<p><pre><code> When I think I'm finished with an article,
I set the print speed to Slow. This runs the
printer at about 100 words per minute, or roughly
the pace of reading aloud. I stuff my ears with
earplugs and then lean over the platen as the
printing begins. Watching the article printed
at this speed is like hearing it read; infelicities
are more difficult to ignore than when you are
scooting your eye over words on a page.
</code></pre>
The author forces himself to read slowly to make his mind reevaluate his words. Does any one else do this or perhaps pass their compositions through a text 2 speech software? It seems like it could potentially be a useful writing aid.
I'm only very slightly older than this article; my first computer was an XT, so I missed the early hobbyist days of the many competing platforms; I was well into the clone era.<p>One thing really jumped out at me:<p>"Of the ones I've seen, a green-tinted monitor by NEC (model JB 1201M) seemed the best bargain, at $210; but patriots should take note that NEC stands for Nippon Electric Company."<p>We like to marvel at how fast technology moves. But cultural attitudes can change just as fast.
Perhaps I'm just glorifying an age I don't remember, but I'm somewhat jealous of a time when computers weren't black boxes - everybody who owned one had to buy separate components, do bits of physical maintenance, and write code.
Nice wrap-up:<p><pre><code> ...For any of these systems (not including the Osborne), I'd spend no more than
$6,000, or half as much as for the Displaywriter.
Godspeed as you follow this advice; meanwhile, I'll be spending nothing, sticking
with SOL and The Electric Pencil, and hoping for a world in which my sons can
grow up to have a better computer than their father had.
</code></pre>
Looks like that wish worked out pretty well.
I enjoyed this line: "The new machines will require different disk-operating systems, and may therefore inspire another DOS war. [...] many people suspect that IBM will wage a counteroffensive with a DOS <i>of its own</i>."<p>Close, but not quite! As it turned out, choosing to not exactly make a DOS of its own had rather large consequences for the computing landscape...
I remember my dad writing a book in the 70's. My mom would type up each new draft. Over and over, she'd type the whole book. Getting a word processor is like getting a sewing machine in the 1800s.