ASCII table and history – Or, why does Ctrl+I insert a Tab in my terminal?

Re:ASCII table and history – Or, why does Ctrl+I insert a Ta... by kjs3 on Monday January 16, 2023 @11:38AM (#34402376)

Remember that the Teletypes were old school telco, mostly output devices, repurposed for computers. They were constructed first to be extremely durable, and then somewhere way down the list of requirements, easy on the users. The typical use case wasn't to pound on them all day long (tho some did), and you can tell.

Seem to recall that ergonomics really took off in the 80s and 90s, as people started suing for things like RSI which made companies start to care. I remember that was when everyone seemed to be swapping out for adjustable chairs and bolting keyboard trays on desks and having everyone take ergo training.

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Re:ASCII table and history – Or, why does Ctrl+I insert a Ta... by bbarnett on Monday January 16, 2023 @12:57PM (#34403456)

They were constructed first to be extremely durable, and then somewhere way down the list of requirements, easy on the users.

I watched this documentary, about a huge computer, just massive, huge, and a guy called Forbin. It showed governement spending out of control, and the ensuing disaster, although I was a bit high at the time, and the plot eluded me.

Anyhow, the terminals seemed much nicer than you describe, so maybe it was down to the employer?

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Re:ASCII table and history – Or, why does Ctrl+I insert a Ta... by wombatpm on Monday January 16, 2023 @02:21PM (#34404442)

You only needed to enter a few commands to process your stack of punch cards so ergonomics didn’t matter

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Re:ASCII table and history – Or, why does Ctrl+I insert a Ta... by thaeli on Monday January 16, 2023 @03:48PM (#34405292)

Ergonomics still mattered for making the punch cards in the first place - and the machines for that used similar keyboards.

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Re:ASCII table and history – Or, why does Ctrl+I insert a Ta... by rep_lodsb on Monday January 16, 2023 @03:44PM (#34405251)

"Colossus: The Forbin Project"? Not a documentary though.

Military computer joins up with its Soviet counterpart and takes over the world. There may have been some teletypes, but the more memorable output device was the big scrolling line of text.

RESTORE COMMUNICATION -- FROM COLOSSUS -- TO GUARDIAN -- OR ACTION WILL BE TAKEN

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Re:ASCII table and history – Or, why does Ctrl+I insert a Ta... by bbarnett on Monday January 16, 2023 @04:35PM (#34405800)

Nono, it was, it was crafted after the history book of the same name, which was written by Musk.

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