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Digging through the New York Times morgue

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Re: Digging through the New York Times morgue

#4

This video, discussed on the blog, is a very fascinating memorialization of when NYT phased out linotype https://vimeo.com/127605643

That film is fantastic.

Does anyone know what terminals they're using at the end? It looks like they have two types.

At lest one of the computers looks like it's some kind of Data General machine. There's also a shot of what looks like an IBM System 370 front panel like this one: (https://old.reddit.com/r/vintagecomputing/comments/7l79hs/ra..., https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/10266809...).

Re: Digging through the New York Times morgue

#5

Also this great article about Jeff Roth, the guy overseeing scanning and cataloging. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/14/insider/in-the-timess-mor...

Yeah, the OP writes "And before you ask: no, the contents of the morgue aren’t digitized…" A lot of the morgue has been; I saw a presentation a few years ago at a Strata Conference. What is true is a lot of the digitized materials aren't available to the public because the Times doesn't have to rights to do so.

Re: Digging through the New York Times morgue

#6
post #4

This video, discussed on the blog, is a very fascinating memorialization of when NYT phased out linotype https://vimeo.com/127605643

That film is fantastic. Does anyone know what terminals they're using at the end? It looks like they have two types. At lest one of the computers looks like it's some kind of Data General machine. There's also a shot of what looks like an IBM System 370 front panel like this one: ( https://old.reddit.com/r/vintagecomputing/comments/7l79hs/ra... , https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/10266809... ).

Probably a Nova 1200 or something like that though there's a lot of other specialized equipment in that film as well.

ADDED: It wouldn't surprise me if the terminals were something specialized for the purpose. Pretty sure they're not DG terminals.

Re: Digging through the New York Times morgue

#7
post #5

Also this great article about Jeff Roth, the guy overseeing scanning and cataloging. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/14/insider/in-the-timess-mor...

Yeah, the OP writes "And before you ask: no, the contents of the morgue aren’t digitized…" A lot of the morgue has been; I saw a presentation a few years ago at a Strata Conference. What is true is a lot of the digitized materials aren't available to the public because the Times doesn't have to rights to do so.

He helped me with a research project and scanned some photos in. If you are a researcher and ask it seems like his office might help.

Re: Digging through the New York Times morgue

#8
post #6
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That film is fantastic. Does anyone know what terminals they're using at the end? It looks like they have two types. At lest one of the computers looks like it's some kind of Data General machine. There's also a shot of what looks like an IBM System 370 front panel like this one: ( https://old.reddit.com/r/vintagecomputing/comments/7l79hs/ra... , https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/10266809... ).

Probably a Nova 1200 or something like that though there's a lot of other specialized equipment in that film as well. ADDED: It wouldn't surprise me if the terminals were something specialized for the purpose. Pretty sure they're not DG terminals.

> Probably a Nova 1200 or something like that though there's a lot of other specialized equipment in that film as well.

I'm more interested in the terminals. Here are some screenshots from the movie of what I'm talking about: https://imgur.com/a/Vm0LGw4

Re: Digging through the New York Times morgue

#9
post #8
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably a Nova 1200 or something like that though there's a lot of other specialized equipment in that film as well. ADDED: It wouldn't surprise me if the terminals were something specialized for the purpose. Pretty sure they're not DG terminals.

> Probably a Nova 1200 or something like that though there's a lot of other specialized equipment in that film as well. I'm more interested in the terminals. Here are some screenshots from the movie of what I'm talking about: https://imgur.com/a/Vm0LGw4

Hmm. It looks like there are a couple of different models there.

I can't make out the specifics too clearly but they don't look to my eye like standard minicomputer terminals like DG would have sold. There are too many extra blocks of keys and lights.

FWIW, a few years later, the Post brought in a system that Raytheon designed for them. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1980/10/06/p... So I'm guessing they're something either custom or from one of the early phototypesetting companies. This is pretty early days though. It was very common in the late 70s for editorial at small papers to still be working on typewriters and the final copy was re-inputed into phototypesetting equipment.

Re: Digging through the New York Times morgue

#10
post #4

This video, discussed on the blog, is a very fascinating memorialization of when NYT phased out linotype https://vimeo.com/127605643

That film is fantastic. Does anyone know what terminals they're using at the end? It looks like they have two types. At lest one of the computers looks like it's some kind of Data General machine. There's also a shot of what looks like an IBM System 370 front panel like this one: ( https://old.reddit.com/r/vintagecomputing/comments/7l79hs/ra... , https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/10266809... ).

Some newspapers in the 1970s used the Atex publishing system. The now-defunct Dallas Times Herald, a daily, used it when I worked there, roughly 1978 to 1980. The Atex system there relied on custom terminals--that is, supplied by Atex, not off-the-shelf from another manufacturer--and Atex terminals could be among those shown in the screenshots. Unfortunately, I don't remember much about how the Atex terminals looked, and (call me lazy) I haven't looked for photos.
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