Continuous Paper: Print Interfaces and Early Computer Writing

Paper written for ISEA 2004 in Helsinki, on August 20, 2004 (Scott Rettberg presented). The investigation into early computer writing starts with the observation that "early interaction with computers happened largely on paper: on paper tape, on punchcards, and on print terminals and teletypewriters, with their scroll-like supplies of continuous paper for printing output and input both." Montfort traces back history and challenges the "screen essentialist" assumption about computing.

Pull Quotes:

By looking back to early new media and examining the role of paper — the pun is difficult to avoid here — we can begin to see how history contradicts the "screen essentialist" assumption about computing.

Works referenced:

Title	Author	Year
ELIZA	Joseph Weizenbaum	1966

Critical writing referenced:

Title	Author	Year
ELIZA — A Computer Program For the Study of Natural Language Communication Between Man And Machine	Joseph Weizenbaum	1966
Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace	Janet H. Murray	1998
Twisty Little Passages: An Approach to Interactive Fiction	Nick Montfort	2005

Critical writing that references this:

Title	Author	Publisher	Year
Continuous Paper	Nick Montfort		2004
Next Generation Literary Machines: The “Dynamic Network Aesthetic” of Contemporary Poetry Generators	Holly Dupej		2012

The permanent URL of this page:

https://elmcip.net/node/3246

Record posted by:

Patricia Tomaszek