject-matter-expert has s aid is the st ru ct u re of the field. (This p rocessing is c a rr ie d o ut b y a pro gram called EXTEND.) Th e resulting E ntailment St ru cture is then p r es en te d to the student as a great map of the field wh i c h he may explore. Pask intends that the student's explor ations, w il l consist o f testing analogies, or w hat Pask calls m or ph i s m s , to find the exact st ructures of knowledge he is sup po se d to be acquiring. This knowledge will be in the Form of i s om or ph is ms . or exact analogies, i.e. laws . P a s k s overall system, exam pl es of which he has running in his laboratory in England, he calls CASTE (Course A s se m b l y S ystea and Tutorial Environment). A further development, which is to be put on a P D P - 11/45 computer (see p. T t and p. Mi. ) at the Br ooklyn C hi l d r e n s Museum, is called THOUGIIT-STICKER. This p r o g r a m is intended to a ll o w the d emo n s t r a t io n and testing of analogies directly, by children.

The sa ne a p p a r e n t l y l a t r u e o f Che d a ta stru c tu re . I ua ed t o b e somewhat d i s t u r b e d a t t h e way E n g e l b a r t ' a t e a t s y s t e a s s e n t o he r l g o r o u a l y h i e r a r c h i c a l This In f a c t la t h e c a a e , l n t h e a e n s e t h a t h a v in g m u l t i p l e d i s c r e t e l e v e l s l e b u i l t de ep I n t o t h e s y s te m . B ut I t t u r n s o u t t o b e h a r m l e s s . The s t o r e d t e a t I s d i v i d e d by t h e s t o r a g e te c h n i q u e s I n t o a i l t l p l e l e v e l s , c o r r e s p o n d i n g t o a H arv ard ou tlin e. T hin k o f I t a s so m e th in g l i k e t h i s : 1. HIERARCHICAL FOBMAT A. STORAGE B. DISPLAY C. LANGUAGE T h is I s s t a r k a nd s i m p l e . I t c o u ld a l s o g e t you good a nd l o s t . How ever, a s im p le t e c h n i q u e took c a r e o f t h a t : e v e r ^ i a e t h e u s e r ju m ped, th e a d d r e s s o f h i s p r e v i o u s l o c a t i o n was sa v e d on a S t a c k [ s e e "The Magic o f t h e S t a c k , " p . t -) - The u s e r a l s o had a RETURN b u tto n - , when h e w anted T to go b a c k t o w here he h a d l a s t jumped fro m , th e e y ete m w ould pop th e l a s t a d d r e s s o f f th e t o p o f th e e t a c k , and ta k e him t h e r e . ( T h i s f e a t u r e was a d a p te d fro m my 1967 S t r e t c h t e x t p a p e r , a n d t u r n e d o u t t o work o u t q u i t e w e l l in p ra c tic e .) The sy s te m a l s o had handy f e a t u r e s f o r l i g h t - p e n t e x t e d i t i n g , and v a r i o u s n i c e p r i n t o u t t e c h n i q u e s . A l l t o l d , i t waa a c l e a n and p o w e r f u l d e s i g n . W hile i t la c k e d h i g h e r l e v e l v i s u a l i z a t i o n f a c i l i t i e s , l i k e E n g e l b a r t's d i s p l a y o f L e v e ls (see " o u t l i n e " i n E n g e l b a r t a r t i c l e ) o r c o l l a t e r a l d i s p l a y ( s e e " T h l n k e r t o y a , " p.D \r2 ), i t was i n some w ays s u i t e d f o r n a iv e u s e r s i t h a t i s , i t was e v e n t u a l l y f a i r l y s a f e t o u s e , and c o u ld i n l a r g e p a r t be ta u g h t t o r a n k b e g i n n e r s i n a c o u p le o f h o u r s p r o v id e d t h e y d i d n ' t ha ve t o know a b o u t JCL c a r d s . I t i e l e f t f o r t h e r e a d e r to f i g u r e o u t i n t e r e s t i n g u s e s fo r i t . Haw would y o u do c o l l a t e r a l s t r u c t u r e s ? How c o u ld you e i g n a l t o a r e a d e r whic h o f s e v e r a l p i e c e s o f t e x t a jump was t o 7 (At l e a s t one r e a l h y p e r t e x t was a c t u a l l y w r i t t e n on t h i s s y s te a . I t tie d to g e th e r a l o t o f p a te n ts f o r m u lt ila y e r e le c t r o d e s . R e a d e r s a g r e e d t h a t t h e y c o u ld l e a r n more frcxn i t a b o u t m u l t i l a y e r e l e c t r o d e s t h a n th e y had im a gin e d w a n t in g t o know.) BIBLIOGHAPHY S te v e n Ca rmody, W a l t e r G r o s s , T heodor H- N e l s o n , D avid R ic s and A n d rie s van Dam, 'A H y p e r te x t E d i t i n g S y s tem f o r t h e 3 6 0 ." I n Faim an a n d N i e v e r g e l t l e d s . ) . P e r t i n e n t C o n c ep ts i n Com puter G r a p h i c s (U. 1 1 1 . P r e s s ' 6 9 ) , 2 9 1 - 3 3 0 . N ote : Mr. G ross now g o e s b y th e name o f L ig h t n i n g C l e a r w a t e r .

But l e t ' s e xpa nd t h i s e x a a p l e a l i t t l e : 1. HIERARCHICAL FORMAT A. STORAGE A l. E v e r y t h i n g l n KLS i s s t o r e d w ith h i e r a r c h i c a l codes. A2. T h e i r e f f e e t d e p e n d s on t h e d isplay. B . DISPLAY B l . The h i e r a r c h i c a l c o d e s o f NLS ha v e no c o n s e q u e n c e s l n p a rticu la r. B2. The h i e r a r c h i c a l c o d e s f o r KLS c a n s p l a y t h e m a t e r i a l out in to a v a rie ty of d is play a rrange m e nts. B2A. Th ey ca n b e d i s p l a y e d l n o u t l i n e form. B2B. Th ey c a n be d i s p l a y e d l n n o n a a l t e n t form . B2C. T h e a e d r a t t e d numb ers can even be made t o d isappear. C . LANGUAGE C l . The conmand l a n g u a g e d e t e r m in e s w h at t h e d i s p l a y shows o f th e h ie ra r c h ic a l s t r u c t u r e . C2. What I s shown c an b e d e t e r mined by a p ro gra m l n Che conmand l a n g u a g e . (F or I n s t a n c e , "how many l e v e l s d ovn " l c l a b e i n g sh o w n ) . C2A. T h i s I s f o u r l e v e l s down. (Th e e a r l i e r ex ample w a s n ' t . ) C3 . The d i s p l a y f o r n a c a l l d e pe nd s on whac d i s p l a y p r o g r a a you u s e , l n t h e HLS c o s a a n d la n g u a g e .

PASK AND HYPERTEXT G o r d o n P a s k s w or k is remar ka bl y similar to my o w n stuff on hypertext. Es s entially Pask is r educing a field to an ex tr emely formal structure o f relations which n a y then be studied by the student, at the s tu dent's init ia ti ve . (What I don't quite under st an d is how analogies are to be explored and tested.) the

Anyway, a principal point is that the student is in control and may u se his initia tive dy namically; the subject is no t a rt if i ci ally p r oc es se d into a presenta ti on al se quence. Moreover, the arbitrary interconnec tions o f the subject, which are no r e s p e c t e r s , of the p r in te d page, are re cognized as the fundamental structures the stud en t must deal with and come to understand. O n all these points Pask and 1 are in total agreement.. Indeed, his explorable system s- - (I don't know if they w ill be what I e ls ewhere call h y p e T g r a m s or r e s p o n d i n g resources)-* w il l be f a s c i n a t i n g , fun and t e r r i f i c a l l y e d u c a t i o n a l . Beca us e he is. N ow it turns out that this exac tl y c o m p lements the notion of h yp ertext as I have been p r o m u lg at in g it lo these m any years. H y pe rtent is non-sequential text. If we write a h yp ertext on something, it will be most ap pr opriate iF~we give it the general i nterconnective structure of th e field. In o th er w or ds , the interconnective structures c hosen f or the textual parts are likely to have the same connective structure (in general) as Pask's Entailment Structure. For another kind of h ypertext, the anthological hy pe rtext built up of lots of other writings, it is also reasonable to expect the conn ec ti ve structures to c l us te r to the same general form as Pask's e ntailment structure. In o t h e r words, the very s am e field of knowledge Pask is out to represent as an exp l o r a b l e , formalized whole, I am ou t to repre sent as an explotable informalized whole, with anecdotes, jokes, cartoons, en richment mater ials, a n d anything else people m ig h t dig. In still other words, and call it a party. l e t s h a ve both

T h a t ' s enough o f t h a t . 1 c a n 't h e lp r e m a rk i n g t h a t I s t i l l d o n ' c l i k e t h a t s o r t o f s t r u c t u r i n g , b u t I t l a de ep l n NLS, an d i f you d o n ' t l i k e I t s l t h e r ( p o o r d e p r i v e d lu c k y u s e r o f NLS) you can p r o g r a a i t t o d i s a p p e a r , so i t ' s h a r d l y l n y o u r way. BY THE BEARD OP THE PROPHET! E n g e l b a r t l n German means A n g e l b e a r d ; Doug E n g e l b a r t I s In dee d on t h e s i d e o f t h e a n g e l s . I n b u i l d i n g h i s m i g h t y sy st e m he p o i n t s a new way f o r h u m a n it y . The s o o n e r t h e b e t t e r . Any h is t o r y o f th e tw e n tie th century w i l l c e r ta i n ly h o l d him h i g h . Few g r e a t men a r e a l s o su c h n i c e g uy s. BIBLIOGRAPHY D ougla s C. E n g e l b a r t , R i c h a r d W Watson & James . C. N o r t o n , "T he Augmented Knowledge W ork sh o p ." P r o c NCC 73 , 9 - 2 1 . C h a r l e s U. I r b y , " D i s p l a y T e c h n iq u e s f o r I n t e r a c t i v e T e x t M a n i p u l a t i o n . " P r o c NCC 7 4 , 2 47 - 2 5 5 .

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1. 2, Engineering Is tte application of science for (*) profit, Com puter c r a p h l c e d o e s n o t make p o s s i b l e a n y t h i n g t h a t w as p r e v i o u s l y I m p o s s i b l e : i t e s n o n l y im p r o v e t h e t h r o u g h p u t o r a n e i l s t l n g procees, A s u c c e s s f u l a p p l i c a t i o n o f c o m p u te r g r a p h i c s I s when o v e r a p e r i o d o f f i v e y e a r s t h e c o s t s s v i n g s fro m i m p r o v e d p r o c e s s t h r o u g h p u t e x c e e d th e c o s t s o f h a r d w a r e , s o f t w a r e , m a i n te n a n c e and i n t e g r a t i o n i n t o a n e i l s t l n g p r o c e s s f lo w .

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i n p r e v i o u s e r a s w ere co nv ey e d by r i t u a l s , p u b l i c g a t h e r i n g s , d e c r e e s . p a ra d e s, be havior in p u b l i c , e r tr o u p S l r i ? 11? t u f l l y e v e tT c u l t u r e I s a w o r l d o f lm a g s s . The c h i e f t a i n I n h i a p s l a n q u l n , t h e sha man w i t h h i s f e a t h e r s a nd r a t t l e , a r e t e l l i n g ua so m e th in g a b o u t th e m se lv e s sn d a b o u t t h e c o n t i n u i t y o f t h e s o c i e t y an d p o s i t i o n o f t b e in d iv id u a ls in i t . Now t h e m e d ia , w i t h a l l t h e i r q u i r k s , p e r f o r m t h a same f u n c t i o n . And i f we do n o t l i k e t h e way some t h i n e , a r e t r e a t e d by t h e m e d ia , i n p a r t t h i s s t e m s f r o * n o t u n d e r s t a n d i n g how t h e y w o rk . " M e d i a , " o r s t r u c t u r e d t r a n s m i s s i o n m e ch a ni sm s , c an n o t h e l p b e i n g p e r s o n a l i s e d by t h o s e who ru n them. ( L i k e e v e r y t h i n g e l s e . ) The p ro ble m i e t o u n d e r s t a n d how me dia w or k, an d t h u s b a l a n c e o u r u n d e r s t a n d i n g of th e t h i n g s t h a t me di a m i e r e p r e s e n t . THOUGHTS ABOUT MEDIA: 1. ANYTHING CAN BE SAID IN ANY MEDIUM. A n y th in g ca n be s a i d i n a n y me dium .an d I n s p i r a t i o n c o u n t s much more th a n s c i e n c e . But t h e t e c h n i q u e s wh ic h a r e us e d t o co nv ey so m e th in g can b e q u i t , u n p r e d i c t a b l e .

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Eduard Fitzgerald.
A lm o st e v e r y o n e seem s to a g r e e t h a t Mankin d (who?) I s on t h e b r i n k o f a r e v o l u t i o n I n t h e v a y I n f o r m a t i o n l a h a n d l e d , an d t h a t t h i a r e v o l u t i o n l a t o come f r o a some s o r t o f m e rg i n g o f e l e c t r o n i c s c r e e n p r e s e n t a t i o n and a u d i o - v i s u a l te c h n o l o g y w i t h b r a n c h i n g , i n t e r a c t i v e c o m p u te r s y s t e m s . (T h e n a iv e t h i n k " t h e " m e r g i n g i s i n e v i t a b l e , a a i f " t h e " m e rg in g m e a n t a n y t h i n g c l e a r .

FANTICS By " f a n t l c s " I mean t h a a r t a n d s c i e n c e o f g e t t i n g l d e s s a c r o a s , b o th e m o t i o n a l l y a n d c o g n i t i v e l y . "F reaen tst i o n 1 c o u ld be a g e n e r a l w ord f o r i t . 1 Tha c h a r a c t e r o f w hat g e t s a c r o s s i s a lw ay a d u a l : b o t h t b e e x p l i c i t s t r u c tu r e ^ a n d f e e l l n g a t h a t go w i t h th e m . T h e s e tw o a s p e c t s , e x a c t n e s s and c o n n o t a t i o n , a r e a n i n s e p a r a b l e w h o l e ; w h a t i s conveye d g e n e r a l l y haa b o t h . The r e a d e r o r v ie w e r a l w ays g e t s f e e l i n g s s l o n g w i t h i n f o r m a t i o n , e v e n w hen t h e c r e a t o r s o f th e i n f o r m a t i o n t h i n k t h a t i t a " c o n t e n t " i a i c h a o re r e e t r l c t e d . A b e a u t i f u l exam ple: p o n d e ro u s " t e c h n i c a l " m s n n s l s w hic h c a r r y B i c h m ore c o n n o t a t i v e l y th a n t h e a u t h o r r e a l l t e e . Suc h v o l u m e , may c o n v e y t o s a e r . s d . r . an ( i n t e n d e d ) I m p r e s s l o o o f c i ^ e t e n c e , t o o t h . r e a sen se o f t h e a u t h o r s ' o b tu s e n a s s and n o n - I m a g i n a tio n E x p lic it d e c le rs tiv e s tr u c tu r e s n e v e r th e l e s s h a v e c o n n o ts tlv e f i e l d s ; p e o p le r e c e i v e n o t o n ly c o g n i t i v e s t r u c t u r e s , but im p re s s io n s , f e e l i n g e sn d s e n s e s o f t h i n g s . F s n t i c s i s th u s c o n c e r n e d v l t h b o t h t h e a r t s o f e f f e c t w r i t i n g , t h e a t e r a nd ao on n d t h e s t r u c t u r e s a n d a m echanis m s o f t h o u g h t , i n c l u d i n g t h e v a r i o u s t r a d i t i o n s o f th e s c h o ls rly e vent ( s r t l c l e , bo o k , l e c t u r e , d e b s t e s n d c l s s s ) . T hes e a r e a l l a f u n d a m e n t a l l y I n s e p a r a b l e w h o l e , and t e c h n i c a l l y - o r i e n t e d p e o p l e who t h i n k t h a t e y e t o s a t o I n t e r a c t w i t h p e o p l e , o r t e e c h , o r b r i n g up i n f o r m a t i o n , c an f u n c t i o n on some " t e c h n i c a l " b a s l e w i t h n o t i e - i n s t o h m a n f e e l i n g s , p s y c h o lo g y , o r th e l a r g e r e o c l a l a t r u e t u r e a re k id d in g t h o a . l v e s . n d / o r e v e r y o n e e l s e . Systema f o r " t e a c h i n g by c o m p u t e r , " i n f o r m a t i o n r e t r i e v a l , '* and ao o n , ha v e t o be g o v e rn e d i n t h e i r d e s i g n b y l a r g e r p r i n c i p l e , t h a n m o st o f t h e a e p e o p l e a r e w i l l i n g t o d e a l w i t h : th e c o n v ey a n ce o f i m a g e . , I m p r e s s i o n s a n d i d e a s . T h la l a what w r i t e r s and e d i t o r s , m o v l e - m a k e r s a n d l e c t u r e r s , r a d i o a n n o u n c e ra and l a y o u t p e o p l e a n d a d v e r t i s i n g p e o p l e a r e c o n c e r n e d w i t h ; and u n f o r t u n a t e l y c o m p u t e r p e o p le te n d n o t t o u n d e r s t a n d i t f o r b e a n s . In f s n t i c s s s a w h o le , t h e n we a r e c o n c e r n e d w i t h :

I used to th in k t h a t t o o . )
P r o f e s s i o n a l p e o p l e seem t o t h i n k t h i s m e r g i n g w i l l b e an i n t r i c a t e m i n g l i n g o f t e c h n i c a l s p e c i a l t i e s , t h a t o u r new s y s t e m s w i l l r e q u i r e v o r k b y a l l k i n d s o f c om m it t e e s an d c o n s u l t a n t s ( a d d in g and a d j u a t l n g ) u n t i l t h e Re s u l t s e i t h e r s p e c i f i c p r o d u c t i o n s o r o v e r a l l Syste m s- a re f i n i s h e d . Then we w i l l h a v e t o L e a r n t o U se Them. More c o n s u l t i n g f e e s . I t h i n k t h i s i s a d e l u s i o n and a c o n -g a m e . L th in k t h a t when t h e r e a l m e d ia o f th e f u t u r e a r r i v e , t h e s m a l l e s t c h i l d w i l l know i t r i g h t away (and p e r h a p s f i r s t ) . T h a t , i n d e e d , s h o u l d and w i l l be t h e c r i t e r i o n . When you c a n ' t t e a r a t e e n y k i d away from t h e c o m p u te r s c r e e n , w e ' l l h ave g o t t e n t h e r e . We a r e a p p r o a c h i n g a s c r e e n a p o c a l y p s e . T he a u t h o r ' s b a s i c v ie w i s t h a t RESPONSIVE COMPUTER DISPLAY SYSTEMS CAN, SHOULD AND WILL RESTRUCTURE AND LIGHT UP THE MENTAL LIFE OF MANKIND. ( F o r a more c o n v e n t i o n a l o u t l o o k , a e e bo* n e a r b y , " A n o t h e r V i e w p o i n t . ) I b e l i e v e c o m p u te r s c r e e n s c a n make p e o p l e h a p p i e r , s m a r t e r , and b e t t e r a b l e t o c o p e w i t h t h e c o p i o u s p r o b le ms o f to m o r r o w . B u t o n l y i f we do r i g h t , r i g h t now.

Voice of Little Girl: "Santa, a r e you more im portant th an Cod?" A nnouncer, plo nkingly; "Your a n s w e r i s . . ."

The c o m p u t e r ' s c a p a b i l i t y f o r b r a n c h i n g among e v e n ts, c o n tr o l lin g e x te r io r d e v ic e s, c o n tro llin g o u t s i d e e v e n t s , and m e d i a t i n g I n a l l o t h e r e v e n t s , makes p o s s i b l e a new e r a o f m e d ia . U n t i l now , t h e m e c h a n ic a l p r o p e r t i e s o f e x t e r n a l o b j e c t s d e t e r m i n e d what t h e y w e r e to u s a n d how we u se d th em . B u t h e n c e f o r t h t h i s i s a r b i t r a r y . The r e c o g n i t i o n o f t h a t a r b i t r a r i n e s s , and r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n among b r o a d e r and more g e n e r a l a l t e r n a t i v e s , a w a its u s . A l l th e p r e v io u s u n i t s and m e ch a n is m s o f l e a r n i n g , s c h o l a r s h i p , a r t s , t r a n s a c t i o n an d c o n f i r m a t i o n , and even s e l f - r e m i n d e r , w ere b a sed I n v a r i o u s w ays upon p h y s i c a l o b j e c t s t h e p r o p e r tie s of p a p e r, carbon p aper, f i l e s , books and b o o k s h e l v e s . To r e a d from p a p e r you m u s t move th e p h y s ic a l o b je c t i n f r o n t o f you. I ts c o n ten ts c a n n o t be made t o s l i d e , f o l d , s h r i n k , become t r a n s p a re n t, o r g e t la rg e r . But a l l t h i s i s now c h a n g in g , and s u d d e n l y . The c o m p u te r d i s p l a y s c r e e n d o e s a l l t h e s e t h i n g s i f d e s i r e d , t o t h e same m a r k i n g s we h a v e p r e v i o u s l y h a n d l e d on p a p e r . The c o m p u te r d i s p l a y s c r e e n i s g o i n g t o become u n i v e r s a l v e r y f a s t ; t h i s i s g u a r a n t e e d by t h e s u d d e n l y r i s i n g cost o f paper. And we w i l l u se them f o r e v e r y t h i n g . T h is a l r e a d y h a p p e n s w h e r e v e r t h e r e a r e r e s p o n d i n g com p u te r sc re en sy ste m s. ( I h a v e a f r i e n d w i t h tw o CRTs on h i s d e s k ; o n e f o r t h e n o r m a l f lo w o f w o rk , and o n e t o h a n d le i n t e r r u p t i o n s an d s i d e e x c u r s i o n s . ) A l o t o f f o r e s t s w i l l be sa v e d . Now, t h e r e a r e many p e o p le who d o n ' t l i k e t h i s i d e a , and h u f f a b o u t v a r i o u s a p p a r e n t d i s a d v a n t a g e s o f t h e screen . But we c an im p r o v e p e r f o r m a n c e u n t i l a l m o s t everyone i s s a t i s f i e d . F o r th o s e who s a y t h e s c r e e n s a r e " t o o s m a l l , " we c a n Im p rove r e l i a b i l i t y and b a c k u p , and o f f e r s c r e e n s e v e r y w h e r e ( s o t h a t m a t e r i a l n e e d n o t be p h y s i c a l l y c a r r i e d b e tw e e n th e m ). T h e e x h i l a r a t i o n and e x c i t e m e n t o f t h e c o m in g tim e i s h a r d Co c o n v e y on p a p e r . Our s c r e e n d i s p l a y s w i l l be a l i v e w ith a n im a tio n i n t h e i r s e p a r a t e segm ents of a c t i v i t y , and w i l l resp o n d t o o u r a c ti o n s as i f a l i v e p h y s ic a lly to o . T h e q u e s t i o n I s , th e n : H W WILL WE USE THEH? T hus O th e d e s i g n o f s c r e e n p e rf o rm a n c e s sn d e n v i r o n m e n t s , snd o f t r a n s a c t i o n and tra n s m is s io n s y ste m s, i s o f t h e h ig h e st p rio rity .

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(A fter How To Be A D epartm ent S to re Santa C la u a , produced by th e auth o r for CBS Laboratories and the AVS-10 In struction al d evice. O riginal slide, s t a r r in g Michelle D ellinger and / H enry S h r a d y . unfortunately m lelaid.)

T e c h n iq u e s o f p r e s e n t a t i o n : w r i t i n g , s t s g e d i r e c t i o n , m ovie m a king, m s g s z ln e l a y o u t , s o u n d o v e r l s y , e t c . and o f c o u r s e 3 . M edls th e m s e l v e s , t h e i r i Lalyaia an d d e s i g n ; and u l t i m a t e l y 4 . Tha d e a ig n o f s y a ts m s f o r p r a a e n t a t l o n . T h i s w i l l o f c o u r s e i n v o l v e c o m p u te rs h . r . s f t . r , b o t h c o n c e p t u a l l y snd t . c h n l c s l l y ; s i n c e i t o b v i o u s l y I n c l u d e s , f o r t h e f u t u r e , b r a n c h in g an d i n t r i c a t e l y i n t e r a c t i v e s y s t a a e n a c t e d by p r o g r s B s b l s m e c h a n ism s , i . a . c a s p u t a r e . Thus e n p u t e r d is p l a y , d a ta s t r u c t u r e , (a n d , to a n e x t e n t , p rogram m ing la n g u a g e a and t e c h n i q u e . ) a r e a l l a p e r t . F a n t i c . M i .t a l . o ln c lu d .

2.

2.

TBANSPOSABILITY

T h e r e h a a a lw ay s b e e n , b u t now I s n e w ly , a UNITY OF MEDIA OPTIONS. You c a n g e t y o u r n e s s a g e a c r o s s i n a p la y . t r s c t , a b r o a d s id e , a te x tb o o k , a w a l k in g s s n d w l c h - b o i r d , a r a d i o p r o g ra m , a c w l c book o r f u m e t t l , a m o v ie , a s l l d e - s h o w , a c a s s e t t e f o r t h e A u di Scan o r t h e AVS-IO, o r i v m a h y p e r t e x t (sea p .j) M U . ( B ut t r a n s p o s i n g c a n r a r e l y p r e . e r v e c < * p l e t e l y t h e c h a r a c t e r o r q u a l i t y o f th e o r i g i n a l . ) 3. BIG AND SHALL APPROACHES

5 . P s y c h o lo g i c a l a f f e c t a n d l ^ > a c t o f v a r i o u s p r e s e n t a t i o n a l t e c h n i q u e b u t n o t p a r t i c u l a r f o r m a l a e e t h e t l c a , a e o f h a ik u o r m a l c a l c o m p o s i t i o n . W here d i r e c t l y r e l e v sn t f a n t l c s s l s o in c lu d e s . S o c io lo g ic a l t l . - i n a a . p e c i a l l y a u p p o rtl v e and d y .f u n c t i o n a l s t r u c t u r e e , .u e h a s t i e n a w i t h o c c u p a t i o n a l l e t r u c t u r e ; s p o n s o r s h ip and c o M o r c l a l a ; w h a t w o r k s i n a c h o a l s and why. Most p r o f o u n d l y o f s l l , h o w e v e r, f a n t l c e m i s t d e a l w ith p sy c h o lo g ic a l c o n a tru c ts u se d t o o r g s n l e e th in g s -. 7 . Tha p a r t a , c o n c e p t u a l t h r e a d s , u n i f y i n g c o n c e p t s and w h a tn o t t h a t we c r e a t e t o make a a p e c t e o f t h a w o r l d u n d e rs ta n d a b le . W p u t th e a i n t o e v e r y t h i n g , b u t s t a n d a r d e i z e t h a i n madia . F o r exam ple, t a k a r a d i o . G iv e n i n r a d i o t h a t e c h n o l o g i c a l fu nd am e n t i s m s r a ly t h e c o n t i n u o u s t r a n s m i s s i o n o f s o u n d . P u t i n t o i t ha ve b e e n t h e " p r o g r a m , " t h e a e r i a l (and th u a th e e p l s o d s ) , t h e a n n o u n c e r , t h e t h e ^ ona and th * m u s i c a l b i l d s e c o n v e n t i o n s w h ic h a r e u s e f u l p r e se n tstio n s lly . The a r b i t r a r i n e s s o f a u ch m e n t a l c o n s t r u c t s s t o u l d be c l e a r . T h e i r u s e f u l n e s s i n m e n t s l o r g a n I c a t 1cm p e r h a p s i s n o t. L e t 's tsk a a e u rp tls e u a ^ i l a , n o th in g e l e c t r o n i c about I t. Kany " h ig b v a y e " a r e w h o lly f l c t i t l o u a a t l e a a t t o b e g in w i t h . L e t ' s s a y t h a t a t o u t s 37 l a c r e a t e d a c r o e e t h e a t s t e : t h a t n i a b e r i s m e r e ly a s e r i e s o f s i g n s t h a t u s e r s c an r e f e r t o a s th e y lo o k a t t h e i r maps a n d t r a v e l a lo n g . Bowever, a s tim e g o e a b y , * l o u t e 3 7 " ta k e n o n a c e r ta i n r e a l i t y a s a c o n ce p tu al e n t i t y : p e o p le t h i n k o f i t aa a t h i n s . P e ^ l e sa y " J u a t t a k e 3 7 s t r a i g h t o u t " (th o u g h I t may tw la t and t u r n ) ; g r o u p s l i k e s R o u t e 3 7 ( tar c h a n t s ' A s s o c i a t i o n , o r e v e n s C i t i s a n a t o S a v e S c e n i c . 3 7 , may s p r i n g op. What waa o r i g i n a l l y s l a * l y s n o m in a l c o n s t r u c t , t h a n , b e c o u s q u i t e r e a l a s p e o p le o r g a n i s e t h e i r l i v m a a r o u n d it. T h la a l l a a M a r b i t r a r y h o t n e c e s s a r y i n b o t h h i g h ways sn d r s d l o . What, th a n , d o e s i t h a v e t o d o v l t h t h s new e l e c t r o n i c a e d la T

What few p e o p le r e a l i z e i s t h a t b i g p i c t u r e s can be conv eye d I n j r p o w e r f u l ways t h a n t h e y know. Ths r e a s o n t h e y d o n ' t know i t i s t h a t t h e y e e e t h e c o n t e n t i n t h e m e d l s , and n o t how t h e c o n t e n t I s b e in g g o t t e n a c r o s s t o th e m t h a t in f a c t t h e y h a v e be en g i v e n v e r y b i g p i c t u r e s in d e e d , b u t d o n t know i t . ( I ta k e t h i s p o i n t t o be t h e N i c k e l - I r o n C ore o f M c U h a n ls m .) P e o p le who want t o t e a c h in te rm s o f b u i l d i n g up from t h e s m a l l t o t h e l a r g e , and o t h e r s who ( l i k e t h . a u t h o r ) l i k e t o p r e s e n t s w h o le p i c t u r e f i r s t , th e n f i l l i n t h e g a p s , a r e t a k i n g two v a l i d a p p r o a c h e s . (We may c a l l t h e s e , r e s p e c t i v e l y , t h e B ig P i c t u r e a p p r o a c h s n d t h e P iec em ea l a p p r o a c h .) B ig p i c t u r e s a r e J u a t s s memorable a s p i c k y - p i e c e s i f th e y have s t r o n g I n s i g h t s a t t h e i r m a jo r i n t e r s e c t i o n s . A. THE WORD-PICTURE CONTINUUM

TILE FRENCH HAVE A WORD FOR IT

I n F r e n c h th e y use the te r m V I nf or ma ti qu e to mea n, a pp r o x i m a t e l y , the p r e s e n t a t i o n of in fo rm a t i o n t o p e o p l e b y automatic e q ui pm en t. U n f o r t u n a t e l y the En glish equi va le nt , i n f o r m a t i c s , ha s b ee n preempted. T h e r e is a com pu te r p r o g r a m m i n g firm ca ll ed Inform at ic s, Inc., an d w h e n I w r o t e them abou t this in tjj6 . ear ly sixti es they said they did not w a n t their name to be c o m e a ge n e r i c term. T r a d e m a r k law s u p p or ts t h e m i n this to a c e r ta in exten t. (Others, l ike Wa l l y Feurzeig, want that to be the w o r d r eg ar dl es s. ) But in the m e a nt im e I off er up the t erm f a n t i c s , w h i c h is more g en er al anyhow.

T he a r t s o f w r i t i n g and d i a g r a m i n g a r e b s s l e s l l y a c o n tin u u m . I n b o th c a a e s t h e m e n ta l im ages and c o g n i t i v e s t r u c t u r e s p r o d u c e d a r e a m e rge r o f w hat i s t a r o r r e c e i v e d . Words a r e s lo w and t r i c k y f o r p r e s e n t i n g a l o t o f c o n n e c t i o n s j d ia g ra m s do t h l a w e l l . B ut d i a gram s g i v e s p o o r f e e l f o r t h i n g s and w ords d o t h i s s p l e n d i d l y . T he w r i t e r p r e s e n t s e x s c t s t a t e m e n t s , in a n a c c o r d - s t r u c t u r e o f b u t s and l n d e e d e , molded i n a s t r u c t u r e o f c o n n o t s t l o n s h a v in g ( i f t h e w r i t e r i s good) e x a c t im p r e c l e e n e s s . T h is i s h a r d l y s t a r t l i n g : y o u ' r e a lw a y s s e l e c t i n g w hat t o s a y , and t h e u s . o f v a g u e w o rd s ( o r t h e u se o f p r e c i s . - m o u n d i n g w ords v a g u e ly ) i s sim p ly s f l a g r a n t form o f o m i s s i o n , tc d la L a m s t o o , th e c h o l e e o f w het to l s s v e in sn d o u t , how t o r e p r e s e n t o v srw ee n ln g c o n d i t i o n . a n d f o r c e s * "**l a r v d e t s i l s , a r e h ig h ly c o n n o ta tiv e . ( G r e a t d ia g r a n a a r 7 t o be in t h e S c i e n t i f i c A m e ric an and o l d . r I s s u e s o f TIME m a g a r i n e .) T h is w o r d - p l c t u r e contin u u m i s J u s t s p s r t of t h . b r o a d e r c o n tin u u m , whic h I c a l l F a n t l c s .

Slaply thle: till now the structures of tudla somehow sprang naturally from the nature of things. Now they don't anymore. Radio, books and movies have a natural Inner dy namic of their own, leading co aueh constructs. While this may prove to be eo for coaputer aadl as wall ( as 1 argued In "Getting It Out of Our Systen," cited p.fatf), Chen again it aay not. In other words, WE MUST ACKNOWLEDGE THAT WE ARE INVENT IMG PRESENTATIONAL TECHNIQUES IN THE NEW MEDIA, not merely transporting or transposing particular things Into thea because they eeen right. The psychologi cal constructs of man-machine systems may turn out to ba largely arbitrary. Thus bringing co terainal systoas con ventions like dialogue instruction ("CAI"), or arblcrary restrictions of how things nay be connected, presented or written on the coaputer aay be a great alstake. The hlghway-nuaber analogy continues. The older highways had nuabere for convenience, and our travels becaae organized around them, and particular highways (like "U.S. 1" and "Route 6 6") caae to have special character. BuC now with che Interstates, a highway le a planned. sealed unlc, no longer Juet a collection of roads gather ed togecher under a name. This unit, Che Interstate, Is not merely a psychologi cal construct, but a planned structure. Knowing whaC works and what doesn't In che design of fast highways, Che Interscacas were built for speed, strucCured ae closed unlcs. Designing Chem wlch llalced access hss been a conscious decision ln the syscea design for well-based ressons, not a chance scruccure brought in froa horse-and buggy days. Now, the conscructs of previous media writing, fllas, othar arts evolved over tine, and In many cases aay have found their way to a "natural" form. BuC because of the peculiar way that coaputer media are currently evolving ( under large grants largely granted to professionals who uee very large words to proaoce the idea that their origi nal professions are largely applicable ), this sort of natural evolution aay noC take place. The new constructs of coapuCer media, especially coaputer screen-edl^ aay not have a chance Co be choughc out. We need designs for screen presenCstlons and thslr mixture vignetting, Windows, screen ttsalcs, transformed and augaented views, and the rapid and comprehensible control of theae views and windows. We sre still Just beginning to find clever viewing tech niques, and have hardly begun to discover highly respon sive forma of viewsblllty and control (cf. collaCeratlon ln "Thlnkertoys," p. $*52^, snd Knowlcons button-box (See T. Nelson, "A Conceptual Framework for Han-Machine Everything," cited p. , and material on controls, below.) THE HIND'S UNIFICATION One of the reasrkable things abouC the huaan mind la che way it ties things togecher. Perceptual unity comes out of nowhere. A bunch of irregular reel*dentlal and industrial blocks becomes thought of as "ay neighborhood." K most remarkable case of mental uni fication Is afforded by the visage of our good friend Hickey Mouse. The character is drawn ln a most para doxical fashion: Cwo globelike protrusions (representing the sars) are ln different positions on the head, depend ing on whether we view him from che front or the side. No one finds this objectionable; few people even notice, it seems. TH E P A R A D O X I C A L A N A T O M 1 OF HIC K E Y MO U S E

The human mind being ae supple as it Is, anything whatever can be used co control systeas. The problem le having It be a comprehensible whole. Aa slresdy remarked, things Is excrsordlnary. clutch, gear, acceleracor concrol etructure to make and inetruct. our ability mentally co unify That we somehow tie together and brake InCo a comprehensible care go and stop should amaze But useful wholeneas can be helped along. Jusc as what I have called che accordance-*tructure of wrltine (see *Writlng,' p.^ft) aoves It along aooothlv fanMdeelgn that builds from a well-organized internal dy namic should confer on a fantlc system the same momentum and clarlCy chac carefully-organized writing haa. This contribution of wholeness can only occur, how ever, lf cbe under-level coapllcatlons of a system have been carefully streamlined aod emoothed back ac least as they affect the user. Consider ehe design of the JOT editing syscea (p **>); while it is simple co the usT, cooputer people often react co it with Indignation and anger becauee It hides whac are co chem the signifi cant features of computer text editing explicit preoccupadon wlch storage, especially the calling and re vision of blocks." Nevertheless, I ssy It la the de tails at Chls level which muse be smooched back if we are co make systems for regular people. The same applies to the Th3 system (see p. D f r f O , which Is designed to keep the user clear-minded aa he coopsres Chlngs in multiple dimensions. The oechanlsms st the computer level muse be hidden to - nVf chls work. FANTIC SPACE Pudovkln and Elaeneteln, greac Russian movle-makars of che tvenelee, talked abouc "filaic space" ths Imagin ary apace that che action ae*"1 to be ln. " Thl* concept extends Itself naturally co fantlc space the space and relatlonehlpe sensed by a viewer of sny me- ' dlum, or a user in any presenting or responding environ ment. The design of computer display ayatema, then la really che artful crafting of f an d c apace. Technicalities are subservient to effects. (Indeed, I think computer graphics is really a branch of movle-oaklng.) FANTIC STRUCTURE The fantlc structure of anything, then, consists of les noticeable pares, lneerconnectlona, contents and ef fects. I claim that It 1s the fantlc unity the conceptual and presentational clarity of theee chlngs thsc makes fantlc systems presentational systems and materielclear and helpful, or not. Lec us cske an lncereetlng example from a syst for computer-assisted Instruction now under implementation. I will not identify or consent on the aystem because per' haps I do noc understsnd It sufficiently. Anyway, they have an array of etudent control-buitona that look like Chls-.

Engineers and "human factors" people speak aa though there were some kind of scientific or determinate way to deaign control systams. Piffle. We choose a sec of con trols, much like an artlete Palette, on the baeis of ge neral approprlateneae; and Chen Cry besc and mosc artistic ally to fit thea to what needs doing. The resulc muse be conceptually elear and reCroacdvely "obvious" simply because clarity is che simplest way co keep the ueer from making mistakes. Clear snd simple systems are easier co learn, harder to forget, lass likely to be screwed up by the user, and thus are more economic al getting more done for Che resources put ln. There Is a sore of paradox here. The kinds of con trols are totally arblcrary, buC Chelr unification In a good syscea is not. Sooochness snd clarity can cooe from disparate elements. Ic is for chls resaon that I lay par ticular strees on ay JOT system for che Input and revision of texC, using a palette of keys available on che simplest standard computer terainal, the 33 Teletype. I cannot aake the final judgement on how good this systea Is, but it pleases me. JOT 1s also an important example becauee lc suggests that a conceptually unified syscem can be creaced from Che arcful non-obvlous combination of loose elements originally having differenc intended purposes. Mentsl analogy 1 s an important and clear concrol technique. We tend co forget chat the steering wheel was invenCed. aeparacely replacing both the boat's tiller and the automobile's Ciller. We aleo forget thac Che use of such steering mechanisms must be actually learned by children. Such continuous analogies, though, require cor responding continuities in che spscs co be controlled an important condiClon. Simplicity and clarity have nothing to do with the appearance of controls, buC wlch the clarity and unique locatablllty of individual parte. For thia reaaon I find deplorable che arrayed controls thac are turning up, e.g. on Codsy's audio equipment. Designers aeem to think rowa of things are desirable. On che contrary: Che best designed controls I ever used are on che Sony TC-50 pocket tap^ recorder t a u i. r e j )

I
I

H IT

ri 'F t f V

O tJ

MiVICE

K \A r
but of courae cbls Is now phased out; Instead mosc cassette recorders have five or six stupid buttons ln a row. (Was lc too good to last?) Spurious control elegance comes ln many guises. Con sider Bruce McCall's description of the Tap-A-Toe Futuroidie Foodess De-Clutchlngtu systeo. This wae offered on the fictltloua 1934 Bulgemoblles, and allowed you to drive the car wlch one pedal, racher than three (see box nearby). Careless and horrible designs are noc all flccltloua. One egregious exaaple also Indicates the low level of de aign currently going Inco some responding systems: comput er people hsve designed CRT writing systeas for newepspers which actually have a "kill" button on the console, by which authors would accidentally kill their stories. In s recenc magazine article It wae explained thac che event ual aoluclon wae Co chsnge Che prograa so thac to kill the atory you had co hit the "kill" button {wice. To ae this seems like a beautiful exaaple of what happens when you lec lnsulaced technical people design che system for you: s "kill" button on the keybosrd is about as intelli gent ae instslllng knives on the dashboard of a car, pointing ac che passenger. There is another poor tendency. When computer progranere or other Cechnlcal people design particular sysceas wlchout thinking more generally, Chlngs are not likely to be either simple or coablnable. What aay re sult la intricate user-level controls for one particular funcdon, controls chac sre differendy used for anocher particular function, making the two functions not combinable. Whac makes for the best control structures, then? There Is no simple answer. I would ssy provlslonslly chac ic is a maccer of unified and conspicuous constructs in che menCsl view of Che domain to be controlled, correapondlng to a vell-dletingulshed and clesrly-incerrelated set of controlling mechanisms. But that is hardly che last word on che subject. THE ORGANIZATION OF WHOLENESS Ic should be plsin that ln responding screensysteas, "what happens on the screen" snd how che controls respond" sre noc really distinguishable. Ths screen evenes are pare of the way the controls respond. The screen functions and control functions aerge psychologically. Now, there le a crap here. Just ae the gas pedal, clutch, gesrshifc and brake aerge peychologicslly, any control structure csn aerge psychologicslly. Clutch snd gear shift do not have, for aosc of us, clear psychologicsl relevance Co the problea of con trolled forward motion. Yet we psychologlcslly Inte grate tha use of Chese mechanisms as a unified means for controlling forward ootlon (or, like the author, get an Automatic). In much the saae way, sny syscem of conCrols can gradually coae Chrough use co hsve s psychological organlzadon, even spuriously. The crap is thac we so easily lose sight of srbltrariness snd even stupidity of design, and live with It when it could be so auch better, becauee of chls psychological melding.

EA5 IER EM M P, f w c .r [fncf.cjJ

M I C K B X MO U S E

(f r o n t a l )

RYU

(lateral)

POSSIBLE RECONCILIATIONS; D i a go na l M o u n t i n g

Ho I ling Relative to Ca mera

The genersl thinking ln this system aeems to be chac the student may gee an overall organizing view of whac he la supposed to be learning (MAP); Information on what he la currently supposed to be about (OBJ); csnned suggestions based on what hes recently done (ADVICE). Moipver, he can get ehe aystem to present a rule sbout the subject or give him practice; and for either of these he may request easier rules or prsctlce, or hsrdsr rules (i.e., more abstruse generslltles) or harder prsccice. For the laccer, the student Is supposed co hie RULE or PW.CT followed by KELP, HARDER or EASIER, vi*.-.

What this shows, of course, le che way the alnd can unify Into a consistent mental whole even things which are inconsistent by normal rules (ln chls case, the rules of three-dimensional structure). Even perceptlone are subject to the same principle of unification. The fingernail is an excrescence with no nerves ln lc; yet somehow you csn feel things with your fingernails eying togecher disparate sensadons inco a unified senea of soaechlng ln the world (ssy, a coin youre crying to pick up). In Che ssme way, an experienc ed driver feels the rosd: ln a very real sense, che car's wheels aod suspension become his own sensory extensions. This principle of oencal unification is what aakea chlngs cooe together, both literally and figuratively, ln a fantlc field. A viewer sees two consecutive movie shots of streecs snd unifies chem into one screet; controls, If you sre used co chem, become a single fused syscem of options; we csn have a sense of a greater whole, of which one view on a screen Is a pare.

O gJ

e ip ATWe / 1 CAW fWCT

M*\P /< ------- r EUIE e w \ p

Now regardless of whecher chls Is a well-thougtfrout way to divide up a subject Ill be interested to see how it works out chese controls do not s e a eo be wellarranged for conceptual claricy. It seems eo be Che old rowe-of-buttons approach. I have no doubt thac ehe people working on chis syseem are certain this is Che only possible layouC. But consider chae the student's options might be clearer to him, for Instance, lf we set It up aa follows:

Tt (3HMT, m k
IS n o t
JtT '4

IH o o r ^ i T M y

CONTROLS: THEIR UNIFICATION AND FEEL Controls sre Intimately related to screen presencsdon, jusc ae arbitrary, and just ae luporcant. The artful deaign of control systems le a deeply Misunderstood area, ln no way deconfused by calling it "human factors." There are aany functions to be control led, such as text editing operations, views of Che uni verse on s screen, the heading of a vehicle, the tile of an aircraft, the windage and adjustments of artillery, Che temperature of a etove burner and any ocher control lable devicee. And nowadays any conceivable devices could control that pushbuccons, knobs, cranks, wheels, levers and Joysticks, trigger, dials, aaglc wands, aanipuladon by llghtpen on CRT screens (see p.9*'T), flicks of Che finger, the turning of che eves (as in soae ex perimental gun-alalng devicee), Che huaan voice (but thac inCroduces probleas see p.^HI3), keyboards, elec tronic cablete, bgelbart alee and chordwrlters, and so

OB

Or like this:

Selection of points and parts contributes to both a*Pects. I* you are trying to keep the feeling of a c w g from being ponderous, you ean never include everything you wanted, but mist select from among the explicit points and feellngfenerators that you have thought of. 2. The design of media themaelvea, or of media subsystems. Is not usually a matter of option. Books, movies, radio and TV are given. But on occasion, as for world's fairs or very personal projects, we have certain option. Which allows things like: Smellavislon or whacever they called It: movlea with a smell-track, which went out Into the theater through odor generatora. Branching movies (see p . ^ H ^ ) . "Multi-media" (multiple audio tracks and almultaueoue elide projectlone on different screens). Stereo movlea. And ao on. The thing about the onea mentioned Is that they are not viable aa continuing setups for repeated productions. They do not offer a permanent wide market; they are not stable; they do not catch on. Which Is in a way, of course, too bad. But the great change la Juat abouC now. Currenc technicalities allow branching iredls especially those associated with computer screens. And It Is up to us now to design them. 3. MB4TAL ENVIRONMENTS are working places for struc tured activity. The saae principles of showmanship apply to a working environment as to both the contents of media and the design of media. If media are environments into which packaged materials are brought, structured environmencs are baalcally environments where you use non-packaged material, or create things yourself. They might also be called "contentlesa media." The princlplea of wholeneee In structured environments are the same aa for the others, and many of our examples refer to them. The branching computer acreen, together with the aelfsame computer's ability to turn anything elae on and off as selected by the user, snd to fetch up information, ylelde a realm of option In the design of media and environment that bee never existed before. Medls we design for screen-bssed computer systems are going to catch on widely, so we must be far more at tentive to the options that exlat in order to coomlt nationally, perhaps to the best. In tomorrow's systems, properly unified controls can give us new flexibilities. If deeply well-designed, these promise magnificent new capabilities. For In stance, we could allow a Musician to "conduct" the per formance of hia work by a computer-based music eyntheele system (see "Audio," p.^il), perhapa controlling the many qualities of the performance on a ecreen ae he goee, by means of such techniques aa dimensional flip (see p.n7j). (The tradition of cumulative audio aynthesls, as practiced In the flftlea by Lee Paul and Mary Ford, and more recently by Walter Carlos and Mike Oldfield, will take on a new fillip as multidimensional control techniques become coimiion.)

One of the intents of this book haa been to orient you to some of the possibilities and soae of tbe option** considered generally. There le not room, unfortunately* to discuss more than one or two overall possibilities In detail. The moat successful such systaa so far haa b een PLATO (discussed pp. DM18-19); others k.T u /,t|W Mr NEW MEDIA TO LAST Whet's worse, we are confronted not merely v lt b che job of using computers to present epeclflc things. The greater cask Is co design overall computer media that will last us into a more intelligent future. Adrift In a aea of Ignorance and confusion, it is nevertheless our duty to try to create a whole transportation s y s t a that everybody can climb aboard. For the long run, fantlc ayatems oust be trested not as custom s y s t a a for explicit purposee, but ae OVERALL GENERAL DESIGNS WHICH VILL H AVE TO TIE TOGETHER AND CATCH CM, otherwise collapse and perlab.

What I am crying co show here le that merely Che arrangement of buttons creates different fantlc con structs. If you see this, you will recognise that considering all the other options we have, designing new media le no small matter. The control structures merge mentally with the presentational structures. The tempCadon to settle on ahort-slghtsd designs hav ing ehallow unity le all coo greac. FANT1C DESIGN Fantlc design is basically Che planning and selec tion of effects. (We could also call chese "performance values" cf. "production values" In movlea.) Some of these lncended effects are singly the com munication of information or cognitive structure "in formation transfer," Co use one of the more obtuse phrases current. Other desirable effects Include orien ting the user and often moving him emotionally, including sometimes overwhelming or entrancing him. In che design of fantlc eysCeme involving automatic response, we have a vast choice among Cypee of presenta tional technlquee, tricks that are Just now becoming understood. Not Just sereen techniques snd functions, but aleo reeponee technlquee and functions. (If "feelle" systems are ever perfected, ae In Huxley'e Brave New World, it's still the same In prin ciple. See WacHapteas, p. h*\^-) In both general areas, chough wlchin media, and designing media it seems to me that the creation of organizing constructs is the most profound problem. In particular, the organizing constructs must not dis tract, or Cear up contents. An analogy: In writing, the inventions of the paragraph, chapter and footnote were inventions in writing technique that helped clarify what was being expressed. What we need In computer-based fantlc design ie Inventions which do not artificially chop up, constrain, or interfere with the subject (see box, Procrustes, nearby). I do not feel these principles are everywhere suf ficiently appreciaced. For Instance, the built-in structures of PLATO (see "Faniic Space of PLATO," p. P*^7.T) disturbs me somewhat in its arbitrariness-- and the way Its control keys are scsttered around. But there is always something artificial that is, some form of artifice in presenCadon. So the problem 1 s to devise techniques which have elucidating value but do not cut connections or ties or other relationships you want to save. (For this reason I suggest the reader consider "Stretchtext," p. J>h| | , collateral linkage a (p a,*d the various hypergrams (p j)^i These structures, while somewhat arbitrary and artifi cial, nevertheless can be used to handle a subject gently.) An important kind of organizing construct is the map or overall o r l e n d n g diagram. This, too, is often partly "exacc" and partly "artifice:" certain aspects of the diagram may have unclear import but clear and help ful connotation. (For lnscance, consider Che "picture systems" diagram on p. D M o Jusc what does che vertical dimension mean? Yes, but whac does it really

FINAL CONSEQUENCES. It aeema to me certain thet we ace w i n g coward a generalized and universal Fantlc sy e t a ; people can and ahould d o a n d it. Perhaps there will be several; but if so, being able to tie them together for m o t b transmission is essential. (Think of what It would be like If there were two kinds of telephones?) Thle then Is a great search and crusade: to put together truly generel media for^ruture, systoas at which we can read* writs, learn and visualize, year after Tear after y e a r . The Initiatives are not likely to come from the more conventional eoaputer people; some of them are part of the probla. (Be prepared for every poealbla form of aggressive defensiveness froa prograMere, especially: "Why would you want that?" The correct answer la BECAUSE, damlt!) But thle all means thst Interior coaputer technical ities have to be SUBSERVIENT, and the prograoers cannot be allowed to dictate bow it la to behave on tbe basis of the underlevel structures that are convenient to thea. Quite the contrary: from the fullest consideration of che rlehest upper-level structures we want, we tha usera-tobe aust dictate what lower-level structures are to be prepared within. But this means you, dear reader, muat develop the fantlc imagination. You auat learn to visualize possible uses of computer screens, so you can get on down to the deeper level of how we are going to tie theee things together. The deelgner of responding coaputer eyeteas le cresting unified setups for viewing snd msnlpulstlng things and the feellnga, Impreeelons end sense of things thst go with them. Our goal should be nothing less than REPRESENTING THE TRUE CONTENT AND STRUCTURE OF HUMAN THOUGHT. (Yes, Dream Machlnee Indeed.) But it should be eomethlng more: enabling the mind to weigh; pursue, synthesize snd evaluate ideas for a better tomorrow. Or for any at all.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Theodor H. Nelson, "A Conceptual Framework for Man-Machine Everything." Proc. NCC 73. "Computopia and Cybercrud. In Levien (ed.). Computers in _Ins^ruc_^ion, The Rand Corporation,

O o T T J u ^ lc rO fT e x f ,
Here's hov; simple it is to create and edit text with the JOT system. Since your typewriter is now a JOT machine, not every key does what it used to. CREATING TEXT: just type it in. fa'fjf.: If f j t : 'pi The quick brown fox jumps over the la2y dog. The quick brown fox jumps over tho lazy dog.

Responding systems now make it possible for such orienting structures to be multidimensional and respon ding (cf. the orienting function of che "dimensional flip" control llluscrated on p. DM JJI ) Fantic design, Chen, Is the creation either of things to be shown (writing, movie-making, etc.) at the lower end, or media to show things In, or environments. 1. The design of things co be shown whether writing, movie-making, or whatever Is nearly always a combination of some kind of explicit structure an ex planation or planned lesson, or plot of a novel and a feeling thae the author can control in varying degrees. The two are .deeply intertwined, however. The author (designer, director, ecc.) muec chink carefully abouc how to give organization co what le being preaented. Thia, eoo, hae both aspeccs, cognition and feelings. Ac the cognitive end, the author must concern him self with detailed exposition or argument, or, in fiction, plot. But almply putting appropriate parte together is not enough: the author must use organizing eonscruccsco continually orient the reader's (or viewer's) mind. Re peated reference to main concepts, repeated shots (in a movie) of particular locations, serve this function; but each medium presents its own possible devices for thlB purpose. The organization of the feelings of the work criss-crosses the cognitive; but we can't get Into it here.

REVIEWING A SENTENCE YOU JUST TYPED: the back-arrow takes you back, the space bnr steps y o u , , through sp sp sp sp U (bell) The quick brown fox

DELETIONS AND INSERTIONS: the RUBOUT key rejects words you don't want. i f* Jf (bell) sp sp RUBOUT lithe sp sp sp sp sp

To insert , Merely t y pe. sp

The quick /brown/ lithe fox jumps over the laxy dog.

REARRANGING TEXT: first w e make three Cuts in the text, signalled by free-standing excl a n a t i o n

points.
yi // 7y 4 sp I sp ! sp I fox The l quick J lithe ! fox This exchanges the two pieces between the c u ts.

TO REARRANGE IT, YOU TYPE: LINE FEED key. CHECK THE RESULTS: (bell) sp sp sp Sp The lithe quick fox

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A n o th e r a p p l i c a t i o n o r t h e p r e s e n t In v e n ti o n I s a l s o t a th e arc-a o f p i c t o r i a l d i s p l a y , b u t o f f e r s a g r e a t v a r i e t y o f p o t e n t i a l u s e r c b o le e s I d a s i m p l e c ir c u m s t a n c e . I c a l l t h l e t h e " w a lk in g n e t" s y s t e a b e c a u se c o n t r o l i s s t e p , o r " w a lk ," In te re st, E i t h e r o f th e e e a l t e r n a t i v e s m y c o n tin u e v l t h develo pm ents a n d a n l a s t l t t i s u n d e r c o n t r o l o f i t s own sh ank . S e v e ra l fe a tu re s o f th is c o c tr o i a p p lic a tio n a re of sp e e la l t e e i s t h a t th e p r e s e n t a t i o n s a y be c o n tin u o u s i n a l l d i r e c t i o n s , A n o th e r i s t h a t p r e s e n t a t i o n s a r e I t s ovr.

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i N T e u f C T f c o * | i a ? [ -h s

Me^i^-THD^icx?

e f f e c t e d th r o u g o a c h an g in g n e tw o rk o f c h o i c e s wbleb a ro u n d th e csrv e n ,

a i d i n g l n c o n tin u o u s u s s r o r i e n t a t i o n .

D ie p r o b le a o f I n t r i c a t e c o p u t e r g r a p h ic s &iy b e p h r a s e d f o l l o v c : g i v e n t h a t a d i g i t a l s y s t e n c a n b o ld a wide v a r i e t y o f g r a p h i c a l m t e r l a l s r e a d y t o p r e s e n t , hens n ny t h e u s e r s o o t s l a p l y a n d c o n v e n ie n tly c hoose th e n ? I n d e e d , how m y t b e u s e r ke ep t r a c k o f what I s h a p p e n in g , v i a re

r e v e r s i b l e i n v a r i o u s w ays, a n a i d b o th i n u s e r o r i e n t a t i o n a n d s e l f - s t u d y . (NiTt o n ly I s a d e m o n s tr a t io n r e v e r s i b l e w i t h i n a g iv e n sh ank , b u t th e u s e r e ay b a ck t h e p i p th r a i G h a n i n t e r s e c t i o n i n t o th e a n te c e d e n t sha nk which r e a p p e a r s a t t h e J u n c tu r e a s t h e llG h tp e n ta c K s u p a n d the u s e r s a y c o n tin u e t o r e v e r s e 't h e p r e s e n t a t i o n th ro u g h t h a t p r e e e d ln g sh ank , o r t o r e - c n t e t b e i n t e r s e c t i o n a n d nuke a n o th e r c h o i c e , " t h e p i t h n o t ta k e n . ) These

'F A M T iC V
First of all, 1 feel that very few people understand what interactive computer s/stems are about. It's like the story of the blind men and the elephant-- each thinks it's a different thing (based, usually, on his own technical specialty). But I think it's all show business. PENNY ARCADES are the nodel for interactive computer systems, not classrooas or libraries or imaginary robot playaates. And coaputer graphics is an intricate branch of aovienaking. Okay, so I wanted a term that would connote, in the most general sense, the showaanship of ideas and feelings-- whether or not handled by aaehine. I derive "fantics" from the Creek words "phainein" (show) and its derivative "phantastein" (present to the eye or aind). You will of course recognize its cousins fantastic, fantasy, p h an to a. ("Phantom aeans what is shown; in medical illustration it refers to an opaque object drawn as transparent; a "phantom limb" is an amputee's temporary feeling that the severed limb has been restored.) And a fantast is a dreamer. The word "fantics" would thus include the showing of anything (and thus writing and theater), which is more or less what I intended. The term is also intended to c o v e T the tactics of conveying ideas and impressions, especially with showmanship and presentational techniques, organizing constructs, and fundamental structures underlying presentational systens. Thus Engelbart's data hierarchy (P.,*<fc-7), SKETCHPAD'S Constraints (p.,**>), and PLATOS fantic spaces ( p j K 2( 7* 8re fantic constructions " that need to be understood if we are to under stand these systens and their potential usages.

h e I s a n d v b e r e he h a s been? T te e * t * n w l B e e h a n la a I have s e l e c t e d f o r t h i s f a c i l i t y la ra d o * ' 1t a l l y e a o b l n e s g r e a t v e r s a t i l i t y f o r s o p h i s t i c a t e d p r e s e n t a t i o n s w i t h .jr e a t s i m p l i c i t y b e f o r e t h e n a iv e u s e r . Ths id e a I s t h i s : t h e u s e r nay c c m t n d a c o n t i n u i n g s u c c e s s io n o f c h an g in g p r e s e n t a t i o n s , n M n g o n ly one s l n p l e c h o ic e a t a t i a e , y e t r e c e i v i n g I n t r i c a t e a n d r i c h a n im a tio n s v l t h e x tre m e ly c l e a r c o n t i n u i t y on t b e s c r e e n . The e x t e r i o r s e c h a n l s u I s t h i s : a lo n g v l t b a n a r b i t r a r y g r a p h ic p r e s e n t a t l o i e n th e s c r e e n , th e u s e r I s c o n tin u o u s ly p r e s e n t e d v l t h t h e l u g s l>L44 o f a f o r k i n g s e t o f a r m s , j.-.

f e a t u r e s a l lo w t h e u c e r d e a r l y t o r e p e a t d e o o n o tr a tio n s a s o f t e n a s he l i k e s and t o e x p lo r e num erous a l t e r n a t i v e s . The d is p l a y e d c o n t r o l n e t I s th u s t o be u n f e r s to o d a s a la r g e netw ork o f c h o i c e s , n o s t l y u n se e n , whose c u r r e n t l y v i s i b l e p o r t i o n "w alks" a ro u n th e s c r e e n a s u s e p r o g r e s s e s . p o s s ib le . W ith in t h i s s y s t e n , th e n , n u ie ro u s v a r i a n t s a r e

F o r I n a t a n c e , t b e c u r r e n t l y v i s i b l e p o r t i o n o f th s M t s a y I t s e l f

be v b l a s l c a l l y I n c o r p o r a t e d i n a p i c t u r e , v l t . :

w **> 6H W d V irtu e

fr
" i' k vI T Tbe p i p I s a c o n v e n ti o n a l i l ^ h t - p e n c u r s o r . The " c u r r e n t shank" I s a l i n e

whose i m p l i c i t g r a d a t i o n s c o n t r o l f c v e lo p c e n tc i n the p i c t u r e ; a n d th e choLce o f a r r o w s a t th e end o f th e e u r r e n t sh a n k d c t e r a l n s & d i s c r e t e c h o ic e betw een a l t e r n a t i v e s t h a t a r e to t r a n s p i r e .

ttptfOSTtS TH* G l W l T
The u s e r , s e i z i n g t b e p i p w ith th e l l g h t p c n , moves I t (th ro u g h t h e u s u a l l l g h t p z n t e c h n i q u e s ) s ld c v o y e a lo n e tb e c u r r e n t sh a n k . Moving i t ln The G re ek s t o l d o f a g ia n t, P r o c r u s t e s ( r h y w s w ith R u s ty s ) who was v e ry h o s p it a b le t o p a s s in g t r a v e l e r s . He would I n v i t e . Indeed c c a p a l th e a . t o s l e e p I n h i s b ed. lln f o r t u n a t e l y , be ca use i t was a v e ry odd b e d , h hod t o c u t th e a up f i r s t . . . P r o c r u s t e s ha s h a u n ted c o n v e r s a t io n s e v e r s i n c e ; and any t i n e we a r e f o rc e d t o use c a t e g o r i e s t h a t d o n 't pro p e r ly f i t a s u b j e c t , i t s c e u l i k e an i n v i t a t i o n to th e P r o c ru s t e a n b e d . H y p e r te x t s y s t e a s a t l a s t o f f e r t o t a l f r e e d f r a n a r b i t r a r y c a t e g o r i z i n g and choppin gi b u t i n s y s te a s f o r s t o r i n g and p r e s e n tin g I n f o r a a t i o n , I c a n ' t h e lp h e a r in g th e whle k o t P r o c r u s t e s ' k n i f e

th e " f o r w a r d " d i r e c t i o n e au c es p r o g r t 6 d v e dev elop m en ts l n th e p l c t u i ; , D ovlnc I t "b ac k w a rd" c a u s e s a r c v ^ r c a l o f o n i c i t i - . r i : an d o ilie r p r e v io u s d c v e l o p z s n t s . Vhen tb e p ip r c i c h e s t h e c h o ic e r ^ i n t i n the f o r ^ r d d i r e c t i o n , th e u s e r may d r a g i t (th r o u g h th e u c u a l l i g h t p s n t t c h n l q u a s ) a l o n g e i t h e r o f tb e b e c k o n in g a l t e r n a t i v e s . T M s th e n c a u se c f u r t h e r d e v e lo p .n n t s l c th e

p r e s e n t a t i o n c o n so n a n t v l t h th e l i n e s e l e c t e d . "DevelopBents" o f t b e p i c t u r e h e re I n c lu d e e x i a n s l a n , c o n t r u e t l o r s l i d i n g m o v e n n t s an d f n u c c -b y -T ru c e a n im a tio n . ( Q e s e o a t e r l o l s w i l l h av e b e e n , o f c o u r s e , e x p l i c i t l y I n p u t b y a u th o rs a nd a r t i s t s . ) I n a s a a p le e a p lo y n e n t, c o i s l d e r a p r e s e n t a t i o n <n t h e s u b j e c t o f V o lc a n o e s . I t t h e f i r s t shank o f t h e c o n t r o l n e t e o n t r o l t h e " r i s e o f a

L iv e rm o re L ab s , th o s e h y d ro g en -b o m b d e s ig n p e o p le , w ill h a v e a " L a b o ra to ry for Data A n a l y s is , an o p u le n t f a c u lty for e x p e rim e n tin g w ith m u ltid im e n sio n a l v isu a lisa tio n . One o f your j o l l y i r o n i e s . I have aeen p ic t u r e s o f b e a u t i f u l a u l t l b u t t o n e o n tr o l h a n d les which were d e sig n ed f o r p r o j e c t SMASH, would you b e lie v e S o u th e a s t [Asia] H u ltle e n e o r y A ra aa en t S y s tM f o r H e l ic o p t e r s . Aaxgh.)

"V

"Take new Tap-A-Toe Futuroidic Footless De-Clutching. Instead of old-fashioned gas, brake and clutch pedals that kept your feet busier than a dance marathon, Tap-A-Toe Futuroidic Footless De-Clutching offers the convenience of Single Pedal Power Control-combines all foot functions in one single pedal! "Think of it: one tap-- you go, aoving off faster than a barfly after Repeal. "Two taps-- you change gears, as smooth and automatic as a mortgage foreclosure. "Three taps-- you stop quicker than the U.S. economy.

T he b e a t w ith Ihe w o n t . E v e r y th i n g la d e e p ly I n in rtw in g le d .

v o lc a n o f r o a t h e s e a " - - a n u n d u la tin g o c e a n s u r f a c e p i e r c e d f l r o t b y a w isp o f sa o k e , t h e n a growing p e a k , v l t h r i v u l e t s o f la v a se e n t o ru n down I t s s i d e s and d a rk e n a s t h e y c o i t r l b u t c t o I t s g ro w th .

- U
(r~>lk J I*.

A.1.W , . J e - A rt j / . Ll
A t th e e n d o f th e f i r s t sltank , th e u s e r s a y b r a n s h t o tw o <irrc la b e lle d r e s ^ C tl v e ly W ORD OHISIR a n d UTEftlCH, E i t h e r o p tio n c o n ti n u e s t!;<*

"And that's all there is to it. Tap-AToe Futuroidic Footless De-Clutching with Single Pedal Control is as easy and effort less as the Jap narch on Manchuria!" Bruce McCall, "1934 Bulgemobile Brochure, National Lampoon. May 74, 76-7.

Designing screen systems that focus the user's thought on his work, with help ful visualizations and no distractions, is the great task of fantic design. In a system I designed for CRT motionpicture editing, the user could aaipulate written descriptions on the screen (corres ponding to the usual yellow-pad notes). To see the consequences of a particular splice, for instance, the editor would only have to draw a line between two annotated lines re presenting shots. Trim variations could be seen by moving this cut-line (illustrated). Not long after, CBS and Memorex did'in troduce a system for movie-editing by CRT-but I've heard that in their systea the user has to actually deal with numbers. If so, this is missing the whole point.

p r e s e n t a t i o n w ith o u t a b r e a k , r e t a i n i n g ouch o f th e p i c t u r e on th e s c r e e n . S e l e c t i o n Of W OJ\D ORIDIII cnufics t b e word V01CAII0 t o change t o VUIAil, a n d a p i c t u r e o f tb e god V-jican I s se en t o s e i z e a l i g h t n i n g b o l t r i s i n g f r o a th e c r a t e r ; t e x t a p p e a rs t o e x p la i n t h i s . A l t e r n a t i v e l y , I f th e u s e r c h o o se s

STCIMV1SI0M
A n ic e exasqtle o f a u n i f i e d p r e s e n t a t i o n a l sy B tea would a llo w you a * f e e l i e " g lo v e a lo n g w ith yo ur c o o p u te r d i s p l a y th e s o r t o f th in g Hike N o ll h a s be en do in g a t B e ll Lahs. Now, su p p o se you a r e p la y in g w ith a dia g ra m o f a s t a r on a c o n p u te r d is p l a y s c r e e n . I t ' s a l l v e ry w e ll t o s e e I t a l a y e r s , flow ing a rrow s r e p r e s e n tin g c o n v e c tio n c u r r e n t s , p r a o n t o r i e e and so on b u t s m th in g s you o u gh t to b e a b le to f e e l . Por exaxiple, th e n e c h a n ic a l r e s o n a n c e -p r o p e r t i e s o f s t a r s . I t would be n ic e t o be a b le to re a c h and g r a s p th e s t a r , t o a a u e e te I t and f e e l i t s p u l s a t i o n s a s i t r e g a in s i t s sh a p e. T h le c o u ld be done i n th e g lo v e a t th e s a a e t i a e th e U t g t o f t h e g lo v e g r a s p s th e s t a r on th e s e r e e n , and th e s t a r i a sq u ish e d . Of c o u r s e , t o b u i l d su ch a resp o n d in g g lo v e , p a r t i c u l a r l y one t h a t gave you s u b tl e f e e l i n g s back ln y ou r f i n g e r s , would p rob ably b e v e ry ex p e n s iv e . But i t s th e k in d o f p o s s i b i l i t y p e o p le sho uld s t a r t c o n s id e r in g .

IKTC3IQH, t b e tu b e s a n d d u c ts w ith in t h e v o lc a n o a p p e a r , an d e x p la n a to r y t e x t a lso .

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Our greatest problems involve thinking and the visualization of complexity. By "Thinkertoy" I mean, first of all, a system to help people think. ('Toy' means it should be easy and fun to use.) This is the same general idea for which Engelbaxt, for instance/ uses the term "aug mentation of intellect. But a Thinkertoy is something quite specific: I define it as a computer display system that helps y ou envision complex al ternatives. The process of envisioning ccsnplex alternatives is by no means the only important form of human thought! but it is essential to making decisions, d e signing, planning, writing, weighing alternate theor ies, considering alternate forms of legislation, doing scholarly research, and so on. It is also complicated enough that, in solving it, we may solve simpler prob lems as well. We will stress here some of the uses of these sy stems for handling t e x t , partly because I think these are rather interesting, and partly because the com plexity and subtlety of this problem has got to be better understood: the written word is nothing lees than the tracks left by the mind, and so w e are really talking about screen systems for handling ideas, in all their complexity. Numerous types of complex things have to be inter compared, and their relatione inter-cemprehended. Here are a few of the many types: Alternative

Now, it will be noted first off that this ie an ex tremely general method. By collateral structuring we can easily handle the equivalents of: tables of contents! indexes,- contents and marginalia; explanations, exegesis, explication? labeling? headings: footnotes; notes by the writer to himself; contents and questions by the reader for later reference; and additional details out of se quence .then. i. the cre.tior, of c h multiple and viewable links BETWEEN ANY TWO DATA STRUCTURES, in principle, it i, general and powerful enough to handle a greet variety oj poe.ible ueee in hunan intellectual endeavor, and deeenree conaiderable attention from researchers of every stripe.** The problem then, is how to handle this for rapid and convenient viewing and whatever other work the user wants to do writing and splicing, intercomparing, annotating and so on. T wo solutions ap pear on this spread: The Parallel Textface*, design ed as a seminal part of the Xanadu system (see p.>jft), which I hope will be marketed with that system in the near future, and a more recent design which I've work ed on at the University of Illinois, the 3D Thinkertoy or Th3. CLARITY A M D POWER We stressed on the other side of the book that conputer systems must be clear, single and easy to use. Where things like business uses of computers are con cerned, which are intrinsically so single in principle, some of the complications that people have been forced to deal w ith in i 1 1 -designed computer systems verge on the criminal. (But sane computer people want others to think that's the way it has to be. "Your first duty is to keep your job, right?" one computer person said to me recently. "It wouldn't do to set up systems so easy to use that the company wouldn't need y ou any more." See Cybercrud," p.6 .) But if it is desirable that conputer systems for simple-minded purposes be easy to use, it is absolutely necessary that computer systems for complicated purposes be simple to use. If you a n wrangling over complex al ternatives say, in chess, or in a political simula tion game (see "Simulation, p. % ), or in the throes of trying to write a novel, the last thing you will tole rate ie for your conputer screen to Introduce complica tions of its cwn. If a system for thinking doesn't make thinking simpler allowing you to see farther and more deeply it is uselss, to use only the polite term. But systems can be both powerful and sinple at the same time. The myth that things have to be com plicated to d o anything for you is pernicious rubbish. Well-designed systems can make our mental tasks lighter and our achievements come faster.

alii&SiS.

It is for this reason that I contendthe r eader these two designs of mine: as examples of user-level control and viewing designs fantlc enviro nm en ts , if you will (see p^)s-tt)-- that are p runed and tuned to give the user great control over the viewing and cr os sconsideration of intricate alternatives, witho ut e x plication. I like to believe that both of these, i n deed, are ten-minute gya* ' that is, when w e g e t them running, the fange of uses shown here can b e t aught to naive users?in ten minutes o r l es s. It is because of my heartfelt belief in thia k i nd of simplicity that I stress the creation of p r e fa br ic a ted environments, carefully tuned for easy use, rather than the ereation of ccmputer languages which m u t be learnt by the user, as do s uch people as Bngelbart (aee p.^ 1 6 ) and DeFanti (see p.J)N3i). Now, their a pproach hbviously has considerable mer it for sophisticated user s who w ant to tinker repeatedly w it h variant approaches. Por people w ho want to w ork Incessantly in an envi ro n ment, and on other things say write rs and are abeent-minded and clumsy and nervous and forgetful (like the present author), then the safe, prefabricated en vironment, with thoroughly fail-safe functions a nd u t terly memorable structural a nd control interrelation ships, is the only a pproach. * In my 1965 paper (see bibliography) I called c ollateral structures zippered lis ts .

* * a group at Brown University has reportedly w orked along these lines sinee I wo rk ed with them, b u t due to certain personal animosities I hava not k ept up with their d e v e l op Kn ts . It will be interesting to see what kind of response they ean g et out of the IBM systems they are using.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Theodor H. Nelson, "A File Structure for the complex, the Changing and the Indeterminate." Proc. A C M 65, 84-100. ----- 1 "Simplicity Versus Pover in User Systems." Unpublished.

Discrepancies among the testimony of witness)

'V

DECISION/CREATIVITY SYSTrMS

Successive drafts of the same document.

Theo do r H. N elson 19 J uly 1970

Pairs of things which have sane parts the same, some parts different (contracts, holy books, statutes of different states, draft versions of legislation...) i

It has b een recognized fron the davn o f c omputer display t hat t h e grandest and most important us e of the conputer display should be t o aid decisions end c reative thought. Hie w ork o f Ivan S utherland (SK ET CH PA D ) and Douglas i.'npelbart h ave really shown ho w v e m ay use the display t o visualize and effect our creative decisions swiftly and vividly. For sone reason, however, the most important aspect o f such s y s te ms has been ncglected. We do not make important decisions, w e s hould n o t make delicate decisions, serially and irreversibly. Rather, th e po we r o f the conputer display (and its conputing e nd filing support) must be so crafted that ve may develop alternatives, spin out their complications and Interrelationships, and visualize these upon a screen. WE OFTEN WANT TO SAVE ALTERNATIVES. No systen could do this for us automatically. What de sign and programming can create, hovever, is a facility that wi l l al lo w us to list, skctch, link a nd annotete the complexities ve s eek t o un de r^ stand, then present "views" o f the complexities in m any different forms. Studying these views, annotating and refining, v e can reach t he final designs and decisions v ith much rore in mind t han w e could otherwise hold together in the imagination. Some of the facilities that such systems must ha v e Inclu de the following: Annotations to anything, to any remove. Alternatives of decision, design, writing, theory. Unlinked or irreru]ar Pi ec es . hanging as t he user wishes. Hulticou-ling, or complex linkage, between alternatives, an n o t a tions or whatever. Histories! filin.- of the u s e r s actions, Including each a ddition end modification, and possibly the viewing actions t hat pr eceded them. Frozen rpnertts and versions, which the user may h ol d as m e m r a b l e for his thinking.

Different theories and their ties to parti cular examples and evidences.

Aaitltulj Under examination these different types of intercooparison seem to be rather different. Now, one a p proach would be to create a different d ata structure and viewing technique for each different type of c om pl ex . There may be reasons for doing that in the future. For the present, however, it makes sense to try to find the most general possible viewing technique: one that will allow complex intercanparisons of all the types mentioned, and any others we might run across. One such technique is what 1 now call collateration, or the linking of materials into collateral struc tures.* as will be explained. This is fairly straight forward if you think enough about the problem; Engelbart discovered it independently. Let us call two structures collateral if there are links between them, connecting a selected part of one with a selected part of the other. The sequences of the connected parts may be different. For s in^licitye sake, suppose each one is a short piece of writing. (We will also aspume that there is some convenient form of rapid viewing and following between one end of a link and another.)

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F r o m C o 1 er_id_^e1 s P o e m s ? A F a c s i m i l e R e p r o d u c t i o n of the P r o o f s a n d M S S , o f s o m e of th e P o e m s . ( F o l e r o f t , 19 72.)

Evolutionary cour Linr, where the correspondences betw ee n evol vi ng versions are autcrsatically cair.talned, and their differences o r r el at io ns easily annotated.
In addition, designs for screen "views", the m otion, appea ra nc e and disappcnrancc of elements, require considerable thought and im a g i nation. The object is not to burden the user, or make h i m awa re o f c o m p l e x ities in which he has no Interest. But almost everyone in intell ec tu al and decision pursuits has at some time an implicit n ee d for so a e of these facilities. If people knew they w ere possible, t hey w o u l d d a a n d them. It is time for their creation.

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A full-fledged decision/creativity system, embracing b ot h te x t a n d graphics, Is one of the ultieate design goals of Project XAHADU.

LL

P AR A LL E L TEXTFACE

(1971)

This use r -l e ve l s y s t e m is intended to a id in all forms of w r i t i n g a n d scholarship, as w ell as a ny w h e r e else that we n e e d to u n de rstand and m a n i p u l a t e c omplex c l us t e r i n g s of text (i.e., t h o u g h t ) . It w il l also w o r k w i t h c er tain animated g r a p h i c s . The Parallel Te x tf a ce , as described here, f ur n is h ed the initial impetus for the de v el o pm e nt o f the X a n a d u tm s y s t e m (see p.$K$fe). X a na d u was d ev e loped, indeed, or i g i n a l l y for the pu r p o s e of i mp l e m e n t i n g some of these functions, but the two s p l i t apart. It t u rn e d out that the Parallel T e x t f a c e requi r ed an e x t r e m e l y unusual dat a strucs tr u ct u re and p r o g r a m techniques; these then b ec a me the X an a du system. As d e v e l op e d in the final X a n a d u design, they t u r n o ut to handle some very u n u s u a l kinds of s c r e e n an i mation and file retrieval. B u t this grew out of s t r u c tu r in g a syst em to ha ndle the functions d es c r i b e d here. T hus the Parallel T ex tface b as ically requires a X a n a d u system. It is h o p ed that this s y stem c a n be so l d c o m p l e t e (including m i n i c o m p u t e r or m i c r o p r o c e s s o r - n o con n ec t io n to a large c o mp u te r is required) for a fe w thousand-d o llars by 1976 or 1977. Se e p. ( Since "business p e o p l e " are e x tr emely s k eptical as to w he t he r anybody w o u l d w a n t such a thing, I w o u l d be in t erested in h ea r in g expressions of i n terest, if any.)

DER I VA T IV E MOTION: w h e n links run seq u en t ia l ly, connecting on e -a f ter-the-other on bot h sides, the contents of the second panel are pu lled along directly: the smoot h motion in one p a n el is m a t c h ed in. the other. This m ay be c a l le d derivative m o t i o n , b e t we e n independent text (being handled directly with the lightpen) and d e p e n d en t text (being pull ed along). The rel at i on s hi p m ay be re versed immediately, however, simply by m o ving the lightpen to the c o n tr o l pip of the o t h er panel, w hose contents then become the i n d ep e nd e nt text. Real person sits at c a r d b oa r d Xanadu mockup. Irregularities in the links w i l l cause the independent text to move at varying speeds or jump, according to an average of the l i n k s 1 connectivity.

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As shown here, the s cr e en presents two panel s text; more are allowed. E ac h contains a s e g m e n t of a long e r document. ("Page" w o ul d be an i m p r o p e r term, since the b o u n d a r y of the text view ed m a y be changed instantly.) The other odds a nd ends on the sc reen are h i d d e n keys to control e le m en t s w h i c h have be e n mad e to fade (in this illus t ra t io n ), ju s t to lessen the distraction. Panel boundaries a nd control graphics m a y b? to appear by t o uc h in g them w1U fU.

Two panels are about r i g h t for a 10 x 10 screen.

C ol l ateral links b e tw e en material! in the two panels are d i s p la y ed as movable li nes b e t w ee n the panels. (Text omitted in this diagram; panel b o un d ar y ha s bee n made to appear.) Some links m a y n ot have both t h eir endpoints dis played at once. In this case we s h o w the in complete link as a b ro k en arrow, p o i n t i n g in the dir ection of the link's completion.

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Ind e pe n de n t text pulls d e p e n de n t text along. P ai n te d streaks simulate motion, not icicles.

The brok e n a r ro w serves not m er e ly as a v i sual pointer, b u t as a jump-marker l e a di n g to the linked material. By zapping the b r o k e n arrow with the lightpen, the user summons the li nked materialas shown by the com p le t io n of the link t0 'he other panel. (Since t h ere has been a jump in the second panel, we see that in this case the o t h e r link b ee n broken.)

<g)H72. T. MtLioH

R O V I N G FUNCTIONS The text moves on the screen! (Essential.) The lower right han d c o r n e r of eac h text p a nel contains an i nconspicuous control diagram. The slight horizontal e x t e n s i o n is a m o vable control pip. The user, w i t h h is light pen, m ay m ove the p ip up or down. " U p * c au s es the text to move s mo o th l y upward (forward in the m a t e r i a l ) , at a rat e proportional to h o w far y ou pus h the pip; " down" causes it to move back. (Note that we do not refer here to je rky l i n e- b y- l in e jumps, b u t to smoot h screen motion, w h i c h is essential in a hi gh-performance s y stem. If the text does not move, yo u can't tell w h e r e it came from.)

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When s uch l i n k s lead to d i f f e re n t places, both of these d e s t i na t io n s m ay n e ve r theless be seen at once. Thi s is. d on e by p oi nting at bo t h b r oken links in succession; the syste m then allows bo t h links to be completed, b r e a k i n g the second p anel ^ two d es t inations (as sh own by dotted line across panel). 9L

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F AIL-SAFE AND HISTO RI CA L FEATURES. In systems for naive users, it is essential to safeguard the user from his own mistakes. Thus in text systems, commands given in error must be reversible. For instance, Cannody's system (see p. DM' iJ ) requires confirmation of deletions. Another highly d es irable feature wou ld allow the user to view previous versions, to see them c o l laterally with the corresponding parts of current versions, and even go back to the way particular things were and resume w ork from the previous version. In the Parallel T extface this is all c om p rised in the same extremely simple facility. ( Ex tremely simple from the user's point of view, that is. Inside it is, of course, hairy.) In an egregious touch of narcissistic humor, we use the very trademark on the screen as a control d evice (expanded from the "JC" shown in the first panel ' ... and see them displayed collaterally: and revise them further.

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Separate portions of the Ed i t Rose invoke various edit op er at io ns . (You m us t also p o i n t with the lightpen to the necessary points in the text: once for insert, twice for Delete, thTee or four times for Rearrange, three times for C o w >

GENERALITY.
71,6 system may be u sed for comaents o n things,

Materials may be copied between versions. (Note that in the copying operation of the Parallel Text face, you actually see the moved text moved bodily as- a b l o c k . 1

M i l . t. h u jm ! Actually the X in " X a na du t m ," as it appears on the screen, is an hourglass, with a softly fall* ing trickle of an imated dots in the lower half, and Sands of Time seen as heaps above and below. These have a control, as w el l as a representative, f u nc tion. TO UNDO SOMETHING, IN TIME" by dagging the w ith the lightpen. One undone. Two pokes, two YOU MERELY STEP "BACKWARD upper part of the hourglass poke, one editing operation operations.

for organizing by mult ip le outlines o r tables of contents;

,W .- GETTING AR OUND The user may have a number of standby layouts, w ith different numbers of panels, and jump among them by stabs of the lightpen. Importantly, the panels of each can be full, each having whatever tne contents were JJhen you last left it.

You may then continue to view and nake changes 'as if the last two operations had never taken place. This effectively creates an alternative time-line.* ilowever, if y ou decide that a previously undone edit operation~fhould be kept after all, you may step forward-- stepping o nto the previous time-line-by- using the lower h alf of the hourglass.

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and as a Thinkertoy, or ganizing complex alternatives. (The labels say: "Conflicting versions," N e w account of conflicts, "Exposition of how different accounts deal with objections," "Improved, synthe si zi ng account.'

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T-NCLIeS The File W e b tm is a map Indicating what (labelled) files are present in the system, and which are collaterated. In other words. In this approach ve a n n o t a t e and label discrepancies, and verbally comment o n differen ced in separate files or documents. In ways this may s ee m somewhat obtuse. Y et above all it is o r d e r l y , and the complex of coll at er al files has a clarity that could be all-too-easily l ost in sy stems which were programmed more s pe cifically to each problem.

We see this clarified in a master time diagram o* Revision T ree whic h may be summoned to the screen, never mind how. In this example we see that three versions are still "current," various other starts and variations having been abandoned. (The shaggy fronds correspond to short-lived variations, r esult ing from operations whi ch were then reversed. In other words, "excised" time-lines, to use Gerrold's term-- see footnote.)

r l S U r '.e

The File Star** is a quick index into the con tents of a file. It expands as long as you hold the lightpen to the dot in the center, with various levels of headings appearing as it expands. Natur ally, you may jump to w hat you point at.

< 72. The fundamental str en gt h of collateration, seen here, is of course that any n ew structure collateral to another ma y be used as a table of contents or an outline, taking the user i ns ta nt l y to parts which are of interest in some new context.

The user-- l et s say he is a thoughtful writermay define various V ersions or Drafts, here marked on the Revision Tree.

* Oddly, this has the saae logical s tr uc t u r e as time-travel in science-fiction. There are basically three alternate p r e m i s e s of of time-travel: 1) that the p ast cannot b e changed, all events having p receded the backstep; 2 ) t ha t the past can be changed; and 3) that whi le time-travelers may be deluded into thinking (2 ), that (1 ) is really the ca se leading to various appointae at -i n- S& a ar ra pl o t s . Only possibility (2) is of interest h er e , but there are various alternative logics of m u t a b i l i t y and time-line stepping. One of the best I ha v e s e e n is in The Man Who Folded Hims el f by David G e r ro ld (Popular riFrary, 1973): logic expounded pp. 64-8. I aa b e mused by the parallel b et we en GerTold's time-controls and these, worked out independently.

EDITING Rather than giving the user anything coaplicat-

Roset n . @72. He may, indeed, define collateral linkages between different versions defined at various Times in the Tree...

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The crucial point here is cnac it's unified Co che ueer: every version appears on a aide of a boa; and a typeset version le slaply a magni fied two-dimensional view I d which the two dlaenelone are "poaltlon in overall text" (vertical) and "poaltlon on line" (horizontal). Each aide of a box aay have a different view projected to It. This meane that as many as three viewa of a specific cluster may be seen at once. However, for conslecency these uat hsve appropriately c om o n dimensions.

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This design, TfO (Thlnkercoy ln 3 dimensions), Is one 1 have been work ing at while on che faculty of che Univ ersity of Illinois. Ic Is designed spe cifically for Implementation using De m an d ' s GRASS language (eee p O V3\)> and che Vector General 3D display (see P -*V)- Whether It will ever be actually programed depends, of course, on nuaerous factors. It Is aeant to be a very hiahpower Chlnkertoy, suitable for experlaenCaClon with creative processes, especially writing and three-dlnenalonal deaign. (There le no rooa Co discuss Che latter here.) It Is suited especially Co the visual ization of tenCatlve structures ln amorphous clusters. In some of Its features It goes considerably beyond che nore "coonerclal" chlnkertoy systen, the Parallel Texcface (elsewhere ln this spread). Nevertheless, the same design criteria spply: a well-designed coaputer environment for any purpose should be learnable in ten minutes; otherwise the designer hae not been doing hla Job. (I mean it would be learnable ln ten minutes If you and 1 had lc in front of ue, working. This description will have to be weird and abatruse, Im sorry to aay.) This systea Is designed around a threedlnenslonal display screen (che Vector Gener al display, ae aanlpulable by th^RASS lan guage) . Now, moat people do not think of text as Chree-dlaenslonal. Laymen think of It as two-dlmenelonal, since Its usually printed on rectangular pages. Conputer people or dinarily think of lc as one-dlmenslonal, as a long string of characters and apacea easendally what you'd get If you printed thlnge ln one line on a long, long ribbon. Well, frankly, I don't think of text as thre-dlmenelonal eleher; but like anything else, lc has numerous qualities or dimenalons, sny three of which It's nice to be able to view at once (aee "Dlaenalonal Flip,") p.k^V)* And that's essentially the idea: the Chree dimensions we'll look at at any one tiae will be a particular view of a larger

By rotation and zooming the uaer aay focus on the original pieces, and work with thea, writ ing and revising. Moreover, by using a combination of soon and hardware clipping (aa available on chls equipment), the uaer may restrict his work to a specific range of material on particular di mensions .

|* i

COLLATERAL GALAXIES AND BOXES. Viewing of collateral etructurea works through the eaae mechanism. Galaxies and boxes aay be collateraced:

GALAXY AND BOX There are baalcally two views of whac you are working with: the Galaxy and the Box. They appear ln various manifestations, allow ing you to study discrete relations and struc tures ln the material; various "dimensions" of the material; alternate versions and drafts to be made from che maCerlal; and the complex collateratlon (see under "Thlnkertoys") of differ ent structures. In what follows we will discuss the screen functions but not the control structures, which have not firmed up particularly. 1. GALAXY VIEWS.

The poin.ts are seen aa a cloud of dots on the screen. If no view coordlnstes are supplied, the dote will be randomly positioned. A. "Star Trek" effect. Under a user's zooa control, the docs fly apart as if he ie hurtling through spsce. MAGNIFICATION. The user may "magnify" the dots, making each show les keywords, further text, and on up to the full Piece. ROTATION. The 3D structure of the dote ln epace may be eeen by the user at any time through short rotatlone. Any relations that exist among the Points, Insofar as they have been logg-

COMPLICATED NOTE: The extension of chese aeehanlsms to pictorial graphics 1t two and three dlmenslona Is scralghcforward, and to conceptual substructures (such aa may exlat) behind theee graphice. The ssae goes for collateratlon and annocadon of multidimensional cluster materials, e.g. in sociology: the eyetem would allow, for Instance, che viewing, annotation and col lateratlon of aoclometrlc clusterings.) BOX FISSION. (The Beauty Part.)

B.

For paired views of projections from the saae cluster which do not share a com mon coordinate, a marvelous Crick la poa aible: BOX FISSION. Starting with one box containing a galaxy, we pull it apart, making two boxes and two galaxies whose Polnta are linked.

Now, the basic torm of storage will be one of those Nelaon-structurea that drives computer people batty. Specifically, the basic data structure will be clusters of

C.

Puns sometimes reflect a higher reality. Now lc turns out that this structure In fact reflects a great Folk Truth: written discourse does in fact consist of "points" which you Intend to get across. That we here Intend to have them rotate as dots upon a screen reflects this structure. Writing le, in fact, a projection from the Intended "points" Co a finished exposition which embraces then. Now, Chla Is very like the view of language held in modern linguistics, nanely, that a finished sentence 1s a "surface structure" constructed out of basic sentence kernels chewed up by certain transformations. Well, I aa juat pointing out here that writing Is a surface structure of "points" which have been embedded and spliced In a structure of transitions, accordance-notes and so forth (aee p - **13)* The general idea of the Th3 eyetem, then, la that the user may view the "poincs" he wishes to make, variously upon the 3D viewing surface. Successive drafts, then, will sll be projections. geometrically, from this interior structure of points. Finally, the unifying Idea that gives the systea simplicity Is this: all views will be on faces of a cube.

D.

Z.

The user may sort the points by moving them with a lightpen. The user may write within the individ ual pieces and splice them together, combining lightpen and keyboard oper-

F.

2.

BOX VIEWS

In the Galaxy Vlewe, the Individual Points simply ewann about wlch no definable position. 'Box Views" allow you to order che points on any dlmenelone that have meaning to you, ln an ar bitrary coordlnate-space. The box is more than a mere measureaentframe. On request the user may see Che points projected on a specific face of the box (orthographlcally); and on request he may alao eee pro jection lines between a box-face and Its cor responding point in the point cluster.

Now both boxes csn be rotated indepen dently, and any view coneldered; equlvalencellnkages may now be viewed between any Cwo views. (The eye must, however, c u m two corners.)

"Magnifying^' as before, will create a view of the text: but in Che box mode of viewing, the text appears on the side of the box. That Is, the Inner view will project to the ouCslde, yielding a draft. Naturally, thle Is the current assembly of your pieces; lf certain coordinates are selected 1C la even s "typeset" version. (FURTHER TECHNICALITIES OF THESE 'POINTS': Each point aay have a value (numerical pa rameter) in any of a number of dimensions (which nuaber may itself change). Such values aay be null, as distinct from zero, showing chac the point has no poelCion on chac particular ecale. Associated with each point may be one or more plecee and scrape or written mater ial. Such scraps may be Just phrases or single words. (Indeed, such scraps may be associated not JusC with a point, but with several specific vslues of a point.) Each scrap may also contain keywords. Discrete reladons between points may alao be defined. There may be a variety of types of relation, which either exlat between two points of don't.)

(It Is Interesting to note inat the llnka In Box Fission are handled automatically, co an extent, by the hardware.) WELCOME TO THE FUTURE. HUH?

(Note: Vector General hardware does not al low character rotation; only keyword and headline rotation Is possible, through software characcer generation. Thus text pieces on the side of a box ehow certain freaky movements lf the elde 1s not viewed square-on.) & At the 1971 Spring Joint Conputer Conference, I think It waa, I wae heckled by a linguist who accused ae of being "uniiiaglnadve," Insisting further that writing Is merely an extension of speech and thue "merely" the application of further transformations; and he claimed further that what the uaer therefore needs la sn input language to specify theae transformations. This view, while Inter esting, Is wrong. A buc/lndeed concrol language eight be Intereating, however. h o w e v e r-o p e ra tlo n , a p o s t f i x " b u t . " [Appended b y t h e S ee 'W r i t i n g , " p . DM*0>]

Thle has euaaarlzed the development of some Ideas for the viewing and manipulation of complex stuff. I offer thle design, Inso far as I have been able to present It ss sn example of fantic deaign (eee p. 5 0 )There le.no logical necessity to It; It cor responds to the tradleional sCructure of no technical systea; It arises froa no Intrinsic or traditional data etrucCures used for coa puter repreeencatlon of these things. But none of theee considerations la co the point. This design has a certain stark logical alapllclty; it extends Itself plauaIbly from Its basic outlook (or starting Idess, If you can ieolate them) into a tool for truly intricate cross-consideration, without adding unneceaeary and hard-toreiwaber "technicalltlea." At leaat that a how I think of 1C. Obviously the aeathedcs of ic are laportant to the designer. But a more final criterion of Its goodneas les uaefulnesa may depend on the same parsimony and organi zational clarity.

JJ1*

mm
p**O U S (< l
A PHA(iUK.NT.

Xanadu, friend, is

dream.

- < > )

The name comes from the poem (nearby); Coleridge's little story of the artistic trance (and the Person from PoTlock) make it an appro priate name' for the Pleasure Dome of the crea tive writer. The Citizen Kane connotations, and any other connotations you may find in the poem, are side benefits. 1 have been working on Xanadu, under this and other names, for fourteen years now. Originally it was going to be a super sys tem for handling text by computer (see p. \% and ) But it grew: as I realized, level by level, how deep the problem was. And the concept of what it was' to be kept changing, as 1 saw more and more clearly that it had to be on a minicomputer for the home. (You can have one in your office too, if you want, but that's not what its about.) Now the idea is this: To give you a screen in your home from which you can see into the world's hypertext libraries. (The fact that the world doesnt have any hypertext libraries-- yet-- is a minor point.) To give you a screen system that will offer high-performance computer graphics and text services at a price anyone can afford. To allow you to send and receive written mes sages at the Engelbart level (see p.J)r'It/6) To allow you to explore diagrams (see p. DM19 and P. 1 1 . 1 . To eliminate the absurd distinction )15) between "teacher" and "pupil." To make you a part of a new electronic literature and art, where you can get all your questions answered and nobody will put you down.

RL'BLA KHAN : OH, A VISION IN A DREAiL

Is tl aurs trier of 'he year 17W tbe Author, thea Id III health had . retired to a lonely farm hounti between Porlock u d Liston, on the Lhhodt nn llnff ol Hnmtnet Hn<l Uvi'oojhlre. lit ei>nieQUMce of a ol^hhiehd|icTrH 1uJcvn Jj"*1 prwcrlhnl. from lh* effect M follo w * wolanc*. ur u uni. uf th* jaiiw tutoUOiIi! I * *fZnfi!u* l* n J fn m in : Here tn* Khun NutU itinniundnl a lAlace to be S ' 5n< * "*nl.,l r I**1 *'1 ll,[e!i,.,w tf T ?1 1 mfleaof fertile 8our?n,*rl!foimdrt* !ea !lf J i ' i c' ,e(mu' ' 1^ o rtb o u tth m leeT

V *

le slh a n from two lo tbr* liun-ln-l line* ; if tint Indeed c u be oiled romP0",10" *n which all til* Imace* roae up before him aatblon. with parallel production of the rorropofitlent (ip n a iln o i vllhout u y eoiailoa nr n>nKlouaa<Mof effort. On awaklui a* appeared to hlmatft nave t JlMlnct recollection of th* xvtaol*. nil taking hia pea. Ink. aad paprr. Intianrly and e u erly wrote down th* llnm that are here pre served. At thin jnoinent he via uofonunatrlj' oiled out by a pareoa on builoru from PorlM'k. and detained by him above ao hour, aad on that though he mill retained Mm* vague and dim recollection of tbe enrral purport of the Titian, yet. ti lth the excretion of tome el*hi or tea icatlered llnre and Imafte*. aJI the rent had pautd away like tha lm anontbe surface of a atrean Into which a itooe had aaao a i t . but alas : without the after restoration of the latter : Then all the charm broken lhat phantom-world ao fair, all Vaalahea and a th o u tu d circlet* tpread. And each mia-nhape the olher. Stay awhile. Poor youth ' who aearcely d a r n lift up tblne ey Til* it ream will won renew ll a amoothnen. aooa The vlalona will return : And lo ! he ataya, And coon ihe frum en ta dim of lovely fortaf Come trembling back, unite, and now once more The pool become* a mirror. Aaacontraatlothle vialon. I hare annexed ifrijrtm Bt of a varvdlf* fereet^charuter, describing vlth equal Adelliy the draam of p ' " aad

KU BLA KHAN. I n Xanadu did Kubl& Khan * A (lately pleasure-doinc decree : Where Alpli, tlic sucrcd river, n o Through caverns measureless toman Down to a sunless son. So twice five miles of fertile ground With walls and lowers were girdled round : And there were gardens bright with slnuoua rill* Where blossomed many an incense-bearing d e e : And berc were forests unrient as tbe hills, Enfolding sunny spow of greenery. But ob ! that devp romantic cliaam which slanted Down the green hill athwart a cedars cover I A savage place I as holy and enchanted As e'er oeaeath a waning moon was luiuntcd By woman walling for her demou-lover ! And from this chum , with reaaclcss turmoil eeething, Aa If tbls earth lo fast thick p uuis were breaLhiog, A mighty fountalu momently was forced : Amid whose swift lialf-iniemiiited bunt Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hall, Or chofly grain beneath lhe thresher's flail : And 'mid these dunclog rocks al oncc and evif I l flung up momently the sacred river. Five miles meandering with a mazy motion Through wool aad dale the sacred river mo, Then reached the caverns measureless u> mao. And sank In tumult to a lifeless ocean ; Aad 'mid this tumult Kubla beard from far Ancestral voices prophesying war ! The shadow of lhe dome of pleasure Floated mid way on Ibe waves ; Where was beard the mingled measure From the fountain nod the caves. I t was a miracle of rare device, A eunnv pleasurc-doine wilh caves of icc 1 A damsel wilh a dulcimer In a vision oucc I saw ; It was an Abyssinian maid, And on her dulcimer she played, Singing of Mount Abora. Could I revive wiiblo me Her symphony and song, To suck a deep delight twould win me That with music loud and long, I would build that dome In nir. That sunny dome ! those eaves of Ice ! And all who heard should see them there. And all should cry, Beware ' Beware ! His flashing eyes, his flooiiug h a ir! Weave a circle round him thrice, And close your eyes with lioly dread. For be on Louey-dew hath fed. And drunk Lhe milk of Paradise.

Originally Xanadu was programmed around the Parallel Textface (see p. D H ^ ) * But as the requirements of the Parallel Textface were better and better understood, Xanadu became a more general underlying system for all forms of interactive graphic environments. Its data structure has Virtual Blocklessness and is thus well related to the smooth motions needed by screen users. Thus in its final form, now being debugged, it will support not only the Parallel Textface (see p. 5^) ) the Walking Net (see p. W 5 | ), Stretchtext (see p. DMl9), Zoom Maps (see p. Dtfl3) and so on, but indeed any data structure that needs to combine complex linkages with fast access and rapid chances. Because the data structure is recursively extensible, it will permit hypertext (see\p.DHTi) of any depth and complexity, and the collateral linkage (see p. ^ 5 2 ) of any objects of contemp lation. Xanadu is under private development and should be available, if the economy holds, in 1976. Regrettably, first prices will not be at the $3000 level necessary for the true Home System. Exact equipment for the production ver sion has not been selected. A number of micro processors (see p. 4 H ) are in serious conten tion, notably the Lockheed SUE, but theres something to be said for a regular mini. The PDP-11 is of interest (see p.^12 ); (so espe cially is its Cai Data lookalike-- unless DEC would like to build us a PDP-11X with seven modes of indirect display addressing. Are you reading this, Ken Olsen?) And heres a laugh: a com pany called IBM may in fact make a suitable com puter, except that they call it the "3740 Work Station." So for those customers who want IBM equipment, maintenance and prices, with Xanadu software, its a definite possibility. So, fans, that about wraps it up. Ill be interested in hearing from people who want this system; many hardheaded business people have told me nobody will. Prove em wrong, America!

"Is that th e r iv e r th a t ru n s down to th e sea?" James S te v a r t in "The FBI S t o r y . "

Patent

worX

on

Xanadu

is

in

progress.

Of course, if hyper-media arent the great est thing since the printing press, this whole project falls flat on its face. But it is hard for me to conceive that they will not be.

J> V
The Golden l ' s ualoo w the wind-hungry tr a v e lle r . WT IT ISi th a b a n t of tha Bmnada s y a tm , now being datsjgged, a w l i t i o f a h ig h ly In te g ra p ro g rm (a uaa m m ln la ^ ju ta rs ( 's o f tw a r e ' aaa p . M) o r aicroprocaaaora ( * f t m a * sea p. 44 ). I t l a an a e r a t i n g s y a tm w ith tw o p roF " ! a bJ.qhJ.if g e n eralised d a ta ~ ~ n ja a n r ys f a r handling a i t i M l y a z a l e a d a ta in huge f i l e s , aad a g e n eralised d isp lay l y t t a , marrlml to tha o th a r, (o r handling branching enlmatlcei and r e tr ie v a l aad canned d isp la y program*. Thaaa ordain r e tr ie v a ls by tha d a ta a y s tm . Tha Paxalla l i w t f i a (aaa p.M CJ) and th a Walking Hat (see p .fcV ll a ra t n in ch cannad p r e g c a a . Thaaa i n u m l q r a a ra intended t o Im sold with ctaiaolaa of varloua ty p e s, aa ill u s t r a t e d nearby, fa r ste n l-e la n e turnkey uaa (aaa p . (3 ) . Xanadu l l self-netw orking two oc tha pTazna u t a a network. aad acra can jo in . LMOlMZSi lanadu p r o g ra a H ill n e t ha la a v a il a b le Ln any hlghar languagea, mainly b acauai o f th a lr p ro p rla ta ry c h arac ter, b u t a lao hacauaa th a diaplay ro u tin e s (and n a o f tha r a tr la v a l ro u tin e s) a u t ba pi 1ai i l In machine languaga. 1 Tha l y i t a haa I ta own u n d e r-le v el languaga, HAP (Xanadu Aaaaably Prograa). M tlla t oh lg h a r- la w 1 w d lip la y languaga#, DINGO (Diaplay Lingo) and Xu lt (tha u ltim ate?) a ra c o n ta v la te d , th a aa w ill not o r d in a rily ba accaaaLbla to tha u a a r. Tba purpoaa ot Xanadu l a ta fu rn ish tha uaar w ith u n coaputerish good-gvy a y ita aa fo r a p a c if ic p u rp o ses, not a chance to do h is own p rogram ing. Isgm rtant f a a tu r n o f th a d ata s y a tm a ra huga sdd ra a a a h lllty (ln th a t r i l l i o n ! o f i l a a n u ) and V ir tu a l Block lea staess. ro r advantages o f th ia l a t t e r , aaa i a Nap, p . dm IV COMPATIBILITY, baeauaa o f I ta h ig h ly cc^ iec ta d and unctnvantlcaial stru c tu re ,' I t i a n o t n ^ a e t i b l i with othar op aratin g sy a tsm (Including tim e -sh a rin g ). Anyway, to p u t I t on a Larger aa china l i lik a hav ing your Kaida dr Ivan around In a tr u c k . Baeauaa I t uaaa a lin e drawinq d iaplay (aaa p . D N ||-)) and th a ra fo ra draws Individual a rb it r a r y lin a a on tha c ra an rap a ata d ly , i t ia not n ^ a t l b l a w ith te l s via ic n a ith a r imlaaa you p o in t a TV caaara a t I t , o r tha e q u iv alen t. S orry. STAN&APDIZATICM. ta k in g a ls a a a t f r a tha in te g rste d n i t o f varloua paopla whoa* work haa baan described in th ia book, wa aaa th a t I f you want a th in g d m r i g h t , you hava to do I t y w r s e if . (Great Idaaa of Meatarra Mena <*< of a a a r la i .) M good f r i in d Calvin y Nooare w ith h la TMC Languaga (aaa pp. 18-21) haa d is covered th a t trsd m a rk la ana way to n a i l th ia aa a r ig h t. Several lava la of a tan d ard laatio n a ra ij^ o r ta n t with lanadu. ona, a l l lanadu ay a t o # a i a t ba a b li to work w ith a l l Ranadu f lla a (eacapt f o r p o a a ib li v a ria tio n ! in craan performance and a laa o f lo c a l a w r y ) . M oa, th a ri ara thoaa who would not ba concerned (o r th ia a r t o f u n iv a ra a lity , and who Might van tr y to aaki aura sy ste m wara ln c a a a t l h l s , ao th a t you had to buy a ccesso ries and conversion k lta up and down tha lin a . That ia cna o f th l th in g a th a t m a t ba avoided: p a r tia l* c e a p a tlb llity , su b je ct to ssp e n siv s o p tlo n i and c ond itio n s, a will-known technique in tha ( la id . By s ta b ilis in g tha 'Xanadu* t r a d a a i k , 1 hope to p re vant auch ahananigana. Thua avary a c c re d ite d Xanadu system w ill o ffe r f u ll c t ^ s t i b i l i t y w ith the data a tru c tu ra , and a ith a r f u l l p a rfo n an c a or a u b a titu te i aa n e ce ssita te d by tha hardware. Tha *Kanadu* trsd m ark can thua ln p rin c ip le ba aada a v a ila b le to manufacturers abiding by a l l daalgn faatu raa o f th a a f it a a . Second, a l l Xanadu ayataaa ehould ba a b la to work with outaida ayataaa a ith a r through o r o f f th a n e t, I f they conform to tha unuaual d a ta r u le s req u ire d by tha unu iual daalgn of tha a y a t a . Thia aaaurea th a t Xanadu y i t a a w ill ba c o ^ a tib la w ith any o th a r peculiar n a tworka. I t a lao aaauraa o th ar a who want ta o f fe r xansdu-clsss aervlcaa to aystea w n a ra (through, e .g ., m v u i t l v a l tlaa-ah arin g ) th a t l f thay adhere to tha ru le! (aee *Cans,~ p.P^?I) they can play the game on a c a r tid a d baala. AVAILABILITY. I t l l hoped th a t Xanadu w ill ba a v a il able ln 197S for a t le a s t ona machine (guaaa which). Aa a progrm i t w ill ba a v a ila b le a a ly i n abaoluta form, w ithout aourca o r coM anta. A m . There la a l o t to ta lk a b o u t, b u t a l o t o f time can ba waa ted ta lk in g . I t i s auggaatBl th a t thoiajhtfu l coaputer flrma, in te rac ted ln i o h fo r* of p a r ti c i pa tio n , itudy th l l book c ara f u lly a t le a a t enough io no o a e'a time need be waatad. BIBLIOOAFIfT "Heleoe's tha l a m . and What Ha Proposes Could Outdo t a s s l t e r t . " E lic tr o a lc a . 2* Hov 69, 97. A recent rep o rt by Arthur D. L i t t l e , a Boa I an f i n th a t mikai le i mossy by a aiming to b i e w l i c l m i , c o m t e d on tha c oosldarable market p o te n tia l fa t on-lloe d ata supply ly itam a. Tha rep o rt coat 1400 or B4000, I fo rg a t w hich. B ij-tlm s ln ta re e ts a n sprowl.

Flrat of a l l , bear In that lanadu l* a un ified ay i t a for cr^ tlei data a a u |a w a t ^ diaplay. Thia baalcally m ina that tte { a sy(without the dlapLayi) can n r v e aa a famder fhlna for tha data nitwork l t a a lf . So f i r , ao good. That m a ia that wa can hava a mlnlc^ n jto r network handling tba antlra I truetura: aending out library matarlala to uaara c a l l , aad atorlng any aatarlala thay want aavad. Thia aavaa a l l klnda of haaalaa with big c^m tera and big-ccaputar-etyle programing. But who w ill pay for ItT Te build tha n - < of capacity wa'ra talking about a l l thoaa dlaka, a l l t h o u B l a lc ^ u t ir a In a network wra't It taka imanaa aaousta o f capital? How, paopla aak a , w ill any Aaarlcan c^apany aver back auch a Utopian ic h a a l Aha. Ooa aatbod of financing pcorac lta e lf in the poetwar auburbaa ara. thia t l m of drlve-ina and haaburgar atanda. Vieu fr a a t>ie Snook ba loony o f a la iy e lanadu in sta lla tio n , overlooking the internal greenery. Hexagonal architecture permits phytioal expansion v ith o u t in tw m ^ t io n o f servioee. (The so llve ka hov* been te llin g us scsssthing about expansion, i f ranch ialn g. What 1 propoaa, then. 1a tha N m a d Pop lanadu Shop. Or, moil properly, tha laaadu atand. I k a aad Pop- a n tbe an>ara at the individual itend. Bait t b cuatomera can be famlllaa, too. Pr<a far away tha children aee t te t a ll goldab Z'a. "Ob, Daddy, c n ' t wa it o p l I waat to play Spicawar." saya l i t t l e Jobmy. Big tla adda, Tou know. I hava ta check emething (or ay paper on Biaan p o litic !." Aad H a aaya , "lay, that would te a good placi for lunch." So they turn is paat tha algo tte t aaya "Om 2 BILLION s u m BOWS. and p u ll in to tte lo t . The] path the car, and Dad ibowa tha clerk hla lanadu e ra i t eard, and tha kid a run to acreaaa. Dad and lha a i l for a big horiciatal CTT, though, bacauae there are aaaa memoriae ttey'd lik a te abate together... S li'a paper, of courie, goaa to bar teacher through bla lanadu coneola. THE PLAN. tS IT A CRA AS IT 3EDCJ ZY

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Deep Inalda, the public wanta I t . but people whn think of co^utera ln cllch^e can't contraband I t . Thil Maani ''tba public" muat staabow criata i t . Ona way to go l l to m r t a new corporation, r ig llt e r i t with the SEC and try to TlLlI a lo t of B o a r by a ellln g atock pu blicly. Unlortinetaly thara are e l l kind! of obataclaa (or that, ("lag A" la about a t far aa It w ill go .) Through tte-miracla of Iranchiilng, now, a lot o f t te d i ff ic u lt ie s of conventional backing can be bypaaiad. Tha franchiiei ha! to put up thi money for tha c c ^ u t a n , th* ecopea, t te adorable purpla enamel building, tha johna and ao on; aa a Xanadu (ranchliaa ha g i t i the whole turnkey lyatsa and certain raaponalbllltlaa In tba O VEBA 1A A I H ILL B IH U0B1 of which he le a member. H la aealgnad a permanent stores* o( certain claaiaa of m a terlili, on c a ll froM alaswhare in tba n e t. (Baturelly, everything la atorad I d more then ona place). Porta-Ian. (Hookup by Tam Barnard.) Footplate r e fle c ts C/C to user v h iIs h a 'i abroad In th* ua rid . Ona-Hand ty p eu ri tin g and p rin tin g dMirice f r m th a o th e r. Can be b u ilt trtch o uo tlable ruggaditud c a ^x m m te. 0. If you publiih your ldaaa Ilka th ia , a n a 't you afraid iH o r n w ill eiaa l thaaT Ho. (Tha Law o( In te lle ctu a l Property l ! about tha i t r a n iil l backln* the individual haa ln t h li ao clety.) Baaldaa which, thare le here oo r iv ilit lo n of thi Xinadu Sn iak n ts. Q. Won't i m b [ | company iweap your lanadu under i f thay la lta ta i t l A. Let 1a . I f they c n up with a ay ataw having qu lvilm c ic o p i, which aaami unllkaly (aaa Canona, 1 might evao (aal I had achieved inougb. But In thl niantlwe, lik e tha tortolaa, and ilka DEC, 1 aa |olo g to continue to try to do It right. Q. Aren't you afraid that writing flippant book w ill kaip paopla from caking you aarloualyl A. 1 de not want to ba taken earlou ily in aome quarter! u n t i l l t ' i Coo la ta. A. Tbe laaadu aubacriber. of c o u r n , gata what be requaiti at the acraan a* gulekly as possible or ta priority lf hs wanta to psy for I t and may tore hla own t i l e s , including linkages aaong otter satarlale and marginal notatlooe co other things Chat can b* called. (Sea c o lla ter a l structures, P-Dflft: these cen su tta stlc a lly bring forth any thing they're linked to . (See Helenaa Canaia," P * uaar'a b la to rlca l record w ill ba stored to whstever degree ha d e sir es , but aot (If ha cbooaaa) in ways that can bs id en tified with bla. Borne usefs need only dial a local phone m a t e r thalr nearest lanadu atand to connect with tha entire lanadu network. (Tha cost of ualng soaething stored on lha network haa nsthing to do with where i t Is storsd.) (Spsclsl high-capacity lin aa need not be In sta lled between atorags sta tio n s, as spproprlata d ig ita l tranmlaaloo sarvlcee are becking avail able c a a a r c la lly .) Varloua aacurlty tachslguaa prevent othare from reading a subscriber's f l l s s , svaa If thay sign on falaaly; tba Darcanitb technique ot acrambllag oo non-atored kayvords la a good ona. Tha laaadu atand also haa prlvsta r o a a with a ilt ip la acraana, which can bs rsotsd for p srtiss, business m atings, daalp] se ssio n s, brlsfln gs, legal coaaaul tat Iona, lacturea, aeaacas, a islcale a, and so on. Tha cteica locations (or tha Lanadu aiaoda ara aomwhat dida ren t frm bmburgar spot a. But tha t's probably not anything to go into hare. Within the lanadu network, than, peopla my read, w rits, sand aaaasgea, etudy and.play.

I h iv i baard rumori th a t a aa o g a alaa in tha c i l l i a c a p u ta r product "Xanadu." I tend to doubt th ia ; and even i f thay did, uaaga goaa back to 1966. I w ould l i k e to th a n k f i n o h r o n o le a io a i E l l i o t Klugm an. Wat C K u b la " ) AuSn, C lenn B a b e o k i, Cal D a n ie ls and John V.E. R idgvay fo r o o n tid e r a b le tim e and in v o lv e m e n t th e y gave to th e Xanadu program d e e ig n e e t e i o n t ; thank * a le o to v a r i o u t o t h e r s uho s a t i n fro m _ ciaj* t o tim e . F or th e f i n a l t e l e o t i o n o f a lg o r i th m e , h o u e u e r, no o ne i e t o blam e b u t me. I am g r a t e f u l to th e good o f f i o e e o f Sua rth m o re C o lle g e f o r th e u ee o f t h e i r e q u ip m e n t i n th e c o n tin u in g e f f o r t s to d ebug th e la n a d u pro g ra m s.

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Thanks a l o t , Sa a C o l e r i d g e , f o r t h o s e two s y o b o l s . And t h e A l b a t r o s s .

How a r e w g o in g t o s e l l t h a Hone Computer? W ell i f y o u w an t t o s e l l c o a p u t e r s , l e t a e t e l l you w hg t t o do: Y o u 'v e g o t t o t a l k t o t h e h o u s e w i v e s , an d t h e c h i l d r e n , t o o ; No one w a n t s t o p r o g r a a , t h e y w an t s o a e t h i n g th e y caji v i e w . . . I t ' s g o t t e o f f e r fun, and i t ! s s o t to o f f e r t r u t h ; I t ' s g o t t o g i v e you s o a e t h i n g t h a t ' l l l i f t you f r o a t h e b o o t h ; I t ' s g o t t o b e u p l i f t i n g t o t h e Lady f r o a D u lu th , You v e g o t t o ha ve a v i s i o n ; y o u ve g o t t s ha ve an a n g l e ; You s h o u l d maybe s i n g a J i n g l e ( i n a way t h a t d o e s n t j a n g l e ) ; I t ' s g o t t o hav e a t i n g l e , m a way t h e i r a i n d s c a n ' t t a n g l e - So c o n t i n u i n g u n d e r o u r g u i d a n c e i n e r t i a l . L e t ' s ha v e th e ^ K K fH ?^L .

l a la n a d u w o rt h w a i t i n g f o r ? T hat depanda, d o e s n 't i t , Op t h a v s l u a o f t h o hao d-tn tah d if f e r e n ti a l b ird u t i l i t y r a tio .

"Listen,*' Mr. Wonka uid. I'm an old man. I'm niurh olitoi than yu ihink. I can'l go on furcvcr. I've got no rhilitrcn o f my own. no family al all. So who is going to run the factory when I get lnookl io doit myiclf? Sawrsnr'j pot tn keep ii j'i'tiigif only for the ukr of the OompaLonnipaa. Mind you. ilicrc are ihouundt ofelcvcr men who would give anything for llic fliancc to eonic in and take over fioin me. Inn I dont H that tort of jtenon. I dont MI wanl a grown-up pertnn at all. A grownup wont linen lo me: he wont learn. He will try to do things his own way and not mine. So I have to have a child. I wanl a good sensible Inviii" child, one to whom I can tell all my most precious candy-making serreis -while I am itill alive." Roald Dahl, C ha rlie and tha Q m m i m r a c c n t^ p . 137.

I t ' s g o t e v e r y th in g to g iv e . I t ' l l g e t yo u w he re you l i v e . [el-0 ( U - fw..*.] Re al a s o f a i n d t h a t you a a y r o a a : Grasp th e a a l l w ith in y o u r hoae. The g r e a t e s t t h i n g s y o u ' v e e v e r s e e n Dance y o u r w is h e s on t h e s c r e e n . A l l t h e t h i n g s t h a t a a n h a s known C o a i n on th e t e l e p h o n e - P o e a s , bo ok s and p i c t u r e s t o o COMIN ON THE XANADU -XAN-A-DU. 0 0 - [WflU>wjJ THE-- WORLD-- OF- -

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S t f l k l f r Il i s e s s e n t i a l lo s la te th e s e firm ly a n d p u b l i c l y , b e c a u s e y o u a r e g o in g lo s e e a lot of s y s te m s in t h e n e a r f u tu r e tha t p u r p o r t to b e Ihe l a s l- w o r d c a t 's - p a j a m s s y s te m s lo b r i n g y o u " a ll th e in fo rm atio n y o u n e e d , a n y tim e , a n y w h e r e . " U n le s s yo u h a v e th o u g h t a b ou t il y o u may b e s n o w e d b y s y s te m s w h ic h a r e in h e r e n t l y a n d d e e p ly lim itin g . H ere a r e some o f Ih e th in g s w h ic h I th in k w e w ill a ll w an l. (T h e sa le s m a n f o r t h e o l h e r s y s te m w ill sa y (h e y a r e im p o s s ib le , o r "We d o n 't kno w how to d o th a t y e t , " th e s t a n d a r d p u ld o w n . But th e s e th in g s a r e p o s s ib l e . If w e d e s ig n them in from Ihe b o ttom u p ; a n d t h e r e a r e many d if f e r e n t v a lid a p p r o a c h e s w h ic h c o u ld b r i n g th e s e th in g s in to b e i n g ,) T h e s e a r e r u l e s , d e r i v e d fro m common s e n s e a n d un com m o n c o n c e r n , a b o u t w h a t pe op le c a n a n d s h o u ld h a v e in g e n e r a l s c r e e n s y s te m s , s y s te m s lo r e a d f r o m . 1. EASY AND ARBITRARY FRONT e V DS. j

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I b e lie v e t h a t an i n t r o d u c t i o n to any s u b je c t can be hu ao ro u s, o c c a s i o n a l l y p ro found, e x c i ti n g , v i v i d , and a p p e a l i n g even to e x p e rts on t h e i r - s e p a r a t e l e v e l s . Perhaps someday I can p ro v e i t .

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1) Knowledge, understanding uul freedom <an all be advanced by Ihe promotion and deployment ol com puter display conioles (wilh the right programs behind (hem). 2) Computer presentational media, coming soon, will nol be technically determined but ralhcr will be new realms for human artUtry. This point of view radially aflocO* how wv design man machinc systems of any kind, especially lhe for mlomw lion retrieval. leaching, and general writing and reading. Some practi tioners see such systems as narrowly technical, with the computer howling up little piece* o( writing on some "scientific basis and showing them to you one grunt at a time. A Metreo l banquet. I disagree. The system* should be opulent. 3) The problem in presentational systems of ony kind i lo make things look good, feel right.and come across clearly. The things that mai ler arc Iho feci of the system, the users state of mind, his possible con fusion, boredom or enthusiasm, the problems of communicating concf/it-'. and the very nature of concepts nnd their interconnection There will never I t a "sciencc" of presentation, eiccpl as il relates lo these things 4i Nol lhe nature of machines, but the nature of ideas, is what matters. Il is incredibly hard to de velop. organize nnd transmit idea<, and il always wiU U-. Bui at least trapped by the nature of tKiprr We o n design nugic |xi|*r

Il is lime to start using computers to hold information for the mind much as books have held this infor mation in Ihc past. Now information for the mind is very different from "information for the computer" as we have thought of il, hacked up and compressed into blocks. Instead we can slrclch the computer. I sm proposing a cur ions kind of subversion. "Let us design. ] say; and when people sec the eyviems, everybody will wanl one. All I wanl lo do is put Rcnai&ancr humanism in a multidimensional responsive con sole. And I am trying lo work oul Ihc forrre of writing of Ihc future. Hypcrtrits. Hypcrlcilx: new forms of writing, appearing on computer saeens, that will branch or (Erform at Ihc reader's OHnmand. A hypertext is a non sequential piece of writing; only the computer display nuikes it practical. Somewhere between a book, a TV show and n penny nraide. ihe hypertext can be a vnsl lopeslry of infor mation, all in plain English ispienl wilh a few magic tricks on Ihe screen >, which ihe reader may attack nnd play for the things he wants, branching nnd jumping on the scrccn, uting simple controls as if he were driving :\ car Tliere ain be special ized ub|KirlN for K|jccializcd in terests. instant .availabilily of rolevoncies in all directions, footnotes that are books Ihemsclvcs. Hyperlexis will be so much belter Ihan ordinary writing that the printed word will wilher away. Frol writing by i>eopte. make no mistake, not data banks, robot summaries or olher clank. A |*rson L writing to olher s people, just as before, but on magial paper he can cut up and tie in knols and fly around on.

T h e u s e r m u st b e a llo w e d m u lt ip le r o v e r s (m o vable p la c e m a rk e a l p o i n t s o f c u r r e n t a c t i v i t y ) ; m a k in g p o s s ib l e , e s p e c i a l l y , m u lt ip le w in d o w s (lo th e lo c ation of e a c h r o v e r ) w i t h d i s p l a y s of c o lla te r a l l in k s . T h e s y ste m s h o u ld a lso h a v e p r o v i s i o n f o r h i g h - l e v e l m o oting fnya p a n d t h e a u to m a tic k e e p in g o f h i s t o r ic a l t r a i l s . T h e n , a co m p le x o f c e r t a i n v e r y n e c e s s a r y a n d v e r y p o w e r f u l f a c ilitie s b a a e d o n th e s e t h i n g s , v i z .: A . ANTHOLOGICAL FREEDOM: t h e u s e r m u e l b e a b le lo c om bine e a s il y a n y t h i n g h e f i n d s in to a n " a n th o l o g y ," a r o v a b le c o lle c ti o n o f t h e s e m a te ria ls h a v in g t h e s t r u c t u r e h e w a n t s . T h e lin k a g e inform atio n f o r s u c h a n t h o l o g i e s m u s t b e s e p a r a t e l y tr a n s p o r t a b l e a n d p a s s a b l e b e tw e e n u se rs. B . ST E P-O U T WINDOWING: f ro m a p la c e in s u c h a n a n th o lo g y , t h e u s e r m u s t b e a b le to s t e p o u l o f the a n th o lo g y a n d I n to th e p r e v i o u s c o n te x t o f th e m a te ria l. P o r i n s t a n c e , i f h e h a s j u s t r e a d a q u o ta tio n , h e s h o u ld b e a b le to h a v e th e p r e s e n t a n th o lo g ic a l c o n te x t d i s s o l v e a r o u n d th e q u o ta tio n (w hile it s ta y s o n t h e s c r e e n ) , a n d th e o r ig in a l c o n tex t r e a p p e a r a r o u n d i l . T h e n e e d o f th is in s c h o l a r s h i p s h o u l d b e o b v i o u s . C . D1SANTHOLOGICAL FREEDOM; th e u s e r m u st b e ab le to s t e p o u l o f a n a n th o lo g y in s u c h a w ay a n d n o t r e t u r n i f h e c h o o s e s . ( T h is h a s im p o r ta n t im p lic a tio n s f o r w h a t m u a t r e a l l y b e h a p p e n in g in th e f ile s t r u c t u r e . ) E a r li e r v e r s i o n s o f p u b lic d o c u m e n t s m u st b e r e t a i n e d , a s u s e r a w ill h a v e l i n k e d to th e m . H o w e v e r, w h e r e p o s s i b l e , li n k a g e s m u st a lso b e a b le lo a u r v iv e r e v i a l o n s o f o n e o r b o th o b je c ts . 5. "FREEDOM FROM SPYING AND SABOTAGE."

T h e " fr o n t e n d " o f a s y s t e m - - th a t i s , th e p r o g ra m th a t c r e a t e s Ih e p r e s e n ta tio n s for t h e u s e r a n d in te r a c t s w ith h im m u st b e c le a r a n d s im p le fo r p e o p le to u e e a n d u n d e r s t a n d . THE TEN-MINUTE RU LE. A n y sy ste m w h ic h c a n n o t b e w ell la u g h ! lo a laym an in te n m in u t e s , b y a lu lo r in t h e p r e s e n c e of a r e s p o n d i n g s e l u p , i s loo c o m p lic a te d . T h is may s o u n d f a r loo s tr i n g e n t ; I t h i n k n o l. R ic h an d p o w e r f u l s y s te m s may b e g iv e n fro n t e n d s w h ich a r e n o n e th e l e s s r id ic u lo u s ly c l e a r ; t h is Is a d e s ig n p ro b le m o f th e f o re m o st im p o r ta n c e . TEXT MUST MOVE, th a t i s , s li d e o n Ihe s c r e e n w h en t h e u s e r s t e p s f o r w a r d o r b a c k w a r d w ith in (he te x t h e is r e e d i n g . T h e a lte r n a tiv e , to c le a r th e s c r e e n a n d la y o u t a new p r e s e n t a tio n . i s b a fflin g to th e e y e a n d th o r o u g h ly d i s o r i e n t i n g . e v e n w ith p r a c tic e . Many c o m p u te r p e o p le d o n ot y e t u n d e r sta n d Ihe n e c e s s ity of I h is . T h e p ro b le m is th a t if th e s c r e e n i s c l e a r e d , a n d so m e th in g new th e n a p p e a r s on i t . ( h e r e ia no v is u a l w a y lo te ll w h e r e Ihe new th in g c am e from: se q u e n c e a n d s t r u c t u r e be co m e b a lT lin g . H av in g it slid e o n (h e s c r e e n a llo w s y ou lo u n d e r s t a n d w h e r e y o u 'v e b e e n a n d w h e r e y o u 'r e g o in g ; a fee ling y o u a lso g e l fro m t u r n i n g p a g e s o f a b o o k . (Some c lo se s u b s t i t u t e s may b e p o s s ib l e on so m e ty p e s of s c r e e n . ) On fro n t e n d s s u p p li e d for n o rm al u s e r s , t h e r e m u st be n o e x p lic it c o m p u te r la n g u a g e s r e q u i r i n g in p u t c o n tro l s t r i n g s , no v is i b le e so t e r i c sy m b o ls. G r a p h ic a l c o n tro l s tr u c t u r e s h a v in g c la r ity a n d s a f e ty , o r v e r y c le a r ta s k o r ie n l e d k e y b o a r d s , a r e a m o n g th e p r im e a l te r n a tiv e s . All o p e r a tio n s m u st b e f a il -s a f e .

I b e l i e v e in c a l l i n g a sp a d e a sp a d e - - n o t a p e rs o n a liz e d e a rth -m o v in g e q u ip m ent m o d u le ; and a m u lt i- d im e n s io n a l s p a d e , by gum , a h y p e r s p a d e - - n o t a p e r s o n a l i z e d e a r t h - m o v i n g e q u ip m e n t m o d u le w i t h a u g m en te d d i r t a c c e s s , r e t r i e v a l and d i s p l a y c a p a b i l i t y u n d er in d iv id u la iz e d c o n tr o l.

T h e a ssu m p tio n m u st b e m a d e a l th e o u ts e t of a w ic k ed a n d m a le v o le n t g o v e r n m e n ta l a u t h o r i t y . If s u c h a s it u a ti o n d o e s n o t d e v e l o p , w ell a n d g oo d; if it d o e s , t h e s y s t e m w ill h a v e a few m in im al s a f e g u a r d s b u i l t In . FREEDOM FROM BEING MONIT ORED. T h e u s e o f p se u d o n y m s a n d d um m y a c c o u n t s b y i n d i v i d u a l s , a s w e ll a s th e o m is s io n o f c e r t a i n r e c o r d k e e p in g b y th e sy s te m p r o g r a m , a i'e n e c e s s a r y h e r e . File r e te n tio n u n d e r d u m m y a c c o u n ts Is a lao r e q u i r e d . B e ca u se o f Ih e d a n g e r o f f ile s a b o t a g e , a n d th e p r i v a t e at-h o m e r e te n tio n b y in d i v i d u a l s o f f ile s lh a l a lso e x ist on p u b lic s y s t e m s , i t is n e c e s s a r y to h a v e FIDUCIAL SY STEM S POR TELLING WHICH VERSION IS AUTHENTIC . T h e d o c to r i n g of o n -lin e docum ents, th e r e w ritin g of h is to ry c f . b o th W in sto n S m ith 's c o n tin u o u s r e v i s i o n of th e e n c y c lo p e d ia In N in e te e n E ig h t y - F o u r a n d H . L . H u n t's fo rg in g o f h i s t o r ic a l t e l e g r a m s f o r " T h e White H o uae" ia a c o n s ta n t d a n g e r . T h u s o u r s y s te m s m ust h a v e a n u m b e r o f c o m p le x p r o v is io n s fo r v e rif ic a tio n o f f a l s i f i c a t i o n . e s p e c ia l ly th e c re a ti o n o f m u ltile v e l f id u c i a l s ( p a r i t y s y s t e m s ) , a n d th e ir s t o r a g e In a v a r i e t y o f p l a c e s . T h e s e f id u c ia ls m u st b e lo c a l lz a b le a n d s e p a r a t e to sm a ll p a r t s o f f ile s . 7. COPYRIGHT.

I w ant a world where wo can read the world's literature from screen? rnllwr tha n personally searching out the physical books. A world without routine i.-ipcrwork. because ;ill copying operations '.nix ptaco automatically and lyrinaliicd trail* actions occur through formalized ceremonies at consoles. A world whcic can learn, study, croato. a^id share our creations without having nrivatelv toschlopp aud physically safeguard thi-m. There is a familiar. all-embracing motto, the jingle we all know from the day school lets oul. which I lai.o quite seriously: " S o more pencils; do more books: no more teachers' diity looks The Fntilic Age. fro n "C o n p u to p la (C ita tio n and C y b e rc ru d ." n e a rb y .)

A r b i tr a r y f ro n t e n d s m u st be a tta ch a b le: s in c e we a r c ta lk i n g a b ou t r e a d i n g from te x t, o r te x l- a n d - p i c l u r e c o m p le x e s , s t o r e d on a la r g e d a ta s y s te m , Ihe p r e s e n ta tio n a l fro n t end m ust b e s e p a r a b l e from th e d a ta s e r v i c e s p r o v id e d f u r t h e r d o w n in th e s y s t e m , s o Ihe u s e r may a tta c h h is o w n f r o n t - e n d s y s te m , h a v in g h i s ow n s ty l e o f o p e r s l io n a n d h i s ow n p r iv a te c o n v e n ie n c e s f o r r o v i n g , e d itin g a n d o lh e r form s o f w o rk o r p la y a l th e s c r e e n . 2. SMOOTH AND RAPID DATA ACCESS.

W f e s r o
My w o rk i s c o n c e r n e d p r in c i p a l l y w ilh Ihe t h e o r y a n d e x e c u tio n o f s y s te m s u s e f u l lo th e mind a n d th e c r e a t i v e im a g in a tio n . T h i s h a s p ole m ic al a n d p r a c tic a l a s p e c ts : I claim th a t Ih e p r e c e p t s of d e s i g n i n g s y s te m s lha l to u c h p e o p l e 's m in d s , o r c o n te n t s to b e sh o w n in th e m , a r e sim p le a n d u n i v e r s a l : m a k in g t h in g s lo ok g o o d , f e e l r i g h t a n d com e a c r o s s c l e a r l y . 1 claim th a t to d e s i g n s y s te m s th a t i n v o lv e b o th m a c h in e s a n d p e o p l e ' s m in d s is a r t f i r s t , te ch n o lo g y s e c o n d , a n d i n n o w a y a d e r i v a tiv e s p e c ia lty off in so m e b r a n c h o f c o m p u te r s c ie n c e . H o w e v e r, p r e s e n ta tio n a l s y s t e m s w ill c e r ta in ly in v o lv e c o m p u te rs from now o n . Sin c e h u n d r e d s of s u c h s y s te m s a r e now b e in g b u i l t , m an y o f th e m a ll w r o n g , w e m ust (e a c h d e s i g n e r s (en d c e r t a i n o t h e r s ) t h e b a s ic s of c o m p u te r s , a n d g iv e th e m so m e go od e x a m p le s lo e m u la te ( s u c h a s S u t h e r l a n d 's S k e tc h p a d ,

T h e sy ste m m u st b e b u i l t lo m ake po ssib le fast a n d a r b i t r a r y a c c e s s (o a p o te n tia lly h u g e d a ta b a s e , a llo w in g e x tre m e ly la r g e f ile s (at le a st in to Ihe b i l l io n s of c h a r a c t e r s ) . H ow ev e r, Ihe s y s te m s h o u ld b e c o n tr i v e d to allow y o u to r e a d f o r w a r d , b a c k o r a c r o s s l i n k s w ith o u t s u b sta n tia l h e s ita tio n . S u c h a c c e s s m u st b e im pli c i t , nol r e q u i r i n g k n o w le d g e o f w h e r e t h in g s a r e p h y s ic a l ly s to r e d o r w h at th e in te r n a l f ile nam es m a y .h a p p e n to b e . Pile d iv is io n s m u st b e i n v is i b le lo Ihe u 6 e r in a ll h is r o v in g o p e ra tio n s (FREEDOM OF ROVING): b o u n d a r ie s m u st b e in v ia ib le in th e f in al p r e s e n ta tio n s , a n d th e u s e r m u st no t ne ed lo know a b o u t th e m .

C o p y r ig h t m ust o f c o u r s e b e r e t a i n e d , b u t a u n iv e r s a l f lex ible r u l e h a s lo b e w o r k e d o u l , p e r m i ttin g m a te ria l to b e t r a n s m itte d a n d c o p ie d u n d e r sp e cific c irc u m s t a n c e s f o r th e p a y m e n t o f a r o y a lt y f e e . s u r c h a r g e d on lo p o f y o u r o t h e r e x p e n s e s In u s i n g t h e sy s le m . F o r a n y in d iv i d u a l s e c tio n o f m a t e r i a l , a u c h ro y a lt y sh o u ld h a v e a m ax im u m : I . e . , nb y now y o u 'v e b o u g h l I t . " V a r y in g r o y a lty r a t e a , h o w e v e r , s h o u ld b e th e a r b i t r a r y ch oice o f th e c o p y r i g h t h o ld e r ; e x c e p t th a t r o y a lt ie s sh o u ld n o l v a r y s h a r p l y lo c ally w llh ln a t is s u e o f m a te r ia l. O n p u b lic s c r e e n s , m o ving b e tw ee n a r e a s o f d i f f e r e n t r o y a lty c o st m u st b e s h a r p l y m a r k e d .

3.

RICH DATA FACILITIES.

A r b i tr a r y l in k a g e s m u st b e p o s s ib l e b e tw e e n p o r tio n s o f te x t, o r te x t a n d p ic tu r e s : a n n o ta tio n o f a n y th in g m u st b e p r o v id e d for; c o lla te r a iio n ( s e e p . *T jo ) s h o u ld b e a s ta n d a r d f a c ilit y , b e tw ee n a n y p a i r o f w e l l-d e f in e d o b je c t s ; PLACEMARK fac ilitie s m u st b e a llow ed to d r o p a n c h o r a t , o r i n . a n y t h i n g . T h e s e f e a tu r e s im ply p r i v a t e a n n o ta tio n s lo p u b lic ly a c c e s s i b le m a te ria ls a s a s t a n d a r d autom atic a e r v i c e m ode.

BIBLIOGRAPHY T h e o d o r H. N e l s o n . " C o a p u t o p l a a n d C y b e r c r u d . In R oger L ev leo ( e d . ) . C o m p u ters In I n s t r u c t i o n (R and C o r p o r a t i o n , 1 9 7 1 ) . T h e o d o r H . N e l s o n , "A C o n c e p t u a l F r a m e w o r k f o r M a n -M a c h in e E v e r y t h i n g . " P r o c . NCC 7 3 .

Bitzer's PLATO, and, I hope, some or my own designs).

F u r t h e r , th e p o p u la r s u p e r s t i t i o n s a b o u t c o m p u te r s m ua t be f o u g h t- - th e m y th s th a t the y a r e m e c h a n is ti c , s c ie n t if ic , o b je c t iv e o r in d e p e n d e n t o f h u m a n in te n t a n d c o n te m p la tiv e in v o lv e m e n t. T h e AI p e o p l e d o n ' t u n d e r s t a n d , t h e Ift p e o p l e d o n ' t u n d e r s t a n d , t h e CAI p e o p l e d o n t u n d e r s t a n d , and f o r C o d 's s a k e d o n 't t e l l

IBM.

* i 7 W t i g e

OH T V '

li

f L i r o i T dream, patl the vlt of man l ta r what drum o pound Ihi* d m u . Mcllioughl I wasthere it Do Bin can lell n ln l. Metlmght I war,and methouphl ] had,lut man it blit a patched loo), if he Will offer lo ar vhat melhcniffiil I hid. The rvc of wan lal n t h ard, t e ear o man ili o e h f t o b e o al, halh not vrn. man'- Innj i n l i t l l t e vhat my u i . i j-. r-m B o tto m th e Weaver

Then there was the suppression of m y first book (this i6 m y second). You might say i wa6 t a misunderstanding, at least on m y part. M y boss's understanding was evidently (hat the ad vancement of m y ideas would be detrimental to his. I i had been a question of free speech in f t Yugoslavia i might have been different. Well, t i takes a long lime to get a book together, but t here we go again.

Thai did It They couldn't read either. . W ho turns oul to be in charge of computer stuff in the heart of the CIA. the Inner sanctum, the nesl of vipers, but the same old poopy Ph.Ds.

I decided to re a u scitate my v irtu e .

As far as I know, there is s il not a t l Decent Writing Syatem anywhere in the world, although several things n ow come close. I t seems a shame that grown men and w om e n have to rustle around in piles of paper, like squirrels looking for acorns, in search of the phrases and ideas Ihey themselves have generated.

Now you see w hy I b ro u g h t you h e re .

This Gem-maniacal book has, obviously, been created as a crossroad of several cross pur poses: to furnish a needed, grabby layman's Introduction to two vast but rather inaccessible realms; to present a coherent, if contentious, point of view, and unroll a particular sort of apocalyptic vision after preparing the vocabulary for i ; to make bright friends and informed sup t porters for m y outlook and projects; to get home lo some of m y friends the fact lhal what 1 a m doing is at bottom not technical; and finally, i f nothing else, to set forth some principles about the'way things should be. which others will have-to answer if they propose to do less. Thus, overall, this book is a message in a Klein bottle, waiting to see w h o thirsty. s

Then there was the time I was called in as a consultant on a vast federal system, never mind what. Numerous computer programs were lo be coordinated by a hypertext system they had created and Ihey wanted to know if they'd designed i right. I took months lo find out t t from Ihe programmers exactly what the system w a a , so I ended up writing the manual; after which I explained what was wrong with the pro ject and the whole hypertext system was scrapped. A n d m y job with i t. I never quite got lhe swing of consulting.

T he decent w ritin g 9yslem , as I see it. will ^ d u a lly be m uch more: it will help ua cre a te b e lte r th in g s in a fraction of the time, b u t also keep tra c k o f e v e ry th in g in b etter and more subtle waya than we e v e r could before.
But nobody sees this I suppose it's only writers and editors that k now they're trying to "keep track of Ideas"-- and I have been unable to gel thia across to anybody. (The profeaeional writers, of course, won't talk to me either.)

Flying coasl-to-coast with the preaident of a large corporation, he and I planned the whole Xanadu budget for the following year at something like half a million dollars. T w o years later, reduced In circumstances and driving a yellow cab in N e w York, the miserable vehicle breaks d own in front of (hose same corporate headquarters. A n d Ihe reason I had thal bad taxi was that I was out of favor with the taxi dispatcher, on account of having been absent the previous week-- I had had to fly to California to give a banquet address at the Rand Corporation. Then there were m y adventures with the CIA.

So here I a m after fourteen years with exactly two systems to show for i : the main one. t Xanadu, the lext-and-animated-piclure network system, and Fantasm ( shouldn't have apent 1 the time bul i wa s a labor of love), the simut laled-photography system. Actually, 1 don'l have either of them to show, it's all just flow charts, but i turns out lhat if I work on either t of (hem with university equipment, m y w ork of fourteen years gets conAscated. So much for thal; the outside expedients for debugging con tinue . And, to lighlen Ihe burden. I've finally given up on trying lo reach professionals, wh o evidently need a Ihick gravy of lechnicalism to make the obvious palatable; with this bookity am taking m y case to The People. I is there, t anyway, out in Consumerdom. lhal the real ac tion is going to occur. So the important thing is for everybody to know whal's really possible, and what (hey could have. Thai Is w h y I have shol off m y big canons (and ihi6 epistol).

I su p po se it all s ta rte d in college. Sw arth roore left me with an ex a g g e ra te d notion of (he extent to w hich id e a s a r e valued in the academic world; it took two g ra d u a te schools to cle a r this up. A fter th a l. a s f a r as 1 w as c o ncern ed.
Ph.D. stood for Poophead. But I still cared about ideas, and the deep necessity of finding their true structure and organization. From writing 1 knew the grueling difficulty of trying to make ideas get in order. 1 believed in the pure, white light of inspiration and the power of the naive but clever mind to figure out anything, i not obstructed bul d u m b dogmas and obtuse f mental schemata foslered by the educational system. When 1 Anally got the idea of what c om pu ters were aboul, sometime in 1960, 1 look endless walks at night trying to hash these things out and see where they led. The text systems came clear to me, at least in ihelr beginnings; in a few weeks; the realisation that 3D halftone was possible came to me as a 6hock the following spring. I believe as I was walking across Radcliffe Common. Since then trying to build these systems for creation and the true ordering of intricale thought has been m y driving dream. M y o w n life amo ng these dream machines haa been a nightmare, thoroughly unpleasant, and i people are right in telling m e thal nobody f wants systems like the ones I a m designing. Il get the heck out of this and be a disk jockey l or a toy salesman or something. first got into this as a writer; all 1 wanted was a decent writing system that would run on a compuier. Little did I realize the Im mensity of what that entailed, or that for some reason m y work and approach would engender indignation and anger wherever 1 wenl. There is a Action that everybody In theee fields is doing something fundamentally scientific and technical, and this Action is usually upheld in carefully enacted mutual playlets. Trying to cut through that and say, "Let's build a home for mankind that will al last be shaped lo At man's mind, does nol seem to-generate immediate warmth and welcome. But I'm glad for the friends I've made in this Aeld, and of course there have been a l ol of laughs. (I'd really have haled to miss being in this field, just for the thrilling madness of i all.) All in all m y adventures have been a t sort of participatory journalism, which I'd like to wrile up properly some time. Some highlights:

I w as sitting in m y office at Vassar, sagely advising a student, w he n the phone rang and the caller identified himself as John W. Kuipers. head of compuier research at the CIA. He told m e I had been noticed as a n ew bright young m an in the Aeld, and would I like to work for them? Now, there is something about being a cynic and a romantic. (They go together: the cynic deAates ideas, the romantic falls in love with them.) I is not impossible for the cynical t romantic to surmise that because everything he has seen personally turned oul to be so lousy, thal the true hope m a y lie at the heart of the vortex, just where everybody thinks is impossible. Also Ihe Kennedy aftermath, when sophisticated people had learned to laugh at simple idealism as a facade for the reel wheel-and-deallng, slap-and-tickle, may have had something to do wilh i ; anyway, I waa enchanted. Thus began l the Kuipers Caper. YES. T H E R E IS A M cLEA N. VIRGINIA I was given a handler named Bob, a jolly fellow, wh o kept assuring m e that m uch money was just around (he corner. I was regaled wilh success s(ories of other people in the computer Aeld w ho really, undercover Worked for Them. (They weren't doing anything very exciting.) I got to show m y slides in the CIA office building in Arlington, and to eee there very fancy display equipment behind shielded (!) double-doors in a shielded (!!) computer room-- shielded lo keep any planted bugs from transmitting oul the con tents of the computers' working registers. I even got to visit the main CIA "campus" in McLean, Virginia, where the sign says Agricultural Research Station. I is an incredible feeling to t walk across lhat big eagle in lhe lerrazzo, and to be given the visitor's badge thal says "United Slates Government" all in wiggly lines. They told m e that they would be glad to set me up in business as s hypertext company, bul I would have to have a corporation, because that was Ihe way they always did things. A nd so. i came lo pass that The Nelson Organization, Inc. t was founded al the express request of the United Stales Central Intelligence Agency. I wouldn't have had i any other way. If life can't be pleasant i t t can et least be surrealistic. .. B U T N O S A N T A C LA U S . I was encouraged to write proposals for them, and write proposals I did. ( happened to finish 1 typing the first one dufing a lightning slorm, and lightning crashed jusl as I was signing the page; 1 f elt like Faust.) I explained how hyper text might have prevented the Bay of Pigs. After due consideration, I did not say what hypertexts might have done for Ihe Warren Report. Numerous Jolly phone calls assured m e lhat m y firsl $25,000 was just around the corper. The break came w h e n Bob called m e and asked m e to rewrite a proposal one more lime. He had circulated it, he aaid, am on g various people "at the shop," w h o he reminded m e were holders of advanced degrees, and i had been t remarked that they found m y proposal meaning less: "Every place you say 'hypertext' you could jusl aa well put 'gobbledygook' instead; you'll have lo clear lhat up a little."

T o me. you see. this is really a holy crusade, whereas I know guys to w h o m il 's jusl a living. It's no less than a question of freedom in our lime. The cases of Solzhenitsyn and Ellsberg remind us that freedom is sl ill not what i should be, anywhere. t Computer display and storage can bring us a whole new literature, the uniting and the apotheosis of the old end the new; but (here are many wh o would not necessarily wanl to see this come about. Deep and widespread compuier systems would be tempting to two dangerous parties, "organized , crime" and the Executive branch of Ihe Federal government (assuming there ia still a difference between the two). If we are lo have the freedoms of information we deserve as a free people, the safeguards have to be built in al the bottom. now. A n d the opulence which is possible must be made clear to everyone before we settle on an inferior system-* as w e did with television. Some people have called m y Ideas and systems "Orwellian." This is annoying In two ways. In the first place I suggests the night t mare of Orwell's book Nineteen Eighty-Four, which obviously I want no part of. (Bul h e y , do you remember what that world of 1984 was actually like? Th e cryptic wars against unseen enemies that kept shifting? The government spying? The use of language lo twist end manipulate? To paraphrase Huey Long: "Of course we'll have 1984 in America. Only we'll cell i 1972.") t The second reason the term "Orwellian'1 is offensive is that i somehow reduces (he life t of Orwell, the man. to the world of "1984." This is a shallow and shabby thing to do to a man w ho apent his life unmasking oppressiveness in human institutions everywhere. In the larger sense, then In homage to thal simple, honest, angry man, who cared about nothing more lhan human freedom-- I would be proud indeed if m y systems could be called Orwellian. That reminds me. Nowhere in the book hsve 1 defined the phrase "computer lib." By Compuier Lib I mean simply: making people freer through computers. Thal'a all.

The d a y s of m ad n ess in '6 6 , tr y in g to start an ho nesl co rpo ratio n to do all this stuff, and suffering e n d le ss lu n c he s with Wall Street hangers-on w ho w e re lookin g for a vehicle to take p u b lic. They w anted an o th e r chickenfranchise ty p e com pany, though, an d certainly not ideas.
Being briefed by four different corporations, most of lhem major, on Ihe fantastic powers iheir inleractive'movie system was going to have. One of these briefings w a s in the board room of a famous skyscraper. A n d now, only one of those systems is left-- Kodak's. Then there was the courtly gentleman who was going to be m y Noah Dietrich, m y Colonel Parker. He assured m e that through his business connections all was going lo go marvelously. and then later intimated thet as e special favor he was going lo put m e In touch with other universes and the flying saucer people. I just didn't have time for other universes.

Fantically o r fanatically Y ours for a b e tte r w orld, Before we have to settle for A n y --