The Diagrammer (1970) [video]

vimeo.com

50 points·tdupree··6 comments

Since the title is a bit vague: this is a demo of the Mergenthaler Diagrammer, a tool for (semi-)automating the production of technical drawings like circuit schematics.

From a quick look this is what I ascertained: you select a diagram symbol using a keyboard, use a viewing screen (a specialized projector) to position it on the ”drawing”, and then once it’s in position the projected image is exposed onto film.

I’m a technically-minded artist/art historian who works a lot with projection, and this is a treat! What a great find!

If you like this you might also like Fran Blanche’s YouTube video about how the big screens at Apollo Mission Control worked.

This is ipe [0], as a physical machine. Impressive.

[0] https://ipe.otfried.org/

NGL, when watching this I was thinking, “this is the secret origin story of Emacs.”

Unfortunately it's nothing that crazy - IIRC original keybinds came from gathering what various people in AI lab used in TECO visual mode, then evolved from there with the quite simple element of having Bucky keys mirrored on the keyboard so modifiers were really easy to use.

This is quaint. In 1970, computer-driven plotters were already widespread. It would not have been hard to see CAD coming, even with punched cards.

That's a great video. Helps me to understand where the older folks in the semiconductor industry are coming from.

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