The 'Typewriter' That Changed the World

#vintagecomputer #electronics #typewriter Don Lancaster's TV Typewriter, introduced 47 years ago in the September 1973 edition of Radio Electronics, was a revolutionary innovation that cracked open the door to affordable home computing.

Lancaster's pioneering device excited legions of electronics enthusiasts who dreamed of having a computer, or at least a computer terminal, in their own home. Through clever design, Lancaster created a device that, for the first time ever, let a person put words on their TV set. The use of the TV set, something every household had, made it much more affordable than conventional terminals, or glass teletypes and ushered in a wave of innovation that led to the world we live in today.

This video covers the history, the inner workings, and takes you on a demonstration of a real, authentic TV Typewriter, albeit one built in 2018, modelled after Lancaster's prototype.

[TechTimeTraveller]

Sorry about the background music!! This video was a bit of a learning experience.. it was only the fourth one I'd ever made, and the first where I was doing a 45 minute documentary with animations and such. I was still learning sound levels. The newest videos I think are finally dialing that in. But this is still my favorite.. Don Lancaster is a personal hero of mine and I felt the TVT deserved to be highlighted in its own right. I tried to do it justice. Thanks to everyone who gave this one a watch!

[lonepine]

"First time someone typed a character on a keyboard and seen it show up on the screen right in front of them" was long before 1973. The Mother of All Demos happened in 1968 and apparently Engelbart didn't see word processing as remarkable enough to comment on, since he was already demoing much more impressive things like networking, the mouse and hypertext.

[davidanderson]

In 1976 I was in high school electronics lab and my teacher said go to the tv studio they have a problem with the prompter for the in school tv channel. In the control room was a tv typewriter that was not working. I spent 2 months tinkering with it reading the manuals (Don's articles) to learn how it worked. I ended up getting it kind of working but is was very touchy. It also had a sync lock board so it could overlay on video. In the end I read almost every book Don would write. And would learn enough from his books to go on to design a 6502 homebrew system in 1977. I Fondly remember it as my first true intro into the digital world. It was much different then with no internet but we felt we were at the start of a new age... little did we know what was to come

[rickeymh]

Don Lancaster was my nerd idol after I graduated from Tech school in 1980. I remember all those great projects and articles he published in Radio Electronics.

[jgunther]

Don Lancaster's books had a whole lot to do with the development of my career.

[jehdbrbjeirodofjdjebeebbsnaka]

Looked at Don Lancaster’s Wikipedia page and was sad to find out that he’s passed now. I love learning about these older electronics projects that came decades before I was born. I respect the efforts that went into making something affordable and moderately approachable.

[rickoneill]

Holy moly this professional production quality is worthy of being on tv itself.

[jecelassumpcaojr]

In 1981 I interfaced a TVT (some later model in a single large board) to a homebrew 6800 computer that acted as a terminal for the University of São Paulo's Burroughs B6900 computer. This was in turn connected to two very large black and white TV sets that were placed in strategic places.
Previously students and professors stood in a physical line to use the computer and personally fed their cards into the reader and then grabbed their listing from the printer as that came out. This was replaced by rooms full of terminals and the line became virtual. The huge characters of the TVT were perfect for letting a person standing at the back of a crowd know when it was their time to pick up their listing.

[robertdutcher]

You deserve so many more subs. Your videos are like watching an interesting history lesson. Props to you.

[diwieolaten]

This is quickly becoming one of my absolute favorite channels. The quality is outstanding and the topics are fascinating and not talked about enough. I do hope you continue to make great videos!

[aaronblair]

Dude, the algorithm is on your side. This showed up as a full yt ad below a tech tangents video I was watching. Definitely subscribing.

You are gonna blow up man

[cnpeters]

This is a high quality, entertaining video.

I’m impressed with the whole thing, and that’s before I get to the subject itself - which is just fascinating. Really well done!

[TastyBusiness]

This is dedication to a replica on a level I have not seen in a long time. Mighty fine work, and a very in-depth exploration of what it took to create such a beautifully primitive and powerful device.

[martindejong]

I did avidly read Don Lancaster's TV typewriter books, and used the information to create a TV display device for an early single board computer, which was the "junior computer", a clone of sorts of the KIM-1 single board 6502 based development board designed by the Dutch electronics magazine "elektuur" (now Elektor" ).
It used the idea of using the CPU (the 6502) to do most of the work, just like the Sinclair ZX-80.
Even though the PCB manufacturer produced my prototype PCB in mirror image, I forgot to tell them which side was the solder side and which side the component side, a rookies mistake :-), I still managed to get it to work by folding over the legs of the various TTL DIP IC's over so the IC's were mounted "dead bug" style. and soldering the euro-connector interface to the junior computer on the back of the PCB. I had devised my own character-set inspired by the OHIO SCIENTIFIC's clone UK 101 character-set which included block graphics and card symbols. And it worked great notwithstanding the somewhat wavy nature of the screen (too much ripple on the power supply) and the fact that the junior could only "compute" during the blanking intervals. In the end my boss decided not to market my TV interface.

[chinesemusic]

Don Lancaster, one of the legends, I remember from the early 80's. Forrest Mims. Jim Butterfield, Steve Wozniak... I knew Jim Butterfield (in Toronto; RIP) personally.

[OofusTwillip]

02:58 - "But while the average person might not have been salivating..." shown over a clip from a Salvo commercial. Salivating vs. Salvo. Well played, Sir.

[karlmiller]

I thought I recognized that keyboard! I had two of those MDS keyboard-to-tape units in my teen bedroom! I used them as desks and puttered with them at times. And I followed Lancaster in all of his articles. Thanks for the great trip down memory lane!

[laustinspeiss]

07:35 I loved that SWTPC keyboard.
The only keyboard I could find at the time with a square cutout!
Much easier than the stepped TAB, RETURN and SPACE bar !

p.s. I remember the joy of jumping from 110 to 300 bps. 1200 was heavenly.
9600 was a year or two later.

[DoctorCalabria]

I’m so glad I came across your channel! I totally forgot about the Lancaster TVT I have in storage I built in the seventies and mounted on a masonite board to use with my IMSAI 8080 so I wouldn’t have to toggle in the binary. Thanks for a great job. I’m binging on the rest of your fare. Your voice and delivery remind me of another great channel, This Old Tony.

[edgars]

This is an awesome video (or should I say a full-length documentary) on the subject! Kind of reminds me of LGR Tech Tales but much more retro. As others have already said, I too feel that this is exactly the kind of information that's in a desperate need of an in-depth, hands-on attention these days. To honor and reminisce the dawn of the personal computing in a very enjoyable way. Thank you for taking the precious time and doing exactly that!