Reading MT/ST Tapes

And here I've always thought of you as a pessimist who would have called it 'Half Empty ST'... On Fri, Jul 30, 2021 at 9:17 PM Fred Cisin via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote: > Yep. > > And, it was not appreciated when I suggested an interim release between > the MT/ST emulator and "Full-ST" to be called "Half Full ST" > > > On Fri, 30 Jul 2021, grif615 at mindspring.com wrote: > >> Scope Creep.. no telling how many projects died in stalled development. >> >> On Jul 30, 2021 16:36, Fred Cisin via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> >> wrote: >> >> On Fri, 30 Jul 2021, Chuck Guzis via cctalk wrote: >> > Not really--it's very old technology, (1964), of limited >> capacity (about >> > 20 KB per tape), was a hideously expensive way to buy a >> typewriter >> > (about USD$7000 in 1964, or about USD$61,000 today), used >> almost >> > exclusively in large corporate offices to create form >> letters and >> > documents. In other words, it was not intended as an >> archival medium. >> > The effort required in preparing a document was >> considerable (one used >> > the mini-keypad for various functions). For a memo, it was >> easiest to >> > use the typewriter as a typewriter. >> > There are more interesting things to look at. >> >> Well, form letters are "important". >> But, once microcomputer word processing matured, they could >> be done easily >> and much better. >> >> An acquaintance was working on creating an emulation of the >> MT/ST, as a >> way for those who were familiar with the MT/ST and/or >> actually liked it, >> to be able to continue unchanged on a microcomputer. >> >> But, then he started adding features. Besides delaying the >> completion >> until it was no longer relevant, it was suggested that he >> change the name >> from "MT/ST" (pronounced "empty ST") to "FULL ST".