Harris 1500 Editorial Input Terminal
Harris 1500 Editorial Input Terminal
Previous
Next
Usage conditions apply
- Description
- This video display terminal, sold under the name Harris 1500, was first used in 1973 at the Times-Democrat, a newspaper in Davenport, Iowa. This “dumb” terminal (it had no internal memory) was connected to a DEC PDP-11/20 server. News reporters wrote their stories on these terminals instead of on paper. Finished stories, were reviewed by the editors electronically, then sent for printing. The Times-Democrat (soon renamed the Quad-City Times) was the one of the first newspapers to fully convert to a word processing system.
- According to an article in the New York Times on Feb. 17, 1972, this terminal cost about $5,000.
- In the case below the screen are five white plastic switches (TAB SET, TAB CLEAR, COMM LOCAL, CLEAR, and POWER). Left of the QWERTY keyboard are five orange function keys, and to the right are fourteen orange function keys. The glass screen in front of the CRT (cathode ray tube) has a 1 cm high space between the top of the glass and the case’s screen opening.
- Taped to the terminal on the left side of the display screen, is a black and white image of a penguin. On the right side of the screen are the remains of three white rub-on numbers--1, 2, and possibly a 9.
- Reference:
- “Harris-Intertype Selling New Device,” New York Times, February 17, 1972, p. 55.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Object Name
- minicomputer peripheral
- date made
- c 1972
- c 1973
- ca 1973
- maker
- Harris-Intertype Corporation
- Physical Description
- metal (overall material)
- glass (display screen material)
- plastic (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 29 cm x 46 cm x 53.5 cm; 11 13/32 in x 18 1/8 in x 21 1/16 in
- ID Number
- 2017.0143.01
- accession number
- 2017.0143
- catalog number
- 2017.0143.01
- Credit Line
- Gift of William Theobald
- See more items in
- Medicine and Science: Computers
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
Nominate this object for photography.
Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.
If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.
