(no subject)

[coyotegoth]

For the benefit of computer virgins, if such there still be, let me say briefly that the Archives III which is swallowing up these words even as I type (and frequently mistype) them stores text on two separate, spinning magnetic disks. One (the hard disk) is sealed in the machine and can hold the equivalent of a million words, or approximately ten novels.

The other (the floppy disk) can hold about one novel or a dozen short stories- or several hundred letters- or any mixture of these. The floppy, which looks much like a 45-rpm record, can be removed from its drive until; so a whole library of disks can be built up, devoted to different subjects (“files”) or programs- just as one can collect music or sound recordings on tape cassettes. (Indeed, the familiar audio cassettes are often used as cheap- but painfully slow- storage devices for computers.)...

When Archie (his computer) entered my life in late 1981, I was about a quarter of the way into 2010: Odyssey Two and had already produced about a hundred sheets of messy manuscript on my electric typewriter (I wonder where that is now? It must be around the house somewhere...) As soon as I realized what word processing could do, all writing came to an abrupt halt...

As soon as I discovered that the WordStar program enabled me to make instant corrections, shift blocks of text around and join them seamlessly, automatically locate any given words or phrases within seconds in a twenty-page article, justify or unjustify margins, etc., etc., I was converted. Perhaps what really appealed to me was the total abolition of carbon paper; from now on, every manuscript would be an original. When I needed extras, I would put the appropriate floppy disk into the drive- and read a book or listen to music while perfect, errorless copy rolled out of the printer.

So I hired local talent to load the raw first 25 percent of my original typescript into Archie’s capacious memory, and then carried on from there, writing directly on the machine. I can honestly say that I have never touched a typewriter since that day...

Arthur C. Clarke
from the foreword to The Odyssey Files