29 May
2009
29 May
'09
1:21 a.m.
On 28 May 2009 at 19:55, John Foust wrote:
I'm not talking about a printer that can print on
the return to
to the left... The Wikipedia article makes it sound like the
text prints "backwards" on every other line.
Perhaps, but I don't think that's what was intended. As cool a word
as "boustrophodonic" is, I think "bidirectional" is more accurate,
implying nothing more than a change in direction.
I think George wanted to convey the idea of the printhead moving back
and forth like an ox plowing, without reference to the directionality
of the text being printed itself.
On the other hand, I suppose one could print English and Arabic in an
interlinear fashion, but changing typewheels would drive you nuts. :)
--Chuck