Why 1980s Computers Were Beige (TT Archive #4128 4-9-2022)

#computers #history #color #desktop #beige #univac #eniac #bettyholberton

[GrahamMarshall-yj]

It was an ergonomics issue, specifically eye strain and fatigue. Quick History: Large corporations started to buy mainframe computers in the 70s. But there was one big problem! All their data was on paper in filing cabinets. So they hired hundreds of file clerks to input paper data into mainframe computers using connected terminals. Each terminal would have a copy holder mounted beside the monitor that held letter/legal size paper. So you had someone sitting in front of a terminal reading black text on white paper all day, every day. Germany had very strong labor unions and were concerned about worker safety. They regulated many things around workplace ergonomics. In this case, they were concerned about constant refocusing between black text on white and white text on black, since almost keyboards were black with white text. So they implemented standards that dictated an acceptable contrast ratio between text and background. As desktop computers started to take over from terminals the strict contrast ratio was still applied. The result was that in order to sell in Germany (and Europe), computer manufacturers had to follow the standards. So computer companies used shades of beige with dark text on the keyboards. This is why all office computers in the early 80s were beige without exception. By the mid 80s everyone was inputting data directly into desktop computers so there was no longer any need to transcribe large amounts of paper documents. Which meant the core issue went away but the standards hung on - so most computers remained beige through the 1980s