Romenesko linked to this 1981 television report about how newspapers could someday be delivered via computer. A man named Richard Halloran, identified in the report as “Owns Home Computer,” talked about being able to give “interrogation” to newspapers due to the ability to copy and save articles, thus making him possibly the first man to envision blogging. Sorta.
Sadly, one editor talked about how they weren’t looking to make money at it.
Wow, fascinating time capsule. I had to smile seeing the old TRS-80 and talk of the 2-hour download time.
I had forgotten handset modems as well. What was that thing, 300 baud? Painting those characters one-by-one.
300 baud was fast! The earliest ones may have chugged along at 150.
Pretty soon, we were zipping along at 1200, and without the need for a coupler. And when 9600 came along, man, how could anything ever be faster?
Unfortunately, no one has ever figured out a way to make a Republican brain run faster than an insect’s brain, so we’re still stuck with the same GOP ideas they had in the 1880s.
In other news, Illinois state senators voted unanimously to remove ex-governor Rod Blagoyevich from office. Kicking out a corrupt Democratic governor is the only known way of getting bipartisan cooperation from Republicans. All other attempts have failed.
This is you.
This is you on nicotine.
This is you on even more nicotine, in the West Wing with the new casual progressive dress code and with the thermostat cranked up to 80.