17 Dec
2010
17 Dec
'10
1:34 p.m.
And I have a model 33 teletype here, with some
provenance claiming an
IBM lineage, that has a slashed-oh between the I and the P keys and an
unslashed-zero next to the 9 key.
Pressing the slashed-oh, sends 0x4F and pressing the unslashed-zero
sends 0x30... and conversely, it prints an unslashed-zero when 0x30 is
sent to it and it prints a slashed-oh when 0x4F is sent to it...
Interesting. I did have a quick look in the Model 33 parts book when this
thread started, but I didn't spot a type cylinder that had the chracters
that way round. Probasbly I didn't look caefully enough.
I think I read somhere that originally the zero, as the less used
character in normal text, was the one that was slashed. But it was the
'less used' part that was carried over to computing, and since then
digits necame more commopn than text (at lrast in the early days ...), it
was then the letter that got the slash.. I am not sure I entriely believe
this, though...
-tony