4 Nov
2011
4 Nov
'11
3:15 p.m.
I think some type set syrtems used the VT71 or VT72 also.
Paul
On Fri, Nov 4, 2011 at 10:10 AM, Phil Budne <phil at ultimate.com> wrote:
From:
"Shoppa, Tim" <tshoppa at wmata.com>
Date: Thu, 3 Nov 2011 10:22:01 -0400
.....
There was at least one other company that
specialized in typesetting
for classified ads that used PDP-11's for typesetting. Their name is
not coming to mind at the moment but they were surprisingly common
at metropolitan newspapers. I remember them using the 3270-like
capabilities of VT-oh-something terminals.
I don't know if this is what you were thinking of, but... ?ATEX made
PDP-11 based systems for newspapers. ?I remember a DEC FORTRAN-10/20
co-worker in the 1980's telling us how much better their editing
terminals were than TOPS-20 EMACS we were using. ?He showed us a
picture of a LARGE custom keyboard (one that put the ungainly PC
inspired Mac keyboards of the 1990's that people used to call "The
Enterprise" (after the aircraft carrier, and perhaps IBM as well!) to
shame).
I remember the VT62 had block mode and multidrop DDCMP capabilities
for use in "transaction based" applications. ?It looked like a VT52,
but used a speaker for keyclick and the buzz (where the VT52 used
something much more electromechanical that gave a really crisp "click"
sound and feel, and the characteristic gear stripping sound for the bell).
I gave away my VT62 (came with a PDT-11/150 employee purchase),
but I still have a VT52!
Back to the subject line:
Were the plastic front pannel switches an "off the shelf" item
purchased by DEC (and available in many colors), or were they custom molded?
If the latter, were custom colors something a VAR/OEM could specify,
did DEC supply specs so that you could go out and have your own made,
or did the "OEM" (I hate the reversal in meaning) have to pull one off
and bring it to a plastic molding company??
phil