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  • myrmepropagandistfuturebird@sauropods.win
    Oct 17, 2026, 11:21 AM

    @VintageProject @independentpen

    Every now and then I have a student who is excited about such little distinctions as I am. Precious rare children that they are.

    Most people... just wouldn't understand.

    I save this kind of fact for my coworkers, knowing full well it annoys them just a little.

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  • Tim Jtimtfj@mastodon.social
    Oct 16, 2026, 10:58 PM

    @futurebird You could take an actual typewriter in, though! If it's worth it just let them see that it's a Thing The Ancients Did . . .

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  • George Dinwiddiegdinwiddie@mastodon.social
    Oct 16, 2026, 11:57 PM

    @futurebird The typewriter I used through college looked something like this, though it had an extra key on each row because my grandfather had been a chemical engineer. Fortunately those extra keys included square brackets, which saved me a lot of work as an English major.

    A big 'ol Underwood manual typewriter.
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  • bnuuybnuuy@mathstodon.xyz
    Oct 17, 2026, 12:33 AM

    @futurebird the modern computer interface is a ship of theseus of teletypes, i.e. typewriters that connect to a telegraph line.

    originally, teletypes would be connected to each other, so two people on either end of the line could have something kinda akin to our modern-day text chats.

    then, turns out connecting one end to a computer also happened to be a great interface to interact with a computer, that way you could even remote access them and everything, and the terminal was born.

    then, the paper of the typewriter got replaced by a cathode ray tube screen, though with specialized circuitry to display text, not like how we are used to screens working today.

    then, piece by piece: graphical terminals could dispay more advanced graphics, the mouse was invented.

    but that modern terminal window or REPL is still an emulation of the teletype connected to a computer at it's core.

    edit: removed the bit about home computers, since it is evidently misinfo; i need to look into where i got this idea from sometime.

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  • Murdoc Addams 🧛🏻:ri: 🇨🇦murdoc@autistics.life
    Oct 17, 2026, 2:39 AM

    @bnuuy
    That's an excellent summary of the evolution there. Although I'm not sure about the part "early home computers tended to have screen and keyboard as one device". I can only think of one or maybe two like that, and many that did not, not counting portables that is. Now combining the keyboard with the computer was certainly the norm though, unlike later.

    But overall I really liked that, thanks!

    @futurebird

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  • myrmepropagandistfuturebird@sauropods.win
    Oct 17, 2026, 11:24 AM

    @bnuuy

    We think of keyboards as "technology" with all the futuristic connotations of that word, but in reality keyboards are storied cultural artifacts shaped by human history. Every key, every character has a story.

    What could you understand about a culture, or about a people simply by examining their most popular tools?

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  • bnuuybnuuy@mathstodon.xyz
    Oct 17, 2026, 11:38 AM

    @futurebird it's certainly not some obvious thing that fell out of the sky, early computers had this problem of "how do we get information in and out of these things?", and just about all the attempts people made at this where people looking around at all the other technology they had at the time, and repurposing it for computers. it's "obvious" that the keyboard came from typewriters somehow, but the less obvious part is how the screen on top of the keyboard is a replacement of a replacemnt of typewriter paper. the typewriter interface still silently shape so many small details of how computers work today, especially under the hood. it's good to know this history so you have context for how the present works.

    a different society might have invented something else entirely, and/or converged at a similar thing from a different direction.

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  • glygGlyg@mamot.fr
    Oct 17, 2026, 12:09 PM

    @bnuuy @futurebird If I may, this is the focus of a very important book
    "On the mode of existence of technical Objects" by Gilbert Simondon
    He studies technique as a cultural artifact, or rather as the interface between culture and nature
    Very pertinent for today, notably as an early critic of cybernetics
    A PDF of an English translation is easily found online

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  • MoyaCaptiveSteel@mastodon.nz
    Oct 17, 2026, 1:33 AM

    @futurebird

    Why not just find a typewriter and 'teach' the truth about where "carriage return" comes from?
    It would be far more relevant and hands-on for a generation with a high probability of never knowing what a typewriter (the ACTUAL origin of "carriage return") is than some false 'teaching' about both the typewriter AND the horse and cart.

    The history of the very keyboard they're learning to code with!!😉 😎

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  • Bonkersbonkers@nerdculture.de
    Oct 17, 2026, 10:21 PM

    @futurebird just show them a video of a dot matrix printer. They would clearly see what Carriage Return and Line Feed are.

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  • an actual busrenardboy@mastodon.social
    Oct 17, 2026, 1:26 AM

    @futurebird When computers were made of vacuum tubes and took up entire buildings, of course the carriages were massive as well.

    The state of mechanical propulsion technology at the time precluded a motor of such power as to reliably move the carriage, and so it could only be pulled by a team of horses.

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  • Plsik (born in 320 ppm)plsik@mastodon.social
    Oct 17, 2026, 10:31 AM

    @futurebird When I talked to my kids about the past, I would sometimes say, “Back then, when there was no internet yet and cave hyenas and woolly rhinos were running around outside.” They weren’t sure if I was joking or if that’s really how it was. I think my grandson will know for sure.

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  • Plsik (born in 320 ppm)plsik@mastodon.social
    Oct 17, 2026, 10:42 AM

    @futurebird I, on the other hand, am struggling to help seniors and people who’ve never had the money for a computer get used to modern communication interfaces. They treat them like a live bomb.
    They know full well what horrors can ensue when they accidentally check the wrong box on a paper form at a government office and then submit it in good faith.
    But it’s not just fear. It’s a glimpse into a window leading to chaos and a completely different world.

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