Origins of the term 'WYSIWYG?

william degnan billdegnan at gmail.com
Mon Jan 16 13:46:45 CST 2017


On Mon, Jan 16, 2017 at 2:04 PM, Tony Duell <ard.p850ug1 at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Mon, Jan 16, 2017 at 7:01 PM, Al Kossow <aek at bitsavers.org> wrote:
>
> > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WYSIWYG
> >
> > Etymology
> >
> ><snip>
>


> Sure...
>
> My point is that a very similar phrase ('What you see, you get') was
> used by a camera manufactuer
> some 15 years earlier (at least).
>
> -tony
>

I was curious to see if Ted Nelson used this term in Computer Lib or Dream
Machines.  A 5 minute browse did not reveal this, but I thought for sure
once I read something he wrote that used this term..

Also, I found that there was a 1975 supplement to the original 1974 Dream
Machines, so even if you have a "first printing" check the Dream Machines
side to see if you have the special 1975 supplement that includes
references to the Altair etc.

The 1975 version is a  tad squarer than the 1974 actual first printing.
You would not notice unless you put them on top of each other (like I
did).  Not trying to hijack this thread, just passing along a factoid.  The
back point is be careful if you have the opportunity to buy a "first
printing" of Computer Lib, that it's the taller thin version without the
1975 supplement, a few extra pages added to the front of Dream Machines.  I
think Computer Lib is as-was.

Soon afterwards there was a more book-like Computer Lib, that's not what I
am talking about.

Bill


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