In article <4FCDA873.1030407 at mail.msu.edu>,
Josh Dersch <derschjo at mail.msu.edu> writes:
I'll be pedantic and note that the Tektronix 4051
isn't really a
terminal, it's a general-purpose computer (with BASIC built in). But
I'm sure it could also act as a pretty decent terminal with the right
software :).
There's a continuum between classic "glass tty" terminals on one end
and full blown personal computers on the other. Tektronix wasn't the
only manufacturer to recognize this. Add local storage and some sort
of operating system (BASIC in ROM will do) to a terminal and you have
a personal computer.
On the terminals wiki I have a category for terminals like this:
<http://terminals.classiccmp.org/wiki/index.php/Category:Local_Processing>
There is also that middle ground where the terminal has local storage,
but no local programming environment:
<http://terminals.classiccmp.org/wiki/index.php/Category:Local_Storage>
Most terminals that had local processing had local storage, but not
always. Some were intended to be locally programmable by downloading
a program from the host.
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