Old Mechanical Terminal....(Data Access)

From: Chuck McManis <cmcmanis_at_mcmanis.com>
Date: Thu Aug 12 13:48:44 1999

> but, via escape sequences, the head can be
> moved horizontally or vertically at 1/200 inch increments, allowing for
> proportional spacing and graphics.

Flash back to 1980 at USC. Wanted to write up a paper for publication and
thought I would "leverage" the PLOT10 library by hacking a back end that
generated Diablo escape sequences to use the dot character as the pixel. It
worked great (albiet very slow) and I printed out my final copy using
"film" ribbon. BIG MISTAKE. I used up an entire ribbon (like $40 back then)
where 90% of the ribbon was essentially unused and 10% had little "dots"
used up on it.

--Chuck
Received on Thu Aug 12 1999 - 13:48:44 BST