[GreenKeys] The Model 33 ASR

[dmm at lemur.com]

Matters of character representations and codes, especially when
old machines are involved, are something I find fascinating.
So when the "slashed letter 'O'" discussion came up I thought
I'd just find a couple of quick examples to nail down the source.
After all, while I am myself a UNIX-and-C era person, I spent my
entire career hanging out around mainframe system programmers.

But what I quickly discovered is that the subject is both more
complex and less well documented than one might think.
None of the current online references are reliable (perhaps not
a surprise), but beyond that I was unable to find any examples
in my own library of the slashed 'O'.  Most curious. 
It is not simply a matter of "the computer/mainframe/IBM guys did it."

So I did track down some of the earlier references, and some 
examples of practices very much like the slashed letter 'O'.
But I still haven't caught one in the wild.

So (of course) I've written up what little I know and put it online at:

http://www.circuitousroot.com/artifice/letters/characters/slashed-o/index.html

I would welcome comments and criticisms, on-list or off. 

But what I'd really like to find (and add to the writeup, if possible)
are examples of the slashed letter 'O'.   Scans of old coding sheets
or printouts.  Photographs of printer chains, balls, or wheels.
Printer documentation.  Scans of published coding standards recommending 
this practice.  Anything.


Now I just have to repeat a hundred times:

   I do NOT want a Model 26 keypunch.
   I do NOT want a Model 26 keypunch.
   I do NOT want a Model 26 keypunch.
   ...   :-)

Maybe in time I'll believe myself.  We only ever had a Model 29 at work.


Regards,
David M.
===
Dr. David M. MacMillan  -  dmm at lemur.com

   The first rule of intelligent tinkering is to save all the parts.
       - Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915); Aldo Leopold

www.CircuitousRoot.com   *  www.LemurType.com   *  www.Lemur.com